Transcendence

D'aaaw

Quote from: Hidden_Twilight on January 18, 2014, 07:32
yea, if HS is hell then college is even worser than that 

ot: sooo... i have a younger sister (just a few years). i think she on her rebellios stage going on about how no one loves her here and everyone is blaming her and as the older sister im kinda worried about it. any suggestion? :(

It's not necessarily rebellious, most teens go through a lonely alienated phase. What you can do is support her interests, no matter how bad she may be at it, as long as she's not hurting herself. Buy her a pretty book for her to write down her feelings in. Don't address the subject head on, show her you love her and care for her by going around the subject and treat her/invite her to things she think are fun (and get with the times, the interests change FAST as you might remember). Or, you can just meet her feelings. It may be hard as a sibling that's way through and over that phase to not just shrug it off and tell her to grow up and stop being silly. She'll hopefully know how silly she was when she gets older. Just let her vent and treat her feelings wholeheartedly. And, just listen. You will grow closer as people, and she won't feel as lonely. She'll still be in the lonely phase, but at least, let her know that your world would crumble if she wasn't in it.

(I've seen too many teens disappear in this phase, and I almost did too, so don't treat it lightly).

Good luck!

Quote from: `Roze` on December 29, 2013, 19:46
Oh gosh that's so cute! I can't believe I didn't see this earlier!  I would've used it on some of the stuff I've finished. ^^;

Can you access the Staff sections and under where the credit page is pinned in the Staff Corner is the thread for credit pages. You should post it there so people can see it~

Yes I can access it, but I wasn't sure if I should post it in there so I just let it be in here 

So, uh... Potatoe.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/se3ey6ie31b220f/Holiday%20Credits.psd
And:

Thanks everyone! Feels like a job well done 

Quote from: Hidden_Twilight on December 22, 2013, 05:57
that is soooo cuuuutee!! do you know how to make dolls too? 

I've never knitted a doll, but I could probably do that. If I get a pattern I can do anything  (well, a lot at least. I'm not a pro knitter, but it's fun)

So yesterday and today I've been completely occupied with making this:


(It's a "sock" to protect the 3DS since I don't have any carrier bag or anything else to protect it.)

It's better than nothing, right? 

If I make anything else I feel like sharing, I'll just post it here. 

Quote from: Vauxhall on December 19, 2013, 23:19
What. There's an alarm that automatically goes on snooze for you...? D:
How do you wake up in the morning?

Most alarms autosnooze when you let them ring for like... 3-5min.

I shall be looking forward to this 

Quote from: Angel~ on December 19, 2013, 10:06
Yes it was ^-^

Maybe nowhere near as pretty as some of the credit pages you have but...
A simple one:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/d5i73l1ted412kd/Credits_Joou_no_Hana.psd

Let me know what you think 

Moff - Them Coconuts theme song
http://youtu.be/7cdCbuPWWbk

Quote from: verdandi on December 19, 2013, 00:50
You can either crop off the flap, or make it a separate page adding white to make it 730px.

Thank you~ I'll try my hand at that.

A wild weirdo has appeared!

I spy with my indigo eye... Roze!

Quote from: Angel~ on December 18, 2013, 14:42
Maybe you could take a peek at Joou no Hana? Give it a little new spice?

Was that directed towards me? 'Cuz I'd love to :)

For this specific project? Nemas problemas! I will do that when I want some fun inbetween the editing sessions ;D

Feel free to! I think these things are fun to make, but if you can make it better, go ahead! :D

Ohoho how fun~

I tried my hand at one:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/t3rohskv30dyj1d/Credits%20Page%20Ardour.psd

Quote from: `Roze` on December 15, 2013, 13:59
For double spreads its 1460px wide. (730 x 2) Height doesn't really matter. I never really pay much attention to it. For cover pages if they're suppose to be like two pages (Similar to a double spread) then I'd say 1460 px wide. If they are suppose to be like a single page then 730px. I'm not a 100% sure on this so I could be wrong but that's what I do. I'd send a PM to Verdandi as she is head editor. ^^

Thank you Rose. I talked some to Zeph, but it seems I still have some confusion about the cover-cover (there's an adorned cover around the pocket itself) which have those almost half pages that goes inside the pocket's covers, plus the spine. These things are so much easier to deal with when adjusting on the height D;

I have a perhaps dumb question, but I need to know:

About your sizing: "Image width: 730px (If raw is smaller than 730px, use a Denoise and a Sharpen filter after resizing.)"
I understand that you size on the width, which causes a small issue for me; What about the covers and spreads? I've only sized on the height before, and the tutorial seem to size on the height as well, so I'd be grateful if someone could inform me of what you do here. 

It's 16:51 and I just bought a 3DS! 

Quote from: Hidden_Twilight on December 10, 2013, 03:31
that sounds like a negotiation rather than friendship o.o

That was just pure bullying and humiliation. They weren't my friends and I was too young to realize I was barking up the wrong tree looking for some.

Quote from: x_nielleified on December 09, 2013, 04:35
he is the type to get a high score on a quiz (like a 97) and respond to "did you do well?" with "eh, could have done better"

I'm so guilty of this. Especially because I normally don't study; I just read through the material once and pay attention in class and I always score at leas an A- (note that this was in Swedish senior high though, we don't have collage, senior high is like a mix of high school and collage). Uni will probably be fun and hellish, if I ever become healthy enough to attend it. 

Quote from: x_nielleified on December 09, 2013, 04:35also has major control issues and insists things are done his way - even in the kitchen

So guilty of this too... My bishounen doesn't mind helping out around home, but I'm such an anal control freak that he's not allowed to because he doesn't clean as flawlessly as I do (he doesn't care about squeaky clean).

The only thing I'm more anal and controlling about than the kitchen (mainly kitchen appliances and tools/table wear) is my drawings... and I have them EVERYWHERE. 

Quote from: Angel~ on November 29, 2013, 18:03
Pancakes soaked in nutella 

That sounds.. DELICIOUS! And I'm not even all that crazy for nuttella (I like it but I don't want it on every dang thing I eat, like some people XD)

I don't really know what the best thing I've eaten is but...

The weirdest thing: charcoal.   
The most disgusting thing: Spider. 

I was forced to eat both above by my "friends". They said they wouldn't play with me if I didn't do it, and I was young and desperate for friends. Oh how I wish I knew then what I know now...

Quote from: verdandi on December 07, 2013, 21:11

Quote from: LittleWeird on December 07, 2013, 08:40
But honestly, it's not really that time consuming to bake from the base, but I heard that it's more expensive to bake it that way. Is this true or is it just words of a lazy person? 

Does "from the base" mean you take all the ingredients and put them together (we call that "from scratch"), or do you use a pre-made mix and just add liquid ingredients?

Yes, of course I mean "from scratch". I here present you with the marvellous art of typing swinglsh.   

Quote from: verdandi on December 07, 2013, 21:11
If it's the former (from scratch), then it's cheaper but a bit more time consuming.  If it's the latter (use a mix), then it's faster but a bit more expensive.  Making a cake from scratch would be more expensive if you don't have flour, butter, eggs, milk, and sugar on hand, but since most people have those, it's cheaper.  Most Americans just don't know how to bake a cake unless they open a boxed mix and add eggs and oil. 

The vast majority use a box of "just add water" pancake mix, which turned out to be a problem for me when at a friend's house and she asked me to make pancakes then handed me a box.  I seriously didn't know how to just add water.  I messed it up.  I don't know how you screw up adding water and mixing, but I did.  I'm too used to making homemade pancakes with whole grains and buttermilk.

So, assuming you deduce what the actual cost of making it from scratch is, it IS still cheaper to make it yourself? Because I keep hearing that "premade stuff is so much cheaper than the ones you make yourself". In Sweden, it's not really that much more expensive to eat the healthier alternatives, buy wholegrain and ecologically grown things. More expensive, yes, but making your own food is still cheaper than eating out (if you don't count time as a factor for money; we have no such thing as minimum wage, all full-time jobs are more than enough to live off of, so picking up a second job isn't something people need to do here).

Like yesterday I made a dish (cream is optional, I just had some at home):
- 600g pork tenderloin
- 1 red pepper bell (Paprika?)
- 4 carrots
- 1kg potatoes
- 5dl milk
- 3tbs cream
- 1tbs soy sauce
- Black pepper

And it turned into 4 adult portions at a cost of $2.77/portion as opposed to a Big Mac Value meal at McDonald's which costs us $9.99/portion. This was a kind of "fancy" meal too as I don't buy the tenderloin very often.

Quote from: verdandi on December 06, 2013, 20:57

Quote from: LittleWeird on December 06, 2013, 16:20
but at least, it's real chicken D;

You're a little mistaken on this, which is normal (most people are).  Pink slime is mechanically separated beef, not chicken, and is used as a filler in beef products (at a legal percentage of no more than 25%).  A lot of ground beef used to contain it, but people got upset when they found out so that's not as common anymore.  It is real beef though; just pretty much ALL parts of beef, ground very very finely via heat.

Mechanically separated chicken is white slime, and is created by very finely grinding up the chicken (or turkey) carcass after the meat has been picked off by hand.  Then they run it through a sieve to get out any parts that are still hard.  It contains muscle, bone, marrow, tendon, and a small amount of meat.  It's also used as filler, and yes, does make up a large part of our cheap chicken nuggets.

Nowadays though, since most people are horrified by the use of pink/white slime, there's been a big rise in "all white meat!" chicken nuggets & tenders, made from cut up or minced breast meat.  At fast food restaurants it's usually just cut up pieces of breast meat breaded and fried, and you get the nasty nuggets in the freezer section of grocery stores, especially discount grocery stores. 

I'm obsessive about making everything myself when I can, so I can't personally say how much the quality in packaged nuggets has gone up.  I can say with certainty that most fast food nuggets have improved greatly and are safe to eat if you come to visit the U.S.! Just stay away from the 99-cent nuggets, because they're still suspect.

Ah, I thought all kinds of meats were put into the pink slime. Chemical separation of food is illegal in the EU though so we have none of that stuff here. I'm glad to hear it wasn't THAT bad, but I still wouldn't ever buy nuggets in the US stores unless I know how it was made. Well.. Fried food isn't good for you anyway so I should just stay to healthier alternatives 

I always bake everything from the base, and while the pre-made mixtures ARE getting more common, it's still mostly so that us swedes like baking things from the base, with the exception of gingerbread; for some reason we have a huge industry of buying pre-made dough XD But honestly, it's not really that time consuming to bake from the base, but I heard that it's more expensive to bake it that way. Is this true or is it just words of a lazy person? 

Quote from: verdandi on December 05, 2013, 22:26

Quote from: LittleWeird on December 05, 2013, 08:43
I was pretty shocked when I realized flour is bleached in the US, and with actual bleach.

Yeah, but we can also easily buy unbleached flour, although it's mostly by one particular brand, which I've never had trouble finding.  Most people don't think twice about it and just get bleached flour, if they even bother baking at all.  MOST people just buy packaged pre-baked breads and things, which are all made with bleached flour (unless you get 100% whole-grain bread). 

Americans bleach EVERYTHING.  We like our stuff white white white.  I don't get it, because personally, I HATE white bread and soft bread.  I bake a lot but when I buy bread, I always get multigrain because it's sturdier. :3

Yeah, well, it's the US, as long as it's legal there are all sorts of alternatives to buy products, but as you say; most people seem to buy the pre-packed stuff that ALL have the bleached flour, and the bleached flour is way way way more common. And I was shocked. I didn't even know flour could get whiter than it already is. I am so thankful it's illegal to use bleach in food here in the EU. For a while I almost thought I'd never dare to eat any baked goods in the US XD

Another thing I'm glad is illegal is pink slime. The nuggets you buy here are nothing like the ones you buy in the US. Granted, it's still the chicken waste and lowest of the low quality, but at least, it's real chicken D;

22:16
Just finished refurnishing and some light cleaning, only to notice I need a new cable 'tween the screen and the new computer I built. 

Quote from: verdandi on December 05, 2013, 02:31
This is, to some extent, true.  Orange flower honey tastes different from clover honey, which is different from wildflower honey, etc.  But at the core, honey is honey and the differences are subtle.  All honey is quite sweet and doesn't need any sugar added!

I only buy local honey because it helps with my allergies a little, so I don't remember too well what imported honey tastes like, other than a little bit of a plastic taste.  I also keep a jar of raw honey on hand, which I use on my face because it's great for the skin, and for infections too because it's so antibacterial!

I've been very puzzled by the statement that honey has added sugar in it; I mean, one of the reasons why I never manage to properly substitute my sugar in the tea with honey is because it's not as sweet and honey has a distinct taste (which I suppose could be described as "bitter") that I never got used to.

We most definitely DON'T have sugar added in ours. Low quality honey only have a higher water percentage compared to the fancier one. But I was wondering if it was something done in the US. I mean... I was pretty shocked when I realized flour is bleached in the US, and with actual bleach. 

It's 05:40 am and I'm gonna do my buttcercise (butt exercise) and go to bed 

Quote from: verdandi on November 30, 2013, 23:53

Quote from: LittleWeird on November 29, 2013, 23:43
We swedes love science (and a lot of the studies "fed" to us IS from the US)

This...actually kind of scares me.  We tend to find European studies more credible because American studies are often funded by big corporations and are meant to fuel consumerism and benefit various industries more than the general public.

Ah, I might mention that we do A LOT of screening in the science, and we don't really accept a single study unless it's an extremely thoroughly done one with nothing to dispute really, otherwise we don't really accept things as truth until we get several sources by independent researchers. And say what you will about America, it's a great (as in big) country with a lot of honest scientists, a lot of great (as in good) science does pop out of there too. But never stop being critical of what you read.

Quote from: verdandi on November 30, 2013, 23:53

Quote from: LittleWeird on November 29, 2013, 23:43
in Scandinavia it's greatly discouraged to use caffeine as medicine (a lot of headaches are actually caused by the withdrawal of caffeine, while the other larger part of the cases is actually due to dehydration - which incidentally also can come from consuming coffee instead of water where the caffeine is flushing more water out) but you can buy the headache medicine with caffeine in a normal drug store, it's just not used much.

Yeah, caffeine isn't our most common pain killer here, I think it's only used in pain killer meds that also want to flush water from you, like in the menstrual medication where it's also fighting bloating.  I think humans are way too addicted to caffeine.  I try to stay away from more than one or two caffeinated drinks a week, myself.  I've seen people go through caffeine withdrawal and it's just as bad as nicotine withdrawal!

I've actually never heard of caffeine as an aid for cramps. We don't even consider that here. We're all about ibuprofen when it comes to that (some take "acetaminophen" I believe you call it in the US, in Europe we say "paracetamol") but as a cramper, to me it's about as useful as putting makeup on a pig...  ibuprofen is the only thing that helps me.

And yes, it's actually scary to see people when they're in withdrawal. Sure, I'm tired in the mornings and need a li'l time to boot my brain, but there are people who can't function without the morning hit of caffeine, scary! 
Not to mention their mood-swings...

Quote from: verdandi on November 30, 2013, 23:53

Quote from: LittleWeird on November 29, 2013, 23:43
And honey being bad is the first I hear of it; it's considered a super food as it's more or less only healthy and hard to overdose.

Yeah! Did you know they found honey in pots in some of the pyramids and it was clearly thousands of years old and had hardened, but was still perfectly edible.  It never goes bad! Honey is a miracle food!

I actually did hear about that~ While honey technically can spoil due to incorrect storage, it doesn't rot and if stored well, it's edible forever. And people are trying to kill off the lovely bees! Did you hear what they're doing in Europe now? The EU wants to ban pesticides killing bees, and the company producing them is suing the EU. How retarded can you be? 

Fun fact about honey; if you're having issues controlling that "hunger" feeling that's not really hunger, having honey in the morning will help your body suppress it. It does require you to keep a low-sugar diet though, else the sugar will cancel the effect.

Quote from: verdandi on November 30, 2013, 23:53

Quote from: LittleWeird on November 29, 2013, 23:43You know what else is a super food? POPCORN! YAAAY! The best part is that they found that even the most unhealthy version (microwave popcorn) is still a super food! But the microwave popcorn should be consumed in moderation due to the kind of salts and stuff they have in the pack.

Sadly, this would not be true of American-made popcorn.  Almost all corn grown in the U.S. is genetically-modified, which is hugely controversial over here.

Even if genetically modified, the American popcorn are still "healthy" as it still contains that one nutrient (it's called "polyphenols") that's very hard to acquire otherwise than in popcorn; if you eat the corn normally, the water in the corn (and all other foods containing it) will solve that nutrient into something else that we don't need; we need to bind it with the water in our bodies. Where as in popcorn it's very concentrated :D

I'm not opposed to the entire concept of gene-manipulating, as it's great if we can produce healthy plants that grows in hard to farm areas (so you don't need to cut down forests to get to more soil...) like Africa. What I don't like is how it's used, in the US especially. The company Monsanto shows pretty well how messed up things are! They want to make ecological farming IMPOSSIBLE! 


This is a fun conversation. You people here have your heads screwed on right, I really appreciate that 

Quote from: Angel~ on November 30, 2013, 04:51
Popcorn <3

It's soooo nommy~~ 大大大好きです！

Quote from: Angel~ on November 29, 2013, 14:48
I just love those energy drinks! They pump me up and they are delish!!!

I love the energy drinks too, but I don't have them too often. Maybe this should be a guilty pleasure too, I mean; I ONLY like the taste, I don't even get alert! 

Quote from: verdandi on November 29, 2013, 15:01

Quote from: LittleWeird on November 29, 2013, 11:45
Coffee isn't all that healthy. A cup every now and then won't do harm, but overconsumption will not only make you overweight and malnutrition, it will also give you stomach ulcers.

You say a lot of things that go against the things we're taught in America.  I wonder if it's a regional thing.  For instance, nutritionists over here say that coffee is good for you, and doesn't cause weight gain unless you add a bunch of stuff to it.  1 cup of black coffee a day is fine because it has vitamins and helps stimulate the digestive system.  We use caffeine as pain killer (it's the main active ingredient in our menstrual cramps medicine), and to help flush water from the body (useful in cellulite treatment!).

Vaux once said that honey was unhealthy because it's liquid sugar, but over here we use it as a healthy alternative to sugar.  It's also full of vitamins and is antiseptic and since it's sweeter than sugar, you can use less of it.  Like everything else on the planet except water, it needs to be taken in moderation, but is NOT the same thing as sugar and is healthy for you (unlike most sugar which is empty calories).

I'm not trying to argue over foods, but just point out the cultural differences.  This is what we're taught in America by nutritionists and doctors and scientists.  It just shows that all information is open to interpretation and different cultures and regions interpret differently.

We swedes love science (and a lot of the studies "fed" to us IS from the US) and we also love health. The old coffee that you boil on the stove is actually good against breast cancer, but you shouldn't have more than one cup/day. At one cup/day coffee is more good than harmful, as you say it does have vitamins in it and all the such, but the caffeine is not healthy in large amounts. I don't know about the rest of Europe, but in Scandinavia it's greatly discouraged to use caffeine as medicine (a lot of headaches are actually caused by the withdrawal of caffeine, while the other larger part of the cases is actually due to dehydration - which incidentally also can come from consuming coffee instead of water where the caffeine is flushing more water out) but you can buy the headache medicine with caffeine in a normal drug store, it's just not used much.

I was trying to find the documentary about an athlete whom started a coffee diet of the average coffee "addict" (I  think it was a British documentary, but it might have been American too) but I can't find it because I suck at googling.    But they had a doctor examine him every week of the project, and apart from drinking all the coffee, he did no other changes to his life. I really wish you could see it because it was such a good life example of what coffee do to you in the excessive amount that we (as people in general - especially swedes, haha) are consuming it today, also in the less healthy version.

And it's true that caffeine is stimulating the digestive system, but we use cinnamon and other spices for the same purpose as these are healthier and doesn't cause... diarrhoea. 

And honey being bad is the first I hear of it; it's considered a super food as it's more or less only healthy and hard to overdose.

You know what else is a super food? POPCORN! YAAAY! The best part is that they found that even the most unhealthy version (microwave popcorn) is still a super food! But the microwave popcorn should be consumed in moderation due to the kind of salts and stuff they have in the pack.

So let's eat popcorn and be happy~ 

Quote from: Angel~ on November 29, 2013, 09:37
I stopped drinking coffee all together, only when I'm super tired I get some coffee. I always use normal sugar, since that tastes best!

Coffee isn't all that healthy. A cup every now and then won't do harm, but overconsumption will not only make you overweight and malnutrition, it will also give you stomach ulcers.

Personally I don't get affected by caffeine so there's no point in forcing myself to drink it...

Quote from: Angel~ on November 28, 2013, 11:13
Strange how you dislike bitter tea, but drink the bitter coffee all by itself without anything to soften the taste...

でしょう！ I have no idea why it is like that, but yes, it's very bitter, but still better than with milk and/or sugar. sugar in coffee makes me gag a little. 

Quote from: Hidden_Twilight on November 29, 2013, 04:45

Quote from: Angel~ on November 28, 2013, 11:13
Strange how you dislike bitter tea, but drink the bitter coffee all by itself without anything to soften the taste...

well, there are people that prefer black coffee. also, why is milk and coffee yucky? isnt milk kinda like the same as a creamer?

The taste gets funky when it's in coffee... Not as nice and smooth as with tea. 

Quote from: Angel~ on November 29, 2013, 05:33
Milk is basically creamer :P
I love it! I'm drinking less sugar in it lately though, since I'm trying to cut down my sugar intake~

Cutting down on sugar is always a good idea. If you must have it though, have real sugar rather than the synthesized sweeteners... they're even worse for the body 

Quote from: Vauxhall on November 26, 2013, 23:42
@Lil
Lol! *pats* That was an interesting read. The first part was all healthy and then you get to the second and... BAM. xD Sugar.

Yup, that's why my sugar-bomb "tea" is such a guilty pleasure. To quote my English textbook of 5th grade; "I know I mustn't, but it's so good!". 

Quote from: Hidden_Twilight on November 27, 2013, 07:39
what does tea mixed with milk and sugar taste like?

all ive ever tried was ampalaya tea. (get a tea bag. pour it hot water and viola! tea)

though iced tea is yummy~ 

It tastes, sweet. No bitterness what so ever. I suppose it originated with the fact that I like a very strong tea flavour (since the milk "waters" it out and softens the taste), but when the teabag sits for too long, it becomes terribly bitter.

Quote from: Angel~ on November 27, 2013, 13:53
I tried milk tea once. Once. Yech.

I can agree to that milk in coffee is terrible though. I don't like coffee, but if I have to drink it, it has to be black or else it's disgusting. I assume that's similar to your reaction

I have a few guilty pleasures I suppose.

I actually love watching people lose weight.  I think diet and exercise are two very interesting subjects and I get filled with a kind of happiness when people manage to lose weigh, become thinner, happier, healthier and most of all; managed what they set their mind to. 

Another one is; I kill my tea with sugar. 
I know it's bad for me, but I just want a bunchload of sugar in my tea, and I don't really consume much sugar otherwise as I sugar detox a lot and don't have anything with added sugar. But somehow, I just don't think honey is as tasty in tea, nor brown sugar. It has to be white, bad bad pure sugar.   

Oooh, an art thread~~ I like these