Chimera

It's been awhile since I blogged on any sort of regular schedule. These days blogging is more of a procrastination from my normal life. 

Anyways, I haven't done a "reader of the week" in ages. 

SO!! The reader of the MONTH is.....

*drum roll*

Laura!

I had a bit of a hard time piecing together what she really looks like from her many Facebook profile pictures, but I think I have captured her pretty well :D

Sushi Tutorial

HOMEMADE SUSHI PHOTO-BLOG!

Step 1: Steam rice.

If you have a legit recipe it might tell you some specific instructions or type of rice, but I just used normal white rice.

Step 2: Purchase dried/roasted seaweed

Is it weird that I randomly had this in my cupboard?

Step 3: Get a rolling mat

This one is made out of bamboo sticks, but you could get creative and maybe use a plastic placemat or something. You might notice that I wrapped it in saran wrap, this is also a good idea!

Step 4: Assemble Sushi ingredients

Here you can see I found crab sticks (faux crab). I don't actually trust myself with real raw fish without some sort of medic on hand...

Step 5: Assemble other....things

I didn't have much to work with so I dug through the fridge and found other foods you can eat raw.

Here you can see red onion, mushroom, hard boiled egg, lettuce, ham, and bbq sauce. I could also suggest mayonnaise or teriyaki sauce. 

Other easy ingredients are cucumber, avacado and shrimp!

Step 6: Sushi time!

Spread your rice onto your seaweed wrap. Make sure to compact it well.  You can either do this rice first then seaweed, or seaweed then rice, depending on which you want on the outside of the roll

**Safety tip: Better NOT to do this when the rice is directly out of the steamer**

Step 7: Add ingredients

Lay your filling lengthwise along the wrap. I discovered this it is better to have all of the ingredients on one end of the wrap instead of all in the middle as shown.

Step 8: Stop drop and ROLL!



Actually, just roll.

Step 9: Slice!

The end pieces usually end up messy, but if you've rolled it tight enough you should be able to make good cuts with a sharp knife.

Step 9: EAT!

Here is my finished product. I really like the crab sushi, and my favourite roll was the one with rice on the outside and was filled with crab, lettuce and mayo.









Let me know if you like these photoblogs or have any suggestions for do-it-yourself tutorials.

The Fox

I really believe that there is someone out there for everyone.

Some call it "true love" and some may call it fate. 

Today I think I found my true love, but much too late.

His name is Eric Carr, and he died 20 years ago on November 24, 1991. For a short period he was the drummer for the band KISS, and his nickname was the Fox. 

Here is some footage he filmed while recovering in the hospital after open heart surgery:

So is my tragic life. He suffered from a brain hemorrhage and died 7 months later, coincidentally on the same day as Freddie Mercury.

I suppose it's for the best since people would scorn our love if he was still alive. HEY IT'S ONLY 40 YEARS DIFFERENCE!!

Sexual Orientation

 

Let's begin this blog with a couple definitions. 

sex·u·al·i·tynoun/ˌsekSHo͞oˈalitē/

1. Capacity for sexual feelings.

2. A person's sexual orientation or preference.

gay adj  /gā/

 

1. Happily excited 

2. Keenly alive and exuberant : having or inducing high spirits 
 

For some reason, we use the word "gay" incorrectly to label things in a negative manner such as, "That's so gay". Why do you think such a happy word would mean anything negative? If you think it out....You are either saying that the event in question is gleeful, or that it's homosexual. What is negative about either option?

Somewhere along the line the term "gay" became associated with "sexual looseness" as early as the 1600's.  In the 1800's a brothel could be referred to as a "gay house" as the term leaned towards a promiscuous meaning. The association with homosexuality began in the 1863 when Amer.Eng. used the term gay for "young hobo," one who is new on the road, also one who sometimes does jobs. It was noted that homosexual practices were more common in this group. Today it is used mostly as a label for sexuality. Positive or negative, it depends on your perspective

I think most of the world views sexual preference as this:

You are either straight, or gay. For a long time this was widely accepted.  A newer version of this looks like this:

 This allows for an additional category of "bisexual". For instance, Katy Perry who "kissed a girl and liked it" and yet married a man, she isn't exactly straight or gay so she can be classified as bisexual.

I don't really think the human psyche really works that way.  I believe it is more like this:

Like most biological equations, there is no right or wrong answer, but more of a gradient. People are fluid and every-changing so it is impossible to stick them into a specific category. Perhaps you have sex with someone of the opposite sex, but still enjoy looking at someone of the same sex. This might put you in the dark blue region. Reverse that and you might be more yellow/green. 

My mother asked me one day if I was gay because I came home with a pride flag. I said no. But is there some mathematical equation to figure out what I am?

Using that formula I think I'm about 22.7% gay. Who knew?

SICK

 I just got home from Nicaragua.

My month long stint was amazing. We worked with kids, teaching them English and learning Spanish in return, and we volunteered at Project Bonafide.

One day in particular was very memorable.

I spent one entire day entirely bed-ridden, sick with some sort of flu.

I woke early in the morning before the sun has risen. My stomach hurt something fierce and it seemed... swollen.

When I pressed on my gut, I suddenly realized.....I need to get to the bathroom ASAP.

Now, in Nicaragua at our homestay in the village of Balgue the word "bathroom" is very loosely used. What you may consider a bathroom would include porcelain facilities, silver faucets and fluffy towels.

This was very much not the case.

The "bathroom" was located outside of the house and consisted of a shabby outhouse containing a rough cube of cement with a hole in which to do your business. The baby goat accompaniment comes complimentary.

I grabbed my flashlight and hurried out to the bathroom, clutching my stomach. 

I tore open the door, sat down, and...well.... I'll spare you the gorey details. 

What I will tell you instead is that I felt like a Mr.Freeze (you know those sweet frozen treats) that someone grabbed around the middle and squeezed until both ends burst simultaneously.

And really, in this "bathroom" there were no such facilities to accommodate both ends of me erupting at the same time.

During my first visit I was able to clamp my hand over my mouth long enough, my cheeks expanded to their maximum with vomit which caused me to want to vomit even more.

I managed to walk back to my bedroom and pass out for an hour or so....

My second visit was not so successful. I attempted the first technique of clamping my mouth shut and instead vomited into my hands. I sat for a full minute with liquid seeping between my fingers until I decided to just drop it on the floor.

This time on my return trip the family had woken up and I had to tearfully explain in broken Spanish and gesturing that I had blown chunks all over their bathroom floor.

I slept for a few more hours, waking in between to swallow some water and gastrolyte...and a few nibbles from a granola bar. I woke with a start around 1:00 and rushed outside again, startling the very fat pig into running away.

During my third excursion I was DETERMINED not to dirty their freshly cleaned floor again.

I firmly welded my hand to my mouth, and managed to vomit forcefully (and painfully) through my nose. It splattered all over the wall, and in my gasp of horror I let loose the rest of my snack.

Now let me tell you for the record, it is absolutely NOT a good idea to vomit through your nose. If you've ever experienced the bad breath that accompanies being violently sick you would not want that smell any closer to your nose (nevermind THROUGH it).

By the end of the day I was able to force down some chicken noodle soup ( my host family made it especially because of my sickness) and I managed to survive to work again the next day.

Safely back in Canada!

AND of course it is FRIDAY. This week's Constant Reader is Chad, who sent me an encouraging message about the blog while I was away.

Thanks so much Chad, I love getting feedback!

Remember y'all that I pick a Constant Reader once a week based on people that comment, LIKE, FOLLOW, or message me about the blog.

Popularity

I get really excited every day to check how many hits my blog has.

My favourite thing to check is this graph. I especially like seeing it peak when I posted something new, which tells me that people are here, (hopefully reading) due to my constant advertising and word-of-mouth. I may be addicted to this little graph.

Also I am super happy to announce that I am finally over the 1000 mark!

Right now I'm probably ankle deep in a Nicaraguan field, thinking about how many hits I've gotten in my absence. I'm guessing by the time I get back it will be roughly 1500, so thanks for visiting and helping me get up there.

I don't think I will ever have enough popularity to actually profit from this blog. There is a way I can put adds on the page, but I only get paid if people actually click them. And really, If you guys are anything like me, it would be a waste of time.

I look up to Allie, author of Hyperbole and a Half. She writes blogs with funny pictures, so you might think I'm copying her.


Okay I might be slightly copying her, but it really merges two things I enjoy so....

So anyways I have decided that my measurement of popularity is having fans that I don't personally know. Therefore, I picked this week's Reader of the Week to be someone entirely new. (See? Equal opportunities!)




The Reader of the Week is Olivia. She is one of the first people to LIKE us on Facebook. Hope you can forgive me for borrowing you profile picture, but hope you will spread the word about my humble blog! :)


Look forward to a brand NEW blog NEXT Friday about my awesome travels!

And please forgive the lack of pictures in this one, I wrote it while packing.

Music

I think I was born into the wrong era. Musically at least.
 
I would give my left nut to go to Woodstock.  Figuratively speaking. (I wouldn't actually give away a testicle for any reason)

I like music that you can hear the instruments, and they take some sort of talent to play.

For instance, drums. Any idiot with an index finger can turn on a beat machine but it takes some real talent to play the drums. They are the least appreciated of the musicians (case and point, Ringo Star) but they keep the beat, set the tone, and are frankly the loudest of the whole band.

Then the guitar. There have been some influential guitarists in my life, and each have their own style. For instance Carlos Santana with his soulful melodies. His song Europa (Earth's Cry, Heaven's Smile) brings me to tears without a single word.



I'm not against any sort of music in particular, but I prefer the true form as opposed to the auto-tuned and synthetic music. However, when the mood hits me, I do love dancing to it at the bar. Somehow power ballads just don't have the right beat for grinding.







This week's Reader of the Week is Emily, who started me on this blog and has left the most comments! She also has a great blog of her own here.

Also Happy 20th post!