terabient

Have a teeny book meme, since I can't think of anything else to do. :D

What book are you currently reading?

The Last Panda, by George B. Shaller.

How far in are you?

About 150 pages in, with roughly 100 pages left. Hoping to finish by Thursday.

What's it about?

Short, obvious answer: Pandas! Better answer: It is the account of the World Wildlife Fund's initial efforts with the Chinese government to study pandas and set up formal, modern research centers for conservation efforts in Sichuan.

Are you enjoying it?

It's slow going at first; there's a great deal on the difficulties encountered in first setting up the international collaboration, and while that kind of tension can be interesting (and is in later chapters) it's presented in a way that's very tedious and dry.

Once that's over, though, there's lots of detailed description of how day-to-day research is done, and there's a special emphasis on how seemingly small facts or observations can be used to draw unexpected conclusions.

And of course, there are pictures of pandas. :3

So far, it's been an enjoyable read.

So today, I was possessed by a sudden desire to draw stuff for Puella Magi Madoka Magica. I'm not sure what triggered the drawing part, but Madoka Magica has been nibbling away at my brain since I finished the series and it stole ALL of my tears. ;o;

Given that NaBloPoMo has such a strong emphasis on improving one's writing, I feel a little strange making two visual-heavy posts - like I've missed the point, a little? I haven't seen an active, dedicated art blog on LJ-ish type blogging platforms for awhile - they seem to have migrated to tumblr.

I suppose it doesn't matter too much? IDK why it is bothering me.

Anyway, have a colored pencil sketchy Sayaka Miki.

( a lot of blue )

TOMORROW: ...I have no idea! I GUESS THAT MAKES IT A SURPRISE. EXCITING!!!

When you are writing, do you prefer to use a pen or a computer?

I am absolutely in love with pen-and-paper writing, and always will be. I have 3 notebooks I currently use for writing - a personal journal I got from my grandmother and two that I use for writing fiction and occasionally blog posts when I know I won't have internet or computer access for some time.

I almost always end up writing my first drafts (and sometimes second and third) on paper. I'm not sure if students are taught how to write in a way that makes drafts and corrections easier anymore, now that word processors are so ubiquitous, but I was taught to skip every other line when writing so that there would be plenty of free space for corrections or notes. So, I end up going through a lot of pages even for relatively short pieces. I feel a little guilty about using up so much paper, though I do make an effort to buy notebooks made out of recycled product whenever possible.

On that note...in college, somebody gave me a banana leaf & bamboo paper notebook...it looked awesome, but actually writing on it was rather problematic. After filling it up I didn't feel the need to replace it.

I didn't get a computer for personal use until college, and I think that might have had an impact on how I approach composition today. I have the worst time trying to write initial drafts on the computer - I need a written copy to work off of. I also find something really intimidating about a big empty screen or entry box, while a blank piece of paper just seems to invite me to fill it up with words. Granted, those words and sentences are often borderline incoherent, but then, that's how most initial drafts turn out, right? :p

The other perk I find with pen-and-paper is the lack of internet and other computer related distractions. I know there are lots of programs out there now for writers to block internet access while writing, and programs that restrict a person's ability to access non-writing related programs until they hit a certain quota. When I write on paper, I have fewer problems resisting distractions, since they aren't as easily accessible.

That being said, I do find I become more drowsy while writing on paper...usually because I am in a very comfortable chair, couch or bed while doing so. Heh.

That's all for today~ I think tomorrow I'm going to dork out hardcore and post a lot of video game related stuff which I HOPE will be a little more interesting than reading about power outages and pens & notebooks. :p

Power was finally restored today in the afternoon, which was quite fortunate because April's fiancee needed to take back the generator today. Of course, after the lights and heat came back on, Comcast promptly had a major failure and we lost all telephone, internet and digital tv access for about five hours. All right! On the bright side, it came back around 8:30 PM and we are getting some kind of financial reimbursement so...yay?

Aside from enjoying the delightful taste of hot green tea and the ability to bake an apple pie, I did not do a whole lot of interesting things today. There are still a lot of businesses that are without electricity or internet/phone access which puts a damper on all sorts of things.

I was planning to write about some of the doujin games on my laptop that kept me from dying of boredom over the long powerless weekend, but because of the aforementioned power/internet issues I didn't get a chance to put together all of the stuff I wanted to. ;_; So, to fill things out a little, here's a prompt from NaBloPoMo:

If you knew that whatever you ate next would be your last meal, what would you want it to be?

Initially I thought this would be hard because, hey, there's so much delicious food in the world!, but one dish came to mind and I knew no matter how hard I tried to think of something more comforting and tasty, I wouldn't find a better meal.

That meal: RICE PORRIDGE.

Yup, porridge. Actually, that's maybe not the best way to refer to the dish, because it's not exactly a porridge, and it has lots of different names depending on where you eat it. Rice porridge is an Asian staple, and in my family we've always referred to it as rice porridge, but it's also known as soupy rice or congee, and honestly like a trillion other names depending on country, preparation, ingredients, etc. Off the top of my head, I know in Japan it's called okayu, in the Philippines where my mother is from, it's lugao, and in Vietnam it's cháo - the only reason I know the Vietnamese name is because my favorite type of instant congee happens to be made by a Vietnamese company. ^^;

Anyway, there's lots and lots of ways to make a bowl of something that would qualify as rice porridge/congee, and some preparations can get pretty...complex. But I am lazy so whenever I make rice porridge i only use a few ingredients and never measure anything. :P

So, if you want to eat a lazy filipina dish, here are some directions! (I don't think this is refined enough to call it a recipe...)

You'll need:

-Rice (you can have as much as you want, I usually end up having 2 cups because I almost always use left over rice from the day before, but you can also use uncooked rice)
-A whole lot of chicken broth! A general rule is to double the amount of rice you used - so if you use 2 cups of rice, you need to have at least 4 cups of broth. But, depending on how soupy you want your congee, you may want to add even more. If you use 4 cups broth for 2 cups rice, you'll get a really thick, oatmeal-ish kind of mix that is tasty, but lots of people (myself included) like having lots of broth too. Basically just keep adding water/broth until you have a consistency that you like.
-Carrots
-Celery
-Ginger
-Cooked chicken slices/bits (you can use just about any protein, and I've also forgone chicken altogether in some instances. Just use veggie broth in place of the chicken broth - imo it's the ginger that really gives the porridge the desirable flavor.

Put the broth and the rice into a big pot until it's boiling, then put in the rest of the ingredients. The actual amount is up to you - I always eyeball it. I finely shred the ginger, but I've never measured it...going by the 2 cups of rice measurements (lol) I think I end up using a tablespoon and a half of ginger? Possibly a bit more. For the other vegetables, just put in as many as you feel like. :P

After everything is in the pot, just keep the mix simmering until the rice has broken down into a gooey sort of mixture. The texture is, uh, less than appealing if you've never had congee before, but the taste is very...how to put it...homey and comforting. The dish itself is very filling and great on cold days, or when you are feeling a little under the weather.

Oh! and before I forget, adding cilantro, scallions, soy and/or chili garlic sauce just before eating is a popular practice, and a tasty one too. :>

have fun if you try it~