mafief | Entries tagged with personal

Sherlock Toadstool and Doctor Fungus made by SCFrankles have arrived safely.

They are adorable and well made and should have their own squee fest. :) They will have more adventures outside when it’s mushroom appropriate weather to get a proper photoshoot. Right now, they’ll hangout on a shelf and (hopefully) not get into mischief.

Now to name the species! (The creator can correct me if I stray from the inspiration).
Sherlock Toadstool is a Fly Agaricus. It’s a big, spindly, showy mushroom. They’ll have a partial veil (the tissue around the stem) that protects the gills in immature mushrooms. Oh, and it's poisonous. They’ve traditionally been used in a fly trap by adding a cap to a bowl of milk.

Dr Fungus I’ll call a bolete species. They are stubby, compact mushrooms that blend into their surroundings and have pores instead of gills. There is often a color change from the top of the stem to the bottom. The pores will often turn a color when bruised.

Questions from

smallhobbit
15: What kind of character do you wish you saw portrayed more often?
A mother who hasn’t royally screwed up their child or isn’t a total f-up. But that removes a whole dramatic thing that would make the story more interesting, so blah.

16: What’s more frustrating: plotholes or OOC characters?
Characters going OOC. I’m reading the fic because I like the characters, so when they stop sounding like the characters it’s disappointing and I stop reading the fic (and used the back button and go somewhere else).

19: Do you think major character deaths are ever necessary?
If it’s a bad guy who you’ve been waiting the whole time to have killed off, then I have no problem with it and might actually cheer (and I’m not going to examine that too closely).

If it’s exploring that part of the human experience, then sure I’ll read it if I’m in the mood and want to cry. I’ll also spend the rest of the day recovering from it. I’m in my mid-thirties and haven’t had a lot of friends or relatives die, so I’m still uncomfortable with the whole thought.

If my favorite character is killed off for shock effect, I’m not happy about that. I was mad when they killed off Daniel Jackson because the actor wanted to do other things. But, he came back because you can’t really kill someone off in sci-fi.

Questions from

scfrankles
20: If you could ‘unkill’ any character from any story, who would it be?
Any of the times Hobbit has killed off Watson. ;)
Besides me being silly, I will say one is Commador Norrington from Pirates of the Caribbean. They were not nice to him at all and he didn’t deserve any of that treatment. :(

8: Favorite quotes?
I think I’m supposed to have some super serious or philosophical one or something from a famous person, like “The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not, 'Eureka! I've found it,' but, 'That's funny!'” or “do or do not! There is no try.”

I don’t. Mine is the punchline from A Bug’s Life where they loose the walking stick character in a bunch of twigs.
“I'm the only stick with eyeballs!”
It’s not serious and I remember a very happy memory of me, my sister and mom quoting that line randomly.

13: Are there any tropes you’re embarrassed for enjoying?
I still find it uncomfortable to be associated with liking a typical girly thing of a novel focusing on love and romance (which I realize is like 80-90% of fic). The persona I’ve been very comfortable with for decades would have never read it and would prefer the hardcore sci-fi or fantasy or non-fiction (exception: I’ve tried for years to get through The Glass Bead Game and I just can’t.) I just recently told my mom I was looking for decent novels with the plot focusing around love and romance. I’m pretty sure I blushed like crazy. She was a little shocked but really excited to share some of her findings.

Now I know this means I have a case of cognitive dissonance considering it’s some of my favorite parts of fic. But even saying I like it is a step for me. So part of my journey with fanfics is becoming comfortable with the knowledge that I do like things I had attributed as a girly thing I avoided at all cost.

I’ve said I’m an omnivorous reader, but it hasn’t been like that until sort of recently. It’s been fun reevaluating my likes and dislikes and I’m enjoying exploring all the things. :)

My family hiked Bald Knob this weekend for my husband’s birthday. I only giggled at the name just a little bit.

Bald knob is located in the Ossipee mountain range. What’s special about this place is it’s an extinct volcano. The volcano was active in the Jurassic Period and subsequently covered by various glaciers over time until the last ice age where it was covered in 500 ft of glacial ice. So, it’s been worn down a little. You can see the ridge of the volcano in the map below. The tiny red dot is near Bald Knob.

These are columnar formations only occur in areas with a volcano. It’s the same process that made the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland and the Devil’s Tower in Wyoming.

This bit of knowledge is also useful to psych the boys up about a ~6 mile hike. Because, seriously, who doesn’t want to visit an extinct volcano? Mr Four was not convinced we were on a volcano and kept asking where it was. Mr Six was narrating the hike and was convinced that every feature was made from lava and that any round rock was a dinosaur egg. He was partially right about the feature part. Both boys thought the view was the best part of the hike and I agree that the view of Lake Winnipesaukee is gorgeous.

The red castle-like building that is there but can’t be seen well is called Castle in Clouds. It was built by some millionaire around 1910. We didn’t visit it, but it’s a popular destination.

The boys made friends with everyone we hiked past. We met one friendly lady who was a paddle board instructor and was conditioning her whistle trained dog. The boys found her fascinating and wanted to blow the whistles she was carrying. She gave the boys a whistle and, since she lived nearby, left a second one in her mailbox for us to get later. While this was amazingly sweet, I - the parent of children who now possess very loud whistles - am on the fence.

The boys did an amazing job and walked the whole thing with their little legs. They were the youngest people we passed by that day, and the adults who were older than me were impressed by them. This was the longest and steepest trail they have done so far. There was minimal complaining and we didn’t have to carry anyone. It also helps that I brought swedish fish and sour patch kids as extra motivation to get to the next resting place. But whatever, they did great and I’m very proud of them.

Nickname: Mafief

Zodiac: Aquarius

Height: 5′5″ Until recently, I thought I was 5’4”. I’ve been jibbing myself an inch!

Time: 12:07 am

Favourite band/artist: I don’t have a favorite. like bands similar to Florence + the machine, mumford and sons, Phillip Phillips, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Imagine Dragons, etc.

Song stuck in my head: Geronimo by Sheppards because Mr Three has been singing “say Geronimo” as “say the Geronimo” non-stop.
Last movie I saw: That I picked (this distinction is important): Infinity Wars

Last thing I googled: popular waltz songs, gramophone records, 1920

Other blogs: I’m on Tumblr as Mafief and I was crossposting to LJ.

Why did I choose this username: It was a childhood nickname given to me because a classmate asked me if wanted fishy crackers (goldfish) and my real name and fish got smushed together somehow. But, really it’s usually available on most platforms I want to use, which I find surprising since it is only six letters.

Average amount of sleep: 7ish hours unless I get pounced on in the early morning hours

Lucky number: none

What am I wearing: brown shorts and a white tank top with tiny grey butterflies.

Dream job: Errr… I can complicate this one... How about something vague like something sciencey that involves plants.

Dream trip: I want to travel again. 1) New Zealand. So I can see the other side of the Nothofagus forest (I saw one side in Chile). 2) UK. I already have a list of places and peeps I want to see.

Fave food: Right now, it’s blueberries from a PYO place.

Play any instruments: Piano but only at the beginner level. I can’t read music and I have a hard time with written notes with tones. Beats are also confusing. So, I wouldn’t trust myself with a tambourine.

Eye colour: Brown

Hair colour: Dirty blond (what an awful color name…) and I’m finding a few grey hairs in there.

Describe yourself as aesthetic things: Since I found this on tumblr, this must be a tumblr thing that I don’t understand. Umm… A tree in winter in a field of white snow.

Languages you speak: English (americanized). I have taken years of Spanish and none of it stuck.

Most iconic song: Just pick one in general? Alphabet song or American Pie

Favorite book: Nope, not gonna pick.

Random fact: You have mites (all humans do) that live on your forehead and they were given to you by your parents. We can trace your lineage by it.

( Read more... )

One of my husband’s (J) coworkers has recently moved here from the UK. She brought back candies and J snagged Fruit Pastilles and Smarties to share with us.

The Fruit Pastilles reminded me of a stiff (or frozen, minus the cold) gummy bear covered in large sugar particles. I found it odd that they were in a wrapper and foil, similar to the packaging of LifeSavers. I was expecting the consistency of a LifeSaver (hard candy), but they were much softer. Despite the extra sugar coating, these candies were not exceedingly sweet and seemed less sweet compared to most US candies that I’ve had. (Remember that I have limited taste ability, but I can tell sweetness levels that aren’t relying on small molecules to trick our brains into thinking the thing is sweeter.)

Smarties were next. In the US, we have a candy called Smarties, but they are a sweet, chalk-like, round disk. Side note, Smarties were an important part of keeping me awake during lectures from a prof who could cure insomnia. These reminded me of a large, flat M&M, but less sweet compared to an M&M. The sugar shell is thicker compared to an M&M. The chocolate, in consistency and flavor, seemed different as well. The Smarties packing is a cardboard hexagon, which is neat.

The last thing I thought was interesting was the nutritional facts and comparing how they are written and organized to what we have in the US. I’ve included the Know Your Servings from Smarties and Nutritional Facts from a box of Raisins. Both use 2000 as the daily value/reference intake. UK has more details and numbers in a table while US has grams per serving and % daily value. Other differences include salt vs sodium, labeling or not labeling cholesterol, etc. Looking at the packaging further, I think another difference is calling these sweets versus candies, but I’m not entirely sure.