10 (maybe more) Amazing Jack-O'-Lanterns

Reblogged from A Life Less Boring:

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With just over two weeks to until Halloween, I figured now is about the time most people are buying their pumpkins. And if you are anything like me, you probably want to start turning those boring orange orbs into some scary creations as quickly as possible.

So here, as a potential source of inspiration, are 10 of the most amazingly detailed, or just plain awesome, feats in pumpkin carving that I was able to find.

Read more… 234 more words

One of my only posts with a high view count, I figured it would be a great time to "Reblog" this one!

“Check out the big brain on Brad”

Its been awhile since I’ve done one of my “What I’m Grateful For” posts. Another hectic month, and the start of a new semester meant I had to realign my priorities some, but I’m back… again.

With the start of fall classes, all 5 of them, I have been inundated with new ideas, information, and, most importantly, new perspectives. One class, in particular, forces me to re-evaluate things on a regular basis, that class is called The Successful Inclusion Classroom.

We covered the whole range of emotional, behavioral, and learning disabilities and issues that can make school a very difficult place for many adolescents. And I was struck by the sheer number of students that deal with these issues on a daily basis. And then I started thinking about myself.

I consider myself to be pretty intelligent, and school, though never any fun and oftentimes quite boring, was never overly difficult for me. I am lucky to have never had to deal with some of the issues that many of the students I work with have to deal with.

So I am grateful, and appreciative, and consider myself immensely lucky to have the brain that I do.

 

Been awhile since I shared a grateful moment… need a refresher? Heading for the Hills

My New Work Space

In a recent post, Categorize and Compartmentalize, I talked about how cluttered certain areas of my life had become. And how it was affecting my writing.

I’d pretty much worked out the mental de-cluttering prior to writing that post, but the environmental clutter was still encroaching, and smothering my ability to write and focus on a given task. Too much distraction, basically. So I spent the day revamping my room – bought a new bookcase (bigger and nicer!), changing the curtains to something more cheery (my room was positively cave-like!), and added some decorations to the wall.

The new bookcase! Complete with a shelf just for my constantly growing Lego army. More importantly, it is actually big enough to hold all the books that I want to keep at hand.

My previous bookcase was tiny, and had piles and piles of books, graphic novels, and texts sitting on top of it – now they all have shelf space.

Also, my fiancée has room for her cute little stuffed animals. Win-win if I do say so.

I also took down my nasty, dusty Red Sox blanket that had adorned the wall for years, and put up my favorite pieces of original comic book art.

A very cool Superman try-out sketch, and an inked scene from a issue #37 of Deadpool, where he gains control, or attempts to, of Thor’s hammer.

And here is a peek at the finished product – my new Work Space:

I’m already feeling motivated, more clear-headed, and hopefully more creative! I guess only time will tell though!

Categorize and Compartmentalize

This is something I’ve been meaning to get around to for quite some time now, but finally decided, thanks to my Less Boring September list, to make it a priority. And here is the blurb that I’m using as a guiding light:

Categorize and Compartmentalize: Its no secret to anyone reading this regularly that I am very sporadic in my blogging schedule. I also tend to put all sorts of random stuff on here. So in the next few weeks I am hoping to start really focusing in on what this blog is about – to make it more interesting, readable, and exciting. That means I’ll probably start another blog for certain topics (UGH!) and post less often but more regular. Guess we will see how this works out!

I won’t link to it (mainly because I can’t remember when I wrote it), but I once talked about how important it was for me to feel clutter free. Mentally and also in the sense of my physical environment. Well lately I have been experiencing a lot of clutter of both kinds.

This blog, and my writing process, had become kind of a mess. I had a lot of fun ideas that wouldn’t make sense on this blog. So instead I would write something half-assed and hope someone would read it.

That needs to stop.

I made myself a nice little spreadsheet of what I want this blog, and my other blogs, to be. And have been using it to guide my writing. You’ll still have the “What I’m Grateful For…” and “Monthly Lists”, but also way less space filler. I’m gonna try to ramp up the excitement in my life this winter – as opposed to hibernating!

But, I feel like its has gotten better lately. I have this blog, a space for my photography and art, and a new blog dedicated to education and teaching topics. Having these three dedicated areas to put my thoughts has made getting them “onto paper” much easier. And hopefully, higher quality posts will follow.

I will also be reintroducing two facets of this blog – sharing what I’m grateful for, and sharing (by linking) posts from other bloggers that I have liked recently.

You should also check out these posts:

Cool Posts by Other People:

• Chester Lake SnowshoeTrail | Canadian Hiking Photography
• Geoff shoots Burano – Italy | Geoff Shoots the World

My Other Posts:

•  Red, Yellow, Orange | Less Boring Photography
• The Case for Comics | Lesson PLan: Life

Martini Night!

In an effort to spice up my, and my fiancées, booze-related palate, we decided to do something than just drink bottles of bud light on the couch last night.

We decided to do a Martini night.

It was a great excuse to break out our new Target-brand Martini glasses, and also for her to get some actual use out of my bartending prowess.

She opted for a very stylish, lady-like Cosmopolitan (i.e. The Cosmo), and I chose a flavorful Expresso Martini (minus the actual expresso – it was late!)

Since they were both made with ingredients from our home bar – a clutter of half-full bottles atop our refrigerator – they aren’t exactly what you might get at an actual bar. They did taste good though, so I figured I would share the recipes in the off chance that any aspiring Don Drapers are reading.

Ladies first. The Cosmo I made is pretty traditional. I figure most home bars should have some brand of straight Vodka. Triple Sec isn’t as common, but still, its a often used mixer. So if you don’t have it, go get some. Same goes for the Cranberry Cocktail/Juice.

The Cosmopolitan (pictured left)

• Start by chilling a martini glass.
• Fill a shaker halfway with ice.
• Add 2 parts Vodka (or Citron Vodka, if thats your thing.)
• Add 1 part Triple Sec
• Add 2 parts Cranberry Juice/Cocktail (more or less depending on personal taste.)
• Shake vigorously.
• Strain into the, now perfectly chilled, martini glass.
• Garnish with a lemon wedge or twist.
• Serve and Enjoy!

This is a pretty difficult drink to make from your average home or basement bar. It normally uses pretty distinct ingredients. So, the liquor, and liqueur, choices I made represent common options that people would have at home. So don’t complain if it isn’t what you’d get at your local bar!

The Expresso Martini (pictured right)

• Chill a martini glass.
• Fill your shaker halfway with ice.
• Add 1 part vanilla vodka
• Add 1 part Kahlua (or Copa D’Oro)
• Add 1 part Baileys
• Shake, shake, shake!
• Strain into your chilled martini glass
• Garnish with whipped cream (if you want…)
• Drink up!

So there are two fun options for a night in. All the liquors in these drinks are pretty commonly used, so they wont really go to waste – and for a home bar, thats the important thing.

Enjoy!