|
[20 Jan 2002|10:10pm] |
Durrrrrr... borrrrrrrrred. I think...
Folks, I've opened a new LJ account, which can be found at http://www.livejournal.com/users/muridae. I haven't quite figured out how I'm going to do this yet (start anew in that one? shift all my posts over there?), but I'm going to be switching over to that journal. I've added everyone from my friends list on this account to my list on that one, so if you love me, add me. =)
|
|
|
[20 Jan 2002|10:54am] |
|
My nose and fingers are cold cold cold.
Most of the time, it feels like my life isn't even happening to me. I don't remember events which occurred in my life. I remember the words that go along with them, the way I describe them, but I usually don't remember the things happening. I'm a dispassionate observer of my own life. I'm cut off from myself and from everyone around me.
Now my hands have warmed up, but my feet are freezing. I'm eating chocolate cake. It's not really very good cake, but. I think I'm gonna go get a bath now.
|
|
|
[19 Jan 2002|07:26pm] |
This has been haunting my head lately:
Full fathom five thy father lies;
Of his bones are coral made;
Those are pearls that were his eyes;
Nothing of him that doth fade
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange
(And I alone am left to tell the tale -- call me Ishmael)
Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell
{...}
nothing of him that doth fade, but doth suffer a sea-change, into something rich and strange, and i alone am left to tell the tale.
|
|
|
[19 Jan 2002|03:21pm] |
Snow! Fluffy white snow! Cold blankety snow!
I'm supposed to go out this evening, but I wonder if it'll be a good idea, with the snow. Even if it doesn't snow that much but still might be unsafe to drive, or something.
I've been playing DW7 for a few hours. I am stuck on this awful boss, the HellCloud, who is evil and ugly and I hate him. He immediately wiped out all my characters, so I spent about two hours leveling up characters, learning new spells, and getting new classes. I went back to the boss, intending to kick his butt, and what did he do but immediately wipe out all my characters?!?!? Argh! Annoyingly, there are only two walkthroughs for the game on GameFAQs, and one is incomplete, and the other refers to the Japanese game, so all the spell suggestions are translated phonetically out of Japanese and don't have the same names as the spells in the English version. Eek!
Okay, I found some advice on their message boards, so I'll see if that will work...
|
|
|
[18 Jan 2002|02:41pm] |
Maybe I won't make pizza after all, because I don't feel like making the dough and anyway, I just made a billion little delicious cookies and now I'm in a cookie coma. In a minute, I'm going to go off to the living room and play DW7 some. It occurred to me that I'm 60 hours into the game and I'm still on the first disk. Wow.
Certain people on certain mailing lists I'm on drive me up the wall... Eeeeeeeyick. I know that certain of you out there know precisely who I'm talking about, too. Why doesn't she just stop talking? Grrrr! =P
{yawn} Just a few more days of sluggishness and then it's back to school and I'll be complaining that there's too much to do.
|
|
|
[18 Jan 2002|02:07pm] |
Geeze, I feel downright cheery today. It must be all the food in the fridge and my tummy!
If there is anyone in the world who does not like fresh-baked, just out of the oven chocolate chip cookies with walnuts, let them stand up and be counted! Because I'm not giving that person any cookies.
Burning my fingers on hot cookies RIGHT THIS MINUTE.
|
|
|
[18 Jan 2002|12:07pm] |
I have a lot of left-over cheese mix from last night, plus another whole block of mozzarella and some mushrooms... Maybe I could make a pizza for dinner tonight! Ooh! That's a good idea! Mmmm, pizza. With fresh oregano and basil and parmigiana on top! Ooh, tasty.
Yeah, that'll be my plan. I need to use up my jar of yeast before it goes bad, anyway.
|
|
| more random thoughtlets, i guess |
[18 Jan 2002|11:51am] |
|
My new obsession is the ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif?v=92.2) cooking community. Well, fine then, it's not really my new obession at all. But. I'm reading it. And it's good.
Mmm, that Propellerheads/Shirley Bassey song is on the radio. I really like Shirley Bassey's voice.
Bartleby was up all night last night screaming at the other rats in the cage. I KNOW they weren't fighting, because no one else was screaming back, and there were no loud crashing noises or rats flying all over the place. Just Brattle, up and screaming all night long, probably at perceived offenses like, oh, other rats walking near him or something. I am so tired this morning. I even got out of bed last night and yelled at them all to shut up, that's how bad it was. And I am a decidedly NOT light sleeper -- most of the time, anyway.
Today, I'm making chocolate chip cookies. Mmm. Maybe first I'll watch another Buffy episode. But, should I watch the Buffy eps without Sean? That's kind of unfair, don't you think?
Punkyb, I'm thinking of you. I hope all goes well today.
|
|
| Let's sing more songs about chocolate and girls! |
[18 Jan 2002|10:57am] |
I am currently considering my replies to some emails, which are waiting in my inbox.
A few things:
Fresh Samantha Tangerine Juice tastes exactly like I have always imagined orange
juice ought to taste, except that orange juice always disappoints me with its sourness. For that matter, let it be known that minneolas are the best fruit ever. A cross between a grapefruit and a tangerine, the grapefruit's bitterness is tempered by the sweetness of the tangerine. They are SO GOOD. Completely unrelated, except insofar as I'm eating these things, I knew this yogurt tasted funny. It's got aspartame in it and has that icky grainy aspartame taste. Ew.
Last night we went to the Fresh Fields and wandered around, looking at food, deciding what to buy, for at least an hour. I was looking at the avocados and this woman, who was wearing a Fresh Fields shirt so I assume she worked there, called over to me, "What do you think you're doing?" She was dancing around and singing to the music, and I didn't realize she was talking to me for a second. Then I turned to her and said, "Me?" and she said something like, "Yeah, you, what do you think you're doing over there, touching my buns... things?"
I was flabbergasted. I didn't know what to say. A supermarket worker was chiding me for touching food I wanted to buy? And she didn't even know what the food was called? Maybe she was an imposter. Then she said, "No, no, I'm just kidding, you can touch them." Uh.... I think she thought I was an employee there, and I was goofing off. Or something. I think that store employs a high percentage of freaks and weirdos. There was another time I went there, and I was cornered by this employee who insisted that I worked there, and I had applied for a job. She did not care that I kept telling her that I didn't work there. Person wearing all black, with a lip piercing (that would have been me) must only be able to be employed by alternative supermarket, I guess.
Anyway, maybe there is someone who works there who looks like me. Though I've never seen them. Whatever the explanation, it was just very strange to have someone tell me not to touch her "buns.... things."
Oh, we bought such delicious food! I got a plastic box of honey, with a huge chunk of honeycomb in it. And bag after bag of grains and beans and five minneolas and two tangerines and a bag full of button mushrooms... Chard and arugula and grape tomatoes, ricotta, mozzarella, parmigiana reggiano. Patak's hot curry paste, bread, lemons, walnuts, chocolate chips, fresh oregano and basil, and oh so much more... {rapturous sigh}
For dinner I made: eggplant, baked in the oven and then rolled up with a three cheese mixture on the inside, and baked again with tomato sauce and cheese on top, and red chard sauteed with garlic, plus an arugula/tomato/mache/scallion salad and some bread. I should have made a nice, sweetish, tart vinaigrette for the salad, but I didn't feel like it. As a result, it was slightly bitter, but still good though. The eggplant was really good, so here's the recipe:
2 medium eggplants, peeled and sliced lengthwise
salt and olive oil
ricotta
mozzarella
parmigiana
fresh basil and oregano
black pepper
tomato sauce
Salt the eggplant like you normally do. When it's done, dry it off, then brush with olive oil and stick in a 400 degree oven until it's done cooking. (I think it took about 30 minutes to cook, but I'm not sure.)
Meanwhile, grate the mozzarella and parmigiana and mix them together, in a bowl, with the ricotta. (Leave some mozzarella aside, to top the dish with.) Then chop up the oregano and basil and mix them into the cheese mixture as well, along with some black pepper. When the eggplant is done, remove it from the oven and put the eggplant slices into a small pan. Put some of the cheese mixture on the middle/bottom of the eggplant, then roll them up into little rounds. Once you've filled all the eggplants, cover them with some tomato sauce, then sprinkle some cheese over the top, and cook in a 400 degree oven until the cheese is crispy, about 30 minutes. Voila! Easy and delicious!
Mmm, I'm going to eat the leftovers for lunch today.
|
|
|
[17 Jan 2002|12:12pm] |
|
I'm so BORED! I'm so BOOOOOOOOORED!
Maybe I should go out shopping. Except, I don't have any money, and my car doesn't run very well, and I shouldn't like to go out and have my car break down and find that I've got no one to call to come and help me. And, I've got no money. So.
Is it just me, or is David Bowie starting to look more and more like Michael Gough? Eh?
I wish Sean would come home and we could go to Fresh Fields and get some food and cook up a nice dinner.
|
|
|
[16 Jan 2002|09:35pm] |
|
I think that I need a new bookbag for school. (You have to understand. I already have nearly as many bookbags as I have coats, which is to say A LOT.) But I need another one. I need a really big black bag with lots and lots of pockets and zippers and compartments to keep things. I have larger bags to carry lots of books, but they are the type with only one pocket on the front. And I have smaller bags with tons of pockets, but I can't carry all my books in them.
I am also in need of a new hairstyle. Something that's young and fun and cute and completely unacceptable for a work environment! Maybe I'll even get up the nerve to finally dye it purple! (But probably not.) But I suck with hair. I'm not good at styling it, which is why I always just have plain old straight hair, down or in a ponytail or bun. {sigh}
I thought I would enjoy not going to work for a while. Instead, I'm just depressed. I sit around all day with nothing to do and no one to talk to, and then when everyone finally comes home, I'm not tired and everyone else is tired and they all go to bed and leave me, awake, alone, bored, and depressed.
Insert melodramatic sigh here.
|
|
|
[16 Jan 2002|03:18pm] |
|
I think I'm not dreading the return of school so much now that I know my classes aren't going to be cancelled on me without notice.
On the other hand, and Jill you'll understand why this is so annoying to me, I have Biology with Hanson four times a week. MWF and a lab on Thursday. God. How am I going to survive that much stupid bullshit? Argh.
This semester I fully intend to study really hard and get really good grades. Um... can I rewrite that? This semester, I fully intend to actually do the reading, and get good grades! I don't actually plan on studying very much at all.
(this one's optimistic, this one just crawled out of the swamp)
|
|
|
[16 Jan 2002|12:29pm] |
Oh, yeah, about that whole Temple thing. Today my roster still has my classes on it, and my account balance reflects the payments made yesterday, so I suppose it's all alright. I am still on edge, though, because you never can tell with Temple.
I suppose I should 'fess up! I got another fish! Last night we went out to Best Buy to get that DVD set (hooray). Well, Pets Plus, the good pet store where I bought Moria, is in the same shopping center, so we decided to stop there. I wasn't planning on buying another goldfish tonight, though I have to say that I was thinking of getting another one -- just not last night. Well, I went in there and immediately saw this one goldfish. I think if you see an animal and you immediately, without even thinking about it, know their name, then it's meant to be. So, introducing Bugsy the Goldfish:
He's so adorable! I'm not sure if you can tell, but he's got a big black patch over one of his big, buggy eyes, plus he has black-tipped fins and a tiny black spot on one of his tails. Oh, and black lips.
Now, I'm kind of concerned. Moria was really excited when I put the bag in the water, but now that Bugsy is in there, she seems kind of nervous about the whole thing. Moria is usually a pretty outgoing fish, and she always swims over to see what you're doing, when you are near the tank. Today I opened the lid to feed them both and Moria flew to the other side of the tank and hid behind one of the onion plants. Hmmm. I hope Bugsy isn't a bullyfish. I hope they get used to each other. I'd hate it if Bugsy was making Moria unhappy.
|
|
|
[16 Jan 2002|11:21am] |
|
Does it say something really scary about me that I lust after Alton Brown (that guy from Good Eats), too?
(Okay, fine, it does. But he COOKS! And he's a NERD! He's a nerd who cooks! He has a whole show about the chemistry of cooking! Plus, he has amusing hair! What more do I need?)
|
|
|
[15 Jan 2002|04:12pm] |
I'm watched reruns of Cooking Live on the Food Network. Sara Moulton is just so cute. Yesterday, they were making chowder. The guest chef was this huge man, and Sara Moulton is this tiny little woman, and they looked so funny standing next to each other. She must be five feet tall-ish, and he must have been 6'4" at least. She came up to the middle of his chest.
Anyway, today she had these mystery boxes of organic ingredients. It made me so hungry to watch. The boxes were full of squashes, eggplants, cheeses, herbs, bok choy, baby spinach, chard, onions, lettuce, apples, milk, etc etc etc... It all looked SO GOOD. Now I am lusting to go to the supermarket and buy food. I also have major kitchen outfitting lust. I watch those shows and all I see is how wonderfully sharp and heavy their knives are, how heavy the pans are, how thick and solid the cutting board is. I feel that I must have those things.
I did manage to pay my bill so I suppose I will just have to wait and see whether they cancel my classes or not. Maybe I can convince Sean that we really need to buy the Buffy dvds. Who am I kidding? I don't need to convince him! He'll probably run in the door any minute now and shout, "Let's go get the Buffy dvds!"
Mmm, bored now.
|
|
| Sometimes, I think the gods are laughing at us |
[15 Jan 2002|12:26pm] |
|
Now I am cleaned and shaved, but still not dressed properly. I'm wearing an ugly sweater that used to be a really nice sweater, but apparently my tastes have changed radically because now I think I look rather lumpy and shapeless in it. I really need to go through my clothing and donate away the stuff I never wear. (But I can't! I have emotional attachments to it all! What if my clothing goes to the thrift shop and gets lonely without me?)
While standing in the shower, I felt kinda faint, and thought I was going to fall over, which is probably only because I think I forgot to eat dinner yesterday, so don't get all worried. Anyway, I had the rather brilliant idea of calling Temple, rather than going all the way in there. I called, and was on hold for ages. That wouldn't have sucked, except that they have this really creepy computerized voice that, every four rings, says, "Your. Call. Will be. Answer.ed. When the line. Is. Avail.able." And I was on hold for five minutes.
Finally, someone answered, and I was deeply grateful, oh yes I was. =D I asked to speak to a financial aid counselor, so she transferred me AND.... hung up on me. Noooo! Please don't make me suffer through that again! Called again, was put on hold. Fortunately, this time it didn't seem too bad. I don't think I was on hold for nearly as long.
Finally, I managed to talk to someone, who told me that if I paid my balance from last semester, today, she would put a suppression on my cancellation, because otherwise my classes would be cancelled even if I did pay my tuition today with a credit card. Because credit card payments take 24-48 hours to go through! So, then, if that's the case... you think maybe it would have been a good idea to send the notice that my classes were being cancelled maybe... oh, more than ONE DAY BEFORE THEY'D BE CANCELLED???
(Picture me flying into a blind rage at this point. I was fine on the phone, because I was just grateful that she was going to suppress the cancellation and I wouldn't have to go through the trouble of registering all over again. Now that I'm off the phone, the whole absurdity of it is clear and it makes me so angry that I... Oh, never mind. Just let it be known that Temple's administration is Not Good.)
The woman's tone was also not one that reassured me. She was polite and helpful and all that stuff, but she seemed kind of uncertain. Never good. Still, I have her name written down, plus the time I called, so if they cancel my classes, I WILL go in and throw a Very Polite fit and get it fixed.
Anyway, okay, fine, good. That now means I can call my mother and have her pay my balance, which is alright because it's about $1100 less than I thought it was going to be yesterday. So. I called her up at work, and the man who answered the phone told me that she wasn't in. Wasn't in! She went out on a job, and probably won't be back until 3 or 3:30. I really, really hope she isn't in any later than that, because I'm fairly certain the Diamond Line (Temple's payment line) closes at about 4 or 4:30. If the job she's on runs a little late, I am so so so screwed.
I'd better write down all my course reference numbers, just in case I get washed out of classes.
You can tell I'm upset: I'm mixing my tenses.
|
|
|
[15 Jan 2002|10:41am] |
|
So tired this morning. I don't really want to run all over the place today. (I will probably have to go to Temple, beg them not to cancel my classes, then probably up to my mom's work in Southampton which is a 45 minute or one hour drive from Temple -- if not more. I'd really rather just go back to bed. Alas and woe is me. I'd better get started though; otherwise I definitely won't make it up to my mom's in time for her to pay my bills with her credit cards over the phone, (should it come to that).
On the other hand, these pants are great. http://store.yahoo.com/parachutepants/
|
|
|
[15 Jan 2002|01:47am] |
Uhn. Tomorrow I have to go in to school and convince the financial aid people that they shouldn't cancel my registration please please please please because I promise to pay really so please don't cancel. Oof.
I have got to go to sleep, yet I am not tired... On the other hand, if I were in California, it would be barely late right now! So it's all okay! {mutter mutter} I am completely pathetic today. Tomorrow shall be better.
|
|
|
[15 Jan 2002|12:01am] |
|
I've added a whole bunch of stuff to my Amazon wishlist. I don't actually expect anyone to buy me anything from it, but if you're interested in seeing what it is I desire, then go check it out. You can laugh at my tastes and the fact that I have a wishlist with a bookseller and there are only two books on it.
|
|
|
[14 Jan 2002|11:15pm] |
WTF? I have just done an Amazon.com search for the DVD of the film M. I know it's nearly impossible to get good results with a search term like "m," but Amazon gave me "What's the Worst That Could Happen?" which has no ms in the title. But it's a Martin Lawrence flick, so I guess that's where the m came from.
Ah, I did a search on Peter Lorre, and the very first result was M. M... what a fantastic movie. What a completely brilliant film. I must watch it at least once a year, but now that my VCR is broken, I can't watch the tape, which means I NEED the DVD. =D Back when I used to hang out with a whole bunch of film students, one of the big jokes was to put a chalk M on your hand and put it on someone's shoulder... We thought it was hysterically funny, anyway.
It's got such an amazing use of sound. These days, so many filmmakers take for granted the use of sound in film. Lots of films have huge, overblown soundtracks just because that's what films are supposed to have. But back when sound was so new, people were playing around with it, and of course Fritz Lang would do something so interesting. We tend to think that everything is getting better and better, but sometimes it's the old stuff that is so much better... Back when all these techniques were still new, and were still being worked out. I imagine that in 50 or 60 years, there will be all new holographic film techniques or something, and people will still come back to some of the CGI made in the 90s and say, "Look at how inventive they were back then, when they were still figuring out the new technology." =D
Which could bring me on to a giant tangent about how quality material is produced in any era, but I'll spare you all. Thank me with cookies, please.
Mmmm, cookies.
|
|
|
[14 Jan 2002|10:58pm] |
Note to Future Self:
Future self, I know the bed may look soft and comfy. The flannel sheets are terribly inviting. And you may think you feel tired, even though it's only 6:45 PM. But, if you take a nap, you'll just wake up in a few hours, feeling very groggy and unhappy, which completely defeats the purpose of napping. You will also be unable to go to sleep until about 4:30 in the morning, which is not so good when you have actual things to do the next day. Please take this into consideration the next time you decide to take an early evening nap.
|
|
| Another stupid thing that I hate |
[14 Jan 2002|12:54pm] |
|
I don't like when people misspell the word "bawling" as "balling," only because "balling" sounds like some strange sexual act. In these kind of misspelling circumstances, someone is trying to convey their utter sadness at a situation, while I invariably imagine someone sticking those big pink rubber balls into various orifices, or someone doing stretching tricks with their testicles... It gets in the way of my sympathizing with their grief, that much is for sure.
Someone tell me I'm not alone in this! =D
|
|
|
[13 Jan 2002|10:59pm] |
This is only going to be a short entry, because I've got DVDs and I'm going to go and watch them! Yo!
Today I woke up and made another big pillow. It's really soft and comfy. Then I went to Best Buy with Jill and Sean to buy a new tv for Jill. She got a really nice one. I got two DVDs! Got The Neverending Story (it was the only one in the store, and it was only $15!) and Sleepy Hollow, which admittedly is not the best Tim Burton movie. But. It features that most delicious of eye candy, Johnny Depp, plus it was on sale for only $12.99. That made me happy.
Then we took the new tv to Jill's apartment and spent the whole evening watching cooking competitions and cartoons on the Really Nice Television. Oh, and Mike gave me his hat, because everyone thought it looked cute on me. ^_^ And now, I'm going to go watch The Neverending Story. Yaay!
|
|
|
[13 Jan 2002|03:16am] |
While making my hot chocolate, I got cocoa powder all over my fingers. Naturally, since it tastes disgusting, I licked it off. The taste immediately reminded me of the time Sean and his father wanted hot chocolate, but they ran out of the mix stuff that you put in boiling water. Not knowing how to make it any other way, they just took some boiling water and poured in a scoop of cocoa powder, thus ending up with a mug full of sour-tasting hot water, with little clumps of cocoa floating on the top. They then turned to me and asked, very confused and sad, "What's wrong with this chocolate?"
It still makes me laugh, every time I think about it.
|
|
|
[13 Jan 2002|02:21am] |
|
According to my watch, it's now HOT CHOCOLATE TIME! Mmmmmm!
|
|
| navigation |
| [ |
viewing |
| |
most recent entries |
] |
| [ |
go |
| |
earlier |
] |
|
|
|
|
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=92.2){kind=small}
ratlymanor's journal
