meme! and things
Update on things: they're better, although they got worse before that happened. But for now I think my boss is back to mostly ignoring my, my landlord took back the eviction request, my ex is out of the hospital and his parents are there to take care of him, and my new (Linux!) laptop is more than halfway configured! /is a hopeless geek, lol
BUT ANYWAY - MEME! From... pretty much everyone. ^_^
Leave me a comment saying GIANT SQUID FLUFFY KITTENS TASTY CAKES AVE CAESAR, MORITURI TE SALUTANT CREAM PUFF SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS... (inner five-year-old: GIANT SQUID, again!) ...oh all right, GIANT SQUID.
&hearts I'll respond by asking you five (or so) questions so I can get to know you better.
&hearts Update your journal with the answers to the questions.
&hearts Include this explanation in the post and offer to ask other people questions.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Questions from greenworldgirl:
1. What is your favorite polish dish, and post the recipe so I can have it
Mmmm, food... Pierogi ruskie, I think. Basically, they're dumplings with potato filling. You can fill them with other stuff instead, of course, but I made those in the US a lot and people really like them.
Now let me see if I can write that up... (because Internet recipes for your childhood foods never work right!)
Filling: mashed boiled potatoes, some onions cut into little pieces and fried brown, salt and pepper (lots - more than you'd actually like, because the dough will make the end product milder), a little farmer's cheese (it's white, sort of ricotta-like, very common in Poland but not so much in the US) or sour cream, possibly butter. Mix everything together.
Dough: flour, some eggs if you feel like it, water, a little salt. (eggs make it better, but also harder to shape)
* mix all the stuff (manually) until it doesn't stick to your hands at all
* roll out really thin with a rolling pin (I mean REALLY THIN. My grandma's dough was so thin you could tell which pierog had which kind of filling! I try to do the same thing, but not everyone cares)
* cut either into squares or circles (circles are prettier, but squares don't leave leftover dough to be rolled again)
Put a chunk of the filling on every square/circle, fold in two and stick the edges together tightly. Throw into boiling water, take them out when they float (only a few minutes). Eat boiled, or fry on butter (yummmy!!), or freeze boiled and fry later.
2. What got you started down the path of nerd-dom?
Fffffff that's a long way back, I don't even know...
Well, my parents were both librarians/teachers, so I grew up with the humanities mostly, but I just had a thing for math and science since before I went to school. I used to get into arguments with my first/second/third-grade teachers... XDDDD
teacher: Zero is the smallest number.
chibi!Nika: No it isn't! There's -1, and -2, and...
teacher: The Earth is shaped like a ball.
chibi!Nika: No, it's a little flattened on the poles!
In fourth grade we finally started real biology. The class had one microscope, and it didn't get pulled out much, but when we had the first lesson on how organisms are made of cells, we all stood in line to get a look at a slide with an a bit of an onion or something, and IT WAS SO EXCITING!
And the math, oohhh... *_* For a whole year I got up at 6am every week because the only time we could schedule math club was before classes started.
...okay, enough geekery already. But yeah, it was pretty much inevitable. ^_^
3. What are your favorite/least favorite things about the US?
Most favorite thing: drinkable tap water, hands down! 8D
LOL, yes, really. It's awesome to just be able to get a free drink of water whenever you want, and not have to carry big boxes of mineral water home from the store every week.
Least favorite thing: the Puritan work ethic. I like my vacations, thank you very much. In Poland there's an absolute legal minimum of something like 24 days off per year (i.e. more than a month!). And people actually USE it, dammit. Here it seems like even though we theoretically get 3 weeks per year (and that's a lot for the US, afaik), nobody actually takes that much because the boss wouldn't like it or they'd feel guilty or something.
4. If you get one wish right now, what is it?
/thinks
For Geoffrey to get better? Or maybe my boss to die in an accident?
Oh, hell with altruism. He can get better by himself. Then again, if my boss died, we'd just all be out of a job...
So - I wish my boss got replaced by someone who isn't a creepy psychopath nice and rational. One of our postdocs, maybe.
5. What was the last art project you did?
That damn bobbin lace piece... I've done most of it in... 2005, maybe? Long ago, anyway.
Pulled it out again recently, told myself I'm never going to finish it at that rate, and redesigned it to end right after the middle motif :3 Almost done now. Really.
I should take a picture or something...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Questions from tasogareika:
1. What got you into RP?
The Girl Genius comic, initially. It was this huge, glorious cascade of events that finally made me enjoy life again. *_*
Last Christmas a friend showed me the comic. After I run out of comic, I started reading all related stuff, which quickly got me on the LJ fan groups. Where Dimo-mun and Maxim-mun were doing amazing fanfic and fanart. Diligent stalking also turned up some links to TST logs, and it looked pretty cool... You all know how the rest goes. &hearts &hearts
2. Your most memorable log so far in TST?
I think it's still the Jenka+Dimo+Maxim reunion drunkenness. Partially because the most emotionally intense bits of it occurred when I was sick and on waaay too many drugs (note to self: going skiing while still sick, and then having one of those little 24-hour energy drinks on top of your painkillers and your high doses of antidepressants - not smart).
Other than that... IDK, they were all fun! Especially the violent ones. Beating up lolis, fun with Takasugi, meeting Larxene, and so on. The Hiyori logs are some of my favorites - they really interact well! XDD
3. What's the one thing you would change about your life, if possible?
Oh hell. I don't know. That's... not a healthy question. The idea, generally, is NOT to try to magically change things...
But - that more of my friends actually lived in the area, or that my boss was less of a psychopathic asshole.
/does not wish Geoffrey hadn't left her, because that's just not allowed, goddamnit.
4. Coffee or Tea?
Water, thanks. Or Thai ice tea if there is any.
Hot chocolate after skiing.
5. Anything about your childhood that's especially memorable?
Hehe, growing up in communist Poland was pretty memorable in general... I can swap stories with Americans who grew up during the Great Depression. ;)
I think my favorite is when for about a week in the middle of winter the electricity, gas and water all stopped working. I was in early elementary school. My little brother and I did our homework by candlelight bundled in five layers of jackets... My dad and I had to go out and carry water from the well in buckets. Anything I spilled ended up freezing on my pants before I got home. I felt downright heroic! 8D
Kids are amazing creatures. I'm sure my parents were horrified, but I thought it was an exciting adventure! I called it the Ice Age. XDDD
BUT ANYWAY - MEME! From... pretty much everyone. ^_^
Leave me a comment saying GIANT SQUID FLUFFY KITTENS TASTY CAKES AVE CAESAR, MORITURI TE SALUTANT CREAM PUFF SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS... (inner five-year-old: GIANT SQUID, again!) ...oh all right, GIANT SQUID.
&hearts I'll respond by asking you five (or so) questions so I can get to know you better.
&hearts Update your journal with the answers to the questions.
&hearts Include this explanation in the post and offer to ask other people questions.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Questions from greenworldgirl:
1. What is your favorite polish dish, and post the recipe so I can have it
Mmmm, food... Pierogi ruskie, I think. Basically, they're dumplings with potato filling. You can fill them with other stuff instead, of course, but I made those in the US a lot and people really like them.
Now let me see if I can write that up... (because Internet recipes for your childhood foods never work right!)
Filling: mashed boiled potatoes, some onions cut into little pieces and fried brown, salt and pepper (lots - more than you'd actually like, because the dough will make the end product milder), a little farmer's cheese (it's white, sort of ricotta-like, very common in Poland but not so much in the US) or sour cream, possibly butter. Mix everything together.
Dough: flour, some eggs if you feel like it, water, a little salt. (eggs make it better, but also harder to shape)
* mix all the stuff (manually) until it doesn't stick to your hands at all
* roll out really thin with a rolling pin (I mean REALLY THIN. My grandma's dough was so thin you could tell which pierog had which kind of filling! I try to do the same thing, but not everyone cares)
* cut either into squares or circles (circles are prettier, but squares don't leave leftover dough to be rolled again)
Put a chunk of the filling on every square/circle, fold in two and stick the edges together tightly. Throw into boiling water, take them out when they float (only a few minutes). Eat boiled, or fry on butter (yummmy!!), or freeze boiled and fry later.
2. What got you started down the path of nerd-dom?
Fffffff that's a long way back, I don't even know...
Well, my parents were both librarians/teachers, so I grew up with the humanities mostly, but I just had a thing for math and science since before I went to school. I used to get into arguments with my first/second/third-grade teachers... XDDDD
teacher: Zero is the smallest number.
chibi!Nika: No it isn't! There's -1, and -2, and...
teacher: The Earth is shaped like a ball.
chibi!Nika: No, it's a little flattened on the poles!
In fourth grade we finally started real biology. The class had one microscope, and it didn't get pulled out much, but when we had the first lesson on how organisms are made of cells, we all stood in line to get a look at a slide with an a bit of an onion or something, and IT WAS SO EXCITING!
And the math, oohhh... *_* For a whole year I got up at 6am every week because the only time we could schedule math club was before classes started.
...okay, enough geekery already. But yeah, it was pretty much inevitable. ^_^
3. What are your favorite/least favorite things about the US?
Most favorite thing: drinkable tap water, hands down! 8D
LOL, yes, really. It's awesome to just be able to get a free drink of water whenever you want, and not have to carry big boxes of mineral water home from the store every week.
Least favorite thing: the Puritan work ethic. I like my vacations, thank you very much. In Poland there's an absolute legal minimum of something like 24 days off per year (i.e. more than a month!). And people actually USE it, dammit. Here it seems like even though we theoretically get 3 weeks per year (and that's a lot for the US, afaik), nobody actually takes that much because the boss wouldn't like it or they'd feel guilty or something.
4. If you get one wish right now, what is it?
/thinks
For Geoffrey to get better? Or maybe my boss to die in an accident?
Oh, hell with altruism. He can get better by himself. Then again, if my boss died, we'd just all be out of a job...
So - I wish my boss got replaced by someone who isn't a creepy psychopath nice and rational. One of our postdocs, maybe.
5. What was the last art project you did?
That damn bobbin lace piece... I've done most of it in... 2005, maybe? Long ago, anyway.
Pulled it out again recently, told myself I'm never going to finish it at that rate, and redesigned it to end right after the middle motif :3 Almost done now. Really.
I should take a picture or something...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Questions from tasogareika:
1. What got you into RP?
The Girl Genius comic, initially. It was this huge, glorious cascade of events that finally made me enjoy life again. *_*
Last Christmas a friend showed me the comic. After I run out of comic, I started reading all related stuff, which quickly got me on the LJ fan groups. Where Dimo-mun and Maxim-mun were doing amazing fanfic and fanart. Diligent stalking also turned up some links to TST logs, and it looked pretty cool... You all know how the rest goes. &hearts &hearts
2. Your most memorable log so far in TST?
I think it's still the Jenka+Dimo+Maxim reunion drunkenness. Partially because the most emotionally intense bits of it occurred when I was sick and on waaay too many drugs (note to self: going skiing while still sick, and then having one of those little 24-hour energy drinks on top of your painkillers and your high doses of antidepressants - not smart).
Other than that... IDK, they were all fun! Especially the violent ones. Beating up lolis, fun with Takasugi, meeting Larxene, and so on. The Hiyori logs are some of my favorites - they really interact well! XDD
3. What's the one thing you would change about your life, if possible?
Oh hell. I don't know. That's... not a healthy question. The idea, generally, is NOT to try to magically change things...
But - that more of my friends actually lived in the area, or that my boss was less of a psychopathic asshole.
/does not wish Geoffrey hadn't left her, because that's just not allowed, goddamnit.
4. Coffee or Tea?
Water, thanks. Or Thai ice tea if there is any.
Hot chocolate after skiing.
5. Anything about your childhood that's especially memorable?
Hehe, growing up in communist Poland was pretty memorable in general... I can swap stories with Americans who grew up during the Great Depression. ;)
I think my favorite is when for about a week in the middle of winter the electricity, gas and water all stopped working. I was in early elementary school. My little brother and I did our homework by candlelight bundled in five layers of jackets... My dad and I had to go out and carry water from the well in buckets. Anything I spilled ended up freezing on my pants before I got home. I felt downright heroic! 8D
Kids are amazing creatures. I'm sure my parents were horrified, but I thought it was an exciting adventure! I called it the Ice Age. XDDD