Another Rant

Ok. so I am getting a few things that have been bugging me off my chest lately, and here’s another one. Yes, it is language again.
Yes – I am digging in my heels and screaming “NO!!!” – again.
This one is about the difference between chucking and chunking things.
I hear people say they are going to “chunk” something meaning they are throwing it out or getting rid of it.
I could not possibly explain it any more simply or any better than they did here at BeeDictionary. Here is what they say:

chunk vs chuck : Common Errors in English

In casual conversation, you may get by with saying “Chuck [throw] me that monkey wrench, will you?” But you will mark yourself as illiterate beyond mere casualness by saying instead “Chunk me that wrench.” This is a fairly common substitution in some dialects of American English.

chunk Meaning(s)

• (n) a compact mass
• (n) a substantial amount
• (v) put together indiscriminately
• (v) group or chunk together in a certain order or place side by side

chuck Meaning(s)

• (n) informal terms for a meal (like what you get from a chuck wagon)
• (n) the part of a forequarter from the neck to the ribs and including the shoulder blade (a chuck roast)
• (n) a holding device consisting of adjustable jaws that center a workpiece in a lathe or center a tool in a drill
• (v) throw carelessly
• (v) throw away
• (v) pat or squeeze fondly or playfully, especially under the chin
• (v) eject the contents of the stomach through the mouth (as in up-chuck)

Nothing but a rant today

Indulge me for a minute, please.
Change is inevitable. I even welcome most change and enjoy it. However when it comes to language I seem to dig in my heels and scream “NO!!!” – especially when the change makes no sense to me.
I hear people say “they could care less” about something meaning that they have no regard for what they are referring to. . This drives me crazy. I googled this phrase and found I am certainly not alone – there are online discussions galore regarding this phrase.
It doesn’t even make sense!
The original, and as far as I am concerned, the only correct phrase is “I COULDN'T care less” if indeed you are intending to mean that you don’t care about something. If you couldn’t possibly care less about something, it means you have zero – none – no care for it in the first place. Therefore, saying  “I COULDN’T care less” about something means you don’t have any care at all about it in the first place.
On the other hand, if you say “I could care less” that indicates that you do actually have a measure of care to start with. You are saying in fact, I care and I care a certain amount but I could care less. That leaves me to wonder or ask how much care do you have? How much less could you care?
Please people (especially you news anchors and commentators and influential media people–) THINK (!!!) about what you are saying! and what you are intending to say.
For me,  I COULD care less regarding the usage of the phrases “I couldn’t care less” and “I could care less”.
Saying you “could care less” while meaning that you don’t care about something is just confusing. (and for me personally – it makes a person sound ignorant!)
Nevertheless – my research shows that it seems to be becoming more acceptable as an idiom in our language – Please – don’t let it happen!
This is a completely unacceptable change!

Summary:

If you DO NOT care at all about something then say you COULDN’T CARE LESS.
If you DO care about something and say you COULD CARE LESS then you are leaving me to ask or wonder how much did you care to start with and how less do you care now. So if you choose to say you “could care less” about something, quantify how much and how little you care please, because I will be wondering…

Dystopia

I had forgotten this word, and  so I had completely forgotten the meaning of the word too –
I looked it up online and found these two definitions:

dys·to·pi·a   [dis-toh-pee-uh]

noun
1. a society characterized by human misery, as squalor, oppression, disease, and overcrowding.
2. An imagined place or state in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmentally degraded one.
Thank you to my brother Bill, who sent me this video. The artist’s name is

Seo Young Deok

Here is a little more information on him and his work
http://www.odditycentral.com/pics/seo-young-deoks-bicycle-chain-sculptures-are-off-the-chain.html
Take a minute, relax, enjoy the music and the sculpture.
Here is the link to the video if you can’t see it here

http://youtu.be/bMlXjCVX7Dk

Butternut Squash, Carrot & Parsnip Ragoût

The kitchen is not my natural habitat. 

As a little girl I never dreamed of being a mom and a homemaker. I remember playing shop keeper - but not restaurant or cook. Domesticity doesn't come real easy and natural for me. So when I read recipes with words like "ragout" - I don't know what the heck it is - or how to serve it. 

What I do know is what I get in my CSA bin - and this week I got some butternut squash, I had some carrots from last time, and I  got some parsnips. ( I LOVE me some parsnips!)

I started "googling" and found this recipe on my CSA site - JR Organics, nice and convenient! They have a bunch of recipes there.

My husband came home and I got to talking to him and just burned the ever-lovin' daylights out of the onion - so we ate it without the onions and I served it on brown rice. I am still not sure what ragout is or how you are supposed to serve it - but I know this was yummy! The picture doesn't do it justice.

 And I just gotta say - my Vidalia Chop Wizard makes stuff like this a breeze! I love that thing!

By the way - my red plates are chipped and broken to the point that I need to start looking for new dishes. I wonder if there is an ideal color or pattern that makes food look good - maybe even if it isn't? Just kidding - but I wonder if there is a preferred dish or plate color that complements the most food - white, you think? Ugh - boring - I don't know if I could do white - more googling I guess.

Here is the recipe - give it a try - it was pretty good.stuff.

Butternut Squash, Carrot & Parsnip Ragoût

Ingredients
1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
3 cups peeled and cubed butternut squash, (about 1 pound)
Salt & freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 1/4 cups vegetable or chicken broth, divided
1 tablespoon butter
2 cups diced carrots
2 cups diced parsnips
1 teaspoon sugar
2 large leeks, trimmed (all but 2 inches of green removed), cleaned and chopped
Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste

Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Heat oil in a shallow roasting pan on the stovetop over medium heat.
Add squash, season with salt and pepper and toss gently.
Add 1/2 cup broth and transfer the pan to the oven.
Bake until squash is just tender, about 15 minutes; do not overcook.
Meanwhile, heat butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat.
Add carrots, parsnips, sugar, and salt and pepper to taste; cook until the vegetables are lightly browned, about 3 minutes.
Add 1/2 cup broth, cover the pan and simmer until tender, about 10 minutes.
Transfer to a dish and set aside.
Add leeks and the remaining 1/4 cup broth to the pan, season with salt and pepper, cover the pan and simmer until tender, about 10 minutes.
Add the reserved squash, carrots and parsnips and toss gently.
Taste and adjust seasonings, adding a grating of nutmeg.
Simmer for an additional 3 to 4 minutes to warm through before serving.


Have you visited me here? N S Davis Art Website Nathalie Davis web site

Watch this - it's cool

Check out this great MSN video: Mind-Blowing Painting Skills

This video is on MSN _Bing as well as You Tube here :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Ozc6t4KwEko

I never know what links and stuff will work for different people with different softeare and computers - so I try to give you several ways to see what I am trying to share with you - hopefully something will work and you can see this video - it's cool.



This kid - Thijme Termaat - a very talented young Dutch artist has made a very entertaining video here - I love watching and listening to it!
I'd like to know how you pronounce his name too.

His web site is https://www.thijmetermaat.com/

Enjoy!
And thanks Suzanne for sharing this with me!




Have you visited me here?
N S Davis Art Website
Nathalie Davis web site

Untitled Portrait

Took a little more serious turn with the iPad play. This is really basic, super simple photo manipulation, but it is fun to play with. I am thinking about painting this..

Something a little different

Happy Daisy – digital
This was fun – (they all are fun). These flowers might make a nice greeting card or a print.

Another Warhol-ish Portrait

Baby Sunshine – digital

I may play with this one a little more – I like it but it could use a little toning down I think. The yellow is blinding me.

And what do you think it should be - Warhol-ish or Warhol-ian silliness?

Warhol-ish Silliness

 Evaluate - digital 

Still playing with apps on my iPad - still having fun. This is really addicting!

Have you visited me here? N S Davis Art Website Nathalie Davis web site

IPad SIlly Fun Continues

Hat Lady – digital

Thought about naming this “Church Lady”  - and I still might change it to that. LOL
I love this one. Such silliness!

As I mentioned previously - I have been "working on lightening up"  a bit in my life (that phrase alone makes me snicker), and playing more. So for fun I enrolled in an online class developed by Jessica Wesolek at Cre8it.com

I took an online photography class with her a few years back and thought it was good so I gave this one a shot. NOT diasappointed and it has just started!

I have a bazillion (okay, maybe not a bazillion, but I have quite a few) art and photo apps for my iPad and iPhone already and occasionally mess around with them. Right off the bat Jessica introduces a new and free app that I don't have and hadn't heard of called PhotoPad. It has a lot of capability and is easy to use. (She also introduced us to a nifty $.99 list/to do type app called CLEAR - very, very simple, basic, and brand new.)

By the way - I don't wear hats, the hat was completely drawn and painted in using the PhotoPad app. You can tell if you look -  these were done quickly and playfully - but I am loving the potential of this app.

So these altered photos are really from stuff I am doing/learning in Jessica's class with just one app  - PhotoPad by Zagg. You can find it in the iTunes store - or look for it where ever you get your apps. Zagg makes the best shields for your iPhone and iPad - and you can actually upload your artwork to Zagg and make a skin for your device.

(I took these self portrait photos a long time ago with some other phone app - I don't even remember which one now - but (obviously)it had an option to distort in various ways so these old pics were hanging around - finally found something to do with them!)

They make me giggle a little...

iPad Fun

Skeptical Much?
Digital art done on my iPad. Just fooling around, having fun and getting to know a new app.

A New Addition to Blog

It’s something that I am so enthused about that I just have to share it. What’s that you ask? Food and recipes, that’s what. I am so happy with my new way of eating that I am going to start sharing good recipes when I find them.

Here is a little background. On Oct 1, 2011 I had a cholesterol test done and the results were not good. A lot not good, I was one step away from have to go on an Rx to lower it. On Oct 31 and Nov 1, 2011 my husband and I watched Forks Over Knives and Food Inc. on Netflix and the very next day we started converting to veganism and vegetarianism. Watch those videos!! Since that day I have been a very faithful  vegan and the hubby is probably 80% vegan.

Jan 2, 2012 I had another cholesterol test and I just got the results of that. It dropped 29 points!! I am now in the healthy range! No meds and a very happy cardiologist to boot. 29 points in just 8 weeks! just by changing my diet to vegan  - I completely fixed my dangerous cholesterol levels. It has been easy, tasty and delightful. Besides becoming Vegan, we have been experimenting with raw food also. I don’t think we will convert to a raw food diet, but we are including it.

Kale Salad

1 bunch kale, slivered

2 green onions, diagonal sliver

1/2 red bell pepper, fine dice

2 carrots, shredded

1 gold beet, shredded

1/4 cup hemp seed

DRESSING

1/4 cup olive oil

2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

2 Tbsp lemon juice

2 Tbsp Agave

3 garlic cloves

1 Tbsp hemp seed

1 pinch of sea salt

fresh basil and oregano to taste

Prep the veggies. Blend all dressing ingredients. Mix it all up and munch away!

 

There is a raw food restaurant in Encinitas, CA called Peace Pies. A tiny little place off the beaten path.

We first had this salad there. I bought their Recipe book and that is where this recipe comes from. Yum!

Enjoy! Let me know if you try it and if you like it.

Now for just a little art update. Here is the state of my home studio at the moment. A new little project under way – stay tuned…

The End of January

A page from my sketchbook.

A doodle.

I am not a doodler by nature. But I am trying to doodle more. And play more. And “lighten up” more. Funny – she doesn’t look very “light” does she? Not intended to be sad – I think she looks sad – intended to be more “wishful.” Or is that “wistful?” I was thinking about how much I don’t remember from high school and how much I would like to still learn and understand. I wish I could have known when I was younger how interesting I would find math and science when I was older. And history. School was so easy for me – I didn’t have to study, didn’t have to try very hard, and I didn’t comprehend the importance of hardly anything – let alone academic stuff. I would have paid more attention then if I had only known.

Here’s another page from my sketchbook.

Warning: Rant to follow

I heard about Zentangling and was curious about it. The doodle above the bird is a Zentangle pattern. I have been playing around with it a little bit and while it is fun, sort of mindless, kind of relaxing and a bit of a mental vacation – I also find myself having mixed feelings about it. On one hand, I applaud the “founders” of Zentangling who have taken age old patterns and designs, registered and trademarked the name, systemized it and made a business out of it. Good for them. I love an entrepreneur!

On the other hand it irritates the heck out of me that just like Al Gore and his cohorts found a way to make money out of thin air with carbon credits – these people have found a way to make money from free and ancient patterns and designs.

I lean more toward rooting and cheering the Zentangling people on than not. It brings a lot of people joy and healing and fun, and unlike the Global Warming people, no one is trying to force anyone to buy into their program. Totally the opposite of the nonsense that the Al Gore crowd tries to pressure, guilt and foist on us.

Yay for the Zentanglers.

End of Rant – for now…

It’s Been a While…

…but I am back. There is so much on my mind and so much has transpired I don’t even know where to begin. So in no particular order I think I will just start and do a stream of consciousness sort of thing – just what ever comes up.

 

Rick and I just celebrated our 35th wedding anniversary, He gave me the new Zelda, Skyward Sword game for our Wii. I know that sounds like a goofy gift but I couldn’t think of anything I would enjoy more! I am a big fan of the Zelda games and while I am horrible at playing the game I sure do enjoy it. Seriously, I am the worlds worst player – it takes me months and months to complete a game, but I love every maddening and frustrating second of it.

I have a very busy brain, which is very hard to focus and hardly ever rests or shuts down, so it is hard to find a break, distraction or any mental vacation time. However, when I play Zelda – I am hyper-focused and playing it fully, completely, totally, it’s Zelda and only Zelda – everything else disappears. It is a brain vacation – or the closest I can get to one. I come away feeling refreshed and feel like I can look at the world with fresh eyes.

And boy do I need fresh eyes these days.

I dropped out of the artist mentor program I was in. There I said it. It’s out there, but I still don’t really want to talk about it yet. It was definitely the correct thing to do – but a very emotional decision. Like I said – not ready to talk about it…

I haven’t been painting.  I don’t want to talk about that yet either.

I wanted to do something artistically fun, something light. Something different. So I found Carla Sonheim’s SIlly U online and enrolled in a couple of classes. It was fun, a nice light review, with exercises that I haven’t visited for decades. I liked the imaginary creatures best – and I discovered that while I consider myself an animal lover – I don’t really have a lot of familiarity with them. I did a few one-liner drawings from my imagination/memory. That means once your pen hits the paper you don’t lift it until you are finished – and no reference material was used, using a flowing lyrical movement. Exactly what I was looking for. Not great art – but fun.

Here is one of my favorite drawings – and you’ll see some more popping up now and then I am sure.