Just a quick note about video posts...

You may already know that I create both horizontal and vertical videos for my Amalgam Creative Arts videos, mostly because of posting on different social apps/platforms.

I decided to try the same for one of the recent Step Out - Walk to Fight Diabetes video for my No Tan Diario Chronicles. Though it won't be something that I'll do because I prefer traditional horizontal ones, I find it interesting that vertical videos, specially when they are shorter, seem to get more views that horizontal. 

I've also noticed that overall shorter videos, whether horizontal or vertical, seem to get more views. Now I don't create videos for the views, but because I want to share moments throughout my life via No Tan Diario Chronicles and encourage craftivism via Amalgam Creative Arts, however it'd be neat to get monetized at some point, at least on my creative channel. 

Do you prefer horizontal or vertical videos? 

Here's the two for the Step Out - Walk to Fight Diabetes!

POM Kills Animals

When PETA learned that POM was funding deadly experiments on animals, they immediately asked the company to meet with them to discuss accurate non-animal test methods such as human clinical trials. POM refused to abandon animal testing, instead preferring to continue conducting useless experiments that require researchers to torment and kill animals in laboratories.

Other companies, such as Naked Juice, Frutzzo, Old Orchard, and Lakewood, make delicious and healthy 100 percent pomegranate juice without harming a single animal

Here is the link for full article: POM Kills Animals

Blueberry coffee cake not pie I tell you!!!

There's a holiday party I am going to today. Starts in about an hour and I am not even ready so I'll be late. It's a potluck party.

I woke up around 6:30am on the back of my mind what will I be making for the potluck party. Should I make a main dish, a side dish, or dessert, or snacks. The decision lied really in how much time I wanted to put into this.

Yesterday I bought a cookbook with nothing but chicken recipes. I scanned through that. It has many dishes/recipes I want to try, however not for a potluck. First, I would need to taste test the recipe by making it home at least once. So scratch of the main dish idea.

I then noticed a cookies and bars magazine I got a few days ago.I started going through it and one of the first recipes was called Minty Meringue Drops. Recipe simple, check. Gets me into the x-mas mood, check.

So off to the pantry to check and make sure I have all the ingredients. Not too good of an idea as I ended up going through all the baking stuff to see what else I would need to make more cookies from other recipe magazines. The meringue drops recipe required 2 egg whites. I though what a waste of egg. Would I toss the egg yolks, or make it into dinner. Jackpot I found a recipe for yellow cake that uses egg yolks and no egg whites. That recipes requires four egg yolks. So hey I figure I will just double the meringue recipe and well win. I would take tons of cookies and cake to the party. Plus I have all the ingredients to make butter cream icing from scratch. Perfect.

So off to the store now to get the remaining ingredients plus more for various other recipes I want to make throughout the next few weeks. One of the recipes is called Blueberry Macademia Nut Swirl Coffee Cake. Sounds yummy doesn't it. The sample picture looks scrumptious.

Back from the store and everything on the counter I decide I will make the blueberry. I had more than enough time to make the coffee cake and then make the cookies and yellow cake and butter cream, then get ready and go to the party. So yeah, cookies cake and coffeecake.

The recipe making comes out perfect. I always read the recipe completely before making it to make sure I know what I'll be doing and where I will have time to do what and in what order.

The recipe says to "Spoon batter into grease 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Drop blueberry filling by..."

So off I go with greasing a pie plate and spoon the batter and then the rest of the steps, and into the oven. Yeah I am happy. The pie in the oven and with enough time to start on the rest of the recipes... Nah... I'll just take coffee cake only don't feel like doing the rest of the recipes, plus Aaron started making a big cookie to take to a party he is going to. So I sit and watch tv.

About half time into the baking time I think to myself, "I can't wait to try the Blueberry Pie... wait a minute, wait a minute. Blueberry Pie... That sounds yummy but the name of my recipe was yummier." So I go take a look at the recipe calling for a greased 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Crap!!! I put it into the wrong type of baking dish.. I open the oven and sure enough it was had started to overflow. Come to think of it, When I was putting everything into the pie plate I thought to myself, "wow, this is alot for a pie plate" So I put a cookie sheet under the baking pie and just let it finish baking.

Alright so what the heck am I taking to the party. At this point I have a headache. I take a chill pill. Well it was ibuprofen, and head to the store to get blueberry pie filling. The recipe is so simple that I could still make a new one and this time put it in a "greased 13x9x2-inch baking pan.

So right now I just finished putting the new blueberry pie... correction Blueberry Macadamia Nut Swirl Coffee Cake into the oven. I still have to get ready. I just took another glance at the recipe and it says 1 cup blueberry pie filling. I put the whole freaking can(15 oz) that's about almost 2 cups of blueberry pie filling. That's it this blueberry coffeecake will be the moistest coffee cake they will ever taste!!!

Everyone have a good evening!!!

Building a graham cracker house...

Building a graham cracker house is fun. At work, we are set into different teams/groups. Last Tuesday we got the mere basic ingredients, a can of icing, colored sugar for sprinkling, and a box of generic brand of graham crackers, for the "Gingerbread House Contest." We could however supplement whatever other ingredients we chose to bring. The top three teams would get a prize. Sonia, Nancy and I brought extra stuff for the house. I put together the base and height of the house, placed almost half of the marshmallows used as snow, and put some of the pretzels to be used as fence. Mollie put the roof and iced the house and decorated it. Nancy finished the fence, the marshmallow snow and the trees. We did an awesome job. Just take a look. Most teams did an awesome job and had alot of creativity. We did not win , however I enjoyed this activity very much. Here are some pics of our house in progress and Mollie's creative touch.

First place went to a team that made an island near a volcano with water and dolphins and more. Truly a first place winner. I had to take several pictures of this one. Take a look:

Second place went to this one:



Third place went to this one:


The second and third place winners I don't agree with much. Well, actually I could have seen the second place winner take third.It was after all well put together. But the third place winner really should not have won. Sure it looks nice, but there was more creativity in some of the other houses that did not win. Another thing. The original contest said it was the top 2 teams who would win, and somehow there ended up being 3 winning teams and I have the filed e-mails to back that claim. Anyways, I'm sure you'll agree with me that the first place winner is definitely a winner, second place winner surely could have won, but take a look at the houses of other teams who did not win and you'll definitely agree that the third place winner should have been one of the other teams. Take a look at the rest of the houses below:



Judging for the contest was on Wednesday and Thursday we got the results. On Wednesday we also had our holiday dinner. I helped put together the tinsel trees used as center pieces. The food was good and we had team members as carolers. Yesterday, Thursday, we had our team potluck and gift exchange. Lots of food, laughs, and gifts. It was a great work day.

It's Friday now and off I am to do some final X-mas shopping.

Dwight... Thanksgiving.... and X-mas....

Yesterday I got the Dwight Schrute Bobble Head I had won at ebay... so excited.. not sure if I should keep him at work or at home? OH I also got some Thalia cds (Japanese versions of the ones I already have) and Mortal Kombat II for the SNES. I never had that game, but played it quite a bit back then when it came out. Thankfully I still have my old SNES to play it in... Oh and Target has the Seasons 1-3 of Smallville on sale for $14.88. That's right $14.88 I had originally gotten the first season at regular price and then realized if I kept buying them I would have spent tons of money on it. So am so glad that they are on sale. plus I get my 10% off.

I also went and got Viva Pinata at Target plus they were giving out $10 giftcard just for buying it. I don't have the Xbox 360, but eventually I will. Oh another thing I want to get that I haven't gotten a chance to is the Zune., however before I can get that I need a new computer. My computer is from 2000 and it is running Windows ME. Yeah I know old... So, I have been looking around. Originally I wanted a super beefed up computer from Alienware or Voodoo, but realized I don't really play as many PC games as I once used to. It would be really expensive if I did get one with all the additions I wanted that I really would not use.

Now on Thanksgiving that's already next week... I had decided that I would get a ready meal for that day since I was working. I still am. In past years I have either made it myself or bought it ready made from Albertson's or Safeway, but for X-mas. It was not really tradition for us to do any celebration for Thanksgiving. It is more an Anglo thing, and I am Hispanic/Latino who grew up in the border, my cousin the same, and Aaron is Native American. So yeah celebrating Thanksgiving is really not something that is on my mind, but I do love turkey. Anyways, I think I will be getting it from Supertarget though.

Albertsons had a very basic one for $39.99 Which is already more than what Jerry, Aaron, and I could eat in a week. It included Turkey (10-12lbs), Bread stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, choice of pie, and rolls.

Basha's has a fuller meal for $49.99 that includes Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, baked yams, green beans, gravy, cranberry/orange sauce, pumpkin pie, and rolls.

Safeway... I haven't been to Safeway in the longest time and have not seen their specials so I have no idea what they are offering as their ready meals this year.

Supertarget has theirs for $59.99 and includes 10- to 12-lb. Butter-Basted Turkey, 1.5-lbs. Fresh Green Beans with side of 15-oz. Lemon-butter Thyme Sauce, Potato Trio: 2-lbs. Traditional, 1-lb. Bacon Cheddar, 1-lb. Sweet, 2.5-lbs. Stuffing, 15-oz. Gravy, 15-oz. Cranberry Sauce, 12 Dinner Rolls, choice of pie, and it also includes appetizers Triple Créme Brie, Artichoke and Spinach Dip, Stone Ground Wheat Crackers, Honey Cashew Crunch

So it seems I get more bang for my buck at Supertarget and it's practically free. I will get 10% plus with all the OT gift cards I have received, this will be essentially free. However Supertarget, has pick-up days from Monday - Wednesday, I think they are closed on Thursday, while the others I believe are open part of the day on Thursday. So I may just do Thanksgiving a few days early for us at home since on Thursday I will be going over to Marla's and may even stop by at Nancy's also.

Now on X-mas... I need to locate the boxes where I have the x-mas stuff to sort and start decorating. I have not started x-mas shopping yet, however I don't have alot to get so it can wait for a while. I did get already most of the x-mas cards. That's the one thing I always do, send x-mas cards. X-mas cards make me happy. I don't really care so much about gifts 'cause I can always get myself what I want/need, but I do like cards. I have all my x-mas (and birthday cards) that I have received through the years stored by years, since 1998. That was the year I left home in the little town I lived in Texas.

Ok so now back to work.... Have a good day ya'll!!!

Thanksgiving coming...

Thanksgiving is just around the corner and still don't know what to do. I do know I am working the first part of the day. The first to invite me to their place was Nancy. She lives just down the road from me so it would make sense to go there after work. Marla also invited me to her Thanksgiving with her family. However, I kind of want to have my own Thanksgiving. I have several recipes for a Turkey but since I work I'll probably just order one of those complete meals from Albertson's that only need to be reheated. I have ordered them in the past and they do a pretty good job. I have ordered from Safeway and Albertson's before. Beats slaving over making my own. So that's it decision made...

Feels like...

I am at work, but feels as though I should be at heading home

Regulator w/motor

I ordered the replacement part that I need for my car window today...Can't wait for it to get here. Once it does arrive I'll need to have someone do the labor of changing it for me. Good thing I got it online... much cheaper than Tempe Honda who would have charged me twice the actual cost of the part or Meineke who would have charged me 1 1/2 times more than the actual cost of the part. The part itself cost me $148 and Tempe Honda said, "the part usually runs at $275" and Meineke had quoted me a total price of $474 where $130 was labor the rest for the part. Yeah so you see why I decided to buy the part myself. Now, I just need to locate a good local mechanic. Amy, referred me to a local place that based on what she said and some reviews I found on the place, seems good. It's not so close to me, but I'll be giving them a call once I get the part in. This situation though, makes me want to learn more about how to fix vehicles. Well, maybe not vehicles, just my own. :) Oh, the website I am getting the part from is: www.Car-Stuff.com


... Updated 02/14/2010, link to Amy's blog http://thosecrazyschuberts.com/ 

Jumping on the Bandwagon... Sort of...

My first mp3 player was cd player that could play mp3s from a cd. I would burn cds with mp3s and I would carry my cd player in my back pack. Wow, just realized I haven't carried a backpack in the longest time. Anyways then Apple came out with it's iPods and digital music became mainstream or popular. I don't like being a follower so I didn't jump on the digital music player bandwagon. Last Christmas I got a Dell DJ Ditty as a gift, but since my computer is still running on Windows Me, I have not been able to use it. Today I went to an electronics store with he sole purpose of jumping on the digital player bandwagon, however with the one guideline of not getting anything by Apple. I succeeded. I got Myself a 1GB Player from a brand I have never heard of, not Apple, not Creative, not Dell, and not Sandisk. The brand is T.sonic. I have never heard of the brand and that is why I chose it. Plus it works with Windows 98 and higher so I won't have a problem using it with my computer. Hopefully it turns out to be good. Now, I seriously need to start looking for a new computer. Anybody have any suggestions on what brand or specs I should get on my next computer? I would build one myself, but I don't know how to, and don't feel like investing the time to learn how to build one, although it seems like fun to build one. Everyone have a good Tuesday!!!

The Office...

I can't wait for the next episode of The Office...

Hot, hot, hot...

It's getting hot in here.... The a/c stopped working a couple of days ago. The filters were replaced, but it still does not work. Monday is the earliest that we could get someone to come out and fix it, so until then it's toasty in the house. Good thing that the nights are getting cooler, even to the point of being cold, but during the day from about noon to maybe 8 or 9pm it's really hot. On a positive note to this, the electric bill will undoubtedly be less when it comes in next month.

Off to vote...

It's voting day today in my district, so I am off to vote and then off to do errands. I need weed killer, household cleaning stuff, and to restock the fridge and pantry. I registered as soon as I turned 18. My first time voting was when I lived in Texas. I only got to vote once there, then I moved to Arizona. I registered to vote in AZ and have been voting early by mail ever since. This time, it's my first time attending an actual voting location in AZ, I'm excited and a little nervous. I'm not overly political but voting is the least I can do for my country. It amazes me how many people my age don't participate. I don't get it. How can you not vote and expect things to get better. The only way things can change is if we vote, and there definitely needs to be a change in this country, because right now everything is going to hell. Anyways, hope you all have a great day and if you haven't registered to vote.Please do so...

For further information about Voter Registration Deadlines in AZ, please contact your local Secretary of State’s office:
Administration/Elections
1700 W. Washington, 7th Floor
Phoenix, AZ 85007-2888
http://www.azsos.gov/election/

Where are my keys?

Work was a bit of a drag today... The first part of the day went fairly quick... then after noon, it just went really really slow.... All I wanted to do was come home to blog.. nothing really to blog about just wanted to..

As soon as I was off work, I hurried to my car. I reach into my pocket to grab my keys and nothing. Where are my keys? I went back up to my desk and nothing. Looked through my bag and nothing. Went to the car and there they were, sitting on the passenger seat laughing back at me. In my haste in the morning to get to my desk I must have dropped them without notice. First time this has ever happened. Enedina was still at work so I stayed with her chatting until my ride arrived. Eventually I got home. Later, my cousin drove me back to my work's parking lot, and am now finally home able to relax...

note - this blog needed a photo, and I am a Thalia Fanatic hence the picture

Newblog...

I was searching for stuff to enhance my different blogs and found newblog... So now I have another one to manage... I like it. Link below:








... Update 02/13/2010, I no longer have the newblog, the link will redirect to their homepage...

No more hair...

So I am tired of my hair, I think I am shaving it off again.

Looks like you are trying to run a country...

Found this funny picture at this site.

Nothing... just sorting pictures

So I have finally finished sorting out packets of pictures into different categories. If you read my prev post you know I have been sorting things and getting rid of stuff and in the interim I have been sorting pictures. I am glad I have digital camera, I couldn't imagine trying to sort out more pictures from the days i didn't have a digital. I do however need a new digital camera. I have a 2 year old digital that only does 3.1 MP with not a whole lot of options.

As an intro camera to digital it has worked, but I have decided my next camera will need to be able to take pics in at least 7 MP. I have been looking at different cannon models. Anyone have any suggestions?

Another thing that I have been able to do by sorting my pictures is, aside from taking many trips down memory lane, is sort out special events that I have been wanting to scrapbook. I got into scrapbooking about I think 3 years ago when in a raffle at work I won a basket of tons of sbing stuff. My first scrapbooking project was to scrapbook my friend Marlas 1 year old birthday party for her daughter. It's half way done So my first sb project half way done, with over 2 years to finish it.
Yeah I know kinda taking a long time. However the progress I did make for being my first I think is good even if slow. And now I have been able to sort out at least other events and their corresponding photos and items to go with them. About 5 projects or so. Oh, for some really neat sbing pages check out Amy's page at blogger. She has awesome sbing talent. She also takes great pictures, o yeah you should hire her for your next event, wedding, etc.

So here are some pics of the front cover of this particular scrapbook. :) Hope everyone has a good week!!!

... Updated 02/13/2010, link to Amy's blog is now http://thosecrazyschuberts.com/

Name change!!

I have been thinking of changing my name. I was named after my father who I never really knew. I met him a couple of years ago, but there was just no connection and have had to interaction with him since. Nor do intend to. I have had a nickname since middle school and just about everybody knows by it. So I found the perfect last name for me also. Researching it seems very tedious to do a name change so I have decided not to change my name. At least not yet, but from it will be my alias or my alter ego. :) Those who know me then know my name already.

Muggy weather!

It is very muggy outside. Clouds rolled in yesterday and with them the moisture. This is why I didn't like living in Texas and why I would not live near too much water. The Muggy Weather. I like it hot and dry and I think that's why I am still here in AZ.... Laters

In support...

In support of the immigrants I decided to take a vacation day and join in the boycott of the day. It's  little weird breaking the routine of working on Monday, and even more so not going shopping on a day that I am off. Anyways, I'm not joining any marches as you never know what can happen. So, I am home and not shopping. Maybe I'll go window shopping later, but I do have cleaning to do here at the house so who knows. Oh I myself am not an immigrant per say as I was born in Texas. Short history of my family. My grandmother is white, born and raised in San Antonio, Texas. She has sisters but I don't know any of them, so I have alot of family in Texas that I don't even know. She married a mexican guy and went to live with him in Mexico at the border with Texas, where she had all her children. So my mother is half white half mexican. My mother married a mexican guy. I was born in Texas. So I myself am, or consider myself 1/4 white 3/4 mexican. My skin however is more white than anything. So I am a white hispanic. Anyways, hope everything on the immigrations is solved in the most peaceful and hope a compromise is reached.

*note- the pic above was taken last March 2005 when I was in San Antonio for my B-day. Just in case you don't know that's the Alamo.