Baby raccoons, spiderweb wisps and a bout of archery. I found this dragonfly larvae husk by the pond, next to the waterlillies and tadpoles. The dandelions are everywhere.

Classic Human Anatomy, by Valerie L. Winslow. I love this book. It’s broken up into sections like “The Language of Anatomy”, “The Head, Face and Neck”, and “The Torso”, and is full of lovely illustrations and clearly labeled diagrams showing bones, muscles and how movement affects them. Terms like ‘Humerus’ include pronunciation, the term’s origin (often Latin) and synonyms.

Animal flashcards, found in my parent’s living room. It’s about time I got back to expanding my vocabulary, and I think the illustrations are hilarious! That hedgehog looks so goofy!

Finding things is fun! I pick things up off the street all the time. Pictured are some of my most recent acquisitions. I’d probably make a very good magpie, though none of these is particularly shiny. Not really sure what to do with… any of them, really, but I’m sure I’ll think of something.

Title from the song New Found Land by Leaves’ Eyes. It’s about a crew of Norse men, braving the sea and storms and hardship in their quest to discover new land. I hope we can all find something to be as passionate about in our everyday lives!

Today I drew a bunch of rabbits, learned you can buy crabs from vending machines in China, and beat my vampiric nemesis in a chess match.

So I was thinking – 2011 is the year of the rabbit, so something along that theme would make a good gift, right? I’ve always been a fan of paper-cuttings, so I ended up spending much of this morning sketching out some ideas based on that concept. I think maybe I’ll try and make a calendar/postcards for the holidays. For some reason, I am absolutely in love with the idea of a desk calendar where each month can then be used to say hi to someone. Throwing away all those pages seems such a waste!

I was also informed that crabs have been added to the myriad of other strange items you can get out of a vending machine these days. It would appear that they simply torpor in their little crab-cases until you take them home and, well, cook them. I wonder how many crabs get purchased in a day?

The Sims 3 Nightlife expansion came out recently, and despite the fact that it is a shallow game where you do things that you could do for real in real life, I do enjoy it so. Now with apartments, vampires, celebrities, bars, and looking slutty! Seriously, you think I’m joking, but I’m not. They added a boob slider in the character builder.

I had fun running around with a pre-made vampire who is semi-famous, works as a Doctor, and cackles maniacally when doing things like practicing chess, taking a bath, and plotting diabolical schemes.

Life: Feeling a bit restless. It’s not that there’s not stuff to do (there’s always stuff to do!), I’m just tired of doing it in the same place. Outside, everything is changing: fall colors, leaves falling, temperatures dropping – and I feel like I’m stuck standing still. I want to change too! Other than that… Mini’s banned me from working on my newest hobby of clay until Monday since I recently injured my wrist after working with it for a prolonged period, which is kind of a bummer. Been listening to a lot of NPR, and absolutely loving our Dark Sun D&D campaign. It’s thrillingly brutal, and every time I’m half expecting my character to die.

Music: I still like Linkin Park, and I don’t care who knows it! I’m currently listening to a playlist with their song Robot Boy, Vienna Teng’s Drought, and Siobhan Donaghy’s Coming Up For Air. Just in the mood for pretty music, I guess.

I think oatmeal cookies are my favorite cookie, though peanut butter is a close second. There’s something about their warm chewy, oaty goodness that makes me want to melt into a snuggly pile of gooey happiness. To that end, a note: I used butter, because it was in the fridge, but next time I’ll be using Crisco or margarine. Some people hate these manufactured fats with a fiery burning passion, but butter makes for crispier cookies – and I want mine softer.

Quaker Oat’s Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb (2 sticks) margarine or butter, softened
• 1 c firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2 c granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1.5 c all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt (optional)
• 3 c oatmeal

Instructions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F

2. Beat together margarine and sugars until creamy

3. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well.

4. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well.

5. Stir in oats and [whatever else you're adding]; mix well.

One of the best things about these cookies is that you can add in whatever you want! Walnuts, cranberries, toffee… whatever you happen to have on hand. This time I went for 1 cup each of coconut and chocolate chips – though I’m a big fan of the more traditional raisins as well.

My mother instilled me with a deep, bone-aching fear of salmonella, so I don’t eat cookie dough – but I have it on good authority that this was pretty good stuff.

6. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet.

7. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.

8. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet; remove to wire rack.

OM NOM NOM

Finding a mulberry tree while the mulberries are ripe is like finding a treasure chest, only instead of gold you get delicious. It also turns the sidewalks purple.

These seed pods remind me of the Durian fruit – which is, as far as I know, the most polarizing fruit in existence. You love it or you hate it, it’s illegal to take on the subways of Singapore, and I would liken the experience of eating it to consuming smelly, slimy, rotten bug guts. Some people really like it though?

Not many people like wasps, but I think they’re fantastic. One summer, they built a hive right up against a glass window, allowing us to look inside just like with an ant farm. It was fascinating! Paper wasps put so much work into building their homes, so I can’t help but feel a little sad when they get knocked down, even if it is for the best. It’s okay though, they’ll build another one.

Summers are full of good food (or at least, they should be!). I don’t personally own a grill, but I have friends that do – bbq ribs, hamburgers, grilled chicken and sweet corn. Delicious!

On the downside, monsters seem a bit unbalanced in terms of powers and weaknesses, which leads certain party members to be favored over others. Additionally, there seem to be some squicky social things going on. You can date a girl that looks like she ought to be in elementary school, there are some pretty unsavory sterotypes (the fat girl, the weird creepy kid, etc), and a light strain of homophobia that goes unaddressed.

All in all though, a very enjoyable game.

WARNING: These songs/videos may (most assuredly) contain gratuitous dancing and making out between attractive peoples, to a song that you may (again, most certainly) find to be extremely repetitive. I didn’t say they were good songs (though I do enjoy them, especially #1).

Behold! My two examples:

Case study #1: Good Girls Go Bad by Cobra Starship

This song is about some guy who makes all the ‘good girls go bad’, which is a line that sounds just as shallow and presumptuous when sung. However, the music video tells a very different story – these girls are just letting him think he’s making them ‘go bad’, and in the end he rather gets what he deserves. Every time I watch this, I feel rather like cheering at the end. Love it!

Case study #2: Break Your Heart by Taio Cruz

The gist of this song is that the singer is going to break some chick’s heart because he’s a ‘bad boy’ and a ‘player’ and yadda yadda yadda. It all seems like some painfully one sided testosterone-induced posturing. But in the music video, both he AND his hot chick are ‘heart breakers’ trying to one-up each other… and somehow in the process of flirting and making out with other people, they become a perfect fit for one another. Maybe I’m just a sap when it comes to happy endings for messed up people, but I think that’s kinda cute.

So!

Can you think of any others?