Wow. This is f-ing awesome

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1103024--kmart-layaway-accounts-paid-off-by-mysterious-donors

What a brave soul .. this is touching.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdkNn3Ei-Lg

Iowa's House of Representatives is planning an amendment to repeal marriage equity in the state.
This young man's speech is very touching. I know that at 19, I would certainly have loved to had his character - kudos to him for speaking out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=FSQQK2Vuf9Q

Food Algebra - Dumplings

So we ventured into new territory and tried to cook something out of our comfort zone (pasta, steak, general gwai-lo food).

Him: What are we having for dinner?
Me: I want to try something new!
Him: Uhh .. ok .. (worried look)
Me: DUMPLINGS!

It was actually really fun! Honest. I had scoured for dumpling recipes, combing through the websites with the nicest looking dumpling pictures (biased, I know) and seeing what combination of ingredients we would use. We settled for the following (mainly because it was whatever was in the fridge)

- store bought dumpling wrappers (too risky to mess up if made from scratch)
- lean ground pork
- green onion
- shittake mushrooms
- egg wash (for the wrapper edges)
- sesame oil
- soy sauce
- chicken broth
- salt
- 5 spice powder
- black pepper

I kind of wanted to document the process, but he's not exactly one of those ppl who snap pictures of food on a minutely basis like me so I ended up snapping a few photos (read:took 3 pics in total) of the process. In the process I came up with ... FOOD ALGEBRA! Lo and behold, my brain child creation. Mash 2 things together and end up with an end result:




How did they turn out? Not bad, for a first try. But a few things to change up for next time:
- Cornstarch. Or flour. The filling ended up too dry
- Seasoning. More. Lots more. Salt really does do wonders, no matter how much I try to erase it from my diet. Could have used a bit more of everything
- Better proportion. We couldn't really taste the veggies. It should be like, 2 parts veggie and 1 part meat! That, and you don't want to taste all meat and no wrapper. Need to half the amount of filling per dumpling. A few were really beefy (well, porky)

Early on we realized that assembly line formation would be the best way to do this. He would plop the filling in and grease the edges, and I would fold. My origami skills from way back seem to have paid a helping hand, since they looked pretty presentable. It was a fun couple-y experience!


A side note: My Photoshop skills are pretty lame. But I get around. The above Food Algebra pic was put together with Photoshop 6 (yup, ancient stuff). Pics were taken with my Canon P&S and the background was created by DragonArtz (based on their Creative Commons License)

Uhhhh ..

There's something seriously wrong with this.

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1095633--afghan-president-pardons-woman-serving-time-for-being-raped

I love this pic

This is touching. Who says karma's a bitch?

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/1088632--winnipeg-man-reunites-with-u-s-woman-who-saved-his-life?bn=1

You know you have an amazing boyfriend when ..

.. you are having the bitchiest day ever and all you want to do is explode at someone (namely him even tho he's not at fault), and when he sees you, he gives you a kiss on the forehead and surprises you with your favourite dessert.

<3 you

:)

Jeebus. This story broke my heart.

http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1059479--disabled-pickering-boy-took-his-own-life-after-he-was-mugged-and-bullied

RIP Mitchell ..

I am so angry right now. My blood is boiling and there is nothing more I want to do than sit in the shower and cry. That, and break a 2x4 in half.

I had taped the funeral for Jack Layton from yesterday and just watched it now. I don't know how his wife kept so calm and composed but kudos to her for giving everyone else support. Even I cried a lot just watching the service on TV.

I'm glad he wanted his funeral to be a celebration of life, not of mourning and sorrow. If only he could see how he brought so many Canadians together.

Transcript of eulogies from the Toronto Star

RIP Jack. See you on the other side.

RIP Jack Layton .. you will be missed dearly by Canadians.

Read his letter to Canadians here

"Love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world."
- Jack Layton

My condolences to Olivia Chow and the Layton family.

You know you have a good boyfriend when ..
.. he tells you everyday that you're beautiful
.. he always drives you home, even if you're in the opposite direction or out of the way
.. he surprises you with your favourite dessert after a miserable day at work
.. he lets you drain his phone battery playing games
.. he lets you rant about your day even though his day was 10x worse
.. he always makes sure your needs are taken care of before his
.. he lets you take the first bite of a donut and the first sip of coffee
.. he waits patiently for you even when you're the one who's making both of you late
.. he somehow sees the silver lining in the worst possible situation
.. he goes out of his way to take you to your favourite restaurant
.. to be continued ..

You know you have an amazing boyfriend when ..
.. all of the above

<3 you
:)

“Killing is the biggest sin to commit,” he says. “There’s no honour in killing. So why use that term?”

He's right.

http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1035512--domestic-violence-or-honour-killing?bn=1

In the end, no one wins .. although, an eye for an eye does sound justified at its moments

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1032995--blinded-iranian-rejects-eye-for-eye-punishment-of-attacker?bn=1

Amaaaazing weekend. He surprised (well, almost surprised) me with a weekend out of the city. Had a great time!!

Thanks hunnie .. love you :)

I hope Oslo heals .. you are never alone.

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1032455--the-survivors-the-victims-a-shooter-and-his-manifesto-how-the-norway-tragedy-unfolded?bn=1

My first birdie! Ever! Whoot! :)

Sorry.

I said I was tired but I was actually tired and a bit disappointed. Maybe disappointed isn't the right word. Saddened? Not indifferent? It will probably blow over in my head tomorrow or next week but it will probably play again in the back of my head later on. I can't help it.

Is it wrong to feel sad, feel a twinge of disappointment when you hear things that are different than what you had hoped? If so, I'm guilty.

I guess things will happen for a reason when the time comes.

RIP Betty .. say hi to Mike for me
See you on the other side ..