Musings of a Lost Child

Crowded Music

2009-10-31T17:31:12Z

Humans are so bloody cool! And full of amazing!

Dancing

2009-10-31T08:24:45Z

Originally uploaded by Noah Kalina

Dancing is a fabulous thing. Expansive movement, taking up space. I love to dance, to seize the joy in the world. Dancing is a form of joy, after all.

This picture encapsulates this feeling of freedom. Of giving in to inner desires, and dancing with whatever is available. I'm not sure what the silver thing is, other than another piece of the world.

Everything is shiny when you're dancing.

Musical World

2009-10-30T06:02:35Z

I've posted the dancing in Antwerp station video before, and spread it as far and wide as I can. It remains my favorite youtube video, and it represents the best thing of the internet.

These guys did something similar in New Zealand, inspired by the above. Yay for wackiness.

'Space'

2009-10-23T17:21:21Z

While I was thinking about this application of the architectural terms of negative and positive space, and simultaneously reading JT’s blog about the clutter of the online media and the expectations of what we have to do to create a writing career and maintain it, along with marketing it, I had an abrupt-but-fine appreciation for the connotations of positive and negative spaces and how they impact our lives. With regard to the social media/marketing aspect, I think the online world—particularly Twitter and Facebook—create the illusion of positive space, a space to dwell. Only, there is no “space” there, there is no permanent peace or interaction with tangible walls and windows, living areas and social areas. It’s all hallways and moving, traffic and business with the veneer of being social, and at its most fundamental sociological construct, it’s in disharmony with our need to dwell, because in social media, we’re always moving through. Targeting something—more interaction, more movement, more recognition, more awareness (both of each other, of marketing needs and trends, of products, not necessarily just of our own products).

-- Toni McGee Causey, Positive and Negative Spaces

(The original article is mostly on writing, but this paragraph popped out at me.)

Google Wave, Update

2009-10-12T04:17:42Z

I now have a Wave account. It is awesome.

However, I have no invites. Apparently, you only get invites if you were invited by Google (rather than by friends). I'm certain this will change, and as I said, once it does I will announce it. (To twitter and to LJ.)

Snapshot

2009-08-24T15:22:03Z

A small boy, perhaps ten or eleven, stood at the edge of the street peering back and forth along the street as if something might jump out and gobble him up. His cheeks were smeared with dirt from days, or weeks of accumulation. He scratched the back of his leg with a shoe that once was quite nice but now falling apart around his feet. They didn't provide much protection from either the rain-swept streets or the bitter cold nights. His jacket hung loose off his shoulders to nearly his knees, one of his hands completely lost in the sleeve. The other sleeve bunched up at his hand, where he held a small plastic container now devoid of peanut butter. A leather satchel hung over his shoulder held up well to the abuse the boy had put it through, obviously well crafted and dependable even through use. It held only two items: '<li> </li>' and '<li> </li>', distributed among the two pouches in the satchel.

He was one of a thousand small boys in the City, all lost, all clutching the last vestiges of their memories lest they, too, are stolen away.

The world is a fabulous place.

2009-06-30T07:43:41Z

Share a story filled with the awesomeness of the world.

Cake #008: Wedding Cake

2009-06-23T06:38:00Z

cake

Textbooks are worthless?

2009-06-14T20:11:03Z

I read this blogpost the other day about how textbooks are a massive ripoff.

He's a marketer, so maybe that makes sense for him. But I still have many of my textbooks, and I still collect ones I like. And I do use them for reference (at the oddest times).

So, LJ world, what do you think? Do you use your textbooks? Are they a massive rip-off?

Cake #007: Mexican Chocolate Cake

2009-05-31T21:01:53Z

cake_007.jpg
Originally uploaded by Konomaigo

This cake was based on a request from redsouffle. I made it for my second Zombie Movie Night, and it worked out pretty well.

The base was the standard chocolate cake from CIBR, same as Cake #004. I was deliberating between this and the Devil's Food Cake. It's a good thing I've been making notes. I added 2tsp cinnamon and 3/4 tsp 50K cayenne (from Market Spice) to the basic recipe. This added a very subtle kick, mostly as an aftertaste, to the cake. I liked it, but sort of wish it had been a bit stronger. I'm not sure if adding more cayenne or upping it to 100k would be better. Probably next time I will try upping the amount, maybe to 1sp or 5/4 tsp. I don't want the cayenne to overpower, though.

The filling (which you can't really see in the pic) was a strawberry filling. Same sort of frozen fruit cooked on the stove with corn starch concoction that I usually make. I added a bit of blackberry brandy this time to try to add a bit of extra flavor. I'm not sure it really worked. At least, I didn't really taste any difference. Maybe if I'd a) added a few blackberries or b) used more brandy. I didn't want to use more brandy at the time since it was already pretty watery. I used wendolen 's suggestion of stirring the corn starch in water before pouring it in, which worked but I used much more water than I would have liked. The end result was about right, though.

I was originally going to use a blackberry filling, but it turned out I didn't actually have blackberries. Strawberry worked, though.

The frosting came out of CIBR as well, a plain chocolate frosting. It was essentially cream and semi-sweet chocolate. However, as written in the book the frosting will harden into quite a hard shell if you wait too long, which I didn't realize. When I went to put it on the cake. it was a solid mass of chocolate. I simmered an extra half pint of cream and added it to the chocolate (which melted the chocolate back down better than I would have guessed) and let it cool down to a thicker consistency once again.

If I use this frosting again, I will either a) increase the cream, b) watch the timing of the frosting and spread it while it's still spreadable (based on inaurolillium 's suggestion) or c) a combination of both. There's some appeal to the idea of a hard chocolate shell on the cake, actually. If I do that, I'll have to make the frosting last to make sure the timing works out.

It worked pretty well. I was pleased with it. And I'm getting reasonably good at the basic chocolate layer cake.

(though I haven't posted as much, I've been using the same recipe for cupcakes. Yummy, yummy cupcakes.)

Cake 006: German Chocolate Cake

2009-05-15T18:44:42Z

cake_006
Originally uploaded by Konomaigo

This is the cake I baked for my birthday. It was bloody tasty, it was. It isn't my prettiest cake, though. Also, I forgot the cherries. ;_;

This came out of Best Recipes, as so many of my cakes do. I didn't make any modifications, other than making it a three layer instead of four layer cake. For some reason German Chocolate is one of my favorites, though I'm usually not one for nuts in my baked goods (I tend to remove them from my recipes.

One of the things I noticed after it was too late to do anything about it was that the recipe called for 8in rounds and I had 9in rounds. The upshot of this was that there was only enough filling for three layers, and the layers were a little more difficult to cut. If I make it again, I'll either use 8in rounds or scale up the recipe accordingly.

On the subject of cutting layers, I do not have a good knife for this. I will have to acquire one before embarking on another multi-layer cake.

I wonder if the addition of a middle layer of fruit would do to this. A blackberry filling, perhaps. I may have to experiment, as I rather enjoy fruit filling.

Also, I kind of want to experiment with the chocolate a little bit. The recipe calls for cocoa powder. No doubt this is what helps give it the rather light texture. I sort of wonder what it would be like to do a mix of cocoa powder and melted chocolate, such as what I do with the brownies. The Devil's Food Cake uses this sort of mixture, so I may try to combine the two. I like me some damn rich chocolate cake.

My next project will be a Mexican Chocolate cake, as per request. There will be a party centered around this.

Yee haw!

2009-04-17T03:33:02Z

Proof copy of The Gods of Reed is in the mail.

*Dance Dance Dance*

Cake #5: Carrot Cake

2009-04-04T17:51:35Z

CarrotCake.jpg
Originally uploaded by Konomaigo

I made this for Jess' going away party. She's off to adventure and excitement, so I thought I'd do what I can to contribute. (Not that I really approve of her moving to SF, for purely selfish reasons I assure you.)

Best compliment ever: "I don't like carrot cake, but this is really good." (Jess)

I pulled the cake from Best Recipes, but I dropped out the nuts (I don't care for them too much.) I meant to make the ginger variation, but I forgot until after I stuck it into the oven. Oh well.

I liked this, it was relatively simple to make. Not exactly a one-bowl cake but pretty close. I did have a problem with the carrots falling apart as I washed them. Obviously I need to better control my super-strength.

The icing is a cream cheese frosting. It's sort of a sweet version of the filling I use in my brownies. It's got a hint of sour cream in it, and uses confectioners sugar instead of granular. It makes a good icing. I want to make chocolate cupcakes with this icing, actually. I've been thinking about it for several days, stopped by my lack of desire to walk to the store for chocolate. It could also be pretty good on cinnamon rolls.

The cake turned out pretty well. When I was grating the carrots I was a bit afraid I'd have way too much, but it turned out well.

It didn't end up too badly even after I had to bike three miles to get to Jess' party, though it did get a little squashed on one end. That didn't stop it all from being eaten, though.

There are so many possibilities for the future. Obviously, I need to start throwing 'eat my cake' parties.

Cake #4: Chocolate Strawberry

2008-09-20T00:13:35Z

Alice asked for a chocolate cake with berries and cream cheese frosting for her birthday, and this is what I produced. It's another layer cake, and I think it may be about time to expand my repertoire (which means buying some new equipment, which is partially why I haven't done so yet).

The base of this is the chocolate layer cake from Best Recipes. I rather liked this one, sort of light and fluffy where King Aurthur's devil's food cake was denser. I'll probably lean in this direction for future layer cakes.

The filling was a strawberry filling, taken from Best Recipes from the Strawberry Cheesecake topping. I tried to thicken it a bit, but it really wasn't thick enough for my purpose. Though it might have gone better had I left it in the fridge to cool for longer than I did (I was in a bit of a rush for this part).

The frosting came out of King Arthur, a very nice spreadable cream cheese frosting. I used about a third of the confectioner's sugar it asked for, though. Came out pretty well, too.

The decorations are a strawberry, blueberries, edible flowers, and a frozen grape. This didn't turn out too badly, but I will admit that in general I've not given much thought to the presentation layer of my cakes. I think this is something I'll have to give some thought to.

wendolen has given me a couple of recipes I need to try, which look pretty tasty. I'd also like to try a cheesecake (see earlier note about equipment).

Cake-as-art is still a bit beyond me, possibly because of the art part. But some things I'd like to try at some point include a Beatles theme, turtle/space theme or something appropriately themed.

At some point, I may start throwing 'Eat My Cake' parties. This sounds like a brilliant idea, and requires follow-up at some later date.

END OF LINE

Airport Security Addendum

2008-09-10T18:14:52Z

I went through airport security with my laptop inside a zippered neoprene sleeve. No comment, which is the best one can expect from security.

Myth confirmed.

END OF LINE

Airport Security Question

2008-09-07T18:14:49Z

I recently heard that laptops can be left in certain cases when going through airport security; specifically the sort of cases that are designed to hold only a laptop (essentially a protective sleeve). Has anyone out there had the opportunity to test this?

Update

2008-09-02T22:47:41Z

So, for people keeping track:

I received one (1) tin in response to my previous post. The tin was filled with brownies and returned.

I received many (more than two) verbal promises of tins. Verbal promises of tins will not hold baked goods, in case anyone was suffering from that misapprehension.

Given my desire to gain some skill points in Baking (Cake), tins may be filled with cake experiments.

misshepeshu was correct: bullet points are fun.

Since I have many verbal promises of tins, I thought I might assure those out there that the previous offer is still in effect. Tins -> baked goodies for you.

And, on a completely different note, I think I need a cake-based LJ icon. Any thoughts or suggestions along those lines?

END OF LINE

Cake #3: Apple Cake with Caramel Frosting

2008-09-02T22:37:47Z

Cake three came from leahseraph demanding a cake. So I opened up my King Arthur's Cookbook and flipped through the one-bowl cakes. Seems like cheating to make the easy cakes, but cheating is tasty! So last night was an Apple Cake with Caramel Frosting, pretty much straight out of KA.

(Photo courtesy of leahseraph.)

The cake was pretty straight out of the book, though I believe leahseraph doubled all the spices going in. Gives it a bit of a kick. And we used ground ginger instead of crystallized ginger (I don't even know where I can get crystallized ginger. Maybe someone out on the internets will tell me.) I don't think I can taste the ginger at all. There were no nuts (I'm not a big nut fan, so this may be cut indiscriminately if I so choose. Also because I rarely have anything other than pine nuts laying around.) The cake was easy to make.

Next time I make a one-bowl cake, I'll probably actually only use a single bowl. (I've gotten used to having a dry-goods bowl and a wet-goods bowl, so I started the cake in not-the-stand-mixer bowl and had to transfer it over mid-stream. But that's hardly a snag. I mean, what's baking without getting every dish in the kitchen dirty?

The caramel frosting was also out of King Arthur. I ran out of brown sugar shy of the cup needed, and we didn't use the entire pound of confectioners sugar the recipe called for. Even still, boy is that one sugary frosting. Damn. This cake ended up pretty sweet.

And thus: Cake! Breakfast cake. (Also, I currently have more cake than I'm going to eat. If people want to try cake #3, some contact should be made wherein a transfer of cake can be negotiated.)

Cake #2: Chocolate Cake with Blackberry Filling

2008-09-02T22:20:26Z

So, not too long ago I attended a wedding, which included the baking of a seriously good looking cake. (I swear there's also cake under there.) I watched them making it Friday night/Saturday morning. And I thought: I should start making cakes. Regularly.

And thus, I have started. Since one of the Thirsty Thursday crew was having a BBQ/Dinner Party, I decided to foist upon them moist, delicious cake.

(Picture courtesy of leahseraph.)

Slightly less ambitious, but tasty. The recipe was pretty much straight from the book. The substance was the Devil's Food Cake from King Arthur's Baking Companion (thanks to misshepeshu for getting this into my hands.) The recipe is a bit denser than I think I'd like in cake (though not as dense as any of the brownies that are my regular staple). I think I'd like to try for a chocolate cake that's lighter at some point; I may have to find one.

The filling is a blackberry topping. The blackberries were hand-picked at a quite lovely spot near where I live. I used the strawberry topping for cheesecake recipe in Cook's Illustrated Best Recipes and modified it for blackberries. (Well, I didn't have any jam, either.) Or, really, I just made the raspberry glaze I used to make for my brownies, back before the cheesecake brownie days. Either way, it was a blackberry jam. Very easy to make (possibly a bit too sweet, as I added sugar as per CIBR. Not sure it was needed.) Very runny, though. I'd've preferred a thicker sort of filling so I could make the blackberry layer thicker. Not sure how I would accomplish this, though. I may need to find a recipe that isn't designed for a glaze. (It was a bit thicker than a glaze might be. And on a side note, I used leftover blackberry filling with the lemon poppyseed muffins I commonly make, which had a very tasty result.)

The chocolate glaze is straight out of King Arthur. It's also a bit runny, though very tasty. I think next time I'm going to try for more of an frosting rather than a glaze. Kind Arthur has a Thick Fudge Frosting recipe that looks like it would be good. I think that might go with a lighter chocolate cake as well. (Or maybe a not-chocolate cake.)

Decorating it are more of the hand-picked blackberries. Mmm, tasty.

General Information

2008-07-17T04:40:02Z

Those wishing baked goods to be delivered to them should follow these steps:

1. Acquire tin.

2. Put name somewhere on or in tin.

3. Deliver tin to me in some manner (in person, via mail, dragon post, whatever).

At some point in the future, the tin will be returned with baked goods in it.

konomaigo @ 2008-01-28T10:07:00

2008-01-28T18:09:31Z

Anyone traveling through the SeaTac airport on 17 Dec and lost a bag where my contact info might have been in it should contact me; this bag will be donated on 2 Feb if the owner is not found. (Sounded like a non-Seattlite.)

Test

2007-08-13T00:53:04Z

I am attempting a post using IM. Because I like playing with new technology more than I like caring about my livejournal.

konomaigo @ 2006-12-03T15:38:00

2006-12-03T22:38:44Z

Another memeish thing.

2006-09-16T19:40:16Z

Create your own! Originally Written By ga_woo, Hosted and ReWritten by darkman424

konomaigo @ 2006-06-10T09:45:00

2006-06-10T16:44:53Z

There is, perhaps, an argument against me going back to school.