My Birthday & Christmas Wish List (Updated)

*** (Updated 12/01) ***
Happy December, Everybody. Now I can officially break out my winter coat!
*** (Updated 12/04)***
Added some Adventure Time and Regular show T-shirts!  Totally Algebraic!  Yeaaahyuuuuh!
***(Updated 12/05)***
Added a couple of Super Mario Bros. items and Sailor Moon T-shirts.  Honestly, I don't care for the Sailor Moon designs so much, but nostalgia and fandom compelled me to add them.
***(Updated 12/15)***
Crossed out the items that I received for my birthday!

**********

Before I start to sound too selfish, allow me to insist that I really don't care about receiving gifts.  Every time someone gives me a gift, I always say "Oh, you didn't have to get me anything!"  And I mean it.  I'm not a very materialistic person at all, and I don't care much for accumulating possessions.  Big name, status-symbolic brands have absolutely no sway over me.  But having said that, I recognize that many people think that I'm difficult to shop for (which is hilarious because I'm easier to please than people think).  Plus both my birthday and Christmas are coming up.  And so, I've come up with a wish list to ease the burden for those people.  Here goes!

(In no particular order):

1. Watch (nothing super nice--something plastic that can take quite a beating at work.  Bonus if it's cute, funky and brightly colored)
2. Converse Chuck Taylor All-Stars (Hi-Tops) in Women's Size 8 (in Green, Orange, Yellow, Purple, Turquoise or any other bold color)
3. Sneakers (as much as I love my Chucks, they're not the greatest for exercise)
4. New wheels (and bearings) for my quad/roller skates (something just a little harder, as the ones I have are pretty grippy)
5. Normandy Crew Tee (LOVE the design!) (in XXL -- Apparently BioWare's Ts run kinda small)
6. N7 Armour Stripe Hoody (in L) (I have the men's, but this is the women's :P)
7. N7 Thermal Hoody (in XXL)
8. N7 Armour Stripe Black Tee (in XXL)
   Note: BioWare is currently having a sale.  15% off a purchase of $50 or more when you use the coupon code: JIVETURKEY2.  
9. Mass Effect 3 (The game doesn't come out until March 2012, so it'd be a pre-order)
10. Threadless gift card (I love their designs but somehow have never managed to buy anything :(  )
11. Hilarious, quirky, nerdy or well-designed T-shirts (like the ones @ Threadless :P  )
12. Joann Fabrics gift card (Seriously.  Cosplay is an expensive hobby...)
13. Target gift card
14. Copic Markers (Sketch, Set A, 72 pc set)  I obviously do not actually expect anyone to drop this kind of dough on me. 
15. Pre-Registration for ACen (with badge shipping)
16. Messenger bag or sturdy cross-body bag (nothing too large or too "nice" as this would be something I use everyday to lug all of my crap.  Ideally large enough to fit an 8.5x11 sketchbook.  Lots of pockets would be great!).
17. Funky/cute mugs
18. Cute/Funky small umbrella (the kind that can fit inside a bag--mine broke)
19. Regular Show Girls T-shirt  in XXL (freaking Juniors' sizing...)
20. Regular Show "Oooooooh!" T-shirt in Medium
21. Adventure Time T-shirts!!!  Girls/Juniors shirts should probably be 2X or 3X, guys shirts should be Medium. Any/all of the shirts are super awesome, but here are a couple of specific designs below!
1. Adventure Time Grass T-shirt  in Medium
2. Adventure Time Girls T-shirt (white w/ shoulder stripes) in 2X or 3X...  SO CUTE!
22. Sailor Moon Raglan T-shirt in 2X or 3X
23. Sailor Moon and Sailor Senshi Black T-shirt in 2X or 3X
24. Super Mario Bros. Green Turtle Shell Plushie (with sound!)
25. Super Mario Bros. Star T-shirt in Medium
26. A love letter about how freaking awesome I am  (haha, just kidding)
    
    If I think of some more, I'll be sure to update the list.

Honestly, I really didn't want to post a wishlist at all.  Generally speaking I'm big on putting a lot of thought into what to give as a gift to someone else--I try to pay a lot of attention (or at least make a mental note) when someone expresses interest in something.  I fish for more information, I redirect their attention so they don't catch on etc.  I think that the effort I put forth to try and make that person happy is worth just as much as the actual gift itself.  Plus, who doesn't like being genuinely surprised when they open up a gift (that they hopefully will enjoy)?  Unfortunately for me, it's much more likely for others to just flat out ask me what I want instead of doing the same.  And where's the fun in that?  And what the heck is the point of wrapping a gift that you already know about?

But the element of surprise aside, there is something else to it that bears much more weight for me.  When someone just comes out and asks me what I want, it comes off as though the person is saying that they don't want to put forth the effort or even the thought for me; their gift is one of mere obligation, a task they want to get done and over with as quickly and painlessly as possible.  I know that it's not necessarily the case, I really do.  Even so, it's hard not to feel somewhat dejected each and every single time someone asks me to make their lives easier by simply telling them what to buy me.

Eh well.

Wanna Roll with Us?

Here's one of the flyers I put together for my roller derby league.  We're currently recruiting new skaters, so anyone who is intrigued (or even mildly curious) about the bad-arse world of roller derby should come on by Recruitment Night--Skate with us and see what we're all about! 

We're looking for referees, non-skating officials (NSOs) and bout volunteers in addition to skaters, so men are welcome to attend as well! No prior experience is required. Feel free to ask if you have any questions!

Eatables!

Despite how sore I still am from our last derby practice (I fell on my arse...hard.  A lot.), I still managed to make today fairly productive.  Part of me regrets it only because I can't remember the last time I just sat around and watched movies all day, haha...

One of the errands I ran this morning included buying ingredients to make cheesecake!  A while back, my mom's friends brought back a ton of fruit for us from their trip to Ohio.  There was more than we could ever hope to eat before it all spoiled (and it was getting awfully close, believe me), so I was just looking for a means of using it all up.

In the end, I made 2 different kinds of cheesecake: 1 pear, and 1 lime-pawpaw.

Pear cheesecake with walnuts (on the bottom)

I'm not going to post a photo of the lime-pawpaw cheesecake because it looks like crap... :/

Both cheesecakes taste just fine, but they didn't quite set as solidly as I wanted.  And this was with me baking it twice as long as the recipe called for (there were even a couple of cracks along the top).  I'm going to make the assumption that the fruit puree to cream cheese ratio wasn't quite correct.  If only I could find my purple sweet potato cheesecake recipe...

In addition to the cheesecakes, I also made some quinoa!  Had some sitting around so I figured, why not?

Quinoa with peas, bacon and sliced almonds

I've made quinoa a number of times before, but for some weird reason, this batch was the best I've made so far!  It was so much more flavorful than others I've made, which I don't entirely understand because I didn't reduce the stock for more concentrated flavor like I normally do.  Maybe it was just the different combination of the ingredients that I used this time.

Eh well, if anyone would like the recipe, here it is!

Ingredients:
2 cups uncooked, pre-washed quinoa
1 cup sliced or slivered almonds
4 cups chicken stock
1 large, very ripe tomato, chopped into oblivion
5 large garlic cloves, finely minced (also into oblivion, unlike you like big ole chunks of garlic)
2 cups peas (I used frozen)
4 strips of bacon (chopped into whatever size pieced you'd like)
1 whole serrano chili pepper
Sea salt and black pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Combine the quinoa and the almonds in a pan over a low flame.  Stir regularly until the almonds and quinoa are slightly browned.  Transfer to a pot (or in my case, the rice cooker)
2. Cook the chopped bacon in the pan.  Once it's done, add the chicken stock to the pan as well.  Stir well to make sure you scrape up all the little browned bits (aka the deliciously fatty flavor, bwah ha ha).
3. After you've brought the stock to a simmer, combine it with the almonds and quinoa in the pot.  Add the tomatoes, garlic, peas and the serrano chili pepper.  Don't chop up the serrano chili pepper until you know you can take the heat >;)
4. Stir until evenly mixed, add salt and pepper to taste.
5. If you're using a rice cooker like I did, just set it like you would for regular, white rice.  If you're preparing this on the stove, bring the pot to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.  Cook until the quinoa is tender, but still "chewy."  The little white tendril thingies on the grains should be visible. 
   
   Or you can just follow whatever directions are on the quinoa packaging :)
6. Once the quinoa is done, don't forget to remove the serrano pepper!  An unsuspecting diner who bites down on that with either love you or hate you.  I'm guessing hate...haha.

Homemade Candy Skulls!

The DuPage Derby Dames Halloween Bowl-A-Rama Fundraiser is this Sunday night!  My original plan was to contribute to both the craft table and the bake sale, but because of family-related insanity, I'm afraid I only had enough time to commit to one :(  I already bought all of my supplies for making Halloween-themed chocolate-covered pretzel rods, so the bake sale won out.

I'll be spending all day tomorrow making the pretzel rods and some chocolate lollies, but I spent the last couple of nights making another ghoulish-looking treat to accompany them:  Candy skulls!

Deliciously Gruesome!

1 white (vanilla), 1 red (also vanilla) and 1 chocolate!

Each skull is about the size of a baseball, if not a little larger.

The skulls are completely 3-dimensional and entirely edible.  And, if you crack the skulls open, you'll find that their brain cavities are infested with gummy worms.  Bwah ha ha ha!  >:P

I may or may not be a disturbed individual...

In case anyone is wondering about the process, I basically just partially filled a store-bought mold with enough Wilton's brand candy melts to coat the surface of the mold--I didn't want to fill the mold entirely because I wanted to have a hollow cavity to fill with gummy worms.  After the skull "shells" hardened in the freezer, I punched holes in the eye sockets and slipped a gummy worm through.  I crammed a fist full of worms in one of the skull halves and then used more melted candy to cement the front and back halves of the skulls together.

At this point, the skulls were really smooth and shiny (except for around the "seam").  It was pretty, but I wanted the skulls to have more of an aged or antiqued look to them.  In order to achieve this, I smeared small amounts of the chocolate melts all over the skulls to emulate the look of dirt and decay. 

I only made 4 for the fundraiser (and one of them might be raffled off as a prize).  So, if you want to get your hands on one, you'll have to stop by!

Or you can always commission one from me...  But you really ought to come to the fundraiser, too! ;)

DuPage Derby Dames Halloween Bowl-A-Rama Fundraiser (*gaspsforair*)

I was tasked with working on a flyer for The DuPage Derby Dames Halloween Bowl-A-Rama Fundraiser.  Not having a lot of hi-res photos to work with, my natural inclination was to make a drawing for it.

And so I did :)

Remember, she's holding a bowling ball because the fundraiser is a bowling event!
There are no balls in roller derby otherwise...unless you're a coach or ref...HAHAHA
(Oh yeah, totally went there) :P

As you can see, this is merely the girl I drew for the flyer.  If you want to see the flyer itself, stop on by the DuPage Derby Dames website or check out the Facebook page!

2 More Photomatics - Goodbye and Good Luck!

Here are the second and third in the MS-SOS mixer photomatic series.  Once again, these feature photographs taken by Bruce "McMoosie" Berna.  

She's got a thunderous roar and speed like lightning!
#92 - It's Stormin' Stella!

She's so dangerous even her name is a weapon >:D
#27 - Lady Arsenal!

Unfortunately for us, Stella, Lady Arsenal and Legal Tenderizer all had to make the decision to leave The Dames recently.  I hope these photomatics will be considered appropriate parting gifts!  Ladies, I'm glad that I had the chance to skate by your side (or against you, as the case was at the mixer :P).  Good luck in all that you do!  You all be missed!

Legal Tenderizer Photomatic

Remember how I said I had more derby-related projects I wanted to work on?  Well, here's one of them!
 

If she doesn't get you in the courtroom, she'll get you on the track!
Skating as #55, it's Legal Tenderizer!

This is the first in a small series of relatively simple photomatics I'm putting together using McMoosie's photos from the MS-SOS mixer.  It's basically just an animated GIF with a slightly snazzier sounding name :)  

More to come!