Help us name our shiny new kitten!

This is our new kitty. We are trying to figure out a good name for her. What name do you like best?

• Winter
• Ashes (Ashara would be her full name)
• Lacey
• Crescent
• Echo
• Other (write your own suggestions in the comment section on Facebook)

Acepoll

More polls: Create you own poll

testing

this is just a test, making sure my blog is still active...i kind of want to return to posting again if i have time...maybe more personal stuff, but i don't know...depends what i have time for, if anything.  does anybody still check my blog?  want to see new posts?  drop me a comment if so.

My current desktop setup.

Looks pretty cool doesnt it?  It's an interactive Heads Up Display (HUD), with current time, date, weather info, network and disk usage statistics, functional media played controls, links to commonly used folders, programs, and websites, and more.  I love the look and functionality of it.  So much cooler than having icons cluttering up my desktoip.

To achieve this you need 2 things, rainmeter and a skin called jarvis.  Rainmeter is available at: http://code.google.com/p/rainmeter/  and the jarvis skin can be found at: http://browse.deviantart.com/?qh=&section=&q=jarvis+rainmeter+skin#/d36eee6

Once you download and install both of those, you can customize the skin by right-clicking different sections and going to variants, which will allow you to open up a .ini file where the variables are stores, so if you installed photoshop(for example) to a different directory than default, you can point the link to your installation.  You can customize all the clickable links and point them to wherever you like.

Unfortunately the media player controls seem to only work with winamp, but i installed winamp just so that part of the HUD would work.  It was worth it in my opinion.  I might still do some more customizing on this later, but we'll see.  Let me know what you think.

Blackbuntu

I recently installed a new operating system called Blackbuntu.

Google+

I recently signed up for the latest social network, Google+.  Right now it isn't open to the public so you need an invite to get in on it.  I must say it looks like a facebook killer to me.  I haent had much time to play around with it but so far I like the way it's set up and some of the cool features.

I'm posting this from my phone right now but in the future I'll probably do a more in-depth review with screenshots.

It allows you to put people in different groups, called circles.  Then when you post something you get to choose which circles can see it.  So you can still have your family or your boss as a friend but you don't have to share everything with them.

There are some other neat features as well but I haven't really tested them all out yet.  It allows for the creation of virtual hangouts using your webcam and then any friends who join you in the virtual hangout can videochat with the other people there.  So that seems pretty cool to me.

I just wanted to take the time to post something here since I've been too busy to write anything lately.  I'll try to write some more later or tomorrow if I can.  Thanks for reading.

FaceNiff

This is going on both of the blogs I can post on. 

How to Make Moonshine

It takes time and practice before you can whip up a good batch of moonshine that will be safe enough to drink, but making your own alcohol is one of the most enjoyable ways of breaking the law so here's how you do it.

Step 1, Mash
Buy 5lbs of cornmeal and make a mash by adding 20 gallons of boiling water and 20lbs of sugar.  When the mash has cooled to "warm" add 1.5oz of yeast.  Put this in a warm place for about 3 days to ferment (or until the mash stops bubbling).  After this, the mash will be converted to carbonic acid and alcohol, called "sour mash".

Step 2, Distillation
Distill your mash by heating to 173 degrees F. in a copper moonshine still.  At this temp. the alcohol(ethanol) rises to the top of the still and travels to the cooling part where it condenses and can be collected.  It will be a transparent liquid the colour of dark beer.

Step 3, Singlings
The first liquid to condense will contain volatile oils and should be discarded but after that the liquid can be collected in glass jars called "singlings".  The liquid from the end of the run is referred to as "low wine" and is onle about 10% alcohol so you should add this back to the mash and distill again.  Stop distilling when a tablespoon of low wine thrown on a naked flame won't burn.

Step 4, Distill Again, and Again
Empty the mash.  The ethanol collected in the first singlings will have the highest prof, and the proof level drops progressively after that.  All of your singlings will need to be distilled one or two more times to get rid of any impurities.  After three distillations, some of your singlings should contain ethanol up to 150 proof.  That's 75% alcohol.

Enjoy.  Here's a picture of one type of still to help you get started.

still pretty busy lately

I do want to get back in the habit of posting regularly again, despite how hectic things have been lately...so for now here's an infographic that i found interesting.  I promise some decent new content soon.  Nice to see I still have some followers :)  Thanks guys!

Returning to blogging

Well, since moving back to Florida my life has been incredibly chaotic and I just haven't had any time to write a blog or keep up with any of the blogs I follow.  This explains my lengthy absence and lack of new posts.  Also, I've had a terrible bout of writers block and just couldn't think of anything to post on here.

But now I'm getting settled in and used to being back home and I think I'll have enough time to start posting again so I hope some people will decide to come back to following me.  I've come up with some ideas to write about and we'll see how it goes.

My posts might be shorter and formatted more poorly than in the past because many of them may be written from my phone.  For example this post is done using the blogger app on my samsung epic.  I figure if my life is overly hectic, I can at least take the time to draft a few paragraphs every day from my phone even if I can't sit down at my laptop and do things right.

As for following other people, I may not always have time to comment on all the blogs I follow, but I should be able to read each of yours daily and check out articles and links even if I don't always comment.

So, with this explanation, consider me back, and wish me luck sticking with it when life gets hectic.  Thanks, as always, to my loyal suporters.  In closing, here's a picture of my kittah, Sebastion (I couldn't take my texas kitty "Crescent" with me when I moved).

My Day in a Picture

I spent 12 hours with this view today:

Joe Walsh!

Wnet to a concert last night.  Saw Joe Walsh, and he was really good.  Def worth seeing if you ever get the chance.  Click below for some pics.

Posting from the Middle of Nowhere.

Well I moved out of Corpus Christi today, finally.  There were a few delays, but I worked everything out and I'm glad to be out of there.  Still in Texas for now, staying at my mom's place for a little bit.  She lives in the middle of nowhere and I kind of like it out here.  A bit hard to get internet access but I managed to wifi tether my phone with like a one bar signal. 

Sorry to the person who asked for pics of my stuff in the comments on my last post, it's all packed up now, so you'd just see a couple pieces of luggage and boxes.  I'm tired after the long drive up here, so thats all I'm going to say for now.  I'll do the rounds of checking people's blogs who commented and then I'm going to crawl into a mouse hole and pass out.  :)

progress on moving.

Well, all my stuff is packed.  I thought i was going to get out of here today, but it looks like i won't hit the road until tomorrow.  I'm going to go stay with somebody for a few days before i leave texas and set up a rental car.  I don't have much stuff to move so it should all fit in a car without a problem.  Not too much else to say right now, but I did say I'd start trying to get back to being more active on the blog.

I guess I should get back to blogging.

I feel like I've taken a long enough break and probably lost some followers for it, but I'm back now and I'll try to start updating regularly again.  I've been very busy, very stressed, and not feeling very well, but things are looking up.  I'll be moving back to Florida very soon and I'm excited about that.  It'll be nice to go home after a few rough years in Texas.

Anybody have any experience moving cross country?  I don't have much stuff to transport but I was thinking a rental car/van/truck, might be better than a uhaul type of vehicle.  I could use some tips or suggestions from anybody who still reads this.

Taking a short break.

Sorry about the incosistent updates to the blog lately.  I've been stressed over personal stuff and just haven't had much to write.  Somebody close to me got arrested recently and another person I know got shot and died, so I just need some time off.  I'll get back to doing more regular updates in a day or two I'm sure.  Thanks for all of your continued support.  I'll still be checking your blogs when I can.

Hipster Traps

It may seem cruel to hunt them, but left unchecked, the hipster population would grow at an exponential rate.  This would put an enormous strain on our nation's supply of smug superiority, and it would greatly increase the chances that you would be forced to talk to one of them at a party.

Smoke em if you got em.

Here's something for the smokers in the audience.

How To Make Money From Inflation

Inflation is a phenomenon that occurs when extra money is created - either printed or blipped into existence. When the supply of money is inflated, the price of everything rises. It's hard to see how this kind of phenomenon can be taken advantage of, but there are many ways. One way that I know of is called the debtor's method.

How to make C-1

Because I can't think of a good topic to write about, I was thinking maybe an insane one would suffice.

Another Blog.

I recently joined another blog as a guest writer, but it hasn't been getting to many views or followers or anything, so I just wanted to make a post about it on here and see if there's any interest.