Collecting Build-A-Bears

I've extolled the virtues of some of the cutest stuffed animals (or 'plushes') currently full of stuffing in the world today many, many times on this blog. But if you've just recently fallen in love with these little 40cm average bundles of cuteness -- how do you manage to create a collection without being overwhelmed by the sheer vastness that is all of the animals and their accessories to choose from? (The number of items that they put out in a year is astounding... so when you think about the fact that they've been doing it for eleven years now... ohhhhh it's a LOT.) How can you possibly start a build-a-bear workshop collection without being inundated and unorganised?

For me, it all began with my friend Jer. I was visiting him in his office when I noticed a very cute little bear in a cheerleading costume.
"Oh Cer, you're going to LOVE this place... you MAKE your own animal and then dress it!" His insistence that I would be swept away by this place led me to try it out... I went to my local one (only a mere two hours drive away... child's play!) and there was *the* bunny. Charlotte came home with me, dressed very similarly to my style of fashion -- jeans, t-shirt, socks and brown suede shoes. I spent months staring at the website, oohing and aahing over every new development and item release until the holidays approached. When I saw the christmas outfits and accessories -- I knew I was hooked. My collection is devoted to creating a wonderful 'scene' of all of my build-a-bears dressed up for the holidays as if I were painting a Saks Fifth Avenue holiday window in NYC....

Over the years, I've developed a pretty good system about organising and growing my beloved collection, and I'll share it with anyone to spread the love of build-a-bear workshop around.

First, let's start with the Animals themselves. Since I collect them for myself and not to 'make money', my information will not be about which items have the highest monetary value nor which make the best sales. I couldn't even imagine selling my babies!
I have a couple of notes about collecting the animals --

• Start browsing the Build-A-Bear Workshop website.
  
• It is very possible that you will not like all of the animals that build-a-bear workshop produces.
• It can be very difficult NOT to purchase animals in the 'limited edition' or 'series' set of animals if you don't like them (especially if you really love animals). I currently have some animals in the new Gem bear series, and I really do not like their eyes. I don't think they are very cute and I wish I hadn't purchased the ones I do have. But now I'm torn -- because I can purchase the last one or two and then the set will be 'complete' for this year's series... or... I can find them a new home. They aren't loved by me, and so I don't think I should keep them... but....
• Sometimes the picture on the website doesn't represent the animal very well. I have had animals that were both cuter and not-as-cute as their pictures represented.

So, with those notes in mind, let's dive in and get to collecting our beloved animals!
Things to help you:

• A 12x12 Scrapbook (for birth certificates, stickers, calendar pages, etc.)
• The Official Collector's Guide
• The Collectibear Starter Pin Set
• A dedicated place for your animals and their plethora of accessories (I use a snap-together grid-system bookshelf to hang clothing and give each animal their own 'cubby' house).

For me, it all began with the bunnies. I currently have five bunnies in my collection.
To start collecting, try these tips:

• Find two animals that you adore to start with (now THAT can be a challenge -- there are SO many!)
• There are a number of different 'types' of animals that can help you start collecting, including Dogs, Limited Edition, Collectibear and Collectifriend Series, and WWF. Not every country has the same animals, so check your country's website!
  
• Purchase them clothed, if you can, but don't worry about theming your outfits/accessories just yet, unless you already know what theme you want. Getting your collection started with two animals fully dressed will help you decide which kinds of clothing and accessories you like the most. (And it helps to keep enough clothing for all of your animals!)
  
• If you are stuck trying to think of names for them, try naming them after your favourite desserts. I have Chocolate, Vanilla, Espresso, Chai Latte, Lemon Meringue, etc.
• Put each birth certificate into a sheet protector in the 12x12 scrapbook along with any calendar pages, stickers, or tags / paper goods that you want to keep.
• If your animals include collector's pins, keep the pin card and/or limited edition number tag with the birth certificate in the scrapbook. Place the pin on the lanyard of the starter pin set. (If I were a collector looking for monetary gains in my collection -- I wouldn't remove the tags and I probably wouldn't actually stuff the animals either -- but that's not why I collect them, so these tips will NOT be for that kind of collector!)

What happens when the animal(s) you adore aren't available in your local build-a-bear workshop or the website any more? Well, you can try eBay. Ebay is the source of both delight and heartbreak to the build-a-bear collector. I have seen an item that I was unable to purchase when it was available in the store go for more than 7x the original price. There have been unscrupulous people that bid only to raise the auction price and not to actually get the item in question. I have also managed to purchase items that were unbeknownst to me in the build-a-bear world, much to my surprise!
When shopping on eBay, these tips might be helpful:

• Before bidding on an animal, make sure that it is no longer available on the build-a-bear workshop website. Sometimes people will purchase animals from the website and then sell them on ebay for a much higher price, because people aren't aware that when their local store doesn't have an item, the website may.
• Check the collector's book to see which animals are actually rare before bidding. Many times a seller will mark an item 'rare' when it isn't, and have a higher starting bid.
  
• Set a maximum price you will pay for the animal you want in your mind before you start bidding -- the little rush of anxiety that happens when someone outbids you can cloud your judgement and you can end up paying *far* more than you ever wanted to if you are not careful.
• If you only want animals in 'new with tags' (nwt) or 'unstuffed' condition, be prepared to pay usually double the original build-a-bear workshop price (at LEAST!)
• If you are willing to accept 'used' animals that are stuffed and usually without tags, look for ones that are described as 'excellent used condition' (euc), 'gently used condition' (guc), or 'like new' (ln). Also check for a description that says they come from a smoke-free house; if it isn't listed -- ask before bidding!
• If you are allergic to dogs and cats, ask about the pets in the house before bidding! Stuffed animals can keep pet dander for a very long time...
• Once you have your new animal, take him to your local build-a-bear workshop to get him 'adopted' with a new birth certificate, name, etc.
  

So! You have your animals! Awesome! But... now... what about their clothing and accessories?! With so many choices, just where do you start? Well, this comes down to personal choice, but I can help to narrow down the choices. :)
There are many possible themes you can use to help you in your collecting quest. Here are a few examples of the choices that build-a-bear workshop offers to collectors:

• Disney Princesses
• Disney Characters (Male and Female)
• Collectiwear International Outfits (Usually male and female outfits, with some exceptions)
• The Wizard of Oz Outfits
• Regular Holidays (Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, American Independence Day, Memorial / Veteran's Days, Back-to-School, Halloween and Costumes (these can be REALLY fun!), American (and also Canadian) Thanksgiving)
  
• Christmas
• Baby
• Sports (Including NHL, NFL, NBA, MLB, etc.)
• Limited Edition Series Outfits, which vary by year (2007 were Season Fairies, 2008 are Gem Fairy Outfits)
• Limited Too

This list doesn't include all of the special t-shirts, seasonal clothing, and of course... shoes that you can collect! What I've found very exciting is to pick out a 'time of the year' theme, Christmas, in my case, and also to go with a 'year-round' theme so that I can continue collecting clothed animals every month or two.

Of course, if you miss that one super special outfit, then once again, eBay may be your only way of getting it. Again, eBay can be a source of grief and a source of happiness when it comes to build-a-bears. (I'm still reeling over the price I just saw for an outfit that I'm missing... I just gave up on it for now, because for the price it went for, I could buy FOUR new build-a-bear animals -- possibly fully clothed!) The same tips apply for purchasing clothing that apply for purchasing the animals, with a couple of extra notes here:

• Be prepared to possibly have to bid on an animal you don't want to get the clothing you *do* want.
• Many times, the *one* outfit you want will be in a lot of clothes you *don't* want.
• Make sure you know how many pieces are in the outfit/accessory that you want -- you might be bidding on something that isn't complete! Also, know what the pieces look like, beforehand, because sometimes other pieces can get swapped in their place (an honest mistake -- most of the people selling these clothes had children that played with them... and could have easily lost the pieces, etc.)
• Clothing/Accessories seems particularly subject to distress and wear, so ask questions before bidding.
• Some of the themes/sets have *very* popular/hard-to-find (htf) items that can cost you a LOT of money to get the 'final' piece.

A couple final notes here -
There are multiple editions (versions) of both animals and clothing, so when collecting (especially when viewing items on eBay), make sure that the item you want is the correct edition (version). For example, the disney princess outfits have multiple versions of some of the dresses -- and they are not the same. The same is true for the two different versions of the cow, moose, frog, turtle, etc.

Along the collecting quest way, you might also happen to run into some extra goodies. I've picked up a lot of fun little build-a-bear items, like t-shirts for me, bags, key chains, pins, umbrellas, jackets, and all sorts of other little stuff. (I still want the build-a-bear cd case!)

Happy Collecting!

The year of the bear. or bunny.

Truly, this has been a year unlike so many others. There have been many wonderful experiences this year that I know I will not forget. To accurately feel the weight of that joy, however, it has to be balanced by other events. Thus, this year has also become one of heartbreak and incredulity.

I don't want to add to the doom and gloom of the world news by describing in gossip-like detail the actions and consequences that are painful. No, as someone that keeps up-to-date on world events, I'd personally like one less depressing thing to read... and write.

So, I have once again chosen to focus on my favourite pastime. Oh yes. I have been visiting with my beloved Build-A-Bear Workshop.

After I said goodbye to my much-adored bunny, Entropy, I had a bunny-sized hole in my heart. To remind me of her sweet little face and how much she meant to me, I have now adopted an exceedingly adorable new Build-A-Bear creation:

Her name is Chai Latte.
The official picture does not do her justice -- she is far cuter in person than this picture could ever show.

Her little face and exceptionally huggable fur make her one of my most favourite, if not MOST favourite, build-a-bears I have ever adopted.

I've adopted a few more cuties and I will be posting their pictures and names very soon -- but this little cutie deserved to be in the spotlight.

I'm very picky when it comes to bunny faces and to be honest, most stuffed bunnies do not measure up to the cuteness of a real bunny. Chai comes close. She has completely stolen my heart. Of course, it didn't hurt that her ears are positioned so that if you put bows or flowers around them she looks like she has 'puppy-tails' in her 'hair' ... almost like when I put my own hair up into puppy-tails. Although I think hers look cuter than mine. Ha!

She's certainly the cream of the crop of cuteness. I have 24 build-a-bears now, and Chai is my special treasure, with a special birthday to boot.

Thank you Maxine, for creating Build-A-Bear.

Bikes, Buildabears, and Bags...oh my!

May is an absolutely wonderful month. Many of my most magical moments in the last two years have happened in May, and this year is no exception.

This year, May is a remarkable month for many reasons -- but for this posting, I'm just going to focus on the fun I've been having.

I had a bicycle for a number of years that gave me no end of problems. It simply never could be adjusted for me. I've had massive wrist joint pain in every ride of this bike. My hands fall asleep after a while and ache for hours after I ride. Not a good thing... After a lot of thought, testing, and demoing -- I've picked up a new bike.

Meet Tinkerbell: She's a 2007 Kona Dr. Dew in a lovely shade of tinkerbell/orchid green-yellow.

She's got a lot of really nice components... Getting her back to the flat was a test in "pack-mule-ing", however.

The maiden voyage sets sail today, after a quick stop to pick up a sassy yellow bottle cage.

I did have to swap the WTB stock saddle for my own custom Terry one though -- I love Terry seats (and clothes!). Oh, and just a quick little note here -- DISC BRAKES! YEEEEEAH!

ON TO THE BEARS!
I collect Build-A-Bears. And by collect, I mean that I get them stuffed with hugs and wishes and love, dress them and often change their clothes -- and hug them LOTS (they even go web surfing with me much of the time). There is nothing more I love doing than dressing them all up for holidays -- and I ADORE making them all into "Santa's Workshop" for the winter holidays. This may has been *extremely* good to my Build-A-Bear collection.

I have in my collection now, TWO beautiful South-African Springboks:

Say hello to
Elliptic
&
Vanilla

They really are something else, let me tell you. They are only available from the South African Build-A-Bear, and they are worth every penny spent getting them.


I also picked up a really unique Dachshund!

Previously, I had only seen him available in Japan, with no hope of shipping to me, but when I stopped by Build-A-Bear yesterday, he had *just* arrived here, and so I scooped him up and took him home (with some appropriate dog toys, of course).




And of course, I also have to mention my 'rare finds' snag-of-the month -- I picked up the *original* Nikki's Bear (Lavender), complete with Pin, Cookie Monster (Cookie), and all four of the limited edition, numbered "Year of Friendship" Season Bears (Dewdrop, Oceandrop, Raindrop, and Snowdrop), with their pins as well -- *including* the super hard-to-find Spring Bear.

I look forward to picking up a Cheetah (Darjeeling), the first Kuddly Koala (Canberra), and of course the first of the Gem Bears (Cotton Candy).

BAGS! Crumpler is da shiznit!

While my latest bag purchase hasn't been decided yet (I'm still debating which one to get!) -- we did pick up the "Tony Blair Squirrel" for CBU. It's GORGEOUS and it replaces his sad little dying case logic bag (same size, same utility). The blue/yellow/orange colour scheme is bright and crazy, but the inside pattern is what makes us laugh.

CBU snagged me a delicious silver crumpler pendant and I braided some black cotton rope to make a cute little bracelet out of it.














What a may! I even managed to send out a Mother's day gift to my mom and a Birthday gift to my dad (with more of that gift coming at the end of this month -- on his actual birthday).

I think I'll take a break from all this fun and do more serious things in the next few weeks though -- I mean, I still have a Jeff Noon book I've got to read! Ooooh, and then there's this other book I wanted to pick up....

Sprungli!

This has to be one of the cutest easter bunny plush animals I've ever had the fortune to receive.

As anyone that knows me, knows... I love plush bunnies. I love real bunnies. I love anything with an adorable little face. This bunny has both an adorable face, AND is a bunny... I mean, what more could you ask for?

Did I mention the golden velvety fur? The chocolate-brown "Lindt" embroidery? The "Lindt" fabric tag? The felt 'bell' that really is a bell?

Then, on top of all those goodies... this little bunny has a secret compartment! Yes, there is a little zippered area where you can stash all your favourite chocolate truffles.

And if that weren't enough... this little darling actually came with a bunch of egg-shaped truffles. Truffles, Lindt Truffles.

How can anyone resist a Lindt truffle on its own? That wonderful hard shell... the super super creamy centre... It's like chocolate easter bunny heaven.

I almost didn't need to stare lovingly at the build-a-bear website for an entire week! Secular easter is still my favourite holiday of all time.

Sweet, Sweet, Freedom!

First response, à la South Park's "Guitar Queer-o":
"I quit. I quit I quit I quit. I quit I quit I quit I quit."

Second response, à la South Park's "Fat Butt and Pancake Head":
"I don't work for no pendejo, cholo!"

Third response, à la South Park's Eric Cartman:
"Screw you guys, I'm going home."


Happy Pi Day to all and to all a Good Pie!

Fluffy Butts.

As anyone that knows me... er, knows... every year, my biggest wish is for build-a-bear gift certificates. Birthdays, Anniversaries, Holidays -- build-a-bear. I have a HUGE wish list on build-a-bear's website (and at amazon. Oh boy, I read War and Peace and make stuffed animals, oh no, TOTALLY mentally stable.)

And recently, I was asked, "Don't you have enough?" to which I reply, NEVER! But how many DO I have, anyway? Well... I thought I would list all of my little cuties here, because I can. With photos. Of course. Some of these aren't available anymore! (Most are, though.)


Curly Bunny
Derek & Charlotte




Curly Teddy
Baby Ubi




Festive Fall Teddy
Cinnamon




Mocha Bunny
Cappucine




Marvelous Monkey
Avery




WWF Leopard
Magnus




Kangaroo
Theory




Springtime Fun Bunny
Cerise




Year of the Mouse
Pi




Hearts Fur You Puppy
Chocolate




Cuddly Lamb
Boundin





Hopefully Being Adopted Soon: (hint, hint, all you late birthday-well-wishers...)
Kuddly Koala
WWF Cheetah
Groundhog
Asthma Friendly Velvet Bear

Holiday Dinner

It seems like everyone and their brother has a recipe list for how to do a holiday dinner for 12, 24, or 50... but jeez, what if you only have a holiday with LESS than a dozen people?! How about people that only have 2 or 4 for dinner?! And that other fun one... less than a dozen people that are vegan... Well, so then here are recipes for *small* celebrations -- VEGAN recipes. And screw making everything from scratch (if you can avoid it), I want to enjoy the holidays, not cook all freaking day!

Holiday Menu:
Wood-Smoked Tofu and Celery, Almond, Mushroom, Basil Stuffing with Mushroom and White Wine Gravy
Crème Fraîche Mashed Potatoes
Tiramisu
(Holiday Drinks in the previous recipe. heh.)

Wood-Smoked Steamed Tofu:
Ingredients:
smoked tofu (if you can't find Smoked Tofu, purchase firm or extra firm Tofu. Also purchase a plank of untreated hickory, walnut, oak, myrtle, etc. wood about the size of your tofu and wash it clean.)
basil leaves, whole
diced thyme or lemon thyme
Celery, Mushroom, Almond, Basil Stuffing (see below)

Prepare the steamer:
if you are smoking your own tofu, brush olive oil on both sides and place in the bottom of the steaming basket. Place basil leaves on the wood.
If you are not smoking your own tofu, simply add basil leaves to the bottom of the steaming basket.

Assemble Tofu with Stuffing:
Slice the tofu into layers. Place on layer upon the basil-prepared wood plank in the steamer. Shape a layer of stuffing in your hand and place on top of the tofu layer. Add a teaspoon of diced thyme or lemon thyme. Repeat for each layer of tofu, except the top layer. Place two or three basil leaves upon the top of the tofu.

Steam for 30-45 minutes, depending on if you have one or two packages of tofu.


Celery, Mushroom, Almond, Basil Stuffing:
Ingredients:
1 cup instant herb stuffing
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup sliced almonds
2 stalks celery, chopped or diced
1 medium mushroom, chopped or diced
A handful of basil leaves, rolled up and then sliced

Prepare:
In a bowl, add water, celery, almonds, mushroom and basil. Stir until mixed. Add stuffing while mixing with a fork. When the water has been soaked into the stuffing mix, it is ready to 'stuff' in the tofu layers.


Crème Fraîche Mashed Potatoes:
4 serves (servings) instant mashed potatoes or potato flakes
1 1/2 cups almond milk (creamy soy milk will also work)
1 1/2 cups water
125 grams (1/2 cup) soy crème fraîche
salt, pepper

In a sauce pan, heat water, almond milk, and about a teaspoon of salt until little bubbles appear in the surface. Turn off the heat and stir in potatoes. Stir in crème fraîche. Add salt and pepper to taste.

If you cannot find soy crème fraîche, you can make your own:
Soy Crème Fraîche:
150 ml Silken Tofu
45 ml Lemon Juice (fresh squeezed is best)
45 ml Water
15 ml Tea or Vegetable Oil
2.5 ml Salt
Blend until very smooth


Mushroom and White Wine Gravy:
Ingredients
4-5 medium finely chopped mushrooms
1-2 finely chopped shallots
200 ml of soy crème fraîche
125 ml of white wine
1 tbs of dairy-free butter
1 crushed garlic clove
pinch of nutmeg
salt and pepper

Preparation
Melt the butter over low heat in a medium-sized saucepan. Add the chopped shallots and fry for 3 - 4 minutes (when you smell them, they are about done.) Add the garlic and fry for another 2 minutes. Add the chopped mushrooms. Salt and pepper to taste. Stir all of the ingredients together and cook until the mushrooms have softened and darkened in colour. Turn the heat up on the stove and pour in the white wine. Stir the ingredients and cook until the mixture coats a spoon (reduced about 2/3). Turn the heat down and stir in the crème fraîche and nutmeg.


Tiramisu:
Ingredients:
3.5 Tbs demerara sugar or raw sugar
1 No-Egg (1 tsp No-Egg + 2 tbs water)
2 No-Egg whites (4 tsp No-Egg + 2 tbs water)
4 Tbs Frangelico
150 Ml black, strong coffee
300 grams pound cake
200 grams (about 3/4 Cup) soy mascarpone
cocoa powder (I just have a 300 gram bag of dutch-style cocoa powder on hand for sprinkling over each layer)

Prepare:
Slice the pound cake into four layers.
Whisk the mascarpone, 1 No-Egg, and Sugar until consistent and smooth. In a separate bowl, whisk the 2 No-Egg whites until thick and firm. Fold the No-Egg whites into the mascarpone mixture.
Mix the Frangelico and Coffee in a separate bowl.

Assemble:
For each layer of pound cake, using a table spoon, gently pour the coffee mixture over the cake until no 'cake' edges remain without coffee. Cover with a layer of the mascarpone mixture. Using a spoon, gently tap cocoa powder to cover the mascarpone layer. Repeat steps for the remaining three layers.

Chill for at least 30 minutes before serving.

If you can't find Soy Mascarpone cheese, you can make your own:
Soy Mascarpone:
1 Cup Soy Cream Cheese
1/2 Cup Soy Sour Cream
3/4 Cup Soy Cream
Blend until creamy, refrigerate at least one hour before using.

If you can't find a vegan pound cake, I have a recipe here for a nice one, use a loaf pan for best results:
Ingredients (have everything at room temperature)
3 tablespoons almond milk (45 grams ) (soy will also work.)
3 no-eggs (150 grams)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla (6 grams)
1 1/2 cups sifted cake flour (150 grams)
1/4 cup sugar (150 grams)
3/4 teaspoon baking powder (3.7 grams)
1/4 teaspoon salt
13 tablespoons unsalted dairy-free butter (must be softened) (184 grams)

Grease a 4-cup (8-inch by 4-inch by 2 1/2-inch, imperial) loaf pan, line the bottom with parchment or wax paper, and then grease again and flour.
Preheat the oven to 350 F / 175 C.

In a medium bowl lightly combine the milk, no-eggs, and vanilla.
In a large mixing bowl combine the dry ingredients and mix on low speed for 30 seconds to blend. Add the butter and half the egg mixture. Mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened. Increase to medium speed (high speed if using a hand mixer) and beat for 1 minute to aerate and develop the cake's structure.

Scrape down the sides. Gradually add the remaining egg mixture in 2 batches, beating for 20 seconds after each addition to incorporate the ingredients and strengthen the structure. Scrape down the sides.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the surface with a spatula. The batter will be almost 1/2 inch from the top of the 4-cup loaf pan. (If your pan is slightly smaller, use any excess batter for cupcakes.)

Bake 55 to 65 minutes (35 to 45 minutes in a fluted tube pan) or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cover loosely with buttered foil after 30 minutes to prevent over-browning. The cake should start to shrink from the sides of the pan only after removal from the oven.

Let the cake cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes and invert it onto a greased wire rack. To keep the bottom from splitting, re-invert so that the top is up and cool completely before wrapping airtight.


What freaking order do I do all this in, huh?
Ok, this is a very simple dinner, but it is very filling and can make for some festive fun. But what order do you prepare all this crap? Well, if you're not having to make the pound cake from scratch -- make the tiramisu first (if you have to make the pound cake from scratch -- start the day before and make the pound cake itself then!)
After the tiramisu is in the fridge, prepare the stuffing and then the tofu. While the tofu is steaming, prepare the mushroom and white wine gravy. The LAST thing you should make are the potatoes -- because when they're hot and mixed up, you're done!

Merry Bodhiday

I get asked every year, "Well you can't have a christmas tree or well, can you? Do you even celebrate holidays?" Every year, I try to explain the concept of "holy days" that are Buddhist.

I have a Bodhiday tree, not a christmas tree. It might look kind of like a christmas tree in that it's a fake fir tree with fibre-optic lights and a fibre-optic five-point star on top, but no one ever told me that a sparkly tree can only symbolise one tradition (history shows that the winter solstice tree came to be known as a christmas tree, after all.) :)

It has an iridescent-white garland wrapped around it like the wheel of Dharma. It also has a garland of iridescent round beads, similar to my Juzu. Then I also hung little tiny ball ornaments covered in hundreds of little mirrors (like disco balls) on some of the branches -- since my Gohonzon is a mirror. My tree reminds me of the principles I believe in -- and what more could I ask for?

I also usually have a wreath -- either in a Wheel of Dharma shape (circle of life) or in a heart-shape like the leaves of the Bodhi tree.

My Bodhiday dinner contains no animal products, and at least one dish containing figs (as the Bodhi tree is part of the fig tree family.)

Bodhi day celebrates the Buddha's enlightenment when he transcended that endless circle of life and death. I try to find symbols and objects which reflect all that Buddhism means to me during this time of year. I use star shapes and fibre-optic lights that look like the stars at night to reflect universal concepts of birth and death. I make a 'traditional' fig dish, symbolising the fruit of the Bodhi tree. I use heart shapes to represent the heart of the body as well as the leaves of the Bodhi tree. I put candles in lotus-shaped candle holders for dinner so that I am reminded of both the actual Lotus and the Lotus Sutra. Mirrors remind me of the sacred Gohonzon.

Do I still purchase gifts? Sure, I purchase food and books and clothing or pet items for my friends and family. I give them gifts because I'd like to share my world of happiness with them. I try to make sure I give things that people can use, even if it means a gift certificate. Food was the predominant gift this year. (As far as I can tell, Santa belongs to everyone. LOL.)

I send out Bodhiday cards that say I hope they find more happiness (with images of stars, hearts, leaves, figs and lotus flowers on them.) I usually send out a recipe or two with them (sometimes with a photo of a certain Bunny or Cat as well.)

Oh, and of course, I bake cookies. *(Recipe coming soon!)

I encourage all of my friends and family to shop online, in order to save them from the headache that is Consumerism this time of year -- that's my piece of holiday well-wishing to everyone -- use the internet and get out of the rush rush rush mindset if you want to purchase gifts!

Merry Bodhiday!

Happy Chrismukkahwanzas, only $99.95

Otherwise known as the Celebration of Consumerism. I mean, if it wasn't, then people wouldn't be pushing and shoving and cramming their obese asses into tiny shopping malls at four in the morning until closing for three weeks starting at the end of november in order to get 'everything on their holiday lists,' before ANYONE else can maliciously snipe those must-have-or-else-my-brat-will-scream-bloody-murder-for-at-least-the-next-month advertisement-fueled pieces of plastic soon-to-be-trash -- and by god, THEY will elbow you in the nose to GET THAT PIECE OF TRASH! I mean, their little snowflake's pieces of crap are important enough to devolve into grunting, stomping, and fighting to make sure that THEY get the LAST ONE.

Plastic. Plastic. Plastic. And I'm not just talking about the trinkets of trash or the bits used to pay for it all.

Shopping sucks sweaty donkey balls. I really hate it normally, but this time of year -- I *LOATHE* it.

And I'm sorry, but I just don't buy the oft-repeated, but little-valued "it's the time of year for love, family, and friendship." BULLSHIT! I call SHENANIGANS! It's the time of year when people desperately attempt to BUY love, acceptance, and forgiveness for being rotten human beings from the people they live with (or once did) and the people in society that they'd rather ignore and pretend don't exist than treat with any human dignity.

Don't even get me started on religious freaks sending cards that say "peace on earth" because what they SHOULD say is, "PEACE ON EARTH HAPPENS UNDER MY RELIGION ONLY, HEATHENS!" because THAT is what they mean by peace on earth. *shudder*

Can you guess that I was out shopping today?

Never fear college students!

In response to the, "OMG All I have is a microwave and a skillet and I'm starving!!" email I received recently, here is a good "Can you offer a fusion vegan recipe for under $10?" recipe.

Flash Salsa Pizza:
Ingredients:
1 pre-baked pizza crust
1 jar salsa
1 package of veggie mozzarella, shredded or cut into thin little strips

Prepare pizza:
Dump half the jar (or the whole jar, depending on your crust size) of salsa onto the crust, try and spread it around with a spoon, fork, or knife if you have one handy -- if not, use your fingers (if they're moderately clean.) Top with as much cheese as you want. Microwave on a non-metal surface (no foil) for about 1 minute + 30 seconds (1:30) -- or until cheese is nice and gooey. For a crispy crust, you can then pop it into a HOT DRY skillet for about a minute or two -- or until you smell the crust burning (lift up the crust and peek at it BEFORE the smoke alarm goes off, damnit!)

If you can't cut it -- rip it in half. You can also fold it over and just eat it.

Remind me not to do that again.

This was national novel writing month, and I love doing nanowrimo. Normally.

See, this month became notorious when I had deadlines on the 9th. Those deadlines didn't happen so every day of work became the day I HAD to work until I dropped to try and make the late deadline.

My nanowrimo novel seemed lackluster and boring.

So, it sat there and sat there and sat there.

Staring at me with big sad puppy eyes. "Don't you love me? Don't you want to write me this month? Why don't you love me? Please come play with me! Please? Are you mad at me? Please don't be mad at me."

I mean, what do you say to your novel when it looks at you like that? How do you tell it that you have just too many other responsibilities this month and can't work on it?

So, I gave myself the last week.

For the first three days, I got mad, I got bored, I got tired, I got unhappy, and I got nothing done.
For the last four days.... I wrote 50,000 words.

Yes, that's right. I wrote 50,000 words in four days.
I have the book.
It's UGLY. It's missing two giant pieces to the middle. I needs to be put into PROPER order instead of whichever scene I felt like writing at the time. It needs all of the pieces to flow smoothly from one to the next. It needs people arcs to be followed through and not just tossed in like spice.

But it's there. I can see the spine and some of the organs. I know that it can be fixed. I LOVE the fixing part.

And it has an ending.

BUT PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT'S HOLY: REMIND ME NEVER TO WRITE FIFTY-THOUSAND-WORDS IN FOUR DAYS EVER AGAIN.

My wrists hurt. I didn't sleep last night. But I have a small treasure. It feels like a good thing, and I know it's the start of the book I want. That's the best part. I've got all the pieces to clean up, edit, fix, patch, and string along now. I can turn this ugly duckling into a swan -- and that's the part I love to do.
This is why I torture myself with nanowrimo every year -- it's one month of doing the stuff I'm not so fond of, to spend eleven months doing the thing I love the most -- editing.
Just, next year, I should spread out the writing over the entire month.

owie.

Screw reading, I want to reply!

The thing is, when it rains, it pours. I swear, stupidity is contagious -- BE WARNED.

I have ANOTHER pet peeve when it comes to OSS -- the forums. DEAR GOD, THE FORUMS.

For this example, we're going to use a good ol' standby for demonstration purposes -- the user desktop experience. In linux world, you have a metric ass load of choices for your desktop environment. You can have gnome, kde, xfce, enlightenment, gnustep, and of course -- all of the copious 'we-don't-need-no-stinking-graphics' console-like-based desktops like ratpoison, ion, awesome, etc. etc. (excuse me if I missed your favourite out of the billions of tiling console-only ones.) So, with these choices, there's enough for everyone to be happy, right? NO! Apparently, people can't be happy unless they can spout nonsense from their keyboards. Let's get to the example that is currently causing me to question how humanity ever made it past banging rocks together to make fire, shall we?

This is our posted question to a forum:

Hi! I was wondering if anyone tried out the latest version of XFCE, since it really looks like it has improved significantly over the last version. I'm curious to know if thunar is stable yet and if anyone has tried using it with compiz-fusion.

Seems simple and to the point, no? I mean, this person is asking for specific information, so you would ASSUME that he would receive either an answer from someone that related to this question or no answers because no one uses xfce where he posted this message, right? HA!

Here is about the second or third reply to our poster's question:

I've been using the new KDE and it's so fast and cool. I can do so much more with the new release than anything else.

Yes, that's right. Instead of answering ANYTHING our poster asked about, this person decided to tell us all about NOTHING related to the question or the post -- except for the fact that it's another desktop environment. Ohhhhh and we're not done.

About the sixth or eighth post down, we'll get this reply:

I don't believe in using something with that much bloat and waste! I run a clean and effective desktop free of all that useless garbage. It's so much better to run Ion without all that bloated crap taking up my screen!

Effectively we have been told NOTHING by these two posters -- and in fact, not only did we not receive the information we asked for, we've been INSULTED! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD.

You want to know WHY more women don't get into Linux?! WHY would any woman want to subject herself to this kind of bullshit online if she doesn't HAVE TO?! ENOUGH of the penis comparisons! Your desktop IS NOT YOUR PENIS. Your IDE is NOT your penis. Your chosen programming language is NOT your penis. And last, but not least, your editor -- vi or emacs -- is ALSO NOT YOUR PENIS!

If I ask a question about a desktop environment, for the love of all that's left of rationality in this world, EITHER ANSWER THE QUESTION OR STFU. I mean, honestly, can you people replying like this not READ?! I mean, is it REALLY too hard NOT to say a goddamned word if the question doesn't apply to you? Seriously?!

Ohhhh now I know, not all of you participate in the "I didn't read the damn question but I'm going to shoot my effing mouth off about bullshit anyway" phenomena -- and to those of you that don't, I thank you from the bottom of my shoes. Thank you thank you thank you.

But the rest of you? Can you all go post to 4chan or something instead? Perhaps stay on facebook/myspace?
Wait, you've already commented without reading a damn word I said, right? That would be icing on the cake.

Oh forget it.

I have a pet peeve with a great deal of the OSS developers out there. Now, this doesn't include all of them -- some of them behave considerably better than others -- but I have had the misfortune to stumble upon far too many that anger me to the point of not wanting anything to do with Open Source projects that it isn't funny any more.

My pet peeve is with bug reporting. Most OSS projects have a bug tracker and in theory they encourage users to post bugs so that they can be tracked down and fixed. IN THEORY.

The problem is, in an absurd amount of projects, if you actually take the time to write a bug report that isn't a duplicate, and describe the problem as best as you can, some developer will come along and dismiss you as an effing moron.

Let's say that I notice that the latest version of one of my favourite applications has this slight bug where when I do one thing, like maximise the window, my cpu usage will skyrocket. Now, this doesn't happen when the application is minimised, and it didn't happen with the previous version, and it also doesn't happen with some different window configurations.

Now, being a responsible OSS application user, I will report this odd behaviour to the application's bug report, thinking, oh, this must be a new bug in the application I'm using, because it doesn't happen with any other application, any other VERSION of this one application, or with some other configurations of my system. Since this behaviour is NEW, and the only thing I have changed is my APPLICATION, it MUST be the application's fault -- goes the logic.

With the bug reported, all should be well right? The developer should look at my bug and ask me questions or try to duplicate it or other things, right?! NO! What do I get?! I get the developer telling me that it's NOT the application's fault, it must be my window configuration. That's right, even though if the developer had actually READ my bug report, they would know that THIS BUG DIDN'T HAPPEN UNTIL THE NEW RELEASE WITH THE SAME CONFIGURATION. BUT DO THEY READ THAT PART?! NO! THEY TELL ME THE BUG IS INVALID AND CLOSE IT, REFUSING TO HEAR THAT THEY MAY BE CAUSING USERS OF THEIR APPLICATION ISSUES!

WTF.

Why the hell do they even have a bug tracker then? Why not just say to all their users, "everything is someone else's fault, not this application, so go complain to them."

Look, if you don't want users filing bug reports, DON'T ASK THEM TO. If you don't want to hear a goddamned word that someone may be trying to tell you about your new code base, DON'T ASK FOR IT.

I am absolutely sick of this mentality.

Want to know why people don't bother posting effing bug reports? That's pretty simple: YOU DON'T LISTEN TO A DAMN WORD THEY SAY!

Honestly, I'd rather spend my time finding an alternate application than post bug reports any more, it's just not worth my time to be told that kind of garbage*.

(*see rant on gaim/pidgin for yet ANOTHER example of bug reporting / developer idiocy.)

Chick Flicks

Last night was chick flick night... so, what did I pick out to rent?

Tank Girl
True Romance

Those are my chick flicks for the week! I LOVE those movies. How can a movie about a post-apocalyptic world where freaky punk girls have tanks and join a group of ferocious kangaroo-human breeds to make war on the overlord company entitled water & power -- NOT be the coolest chick flick ever?!

GOOD GOD. Have I mentioned the black hole that is my bunny lately? I know I named her entropy, but by all accounts I should have named her CARTMAN. She eats. And eats. And eats. And eats. It's all she does. She's a soccer ball -- with teeny tiny legs and two large horns. If I'm trying to sleep, she picks up her metal bowl and throws it around the tile making an awful clatter.

Ok, it's almost seven am and I'm not coherent exactly. I could use some goji berry juice. Or sleep.

Sleep it is!

[edit: oh my dear god, a few days later I re-read this and notice I forgot to finish multiple trains of thought as they derailed into a need for sleep. I will have to remember NOT to post when I'm THAT tired and easily distracted by my fat-butted-bunny.]

Taters!

I am a potato nut. I love potatoes. I love them boiled, mashed, crispy, stewed... you name it. From time to time I found glorious potato chips with yummy flavours -- usually kettle-cooked. I love kettle-cooked vegetables (and popcorn!) I've even eaten potatoes raw! YUM! (Oh yeah, dipped in yoghurt with wasabi.... oh good lorrrrrrrrrrd those are good....)

My two favourite brands from the states are Tim's Cascade Potato Chips and Kettle Chips. (I sneak in some salt and vinegar pringles every now and then too...)
I haven't had them in a very long time, which makes me sad. Booohooo! But! Knowing that I have an odd taste in food (cajun sushi anyone? potato chips inside my black-bean burger?) -- I decided to re-create some of my favourite chip flavours in my weekly dosage of mashed potatoes. Mmmmmmm......

My Current Mashed Potato Flavour Favourites:

• Fleur de Sel and Vinegar
• Cheddar and Beer (Ohhhhh yeah.... sharp cheddar and a GOOD beer.... DROOL)
  
• Dill Pickle
• Dill and Cucumber
• Yoghurt and Leek
• Wasabi (Nothing like eating BRIGHT NEON GREEN mashed potatoes)
  
• Raita (Yoghurt, Cardamom, Cucumber, Red Capsicum, Tomato, hint of garlic)
  
• Adobo (Oh man... alder-smoked jalapenos FTW!)
  
• Taco Sauce and Balsamic Vinegar
• Tandoori Curry
• Basil, Tomato, Mozzarella
• Sushi Vinegar
• Avocado and Smoked Almonds
  

And yes... I've discovered the joy that is using mashed potatoes with sushi vinegar inside of my sushi rolls. Oh man... mix the mashed potatoes with the seasoned sushi vinegar... spread it out onto nori.... put my cucumbers, celery, daikon, and wasabi inside... roll.... slice......... ohhhhh yeah. fusion sushi.

I think I should start posting recipes for my concoctions. I mean, who WOULDN'T like my fusion cooking?! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

TATERS!

What do bunnies dream?

I have come to the conclusion that bunnies dream of abandoned apple orchards. They dream of gnawing the bark, chewing the dropped branches, and eating all of the apples that drop to the ground with impunity. Perhaps in the wilder bunny dreams, there are abandoned fields of vegetables that are magically tended -- just for the bunnies.

If I pick up an apple and a knife, she's right at my feet. She'll look all cute, stand on her back legs and paw at my calves. Sometimes, she'll nip at my pants. I'll look down at that sweet little innocent face and be suckered into giving her a slice. BAM! She'll wolf down that slice faster than kids on crank. I've now seen her half-asleep trying desperately to eat her apple slice... she's so asleep, curled around her apple slice, sniffing it to make sure it's still there, until she can be awake and eat it.

Pig. With a cute face. PIG!

I'm debating putting a princess costume on her for halloween. A fat, pink princess. HA! Deprive me of sleep will you? At least I'M NOT THE PINK PRINCESS! You know... if I do that to her, she'll eat my soul while I'm sleeping... might want to hang on to my soul for a while longer...

OOOH! You know what happens after halloween, right? NANOWRIMO! Wewt! Come hell or high water this year, book one shall be done. I'm half of the mind to put recipes into the chapter names. Science Fiction, now with more recipes! Well, maybe I'll re-do them after November. No time to think about them now.

I've volunteered some of my time for a worthy goal lately. It's always funny when I volunteer for something. I never know if my advice will be acknowledged or used, although, for every time it hasn't, I've watched the same people I volunteered to help end up paying quite a bit to get the same advice from someone else. That's the part that cracks me up. It's like when I was teaching design -- I'd tell my students what I was testing them for, and they wouldn't listen, and I'd end up having to mark their submissions as failing. Then they'd come after they received their project back and tell me I never told them what I wanted. Of course, then I would dutifully point out their syllabus and the materials packet they received on the first day of class. It was always spelled out exactly what I was looking for in the projects.

Perhaps one day I'll just stop trying to help. LOL. What ya gonna do, eh? Kids these days.

Where are the 'what ifs' ?

It's not the 'what if' there was FTL that bugs me. What bugs me is that authors use it as a taxi service to get around places, there isn't a 'what if' to it anymore. It's been killed, by science, by bad writing, by authors that think it's 100% guaranteed. Well... it's not. In fact, the idea of accelerating to FTL travel presents a metric crap ton of problems for a human. (I'd like to see a new science fiction story with THAT concept -- woopsy, we accidentally obliterated a bunch of people by trying to accelerate them to faster than light... can we try again? oooops! obliterated them too. How about now? eeew... human goo.... ok, wait, I think we have it! hmmm. slushy humans... Ok, it would be more douglas adams than asimov, but it would be a 'what if' story!)

I don't have a problem with the FTL drives in stories, per se. Ursula K. Le Guin does a fascinating job of getting around to the 'people' in her stories without belaboring the FTL drives and that's what I want. What I find, however, are boring books about FTL drives, Time-Travel, and a bunch of other tropes that are little more than macguffins/devices/contrivances. I don't find any 'what if' about it... it's tired and tiring to read.

If authors would look at the amazing science we have available right now and wonder about what cool stuff can happen because of that, I think it would make for something back to the 'what if' that I want to read about. I mean, what IF you could use your printer and print yourself out a new ear?! What if you could give yourself new 'thoughts' by a chemical injection... what if you could copy someone else's thoughts through recording just their electrical impulses and let others experience those thoughts through a kind of shock treatment? (I've tried reading cyberpunk but .... most of the stuff in the genre is... not appealing to me at all... the ideas are, the writing isn't.)

I didn't like the Mars trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson -- but I did get a lot of 'what if' out of it -- and because of that, those books stay in my reading list. They're full of 'what if' ... just by taking current science and thinking about it. That's all I'm asking.

I just want science fiction to be about the wonders of science again. (which is why I write... I have wonders I want to share too...)
It's not that I don't want to hear the what-ifs... I just want the what-ifs to be based on good/newer science so that I'm not completely pulled out of my suspension of disbelief by the bad science *cough*michael crichton*cough*....

Bad Science = Bad Fiction.

I read an illiterate ranting somewhere that good science = bad fiction, and I was simply amazed at the level of unabashed ignorant tripe being spouted as 'truth' and 'fact' instead of 'uninformed media-speak opinion'.

The problem isn't that good science makes for bad fiction. The problem is that BAD science makes for terribly uninteresting, contrived and flat fiction (unless you're writing parody or douglas-adams-style-scifi.) If the science fiction writers actually used good science and scientific principles within their stories, then the readers wouldn't be stuck with massive tomes of scientific bunk relayed as 'all you can do' with the genre.

For example, in a discussion area for new writers, I read the following comment:
"Fast-than-light travel is a well-known fact that unless you can be really patient you need some sort of Star Drive go anywhere really interesting in space."

(don't even get me started on the illegibility of the writing...)
I'll just say this right now:
(accelerating to-) Faster than light travel is currently scientific crackpottery bunk, AND it is B O R I N G. Using space ships as just the hottest new way of zooming around to new places is the average travel novel with a plot device. And if you go the slow-way... a long-haul freighter is JUST a long-haul freighter, regardless of the contrivance that it's in space. There is far more interesting going on in your local neighborhood solar system than 'deep space' ... I mean, look at earth... Talk about ALIEN LIFEFORMS! Has anyone ever BEEN to NYC?!

Just say NO to FTL drives!

Speaking of long-haul freighters in space, has anyone ever actually considered the economics of sending X number of earth's best-and-brightest with all of our greatest-and-most-advanced-science to go start a colony on Y planet in Z solar system? No accountant that I've ever known would say, "OOOH! No return on investment for 3 centuries? SNAP! Let's get right on to funding this idea!" Hell, the accountants I've known would have a conniption fit over the idea of sending that much money off the planet even to somewhere like the moon - since there is no economic benefit to the moon (or even Mars for that matter to accountants.)

In order to have something like that happen, it's best to either skip over the actual colonisation-send-off and the reasons for it, or the 'boring' long-haul process.

And for the love of all that's holy out there, please, no more time-travel. Just stop.

Use good science. Write good fiction. Bad science is boring. In fact, if more science fiction writers spent more time reading scientific journals, physics and math books, cosmological research, etc. then I think the science fiction genre could really be outstanding.

Get away from the movies! Get away from the bad science! Do your research! Good Science Always Prevails!

Click!

As I was asking myself, "What would this character be reading?" I had the answer - AND - their drive / sub-plot arc drop into my lap.

It. All. Fits. Now.

All my "Why?" questions have been answered. This book is ready to fly out of my hands and into nanowrimo's gruel-churning machine for the draft that I will edit down to half-size and ... then... it will be ready for editing.

Today, it just clicked.

This will be the year these books FINALLY get out of my head and onto the typed page in a clear, unobtrusive way. YIPPEEEE!
I've got it! I've got it! I've got it! I've got it! I've got it!

Come on nanowrimo! I'm just blazing to go here!

Font Me!

Fontimus Maximus!
After a few days of work, the mathematically-pure letterforms, and all (and I do mean ALL) of the available ligatures are nearing completion! (This is where I give CBU tons and tons and tons of thanks for taking my old digital designs and staring endlessly at my handwriting of this language and creating the perfect glyphs, double ligatures and triples. MASTER at geometry, I'm telling you.)

This is a really great thing - because - NOW - I can include all of the beautiful original words in the footnotes and the appendices of the books.

I'm hoping to have all of the extraneous data out of the way for the 2007 Nano competition this year... which I think will be great. All my pieces are at my fingertips this year, and all the kabbalistic crap has been reduced to bare minimums.

I have almost 'all' of my WHY?! questions answered - and that's a great starting point. It's going to be a great year!