How to make an Orange Julius

Hi readers! Today, I'm going to teach you how to make an Orange Julius. It's a drink, made of orange juice and milk with a few extra things.

So, to make it, you'll need:

• Six ounces frozen orange juice concentrate
• One cup of milk
• A half cup of water
• A quarter cup of sugar (use a bit more if you want it sweeter)
• A teaspoon of vanilla
• A scale to measure your concentrate
• A liquid measuring cup
• To know how to use a blender

This is really easy. Measure out the ingredients and blend them together until they form a smoothie-like consistency. Then just pour into a glass and drink your Orange Julius! Serves three. Best enjoyed on a rainy day in a comfy chair with your favorite book.

I hope you make this, because it's DELICIOUS. --Taryn 

The tardigrades

A tardigrade. Image from National Geographic

Readers, have you ever heard of the tardigrades, also known as waterbears or moss piglets? They are so awesome! 

They have survived all five mass extinctions and came into existence about five million years ago. They're about the size of the head of a pin. On Cosmos, Neil deGrasse Tyson said, "For every one of us, there's a billion of them". They can survive some of the harshest conditions on Earth, from just above absolute zero to well above the boiling point of water and the vacuum of outer space! They can go without food or water for at least ten years, and, in my opinion, are some of the greatest animals in the world. You probably can't keep them as pets, due to the fact that they're microscopic, but whatever. Yay, tardigrades!--Taryn 

10,000 pageviews

Hi readers! As you might have noticed, I installed a gadget that tracks the all-time pageviews to this blog. I want to get ten thousand pageviews by, say, October thirty-first. Can we do it? I sure hope so! 

Okay, I'll make a deal with you: I will post at least once a week, and you will check my blog at least once a week. Does that work?
All right. Let's hit ten thousand! --Taryn
P.S. I don't track my own pageviews, so this is all on you! No pressure or anything, though. 

What should be on YOUR In Case Of Boredom List

Hi readers! As you might remember, I wrote an In Case Of Boredom post several months ago (if you're new to this blog, check it out here). Well, here's some stuff that should be on yours! (In no particular order, just so you know.)

• Note: always, always remember that you should never panic in the face of boredom.

• Tricky Triangle. This is a very fun puzzle game, in which there is a wooden triangle with several pegs in it. The object of the game is to jump each peg but one. Best time to use: anytime you need quick entertainment, such as while you're waiting for a parent to reach the front of a long, long line. Also good for long car trips/short plane rides if you're really persistent at puzzles and never quit until you figure it out.

How a Tricky Triangle game might start

Stuck? Here's a hint: if you can arrange your pegs into the position below, you've won!

Winning position

• Lots of origami paper. Learn the ancient art of origami! (At least, I think it's ancient.) It's fun, comes in different levels of difficulty, and is great to do with friends. Go here and here for two excellent instruction sites. Best time to use: there are some super-easy figures to fold, such as the frog and the lucky star. Have a boring class? You can easily make the star if you've got pre-cut paper strips, and the frog can be done with just a piece of rectangular paper. Just memorize the directions and fold away!

  

  Origami paper, probably available at your local craft store.

• A big ol' stack of books and magazines. Add a quiet, sunny corner, a comfy chair, and your favorite snack, and you've got instant non-boredom. Also works with an electronic reading device or an audiobook. Best time to use: On a bright but cold weekend, where you should be cleaning but want to relax. 

• A tablet of some kind. Play apps, text, and videochat with friends! Best time to use: when you've finished homework and chores but don't know what to do before bedtime. 

Now go out there and stop being bored! --Taryn

Yay!

Hello, readers! I have gotten eighty-two pageviews today. EIGHTY-TWO! Thank you so much for this! Thank you thank you thank you! I promise I'll keep posting! --Taryn

Taryn the origamist

Hi readers! 

On Monday, I started doing origami. Miss Dawn and Diana helped me with a few things, and now I'm having tons of fun with it! Here are a few of my creations:

The house is the object under the cicada. There's also another cicada in front of the house.

Two blossoms and a frog.

Top: piano. Left: sitting fox. Right: another blossom.

Sometimes I do get frustrated with myself and the origami, but I still have fun doing it. So far my favorite things to fold are frogs and the blossoms. 

Oh, I get instructions from this site. Also, Kathy and I coined the term "origamist" last night. It means a person who does origami. 

Have fun with origami!--Taryn

P.S. Thanks to my FIFTY-SEVEN readers who inspired me to write this!

What I want to eat in Iceland

Hi readers! Iceland is right around the corner (my family takes off in May) and Mommy and I have just finished watching a show about Icelandic food, which was really cool. The host of the show ate fermented shark! (In Iceland, it's called Hákarl. Sounds like how-karl) He said it smelled really bad. I still want to try it, though, along with these other foods:

• Skyr (say Skir). An Icelandic dairy product, Skyr supposedly tastes like yogurt, is full of nutrients and comes in many different flavors.
• Svið (pronounced Svith). This is a sheep's head. You can eat the cheek, tongue, eye, brain...pretty much any part that's on it. Sometimes, Svið is served with rhubarb jelly.
• Hot dogs from Bæjarins beztu pylsur. This hot dog stand is said to serve some of the best hot dogs in the world. 

The outside of Bæjarins beztu pylsur. Image from Wikipedia

• Slátur (rhymes with cow-ter). This is Icelandic for blood pudding. It's rye flour, and oats mixed with blood and steamed in a sheep's stomach.
• Fish. Wow, Taryn, after all those weird-sounding foods, you just want to try fish? However, Icelandic fish (mostly haddock and cod) is very, very fresh. Plus, you can't really go to Iceland without trying the fish.

Also, we're going to the supermarket on a Saturday to get fifty-percent-off candy! Saturday in Iceland is called 

nammidagur, yummy day, or candy day.

While I'm on the subject of Iceland, I found the Icelandic version of "Let It Go". Check it out here.

I AM SO EXCITED!!!!! --Taryn

Happy Easter! (One Day Late)

Hi readers! How was your Easter? Mine rocked.

On Saturday, my family and I dyed about seventy-two eggs. SEVENTY-TWO. And the Easter Bunny hid all of them, plus a couple Cadbury Cream Eggs! Thank you Easter Bunny!!!!!

A sugar egg I found in my basket

The inside of the sugar egg (omigosh, can you BELIEVE the artistry?!!?!?)

A beautiful purple egg that took a long time to dye

A smile I made with gumdrops

Another smile, made with jelly beans.

One of Daddy's many "math eggs"

A Cadbury Cream Egg. Must-have for Easter.

Me, searching for Easter eggs

The cinnamon rolls that would be our breakfast once frosted.

Our grandparents arrived just in time for cinnamon rolls and a quiche that Mommy made. When we were done eating, Kathy and I lead them out to the playground. 

That was a great way to spend Easter, waking up, looking for eggs, eating a lot of candy, and having family around. I hope you had a good Easter too!--Taryn

I'm going to kill Kathy

No, not really. But I made the mistake of letting her do my makeup............

I now have a blue eyebrow. RRRRrrrrrrrrrr.

Quick post

Hi readers! You know what I'm going to say. Sorry I haven't been posting lately, but anyway, this is really cool stuff I'm writing about! Did you know:

That there was a guy (he's dead now) who's full name was Adolph Blaine Charles David Earl Frederick Gerald Hubert Irvin John Kenneth Lloyd Martin Nero Oliver Paul Quincy Randolph Sherman Thomas Uncas Victor William Xerxes Yancy Zeus Wolfe­schlegelstein­hausenberger­dorffvoraltern­waren­gewissenhaft­schaferswessen­schafewaren­wohlgepflege­und­sorgfaltigkeit­beschutzen­von­angreifen­durch­ihrraubgierigfeinde­welyche­voraltern­zwolftausend­jahres­vorandieerscheinen­wander­ersteer­dem­enschderrassumschiff­gebrauchlicht­als­sein­ursprung­von­kraftgestart­sein­lange­fahrt­hinzwischen­sternartigraum­auf­der­suchenach­diestern­welche­gehabt­bewohnbar­planeten­kreise­drehen­sich­und­wohin­der­neurasse­von­verstandigmen­schlichkeit­konnte­fortplanzen­und­sicher­freuen­anlebens­langlich­freude­und­ruhe­mit­nicht­ein­furcht­vor­angreifen­von­anderer­intelligent­geschopfs­von­hinzwischensternartigraumhi, Senior

And also:

Friggatriskaidekaphobia is the fear of Friday the 13th

Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia is the fear of the number 666

Koumpounophobia is the fear of buttons

Omphalophobia is the fear of navels (belly buttons)

Sesquipedalophobia is the fear of long words

Phobophobia is the fear of having a phobia!

Okay, that was a lot of REALLY. LONG. WORDS. Gahhh! I'm turning into a sesquipdalophobic! --Taryn

P.S. All info taken from Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page)

Rascal and Tang: now and then

Hi readers! Kathy and I adopted kittens last August, and I just wanted to show you how much they grew!

Here are the then pics:

This one is them at the adoption place.

 Aren't they just so adorable?!?!?!!?

Here are the now pics: 

Sorry I don't have a lot of now pics. But can you see the difference between the photos?

Tang is ten days away from being an "adult", or one year old. Rascal is one next month. And they will always be just as adorable as they were when they were kittens!

The Adventure Science Center

Hi readers! I decided that instead of one big Nashville post, I'll have a lot of little posts with my favorite stories. Here's the first one!

So, the Adventure Science Center. It was totally awesome. Zelda and I rode on the "flight simulator" except it simulated a roller coaster, not a flight. (You can make it seem like a flight if you want, though.)

I was pretty nervous about riding the simulator at first, but after I'd done it, I wanted to go again. And the best part? I could! You have to pay up front for special tickets, and Kathy and Yessa (Zelda's younger sister) didn't want to ride on it after watching it spin and twist and flip. (When I got off, I saw the video Mommy took of the simulator in action. I wouldn't have wanted to ride on it either because it looked so crazy!)

Zelda and I are ready to ride the simulator...

again.

The simulator doing one of its many flips

After Zelda and I were done, we went over to Kathy and Yessa. They had found a place where you could lift a car off the ground!

Lifting...lifting...

Success!

Next, we all went to an activity where you could "walk with the moon's reduced gravity".  It was fun, but the harnesses were uncomfortable and gave me a wedgie. 

Kathy and Yessa

Me, adjusting my harness

The harness is tightened around you, and then a rope is hooked on.
It pulls you up, therefore the "reduced gravity".

Doing the Flappy Dance

Zelda's a natural!

Whee!!!!!!!!!!!

 After that, we went to the body section of the museum. I saw an actual brain preserved in a jar of something, a cat skeleton, and went down a slide that made a fart noise at the end! 

Cat skeleton

Human brain

Zelda and I also played a game that was sort of like laser tag, except you shoot targets, not people. The targets were supposed to be germs and T cells, I think, and you could either be on the germ team or the T cell team. Zelda and I played on the germ team. We lost.

AND there was a place where you could shoot baskets in a wheelchair. I think that was so you could see what it's like to be handicapped and wanting to play basketball. 

Handicapped basketball 

I could tell you more, but the things above were the highlights for me, and I'd probably bore you to death with anymore details.

Stay tuned for the next Nashville story! --Taryn

Minecraft developers played an AWESOME April Fools' joke

Hi readers! If you played Minecraft yesterday, you probably noticed that your skin was changed to an NPC villager and that you were unable to change your skin back to how it was before. I didn't love being a villager (I prefer my Queen Elsa skin), but I DID love that Kathy totally freaked out about it!

Thankfully it was all an April Fools' joke and my skin (as well as Kathy's) is back to normal.

Well played, Jeb. Well played.

Texture Pack Review Two: Sugarpack

Hi readers! I am totally in love with this texture pack called Sugarpack!!!!!!!!!!!! Everything looks like candy! IT'S SO AWESOME!!!!!!!! (You can download it here.) It will work with 1.7.4.

I've got a few screenshots:

Chest, enchanting table, and cake

Bed

Anvil, furnace, crafting table, brewing stand, and pool of water

Pig

Chicken

The Wall of Food

A sheep

The front of my house

A cow

Click here to find pictures of these things in the default Minecraft look, and also to read my first texture pack review.

Speaking of reviews, Sugarcraft is practically perfect in every way. The only textures I remember being the same as default were for cocoa beans and lapis lazuli. =( Other than that the pack is awesome! Five out of five stars, hands down. Make sure you download it!