| [April 11 2008] |
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Migrating to Wordpress
I couldn't figure out how to get Blogger to host my Upsaid archives, so in the end I'm opting for Wordpress. Come talk to me over there.
The old posts over here will stick around for a few months while I work on transfering the images, etc.
Posted by origamifreak at 9:47 pm
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[April 01 2008] |
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Spider Patrol
Sunny may be a pest sometimes. Perhaps more often than not, with his habits of scooping out the dry cat food onto the floor as if hunting for a cereal prize, opening the drawers in the bedroom dresser and the kitchen and removing the contents, absconding with small objects and "hiding" them under the fridge and the stove, putting toys in my shoes for my feet to find in the morning, jumping up and pulling down the prisms hanging by the sliding glass door, and knocking down just about anything that's not already on the floor.
HOWEVER, what he just did tonight offsets all that, in my opinion. He turns out to be a very efficient Master of Spider Patrol. One ran out at me in the bathroom just now, and I managed to knock it down. Of course Miaumoto has only ever had a passing interest in spiders, and at the time was sitting by the side of the sink waiting for me to turn on the tap so he could drink from it.
So, I called Sunny, and eventually he arrived (he takes his own time with these things - I need to spend more effort reinforcing "come" with beef jerky). I showed him the spider, and when he finally saw it, he spent very little time in corraling it, immobilizing it, and, finally, EATING it!
Now THAT is worth all the vet bills and cat food and time spent picking up things that belong in drawers.
Posted by origamifreak at 11:52 pm
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| [March 31 2008] |
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Happy Birthday, Miaumoto!
Miaumoto turned 16 today. He's been through a lot, and now his empty ears flop down to the sides such that he often looks more like an owl than a cat. I'm starting to think of him as my "owlycat."
He's become a snuggly sleepy cat, and spends most of his time near me napping when I'm home. He spends most of his time on the cat tree napping when I'm not home. He sleeps all night next to my pillow, except when Sunny wakes him up.
Despite all this napping, he holds his own against the Orange Usurper, and I've noticed there is a new respect for him since I returned from Chile.
Good kitty. In another year I'll have lived with him longer than with any humans, including my family! In a lot of ways, he IS my primary family. An owly one.
Posted by origamifreak at 11:59 pm
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Batteries aren't the problem
Since my last post about this subject, a second birdie went silent. The batteries arrived today and I duly did careful birdie surgery, under close supervision with many offers of "help."
In the end, neither birdie vocal box revived. In both they had somehow been chewed through the fur and padding to the point that one doesn't actuate upon shaking, and the other can only muster a half-hearted, faint squeak.
Oh well, it was worth a shot, anyway. You should have seen the disappointed look I got, though, when the returned birdies did not chirp as expected. They were batted a couple of times and then abandoned.
Posted by origamifreak at 9:30 pm
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[March 30 2008] |
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Happy Birthday, Deb!
Yesterday evening there was a lovely birthday party for Deb. We had salad, two kinds of soup, tea/coffee, and a high-test chocolate cake while discussing unrepeatable topics as well as sharing Deb anecdotes.
I especially enjoyed hearing about her college years: the do-it-yourself early morning worship sessions, the squirrels eating her peanut butter, the ill-advised (but frugal!) diets of goat milk and pork livers, the free apples with experimental holes in them, the interesting sandwiches made for roommates (raisins, peanut butter, and cucumber), etc. Many had tales of the various dead things she collected as treasures, or rescued us from.
I'm glad I have gotten to enjoy the last few years of her first half-century, and hope to enjoy all of the second one!
Here are some higher-resolution versions of the "movies," not truncated after 2 minutes (director's cuts!):
More... (57 words)
Posted by origamifreak at 7:43 am
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| [March 26 2008] |
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Birdie Batteries
Came home to find one of the chirpy birds had gone silent, probably from too much Love.
So now I'm on the hunt for G3-A CNB batteries, which are apparently the same as a Rayovac 392. I'm buying replacement batteries for my cat's toy. What is wrong with this picture? *sigh*
Posted by origamifreak at 11:06 pm
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[March 23 2008] |
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Easter Moonset
Something I never noticed in New Zealand is that the moon is upside-down. As one French colleague who spent the past few years there says, it looks like a rabbit holding a carrot, rather than a face.
This morning I took a time-lapse photo of the moon setting over the hill to the west. If you look carefully, you might be able to see the rabbit. He's sideways, lying on his left side, holding the carrot up in the air.
In case it's too small, maybe this will help:
Posted by origamifreak at 3:08 pm
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Southern Slingshot
This being my third trip to the southern hemisphere, I was determined to see the southern cross and verify the fact. The last two visits were in NZ, where it was cloudy most of the time (it's not called "the land of the long white cloud" in Maori for nothing).
There are actually several crosses that are mistaken for the "right" one, and sure enough, I was shown two different ones, by a Minnesotan and a native Kiwi. The Minnesotan was correct. I guess we're lucky to have such a distinctive polar constellation in the north.
Only three of the stars are really visible here (there is a lot of light pollution), so along with the pointers it looks a lot more like a slingshot than pointers and a cross. So I'm revising the constellations to reflect this fact, and from now on will refer to it this way. :-)
If I had a better camera with me I'd attempt a long exposure to show the star trails around it.
Posted by origamifreak at 9:06 am
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| [March 22 2008] |
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Good Friday
Yesterday I sat in the park across the street from the local church waiting for the procession. All around me were families on holiday, with the kids driving around in little rented electric cars or pedal cars, or even riding on tiny ponies led. I set up my camera on a park bench while waiting and took a time-lapse movie of all the activity.
There were many grandmother-looking ladies waiting anxiously, and finally at one point they all stood up, looking down the street. The police showed up to cordon off an area along the street where a platform with a life-size cross was set up.
I pulled out my camera in anticipation - and the bus pulled up. All the grandmothers got on it and it left. No sign of a procession.
My stomach was growling by this point (it was around 7:30pm and I'd skipped lunch), and there were no more signs of activity, so I got up and sauntered over to a restaurant down the block.
No sooner had my soup arrived, but I could hear the singing down at the corner. So after all, I missed it. I suppose that's what I get for a) being impatient, b) not bringing a cereal bar, and c) not choosing the restaurant directly across the street from the church!
I did get to see groups of nuns and others walk by the restaurant on their way back to the monastery, but it wasn't quite the same.
I have finished my pisco sour, and the child has begun shrieking again, so I think it's time to pay la cuenta and leave. Maybe I'll go take a swim in the lake.
Posted by origamifreak at 5:18 pm
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Dogs of Pucon
These beasts deserve their own separate entry.
While I have only seen one cat, the dogs here are very much in evidence, and appear to be very happy. They wander around town doing their doggy business, and sleeping in doorways, in the middle of the sidewalk, and just about anywhere else that is horizontal and looks comfortable.
They are very friendly and wag their tails whenever interacting with each other or with people. Many that I've seen here and in other villages look like Alsatian mixes, and especially around Pucon they also look like they have lab in them. I have almost never heard them bark. They particularly like frequenting the areas with parrillada (grilling) restaurants.
I have begun taking pictures of them.
Posted by origamifreak at 4:49 pm
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Caldillo de Congrio
Today I went on an aborted trip to see the Mapuche culture in a little town near the border with Argentina.
After varying reports of the distance to the Fogon Mapuche (8km? 40km?), my knee was unhappy, so I took a bus back to Pucon while my companion stayed to wander around the dusty, closed-up town. I suspect services may be limited since it's Easter weekend, and the country got 3 days off (Friday - Sunday).
On the walk back from the bus station to the hotel I stopped for lunch, and the place had caldillo de congrio, which is a conger eel soup made famous by Pablo Neruda's ode to it. It was similar to the paila de mariscos I had on Wednesday, which was
reminiscent of a boullabaise without the shells. Seafood here really
is fantastic.
It was one of the few meals I've had that was just the right amount, rather than Too Much (I've begun skipping meals when I'm not hungry - such as breakfast this morning, even though it's included with the lodging.)
On average I think I'm eating about 1.5 meals a day. Last night I took my palmitos y paltas (marinated palm hearts & avocado slices) with me. The avocados are great. I'm eating them at almost every meal.
I'm glad I brought my hat and my SPF 70 sunscreen, because even with them I'm burned from this morning's adventures.
On a completely different note, I might have to complain about the permissiveness of parents at this hotel during this holiday. It is an expensive place, and I suspect that many usually rely on their Peruvian nanas, because they do not know how to control their own children.
The room I am currently sitting in has good acoustics due to the bare walls, and there is a family at a table with a child who shrieks at such a high pitch it runs straight up my spine. Now the little monster has stopped shrieking, in favor of pounding one of the hollow coffee tables. I preferred when he was over here, staring at me with giant, wide eyes - at least then he was quiet. Maybe I should turn around and make faces at him.
This is the sort of thing that sometimes makes me wish there were internet access in my room.
There is a "wireless salon" here but the connection is 10x slower than dialup, and times out before connecting, so the best alternative is to sit in the wireless part of the bar, which has a better connection (hence my ability to post), but entails also ordering pisco sours, to keep them happy (life is rough).
Posted by origamifreak at 4:39 pm
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[March 20 2008] |
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Termas y Comidas y Bebidas
Being a volcanic area, there are a number of hot springs where pools have been created to sit in the nice warm water.
Yesterday one Canadian, three Kiwis, and I went to see a particularly nice one. Beautiful, interesting architecture, lots of different pools at different temperatures to choose from, and a wooden walkway that kept going up and up the ravine with pools on either side and at the very end, a waterfall. The pools were set right into the side of the ravine, so you could just walk over and study the mosses and ferns growing on the rock face while standing in Very Warm Water. It was like hiking, but in your swimsuit, with frequent drops into warm pools whenever you felt like it. It was lovely.
The Kiwis were fascinated by the hummingbirds visiting the wild fuschia. Having grown up in California, I have a hard time imagining someone not having ever seen a hummingbird before - I didn't even bother mentioning that my sisters have so many in the backyard that they regularly suck their little sugar feeders dry...
Last night we went back to our favorite Meat Restaurant, and this time were better organized. 13 of us shared two plates each designed for 4 people. We had two designated carving stations, and as the side dishes emptied we appropriated them as meat-passing plates. I took some time lapse films of the food disappearing. It's kind-of reminiscent of those videos they used to show us in school where the mouse carcass is carried away bit-by-bit by the ants.
Sometimes it's easier just to use the Spanish menu and the phrase book, than try and decipher the English version...
I have also discovered the Pisco Sour, which is like a Margarita on steroids, and Very, Very Good. :-)
I haven't tried it yet, but apparently in Chile, chicha is generally made from apples (chicha de manzana), rather than maize. Since I like cider, I imagine I should try it!
Posted by origamifreak at 10:49 am
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| [March 17 2008] |
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Greetings from Chile
Dropshots.
The first two on the 14th are from my stop in Ithaca on the way to JFK to catch my flight.
The last two from the 14th and after that are all from here.
More soon...
Posted by origamifreak at 2:16 pm
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[March 13 2008] |
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Unplanned new toy
My boss informed me today that I had to take lots of pictures on the trip to South America they're sending me on, tomorrow. He meant it in terms of tourism rather than for work, but I was surprised how adamant he sounded.
I explained that my only digital camera is a SLR, and that I don't even know where my film point and shoot is, so I hadn't been planning to bring one. If there was a spare floating around work, I'd be happy to oblige.
No, apparently he had it AT HOME. So I was encouraged to go get one (on my dime of course), because "you can get one for under $200, nowadays."
Sigh. So I grudgingly agreed and gave myself 30 minutes to research them and identify one I could buy locally during lunch. Between CNET and ConsumerSearch I narrowed it down to a Canon PowerShot of the SD variety.
Some browsing around online and a couple of phone calls established that the local Staples had an SD750 for $199 in stock.
So I paid about $25 more than I should have, but overall I guess it's OK because it is nice to have a convenient little camera, and maybe this way there will be pictures of South America for y'all on here soon...
Update: it captures videos, too.
Posted by origamifreak at 9:32 pm
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| [March 05 2008] |
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