Well not in Australia! but hey we can all wish for a white christmas, but since its not going to happen at lest i can have some snow on my blog! haha oh well so not much has been going on, just thought i would give you all an update, so its coming up to christmas and as i sit here typing this blog post from the couch i cant help but wish that i snowed here in Australia during christmas, see most people don’t know that Australians have christmas in the summer! so while you guys get snow we have 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) days.

Now whats going on in the world of Maplestory? well there’s the new class even, was spadows birthday the other day- (happy birthday mate) i haven’t been training for the past couple of weeks, just alot of APQ trying to get my funds up been trying to sell my dimon wand….SOME ONE BUY MY DIMON WAND!!!!. I’m also pondering if i should reset 30 AP points from LUK to INT its going to cost $310 USD that’s two months of NX :/ and to top that all off my current NX just ran out…so i think this will be a project i will attempt over a few months..also a quick question does any one know if its better to put the points on INT before i level to 142 or level then put it on…?

Ok so i will finish this post now, as im about to watch zombie land! PEACE AND LOVE!

Now that Thanksgiving (in all its mostly localness) is a mere memory, I am thinking of local dishes that might sustain us through the holidays. This maple cranberry sauce might be the exact thing and I am lucky enough to be living in the land of both cranberries and maple syrup. Yes this is a variation of a Thanksgiving staple, but it could be just as good with a stinky Vermont blue cheese, a roasted chicken, or sweetened up a bit and added to any number of desserts. Plus the color is a beautiful, festive red. 

Maple Cranberry Sauce
rinse 2 cups of local cranberries, discarding any that aren’t firm. Put into a sauce pan on medium light. Add 3/4 cup of maple syrup and maybe one T of water to get things going. Continue to cook, stirring often, until all of the cranberries burst and you have the consistency of sauce that you like (the longer it cooks, the smoother and more jelly-like this becomes). If cheating on your region, add zest and juice from half of a lemon to brighten the flavors a bit.

Apparently the mystery is solved: I ate an unripe hachiya persimmon whereas I should have eaten a fully ripened or fuyu persimmon. I think from now on instead of hear about the 25 reasons I could be dying from WebMD I’ll just ask the blogger world. Dare I go back and try another? I think this experience has scared me off for now and I will stick with the dried persimmons in my granola. Well when I said I was dragging yesterday, I was reeaaallly dragging. I reached for the only caffeine I keep around after I posted.

Cola Zevia

Well that picked me up. I straightened up a bit around here; there seem to be papers and books everywhere. What is this? A dorm during finals period?! Oh wait… haha Dr. Phil was on Oprah; I can’t really stand him on his own show but somehow Oprah made him tolerable. I must admit I love some of his expressions: “dogpiling in the foyer” If anyone can explain that to me, they get bonus points. My hunger definitely subsided after the persimmon incident and I wasn’t feeling too snacky in the afternoon. There was one thing I didn’t mind having, though.

Plain Soy Yogurt With Peanut Sundrops

Omnomnomnom. I love this soy yogurt with milk chocolate peanut butter cups, so having it with milk chocolate coated peanuts was just as good! It was so nice and sweet and salty and delicious. But what I really loved here was how the colors ran and made the yogurt orange and yellow and purple. It may sound silly, but once and a while since going all-natural I miss the fun food colors and playing with those, and most natural food dyes cost an arm and a leg. This reminded me of how ugly cookies get when you bake them with M&M’s in them

Like I said, I wasn’t very snacky in the afternoon, so I had no problem holding off until dinner when I could try out my new purchase.

Tikka Masala Simmer Sauce

I think I’m starting to like Indian food. Or at least start to crave it, because it was on my mind all through Whole Foods. I really wanted to make a chickpea dish but the dining hall didn’t have those, so instead I got carrots and broccoli and diced half of one of my sweet potatoes and let that “simmer” in the microwave at a low power. I served that along side some lemon and lime salmon also from Whole Foods

Vegetable Tikka Masala, Lemon And Lime Salmon

The salmon(which was like 1.50 off the salad bar, wahoo bargains!) surprisingly did taste like lemon and lime. Sprite, anyone? With enough salt, though, it got back to its fishy roots. I liked the vegetables, but the sauce was a bit too mild? I know it says “England’s favorite mild curry sauce” but I was expecting their mild to be a bit more. Oh well, I’ll have to step it up next time!

I loved loved loved Survivor last night. it was the auction episode, which I’m always a fan of. It’s also such a good sign you’re getting towards the end of the season and can see who the real playa’s are. I had a (very repetitive) snack.

Oikos With Crushed Sunspire Peanut Milk Chocolate Drops

These mini Oikos cups are… mini, but they’re perfect for when you just want the topper and could care less about the yogurt Have I mentioned I’m now obsessed with the milk chocolate covered peanuts? I’m writing in to Trader Joe’s to request it(literally). Since there was no Grey’s, I was able to watch The Office and 30 Rock on their regular time. Neither of them had me loling, but at least I don’t have to worry about watching them online now. Then I got really random for Leno.

Toast With Butter Toffee Peanut Butter, Vegan Pumpkin Molasses Cookie, Double Chocolate Pillow, Advent Chocolate, Newman's Own Organic Orange Dark Chocolate

Like I said: random. I was going to make my favorite bowl of oats but then thought this “sampler” platter was more fun. I still way prefer peanut butter on oatmeal than toast–it’s just better! And both of these cookies were still amazing after so much refrigeration, which made me happy. I’m definitely “rediscovering” my Newman’s Own Organic chocolate stash, which is dangerous since there’s a ton to rediscover.

This morning I didn’t have much of an excuse not to get up and go go go for a run. I set my sight on 12 miles and grabbed this bar.

Amazing Grass Whole Food Energy Bar

At 6:40, anything with the word energy is very welcomed. This flavor is OK, but I really prefer the chocolate or chocolate peanut butter(Could you imagine that? Me preferring chocolate and peanut butter? ). I ended up eating half and saving the other part for another morning, though I must admit I hate the idea of having half a bar around and right now that’s the case with 2(!). After the 10th mile I had to stop; I just wasn’t feeling it and, while I could have “entertained myself” and gone another two miles with eating up the rest of the bar, I recognized this was a time when pushing myself was not a strengthener but would weaken me. Instead I stopped at 10 miles and 83:18, did my cool down, showered, and made a breakfast.

Pumpkin Oatmeal With Maple Almond Butter And 2 Goji Almond Oat Cookies

Pumpkin Yogurt With Brown Sugar

Omnomnomnom. The oatmeal was such a great bowl of antioxidants, healthy fats, and flavors. And I forgot how simple yet worth it raw sugar on yogurt can taste. Maybe that’s a good thing I forgot since sugar isn’t exactly the most nutritious thing but some granolas are practically 100% sugar anyhow so I just got rid of the bulk

This morning I had a really positive interaction with my gym friend, Gail, that I thought I’d share. She told me that she saw me from her office window yesterday and wanted to compliment me on my leather jacket.

Firenze Leather Jacket

Spiffy, no? I got it in Italy the summer after 9th grade and now that it fits me better I find it so comfortable to wear. I also corrected her in thinking that my name was Ian; it felt a little awkward to address but I knew it’d be only more awkward with time and that it was better to correct a problem like this at the beginning. I think I’m going to make it my goal to compliment someone today. If such a simple and little thing can brighten someone’s morning, why not do it, right?

Who doesn’t love a tofu giveaway?

Amazing giveaway at Averie’s blog

I did it! As I mentioned in a 6:29am mad rush yesterday, The Biggest Loser inspired me to get out and try for a distance personal record. More specifically, what I was inspired by was the contestant’s goal: not necessarily to “run a marathon” but more “to move their bodies 26.2 miles”. Every morning I’ve gotten up and ran until it was time to stop(which, if the time is a literal thing, around 8:30). Yesterday I decided no time excuses–that I was going to get up and “move my body 16 miles”. While I wanted to run it, I acknowledged I might need to walk, to hop off the treadmill for the bathroom(which happened a lot), or to take a water break. Regardless, I was determined to hit the distance and not factor in anything else. While it was long, it wasn’t nearly as grueling as I anticipated. I overprepared like a pro.

Peanut Butter And Jelly Larabar

I brought 3 bars and only ended up eating what you don’t see of this PB&J Larabar. And, yes, I made it 16 miles. Needless to say, it felt quite good to finish after a time of 2:17:50 and I was into the 3rd hour of The Today Show. Best of all, I learned a new way of thinking; I loved the mentality shift from running to moving myself a certain distance. It makes all sorts of distances look possible for the future. Also needless to say, I was a sweaty mess when I got back to my dorm at 9:20, so I showered and made this salty and sweet mess:

Sweet And Salty Oats

If this is at the end of 16 miles, I’m running 32 tomorrow. I was short on time after ignoring it so I went with the throw-everything-in-a-bowl method and wow was this good. I don’t know where to begin, so I’ll just let your imagine soar I still wanted to get some breakfast probiotics though, so I gave a new product a try.

Vega Vanilla Chai Whole Food Health Optimizer

You can read my review here, but to sum it up I’d say the nutrition was ridiculously amazing, the flavor decent, and the coloration scary. I think that’s how it works with most green drinks, at least the last part anyway. I ended up walking into class right with the bell(score!) just in time to do teacher evaluations… I’m sure I’ll stick out like a thumb on my evaluations in the classes where I’m the only freshman(and that’s the first question on the paper) but I tried being honest in all of them. After class I picked up something at a campus convenience and made my way home for emails and lunch. Lunch came in to parts:

Trader Joe's Mac N' Cheese, Broccoli

Chocolate Peppermint Stick Luna

It just felt like a mac n’ cheese day; I don’t think that needs any explanation :-) When I saw a chocolate peppermint bar at the convenience store, I had to grab it. Yes–it’s a bar marketed for women. But I see you gals eat Clif bars all the time so if you can gender-bar hop so can I Plus it just felt so nice and seasonal. I really liked it and even bought another one afterwards to enjoy with cocoa some time.

All I could think about in classes 2 and 3 was how I almost spent as much time on the treadmill as I would in class yesterday–insane! When i got out, I wandered around a bit up and down Thayer street. I bought 2 magazines even though I had 3 I hadn’t read yet(whoops), and managed by Blue State for some coffee. Eventually, I realized all of this was procrastination since I had an overflowing inbox and homework to do, so I hung my head and got back to the dorm. I also picked up this delicacy while I was out and about:

Pizza Strip With Lightlife Breakfast Sausage

A pizza strip is a local food comprised of a yeast dough topped with a thin layer of herby sauce and nothing more. I added some breakfast sausage to make it a “faux meat lovers” pizza–yum! I think this officially makes me a Rhodey now, right Big Girl? The afternoon was filled with busy work. I got pretty hungry by 6 but didn’t want to ruin my appetite for meeting folks at the dinning hall at 6:30 so I snacked on an apple.

Apple

It’s really unfortunate this is my pre-dinner snack because my dining hall serves some pretty bad apples and I refuse to buy produce with my grocery money that’s not some sort of tuber or I can’t store under my bed For dinner, I knew I didn’t want the veggie option so I made my main in my dorm and relied on the cafe for side veggies.

Maple Mustard Tofu Steaks, Sweet Potato, Steamed Vegetables

It feels like ages since I’ve done the maple/mustard combo, so it was welcomed to have it back. I cut up 3 slices(2 servings) of firm tofu and tried letting it marinate for 30 minutes and “glaze” in the microwave but in the end it was more of a sauce. I don’t know why the sweet potato doesn’t look like much here because it felt HUGE and sat like a rock in my tummy. I was honestly stuffed when I got back to my dorm and just wanted to put on stretchy PJ’s and my glasses to watch TV.

I’m sure I’m not the only one who was glued to the tree lighting ceremony? Rudolph was also on, and so were some new ABC shows, but how often do they light the Rockefeller tree? I never knew Jane Krakowski was an actual singer; I never would have guessed that from her 30 Rock character. Eventually, when there was room, I had a seasonal snack.

Chocolate Peppermint Stick Luna

Haha, guess I’m getting a little repetitive? I blame this blogger for giving me a peppermint craving(and by blame, I mean utterly adore). It was still as good as the first time and prompted me to write a review so I can spread the crack love. Other than that, I got an embarrassingly low amount of work done It’s just that time of year when things are piling up so high doing the “normal” amount of work won’t cut it. I realized when enough was enough(aka, quitting time) and tried getting out with my sanity. I was ready to get under the covers and enjoy one last night time snack.

Oatmeal With Peanut Butter Frosting, TJ's Mini PB Cups, Smart Balance PB And An Advent Chocolate

Holy oats! So good. True fact: I’m all for dark chocolate and it’s antioxidental power, but when it comes to chocolate and peanut butter I need my milk–it’s just better if you ask me. For the peanut butter frosting, I did 2oz greek yogurt with 1 tablespoon peanut flour and 5 drops stevia. Expect to see about 22 more of those little hearts before Christmas.

Newman's Own Organic Mocha Milk Chocolate

I might have snuck a little more milk chocolate. At least I’m good enough to take pictures of it? Sleep felt so easy and natural last night; it was raining when I went to bed and I love falling asleep to the sound of rain. Unfortunately, when I woke up, it wasn’t rain but a full blown torrential downpour. I decided to sleep in and not run(and since I run in the gym, you can imagine how bad this ran seemed at the time). I got up an hour or so later and realized I’m so lost when I’m off my “routine”. Regardless, I tried to normalize things with oats and yogurt.

Banana Oatmeal With Banana Peanut Butter, Pumpkin Yogurt With Pumpkin Flax Granola And White Chocolate Chips

Normal tastes gooood. I think I underseasoned the oats because I tried to make them taste more like my banana goodness bread but they came out just banana with a touch of cinnamon. Salt and this peanut butter perked it up. I completely forgot how nice and flaxy the Nature’s Path granola is. Yesterday I got awesome news that I was their “fan of the week” on facebook and am getting some products I’ve never had before!! I can’t wait to try them.

As the sun is coming out, it’s making me feel bad about not getting a great run in. Well where was it at 6:30am? I might take the rest day, or might be drawn out after class. Or I might just call a trip to the Whole Foods salad bar a “workout”. Any of those are good options.

Giveaway over at the PB queen herself’s blog!

Thanks to one of our fantastic followers, we were linked to a great article on NPR.org that truly unfolds the beautiful, whacky appeal of the fantastically sweet, smokey, and salty fusion that is dessert bacon. What perfect timing considering these puppies were cooked up in the kitchen only 3 days ago!

Read all about it here and don’t hesitate to explore the tasty recipes they provide for sweets like Chocolate Chip-Bacon-Pecan Cookies and Peanut Butter-Maple Bacon Fudge. Mmm nom nom nom! And don’t forget to check out the recipe we used for our Bacon Toffee Chocolate Cupcakes with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting.

Last Spring

Thoughts of Spring and beautiful maples, this is Acer Palmatum D. “Red Emperor’

Not sure why, but I was looking out the window today and at all the trees and not a leaf in sight, then I started thinking . . . man, one of those bright red Japanese maples would look real good over there by that tree line.

I knew right away where I had uploaded the images to and thought I’d post one to make my day, and hopefully yours.

So much for getting back into the swing of things! I couldn’t have been more off my game yesterday if I’d crashed my car into a tree and then drew attention to myself by releasing a sketchy statement about it. I completely forgot the first rule of morning time management: The days you want extra time are exactly the days you won’t get it. Regardless, I skipped doing the dishes and ran out the door at 10:45 to grab coffee before class. For the first time, I forgot my camera. What if yesterday was the day I ran into Emma Watson and explained to her about my blog and she offered to pose for a photo with me?… I like to dream big so that whatever happens in the day isn’t a disappointment. Well that wasn’t the case, but I did get my coffee, sit through an rough hour of “welcome back, now work” class, and hustle on back to my dorm to pick up where I left off. After cleaning, emailing, and blog reading, I made another meal of leftovers.

Cheesy Broccoli, Tofurkey Slice, Acorn Squash With Caramel Mustard

I think from now on I’ll just cook everything on the weekend and only eat “leftovers” all week long because they’re always the best. The broccoli was simply steamed and mixed with a slice of cheese from Trader Joe’s. The acorn squash was delicious with the caramel mustard, which I definitely had a heavy hand with(how could I not?). And the Tofurkey roast was still mighty fine, though I made sure not to overdo it again because apparently too much Tofurkey is rough on the stomach! Cost for calorie, these aren’t so bad to buy on sale after the holidays eat throughout the week. Here’s hoping to more in the future!(besides what I still have as leftovers )

I don’t know where my head was because I almost left my room and went to class without any of the books I needed. In history we got back our 3 midterm essays, all of which I did really well on and lifted my spirits. Then we got our final paper topic–yikes! That’ll be 12-15 pages of get-me-out-of-here. After class I “had” to dash back to my dorm to pick up stevia packets for a coffee before epic poetry(going to class without a coffee would be dangerous). Unfortunately, as New Englanders know, the weather was awful in the afternoon and my plans to grab something at Whole Foods were no more. I headed back to my dorm, at which point I was struck with a Jimmy Neutron brain blast.

Pumpkin Oatmeal With Butter Toffee Peanut Butter And Shortcut Cream Cheese Frosting

I loved this recipe so much, I had to post it immediately. That is seriously going to change the way I eat anything carby(probably not for the better but oh well). Oprah had some awesome guests on, including Sugarland, all singing Christmas songs! It was pretty awesome–I wish I’d known to tivo it. Afterwards I had to get out even if it was raining. Naturally I chose the bookstore.

Coffee At The Bookstore

I realized I forgot all my cold-weather clothes at home, as well as an umbrella and q-tips. Again, where was my head? After perusing I couldn’t find any good coats, and the umbrellas were a bit much(and I completely forgot about the q-tips ) so I left empty handed. I was still feeling a bit snackish, though, so I dug up this bar back at the dorm.

Lemon Ginger Gnu Bar

Wowza! I think this bar had the most flavor out of any of their bars, and I really really liked it. The lemon and ginger were both loud and it made a fun study snack. While doing some work before dinner, I realized I hadn’t heard from my friend if we were doing dinner. That’s because I forgot to turn my phone on in the morning and it’d been off all day… wtf. After getting some texts and finding out I was too behind for the rest of the world, I ended up grabbing something and eating in.

Vegan Roasted Vegetables, Sweet Potato, Wildwood Teryaki Tofu

Do you see the sun? It needed to come out at some point. Before I dug into this, I realized, I took my only fork home before break and forgot to bring it back. What’s wrong with me? Chopsticks and my baby spoon it was. Unfortunately, the flavors were not nearly as sunny; this was one of those meals that just felt like a waste after eating it(except the sweet potato, which would take a lot to feel like a waste). I wish this tofu had half the flavors on the ingredient list but in the end it tasted much like their savory flavor and wasn’t teryaki at all. As for the veggies, I tried to ignore the massive amounts of olive oil, but I had to stop 3/4ths the way through and throw out the rest. I don’t mind healthy fats, but I’m not a big fan of olive oil :-/ Nuts, peanut butter, avocado–all good. But this was too much to an absurd amount.

The night just went downhill from there. Heroes was OK but nothing to draw my attention, and my stomach just felt off, which I’m going to go ahead and blame on the vegetables. I did some light reading but realized I was tired. Could I go to bed at 9 and be asleep at 10? Was that allowed? Why the hell not, so I shut down my computer early, and figured out what to have right before sleeping.

2% Greek Yogurt With Strawberry Jam And Strawberry White Chocolate

Well the night wasn’t a complete bust; I removed 1oz plain and replaced it with 1oz full fat yogurt to give the base a 2% taste. Then I swirled in strawberry jam(technically ”conserve”) and topped with a shaved Divine bar and some more jam. Just what I need before going to be–sugar. Midway through this I realized I forgot to brush my teeth, and so went to the bathroom to do that. In the 3 minutes I was in there, my roommate must have came home and grabbed something, locking the door and leaving. I was locked out in my pajamas, glasses, barefoot with a toothbrush–glorious. I freaked out for a minute and tried running outside to find him but no luck. Thankfully, one of the RC’s on the other side of the dorm was home and called campus services on my behalf. She also lent me slippers to wear while I waited outside(in 40 degree weather) for the campus security to show up. By the time I got in my room, i completely missed Big Bang Theory and was quite livid. The only thing I could do from wanting to tell someone off was eat this.

Deep Chocolate Vitatop

I’m not sure how well that worked, but heating it a little extra and just holding it in my hands for warmth made me happy. I totally didn’t get to bed early like I had planned, and the entire night felt like a waste. I maybe got 20-30 minutes more of sleep than normal–maybe. When I woke up I just needed to run it out, so I grabbed this and just left:

Amazing Grass Berry Energy Bar

I swear I always run farther than planned when I have an Amazing Grass bar. Stock up while they’re still on sale! I was first thinking 8, then pushed it to 10, then settled at 12. 3 days in a row? I think that’s a new favorite distance. My time was a little slower(1:41:11) but not bad. I was very pleased that my room wasn’t locked when I came back this time, and I was able to get in and make a quickie breakfast.

Pumpkin Oatmeal With Smart Balance And Maple Syrup, Plain Chobani With Blueberry Jam And A Double Chocolate Pillow

Is there anything better than opening up a new jar of PB? I bought this Sart Balance with agave to replace the one I had with molasses–it’s just better! And perfect on some salty oats with maple syrup. And the yogurt–yum! I love the combination of chocolate and blueberry but it’s so hard to find in foods unless I make it myself. The pillow cookie made a perfect, rich cocoa topping.

How about a question of the day, shall we? Tell me either your worst story of being locked out(fortunately this hasn’t happened too me more than 2 or 3 times in my life) or your most annoying roommate story(I realize my roommate could have been a lot worse so now I want to hear about those who were). And here’s to December not being as bad as November ended!

Bismillahirohmairohim ^^. Sungguh manusia harus memilih dengan sebaik-baiknya ketika kita diberikan waktu luang dan kesehatan, akankah keduanya itu akan membuahkan hasil yang manis, atau justru akan menjadi memori hidup yang akan diulas karena telah disia-siakan. ketika itu aku disuguhkan artikel manis By Steve Gillman. Excerpt from Chapter 5 of A Book of Secrets yang berjudul 70 Ways to Increase Your Brain Power, dan dari ke-70 cara itu, ada beberapa cara yang bisa kita coba dan telaah untuk menjadi pengisi hidup sehat kita ^^ tanpa harus mengeluarkan banyak biaya :

1) Breath deep, dengan banyak oksigen yang masuk,maka kita akan semakin banyak menyuplai oksigen dalam darah yang mengalir dalam tubuh dan otak.Sehingga kebutuhan otak dan tubuh terpenuhi, kita juga tidak akan mudah menguap lagi ^^ (hindarilah menguap, karena di kondisi seperti itu, berarti pertahanan tubuh kita sedang tidak baik, menguap akan banyak memasukkan udara tanpa filterisasi). Mengambil nafas yang dalam, akan membangkitkan kinerja paru-paru dan diafragma, sehingga kita pun bisa relaks dan berpikir pun lebih kondusif.

2)Meditate, meluangkan waktu sejenak sekitar 5 sampai 10 menit. jika kita punya waktu luang, pagi-pagi mungkin setelah riyadoh, tak ada salahnya untuk melakukan ini untuk relaksasi, menjernihkan pikiran, dan mempersiapkan menjalani aktifitas selanjutnya.

3)Good thinking habits, berpikir jernih (khusnudzon) akan meringankan beban kita, menjadikan langkah kita maju dan terarah.

4)Learn a language, berikut penjelasan dari Steve Gillman, Learning a new language has been shown to halt the age-related decline in brain function. It also introduces your mind to new concepts and new ways of looking at things (in English we are afraid, whereas in Spanish we have fear). It is one of the best brain exercises.

Jadi, tidak ada salahnya kita belajar hal baru dalam hidup kita, berbagi ilmu, buku dan pengalaman ^^.

Kita diciptakan menjadi manusia yang berbeda, SubhanaAllah walaupun kita sama-sama memiliki mata, hidung, mulut, telinga, alis namun tetap bisa dibedakan antara yang satu dengan yang lainnya, bahkan orang kembar sekalipun. Oleh karena itu kita harus berusaha memperbaiki diri menjadi lebih baik ^^ hamasah…Kenapa ada orang yang bisa menguasai berbagai bahasa padahal bahasa itu punya konsep yang berbeda, misalnya pernah kita dengar :

A: Bonjour. Ou est mon carnet?

Good morning. Where is my notebook?

Ohayo gozaimashu. Sore wa watashi no hon desu ka?

(Selamat pagi. Di mana buku catatan saya?)

B: Oui. Le voila (ya. itu di sana)

Good Morning. There is in your bag.(Pagi. Ada di dalam tas mu)

Ohayo gozaimashu. Kore wa anata no hon desu.

(Maaf saya juga berusaha untuk belajar =p jadi maaf klo kata2nya acak-acakan ^^)Jika diartikan dalam bahasa Indonesia, ketiga bahasa tadi hampir memiliki makna yang sama, Namun otak kita mampu merespon bahwa itu berasal dari bahasa yang berbeda. Kata Einstein, sebenarnya manusia tidak sepenuhnya mempergunakan 100% otaknya tapi hanya sekitar 10%(Jadi mari kita saling membantu untuk bisa mengerahkannya dengan optimal =D)

Cobalah baca berikut ini ^^ :

Jika bisa ditangkap sebenarnya maksud dari kalimat acak di atas adalah :

As long as you get a certain amount of sleep – probably a minimum of five hours – the quality seems to be more important than the quantity. Also, short naps in the afternoon seem to work well to recharge the brain for some people.

Jadi otak kita tidak hanya bisa membaca tiap satuan maksud makna kata, tapi bisa menangkap keseluruhan maksud kata. Coba jika kita membuat program untuk bisa melakukan hal yang sama, meskipun bisa, tapi membutuhkan codingan yang ekstra =p. Kita juga dianugrahi kemampuan untuk membedakan warna, merasakan tekstur sesuatu dengan sentuhan,memiliki perasaan, mencium, mendengar. So give thanks to Allah. ^^

5)Write, menulislah, dan jadikan tulisan kita sebagai sarana untuk mengembangkan diri, berbagi, memotivasi dan mengevaluasi. (Saya masih baru belajar nulis, jadi Dozo Yoroshiku ^^ )

6)Develop your Intuition, intuisi bisa membantu membangkitkan kinerja otak, biasanya intuisi akan menggunakan cara memprediksi dan mengamati kebiasaan yang sudah pernah dilakukan serta mengaitkan suatu pengalaman

7)Sleep better, tidur yang cukup dan tidak berlebihan(efektif)

Tidurlah seperti apa yang disunahkan rasul, berwudhu, berdoa dan menghadap/memiringkan tubuh ke kiblat(posisi jantung di atas sehingga jantung bisa bekerja dengan maksimal)

Bangun pagi dan menjaga kualitas shalat subuh. Ada yang mengatakan kualitas aktifitas kita selama hari itu dimulai dengan kualitas shalat subuh kita. So, keep praying ^^ Hamasah \(>o<)/

Avoid Sugar, walaupun sesuatu yang manis bisa menambah energi dan memang dibutuhkan tubuh, namun sesuatu yang berlebihan itu tidak baik. Allah tidak menyukai sesuatu yang berlebihan. Nikmati sayuran segar dan buah… ^^

10)Excercise, Talk

11)Walk, jalan-jalan, kalau menurut orang Cina, olah raga ini yang paling efektif membakar kalori.

12)Laugh, Tertawa bukan berati menertawakan, tapi tersenyumlah karena senyum itu ibadah ^^ Senyuman yang tulus akan membawa dampak yang baik bagi keduannya, dan bisa menjadi komunikasi yang efektif.

13)Sing,Tak ada salahnya kita bernyanyi, bersenandung atau mendengarkan musik. hal ini juga ikut berperan untuk mengembangkan kinerja otak kanan kita yang cenderung sensitif dengan kesenian.Tapi kita tidak boleh terlena, sehingga misalnya membuat tugas jadi tertunda dikerjakan (hehe ingat point 3 ). Dan tetap jadikan tilawah sebagai dzikir kita. Belajar tahsin sehingga tilawah kita bagus, itu juga belajar sesuatu yang baru dan itu baik untuk otak, apalagi setelah itu kita bisa mengajari orang lain, subhanaAllah ^^

14)Self awareness

15)Motivate yourself, seperti yang sudah pernah saya tulis sebelumnya..

16)Make a brainpowerplan, buatlah rencana-rencana besar dalam hidup, bermimpilah dan tuangkan dalam kertas hingga kelak semua itu menjelma menjadi coretan belaka, mimpi adalah harapan. namun rencana Allah lah yang terindah ^^

(Seperti autumn di samping..sungguh ingin suatu ketika bisa mengunjunginya.. dan merasakan nikmat dari Nya, maple yang begitu indah ^^)

Merci beacoup… Domo arigato gozaimashita… Thanks… Terima kasih… Matur nuwun… nuhun…. Gracias…

(Tak ada salahnya mencoba sesuatu yang baru =D )

Titlul de chitară a lunii septembrie şi din această lună se duce la Esp Ltd JH-200 respectiv Ninja-600.

Să începem cu JH-200

Este chitara semnătură a lui Jeff Hanneman de la Slayer construită pentru viteză.

Fanii speed-alternative-thrash metal ar putea avea în sfârşit un punct de reper, dacă vor să îşi achiziţioneze o chitară perfectă pentru genul lor la un preţ destul de “ieftin”~500Euro.

Caracteristici:

-Neck din arţar tip Bolt-On
-Corp din Tei american
-Tastieră din palisandru
-2 doze ESP LH-301
-Kahler-X Tremelo(Versiunile mai vechi au Floyd Rose Tremolo)
-24 Fret-uri

Şi acum Ninja-600

Este chitara semnătură a lui Michael Amott de la formaţia Arch Enemy.

Ninja-600 este o chitară în general bună, nici chiar “super-marfă” dar te poate servi până când decizi să îţi cumperi una mai scumpă.Calitatea şi sunetul sunt ceva mai bune decât la JH-200, însă şi preţul pe măsură ~1000Euro,personal nu cred că se merită cheltuiala.

Caracteristici:

-Corp”Ninja” din mahon-Neck din arţar
-Tastieră din abanos
-24 Fret-uri
-1 doză Seymour Duncan JB pe poziţia de Bridge, iar pe neck 1 doză Seymour Duncan `59

VideoReview al celor 2 chitări:

Artemisia, Antonia, Aurelia, Arabella, Clara, Clementine, Cleopatra, Crescentia, Dulcinea, Ernestine, Ebelina, Eloisa, Fenella, Fernanda, Genevieve, Gwendoline, Hazel, Hortencia, Imogen, Idahlia, Ishbel, Lucinda, Louella, Leagora, Linnea, Margaret, Maddalena, Maple, Madelie, Nataline, Ophelie, Octavia, Orlantha/Orlanda, Polly, Romilly, Rosalie, Tallulah, Valentina, Violet.

Abraham, Cato, Ezekiel, Emmett, Evander, Edward, Hugo, Ira, Jay, Lazarus, Lysander, Leander, Ned, Orlando, Perrin, Rupert, Russell, Sullivan, Thomas, Theodore, Willoughby.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

Taken by Lauren

What: Sweet Potato + Maple Brown Sugar

Where: The Yellow Leaf Cupcake Co. in the Belltown Neighborhood.. Click here for directions.

Yum yum.  I thouroughly enjoyed this rather light, petite cupcake but also the environment in which I found it.  Yellow Leaf is a cute little cafe offering full service coffee drinks as well as cupcakes with flavors changing throughout the day.  Although they offer their regular flavors, Yellow Leaf also makes small batches randomly of other speciality cupcake flavors so you never exactly know what you’re going to get until you get there!  The cupcakery also has a bookshelf full of fun board games which I found very endearing.

The sweet potato flavoring wasn’t too apparent but tasted more like a spiced cornbread, which was pleasant.  The frosting however was different then what Im used to.  It honestly tasted like straight butter (and had the consistency of butter as well).  I must say though, paired with the sweet potato cake, the butter frosting was the perfect accompaniment.

If your a fan of cupcakes but don’t like the overpowering sugary taste then I would definitely recommend Yellow Leaf.  They’re menu also contains unique flavors like tomato soup, pumpkin spice creme brulee, or pistachio.  I find myself gravitating more to flavors that aren’t sugar based but rather cake based with a spice component.  However, altogether the cupcake itself was a little bland and if someone were to eat the cupcake and have to guess the flavor there would be no indications of sweet potato or maple for that matter.

This cake deserves 3 NOMS out of 5 for lack of flavoring and the thick, butter-like frosting.  Although I did enjoy the cake at the time I wouldn’t seek out this flavor combination again.

]]> http://lazymansdilemma.wordpress.com/2009/11/26/candied-sweet-potatoes/ Thu, 26 Nov 2009 23:03:32 +0000 Mike http://lazymansdilemma.wordpress.com/2009/11/26/candied-sweet-potatoes/ http://windyrathole.wordpress.com/2009/11/26/maple-tree-late-autumn/ Thu, 26 Nov 2009 18:00:47 +0000 robswizzle http://windyrathole.wordpress.com/2009/11/26/maple-tree-late-autumn/

With me being at my grandmother’s house here in Charleston, WV. I decided to tag along my laptop so that I could do some critical updating and driver downloading.

With my free time being spent watching Youtube videos, I still had a little bit of bandwidth not being used.

I remember playing MapleStory a few years ago and it was honestly pretty entertaining considering, it’s only a 2-dimensional MMORPG.

So with my game downloading in the background, and me attempting to type ever so quietly because I’ve got family trying to sleep in the rooms all around me… I will begin to play MapleStory once more.

I plan on updating you with my progress but with all of my other blogs, we’ll just have to wait to see just how often I “update” you. Wish me luck, here I go.

昨晩の流れで，次の quasi-linear な偏微分方程式が出てきた．

Cartan integer(微分方程式の解の自由度のようなもの)を求めたいが，骨が折れそうなので，Mapleで計算！

我が家のMaple13で，Maple package Maple packages for differential forms and Cartan-Kahler analysisを利用．
結果はこちら→underdetermined_system.pdf
面倒な tableau の計算も楽チンですよーお試しあれ．

しかしまぁ，Mapleに頼ってばかりだと，自分で計算できなくなるな(汗
久しぶりに tableau の意味を思い出した．ここがかなり重要なんだよね．．

この計算はわき道ですが，本論の方もうまく行きそうな予感がします．
ずっとこんなこと言って，予想に裏切られてばかりなんですがね．
でも，何も分からず，一歩も前に踏み出せないよりはマシですね

カモ相手に，まさかの流し撮り！(流し撮りとは？)

走るとけっこう速い

Hi sweetpeas!

Omg, I spent the whole weekend doing my homework…ugh, I hate sciences!

Needed a break, so I thought: ”Hey…how ’bout some blogging?”

I don’t have much to say…thank you for all your support towards my court appearance and everything. I won’t lie, it’s hard. Really hard. Right now, ED is not even a problem anymore. I hate how it has driven me where I am. I don’t care about it now. There’s so much more to life than this.

The whole thing is making me…nauseous? There’s like a big, heavy hand that’s squishing my heart everytime I think about those doctors. I just feel so bad…for my family, for myself. I’m supposed to live the happiest moment of my life…but instead, I just wish that I can quickly become 18, so I can make my own decisions.

Okay no more negative feelings, sorry! 

*keep the positivism*

*keep the positivism*

Let’s move on to more happy news and yummy eats:

I went to party-buffet Friday night and it was pretty lame. Everyone had brought something (I brought Caesar salad and Macadamia cookies…they got attacked =D), but I don’t know how,  the 11th-12th graders got all wrong and ate part of our food! Aka all the desserts, brownies…Grrr, stupid kids! We were left with crudites, some boring sandwiches and Tostitos (hate those…among all the chips in the world, why do they left us the yuckiest chips???) After, since there was food left, everybody brought back a little something home, like unopened/opened bags of chips, leftover donuts…the crudites were lonely! But Vanilla rescued them! I brought back TONS of crudites…it’s a really, really big plateau (yeah the 11-12 graders didn’t touch them apparently).

Those crudites, featuring…

Meatless ‘Hamburger’

With Yves veggie ground round, ketchup, and cheesy goodness!

Some dip for the crudites

Don’t forget to support OCCK!

November is almost coming to an end!

Here’s a little tribute to her ‘Melted banana trick’…(again!)

New variation on the Melted banana oatmeal:

Maple Raisin Banana Oatmeal

Maple infused

Guess what happened while I was making this recipe…

I was lazy and tried to use the microwave instead of the stove…

EXPLOSION!!

BAM PATATATA POUF!

…*sigh*

I wonder how you guys do it. I’ll stick with stove top method.

Another ‘Banana’ recipe (because there’s never enough banana, right?):

3 C’s Banana Oatmeal

Name inspired by Mitri!

Recipe on the ‘recipe’ page

And a shout-out for my ‘Reverse Deluxe Carrot Cake’ Oat bran/Oatmeal:

The cheese bits are so cute <3

 Okay this has nothing to do with bananas, but it’s yummy anyway :)

Hihi almost December…

I love Christmas

EDIT: Katie‘s awesome coconutty giveaway is here!! 2 winners this time!

EDIT 2: Emily is having a Chritmas giveaway! I can smell some yummy goodies already

xoxo