tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18252956931542216792024-03-14T00:53:40.388-05:00Where Have All My Marbles Gone?Curious Comestibles, Crafty Creations, and Crazy Contemplations of a Carbon Based BeingThe Mad Hao Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15840605430381562967noreply@blogger.comBlogger88125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1825295693154221679.post-82929098244456022512011-10-14T18:11:00.001-05:002011-10-14T18:11:45.292-05:00PAX Part III: Happy Randomness<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In the indie game booths, there was a postcard challenge thing where you were supposed to go around and do different things at different booths. The first one was to take a bunch of blocks and make something. I made a face! And then when I went back, because it was the end of PAX, they let me keep one of the awesome foam squishy blocks! HUZZAH!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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Another thing in the same challenge activity was to take a picture with a game designer. So here I am! :)<br />
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A different booth had free zombie make-up. There was a super long line thing and so I didn't do it... but it was FUN to watch, so I took a photo:<br />
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And this was a costume I forgot to feature. Taokaka from Blazblue. I want her costume. She was so cute! And the girl even let me hug her! :D<br />
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And there was this girl who worked for the food fight card game people. She was teaching us how to play. It was fun!<br />
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And this is a picture of the Nintendo area. Lots of people and pretty things in the background. I tried playing a game on the 3DS. It was weird and I felt like I was gonna go cross-eyed. Oh, well. :)<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And that's it for PAX!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><3</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Hao</div>The Mad Hao Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15840605430381562967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1825295693154221679.post-14038450875173906992011-10-06T14:51:00.007-05:002011-10-06T16:08:26.182-05:00PAX Part II: Fun Booths<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So, there are a LOT of people at PAX and a lot of random things to see. We all know about the booth babe grannies who handed out cookies (they were really good, by the way):</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WL2UxSXRyQU/Tl-3hlEzMNI/AAAAAAAABIw/mjfsrPEJkoo/s1600/IMG_1859.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WL2UxSXRyQU/Tl-3hlEzMNI/AAAAAAAABIw/mjfsrPEJkoo/s320/IMG_1859.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<a name='more'></a>Not everyone saw the people who let you punch video game enemies with a pillow (Ahmet took this video and I look like a complete idiot... but I'll share anyway, because I love you guys). At the end, I discovered the balloon that was getting in my way was secretly an extra weapon! In case it doesn't work... here:<br />
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/yVgr-vemQ8tLovMPE_bfm-imkC2Hea4IqO85-mOFWY4?feat=directlink<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object class="BLOGGER-picasa-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-nqGOrYtmvbs/Tl-2D_WIUGI/AAAAAAAABDQ/ljy5A0itmJQ/s1600/MVI_6029.MOV" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?videoUrl=http://v11.nonxt3.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?id%3Dad1678ac7d364649%26itag%3D5%26ip%3D0.0.0.0%26ipbits%3D0%26expire%3D1317779581%26sparams%3Did,itag,ip,ipbits,expire%26signature%3D974A91AF6695571FBD976531FBCE3895A32630F.9868C068131423918A7D764CA167A5CCDF1AC9B3%26key%3Dlh1" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?videoUrl=http://v11.nonxt3.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?id%3Dad1678ac7d364649%26itag%3D5%26ip%3D0.0.0.0%26ipbits%3D0%26expire%3D1317779581%26sparams%3Did,itag,ip,ipbits,expire%26signature%3D974A91AF6695571FBD976531FBCE3895A32630F.9868C068131423918A7D764CA167A5CCDF1AC9B3%26key%3Dlh1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div>Or the sea of kirby bean bags:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-t3P0hUPsi3M/Tl-MUbn8dzI/AAAAAAAABCM/i0yqkJ_Ft3U/s1600/IMG_5995.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-t3P0hUPsi3M/Tl-MUbn8dzI/AAAAAAAABCM/i0yqkJ_Ft3U/s320/IMG_5995.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Or the funny man who tried to sell us wooden things like mustaches:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NcfDi0JMY4g/Tl-2HAEMgxI/AAAAAAAABDc/a-d6w16rG-8/s1600/IMG_6003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NcfDi0JMY4g/Tl-2HAEMgxI/AAAAAAAABDc/a-d6w16rG-8/s320/IMG_6003.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br />
And the artists who draw street fighter type things:<br />
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</div>And of course, my favorite nerdy internet music dude -- Jonathan Coulton.<br />
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And apparently they have a deck building game that has to do with maids?!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-G8wUEgnOPGQ/Tl-4DN5byCI/AAAAAAAABKw/646UcaPgmK8/s1600/IMG_1891.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-G8wUEgnOPGQ/Tl-4DN5byCI/AAAAAAAABKw/646UcaPgmK8/s320/IMG_1891.JPG" width="213" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uWFNM4LRpAQ/Tl-4D_qxxTI/AAAAAAAABK0/1tzq5FfN1iU/s1600/IMG_1892.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uWFNM4LRpAQ/Tl-4D_qxxTI/AAAAAAAABK0/1tzq5FfN1iU/s320/IMG_1892.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>I can't believe this actually exists....<br />
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<3<br />
HaoThe Mad Hao Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15840605430381562967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1825295693154221679.post-11096961971566621042011-10-04T14:46:00.001-05:002011-10-04T14:47:59.631-05:00PAX Part I: CostumesSo I went to the Penny Arcade Expo this year and it was a lot of fun. Going to PAX was a bit impromptu -- which really made it better for me, I think. :)<br />
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Anyway, like any convention/expo there were costumes galore. I LOVE costumes... or at least people in them. Some were professional, some were fan-based. They were all fun and awesome.<br />
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First of all, there were lots of zombie costumes. There was the disco zombie from plants vs zombies dancing out front:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-24vfmLw3wGo/Tl-3IGEV-qI/AAAAAAAABHE/-IoqkdWDwLw/s1600/IMG_1830.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-24vfmLw3wGo/Tl-3IGEV-qI/AAAAAAAABHE/-IoqkdWDwLw/s320/IMG_1830.JPG" width="213" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><a name='more'></a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And some zombies hired by a game company for a promotion. These guys were really good at their jobs and they wandered around looking SPOOOOKY. I almost got eaten!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7qeTK1mbM88/Tl-2c5j5gVI/AAAAAAAABEs/BVirNT31NH0/s1600/IMG_6025.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7qeTK1mbM88/Tl-2c5j5gVI/AAAAAAAABEs/BVirNT31NH0/s320/IMG_6025.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
I even found a zombie Jesus!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-o8Rzq36tDSU/Tl-4MMCjUWI/AAAAAAAABLc/Q5UFSV6-UmE/s1600/IMG_1902.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-o8Rzq36tDSU/Tl-4MMCjUWI/AAAAAAAABLc/Q5UFSV6-UmE/s400/IMG_1902.JPG" width="266" /></a></div><br />
Next, there were random video game people I didn't know very well. Some were hired and carried guns, others were just there to be awesome. This one girl pointed her gun at me:<br />
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And there were people in costume dancing. Can someone say spy? :)<br />
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And the awesome random fan costumes of familiar figures:<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And wait! Is that a nun?! WHAT!?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Y3JZA09dEbA/Tl-L7pBy4eI/AAAAAAAABBw/QKA58YRg1UA/s1600/IMG_5988.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Y3JZA09dEbA/Tl-L7pBy4eI/AAAAAAAABBw/QKA58YRg1UA/s320/IMG_5988.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
And of course, my favorites -- the Dr. Who references/costumes:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o_L8evjvE4s/Tl-2e-7-ufI/AAAAAAAABE0/9HVxdR2WzUE/s1600/IMG_6027.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o_L8evjvE4s/Tl-2e-7-ufI/AAAAAAAABE0/9HVxdR2WzUE/s320/IMG_6027.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A stranded Doctor? Oh, dear. I think Pengu wanted to join him on his TARDIS seeking adventure. :O</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--C934GSf0lk/Tl-28viUqcI/AAAAAAAABGc/u-TKuZFKADo/s1600/IMG_1820.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--C934GSf0lk/Tl-28viUqcI/AAAAAAAABGc/u-TKuZFKADo/s320/IMG_1820.JPG" width="213" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mmVjjZUUpek/Tl-4NJGlJUI/AAAAAAAABLg/auRIGt7SO0I/s1600/IMG_1903.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mmVjjZUUpek/Tl-4NJGlJUI/AAAAAAAABLg/auRIGt7SO0I/s320/IMG_1903.JPG" width="213" /></a></div><br />
And those were the notably dressed people (for me, at least) at PAX. :)The Mad Hao Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15840605430381562967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1825295693154221679.post-40930963875051780082011-10-01T09:29:00.002-05:002011-10-01T09:30:55.165-05:00Miscellaneous Seattle Adventures!Oh, my! It's been an entire month since I last posted here. I guess getting back into the swing of school has been a bit crazy. Anyway, it's about time I write about my adventures in Seattle!<br />
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I went to Seattle the weekend before school started and I had a blast. I'll post a bunch of random things about PAX but first, my Miscellaneous Seattle Adventures!<br />
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The first day, I wandered the streets of my future home city on my own. I wanted to find the trees covered with knitting in Occidental Park. Unfortunately, the knittings were gone when I got there (Alas! I was a week or two too late.) Instead I wandered over to Pioneer Square where I saw people playing giant chess:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RxOKR66EhkY/TmTndmQiIHI/AAAAAAAABMM/hgzO0J8ZjK4/s1600/IMG_1761.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RxOKR66EhkY/TmTndmQiIHI/AAAAAAAABMM/hgzO0J8ZjK4/s400/IMG_1761.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The next day, Ahmet and I returned to the area because I wanted to see the waterfall park. It turned out to be a tiny space built by UPS for some anniversary of their founding. It was cute, free, and very waterfall-y. Ahmet thought it made a great place to read:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9hoodpXVZ48/Tl-LceZZ6WI/AAAAAAAABBI/EQJgKleRgsA/s1600/IMG_1818.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9hoodpXVZ48/Tl-LceZZ6WI/AAAAAAAABBI/EQJgKleRgsA/s320/IMG_1818.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">After Pioneer Square, I wandered to Pike's place where I bought some chocolates and delicious tea. I was intrigued by the idea of and Earl Grey truffle as well as a Lavender truffle. The tea I paired them with was a lavender tea. MMMMMMM!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-c1_rO082j5Q/TmTq0v4bCwI/AAAAAAAABMU/ByFptGN7p5U/s1600/IMG_1769.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="232" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-c1_rO082j5Q/TmTq0v4bCwI/AAAAAAAABMU/ByFptGN7p5U/s320/IMG_1769.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The next day, when Ahmet and I returned, I saw a bee sucking up honey that had dropped from a honeyseller's sample:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fixCezYZgYU/TmT7BnN0lII/AAAAAAAABMg/ti3X6cQsPzs/s1600/IMG_1809.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fixCezYZgYU/TmT7BnN0lII/AAAAAAAABMg/ti3X6cQsPzs/s320/IMG_1809.JPG" width="213" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Ahmet dragged me to Piroshky Piroshky and we got tasty tasty food. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MBfjf5mefu8/TmTlmqC2qzI/AAAAAAAABMI/9ADVZn9R548/s1600/IMG_1800.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MBfjf5mefu8/TmTlmqC2qzI/AAAAAAAABMI/9ADVZn9R548/s320/IMG_1800.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">"I'm gonna eat you little piroshky fishy!" Hao-cat proclaims! :D</div><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">After my chocolate and tea, I wandered over to the <a href="http://www.pacificsciencecenter.org/">Pacific Science Center</a>. They had an exhibit on fear where you could be strapped into a machine and be made to fall back. I took some pictures of the lady in front of me in line: </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HzUo-ufatfM/Tl-K3cjSWpI/AAAAAAAAA_U/Wwd7Akh0oMU/s1600/IMG_1786.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HzUo-ufatfM/Tl-K3cjSWpI/AAAAAAAAA_U/Wwd7Akh0oMU/s320/IMG_1786.JPG" width="213" /></a></div><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The Pacific Science Center also had a butterfly exhibit. They were really pretty:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mGW6C9x4UnY/TmTr9ShKXbI/AAAAAAAABMc/FlivipHRHBg/s1600/IMG_1784.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mGW6C9x4UnY/TmTr9ShKXbI/AAAAAAAABMc/FlivipHRHBg/s320/IMG_1784.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">They even had cocoons so we could observe the butterflies emerging!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gYE9DlRq7Xg/TmTrsZEDkUI/AAAAAAAABMY/uphy67X0N08/s1600/IMG_1774.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gYE9DlRq7Xg/TmTrsZEDkUI/AAAAAAAABMY/uphy67X0N08/s400/IMG_1774.JPG" width="223" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">That night, I bought some raw fish and we ate delicious sashimi for dinner, <a href="http://madhaoguru.blogspot.com/2010/10/making-sushi-at-home.html">much like last year</a>:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8Cz4xN8XHqM/TmTqiJewg6I/AAAAAAAABMQ/Jza4lUXoZuQ/s1600/IMG_1795.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="275" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8Cz4xN8XHqM/TmTqiJewg6I/AAAAAAAABMQ/Jza4lUXoZuQ/s320/IMG_1795.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Have I mentioned I LOVE Seattle?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><3</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Hao</div>The Mad Hao Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15840605430381562967noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1825295693154221679.post-78055844542267701532011-08-31T16:53:00.003-05:002011-08-31T21:32:30.289-05:00Fantasy Game Shop Board Game DayAs long as I'm in St. Louis, I will always look forward to the second Saturday of even numbered months.<br />
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Why? Because The Fantasy Shop (in St. Charles) has a board game day that lasts from noon until 11 pm, feeds you lunch and dinner with nearly infinite snacks, AND you get raffle tickets -- all for 15 dollars! It's one of the most amazing things I've been to.<br />
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Early August, my boyfriend and I went with some friends. We got there and I quickly shot some photos of the wall of games:<br />
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and the candy bowls:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Then we picked a game and started playing. The one pictured is called Castle Panic. You and everyone else are trying to kill the monsters. You can hit the monsters with an appropriately colored archer, knight, or swordsman and the monsters are trying to take down your wall and castle. There is a winner but if the monsters win, you all lose. We just played it as a co-op game and ignored the monster killing points... but we lost to the monsters with some bad luck. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LMGKUvYEOdo/TlZOJ0Kij4I/AAAAAAAAA84/Cy8dWsW3rzI/s1600/IMG_1732.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LMGKUvYEOdo/TlZOJ0Kij4I/AAAAAAAAA84/Cy8dWsW3rzI/s320/IMG_1732.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div>The prettiest game we played that day is called Dixit. It's a game I would recommend to people with small children. It encourages creativity and sentence formation. Also, your pieces are bunnies and you play with brightly colored cards:<br />
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I can't wait for October!<br />
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The Mad Hao Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15840605430381562967noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1825295693154221679.post-42298681336041321962011-08-22T10:41:00.001-05:002011-08-22T10:43:33.024-05:00The High LineA few years ago, I was stumbling on the internet and came across a fantastic architectural design idea: take an old railway and turn it into a park! I looked at the renderings and drawing and imagined how lovely a space like that would be. Little did I know that space exists now in New York City.<br />
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When I visited the city, MG told me I must go to the High Line because it was a very Hao-like place. ED and I met her there on Sunday evening after our trip to find the little red lighthouse. Walking up some stairs onto the High Line made me feel like I was being transported into a different NYC -- a more environmentally friendly futuristic idealized city where greenery and construction were perfectly integrated:<br />
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First of all, there were plants. There were all sort of trees and flowers. I immediately went camera happy. I snapped pictures of bees:<br />
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Of large open flowers:<br />
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Small ones in clusters:<br />
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Pretty pink ones:<br />
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We wandered under a bridge and saw a guy making red plum flavored shaved ice. He was shaving the ice BY HAND! Who does that now adays? It was AMAZING!<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YGrLBAP-IEs/TkE4_nwgFbI/AAAAAAAAA3c/70Q3FsFyWNE/s1600/IMG_1659.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YGrLBAP-IEs/TkE4_nwgFbI/AAAAAAAAA3c/70Q3FsFyWNE/s320/IMG_1659.JPG" width="213" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I2HYMeHcq6s/TkE49dc7xKI/AAAAAAAAA3M/Y11eM0Fu1Z4/s1600/IMG_1655.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I2HYMeHcq6s/TkE49dc7xKI/AAAAAAAAA3M/Y11eM0Fu1Z4/s320/IMG_1655.JPG" width="213" /></a></div><br />
We also got a peach-basil flavored popsicle. It had real peach chunks inside and was wonderfully herby!<br />
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</div>ED is holding it in the picture above. Doesn't it look DELICIOUS?<br />
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We kept on wandering around the High Line and I often turned to take pictures of the view. I loved the way the water looked as well as the streets:<br />
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Right before we left to go find delicious artichoke pizza, I tried to snap a couple pictures of the overgrown railroad tracks to remind myself what beauty humans can make from perceived trash:<br />
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</div>If you've never been, you really should go and experience this park. It's one of my favorite places in the city now.<br />
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HaoThe Mad Hao Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15840605430381562967noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1825295693154221679.post-57543198637780829142011-08-21T00:40:00.000-05:002011-08-21T00:40:49.241-05:00Donuts!Everybody loves donuts! Well, at least most non-health freak people I know. :P<br />
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When I was in NYC, MG took me to the most amazing donut place! It's called Doughnut Plant:<br />
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It's a small space with a tiny counter and one woman working behind the counter. I stepped in not expecting much but then I saw the donuts. They were beautiful!<br />
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There were nutty square donuts:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>And purple blue berry ones:<br />
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Ones that looked like cinnamon buns:<br />
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They even had oatmeal donuts (we had that and it tasted like an oatmeal COOKIE!). It's the third one on the row closest to the photographer (me) in the picture below:<br />
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On the wonderful thought of donuts, I leave you a link to a song from a video game my boyfriend has been making me play with him -- (Ms.) Splosion man:<br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Zz30HFFNDI">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Zz30HFFNDI</a><br />
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It's super fun so you should give it a try if you ever get a try. :D<br />
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Everybody loves donuts! I know I do~o~o! Everybody loves donuts so let's eat just one or two! Everybody loves donuts! I know I do! Everybody loves donuts so you and I should share a few~ew~ew! Donuts! Donuts! Oh donuts! :D<br />
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<3<br />
Hao<br />
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The Mad Hao Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15840605430381562967noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1825295693154221679.post-3917313245129836262011-08-15T12:09:00.006-05:002011-08-16T10:27:38.784-05:00The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray BridgeI like strange adventures, and this one I had was one of the more interesting.<br />
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One of my best friends took a children's book class in college and was assigned to read <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Little-Lighthouse-Great-Gray-Bridge/dp/0152045716">The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge by Hildegarde H. Swift and illustrated by Lynd Ward</a>. This friend of mine grew up in New Jersey and crossed the George Washington Bridge every time she went into New York City. She read the book but refused to believe the light house actually existed.<br />
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When she moved to the city after college, she wanted to figure out if the children's book was inspired by fact. She found the Little Red Lighthouse.<br />
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When I went to visit, E.D. told me her story about the book and the lighthouse. She wanted to take me to the lighthouse. I agreed on one condition: we would go read the book first.<br />
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The book clearly depicted the little red light house and the bridge. On the last page, it said:<br />
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We put the book back and went on our adventure. On the way, we got lost and wandered under highway passes:<br />
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and even walked onto a highway ramp. My friend swore she knew what she was looking for and where we were going. After a few wrong turns, we finally found the path she was looking for. After another 15 minutes of trekking, we saw the light house at last:<br />
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And it really was a little red lighthouse next to a great gray bridge. :)<br />
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All adventures should be somewhat like this.<br />
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<3<br />
HaoThe Mad Hao Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15840605430381562967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1825295693154221679.post-10696239957528789062011-08-12T12:27:00.000-05:002011-08-12T12:54:28.664-05:00Ikea FerryI love IKEA. It's one of the best places to get random cheap stuff. I love it so much I try to go there every chance I get. Unfortunately, I live in St. Louis -- a tragic city that is desperately in need of an IKEA. So... when I went to visit friends in NYC, I secretly hoped we would get to go to IKEA. I was in luck. My friend needed a new bed and asked me if I wanted to go wit her.<br />
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There are multiple IKEAs in the NYC area. My friend, MG, lives on Manhattan. She told me there's a ferry from the piers to IKEA Brooklyn and we would take the ferry.<br />
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An IKEA FERRY? Who has ever heard of such a thing?! We walked to the docks and I managed to snap some pictures of the boats there. MG really liked this little tug boat:<br />
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Look how small it is compared to the neighboring boats!<br />
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We walked towards Pier 11 and waited for the ferry. I really liked these wooden columns bound together with metal wires. I also really liked the view from the docks.<br />
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The ride over was pleasant too. We saw cranes that reminded us of giraffes:<br />
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a Snapple plant:<br />
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the Statue of Liberty in the distance:<br />
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more tugboats:<br />
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and a fantastic view of the city:<br />
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We ended up eating dinner there and then shopping until it closed. During dinner, I saw a bunch of school buses. I'm not sure why, but it made me excited and I had to take a picture:<br />
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I told MG that she needs to take the Ikea Ferry at least every month. :) She agreed.<br />
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<3<br />
HaoThe Mad Hao Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15840605430381562967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1825295693154221679.post-31030341981366345262011-08-10T12:06:00.002-05:002011-08-10T16:39:19.869-05:00DetailsI went to NYC last weekend and visited two of my friends and saw three more. It was awesome and wonderful. At the end of my journey, I took the A line from the natural history museum stop to 125 to catch a bus that would take me to laguardia. As I was waiting for my subway train to come, I noticed lots of details about the station I liked.<br />
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NYC subway stations are often filled with cool details like this. Usually, I didn't bother taking pictures, but this little guy made me take out my camera so I could capture him for my cat loving friends:<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Isn't he adorable?</div><a name='more'></a><br />
Also, the station had really pretty mosaics:<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This bat made me smile:</div><div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZC4zZjlJ8rU/TkE5w8yF5OI/AAAAAAAAA7k/3q50k3ZCQxY/s1600/IMG_1727.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZC4zZjlJ8rU/TkE5w8yF5OI/AAAAAAAAA7k/3q50k3ZCQxY/s320/IMG_1727.JPG" width="213" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
And more animals... A moose for my favorite Minnesotan:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qEWU70E_zCE/TkE5vnvjTcI/AAAAAAAAA7Y/60GvckF-8ok/s1600/IMG_1725.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qEWU70E_zCE/TkE5vnvjTcI/AAAAAAAAA7Y/60GvckF-8ok/s320/IMG_1725.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
And a jelly fish just because... or is it a mimic octopus? :P<br />
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Not a bad last experience for my trip. :)<br />
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Anyway, I will post more about my trip later.<br />
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<3<br />
HaoThe Mad Hao Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15840605430381562967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1825295693154221679.post-17597559255100636292011-08-04T20:53:00.001-05:002011-08-05T10:47:27.393-05:00Stegosaurus PillowAbout a month ago, I was over at my boyfriend's place. His roommate was hosting a movie night. One of the movies we watched was Labyrinth. I had never seen it before and decided it was weird and strange and wasn't really sure how I felt about it. Everyone there obsessed over David Bowie. By the end of the movie, I decided it was amusing enough.<br />
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Anyway, in one of the scenes, the main character flopped onto her bed and my boyfriend's roommate noticed she had a stegosaurus shaped PILLOW. He yelled at my boyfriend, "That's what we need! One of those!" They decided then and there that they needed something like it for their living room. I told them I could try to find a way to get them one... somehow.<br />
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After much searching online, I finally gave up and decided to make my own pillow for them.<br />
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I drew a large stegosaurus on paper and cut it out. Then, I took two pieces of blue felt and pinned the paper on the felt. I cut about 1-2 cm around the paper, leaving room to sew later. I also cut out some circles for decoration and sewed the circles onto the felt. I took the two pieces of stegosaurus shaped felt with circles and stacked the together circle side in and sewed about 1 cm around, leaving a little. Then I flipped it right side out (through the bit that was left -- it was difficult) and stuffed it. The last bit of sewing was done by hand. All in all, it took me 4 hours: between 11 pm and 3 am. :D<br />
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Here is a picture of the stegosaurus on a couch:<br />
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And a picture of my boyfriend's roommate and his sister. She's pretending to bite him. He's ignoring her to hug the pillow. :D I'm not sure what he's looking at. o.O;<br />
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I am proud.<br />
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<3<br />
HaoThe Mad Hao Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15840605430381562967noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1825295693154221679.post-64805744259299720872011-07-28T13:11:00.008-05:002011-07-28T13:22:45.230-05:00St. Louis Renaissance FaireI meant to post this earlier, but I got busy.<br />
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Early in June, my friends and I went to the Greater St. Louis Area Renaissance Faire. It was lots of fun. We saw musical performers (who were willing to teach),<br />
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jugglers,<br />
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and acrobats:<br />
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I got to see a guy I saw at the Pirate Festival perform again. Actually, we saw him twice. :) He put himself through a tennis racket...<br />
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and then my friend tried to do the same. Being really tiny, she had a very easy time of it... so to make her life more challenging, she tried to JUMP through the thing... and ended up with a dent on her nose...(see the band-aid?) It's now (after almost two months) a not too noticeable scar.<br />
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During one of the performances, an inchworm landed on me. My boyfriend played with it and tried to eat it:<br />
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However, my favorite part was the jousting. Last year, my roommate and I saw the jousting at around noon. We sat on the evil side and I screamed "to the death" way too much. Sadly, there was no fake bloodshed. This time, we went to the last show of the day and we saw horses clashing, people falling, back stabbing, and bloodshed. My only complaint? The good guy won. >.<<br />
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What a great way to end a day.<br />
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<3<br />
HaoThe Mad Hao Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15840605430381562967noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1825295693154221679.post-46218069242201710062011-07-25T12:17:00.008-05:002011-07-25T13:56:00.075-05:00Live Action Angry BirdsOne of my favorite stores in St. Louis is Star Clipper -- the local comic book and random things store. I saw it from the froyo place across the street two years ago and over the last year or so I've become a huge fan of the place.<br />
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Recently, for the month of July, the star clipper people decided to put together a live action Angry Birds Shooting Gallery in the back where they often have nifty art.<br />
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I heard it opened on a saturday, so I went there early in the morning, hoping to shoot some angry birds at evil green plush pigs. They weren't ready yet. I left and went back twice the same day. On my third try, they said I could be a beta-shooter and held out a slingshot for me and handed me a yellow angry bird. The set up was simple: cardboard boxes painted random colors and pretty silver paper so you could see what you were hitting. People would hold the slingshot for you and you could pull back and fire.<br />
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Unfortunately, they didn't have pigs in stock, so they made some out of green trash bags. They even drew faces on the pig.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>A little girl in pink with her mother showed up and the girl was very into the game. Some other kids also dropped by. My boyfriend and I were there for about 3 hours helping and playing:<br />
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It was awesome. :)<br />
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<3<br />
HaoThe Mad Hao Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15840605430381562967noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1825295693154221679.post-56267863572398311112011-06-16T18:11:00.001-05:002011-06-16T18:12:51.954-05:00Paper Crane EarringsSince senior year of college, when my friend dragged me to get my ears pierced, I've been collecting earrings. I have blue ones (3 different pairs in 3 different shades), green ones, purple ones, and more. They all tend to dangle (with the exception of the squishy spikey studs I have) and I love them all. Oddly, I never seemed to find the perfect pair of red earrings. <br />
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March 2009, I was dating a boy from Portland and when I visited his city, I came across some paper crane earrings. They were 20-30 dollars -- way out of my price range. Since then, I've coveted paper crane earrings.<br />
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Last summer, my friend "Gator" and I went to the St Louis open studios. I saw some jewelry made from bike chains and other interesting mechanical pieces. Like the paper cranes, I decided they were too expensive.<br />
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Recently, a friend dragged me to JoAnn Fabric to help him pick out buttons for a pouch. There, I saw an earring kit, and on a whim, bought it and some pliers.<br />
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After much trial and error, I made my long-coveted red, bike chain, paper crane earrings:<br />
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<3<br />
HaoThe Mad Hao Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15840605430381562967noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1825295693154221679.post-88605584318640270192011-05-06T11:16:00.000-05:002011-05-05T11:17:10.211-05:00PIE-venture!I have a friend who LOVES pie. And I really do mean LOVE pie. Recently, he heard from his mother that there is an amazing pie place about 40 minutes outside of St Louis with good country food and famous, travel network worthy pie.<br />
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With much gusto, my friend gathered many of us on a pie-venture. We drove for 40 minutes and arrived at a dinky little town called Kimmswick, Missouri. The pie place was definitely the largest structure in the area. And it was painted blue -- rather appropriate since it was called<a href="http://www.theblueowl.com/"> the Blue Owl</a>:<br />
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We went inside, ordered normal food and then got PIE! There was SO MUCH PIE! I couldn't even name them all... so I'll just so you pictures:<br />
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But the niftiest pie of all was this mini-pie, shaped like a top hat, filled with apples and caramel. Isn't it cute?<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And when you cut it open, deliciousness is revealed:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6sIWuq6jKOU/TcLMOglbbfI/AAAAAAAAAVI/IshIYZhUtEI/s1600/IMG_0947.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6sIWuq6jKOU/TcLMOglbbfI/AAAAAAAAAVI/IshIYZhUtEI/s400/IMG_0947.JPG" width="266" /></a></div><br />
After eating pie, we wandered around the town for a bit. There wasn't much exciting. I laughed when I saw this door:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-x75oEHTup6o/TcLMP84XgfI/AAAAAAAAAVY/D4aa_ZhG9yk/s1600/IMG_0995.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-x75oEHTup6o/TcLMP84XgfI/AAAAAAAAAVY/D4aa_ZhG9yk/s320/IMG_0995.JPG" width="213" /></a></div> Because the sign on the window said:<br />
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And at the end, I was oddly fascinated by an elevated barn and some tractors:<br />
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And that was a pie-venture!<br />
<3<br />
HaoThe Mad Hao Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15840605430381562967noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1825295693154221679.post-77057962107640895582011-05-05T10:44:00.001-05:002011-05-05T10:44:55.224-05:00Botanical Gardens and Jumping. Lots of Jumping.So early April, I went to the botanical gardens with my friends. <br />
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We climbed trees:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CG6IY_lXjnk/TcLCWlIqs0I/AAAAAAAAAUI/uaQZnW9t5Yk/s1600/IMG_1111.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CG6IY_lXjnk/TcLCWlIqs0I/AAAAAAAAAUI/uaQZnW9t5Yk/s320/IMG_1111.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
I pretended to be the three anti-evil monkeys:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yD5oWJ9iqGQ/TcLCVjucc-I/AAAAAAAAAUE/O5hWU9fH9Uw/s1600/hao+monkeys.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yD5oWJ9iqGQ/TcLCVjucc-I/AAAAAAAAAUE/O5hWU9fH9Uw/s320/hao+monkeys.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
And then we did lots of jumping. I really like this picture:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SGbfdF8Pa9A/TcLCYHbiEiI/AAAAAAAAAUM/pPon_QXonv0/s1600/IMG_1177.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SGbfdF8Pa9A/TcLCYHbiEiI/AAAAAAAAAUM/pPon_QXonv0/s320/IMG_1177.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
And that was that.<br />
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I'm fond of the botanical gardens. :)The Mad Hao Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15840605430381562967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1825295693154221679.post-48550321097661348812011-04-13T07:55:00.000-05:002011-04-13T07:55:02.417-05:00Free Ice Cream Day!Yesterday was FREE ICE CREAM DAY at Ben and Jerry's!<br />
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My friends and I went and got a free ice cream cone! I got the coffee coffee buzz buzz buzz and it was super tasty!<br />
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We got there around 6:10 and the line wasn't long yet, so I decided to devour my ice cream and stand in line again! :D<br />
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I then got the strawberry cheesecake. It was yummy too. I offered a bite to a friend and he took most of the ice cream and then laughed at me. T.T by then, the line had gotten really long and I didn't want to stand in line again. It would've been REALLY SAD but it was too funny.<br />
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Sorry the post is boring... but it made me happy so i wanted to share.<br />
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<3<br />
HaoThe Mad Hao Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15840605430381562967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1825295693154221679.post-74527165556557649562011-03-17T01:21:00.001-05:002011-03-17T01:24:01.866-05:00Firespinning Tonight!I <3 fire. I <3 how St. Louis has really lax firespinning laws. That's why my roommate and I go fire spinning often.<br />
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Yesterday, I decided I was going to drag some friends with me to watch me spin. I'm not very good, but I am very addicted to the art. If you've never HEARD fire, you won't understand, but the whooshing sound is so loud and so close to your ears that it makes your blood rush. It is one of my two addictions (the other is caffeine).<br />
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Anyway, my friend has a really nice camera, and he took some pictures of me tonight. I might post more later, but here are 3 to start. Enjoy!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-S9aaDYRKga4/TYGm-QYHeDI/AAAAAAAAATw/Z7AHSF4QAyg/s1600/face.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div> Fans. This was right after I lit them. I over fueled them enough that my safety was telling me to be careful. <br />
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Fans later. I like fans and the idea of playing with body position and arm position. There isn't much to do with fans other than dancing. I don't have a dance background... but i like to move to music... if only there were drums at the handlebar. :/ I really like their backyard patio though. The fence and ground are painted in really fun and nifty ways!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-oBVwEbhA6qg/TYGm_jV2IpI/AAAAAAAAAT4/eT9pIKAhcyA/s1600/fans.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-oBVwEbhA6qg/TYGm_jV2IpI/AAAAAAAAAT4/eT9pIKAhcyA/s400/fans.jpg" width="300" /></a></div> Staff. I was spinning it around myself and then brought it over my head. You can see it in the fire trails. Also, I spent the last part of the photo looking up. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-VcmV3kk-SLI/TYGnAEw_Q1I/AAAAAAAAAT8/gtlY7b1U6KE/s1600/IMG_4968.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-VcmV3kk-SLI/TYGnAEw_Q1I/AAAAAAAAAT8/gtlY7b1U6KE/s400/IMG_4968.jpg" width="303" /></a></div><br />
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<3<br />
HaoThe Mad Hao Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15840605430381562967noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1825295693154221679.post-20635659761145751872011-03-15T12:45:00.000-05:002011-03-15T12:45:29.809-05:00Pacman SeascapesLast week, I put up my sewing machine and set up my work station for painting again.<br />
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I'm not very good at painting, but I love cute things and nerdy things. My favorite art blogs are these:<br />
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<a href="http://blowatlife.blogspot.com/">Blow at Life </a> by Lawrence Yang<br />
He paints really simple colorful pieces with cute characters and creatures in the background. A lot of the stuff I'm trying lately is really trying to copy his style and maybe make it my own one day. <br />
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<a href="http://shadowscapes-stephanielaw.blogspot.com/">Shadowscapes</a> by Stephanie Law<br />
I've been following her shadowscapes website since I was in 7th or 8th grade. She has a beautiful watercolor layering technique I really want to try but haven't due to my impatience. <br />
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_74400550"><br />
</a><br />
<a href="http://nnayam.blogspot.com/">Mall</a>, <a href="http://cherryfields.blogspot.com/">Melissa Haslam</a>, <a href="http://www.redwombatstudio.com/blog/">UrsulaV</a>, and <a href="http://i-seldom-do.livejournal.com/">Audrey Kawasaki</a> are also really cool. :)<br />
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Anyway, I made these two pieces over the weekend. I think of them as Pacman Seascapes 1 and 2.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-hPPm782hXYs/TXsb_LEHGjI/AAAAAAAAATE/BaLB61ZyH50/s1600/pacman+sea+scape+small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="310" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-hPPm782hXYs/TXsb_LEHGjI/AAAAAAAAATE/BaLB61ZyH50/s400/pacman+sea+scape+small.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-HaXj29pjKwY/TXsb-bzS-aI/AAAAAAAAATA/iANof0vHSfs/s1600/attack+of+the+ghosts+small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="235" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-HaXj29pjKwY/TXsb-bzS-aI/AAAAAAAAATA/iANof0vHSfs/s400/attack+of+the+ghosts+small.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
I don't really have particular attachment to them... so if you want one, comment,email me your address, and I'll mail it to you.<br />
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<3<br />
HaoThe Mad Hao Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15840605430381562967noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1825295693154221679.post-33297641231282681232011-03-10T15:21:00.000-06:002011-03-10T15:21:58.976-06:00Photos at DawnThree weeks ago I got to make a choice. I could pull an all nighter in lab to get my work done and then hang out with my friends who were visiting or I could go home, sleep, and not get to hang out with my friends. If you know me, you'll know which choice was the only choice I could make.<br />
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Anyway, I stayed up until almost dawn watching buffer drip through a his-bind column (translation: I watched salt water drip through some beads so I could collect proteins I wanted). There was a lot of down time, so at around 6 am, I went home, took a shower, grabbed my camera, and went to the park. It was one of the few times I'd be awake at that hour, and I was determined to catch the sunrise.<br />
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It was still rather dark when I got there: <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-CaKZXlTg-fc/TXk-2bU7noI/AAAAAAAAASc/JNfyYPnQP_0/s1600/dawn+01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="414" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-CaKZXlTg-fc/TXk-2bU7noI/AAAAAAAAASc/JNfyYPnQP_0/s640/dawn+01.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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The day turned out cloudy. I stood under a blanket of grey and looked for the bits of color seeping through the skyline. <br />
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Fortunately, clouds make a very nice canvas for the splattering of light.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-n5d7eZhapMs/TXk-5MVZmTI/AAAAAAAAASk/3QY82jbanLg/s1600/dawn+03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="186" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-n5d7eZhapMs/TXk-5MVZmTI/AAAAAAAAASk/3QY82jbanLg/s640/dawn+03.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="346" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-EzaiR-rmCF0/TXk-5fExuBI/AAAAAAAAASo/RrD6KpZvAIo/s640/dawn+04.jpg" width="640" /></div><br />
I especially liked lumpy clouds:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-iG0U7K_vqPs/TXk-5o5lTdI/AAAAAAAAASs/X2xoLrBm2qE/s1600/dawn+05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="402" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-iG0U7K_vqPs/TXk-5o5lTdI/AAAAAAAAASs/X2xoLrBm2qE/s640/dawn+05.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div>:)<br />
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Dawn is a pleasant time.<br />
<3<br />
HaoThe Mad Hao Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15840605430381562967noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1825295693154221679.post-77044919552620078862011-03-06T19:22:00.002-06:002011-03-06T19:44:14.376-06:00Oddball DreamsI had a weird dream last night. I don't remember it well anymore, but I typed up what I remembered when I woke up this morning and saved it as a word document. I'm not sure it makes sense, but I thought it's worth sharing... just so you can see how oddly linear yet nonsensical my dreams can be. I think the oddest part is I went through the same dream what seems like twice and got to correct my mistakes the second time around. Granted, things didn't go PERFECTLY, but the outcome was less depressing the second time. Less death or something. I thought it would make a good Alice in Wonderland type story since there were cards involved and the dress was definitely blue. i don't know why i remember that... so i used the name Alice for the character. <br />
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Anyway... this is what I wrote this morning:<br />
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<div class="MsoNormal">Alice flees. Up and up the castle walls, things almost break off but not. At the top, there is a sliver of light. Pushes on it, escapes. Runs. Flees. Sees three cards: mother and two close friends. Rest of deck are of people still alive. Alice hides them. Tries to hide them in her sleeves and under her undershirt. More running. Captured. The ones under her sleeves are found but not the ones closes to her chest. Made to drown the cards in a pond. Cries out why mother left her, but knows mother is on her chest. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I want to use it as a story idea, but it doesn't make enough sense.<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal">Oh, well. Sharing dreams can be fun. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><3</div><div class="MsoNormal">Hao</div>The Mad Hao Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15840605430381562967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1825295693154221679.post-90403073938644670482011-03-03T10:10:00.000-06:002011-03-03T10:10:08.248-06:00Snowy Forest ParkIn February, on a particularly sunny day, I was hit with the sudden urge to be artsy. That was the day I poked at Food for Thought. That was also the day I wandered to the local park to take pictures.<br />
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Forest Park in St. Louis is the coolest thing about living in St. Louis. It's about 2 square miles of land that is free and open to the public for picnics and fun. There are two free museums and a free zoo on the property, lots of fountains and lagoons, and even places to rent paddle boats! Also, there are musicals in the summer (not free but not too expensive) and free music concerts. <br />
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One of the prettiest spots in the park is Art Hill. Every winter, after it snows enough for sledding, the city lines the bottom of the hill with bales of hay. At the top, there are two fire pits and the city throws out some firewood. Children of all ages (myself included) would bring sleds (or steal dining hall trays) and sled down the hill. The bales of hay are to prevent the sledders from falling into the ornate fountains from the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair at the bottom. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-zu9FCQkHLEc/TW-65JvZPAI/AAAAAAAAARI/zN4_UdkhlyA/s1600/art+hill+from+distance.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="282" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-zu9FCQkHLEc/TW-65JvZPAI/AAAAAAAAARI/zN4_UdkhlyA/s400/art+hill+from+distance.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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It was a sunny day. The sky was also perfectly blue -- one of those colors children dream of while listening to storybooks. I walked along the world's fair fountains and diverged when I noticed a fallen tree trunk I wanted to photograph:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-W62YRLQVu0M/TW-67-ny6eI/AAAAAAAAARQ/ZXOetJNLx_s/s1600/tree+trunk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-W62YRLQVu0M/TW-67-ny6eI/AAAAAAAAARQ/ZXOetJNLx_s/s400/tree+trunk.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
As I stood there, staring at the fallen tree trunk, I also noticed how the trees around it stood very neatly in rows. I noticed how high they stretched and how vast the sky seemed -- cloudless -- behind the trees. the wind would blow and snow would be moved from the branches. I closed my eyes and tried to see if I could feel the snow landing on me -- I couldn't. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-ekInouVZUpc/TW-68SivzwI/AAAAAAAAARU/CDWlqZwpfAc/s1600/trees.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-ekInouVZUpc/TW-68SivzwI/AAAAAAAAARU/CDWlqZwpfAc/s400/trees.jpg" width="400" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
It was an oddly zen moment for me. I don't usually get them and I thought it was worth sharing, even if I am a month late.<br />
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<3<br />
HaoThe Mad Hao Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15840605430381562967noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1825295693154221679.post-62107377939061328272011-03-01T13:12:00.000-06:002011-03-01T13:12:58.501-06:00Cthulhu BlanketLast year, one of my best friends graduated college. I decided I wanted to get him something for graduation. After much thinking, I thought it would be best if I made him a blanket.<br />
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Originally, I had wanted to make a pacman blanket because it would be a wonderfully nerdy thing to do. I got a bunch of felt and even drew out a design when I realized it was too daunting of a task to tackle as a first major sewing project. I didn't know if I could cut out pacman shaped pieces well enough or even properly sew all the pieces onto cloth. Thus, I decided to try something simpler. With much thought, I decided on a making a cute Cthulhu because I thought the Cthulhu I drew here was really cute and fairly reasonable for a intro sewing project: <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-kgUqdGbpCM0/TW0tRLvYzMI/AAAAAAAAARE/mp6_3hMzIVg/s1600/P1010119.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="258" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-kgUqdGbpCM0/TW0tRLvYzMI/AAAAAAAAARE/mp6_3hMzIVg/s400/P1010119.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>With the image in mind, I began making the blanket.<br />
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First, I wanted to make the pattern out of paper. For the octopus tentacle part, I redrew it a few times. These were the pieces I ended with:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/--fGggNCcdhA/TW0senoSB8I/AAAAAAAAAQ4/-Mxpo9ppfd8/s1600/P1010042.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/--fGggNCcdhA/TW0senoSB8I/AAAAAAAAAQ4/-Mxpo9ppfd8/s320/P1010042.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Sc3Z_voOSTY/TW0se2sW4WI/AAAAAAAAAQ8/YOnr-Ln-zl8/s1600/P1010043.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Sc3Z_voOSTY/TW0se2sW4WI/AAAAAAAAAQ8/YOnr-Ln-zl8/s320/P1010043.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
I then traced the pattern onto felt with white chalk and cut the shape out. For the tentacles, I chose to soften them a bit by making the tips rounded: <br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-fm4xnmgNmXg/TW0sfJhbAkI/AAAAAAAAARA/nhvFe3DCH7k/s1600/P1010044.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-fm4xnmgNmXg/TW0sfJhbAkI/AAAAAAAAARA/nhvFe3DCH7k/s320/P1010044.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> I placed the green felt on the black and pinned the edges down. This way the Cthulhu design didn't move as I sewed. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-xH1iIPRHKG4/TWrtEWgeEQI/AAAAAAAAAQs/aotjYISkn6M/s1600/IMG_0623.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-xH1iIPRHKG4/TWrtEWgeEQI/AAAAAAAAAQs/aotjYISkn6M/s400/IMG_0623.JPG" width="400" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I sewed along the edges and moved the cloth slowly, letting my sewing machine pull the cloth through as i directed it. As I worked, I became better at this part and was even able to speed up a bit. :D </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-nU3PEcI__Io/TWrsqjqQ7xI/AAAAAAAAAQo/JV02n5qFF6w/s1600/IMG_0621.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-nU3PEcI__Io/TWrsqjqQ7xI/AAAAAAAAAQo/JV02n5qFF6w/s400/IMG_0621.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Finally, most of it was done. I was going to put the head on so make the wings look separate from the body. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-4grL8qoebIs/TWrtZvBzm2I/AAAAAAAAAQw/wM6F1KYqq_0/s1600/IMG_0632.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-4grL8qoebIs/TWrtZvBzm2I/AAAAAAAAAQw/wM6F1KYqq_0/s400/IMG_0632.JPG" width="266" /></a></div><br />
After sewing on the head, I took another pieces of black fleece and stacked it under the fleece with the Cthulhu design. I then took scissors and cut along the edges of both pieces and then tied the frayed pieces together.<br />
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In the end, my blanket looked like this:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-4r0enxkCC6M/TWrtuvev68I/AAAAAAAAAQ0/CnzDN77DkfA/s1600/IMG_0635.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-4r0enxkCC6M/TWrtuvev68I/AAAAAAAAAQ0/CnzDN77DkfA/s400/IMG_0635.JPG" width="266" /></a></div><br />
I gave it to my friend over the weekend. :D He seemed very pleased!<br />
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I realized I ended up with too much cloth... so i might make a different blanket sometime, just for fun. <br />
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<3<br />
HaoThe Mad Hao Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15840605430381562967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1825295693154221679.post-11689842246826319072011-02-21T21:36:00.000-06:002011-02-21T21:36:28.875-06:00Home Made PestoI love basil. I love pesto. I love it so much I call basil Hao-nip. It's like catnip... only for Haos. :D<br />
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Anyway, last March, I planted some basil plants. When I went home to Texas for Christmas, I was going to be gone one week with no way to water them... so I decided to kill them and make pesto!<br />
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So here is a picture of my plants before: <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mPz0GH93zGI/TWMuVPh_hBI/AAAAAAAAAQU/ZPpYseX8ugg/s1600/P1010098.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mPz0GH93zGI/TWMuVPh_hBI/AAAAAAAAAQU/ZPpYseX8ugg/s400/P1010098.JPG" width="292" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">... and after the epic basil harvest/killing:</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Mi5QwnJOSao/TWMubwPkfwI/AAAAAAAAAQY/cYAH4N4lERw/s1600/P1010099.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Mi5QwnJOSao/TWMubwPkfwI/AAAAAAAAAQY/cYAH4N4lERw/s400/P1010099.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><br />
<a name='more'></a>I took all the basil:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SdD-47k0gpw/TWMufKhemoI/AAAAAAAAAQc/Mwaf9xbHiv4/s1600/P1010101.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SdD-47k0gpw/TWMufKhemoI/AAAAAAAAAQc/Mwaf9xbHiv4/s400/P1010101.JPG" width="400" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Put most of it into a blender:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-r1vV8Lm1bRw/TWMumkms9tI/AAAAAAAAAQk/vyJJINE5_Ag/s1600/pre+blended+basil.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-r1vV8Lm1bRw/TWMumkms9tI/AAAAAAAAAQk/vyJJINE5_Ag/s400/pre+blended+basil.jpg" width="306" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">...with olive oil, salt, parmesan, pine nuts, and garlic and blended until smooth: </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sh-58JUPLSU/TWMuh3T3NRI/AAAAAAAAAQg/4xvNpMznJt8/s1600/P1010102.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sh-58JUPLSU/TWMuh3T3NRI/AAAAAAAAAQg/4xvNpMznJt8/s400/P1010102.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It was DELICIOUS!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><3</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Hao</div>The Mad Hao Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15840605430381562967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1825295693154221679.post-39409542964230011882011-02-05T23:33:00.001-06:002011-02-05T23:34:14.135-06:00Food for Thought (Feb)The <a href="http://www.camstl.org/">Contemporary Art Museum (CAM) </a>in St. Louis does nifty free events. On the first Saturdays of the month, they do this thing called <a href="http://www.camstl.org/calendar/event/2011/03/05/food-for-thought/">Food for Thought</a>. I've been thinking about going and trying free food for a while. I finally got unlazy enough to go today! HUZZAH!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_YcLICHVK5ng/TU4vG4fa3iI/AAAAAAAAAPs/KO0ESlqRC8g/s1600/menu+small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_YcLICHVK5ng/TU4vG4fa3iI/AAAAAAAAAPs/KO0ESlqRC8g/s320/menu+small.jpg" width="216" /><a name='more'></a></a></div>So I arrived a bit late (my car had issues with the snow... this is when i realize why being from Texas actually does suck....) and I'm confused at first. There's a little cafe in the CAM and the lady at the desk points me there nicely. I get permission to takes pictures of the food, because I feel bad hauling my camera there. The people were actually really nice and I ended up talking to someone about my camera and how much I love it.<br />
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Anyway, there were three things on the "menu". They were set out on a table and you could just grab one of each as you walked in. They were all nice and artsy -- the way you expect food inspired by art to be. I was very intrigued.<br />
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The menu was inspired by random words in a poem consisting of random words. While the idea was cool, I was disappointed because I wanted more thematic coherency. I guess I like art for thematic and conceptual reasons. This is why I need to see the point of a piece. I want to have some insight into how an artist thinks. I need my abstract artwork to at least have some title to give me context for deeper understanding. I hate most things that say Untitled #___ unless the artist's intention is clear. <br />
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The first thing I tried was the beet and carrot creme brulee. I really liked the colors. Before reading the description, I had expected the pink to be raspberry. I was a bit disappointed because I assume I don't like beets (they're mostly flavorless and smell funny when overcooked... which I guess is why I never cared for them). I love the way the sauce was splattered on the plate. The creme brulee was lightly sweet but not overly so and the carrot flavor was there but also not overpowering. I didn't expect to like this and I did. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_YcLICHVK5ng/TU4vEnoADkI/AAAAAAAAAPo/HjgAKieNTuM/s1600/edited+beet+and+carrot+small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="176" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_YcLICHVK5ng/TU4vEnoADkI/AAAAAAAAAPo/HjgAKieNTuM/s400/edited+beet+and+carrot+small.jpg" width="400" /> </a> </div><br />
The next thing I tried was the grass fed beef philly cheesesteak. I didn't realize it was a cheesesteak until I saw the description. It was bite size and tasty, but not as flavorful as I hoped it to be. The roll was soft and the meat and sauce were tasty. I just wanted something more inspiring or inspired. I'm not sure which:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_YcLICHVK5ng/TU4u9Uk_K4I/AAAAAAAAAPc/tySK_Vs8q08/s1600/cheese+steak+small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="261" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_YcLICHVK5ng/TU4u9Uk_K4I/AAAAAAAAAPc/tySK_Vs8q08/s400/cheese+steak+small.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
The last thing I tried was the seared duck breast with missouri pecans and fig reduction. I love duck. I also love savory and sweet things together. This piece was really great. It had good texture, good flavor, and great balance. I think mine could've been cooked a bit better. It wasn't tough, but didn't have the nice tenderness I'm used to associating with duck. Actually, the flesh was a bit pink, which was weird. I think what I liked the most was how the fat looked. There was a clear layer of seared crispiness with the rest of the fat underneath. In it's own way, it was very pretty. I thought it was worth taking pictures from two angles because it was such a strange construction.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_YcLICHVK5ng/TU4u_1bTRpI/AAAAAAAAAPg/hmc8D4ju89A/s1600/duck+edited+small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_YcLICHVK5ng/TU4u_1bTRpI/AAAAAAAAAPg/hmc8D4ju89A/s400/duck+edited+small.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_YcLICHVK5ng/TU4vCqyTy1I/AAAAAAAAAPk/pwchJXsh4R0/s1600/duck+fat+small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="276" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_YcLICHVK5ng/TU4vCqyTy1I/AAAAAAAAAPk/pwchJXsh4R0/s400/duck+fat+small.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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Anyway, that was my adventure for the day. The food was good and I will be going again. I hope they have more coherency in ideas next time.<br />
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<3<br />
HaoThe Mad Hao Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15840605430381562967noreply@blogger.com0