drAnn's Art

My Old Graphics Pad Has Bitten the Dust

Wahoo!  That means I get a new graphics pad.  I had to edit this drawing with mice.  Ackkk.  Ratty!


The fact is that here at our summer place I was using a bit pad we found in the sale bin of a scratch and dent store for $25. I use a Wacom Intuos 3 in my studio, and that puppy spoiled me, so I ordered a newer and better one last night. Can't wait til it comes! The new Wacom Bamboo is a lot more affordable and for occasional use in the summer I wondered if it wouldn't be better to save a couple hundred bucks and go with that, but I decided that the pen tilt was a feature that one really cannot live without, and also the bamboo is 4"x6" and I am ready to move up to 6"x8". A small footprint is nice, but sometimes when drawing a line, the pen goes right off the top of the screen before the line is finished. Time to move up.



I love PayPerPost so today I signed up for another program
which appears to be similar in nature:


If you are a blogger or an advertiser, you might want to check up on Sponsored Reviews

My First AeroGarden Cartoon

You knew this was coming:

 
Today our AeroGarden mini is 3 weeks old and we celebrated by harvesting some of the basil.  This pasta salad came from a DiGiorno box mix, but I added some of Trader Joe's Fire Roasted Red Peppers, and, of course, fresh basil from our high-tech indoor garden. 



Want to see? 

If you want to take a closer look at the food, just click on it to zoom.  Doesn't that look yummy?  Cilantro is not reported to grow well or fast in the AeroGarden, so we tried the frozen cubes manufactured by Dorot Garlic and Herbs.  I have chopped my own and frozen it before, too, but it is a messy job, so it was nice to find it in the grocery store. 
 
I don't think two of these hydroponic planter contraptions will be enough.  We keep finding exciting new seeds to plant.  Can you believe we actually found a packet of okra seeds on sale for ten cents? They are having a competition with our summer squash to see which one is the fastest growing veggie. 

I planted them in the AeroGarden Deluxe on May 21 and this is what they looked like yesterday:






 
 Photo taken May 24

UPDATE:  Here they are on May 30:

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Today We Threw out the Toaster

Obsolete technology.

Yesterday we threw out the convection oven.  It was dark, took up too much room, and was a bear to clean, but did it ever nuke pizza good.  No matter, so does the NuWave, countertop appliance with infrared cooking technology, but it also makes killer steak, fish, and poultry. 

The NuWave's footprint is not as small as it looks in the informercial, but because of the need to put the dome somewhere when putting food in or taking it out, count of reserving 24" x 15" of counterspace when the appliance is in use.

Remarkably lightweight, the NuWave was a breeze to clean.    At a closed height of about 13 1/2" it stores under most countertops, and this is important, because I have read online reviews of the product that state it is 16 x 16.  Maybe that is for an older model or maybe it is just a mistake, but reading that almost had me backing out of the idea of giving this tool a try.

We are going to toss the egg cooker, too, because for breakfast we placed a couple sausages on the 4" rack with 2 slices of frozen bread and then I put a little butter in a couple of custard cups dropped an egg into each, pierced the yolks, and placed this in the drip pan below.  Then I pressed "Cook Time" and "10" and "Start."  Everything came out perfect at the same time.  

It is hard to say which was better, enjoying a delicious fast and easy breakfast or not having much to clean up afterwards.   Also, with all those other counter top appliances gone, there will be more room next to the sink for when we are cleaning our paint brushes.  Hubby had to chill a while when we first retired, but now he is back to painting.  Wahoo.  The scene he is working on now is darling.

In any case, the NuWave is a keeper and all the old stuff is going out.   This oven encourages healthy eating because it makes fresh food so delicious. For instance, just before tossing last night's Rib Eye Steak on the rack, I cut a summer squash down the center and put the halves face up on either side of the steak.  Perfection! 

One thing I really want all my readers to note, however, is that until you get the hang of how and when to lift the dome up and away from the hot food, please use oven mitts!    The NuWave will not overheat your kitchen like a regular oven, and the dome does not get very hot, but if there is any moisture in the food, steam will rise and it is possible to get burned fingers.  It is also easy to forget that although the high-impact plastic dome does not get exceeding warm, the metal rack inside does.  This is mentioned in the instruction booklet, but it cannot be said enough for those of us just starting to use this technology for the first time.

Finally, since more than a few NuWave Oven buyers have had their plastic domes crack, it is important not to let the warm dome touch a cold surface.  I have two suggestions for that:

1.  Plan ahead and be sure you have room to set the dome down gently somewhere safe until you get the hang of using the provided dome holder, and

2.  Consider placing a silicon potholder on top of the dome holder, so the plastic will not come into contact with the metal. 

I have a square silicon pot holder with little bumps that keep it from slipping, and its bright red color is a reminder to be careful. 

I Signed Up for SocialSpark!

Some of you may know that I have another blog called The Empty Cabinets of My Mind.  I wrote on there about how some elitist remarks that turned up online made me realize that before I threw my nose up in the air and sniffed about how I was not going to monetize MY blog, I needed to find out what all the fuss was really about.  Pejorative remarks against soccer-mom bloggers was probably what turned the tide for me.

Not that I personally think soccer moms are any more or less interesting or intelligent than anybody else, but let's fish or cut bait here.  Moms are good enough to play chauffeur, do the laundry, cook the food, scrub the floor, and all that choice stuff, but they aren't good enough to earn a little spare change from their blogs?  What nerve! 

So to show solidarity with the "soccer moms" I signed up.   Not long afterwards the buzz was all about a new blogging/advertising community called SocialSpark, the other core product of Pay Per Post's parent company IZEA.    To be honest, I did not think that social media would at all appeal to me, but I was wrong.

Yes, SocialSpark is different from PPP, but in some ways it is more empowering.  Check it out:

SocialSpark

Here are some key features of this new community:

-100% Audit-able In-Post Disclosure
-100% Transparency
-100% Real Opinions
-100% Search Engine Friendly

Because Social Spark is a social network where bloggers and advertisers can interact, each member has a personal profile.  Here is a screen grab of mine:

SocialSpark's marketplace looks and feels very much like PayPerPost's Blogger Dashboard but with more options.   If you are a blogger looking for an advertiser who pays by the day instead of once, you might find one there.  If you are an advertiser who wants to take a look at the blogger's other posts before committing to pay to get your own done, no problem.  I think advertisers are really going to like that power, and that will benefit bloggers, as well.  I am really glad I checked them out.  You might be glad if you do, too!

It is not just buzz any more.  SocialSpark is here now.  Want to monetize your blog?  Need help getting traffic?  SocialSpark can help you.  Wish you had a community of friends who already know the ropes and don't mind helping a newbie?   You will find them here:

SocialSpark

NuWave Oven As-Seen-on-TV

I am sure glad there weren't any good old movies on TV a few weeks ago when hubby stumbled across an infomercial for the NuWave oven.  He called me over to take a look and we were both enthralled.  I got right online and started reading all the reviews.  Nothing convinced us that we shouldn't try the product, so we ordered one and it arrived yesterday.  On the way home from our mail drop, we stopped at the supermarket and coincidentally found a tender young chicken whole chicken on mark-down.  

We save so much grocery money buying food that is on markdown that we didn't have any reservations about plunking down $149 for the latest model with an updated electronic digital display and free carrying case.  As lightweight and portable as this gadget is, we have no intention of carting ours around, but we thought it would make a nice dust cover to house it in when we are away on extended trips. 

The infomercial we saw pretty much focused on chicken, and they made is look impossibly delicious, with absurdly minimal effort.  My kind of kitchen appliance!  But would it work?  You be the judge:



We are a little unclear how anyone could get a whole turkey into this cooker, but no matter, the chicken was just wonderful.  It was every bit as moist and tender as the TV ad promised.   One thing they could have stress more, though, was that steam will be hot when you first take off the lid, so be sure to wear oven mitts!  That said, the appliance really does run cool compared to a regular oven.  Cooking time for this big juicy bird was exactly one hour. 

Even Artists Have to Eat

This salad turned out really good:

One of the ingredients was fresh marjoram, harvested from our Aerogarden Deluxe computerized garden. 

Other ingredients included dilly beans, baby limas, kidney beans (juice, too!), onion, celery, and nopalitos.  We buy ours locally, but Dona Maria's has a nice description this these succulent cactus pickles HERE.

What else?  Cilantro, and yes, when fresh is not available, the little frozen cubes work great in this recipe.  Sprinkle it with black pepper and and douse with olive oil and this salad starter will keep well in the refrigerator for quite a few days, although it is unlikely not to get eaten rather quickly.

Just before serving, however, I stir in a couple more perishable items:  cucumber and tomato wedges.

Here is another photo, showing the marjoram from my own "hot house" before I sliced it up:

A note about cilantro.  I have only met one person who doesn't like cilantro, but once we read a restaurant review for a Vietnamese soup place in Oakland, California and the writer, who was apparently unfamiliar with this herb, described it as "hot." I think he must have confused it with another ingredient.  We tried the restaurant ourselves and found the soup he mentioned good enough, but quite bland. 

Helio Ocean: Is it a Phone?

I was a dyed in the wool Palm fanatic until a brilliant company calling itself TrackVia recently released an intuitive and affordable web based relational database.   No matter how fancy the phones were in the past, they were useless to me without software that would make it possible for me to ferret out facts and do serious accounting in the palm of my hand. 

As soon as I signed up for TrackVia's amazing and remarkably affordable service, I also started looking for a decent smart phone with reasonably priced web browsing and a passable camera. 

Fortunately for me, the very day that I decided the Helium Ocean came closest to fitting the bill, my enterprising husband noticed a one-day only ad in the local paper for a free Ocean (after rebate) with a two year contract.   Since the product and service came with a two week trial period with full return and cancellation privileges, I signed up immediately. 

So here it is, wallpapered with a yellow marigold from my Aerogarden:

And, yes, I'm still in love with the Aerogarden, so here is the flower: 

More about this artist-friendly smart phone HERE.

Although the camera in this phone is only about 2 megapixels in resolution, it is simple to use, and sending photos from the device to e-mail or other conduits is ever so easy. 

Bloggers May Want to Know About Qassia

We were just talking about SEO tools and although it is still in Beta, I just today stumbled across a really exciting new one.  Apparently it has been around for a few months, but it is new to me:

Qassia/

Oh, and if you click the link you will see a new version of my grapefruit and bananas art shot!  Ever wonder why I write all this stuff?  The explanation is there too.

Qassia looks fantastic and the owner has a wild sense of humor, so if you sign up, be sure to read and understand the Terms of Service.  That said, the purpose of the site is to help bloggers get back links without working their posteriors off.  Looks like a great place for some Geeky social networking, too.  Is that a contradiction of terms?  I don't think so.

Already some people of limited capacity have been advertising Qassia as a place to make a fast US$, but a quick glance and/or a little common sense should tell visitors that the gimmick they use called Qassia "Bucks" are not real money.   When you write an article (they call them "Intels") or rate someone else's article, or recruit a new member, they award you Qassia Bucks, and the incentive for earning them is that people with a lot of the play money bucks get more exposure for the blogs they wish to promote. 

One problem I have with their rating system is that if an article is obviously plagiarized, the rater cannot verify the authorship or reject it as part of the rating process.  Instead, you can wait until 12 other people have approved it and then go in and flag it as inappropriate.  By that time it has already been published with a high rating from people who may not have noticed that it was not original material.  That part of the process is greatly flawed, in my opinion. 

I'd tell you more, but right now I have to get back and start expostulating! 

Choosing Your AeroGarden

Just Call Me Dr. Mom

Affordable Web Hosting

I have been using Blue Host for my web hosting for four years now and they are the best service of this kind I have experienced.    Here is the Domain Tools "whois" for my web page:

Who I Am

I decided to post that link here because in conversation with a friend recently, I was again reminded that some people who engage in business on the internet are not aware of the value of "whois" tools.  I would suggest that anyone who buys merchandise on the internet or joins paid-to programs should be familiar with the tools which allow us to do our "due diligence" and find out a little bit about just who is responsible for the various web pages we habitually access and use.

If you have have a blog and/or web page of your own, you might also be interested in the free SEO tool provided by Web Site Grader.

Of course, if you don't want to end up on their mailing list, be sure to uncheck the box before you send them your e-mail.

And if you are looking for a great web hosting service, it is just one click away:

BlueHost

I don't know how they can keep offering all those tools and all of that service year after year for just $6.95/mo, but I'm sure not complaining. I've only had to use their excellent customer service a few times, but when I did they were ever so patient and helpful, never making me feel clueless even when I was.