Remember Newtame, that sweetener from China that Wilx got me that was 8000x sweeter than sugar? I finally made something delicious with it. Led by my sugar-starved tastebuds, I present.. “Delicious Pink Fluff.”

Delicious Pink Fluff

1 brick of Neufchatel cheese

1/2  pint of heavy whipping cream

1/16th tsp newtame (I eyeballed this)

1/2 package of sugarfree cherry jello

I took out a hand mixer and whipped the cream on a low setting for a minute. Then, I added the jello and newtame. I whipped it more, and very slowly added the cheese. This can be refrigerated for up to a week. Your fluffy pink treat is sort of like if frosting and whip cream had a baby. Low-carb, keto-friendly, and gluten-free, this dessert will probably make your stomach happy without altering your DNA. Maybe. This is what happened last time we ate newtame: http://www.ivomitrainbows.com/archives/474  .. never, never touch the newtame, or let the powder get all over your kitchen. You’ll taste sugar for weeks.

Optionally:  If you don’t have newtame, 2-4 packets of stevia works fine, too. I kinda just make this to taste. I also sometimes use cream cheese, but I feel like I can eat more of it if it’s Neufchatel since it has less calories and fat. I tried freezing it last week, and the coldness lessened the taste of the cherry. To make a popsicle version of it, I’d try using the whole box of jello.

Click around in the photo to see!

It’s actually pretty fun to play with. Quality isn’t super amazing, but it’s unique. The design on the device is really interesting because it’s lightweight and silicon, with the buttons fairly flush with the device. The lens cap is magnetic. You set the exposure by tapping on your viewscreen. They start at $399 and you can only get them from Lytro directly.

(this is totally me now)

I guess I never stopped loving comics, but I definitely stopped reading them for a year or so. While I was saving up for Antarctica, one of the first things to go were my comic book subscriptions. I pretty much only read things that people handed to me. However, I was still shooting comic events, and feeling increasingly out of the loop.

Dave bought the newest iPad last week, and I inherited his old one. The first thing I put on there was ComiXology, since I’d been thinking of buying digital comics for a while. I’d checked them out before, and the reading experience is really nice. They have a massive selection of books from a variety of publishers, and both Marvel and DC offer books same-day.

Then, I bought a Marvel digital comics subscription, which is like a library card for digital comics. I thought it’d be nice to read any comic on the iPad. Sadly, the subscription only works on the web, which has a bad interface, so I cancelled it.

There was a Locke and Key sale on ComiXology, so I bought the first two graphic novels. After finishing them, I immediately bought the next two because the story was super addicting. It’s a mystery/supernatural comic with incredible art, and many, many layers of story detail. They’re making it into a movie, and I can’t wait! These are the best comics I’ve read in a long time. It’s about a group of kids going through some tough family sadness, and a mysterious house with an intriguing history. The comic won an Eisner, so I know I’m not the only person to fall in love with it.

My friend Josh Fialkov did a Doctor Who story, so I bought that today. I grabbed Vol 2 #12-15. It’s a story with the Doctor, Nazis, Fezes, Amy, and Rory. It felt like something straight out of the show. The art was a bit odd. The artist is Matthew Dow Smith, who has kinda a boxy lineart style, but it grew on me and I really ended up liking it.

When I was at WonderCon I picked up some print comics, my favorite being Smoke and Mirrors, which is a new book by Mike Costa and Jon Armstrong. It’s got a magic trick built into the book, and the story and art are awesome. If I’ve dragged you out to the Magic Castle in Hollywood, you might have seen Jon do comic-themed magic. Buy his book!!

I also checked out a few issues of Ferals, which is a great warewolf mystery comic from David Lapham and Gabriel Andrade. It’s kinda gory, but it was a fun read.

It’s so weird how the iPad’s opened up this whole other world for me. I think Dave’s favorite part will be space in the closet for things that are not comics.

So far I’ve just been using Draw Something and ComiXology. Oh and I totally made my cats play a game; #CCC kept trying to find the laser under the iPad, and Binary didn’t care at all. If you have suggestions for apps that I should be downloading, leave it in a comment!

A couple weeks ago , we celebrated cstone and eliot’s birthdays in beautiful Pasa Robles. I made some cupcakes. The first set are from the cartoon Archer. They’re drawn onto rolled fondant with food markers. Cstone’s into animals and bikes, so I built some for him out of fondant. There are some breadcats and honey badgers in there.

Skrillex and Deadmau5 say “Happy Valentine’s Day, Dave”

There was also a lot of sadness this year, as people I know went through some difficult health challenges. I have spent far more time in hospitals this year visiting people than I’d like. Seeing the entire hacker community rally together to sign up to donate bone marrow was amazing beyond belief.

And 2012.. NinjaPenguin will be in Africa. In May. It’s time to explore the world again.

(also… I really really love my friends.)