Farrago

[shanmonster]

Thanks to curtana and Benoit, I've tracked down the lyrics to the folk song my Dad was looking for. It's actually called Daniel Monroe. Now my Dad will have a new song in his repertoire with which to torment telemarketers. That's what he does, you know. He sings to them until they hang up. I think it's a great idea--right up there with stuffing self-addressed-stamped-junkmail-envelopes with porn or other spam and tossing them back in the mail!

I got pretty hungry today, so I decided to make some cupcakes. They're really very tasty, and come from either 3headedmonkey, elanya, or longpig. I really can't remember. The cake is simple, delicious, and not overly sweet (I don't have much of a sweet tooth, generally), and here is the recipe, if you'd like to try it out for yourself:

Chocolate Cupcakes/Cake

This recipe makes two dozen cupcakes, and can be halved easily.

• 2 1/4 cup flour
• 1 2/3 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup cocoa
• 1 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 cup shortening
• 1 1/4 cup water
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla

Heat the oven to 350 and put the cupcake papers in a muffin pan. Measure all ingredients into a mixing bowl, and blend with electric beaters, scraping bowl constantly. Spoon into muffin pans and bake for 15/20 minutes, or until a toothpick poked into the centre of a cupcake comes out clean.

You can also use this recipe to make 2 8" layers (30-35 minutes), or a 9x13" cake (45 minutes).

I didn't even bother letting the cupcakes cool, but ate them hot. I like the way hot cupcakes crackle on my molars.

I kinda sorta got my rendering assignments and books back at school. You see, the instructor wants to keep my work as examples for next year's class. So I brought the one home I hadn't yet scanned and made a digital version. My actual rendering looks much better than my crappity scanner could manage. But still, these images should give you an idea of what kind of work I've been doing on vellum.

These are renderings in gold of a ring I actually made (out of silver). The middle rendering is a detail example of cuttle casting, which is how I formed the shank.

Again, I apologize for the shitty, shitty scans..

And in thoroughly unrelated news, remember Flock of Seagulls? Well, they sure do look different without their hair!

Oop! I just got a phone call. It looks like I might be modelling at the fashion show this weekend, after all. I'm going in for a fitting in just a few minutes....

Comments

[minstrel70.livejournal.com]

Singing to telemarketers is a splendid idea! Alas, it wouldn't waste enough of their time if I tried it -- they'd hang up too fast, hearing my lousy voice.

Then again, some of them might well quit. Could be an effective strategy after all.

[longpig.livejournal.com]

mmmm, black midnight cake...