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July 13th, 2009
canissum
 | 10:27 am - Lyme Disease
Went to the doctor's office last Wednesday to see why I had been so sick for three weeks. We both agreed it probably wasn't swine flu. Then he had me take every test he could think of, including a chest x-ray and a blood culture. I got blood taken out of both arms that day. So Friday comes along and I get a call from my doctor. Turns out the preliminary test for lyme disease came out positive. I was hoping we'd taken care of that. The one tick byte that I know of happened on April 24. That's 2-1/2 months ago. I had preventative dose of antibiotics back then that I'd hoped would take care of that. Ah well. If I have lyme disease, then I have lyme disease. I just hope these antibiotics seriously kick it's butt. I can't afford to be this tired for much longer.
Current Mood: tired, hopeful
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avaaricious
 | 12:22 am - Most awesome thing
happened today!
I got Smojo out of his pen for photos. When I walked out into the photo area, he started to bellow and call out like the male koalas do to females. I've seen him do it before when someone was holding him, and it looks totally awesome, I'd so wanted to experience it.
SO i'm holding him, and he's making these funny guttural sounds, and it's freaking AWESomE. his whole body moves and spasms a little, like he's got the hiccups. His head moves around and i feel way more of the noise than i actually hear.
And... way cool.
meanwhile, the people meant to be getting a photo (a middle eastern girl and her mother) freaked out and wouldn't hold him after, demanding another koala. Not possible. The girl kept being stupid and pulling away and yelling whenever smojo tried to step on so they ended up getting a refund. Just.. i know you're unsure, but don't fuck with my koala, dude. if I tell you not to pull away, you put yourself in danger because you put HIM in danger. aaaanyway.
FYI, smojo was doing this, only not quite so loud:
i also got my camera straps from blackrapid today, fiddly, but good i think!
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haikujaguar
 | 10:00 am - Jacque Torres's Hibernating Cookies
One of my more unfortunate hobbies is baking, and in particular I am always questing for the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe. Even when I think I've found the best, I can't resist a new one if it intrigues. I've been baking since I was a kid so you can only imagine how many chocolate chip cookie recipes I've been through in my life.
I kept running into mentions of the 36-Hour Chocolate Chip Cookies and I couldn't help but wonder about them. Cake flour? Bread flour? A 36-hour rest? How enigmatic! How finicky! I had to try it! Here's how it stacked up:
General
This is what store-bought cookies should taste like, the ones that look so pretty in the case and taste like cardboard. The cookies bake very tender but tall... but also chewy. This is not a combination of things I've ever observed in another cookie recipe. You bite into them and get a toothsome mouthful, but as you chew, the texture is silky. Fascinating! I like soft cookies, but if you bake them longer, they are delightfully crisp while still having a significant body... none of that biting into a paper-thin cookie and having it shatter. These give you something for your teeth to bite through while still being crispy.
Pros
• The dough is very tasty (is this a pro or a con?).
• The baked cookies freeze adequately, but don't microwave them; let them thaw on their own, otherwise you get weird temperature differentials.
Cons
• You have to plan to make these in advance, so they're not good for on-the-spot dessert-making.
• The recipe calls for really hard-to-find chocolate pieces; I live next to a chocolate specialty store and even I had trouble with it. However, the Ghirardelli bittersweet chips are flatter and larger than average chocolate chips and they're easier to find; I find them an adequate substitute.
• Cake flour is very fine, and sifting it made me wish for a face mask. o_O
I later discovered that these cookies were developed by Jaques Torres, which I suppose makes it no surprise they're so good. I find it unfortunate that I like them, though, because they're a lot of trouble and even more temptation (I'm one of those dough-eating bakers... finished baked goods aren't anywhere near as compelling). But they're definitely worth trying if you're into chocolate chip cookies.
Bonus: My daughter gave them two thumbs up. :)
Stardancer Home.
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girl_gamers
[alistaere]
 | 08:49 am - gogamer.com?
Buh sorry if anything like this has been posted recently, but I'm pretty sure it hasn't.
ANYWAY, yesterday I found the Luminous Arc 2 "pack" or whatever (comes with the game, CD soundtrack, and art book) for only 20 bucks on gogamer.com. It seems almost too good to be true, so I was wondering if anyone else has bought anything from this website and if you thought they were a good place to buy from, etc.
Thanks! : >
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moocards
 | 02:35 pm - Lights, webcams, action!
For anyone wanting to enter our MOOvie competition and bag themselves a bunch of prizes (including a nice Flip Mino HD, from Firebox), now's the time to get out of that director's chair and start shouting 'ACTION!' ( More... )
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/growf/smileys/smile.gif) hopeful
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girl_gamers
[ladyelysium]
 | 02:31 pm - An Interview with Johnny Minkley
I had the chance to poke Johnny Minkley's brain about his work, his favourite games and the best way to become a gaming journalist! For those who aren't aware of who he is (probably most non-UKers), Johnny is an award-winning games expert who runs his own show (Eurogamer TV), has a monthly radio slot as the resident games expert on Radio 1 and an extensive history writing, reviewing and interviewing big names!
The interview can be found here!
I hope you enjoy :]
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/moonsis/stars/yellow/singing_sy.gif) chipper
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haikujaguar
| 07:47 am - Dairy-Free Monday
Extra Picture From Yesterday
It appears this morning we're going to the grocery for breakfast! Thank you, Power Company.
Word of the Day
fecund, adj 1: fruitful in offspring or vegetation : prolific 2: intellectually productive or inventive to a marked degree
I have always loved this word.
Baby at 22 Months
...a couple of days ago, when she had her strange 2-day cold (allergies, maybe?), I was balancing her on one thigh and trying to get a saline spray prepared; for those of you who haven't had small kids, when they get stuffy noses you have to drip/spray saline into them and then use a specialized squeegee thing to suck the mucus out, because they don't know how to blow their own noses yet. But anyway, I was trying to manhandle this and a 32-pound kid when she reached over and took the spray from my hand, inserted the nozzle into her own nostril and murmured, "skweeez" and tried to give it a good squeeze.
I admit I gaped rather than leaping on this opportunity. But the next time she did it, I pressed on the bottle too and we got her nose irrigated together. She did the other side on her own too.
It's these little moments where she masters a completely new and often bizarre human skill that are the most astonishing, somehow.
Current Plans
Working on a card painting scaffold (this one's going to take some planning). I'm now done with all my card readings (that I know of!), so I'm free to do more of those. Also, researching and writing tomorrow's Spots. I am thinking of squeezing another hour out of my schedule to go to the gym, but I'm not sure I'll be doing extra Spots. I did pick up a book (about Marine boot camp) and a sample of another (an autobiography of the top Marine sniper) and those are proving very insightful. Oh, and before I forget, I'm working on a recipe review for you folks.
Elsewhere
• Aquanotes. I admit I am passing tempted by these. -_-
• Trent Reznor's Advice to New Musicians. He thinks social media is important.
Monday's Quote of the Week
Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.—Colin Powell
(There are so many awesome things about this quote that I just giggle with glee typing it.)
Stardancer Home.
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