Day 213: Scranke

Today, I was inspired by the delicious teppanyaki from last night to try a sake-based drink. So I combined sake with cranberry juice (making the Scranke, of course). It wasn't great, but it was drinkable.


I then tried to make it better by adding Sprite. Didn't help. Then I added some Rose's lime juice. Bad call. Maybe I'll try again someday, but for now, I'm fine with plain old warm sake. Sorry, Scranke, but that's what you get for kind of tasting like feet.

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Day 212: Recipe Cards

Today I made some recipe cards. I basically wanted plain index cards, so I can write down the recipes I like and have a "pull one out of the hat" kind of meal-planning system, but plain index cards just aren't fun enough. So I printed out little pictures of veggies Mat drew in Illustrator long ago and punched them out with my button circle puncher.


There's not really any logical reason why the veggies (and fruit, in the case of the cherries, and technically in the case of the tomato too) stick up above the edge of the cards, except that I like it that way.


Now to start writing my favorite recipes on the cards (tuna casserole, etc.) and find a box to put them in. Then I can try new recipes and write them on cards if they bear repeating. That'll be handy, since I have about 10 cookbooks checked out from the library right now.

Day 211: I Now Possess the Power of Popcorn

Today I had a hankering for popcorn, but not the microwave kind. Unfortunately, my popcorn popper is still MIA, probably buried at the bottom of my storage unit under two tons of scrapbooking supplies. So I did something I've never done before -- I made popcorn using oil and a pan. Crazy talk! When my mom showed me how to do this a few months ago, I never thought I'd actually resort to stove-top popcorning.



A little popcorn goes a very long way, as it turns out. And a lid is very important. Both of these pictures were taken under the very real threat of being shot in the eye by a blazing-hot oil-soaked death-kernel.


Not only did I make this beautiful popcorn (only half of which fit in the bowl), I also made a delicious concoction of butter, garlic powder, and parmesan cheese to drizzle over the top.



I declare this experiment a success, and now I can have popcorn any time I want.

I wonder if I'll have to start trying different toppings now...

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Day 210: Big Mouth

Today I made a big mouth out of apple slices and mini marshmallows.








It would be better with a red delicious apple and some sort of glue to keep the teeth from slipping all over.

FYI, mini marshmallows soaked in apple juice don't taste very good.


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Day 209: Animated GIF Experiment

Today I experimented with an iPhone app to make an animated photo image. (I'm not sure if the animation will show up from here - let me know if there's no movement and I'll have to re-post from a real computer.)

I think I'll have to do some animated Short Attention Span Girls.

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Day 208: A Tribute to Dante

Today, the votes were counted and it was discovered that Dante the DragonDuck won the award for being the awesomest duck at this year's Renton River Days. My friend Mat created Dante for Wizards of the Coast. He also made last year's winning duck, Indigo the (blue) DragonDuck. (Enough links in that paragraph?)

So to honor the second annual ducky victory, I invented a drink, which shall be henceforth known as Dante's Fiery Breath of Winning.

No, that tiny red devil duckie in the picture is not Dante, although he does claim to be a distant relative. Dante's too busy touring the world and visiting Disneyland to make an appearance in my lowly photo shoot. Whatev. So tiny devil duckie took pity on me and volunteered to add some ducky goodness to my photo.

The drink is made with my homemade banana pepper vodka and Clamato juice. Kind of a twist on the Bloody Caesar. It is yummy and mouth-numbing, especially with the added banana pepper + grape tomato garnish. Yowza!

Day 207: Piece of Cake

Today's make was a piece of cake. Har har har.








Actually, it was tricky to make, especially since I can't find any of my adhesives other than scotch tape.

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Day 205: A Little Red Box

Today I dug out some of my scrapbooking paper and made a little box.


I don't know what I'll put in it yet. Maybe something shaped like Skittles. Mmmmm...Skittles.

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Day 204: Forces of Darkness, Beware!

Today, Pogo decided it wasn't fair that Boris had a Captain America shield, so he demanded that I make for him Mjolnir, Thor's hammer. It was a little tricky, but Pogo is pleased. For now.


Now the two little monkeys are ready to fight crime in 3 dimensions.



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Day 202: The Star-Spangled Man with a Plan

Boris was so excited about Captain America in 3-D that he demanded a shield of his own, for protecting himself and maybe Pogo as long as bananas aren't at stake.


When I mentioned that he didn't even get to see the movie, he yelled "Schnell!" and smacked Pogo.

Monkeys are weird.

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Day 201: Me and My Dad

Today I took my favorite picture of my dad and me (it's actually a photo of the framed photo) and altered it a bit. Feeling nostalgic, I guess.


That's the day my mom and dad moved me to college. It was a good day.

I miss you, Daddy. Every time I see this picture, I hope I make you proud.

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Day 200: A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and Mother Nature is doing a convincing job of making it look like we'll have nice weather for a while.

I used a nifty iPhone app to take an uber-panoramic photo of the world outside Leading Edge Kickboxing.

You can see it here:

http://photosynth.net/view/6e02db90-1582-4851-89a7-a83ea0485665

I'm getting better at doing these, if you don't pay attention to the edges or the sign. Just pay attention to the blue sky!


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Day 199: More Color than Yesterday

I've spent the last several days working on school projects nearly nonstop. I've hardly slept or ate, and I'm running on caffeine and Skittles at this point. So I hauled out an old box of colored pencils, a pair of scissors, and a sheet of card stock.


After about 3 minutes, this is what I had:


A pointless thing with color smashed all over it.


Coloring with fists full of colored pencils was fun, but the best part was randomly hacking up the edges.


Now I get to pick a million tiny pieces of card stock out of the carpet and then go to work.

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Day 198: A Splash of Color

Today I have taken a quick break to transform a picture of Boris the Travel Monkey and Pogo.


They think they look awfully cool and hip in black and white.

Now back to my all-night homework marathon. Maybe tomorrow's make will be something full of caffeine and sugar.

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Day 197: Christmas in July

When Carol was visiting me from Texas, I bought these adorable socks.


Unfortunately, adorable doesn't equal wearable. So today I decided to sew them all together into a scarf.


I think it looks especially good with my Happy Bunny shirt.


It's a colorful pile of sockscarf. And the stitching looks lovably homemade. On purpose. Really.


Just in time for the winter weather!

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Day 196: Red Runt Rimmer

Today I used my handy dandy new mortar and pestle to crush little heart-shaped red runt candies for use in rimming cocktail glasses.








Crushing stuff in a little marble bowl is much more fun than writing reports for school.

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Day 195: Hypnotoad (or Hpnotoad)

Today I made a drink I've been thinking about ever since I first tried Hpnotiq, which is a rather foul tasting blue liqueur. I think I've made it almost palatable by adding some Midori melon liqueur and Sprite.




It's a pretty green color too, which is always important in inventing drinks.



If you've never watched Futurama, you probably don't know what a Hypnotoad is, besides this drink. Here you go:

(I stole/borrowed this picture from here.)

Day 194: Tall, Dark, and Dirty

Today I invented a drink because I wanted a dirty martini after my interview. But a dirty martini is nothing new, so I had to make it new. I made it tall, dark, and dirty.

I started with a tall shot glass instead of a real tall glass because I wasn't looking to get wasted. I stacked the glass full of olives and added Blavod (black vodka), dry vermouth, and olive juice. The result was pretty and tasty, although Blavod isn't as smooth as Belvedere or Grey Goose.



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Day 193: Cheer Up, Emo Kid

This morning, I was feeling a bit emo about my life. Sometimes it helps to condense all my angst into 17 syllables.

Clearly, my emo haikus aren't destined for publication, and they probably aren't even suited for sharing with anyone outside of my own brain, but here they are anyway.

I'm full of feelings
But not the right ones, it seems.
Is it me or them?

I feel too different
Just like the ugly duckling
Waiting for my swans.

Good at many things
But excellent at nothing
That earns a living. 

Smart, funny, clever.
Not sexy or flirtatious.
Thus, invisible. 

When I have spare time
I never do what I should.
I play games instead. 

Hypocritical
Religion and politics.
Where's the compassion? 

I'm a great student.
That will never pay the rent.
Cardboard box with books.

And yes, I'm feeling better now. No, you don't need to worry about me or pity me or even comment on my haikus. I'm very happy with my life, but I have ups and downs like anyone, and sometimes I choose to make my Make from this kind of inspiration.

Day 192: Guinness's Spot

My kitty Guinness has a favorite place - a weird little cardboard bed/scratching board.


Today I decided to make a name tag for it to cover up that ugly label. I can't do much about all the purple without expending way more effort than I really care about.








I think she likes it. =)

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Day 191: Fancy Pasta

Today I made some pasta for lunch. It's fancy because it's made with bow-tie pasta. And sautéed mushrooms are awfully highfalutin as well.


I would've added spinach or asparagus if I'd had any, but I didn't. It's seasoned with garlic, onion, salt, pepper, parsley, and Romano cheese. Not bad for a kitchen sorely lacking in groceries of the non-Lunchable variety.

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Day 190: Peach Fuzz

Today, the peaches smelled really good at the grocery store, so I made a peachy blendy drink.


Fresh peach + vodka + peach schnapps + ice + splenda + club soda + blender. Yum.

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Day 190: Pick a Color.

Fortune tellers, cootie catchers, foldy things...whatever you call 'em, that's what I made today.








Yes, it is filled with cheesy little fortunes, but I can't very well give those away, can I?

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Day 189: Is It Real, or Is It Carolex?

Tonight at the Macaroni Grill, I drew a remarkable likeness of Carol.






Not bad for an amateur with three crayons and no drawing skills.

Here are my other masterpieces:


And Carol's:



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