Monday Mani - Aquas

As you can tell, I prettied this one up, but I also color-corrected so the nail polish looks true to life. 

This is NYC Tudor City Teal with Pure Ice Oh Baby all over thumb and ring finger, and Confetti Ice Ice Baby on the tips of the accents.

What're you wearing this week?

Gluten Free Me - Day 6

It's still too early to tell, overall, but I think I'm doing well. I feel less puffy already, and my cravings for sugar and starchy things are starting to lessen--I gave in and had a candy bar the other day and it was way too sweet and then I felt sort of queasy for hours, and this was just a Three Musketeers, something I eat all the time because it's lower in calories than other candy bars and doesn't have HFCS, which I try to avoid anyway. I'm wondering after that if it's sugar that's the problem, but that will take a doctor to check so I'll add it to the list of things to talk to him about.

I really like the Three Ingredient Pancakes. I made another batch of the banana variety with riper bananas, and I added more cinnamon and just a tablespoon of brown sugar for a double recipe, added flax meal, and cooked them in a muffin tin, and they came out lovely. I have them sitting on the counter so when I'm feeling peckish, I see them and remember to eat them. I'm not feeling hugely peckish though. Not like when I go on a typical diet, and I'm hungry all the time. I'm hardly snacking at all!

Slightly in TMI territory, I noticed this morning that there was almost no gas in my intestines--I hadn't even realized how much I burped and rumbled before, and now that's almost all gone! In less than a week!

The only time it's been hard, this week, is when mom made chocolate-chip muffins and I couldn't have any! I think the next batch of GF-pancakes is gonna have chocolate chips.

Are any of you on a new diet? How're you doing? Or, did you go GF? Any advice?

Tuesday Tattoo Inspiration - Abstract back thing

Another one from Pinterest that's just a picture with no link, but this one is titled "Abstract by Amanda Wachob", so I found this link: her personal website.

This is just gorgeous. It's geometrics and loose, painterly lines and watercolor-y color. I think maybe something like this was what I was going for when I got my back tattoo, but I didn't know at the time that things like this existed. Maybe I'll have it redone more like this!

Top Ten Tuesday - Reasons why cats are awesome

1. They can just flop over wherever they're standing and take a nap, and people think that's cute
2. They're easily amused by things like laser pointers and a fly in the room
3. Like Jupiter, they put out more heat than they absorb
4. They purr at the exact frequency that helps bones heal and keeps them strong in old age
5. Look at those little paws!
6. No matter how they land, they always totally meant to do that
7. They're easily befuddled and therefore very entertaining
8. They let us pet their soft-soft fur
9. They used to be gods
10. They're essentially the same as a Tiger, but much more portable

Problems I have with Apple devices

I finally have an iphone, and I love it, but every now and again, I run into these issues--and they're the same issues I had with my iPad and my various iPods, and it's annoying.

1. The design is amazing, but it leaves it so that there's no way to upgrade--what I wouldn't do for an SD slot. Or even, like, a well-designed apple-alternative to SD even.

2. You ALWAYS need to upgrade. -- Everything is outdated almost instantly, and there's always the new version, and so you're always needing to get the new version, which is fine if you have piles of funds and really crap if you're poor like me.

3. A lot of the upgrades aren't really all that nifty, which means you're basically paying a whole lot of money for something that's highly disposable, but not made at all of disposable, reusable, or otherwise thoughtful materials. It looks great, and it's meant to be tossed or passed down the tech stream in, like, four minutes.

4. The whole backup thing only really works smoothly if you have an Apple computer, which makes it, like, two or more times as expensive as a Windows PC, with NOTHING on it when you get it. This, here, has been a burr under my saddle since the 90s when I got my first computer. It always comes down to the cost, and I can never afford an Apple.

5. Apple is super-protective of their patents, so there's not really any comparable competitor tech, though it's better than it was--it's like extortion: if you want this phone, you have to buy it at these crazy prices, mwahahaha.

If they just would bend a little--give us a way to get more memory on our devices without having to buy a whole new device, primarily, and give us something that costs less if they're going to insist on making it buy-new-to-get-better, I'd be 100% happy with my iPhone. I hate juggling space. I just hate it. And the fact that there's no way to get more space cheaply and simply just totally annoys me.

How about you? Do you use an iPhone? What are your peeves?

Gluten Free Me - Day 1

Breakfast today was the famous / ubiquitous GF banana pancakes! It was super easy: mash up one banana, mix well with two eggs, add cinnamon, a half teaspoon baking powder, and four tablespoons quick oats and cook like any other pancakes!

As you can see, they came out browner than a regular pancakes, too, and they don't really have exactly a pancake texture, but it's close--remarkably close! And it's tasty, too! This recipe made six (well, five and a weensie one) pancakes and I ate three for breakfast and three for afternoon tea*, both times with a light smear of peanut butter--probably a tbsp total, each time.

They are a little bland; they'd probably had more flavor naturally if my banana was, like, two days riper and if my eggs were free-range and farm-raised and therefore already had more flavor, but those are expensive eggs. I think I'll add a pinch of salt, more cinnamon and maybe just a teaspoon of brown sugar next time.

And this recipe is so simple it feels like it should be wildly customizable-- I want to try it with other fruits instead of bananas, with other grains or none at all, with peanut butter inside or Nutella or almond butter, with a scoop of cocoa, with nuts... 

This is exactly the sort of recipe I love--one so easy it's more of a method than a real recipe and therefore way open for modification. And it's delicious!

First Attempt at GF Cooking = Rousing Success

You guys, this was the best thing I've had in ages. I haven't officially started the Plan until tomorrow, but I wanted to have sort of a dry run, to see if it's as easy as I want it to be--and this was the result:

And it was so good. I mean, I've never fried a tomato OR poached an egg, and both came out exactly how I wanted them to! How often does that happen? Not often, lemme tell you.

Here's what I did:

- While the water was warming up for the egg, I dry-pan-toasted two all-corn tortillas until they had crispy brown bits. When they came out, I spread each one with a little recaito.*

- About this time, the water was at a low simmer, so I made a whirlpool in it and dropped the egg in**, and let it just cook without messing with it for a few.

- When the pan from the tortillas was free, I threw in maybe a tablespoon of olive oil and fried the tomatoes with salt, pepper and oregano until they looked caramelized.I just thick-sliced a whole tomato because I didn't have any plastic wrap to save an uncooked half.

- About halfway through cooking the toms, I pulled the egg out and let it sit in the slotted spoon over the warm water while I finished.

- Then I topped the tortillas with the tomatoes and then the egg, threw a little more salt, pepper and oregano on it, took these pictures, and then literally cleaned my plate in about four minutes.

How had I lived all my life without this? It's so simple, it's fabulous, and it doesn't have a fried egg, which I don't like!

I made it sort of small because I wasn't sure how it'd turn out and if I'd like it, but it was so delicious I wish I'd made double the amount! I think next time I'm going to sautée some peppers and onions for between the tortillas, and maybe add some sour cream or a white-cheese crumble, but that all would just be gravy--this was damned near perfect as is!

Notice where I literally cleaned my plate.

Whether I stay GF or not, this is staying in my rotation.

Notes:

* If you don't know about recaito, you've been seriously missing out. It's a Hispanic wet seasoning mix of garlic, cilantro and piles of other stuff and it makes everything better.

** The second egg, since the first one was dumped out on the counter when I dropped the recaito knife into it and then had to clean it up. You know what's not easy to clean off a counter? Spilled egg! It wobbles and slides and doesn't absorb. Which is why the second tortilla was a little over-toasted. But that just makes it taste more like delicious delicious corn!

Font Friday - Mobile's Font (because I didn't name it first)

Another one of my own fonts!

You can get it here, at 2tff.

Wednesday Weigh In - 169.5

Being sick has messed up any headway I made, and when I was at the doctor, I had my blood tested; he says my thyroid is fine! Which is good news, but also troubling news, because I haven't been able to lose weight, and I still have all the symptoms of thyroid under-functioning.

So now I'm faced with a string of future tests to see if there is something else wrong with me and what that something is. But that coats money I don't have, so in going to get super serious with my diet. I'm going to see if all of it is a reaction to something, so I'm going to run some experiments--a month without wheat, a month without dairy, etc, and see if any of that helps.

I'm also going to keep careful records for my doctor (and I'll probably post the worksheets I make up for myself here or sell them in the Shop*). And I'll continue to talk about it periodically here on the blog, too, what works and what doesn't, how I feel, etc.

It's just frustrating, working so hard and not having any of it work. I'm just hoping I don't have some weird chronic thing that won't show up until the last and most expensive test!

Top Ten Tuesday - Nonessential things I'd spend money on if I had money

1. One of those full-room climby-things for Ninja
2. Full-body hair lasering
3. A personal hair stylist
4. A year-long trip around the world
5. An orchard with a selection of different fruits to eat
6. Weekly massages and spa days
7. A 1969 black Chevy Impala
8. A housekeeper, so I don't have to do it myself and therefore it won't get forgotten
9. A building to stock as my personal lending library
10. A computer that is top-of-the-line instead of second-to-bottom-of-the-line

Tuesday Tattoo Inspiration - Hello Sweetie in circular Gallifreyan

Found on Pinterest without a source, but I love it! I love circular tattoos anyway, and this one has a pretty pattern and a secret geeky meaning!

Top Ten Tuesday - The most likable characters in Game of Thrones Season 1

Which I'm rewatching late at night when I can't sleep. Which is fairly common.

1. Arya
2. Syrio Forell
3. Dany
4. Nymeria
5. Tyrion Lannister
6. Jame Lannister
7. Jon Snow
8. Rennly
9. Bran
10. Samwell Tarly

Better Living Through Better Thinking - Neighborland

Neighborland:

This is an idea I just love: a social network site focused solely on improving the lives of people in your own area by bringing attention to the stuff that needs doing. It's about as grass-roots as you can get: the site puts together all the people who locate an issue in their town, and then you go through and vote on other stuff people have noticed and had something to say about that town, and when things reach critical mass, they help figure out how to make it so.

It's brilliant. We need this to be active everywhere--a sort of community board for the digital age.

'via Blog this'

Creativity - 10 Paradoxical Traits Of Creative People | Fast Company | business + innovation

10 Paradoxical Traits Of Creative People | Fast Company | business + innovation:

"10 PARADOXICAL TRAITS OF CREATIVE PEOPLE: CREATIVE PEOPLE ARE HUMBLE AND PROUD. CREATIVE PEOPLE TEND TO BE BOTH EXTROVERTED AND INTROVERTED. CREATIVE PEOPLE ARE REBELLIOUS AND CONSERVATIVE. HOW CREATIVE ARE YOU?"

'via Blog this'

Better Living Through Better Thinking - Looking For Love Again: Abandoned Buildings That Ask Cities For Renewal | Co.Exist | ideas + impact

Looking For Love Again: Abandoned Buildings That Ask Cities For Renewal | Co.Exist | ideas + impact:


What a fantastic idea for what to do with abandoned buildings: ask the people who live with it and walk past it every single day! This is democracy at work, not big sweeping governmental things.

'via Blog this'

Better Living Through Better Thinking - 50 Creative Ideas To Make Better Cities, Presented On Gorgeously Designed Posters | Co.Exist | ideas + impact

50 Creative Ideas To Make Better Cities, Presented On Gorgeously Designed Posters | Co.Exist | ideas + impact:


This is an awesome collection of ideas, and some of them are so common-sense that there's no excuse for not having done them yet. I hope some of the new cities that are just building up now, and some of the old cities that are trying to remake themselves look at this list and take a few of the ideas to heart!

'via Blog this'

Natural Remedies For Sleeplessness

I have a lot of trouble sleeping. I've always been a light sleeper, and I think it's only gotten worse since I started living with another insomniac and a handful of people with a lot of different schedules. Here's some of the things I've found that help with sleeping.

1. Chamomile tea
I'm super-susceptible to whatever chemical it is in chamomile that makes you drowsy; this actually works better for me than some sleeping pills, and doesn't leave me groggy or addicted. It is, however, related to ragweed, so I avoid it when my allergies are acting up really badly, since it can make it actually harder to sleep while simultaneously making me so sleepy I want to even more!

2. Avoid caffeine
When I worked in that coffee shop many moons ago, I drank so much coffee. I think it damaged my system a little, I drank so much. I'm now really sensitive to caffeine, and so I gave up tea at dinner, and I do sleep better than I did before. I still drink whole pots of tea in the morning and afternoon, but I stick mostly to green and oolong, which have relatively small amounts of caffeine. In the evenings, I switch to decaf, or to herbals. Mostly, though, I drink water.

I avoid coffee all together unless there's a specific reason I need to be up--like when I'm at conferences or something. Even then, I don't drink more than six or eight ounces--one small cup. I don't drink energy drinks at all. They're so loaded with the caff that I feel like I'm going to have a heart attack when I drink them, and most of them taste bad.

And at that level, the caffeine becomes a trigger for panic attacks, which I don't need and am also managing, so there's one more reason to avoid it.

3. Stop eating at night
I'm not always good at this, but I try to eat a nice filling dinner, and then stop eating. It's easier to sleep when I'm not digesting. I'm naturally a late eater; I get hungry around eight at night more than I do at six, so I'm usually stopping eating at around nine. That gives me two hours before midnight, when I usually go to bed, and it seems to work for me!

4. Have a routine
It really is easier to sleep when your mind and body know it's time to sleep. I don't work past dinner unless I really can't avoid it--most things can be worked on the next day. I wash my face and do all the lotioning and everything maybe a half hour or and hour before bed. I try not to watch anything too upsetting close to when I go to sleep.

When it's bedtime, I'll read if I'm not ready to sleep yet, but I do it in bed, with the lights as low as my poor eyeballs will allow it to be. I sleep in the dark, with the blinds drawn so outside light doesn't get too much overnight when I'm meant to be asleep.

I try to go to bed at the same time, or near the same time every day. I try to wake up at the same time every day. I'm not good at either of those things, but I try!

5. Tire yourself out during the day
I think a lot of this modern plague of sleeplessness is because so many of us do the sort of work that's mentally exhausting, but doesn't do anything for the energy in the body. So when you're ready to sleep, you really want to and you really need it, but your muscles haven't had any effort and don't want to settle down, making you restless and unable to turn off.

I hate to be one of those people, but exercise really does fix that. So does walking around all day, even if all you're doing is running errands. So does having fun--dancing or shopping or going to a show or whatever. The point is that everyone has a lingering inner four-year-old and that four-year-old needs to be knackered before he'll sleep. So make sure you tire yourself out so that you can sleep when you need to!

---
Do any of you have natural cures, remedies, treatments or tips for sleeplessness? Share in the comments!

Font Friday - Hey2

I made this one myself! I'm pretty pleased with how it came out, too, so I wanted to share it!

You can get it here, at 2tff.

Wednesday Weigh In - 167.8 lbs!

Still unflattering, but over a lb down from last week, and considering that I've been sick the last three days and trying to finish a novel under deadline, and so haven't been exercising as much as usual. Maybe stress burns calories?

Anyway, still down on the chart, so still good!

Any of you trying to lose weight? How're you doing?

Monday Mani - Fallness

 

It's a bit of a mess, but it's gorgeous. The pictures barely do it credit, and it was sort of annoying trying to get a good one! The Nail Prisms Amber Ruby flashes between deep red and coppery orange, sometimes going just short of gold. The Luxe Effects flakie top coat adds green to the mix on the thumb and ring finger. 

But it took forever to dry and stayed easily dentable on all nails, which means this morning they were all lined from the sheets. If anything was an argument to shell out for a good quick dry top coat, this stuff is!