Wordless Wednesday

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Music Monday: Bangarang - Skrillex

I blame the boyfriend's Philly friend Chris and his girlfriend for getting me into Skrillex. They played a bunch of it when we were down there in August.

As such, this song has been pretty much on repeat for me for the last week and a half.


Seriously...this beat will be stuck in your head 20 minutes from now. You're welcome :)

Pasta with Mushroom Gorgonzola Sauce

Step 2: Mushrooms chillin in a pot

I made this for dinner tonight. Based on the contents, this is obviously pretty bad for you - and I substituted light cream for the heavy cream the original recipe called for. (The original recipe was in a random cookbook I found at TJMaxx that I took a picture of - because honestly, the rest of the cookbook sucked and was definitely not worth buying.) However, despite the fact that it's pretty terribad for you, it was so freakin good.

Pasta with Mushroom Gorgonzola Sauce - Made to Serve 4.


You Will Need:
12 Ounces of Pasta (I used rotini, the original recipe called for fusilli. It all tastes the same and fusilli and rotini are the same shape...ish)
3 tablespoons of olive oil
12 ounces of sliced mushrooms (I used baby bellas.)
1 finely chopped clove of garlic (I used minced.)
14 ounces/1-3/4 cups light cream
9 ounces of crumbled gorgonzola cheese
Salt and Pepper
2 tablespoons of chopped parsley for garnish

Step 3: Shrooms & Cream

What To Do:
1. Boil your pasta according to the directions on the box. If it finishes before the sauce, drain and set aside.
2. While the pasta is cooking, heat the oil in a medium sauce pan. Add the mushrooms and cook on low for 5 minutes stirring frequently. Add the garlic and cook for 2 more minutes. Keep stirring.
3. Pour in the cream. Bring the mushroom/garlic/cream sauce to a boil and let it cook for a minute until it thickens a little bit.
4. Turn the heat down to low and stir in the gorgonzola. Let it cook until it's all melted. Don't let the sauce boil once you add the cheese.
5. Let it cook for a few more minutes until it thickens up a little more. Add some salt and pepper to taste.
6. Pour the sauce over the pasta and mix well.
7. Dole it out on plates and garnish with parsley.

Finished product. Om nom.

Blackout SOPA - FU Perez Hilton

This rant came to me today while I was at work. It took Perez a while to even post a single thing about SOPA today, which kind of lit the fire for the idea of this post - and then it's a bitch-ass cop out. GIVE ME A DAMN BREAK.

All sorts of sites went dark today in protest of SOPA and PIPA. You would think Mr. Activist himself Perez Hilton would contribute more than just a "SOPA sucks, I don't support it" post - especially when he scoops so much shit. If these bills were enacted, his would be one of the first infringers to go down. I think the world can survive without his gossip for a day (myself included, and I read his stuff daily).

The man has a vast readership, he should do something productive with that influence. Maybe if the vacuous airhead gossip whores who aren't aware of current political events find their favorite site blacked out, they might actually do something. Sorry Perez, a mere post doesn't do a damn thing.

Somehow I think if SOPA was a gay rights bill and people were blacking out in protest, he would be all over that shit like white on rice. Now I'm not minimizing gay rights and saying that they're less important than SOPA, because they're not. I just think Perez is being a hypocrite. He quits bullying celebrities so viciously because he doesn't support cyberbullying...yet he won't black out his site(s) (There's about 5 offshoots in case you weren't aware) even though SOPA and PIPA could royally fuck him if enacted.

Either way, I've respect for him today. Stop worrying about precious ad revenue (I sincerely doubt 12 hours of darkness would bankrupt him) and make a stand!

Anyway - this concludes my blackout day. Have you contacted your representatives in Congress and told them how you feel about SOPA and PIPA? If not, go do it. Blacking out only goes so far...complain to the people who have the power to change this crap!

Also, sign the Google petition here.

Hmm.

I have no idea if this will work, what with my site being blacked out in support of SOPA, but I'm posting this for the benefit of those who subscribe to me via feed.

Go to the site, read up on SOPA if you're unfamiliar...and use the links on the landing page (you're gonna have to scroll) - which by the way was free-source code, I didn't make it myself because I'm not that talented - to find out who your congressional representation is. Use that information and obtain their contact info (their personal Senate/HoR page will be chock full of it) and bug the shit out of them. Email them, call them, whatever you prefer (although according to the page of one of my state's senators, Richard Blumenthal, mail is hideously delayed what with all that anthrax nonsense of yesteryear, so snail mail is NOT recommended) and tell them to not support this bill. Though Obama has vowed to veto, there is no reason WHY this should pass.

And Mr. Christopher Dodd - if you were still a senator I'd be disgusted. You have your head so far up the MPAA's ass, you would vote in favor.

So again, if this even works...if blacking out the site doesn't fuck up my RSS feed, please click the main link to this post, which upon opening will redirect to the blackout page. Read, find out who your Congress leaders are and do your part.

Yes, freedom of speech DOES have its limits and you can't post whatever the hell you please and get off scott free (and this is obviously not limited to copyright protected content, but speech in general)...I could post a flaming post about my boss (not that I would, she's awesome) and yes, I'm free to complain about her, but she could still fire me. Same goes for if I started posting derogatory things about the company for which I work, or our customers.

However, the internet should not be regulated by the US Government with an iron fist merely because a bunch of whiny, rich jerks at places like the MPAA are more worried about their bottom line than freedoms.

PS: if you're reading this and linked to the actual post, it means the blackout is over. However, go here and find out who you need to be bugging in Washington about this!

Blackout.

When I get home tonight, I will be blacking out this blog for a day in protest of SOPA. (click here for an explanation)

Although President Obama has stated he will veto this measure if Congress passes it, so as we stand right now the bill is a lost cause - I still want to do this. However noble the US Government's intentions are, it is inexcusable for them to even consider such an over-reaching display of "power" to effectively cripple the internet.

I realize that whining about it and blacking out my blog is like pissing in the ocean in regards to this issue. Therefore, I recommend you contact your congressional leaders and tell them how you feel.

HAY U GUISE - AKA Excuses.

I've been woefully negligent, I know. I've been too busy concentrating on the choo choo trains.

In fact, I spent an inhuman amount of time watching YouTube videos today...AND NOT WATCHING GREY'S ANATOMY. HORROR.


I also spent yesterday driving all the way across the damn state to watch Kelly Clarkson sing her face off for the 2nd time in as many months - this time at Foxwoods MGM Grand:

Ms. Clarkson rocking our faces off (Click to enlarge)

I also blame the purchase of this - which is not helping with the choo choo obsession. At all.

Yay $50 for a $150 camera on eBay? PLUS IT'S PURPLE!

Also, other various crap has kept me from posting anything meaningful...the boyfriend had a nasty cough and unknown ailment (You would think after 6 vials of blood, a TB mantoux, and a chest X-Ray the VA could come up with something more meaningful than "Yeah, you don't have pneumonia", but alas, that is government for you) Took 3 different antibiotics - one of which that triggered an allergic reaction and 2 weeks to kick it - and you know in typical male fashion he was milking that shit for all it was worth :)

Anyhoo, have a looksie around my youtube & subscribe to my train-nerdery tumblr (which is more blog-y than tumblr-y...I was just too lazy to expend any effort to make a legitimate blog here on blogger or elsewhere. Plus their Android app isn't complete trash like the blogger one either! & PS that's the RSS feed link if you're opposed to tumblr lol) to see what I've been up to.

Oh yeah - and here's another taste. The first train video I shot with my smexy new camera.

Music Monday - "Everything"

I love me some Michael Buble, so I really don't care that this song is really old. Normally, I don't put a whole lot of thought into the video I post with Music Monday posts - as long as the song is there, I don't care. This week, however, I actually DO care about the video. I love kinetic typography videos. If you have no idea what kinetic typography is, then watch :)

Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone! May the best thing that happened to you in 2011 be the worst to happen in 2012 or some cliche stuff like that.


I have the worst willpower ever, so resolutions go to crap within a day for me - however I want to take this whole being healthy thing more seriously this year. And I want to embrace my inner train nerd some more and dedicate more time and effort to getting out and railfanning like this. I actually made a separate blog on Tumblr for that specific purpose (I'm lazy, and Tumblrs require very little effort to set up.) so as not to bore all of you who don't give a rat's ass about trains :) However, if you're interested, it can be found here and you can subscribe to the feed here should you not have a tumblr/can't be bothered to check it. I did pimp it with Disqus functionality, so people can leave their two-cents worth - as Tumblr as is doesn't do comments.

Anyway...Happy New Year, don't do anything stupid & thanks for reading :)

What are some of your New Year's resolutions?