Oh man. Does anyone remember my W(aL)D email shenanigans from a decade ago?
One such adventure was writing to Totino’s to ask if they had recommendations for microwaving more than 6 at a time. They wrote back. I asked them if I needed to arrange the rolls like wagon wheel spokes or like wagons on the Oregon Trail circling for protection. I even got some 35¢ coupons that I considered as a research grant.
Have you noticed pizza roll cooking instructions lately?
I won!Information for the people!Research to benefit the masses!
Really though. This brings up a new series of questions.
When did just arranging in “a single layer become” acceptable? Who does Totino’s think they are discarding the time-honored tradition of microwaving things in a circle? Did we learn nothing from our ancestors at Stonehenge? Did they consult the Softstix team over at SuperPretzel, or just roll forward (pun still intended) with wild abandon? How do you summon the flavor spirits without the ceremonial circle?
Has the Fibonacci spiral ever been tested as a cooking pattern? Can Ci3 make me a plate specifically for microwaving pizza rolls and little cheese-filled pretzels with the Fibonacci spiral on it?
Well. They’re not all Halloween themed. But they’re all mazes. I messed around with some of them in PicsArt and Instagram.
Try a few. Get the solutions on your social media of choice. Tag me in it. I’m always @AiXeLsyD13 unless someone is being a butthole and takes it first for some reason even though it’s my handle across all platforms.
I wish I could follow that advice. Wading through the temperamental pool that is social media, one occasionally finds a bright spot in a news story. I thought I found that with an article posted by a local news channel notifying those that aren’t already in the know about the significance of teal pumpkins. It subtly linked to this cool little video:
Some people are garbage. I mean, I know that is harsh, and I know what we are supposed to be kind to everyone, but that can be a struggle when people out themselves as disgusting human beings. Did these people not ever watch Mister Rogers?
I think this is why they are teaching kids these days to “Be The Iin Kind” or to Be the kind kid. They’re not going to pick it up at home if these are the mentoring adults.
Lesson Learned: Trump doesn’t believe in food allergies.
Lesson Learned: Don’t expect to not die when trying to have fun.
Lesson Learned: Halloween is for candy, not liberal tears.
Lesson Learned: Killing kids is funny.
Lesson Learned: Liberals are ruining Halloween.
Lesson Learned: Refuse to accept new information as it is presented to you.
Lesson Learned: Peanut butter cup propagation is more important than life itself.
Lesson Learned: Kids with food allergies are entitled pricks.
Lesson Learned: Compassion is useless.
Lesson Learned: Cross-contamination is not a real issue.
Lesson Learned: Live in a bubble.
I had a few replies that still stand.
To some nut job making this political:
Just so I can understand, how do any of the following (totally optional) things ruin your holiday, and just exactly how are they associated with liberals?
1. Putting out a symbol to indicate that your house is safe for food allergies.
2. Providing nut and/or gluten free treats, and maybe even non-food treats in addition to whatever you normally provide.
3. Displaying compassion and empathy to others already afflicted with a life-altering medical condition.
4. Teaching others by example how to be kind to others.
I never did get a direct reply there.
To the uniformed, absolutely resisting this new information:
No one is forcing you to buy a teal pumpkin or to pass out allergen safe treats. The article is just to inform you of the meaning so you don’t buy one as a decoration just because it matches your cold frozen emotionless heart.
Just some more advice:
We have been doing this for years. Having food allergies myself, dining out, social gatherings, and many events can be a harrowing experience.
We have 3 separate bowls… traditional things like Reese’s Peanut Butter cups, nut-free stuff like Smarties, and a bowl of totally non-food treats like pencils, stickers, little toys, etc.
We help spread awareness, the toys go as well as the candy, and hopefully we teach a bit of kindness and empathy.
I don’t even have the energy to get into the “it’s been a tradition for hundreds of years” comment. I think candy and trick or treating weren’t a thing until about the 1920’s in the United States… so that’s ONE hundred years ago at best. The push for chocolate was after WWII’s rationing… So, kick it back to 70 or so years. Earlier Celtic/Samhain traditions probably didn’t involve candy, but what do I know?
So please, this year, show a little compassion, empathy, and kindness. Pass the word along to your friends, family, and neighbors. You don’t have to preach about it, but you can lead by example. Also, learn to recognize the signs of an allergic reaction for yourself, your friends, and your community. You may help save someone’s life! That is, if it doesn’t inconvenience you in any way or support the grand liberal agenda.
Combine two albums you dig into one… just like some record executive or intern did once upon a time with Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II, combining the “best” tracks of each to make one pointless album.
I would suggest that you do two albums. It can be different artists or the same.
If you want to be crazy try to keep the run time to a “real” album length. I think Records hold 44 minutes of music and CD’s 74 or so? About an hour would be good.
You can keep the artists separate like a split, or mix it all up.
Hell, you can combine 3 or more albums. I am a fan of anarchy. Just play. Here in the comments, or online. Use PicsArt or something similar to make an album cover if so inclined.
You can explain why you chose the tracks, or just let the mix speak for itself.
I sort of mixed up the tracks because why not? They do appear in album order. The run time is just over 50 minutes. (Thanks Wikipedia & Google Sheets.)
So, every once in a while, these gadgets pop up on Facebook guitar discussion groups. You get a lot of people poking fun, you get some support. I had to break it all down. It’s easy to hate, but some of these may ignite a spark and only be training wheels. Some of these may enable people with physical or mental disabilities to play some music. Who should be denied artistic creativity?
Guitar Chord Assistance / Learning Systems
Check out all the stats I could find & compile on the Chord Buddy, E-Z Chord, Ez-Fret, & WESOLO Guitar Learning System.
Check out all the details, embedded below:
Or, check out the full sheet here. I have websites, prices, lists of chords, and even videos where I could find them.
There is a wide variety of options. If you can fill in any of the blanks, that would be killer. If you know of any other similar systems, I could certainly add them.
I know I have been bad at blogging. Life got crazy busy as it does. I do hope to blog more, not sure if many people read it… but it is fun. Hopefully if you feel the need, you can keep up with me on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.
So, Google Photos made two of these video clip compilations all by itself, then it let me know in the photos app. One was for Molly, and one was for Ian.
HOW DOES IT KNOW?
Are these algorithms? Facial Recognition? Time, date, & location stamps? Did it use the videos from my phone, or the online backups?
This is so awesome, cute, and creepy.
These videos give me all the feels.
For those who noticed I didn’t blog very often for a while, all this was happening. It’s incredible to look back on it all.
I wish I could tweak some of the clips just a tiny bit to include some better little funny moments, but whatever made this did a pretty damn good job.
So, on Labor Day this year, we labored. We finally got around to pouring cement for the Backyard Race Car Track, and we started a Fairy Garden.
I have been sitting on the race car track idea for a while, and wondering what to do landscape-wise around the one small tree in the back. We recently got some fairy garden furniture stuff as a gift… so we thought that would be a cool second (3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th?) backyard play-space.
We had an easy enough start, put down some gravel, and mixed two of the three bags of Sand/Topping Mix with the coloring. I mixed it a little thick, and really what was all the coloring was meant to cover. The track was only about ⅔ of the way complete. So, I mixed the one other bag we had on hand. It was a little sloppier and went on really well. The kids helped in a kid-helping capacity, and Bethany did nearly all of the troweling/finishing work. Molly told me that she wanted to use the trowel because that’s what “brick builders” use to put the stuff in between bricks. I have no idea where she learned that.
I asked the little man if we should get 3, or 4. He was adamant about getting 4. We also got the cheapest bag of garden soil, and some pebbles. Sadly, the bottle of coloring didn’t last long, and maddeningly Home Depot didn’t carry it… even with two shelves full of Quikrete products. I ended up asking if they had anything in the paint department, and they just had a concrete paint or dye to use after the fact.
We got back and Bethany made us a delicious salad for lunch. We needed to re-fuel for more work out back! I mixed 2 more bags, with some help:
After that, we did use just one more bag… but that’s OK. I can use the rest for some driveway patch work now that I have some more recent practice with this stuff. (A long time ago, I worked for a bit for a general contractor, and would sometimes mix mortar all day for the subcontracted bricklayers.)
For now, that’s about all we can do. The bag says it needs to set up for five days. Hopefully we can be patient and the neighborhood wildlife (including my children) stays out of it. I did grab an odd old brick from out front that had originally been in the back yard, and made a sort of garage out of it. I plan to get some river rocks or pebbles or something to kind of clean up the edges of the track. Maybe they will need to go on with concrete, or some of that stuff that comes in a caulking-gun dispenser. If they’re not stuck down, they will end up all over and most likely destroy my lawn mower.
The other quick family project was to make a fairy garden. I was hoping to use stuff that we had around in addition to the recently gifted furniture and starter items.
After thinking about a couple of different ideas, we settled on me taking a chainsaw to some large branches and small logs that we had out back, and driving nails partway into the bottom so we could drive them into the ground and they would hopefully hold. It worked!
I played with the chainsaw, demonstrated the nail technique, then Bethany and the kids did most of the nail-driving… and I think that was mostly Bethany. Molly helped me place them around the tree in sort of a kidney bean shape, including an old wooden bucket that I think we bought from the estate sale of the previous owner of this house (who coincidentally said she would miss the little tree in the backyard most of all).
Then we pulled up 90% of the grass, and Ian hauled it away in his wheelbarrow. We put down the bag of cheap garden soil and it was perfect for coverage & fairy garden decoration placement. We also planted a small succulent plant that my mom had recently given us in a small pot that should be durable outdoors, but may look cool covered in small round stones so it looks like a fairy house. We’re putting Grandma on craft duty to help make little projects to decorate the space. I would love to use some of the stuff we have around the yard or house like tiny terracotta pots, or Popsicle sticks, or wire.
It would be nice to plant some small ornamental succulents, moss, or super tiny flowers eventually too. Luckily (?) Pinterest is an endless rabbit hole when it comes to fairy garden stuff. Speaking of rabbits, our backyard is overrun with them as well as squirrels, chipmunks, birds, deer, and who knows what else. Think they’ll leave this stuff alone?
At any rate, playing in the dirt has been proven over-and-over to be good for you. These spaces offer two additional opportunities for the kids to get into the dirt in the back yard. It’s great to learn about gardening, ecosystems, using your imagination, and more… all without even realizing that you’re learning.
Check out some photos from the day if you have the time and interest, and let us know what you think in the comments!
If this is something you’d like to try yourself, check out these Pinterest boards for inspiration:
If it’s something you have tried yourself, please share your stuff in the comments! I would love to see some other backyard family projects.
World (and Lunar) Domination 