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Nook Color review

Edit: I did indeed get an iPad2 for xmas and I’m in LOOOOOVE. Pricey, but it does everything I want in one device. -A

Since we could not afford a pricey yet delicious iPad, we split the difference and Nick got a new iPod and I got a used Nook Colour. Nick DEFINITELY got the better end of that deal!

I was thrilled to get the Nook off eBay for $177 after shipping since it had a skin, leather cover and a 32Gb SD card. All that swag was over $200 retail and they issued a swanky OS update to bring the Colour to ‘almost’ a Nook Tablet. I was happy until I actually tried to use the damn thing…

OMG. Who the hell is designing that OS? Probably the same morons who design BN.com. As soon as I went to check out the BN.com site I recalled why I’d shopped with them ONCE and then run back to Amazon. The BN.com website is ATROCIOUS. The search engine is so weak that it can’t find WIRED. That’s right, WIRED or even WIRED MAGAZINE will get you a looooong list of everything they have with WIRE in the title and the magazine down in the mix. They’d be better off just linking to Google for their search engine.

I remembered the horrible search engine and sighed and went about setting up the Nook and trying out Seesmic so I could crosspost to Twittah. What a mistake. The experience with this app was what made me all ragey on Twittah that day. Continue reading “Nook Color review”

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Cyber Monday! Support Indie!

In case you’ve missed my incessant Twitter and FB posts about our shops, here is a handy post with links and codes for everything!

Think Weasel! T Shirts from Spreadshirt. Put FREE SHIPPING in the payment notes and we’ll refund you. Spreadshirt doesn’t offer any sort of discounts for free shops. Bastards.

Think Weasel! sketchcards, buttons and other stuff at our Storenvy shop. Get 15% off with code holiday11!

And my jewelry is still listed at Etsy for now under my new name: Boneless Cat Designs. Use FREESHIPPING11 for free shipping!

Thanks for shopping indie this holiday season! :)

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Damn you, Oprah!

As is my custom every year as my birthday approaches, I begin to get depressed and anxious. Everyone knows this – especially Nick, my long suffering partner in crime. It’s not too bad this year, but I wouldn’t say I’m great. I guess I’m a 6 out of 10.

Anyway, the Fear and Loathing™ is not horrible, but I’m trying to evaluate my year and figure out how to proceed. It sucks being middle aged. It really, truly SUCKS. I have absolutely nothing good to say about it at all. It’s like you understand TONS more than you used to, but you lose any and all relevance to society and your understanding is therefore moot. Suckage.

This year’s new twist to my navel gazing is that I’ve been recording Oprah’s Life Class. Say what you will about Oprah, but the woman does have a clue. She speaks the truth. I won’t do the online thing, but I’ve been watching the shows and have gotten some valuable input. As well as some cryin’ time. Buh. Yesterday I watched the one about how your upbringing totally colours the way you deal with people. Yup: more cryin’ time. Damn you, Oprah. Continue reading “Damn you, Oprah!”

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Friday! Yay!

Lookin’ at a four day weekend with my Weasel. I hope it doesn’t come to fisticuffs. I think I’m having PMS and he’s on my nerves a bit. Meh. In any case, I hope to have fun at the Alive! festival in Duluth tomorrow. I’ll be in the Oracle 20/20 booth (18-19). Come on out, it’s free!

I gotta get some head pins of the correct size (1.5″) and whip up some cute chakra earrings for the fest. These are made with small seed beads, so I think I’ll just charge $5 for them. My usual stuff is $10, but I can’t charge that for such small beads. I had hell trying to find ANY beads that had all seven colours! And even these didn’t have a true red. Weird.

The Atlanta Comic Convention is also this Sunday at the Marriott on Clairmont. Depending on how business is at the Alive! fest, I may or may not be there. Nick will be there either way. I’m currently thinking that one day of an outdoor festival full of skwerls will be enough for me, so I’ll probably just do Saturday. Besides, I don’t want to have to duplicate the change box for two events. BUT, if I sell a ton of stuff, I may be tempted. We’ll play it by ear.

Hmm, what else? Welp, I’ve been cooking a lot the last week. Last night I challenged myself to on-hand soup. On-hand soup is whatever I can scrounge from the fridge and pantry. It turned out to be chicken and veg w/ barley. One of the veg was purple cauliflower, which was delightful in the soup. I even managed to use bouillon cubes for stock and not make it too salty. I highly recommend the flavoured bouillon cubes by Knorr. I used cilantro last night and it was great. You can find them in the Mexican section. There’s cilantro, tomato, chipotle, etc., all in a chicken base. I also recommend keeping garlic and garlic+ginger pastes handy. You can find that in the Indian section or Indian grocery. Good stuff.

I got a birthday coupon from Iberian Pig, so we may have to do that in addition to my Porter outing next weekend. We’ll be at The Porter for my epic, once in a century birthday of 11.11.11 on Friday 11.11.11. The official start time is 6pm, we’ll be there early. If you can come out, please do. It’s just a low pressure get together, no presents or anything. Just a get together because of the date, really.

It’s my turn on the Rack, so I guess I’ll sign off. Hope everyone has a great weekend. Oh, and the new headers are Monet pieces: Japanese bridge, Japanese Garden and Sunrise. Enjoy!

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Pork Shoulder Stew

I had a small Boston Butt (pork shoulder roast) in the freezer that I wanted to use, so I made a stew. I found a recipe somewhere online and modified it quite a bit. The result was pretty darn good. I’m glad I decided to cut up the roast before I thawed it, because it was a CRAPPY cut of shoulder that wouldn’t have been a decent whole roast. It still turned out great in this recipe.

2-3# pork shoulder (Boston Butt), trimmed of fat and cut into 2″ pieces
salt/pepper
olive oil
1 Tbl ancho powder
1 Tbl chipotle powder
1 tsp cayenne powder
.5 tsp coriander, ground
1 tsp cumin, ground
2 Tbl masa flour (or AP flour is fine)
1 tsp dried oregano
1 lg onion, frenched
5-6 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 cups chicken stock
2 cans diced tomatoes (I used 1 fire roasted and 1 Chile flavored, use what you’ve got)
1 can chick peas (garbanzos, ceci) drained
1 Tbl tomato paste
a bit of sugar if the tomatoes are too acidic
3 Tbl fresh chopped cilantro (or parsley) optional garnish

Cut up the pork and sauté in heavy dutch oven until brown. Add in the 6 powdered ingredients and continue to sauté. When it starts to get stuck, deglaze with a bit of chicken stock and scrape up the brown bits. Turn down the heat to med-hi. Add in oregano, onions and garlic and cook until the onions start to get translucent. Add in tomatoes, tomato paste and chick peas. Add in more chicken stock to make a thick stew. Turn down the heat to low, cover and let simmer for about 1.5 hours. If you can wait that long. The pork should be soft enough after an hour or so, but the longer the better. Check periodically to see if more stock is needed. Kill the heat, let sit for a few minutes, then serve with cilantro garnish. YUM!