The last few days I have been engrossed reading one of my favorite YouTuber’s blogs, from the beginning to present. Oh, Hey Kristina chronicles Kristina Horner’s adventures from late 2008 to today. I read about her travels, finishing college, taking a chance quitting her conventional part-time job and earning from her various online endeavors.

The most riveting part of her blogs have been in relation to the two major relationships she had during this time. Both were long distance with YouTubers she had known for awhile before they began dating. In the end it seems neither have worked out, but when you’re her age dating is such a learning experience.

As I said in a previous blog entry, watching their vlogs on YouTube is my new soap opera. The addition of their blogs, facebook entries, twitter and tumblr posts fills in the gaps left out of the vlogs (to some degree).

At the end of the day I know it’s none of my business and they will share as much, or as little, as they choose. I have no right to demand they share more than they are personally comfortable with. It is disappointing that some fans are attacking Kristina, Luke, and others for not sharing more.

I actually like that they are being somewhat mysterious about what’s really going on – it adds to the suspense. Eventually Kristina will find a new love (hopefully the one she will spend her life with – I think she deserves that), and that Luke, Ingrid, Ray, Alex, Jason, Joey, Brittney, etc. will also find what they are looking for long-term.

For now I remain riveted to their vlogs, blogs, tweets and tumblr posts, looking for the next hint of what’s happening in their lives. Sad? Maybe, but it sure beats what’s going on in TV Land these days!

The 11 faces of The Doctor, outside his infamous TARDIS

One of my most favorite (and longest running) series is Doctor Who. I’ve watched this series since I was a wee small lass back in Chicago. Back then it was on WTTW (PBS) Channel 11 at 11pm on Sundays (way, way past my usual 8pm bedtime). My mom was a fan and she would persuade my grandmother to let me stay up and watch it (and I’d have a temper tantrum when I couldn’t … hehe).

The show began in November, 1963, primarily as a children’s program. There was definitely elements of science-fiction (time and space travel, alien worlds, Daleks!) but it was also used as a vehicle to teach history (at least some of the time).

The basic premise (for anyone who has been living under a rock all these years), is that of an eccentric time and space traveler called “The Doctor,” who travels with anywhere from 1 – 4 companions (mostly from Earth, although some companions have been humanoid aliens from other worlds). They travel in his TARDIS (which stands for Time and Relative Dimensions in Space – basically it means it’s bigger on the inside than the outside). His poor TARDIS has been stuck in the shape of a blue police call box, which were common in the UK during the 1950s. It’s been stuck because the “chameleon circuit” which allows it to change shape and blend into it’s environment has been broken (over 700 years now – the Doctor is the king of procrastination!).

The show was popular enough that when the original actor who portrayed the Doctor began to have health problems and had to quit the show, the powers that be at BBC decided to replace him. The Doctor was an alien afterall, and a Time Lord, so why shouldn’t he be able to change his appearance? And so the legend of the Doctor continued with a new actor. To date there have now been 11 actors to have played the Doctor and I must admit I’ve enjoyed each one to one degree or another. Everyone has their opinions and their favorites, but they all added their own unique spin on the character.

I’m hardly the only fan seeing as the series has survived this long (albeit with a long pause between 1989 and 2005, with a brief attempt at a revival in the US in the mid-1990s). I am thrilled to have the Doctor back and I hope the series goes on for many more years.

To that end I will share with you a song selection from some other ardent fans of the intrepid Doctor who were moved to compose original songs in his honor. My favorite of the list is “The Shadow Proclamation.”

Many of you know (or not), that Dave and I have been trying to lead a low-carb life-style over the past 2 months. Dave opted for the Atkins approach, while I am on a modified version of the Fat Flush Plan. From a food perspective the main difference between the two is that Atkins focuses mor heavily on protein, while Fat Flush limits the protein and recommends lots of colorful veggies instead, and some fruit. They are both more complex then that but I would say that is the big difference between the two approaches. I like veggies and I can trade rice, pasta or bread with veggies as a side any day.

With that being said, I want folks to know I just launched a new blog that I am calling “NoCo Carb Conscious.” The main focus will be local restaurant reviews in Northern Colorado, with an emphasis on low-carb options, or the ability to modify an order to make it low-carb. I will also include from time to time some of my favorite low-carb recipes you can make at home.

Dave and I eat out alot, and that can be a challenge if you are trying to be low-carb. There is one great restaurant review blogger in our area, but its clear from her choices that she doesn’t eat a low-carb diet, and I wanted to provide a resource for folks like me who do want to focus on finding low-carb options.

The Three Androids: HTC Aria and the 7" and 10.1" Galaxy Tabs

It all started out innocently enough. I wanted to upgrade to a smartphone. I felt like I was being left in the dust with my antiquated non-smart cell phone. I knew I didn’t want an iPhone because, frankly speaking, I am no fan of Apple or their products (yes, I do own an iMac, but I rarely use it. It’s primary purpose is for testing iOS apps for my clients. It’s secondary purpose is to be a giant iPod).

What I was left with was either Blackberry, Windows something-or-other, or Android. I heard a lot of good things about Android, and did some research and ultimately decided on the HTC Aria. It’s smaller than most other Android phones but I like that – it fits into my jeans pocket nicely, and for me that’s important.

I fell in love with my little Android, but when I heard that Android tablets were coming out I was skeptical as to their usefulness. They seemed more toy than anything else. I then had the chance to play with the early contender – the Motorola Xoom, in March and thought it might be kind of cool. Then I had the fortune of receiving a 7″ Samsung Galaxy Tab as a giveaway at a conference and I fell in love with the device. I found myself using it more than my laptop for media consumption and fighting my boyfriend for it after he became addicted to Angry Birds.

So recently I decided to look into getting another tablet. I did my research and looked at all the options, but I fell in love with the 10.1″ Samsung Galaxy Tab. It’s very thin, light, and the bigger screen makes watching videos an even greater pleasure than on the 7″ version. Other perks include Android 3.1 (vs. Android 2.2), a much more powerful wi-fi adapter, and a longer battery life.

Unfortunately I once again found myself “fighting” my boyfriend for the use of it, so for our anniversary this year I went ahead and purchased him his very own 10.1 Galaxy Tab. Now there is peace again and we’re both in Android tablet heaven!

Based on popular demand here is my recipe for Sangria (this should be enough for a small party):

• 1 box of Black Box Merlot (or 4 bottles of your favorite inexpensive red wine).
• 8 Shots of Brandy
• 4 Oranges
• 4 Peaches
• 4 Lemons
• 4 Cups Strawberries (Sliced)
• 2 Cups Sugar
• 8 Cups of Sprite

Mix the wine, brandy, fruit and sugar a few hours before the party and store in the refrigerator. Just before guests arrive add the Sprite (so it doesn’t loose its fizz). Do not add ice to the Sangria – this tends to water it down too much. Allow guests to add their own ice and needed.

Recently I had some bouts of tummy problems – mainly a stomach inflammation that potentially is the early stages of an ulcer. I went to see a new doctor to get checked out and now I’m taking Prevacid for about 2 months, and abstaining from alcohol, coffee and ibuprofin (he prescribed me 2 alternative pain-killers for when I need them).

I’ve always enjoyed a glass or two of wine or beer with dinner, or the occasional cocktail when dining out or at a party. While I’m off alcohol for awhile I really didn’t want to be relegated to drinking just water at every meal (and soda and fruit juice are just too high in calorie/sugar). So I decided to dive into the world of non-alcoholic beer and wine and see what’s out there. I haven’t tried all the offerings yet but here are some of my initial thoughts.

First of all I’m finding beer is much more suited to being turned non-alcoholic than is wine. It really doesn’t lose a lot of it’s character or flavor in the de-alcholization process. Red wine in particular loses almost everything in the process of having the alcohol removed, however the White Zinfandel I tried wasn’t half bad (for a White Zin).

The NA beers that I’ve sampled so far have been far more enjoyable. My favorites so far are in this order: Paulaner Thomas Bräu, O’Doul’s Amber, St. Pauli Girl NA. All three go down smooth. I like the Paulaner the best because it’s got a nice malty character and is the sweetest of the three. O’Doul’s Amber has a lot of flavor without being hoppy. St. Pauli Girl is slightly hoppy, but not so much that I can’t enjoy it. In fact I think it would be excellent to mix with a lemon-lime soda like they do in Germany.

There are a lot more options to try so I will update this list when I’ve had a chance to try them.

Ok I apologize to any of my friends out there that might take offense to this but I really have to blog about this. Some of you may not know that Kirk Cameron “found god” some years ago and has been making lots of videos for an organization/ministry called “The Way of the Master” (ok even the name of the ministry is creepy if you ask me). However when I saw the following video I seriously had to wonder if he and his cohort Ray Comfort hadn’t completely lost their marbles (and clearly didn’t do their homework). Check this out:

Ok for those of you who don’t know – bananas were domesticated and cultivated by humans. For centuries they were a cooking fruit because they were not edible raw. It wasn’t until a lot of crossbreeding and hybridization that we now have the bananas we all know today.

This, my friends, is a wild banana:

Which, remarkably, doesn’t fit perfectly into the human hand. Not to mention the fact, technically you’re not supposed to open the banana at the “tab” at the top, but at the other end (I guess chimps are smarter than us). So Kirk and Ray’s supposition that the modern banana is proof of the existence of a higher power – then I guess people are that higher power since we basically invented the modern banana.

Lynnea, the Asmodian Warrior Daeva (from the game Aion)

Hi, my name is Gabs, and I’m a Gamer Chick. And no, I do not need counseling, therapy or to “get a life”.

I’ve actually got a pretty good life these days – I run my own consulting agency (ok, it’s a sole proprietorship, but it’s still an LLC!). I’m helping my boyfriend remodel his house (and we’ve been happily together for over 4 years now). We have a good group of friends that we see regularly, and once our basement remodel is done we’ll start having more parties as well.

However, in my spare time, I do enjoy gaming, albeit somewhat casually. I don’t have the hours to dedicate for running raids in World of Warcraft or Aion (or at least very rarely). But there are so many other things to do in these games besides the raiding (which I hear can get tedious if you keep doing them over and over again!). For a change of pace I also enjoy playing Sims 3, or replaying the old Myst games I still have.

Well to that end I’ve posted a few videos on GabsPlace, and so far they are all related to gaming (the two music videos from “The Guild”, a video from WoW and one from Aion). I hope to convey at least some of what I find so entertaining about these games through my video selections. Enjoy!

New Toy

I finally broke down and got a new smart phone the other day. The standard mobile phone I had was driving me a little nuts in its lack of functionality and the fact it kept having technical issues with calls.

So I headed to the local AT&T store and checked out the HTC Aria. I had read it had recently come out and was AT&T’s 2nd Android offering. I personally did not want an iPhone (I have always had issues with Apple products but that’s another story). I didn’t like the first Android offering that AT&T had (the “Backflip”). The physical qwerty keyboard was a nice feature but it flipped back so it was always exposed and I wasn’t comfortable with that.

The Aria does not have a qwerty keyboard, which from a plus side, makes it a smaller, lighter phone. On the negative it means I need to use the touch screen keyboard. I’m still getting used to it, but so far that has been the only negative in my opinion.

I found a ton of great apps (both free or cheaply priced), and the fact it includes wi-fi so I don’t have to incur large data charges when browsing the internet with it is also a plus. Overall I’m loving it.

Housekeeping

Also Dave and I finally broke down and decided to get a housekeeper. I’m getting busier with my work and just can’t keep up with the clutter around here anymore. I interviewed two possibly candidates on Friday and Dave and I have decided on one. She was more experienced, professional and seemed to have a good grasp of what was needed and how much work there would be. She seemed to think she could get this place in ship shape in one day, and then 2-3 hours/week going forward to help us keep it that way.

It will be *so* nice to be in a cleaner, more organized home. I’ve never been a good housekeeper, and neither is Dave. We just really need help in this department and I’m hoping this all works out for us in the long run.