Monday, November 30, 2009

334/365 Wisdom Filled


334/365 Wisdom Filled
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

Had my first filling in probably 20 years -- still not the most fun I could have had, but definitely an improved experience from the last time. It did take almost 6 hours for the novocaine to wear off though...

AEDM Journal, week 4


AEDM Journal, week 4
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

Still struggling, but just one more day. Hopefully I'll be able to continue drawing or pursue some other creative activities once the challenge is officially over.

Sunday, November 29, 2009

333/365 Reading by the Autumnal Light


333/365 Reading by the Autumnal Light
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

It's a little harsh, but at least it's warm and bright.

Saturday, November 28, 2009

332/365 Swans on the Charles


332/365 Swans on the Charles
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

seen on a walk about town on a beautiful and sunny autumn day.

Friday, November 27, 2009

Thursday, November 26, 2009

330/365 A Full Plate


330/365 A Full Plate
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

The tradition continues, and the results improve year after year...which we didn't think possible.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

328/365 (un)Screwed


328/365 (un)Screwed
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

I noticed what appears to be a growing collection of screws, bolts and nails amidst the acorn caps on the roof of our bulkhead; not really sure what to make of that, but it doesn't seem like a particularly good thing.

Monday, November 23, 2009

327/365 Special


327/365 Special
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

We actually diverged from our standard (the double cheeseburger plate) and went with double cheeseburger specials. It feels a bit like cheating.

AEDM Journal, week 3


AEDM Journal, week 3
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

Barely hanging on -- almost completely forgot about AEDM last night until after getting home from a pre-Thanksgiving party.

So far, the best inspiration came during a long run on Friday -- lots of mental connections on ... making mental connections and its role/relationship with mindfulness and serendipity. I thought I might be able to spin it into an illustrated essay but I managed to get a few notes down in my journal before it flittered away in the noise of the day to day. Only the image of a winding stone wall that I saw on my run managed to get translated to paper, and even then, I wasn't all that happy with how it came out -- but I remind myself this is about process and not outcomes. (other than what comes of putting pen to paper every day)

Thursday, November 19, 2009

323/365 I must be F*$%ing nuts


323/365 I must be F*$%ing nuts
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

So, I was encouraged to try and make acorn flour by someone who stumbled on some of the pictures in my Flickr stream. I was sucked in by her enthusiasm, the apparent ease of the process and the success of her result (pancakes!), but I'm beginning to regret that decision.

broken nuts

I had actually considered it a few weeks back when it first became clear that we were getting overwhelmed with acorns and it seemed like a waste to simply throw them all away. I poked around the interwebs and found a few descriptions of acorn bread made from acorn flour, but it seemed like a lot of work to leech the tannins out of the meat and then realizing that we were dealing with tannin-rich black oak acorns pretty much killed it at the time.

My mind was changed when the correspondence effused about the tastiness of black oak acorn meal, but after investing several hours of selecting, hammering, shelling, sorting, skinning and sorting again and then ending up with maybe a cup of acorn meat is making me reconsider. I may go through one more container of sorted acorns just to have enough to bake or cook something, but I think this is going to be a "learning experience" kind of project. (i.e. I've learned that I never want to do this again, unless maybe if I'm trying to torture some hypothetical future children with their own "learning experience" or something.)

If I had to do this back before colonization/industrialization to feed myself, I'm pretty sure I would have already starved to death by now.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

321/365 Bare


321/365 Bare
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

FYI, this isn't the oak tree (which still has leaves on it)

Monday, November 16, 2009

320/365 Perspective


320/365 Perspective
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

AEDM Journal, week 2


AEDM Journal, week 2
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

This week has still been a struggle, but things would occasionally come a little easier than last week -- I'm finding small moments of inspiration here and there, so that's good. Hopefully, it will continue to improve. Hopefully, it won't go completely overboard and I find myself, I dunno -- videoblogging music or dance performances -- because frankly, while I think getting outside the box is beneficial, a complete loss of self might be a little more than I can handle right now. Unless that happens to be my optimum trajectory, I guess.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

319/365 Targeted Snack


319/365 Targeted Snack
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

I am weak in the face of overwhelming olfactory popcorn assault.

Saturday, November 14, 2009

318/365 West Wind


318/365 West Wind
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

The SOOTTAD didn't care for my original title: "Passed Wind."