Excuse me sir, when did the mongrels rule china?

Well, when I looked out the window this morning (and a few times during the night) the car was still there.
Neat. I've started calling it Awesomo. It's way too nice for the likes of us I tells ya.

I'm going to spend the day covering an old funky couch with some shaggy orange fabric (I was convinced away from blue and think I'm OK with it) to have a funky couch. It's an old sculpted eggy type couch from the 60s that we picked up at a garage sale for $10 but the cushions are swirled burgundy black and red...I can truly say that shaggy orange will be a huge step up -plus the fabric was not too pricey and hides mistakes well...so hopefully I'll get the couch looking rather funky (and hopefully not too neony) by the end of the day. The couch itself is scupted foam covered in black fake leather. I just have to recover the cushions...

I'll get my sewing badge for sure with this one!

If I haven't seen it it's new to me

So um...yeah.
Have a look at my new car.
It's still weird to say that....my NEW car. Well it's not new new, but 2002 and new to me.

What a whirlwind the past few days have been.
Our old car (whom I've nicknamed Peanut) has been running rough the past few weeks and burning as much oil as gas ever since we were gifted it a few years ago by my brother. It's been good to us, but when we took it in to get looked at we were told it was very ill and needed a new engine. Which was crappy. Poor Peanut is set for the auction yard.

But here's the thing...J and I have always talked about a Mazda protege 5. A loaded one...yellow if possible. And yesterday I called the dealer after our car cacked beyond repair just to see if they had a protege. Well, not only did they, but it was loaded, 5 speed and low low km (45000). It had just arrived. Even had window tinting. So we went to look at it and it's like new and we were able to get financing for what we had been planning to put away in savings until the summer and then make payments at from then on. So other than the fact that it'll be 3 years instead of 2 years plus saving for 6-7 months like we'd been talking about, we've only extended the payment thing by a few months and have the care we've always wanted (well the one we knew we could actually *afford* anyways).
So yeah.
Busy day.
New car.
Life sure is a rollercoaster. Yesterday I was on both sides of crazy and it's all ended up OK.

We get to pick it up this afternoon. We have to get our stereo out of peanut and put in it (need the mp3 stereo) and want a roofrack, but that will come in time. What is important is we have a new freaking car.

Sometimes life *is* good to you.

This sucks and blows at the same time

Well, our car is fucked.
Yes, this is one of those occasions where there is no other word for it - It is indeed fucked.
The compression is shot on 3 cylinders and it needs a new engine.
We were going to save up for a new car and buy it in summer...but now we're Sooo...that's a whole new situation coming on...with our plans being pushed up as rebuilding the car would be close to 3K and honestly, it isn't worth it...not with a new car on the horizon.

Bugger.

Anyone have a money tree?

Wish us luck -we're going to check into our options tomorrow and look at a car at a dealer tonight...it's the one we'd been interested in getting...in 6 months. But maybe sooner now. Or not. Ah...who knows. All we know is we need a car...and this is NOT cool. Neither of us deal well with lots of pressure...and this is a freaking 1000 pound extravaganza falling on our heads. And no small decision.

Boo.

My cat's breath smells like cat food

Well, it's over.
I'm kind of relieved.
Don't get me wrong, it was nice to see my family and I got to get things done around the house, but it was exhausting. We had a family thing every day from the 21-26 and 4 huge meals. Poor Jay didn't actually get any full day off before he went back to work today. A little dissapointing for him. I still have the rest of the week off, but I'm by myself for part of it, so I'm not sure what to do, other than more renos and clean up the mess form all the renos. I just want to veg and drink coffee for a few days.

Ah, don't mind me. I woke up with a headache and our VCR broke and our car isn't running, so I'm a bit moogy. I'm sure it'll all sort itself out with a few days and some money thrown at it. But for now, it's a bit of a downer after the holidays.
Even so, with any luck, we'll have a shiny new years. We're planning a shindig at our place...digging ou t all the lights and music and invited some people over. Good music, good company and tasty eats. We plan to decorate up the place as well and drape some fabric and use lights to fill up the space.

But for right now, I'm just sitting and listening to "The In Sound From Way Out", sipping some coffee and petting the Geek.
So far so good.
Hope you all had a good holiday. Happy 2 days after Christmas.

Happy Holidays

Merry Christmas everybody.

I am full of nog and no less than 3 turkey family meals over the past day or so.
One more tomorrow and we can finally explode...I mean, relax.
This holiday thing is exhausting!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Handy me

Hey hey hey!

My back creaks like an old lady but guess what?
Dad & I have already ripped out moldy drywall and insulation, reinsulated and put up drywall and installed the laminate floor in my room. I'm more than impressed.It's a walnut pattern and reminds me of a Jaguar dashboard, only, you know...it's fake...and not in a Jag.
I still have to mud the drywall, but Dad is still helping us by running some new outlets, put in baseboards, fix a toilet and a few other things that need fixing around here, plus make a run to the dump. I will likely mud the walls myself come January and then I can paint my room and J can put in put in a new light fixture.
I've learned so much from my Dad over the last few days - soon I'll be a very handy woman. I want to learn how to fix all these things...properly. I like knowing at least how to figure out what is wrong with something.
Otherwise I'm just running around in circles like Fry going "fix it! fix it! fix it! fix it! fix it!"

But I have done much today...I'm exhausted. I must finish up some cookie bars for J's coworkers and then sleep as we have another long day tomorrow...

Ho ho ho Me me me....

Because it is my last day at work for TWO WHOLE WEEKS (WOOOOOOOOOOOOO...ahem) I have only a moment to post a bit, as I've lots to do before I bugger off for the holidays. So, just so you don't all doubt that I love you, here's a quick meme, courtesy of Surly Girl.

1) If my shoes don't match my handbag....I get scared, as I don't own a handbag. It must mean that I've cleptomaniacally stolen it from a shop unawares. Which is bad. And I don't really ahve enough shoes to mach a handbag...expecially in winter. It's blue stomping snow boots or nothing. So you see my dilemma in that situation don't you?

2) The first record I bought was..... If we're talking from birth, then I bought a Raiders of the Lost Ark movie story record when I was 7 or 8. The first actual music I bought was "Freeze Frame" on 45. As for full album, I think it was one of those horrible KTel compilations with whatever was on the top 20 at the time...and the first full real album I recall owning was Corey Heart's first album. Feel free to mock me starting........NOW!

3) One of the things I like to eat is.... cheese. All kinds of cheese. It is my favorite thing. My favorites are Wensleydale, Herb Gouda and Lester Herb Swirl...which I'm picking up after my folks leave to nibble on al new years.

4) A few years ago I considered..... QUitting my job and doing something charitable like Food Bank work. But then I realised that doing disease research is charitable...and I like it. So I stayed.

5) I miss.....riding my bike. I can't wait for the snow to melt so I can be back on it again. This taking the bus thing is very inconvenient. I didn't realise how car dependant I was until last weekend when J was gone. I actually walked 30 minutes to the stores in a near blizzard as the buses running on the weekend would've taken over an hour to get there. For where w are, that is rediculous.

And so, that's that.

Have a good day all. I know I will!

What a difference a day makes...

1 day left.
Just one.
Then I'm off for two weeks.
Hot damn.

Interesting reaction, but what does it mean?

I have sampled my beer...and my oh my it is delicious. A light brown ale, fully of hoppy goodness.
After sampling it, I went out and sang Roxanne at Karaoke that evening...
Not sure if it's related though, so I'll have to carry out further analysis over the holidays and let you know my conclusions...
Science can be fun.

Silent Night, Blurry Night

J's away visiting friends in Edmonton so I'm here finishing off the holiday decor, and I'm done with the lights....almost.
Observe...




Very blurry I know, but I have a distinct inability to take photos that are NOT blurry unless I can use the flash..
It's just something I've learned to deal with. Hope they convey the massive amounts of light in the house. There's even some in the kitchen.
Now if Geek would just get out of my trim to go around the door I'll be done!

Twilight Zone time

(cue Rod Serling)
Picture if you will, a quiet home. The computer sits quietly humming...as a dog humps the USB port.
Have you gone mad? Off your meds? No...you have entered the Twilight Zone...

The You Tube video clip is particularly disturbing...
Sometimes the world frightens me.
"Global poverty? Nope, can't solve that...but hey! Want a tiny plastic dog to hump your laptop and amuse your friends...we're ON that!"

*shudder*

Here's a special phone number, so you can call me

So we finally got our digital phone set up last night.
I'm happy - unlimited long distance and call display.
Plus - No more dealing with Sasktel anymore, but same phone number. As a poor broke student they were awful to me on a number of occasions and I'm glad to tell them where to get off.

The thing is, after the hookup guy left I sat around waiting to see who would be the first to call on our "new" phone (yes I lead a very busy life can you tell?)

And who elase should call?
A telemarketer...

bugger.

6 Wierd Things About Me

Here are the rules: Each player of this game starts with the "6 Weird Things about You." People who get tagged should write a blog of their own 6 weird things as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names.

Six Weird Things About Me:

Pacian inspired, geek powered...

1. Whenever I spill water I use the nearest cat to me to clean it up. They're very absorbant you know.

2. I like to drink beer in the bathtub.

3. I'd forget even my name if it wasn't on my liscence. I have a HORRIBLE memory. Someitmes I'll look at an object and not have the word for it. When I get old I'm in for it.AND I can't SPELL licsence either..license? Lisence? *sigh*

4. When reading I block out the whole world. You could probably blow a air horn in my ear and I'd just blink and keep reading. Drives my husband crazy.

5. I have a complete inability to keep a pair of mittens for more than a week. And I always lose the right hand. SOoooo consequently I have about 6 black left gloves at home. Just did it again this morning with my newest replacement pair. Wish you could buy just one...

6. I like tunafish sandwiches with catsup.

I have decided to tag Betty, Pete, Magnus, Thoth, Corey and Chris. Yes I know some of you don't have weblogs. Just put them in the comments. I'm nosy and curious! I choo choo choose you.

Christmas Quiz

I saw this while wandering the weblogs.
I'm a sucker for any quiz.

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?
Nog I s’pose. I can have cocoa anytime. I’m a mulled wine nut actually. I’d rather have it than the other 2. But eggnog pancakes? THAT is another story…

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?
Not wrapped, but by the stocking. This flags a memory for me - I remember sleeping on the hide-a-bed on my sister’s living room one Christmas and snagging my little nephew going round and transplanting gifts he liked from Santa from other stockings to his stocking…I was laughing so hard he heard me. I said nothing and he timidly put them all back where they were, I winked at him and he ran away…

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white?
Colored. White. I'll take them all! I have a thing for blue at the moment. I go nuts with lights at Christmas, although we don’t have any outside in our yard, just all over inside. My newest cool thing are star lights with LEDs inside that slowly change color...cool

4.Do you hang mistletoe?
Nope. Silly stuff.

5. When do you put your decorations up?
In the first week of December usually.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)?
Hmm. My Mom makes these awesome nuts and bolts. J’s Mom makes awesome poppycock and chocolate covered pretzels. J’s Grandma makes the BEST cabbage rolls ever at family supper.

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child?

We spent Christmas up at the cabin when I was 12. My nephew was only a few months old and the cabin was BURIED in snow. We all went out in the woods and got our tree and made all the decorations for it and spent a week drinking hot chocolate and eating nuts and bolts and playing cards by kerosene lanterns with the fires blazing to keep warm. My brother and I played Hoth out in the snow with our action figures and made snow forts and had snow fights. It was the last time our whole family was all together and it really was fantastic.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
Sometime around 5 or 6 I just put it together. Mom & Dad still did a stocking for years though.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
Nope. My Dad was adamant that we “fellowship” on the eve and visit (OK and eat lots too) and on Christmas day we wake up, have a huge breakfast, read the Christmas story and then open gifts one at a time. We’re not really big on gifts in our family, so it’s not a big deal to wait.


10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree?
I’ve got 2. Nana’s old white tree that has blue and silver lights and ornaments on it. We have a smaller fakey tree and it has all the family ornaments and sentimental things from when we were younger as well as all the other goofy Christmas ones.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it?
Love it. We have the bonus of living near lots of hiking paths and a toboggan hill so I LOVE the snow. Bundle up well and you’re set!

12. Can you ice skate?
Yup. I used to figure skate actually and got up to the flying camel spin stage before I realize it was safer for me and those around me if I stopped…plus I just had to face the fact that I wasn’t going to be in the Olympics… It didn’t help that in grade 9 I jumped the triple jump in track and field practice into a pit that wasn’t dug up. I totally screwed up my feet for a while and screwed with my arches enough that now when I wear skates they hurt like a damn, so I don’t skate much anymore.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift?
Hmmm…not really much for the gifts. I DO remember getting a giant smurf when I was 5 though, and I loved him. He was as big as I was. Santa brought him and I didn’t go in to the living room to check my stocking for hours because I thought Santa was still in there.

14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you?Relaxing and being with family. I love just not working, eating food and being with those I love.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert?
I have a few: Blueberry pie, pumpkin cheesecake, scuffles, shortbread,

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition?
I really like going to candlelight Christmas eve service. I’ve always believed that if you’re going to celebrate Christmas then you should really do so. It’s a nice time to sit, sing old songs and look around at the happy smiling people in the candlelight and remember what the whole deal is about.

17. What tops your tree?
The white one – a silver snowflake. The green one, a tiny, red, knitted toque (that's a hat to you non-canadians out there)

18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving?
Giving, although not gifts. I like making things for people. I wish I could tell people to not buy me stuff, just make me something or give me nothing at all. I don’t need gifts for Christmas.

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song?
The Coventry Carol (and the entire Roger Whittaker Christmas Album)

20. Candy Canes! Yuck or Yummy?

YUM

So far so good

I'm still on the blinky shiny things project. Oh it's lookin good...but I'm not done yet.
Here's a bit of what I've gotten to so far...
The tree, R2D2...
And with Gavin's help I'll finish the rest.
Cats are good with blinking dangly things right?
Oh, wait...

Twimming the Twee

The tree went up last night.
JOY
I love Nana's old tree. I've never seen another like it - a white plastic tree that looks like a big cedar. It's very old - I'm so grateful that Nana gave it to us. J lived with his Mom at his Nanas until he was about 5 and his Mom & stepdad got married, and he remembers it always being around. It's really beautiful. And now with LED lights we can put lights on and not melt it or make it smell like plastic in our living room. I've put lots of blue and silver and glass decorations all over it. AND a new decoration this year - R2D2. He's kind of heavy, so he's at the foot of the tree examining the star lights I have blinking under the tree with all the white fabric I've put at the base of it (I'm scared R2 will be too heavy and break a branch).

I am insanely busy today...but it's friday. So I get to go home and try and make homemade Baileys, so it ain't all bad. We'll see how that goes...

Gotta run!

Nothing to see here...

A Meme For December
(stolen shamelessly from Betty):

Write the first sentence from the first entry of every month:

January: As 2006 begins, I find the need to answer a series of random, nosy questions I found.
February: I am SO bored
March: So much snow!
April: I am such a vegetable.
May: I am so stiff...I think if you listen closely when I walk you can hear me creaking!
June: I love these people.
July: Well it's over.
August: Well, I'm off on a crazy kick again.
September: People - I AM the man.
October: It's been a busy weekend so far...all sorts of obligations we forgot, but one of the things we went to has filled me with really happy hopeful thoughts.
November: I had a grand experience last night.
December: Don’t I know it…

Oh well...I was hoping for a secret message or something lucid and insightful.
Unfortunately all I learned is I use short sentences and never get right to the point.
SOOOOOO…a new year’s resolution of mine should be to try and be more forthcoming and concise. J often sputters in frustration at my ability to take 5 minutes to say one fact. Perhaps I should work on that and not try and give every detail...
Or not.

Note to self

Never eat again...

Man I'm still full the next day.
There is really too much food in my life this time of year. AND I have to go out again today for a lunch with one of my bosses. I think I'll just have tea and moan. I mean there's no room for it to fit. I really feel like the bad girl who ate the blueberry candy in Willy Wonka...like I'm going to puff up and float away. And really, as much as I love to eat (and boy do I) there is a point where you just don't want to. I'm already at that point and the main holiday feasting isn't even here yet...

On the theme of food, here's a foody meme I found a while ago...seemed fitting, what with all the edibles I've crammed down my throat in the the past 24 hours...

Favorite food to crunch: popcorn or pretzels
Favorite comfort food: oatmeal with cream and LOTS of brown sugar
Food that makes the best noise: celery when you chew it. Crunchy.
Favorite picnic lunch: salsa, cheese and avocado on ryvita or cheese and crackers.
Favorite food scene/lines in movie: No contest: I'll have what she's having." I'm also fond of "I like oysters AND snails" but it's also a bit creepy...
Favorite food lyrics: "I know my chicken. You've got to know your chicken" ties with "Extra sugar, extra salt, extra oil and MSG, Shut up and eat,to bad no bon appetit" both by Cibo Matto. They had a whole album about foodish type songs (Viva! La woman).
Least favorite food lyrics: "You've got the peaches, I've got the cream" Def Leppard-so very tacky
Best food smell memory: Mom's blueberry pie baking in the oven, and barbecues on summer nights
Favorite summer snack: apples and strawberries
Food that reminds me of the ocean: salmon
Favorite winter snack: cheese and crackers
Most likely to eat for lunch: whatever I had for supper the night before
Least likely to eat for lunch: shrimp.
Makes me gag: steak and kidney pie...and don't even get me started on chitlins or haggis…
Food tradition I don't like: My family's need to put copius amounts of salt on or in everything. How can you taste anything?
Saturday night food: Pizza or curry.
Favorite wild foods: blueberries. (can I include venison?)
Favorite food for sex play: whip cream and chocolate.
Favorite medicinal food: peppermint tea. Makes me feel better every time.
Food that reflects my heritage: apple streudel and fresh baked potato bread
Food most like me: any kind of fruit…:)
Favorite raw food smell: garlic and lime

Gotta go.

Gibberish

The junk email people are getting amusing in their attempt to get through spam filters to sell me cheap viagra. Here's the latest I recieved today:

"He was very honourable, Traddles was, and held it as a solemn duty to somebody in Peregrine Pickle. He said nothing at the time; but saw a plainer perception of him, with a red ridge across my back."

As my friend's mennonite Gran used to say: I gotta give them an A for effort...

Slow days

So there's a new Beck album and a new Gomez album out. I like the electronic...but some good strange rock and blues can really help you make a duvet cover. I listened to these albums while finishing the duvet cover. It's now a giant geometric patterned colorful pillowy awesome marshmallowy thing on our bed. All warm and fluffy - I LOVE it. I'd post a photo, but it's of a duvet and it's on my bed...which just seems a little odd to do...so unless anyone out there has a deeep desire to see it just take my word for it - it's very nice.

As for the new Gomez and Beck albums, go listen to them. They're both great. The Beck is his best album yet (in my humble opinion)-plus you get to decorate the cover with stickers. How cool is that? AND every CD has different stickers. The Gomez album is a "best of" 2 album set with a lot of unreleased songs and B-sides on it and they're all (except for 1) great songs. Royalty one of my favorite new tracks at the moment. I mean with lyrics like these, how can you go wrong:
"Well, treating me like royalty doesn't really matter - cuz I'm the king.
And the king ain't listening to anyone who isn't wearing leather...at all."

Anyways.
It's a good day today. Only -10 with fluttery snow and no wind. Beautiful. I get to go to a potluck at lunch (I made apple crisp with vanilla ice cream)and a supper Christmas party out at Amigo's so I'll be full and happy like the good Bacon Queen I like to be. If you hear a sonic boom it's me exploding after 2 huge meals. Yum.

Because I really have nothing else to say, here's a meme:

Current attire: Jeans, grey wool sweater, blue shoes
Current mood: A bit tired, and moody. It's that time of year when the constant dark days make you a bit off...I can't wait until the day sget longer again so I can see sunlight for real instead of jsut through the windows during work.
Current music: "From Creation" by Thievery Corporation (Richest Man in Babylon)
Current annoyance: The short days. Too little sun makes me want to eat sleep and hibernate. I think I need MORE blinky christmas lights to compensate...
Current thing: Planning my basement room. I have ideas of what to do and I'm finding symbols for hope, peace, serenity and creation from other languages (like japanese, sanskrit, hindi and hieroglyphocs) to paint on the 4 walls...which will be red and yellow. I can't wait to have my own space.
Current song in head: Royalty by GOmez (the song I quoted above)
Current video in player: THe tape we used to tape Doctor Who last night. Very good episode. Part one of a "waking up ancient evil" story. Very spooky..
Current DVD in player: Season 2 of Arrested Develeopment.
Current refreshment: Coffee
Current worry: How to get the obligatory Christmas crap out of the way (gifts) and still get things I'm sincere about giving. I hate "giftin" and shopping for them, but our families really want them...I don't liek to shop at the best of times and christmas season is NUTS. Some gifts we've found as the year went by and picked up, but there are lots yet to get. *sigh*
Current thought: Where can I order another thermometer for myself? And will it be as cool as the other one...or should I just wait until I see one that wants to come home with me?

Things that make me happy:
-Christmas cookies (ginberbread, shortbread and scuffles)
-Hot cocoa with marshmallows
-snuggly naps under the duvet

I'm thankful for:
-my warm toasty new duvet. It's like sleeping under a marshmallow.
-my family
-not having to stress about $$ at least for a while.

Three nice things I will do soon:
-Bake a bunch of cookies for all the single grad students we have here...they're missing their families terribly and I know some of them would appreciate some tasty baking.
-Put up the Christmas decorations.
-Exercise...so all this christmas food dosen't make a home on my butt

3 Words that make me smile:
-Phosphofructokinasekinase (it's an enzyme...)
-Foophy
-unitard


Cheers!

Sniff...

I've always been a bit of a geek.
One of the things that fascinated me as soon as I learned about it was a Galilean thermometer. The idea that someone centuries ago used weights and liquid densities to create a beautiful yet functional thermometer filled my head with crazy ideas. They were so beautiful and came in many colors and shapes. For years and years I dreamt of having one and using it to tell the temperature, just like they did way back then when the earth had just started revolving around the sun and not the other way 'round.
Just after I started seriously dating J my wonderful Mom-in-law bought me one for Christmas and I was ecstatic. I used it to tell temperature and loved to watch the color filled glass drops float up and down for hours at a time. We used it as our thermometer in our first apartment together. I remember that when the last ball was sunk to the bottom it meant to call the landlord and tell him to turn up the boiler...it meant it was 14° in the house and he'd turned the heat down too far again! After we moved, I'd put it near one of the heat vent in the house and then move it away, watching the color filled glass beads move up and down. Often the cats would join me and try to figure out how the little things inside were moving about and walk in circles around it sniffing and batting until they gave up for a bit of a nap.
Lately, my theremometer was in the kitchen where I could see it every day and note the temperature whenever it took my fancy to do so...you'll notice I said was.
*sniff*
Last night it broke. I was getting a pan down to warm up supper when it somehow set the thermometer to wobbling..and like a slow motion piece of film it wobbled bath and forth more and more until it tipped off and fell to the floor, shattering spectacularly into a squillion pieces. After some moping and tears I cleaned it up. The little coloured drops from inside that floated about to tell the temperature survived, oddly enough. I've put them somewhere safe until I can bear to look at them again without my lip quivering. Maybe I'll do something with them as they are awfully pretty.
All I know is, for the next while until I can replace it I'll have to use the thermostat to tell the temperature like all you normal people out there.
*sigh*
How boring...

Cuddle power

Don't I know it...

The day of the rabbit

SOOOOOO much snow. I trudged through knee high snow on the way to the bus. It’s snowed so much over the past few days that some people haven’t gotten to clearing it yet (like us…heh heh. Ahem). I was very jealous of the 3 jackrabbits I saw this morning, hopping away at lightning speed across the top of the snow…while I trudged through it. We cannot park behind our house right now…you cant’ get there. Too deep. And yet my parents drove 3 hours home- made it too. I like it when they visit, but I never realize how much I like my privacy and being eccentric in my own home until there’s someone around making me think about what I do and say (and tell me to wear pants…er, I mean nicer clothes). Silly grumpy old me…

My Mom left me with some cute gingerbread cookie cutters and some molasses. I think tonight I’ll make some cookies. They’ll be warm and full of molasses. Yum. It’ll put me in the Christmas mood. I’ve already made eggnog pancakes. Double yum.
It’s officially winter here. We got a big fluffy duvet a while back and I have to finish sewing a cover for it so we can use it to keep toasty warm. And I can put up Christmas lights soon. I LOVE Christmas decorations. I wish you could keep them up all year…but then I guess they wouldn’t be so special. I found fantastic LED lights with 14 pointed stars that change color and fade in an out. I need to get more of them (there’s only 6 on a string)…they are amazing. We’re going to put up a somewhat hidden wire grid on our basement ceiling and hang them from there…it should look fantastic. Add Nana’s old white tree and 4 zillion lights and you’ll have our house at christmas. Seizure causing blinky overload. I love it.

I really have get to work-break’s over. But with the weather like this, all I want to do is curl up ina blanket, drink cocoa and eat baked things. Maybe I can figure out how to do both…

Ouch

Know what is AWESOME?
Paper cuts!

yes, Im being sarcastic...

PS - Blogger: back off with the overly agressive ads for beta - if I wanted to switch I would have. Sheesh.

The Fountain

So J and I saw The Fountain the other night.
And, it has made it onto my very short list of all time favorite films. So good in fact I may not watch it again (if that makes any sense). I can be easily impressed, I'll admit it, but this movie was something else for me.
It really effected me, and every once in a while you get the feeling a film was made just for you - this was that for me. It was visually beautiful, but it was more than that - the story, the emotions...it was really something I cannot describe. Lets just say I really enjoyed it and think you should see it too and leave it at that.
I just had to crawl in out of the snowy mountains here to recommend it to you all.
But now I must be off to the snowy lab of soltitude.
Ta.

Meh

My whole famdamily is coming over...Mom, Dad, Glen and Karen, Karen's mom...
I'm making roast beast.
Should be good.
Wish I had more thrilling things to tell you about my life but I don't.
That's all you get.

I don't even have any photos of my awesome costume from last weekend...because we forgot our camera. It was great - I figured out how to make appliques and used some glowing fabric paint to enhance them, getting glowing heiroglyphics that spelt out "psytrance" and "joy" on the collar and skirt. And I even had arm shields that glowed, with heiroglyphic H's on them. J had a sah with glowing rune symbols all over it and webbed hands...but I got no photos for ya. Maybe if I"m feeling fruity I'll put mine on some day and post photos. Because I keep forgetting my camera...
*sigh*
Hopefully people we knew who were there will send us some photos. It was a good time: three floors of music in the throne room, Atlantis and th undersea abyss. AND we got invited to the GOMP after party too. Cool.
J got to talk music more and I got to meet a lot of realle great people.

Gotta go baste the beast.
Bye.

How I spent my coffee break

Look, here's a bunch of silly questions I found floating around on Betty’s site:

I see: my coffee cup.
I need: a nap.
I find: biochemical pathways for cancer apoptosis.
I want: a nap.
I have: A job that pays money, which is why I am not at home.
I wish: My basement room of discovery was finished so I could hide up in it and make something.
I love: my cats…and J.
I hate: Cat puke… (Guess what I had to clean up last night at 3AM? On my frickin BED no less…grrr).
I miss: Firefly.
I fear: monsters in the dark.
I feel: lazy.
I hear: the air conditioner.
I smell: coffee.
I crave: a mint Aero bar.
I search: for the keys I lost earlier this afternoon.
I wonder: what I can accomplish tomorrow on my day off
I regret: sleeping in and not working out this morning.

When was the last time you ...
Smiled?: About 5 minutes ago I suppose…whenever I last talked to someone while getting my coffee
Laughed? Ditto.
Cried?: Last night while watching (*blush*) the last Doctor Who episode…
Bought something?: I ordered part of J’s Christmas present a few days ago – and a mint Aero bar yesterday.
Danced? On the weekend…all night.
Were sarcastic? During a discussion at lunch time
Kissed someone? This morning when J left for work
Talked to an ex? I emailed my most recent ex a year or so ago to congratulate him on getting married, does that count?
Watched your favorite movie? Halloween – The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Had a nightmare? It’s been ages. Back in the summer I had a few nasty ones though.

A Last time for everything ...
Last book you read: The Encyclopedia of Irish Fairies. What? I was looking for costume ideas.
Last movie you saw: Theatre: Casino Royale. Home: Sympathy for Miss Vengeance
Last song you heard: The last track on “Okey Dokey” by the Orb
Last thing you had to drink: Coffee. Still at it.
Last time you showered: This morning.
Last thing you ate: The last piece of a mint Aero bar.

Do You ...
Smoke?: No. I have asthma, so that’d be silly. I love the smell of good cigars and pipe smoke though.
Do drugs?: Obscene amounts of caffeine.
Have sex?: As often as possible!
Sleep with stuffed animals? Just J and the cats.
Live in the moment?: Occasionally I daydream , but I try to.
Have a boyfriend/girlfriend?: J = husband
Have a dream that keeps coming back?: Yes. One where I can fly and another where I’m wandering through a ginormous university looking for the class I’ve forgotten to go to all semester…and when I FINALLY find it there is a test.
Play an instrument?: I can hammer at the tin whistle, guitar and piano, but nothing to get excited about. I can sing well tho.
Believe there is life on other planets?: It seems pretty likely to me.
Remember your first love?: Yes...and the other other time I *thought* I was in love too.
Still love him/her?: Yes- I married him.
Read the newspaper?: No. Just CBC and BBC online. Our local paper is rubbish.
Have any gay or lesbian friends?: A few.
Believe in miracles?: Yes.
Believe it's possible to remain faithful forever?: Yes. It isn’t a magical given though – it is a conscious choice.
Consider yourself tolerant of others?: I try to be.
Consider love a mistake?: No. It can sure complicate things sometimes though.
Like the taste of alcohol?: Depends on the drink. Beer, yes. Tequila, NO...
Have a favorite candy?: At the moment Mint Aero bars. I’m not much for sweets usually.
Believe in astrology?: No. I find it interesting though - someone sure took the time to flush out every little aspect of life. It's more of a historical/amusement curiosity than a factual one I suppose.
Believe in magic?: Yes. Although I have a theory that magic to some is sleight of hand, energies or simply vastly advanced methods to another…or luck…or the all famous selling of your soul
Believe in God?: Yes. Themore I learn, it all just can't be random. It's too bloody complex.
Pray?: Sometimes.
Go to church?: Not regularly no. I’m working through a lot of things as to why- if I ever figure them out I will know whether I will go more or less often.
Have any secrets?: Not really. J knows everything about me, but there are a few from others. Can’t give it all away can I? I'm not that interesting to be honest!
Have any pets?: Two cats and a husband
Do well in school?: I did pretty well. I'm more of a theorixer and a doer than a thinker tho.
Go to or plan to go to college?: I got my BSc at university. I’d go further but I like what I’m doing now and honestly wouldn’t get to do much else even if I did – I’d do it if the project was interesting enough thoug (well and if I could afford to)
Have a major?: A double major actually - biochemistry and microbiology. It was a year more of fluff electives for 2 separate degrees, so I crammed in all the courses, saved the cash and did the double major instead.
Talk to strangers who instant message you?: Nope, well other than to tell them to bugger off because I’m at work and busy.
Have any piercings?: Yes – ears and bellybutton
Have any tattoos?: No. We keep toying with getting our rings tattooed on someday tho.
Hate yourself?: No. At times I’m unimpressed with the way I behave but for the most part I’m pretty OK.
Have an obsession?: It varies from week to week.
Have a secret crush?: I think the new Doctor Who is pretty cute.
Do they know yet?: Of course not. Besides I *LOVE* Jay.
Collect anything?: Darth vader stuff and penguins
Have a best friend?: J…and a few others.
Wish on stars?: Yes. One in particular. It’s binary.
Like your handwriting?: Nope…it keeps getting messier and messier every year. This computer age thing has made me a scribbler.
Have any bad habits?: Yes, mostly involving laziness and forgetfulness
Care about looks?: No, unless they’re obviously false or the person needs a shower badly.
Boy/girlfriend's looks?: Quite happy. I think J is handsome. ..I mean, have you seen his butt?
Friends and other people?: Why would I care? I mean I'd tell them if they had gunk in their teeth or spilled on themselves but other than that cares.
Believe in witches?: I believe people like to *think* their witches. Somepeople may have gifts and abilities others don’t but I don’t think spells and that sort of thing work.
Believe in Satan?: As an opposing evil force yes, but I don’t think whether I need to or not is relevant.
Believe in ghosts?: Yes…although I think it’s more of an imprint of someone or an emotion that is so strong that it’s remained behind as a residual thing. Not so much a being with thought and actions.


Ah…coffee break is over. Bye.

Techno cat

My kinda cat...:)

Casino Royale

OK -so you all have to go and see Casino Royale.
Drop whatever you are doing and go now.
Off you go.
I was very happy - Ian Flemming's James Bond as imagined him from the books has come out to play. I like the new Bond.
I was exhausted last night but had to go see it with my friend Heather.
Luckily J wants to go see it again...because I can go again...

A word with you

Answer with one word. No explanations. (Stolen from Pacian)

1. Describe yourself
wierd
2. Your spouse
lovely
3. Your hair
anime
4. Your mother
tiny
5. Your Father
jolly
6. Your Favorite Item
iPod
7. Your dream last night:
mice
8. Your Favourite drink
coffee
9. Your Dream Car
mini
10. The room you are in
lab
11. Your Ex
boring
12. Your fear
ignorance
13. What you want to be in 10 years
happy
14. Who you hung out with last night
GOMP
15. What You're Not
outgoing
16. Muffins
yum
17: One of Your Wish List Items
confidence
18: Time
short
19. The Last Thing You Did
stretch
20. What You Are Wearing
sweater
21. Your Favorite Weather
rain
22. Your Favorite Book
Seuss
23. The Last Thing You Ate
muffin
24. Your Life
mine
25. Your Mood
mellow
26. Your best friend
J
27. What you're thinking about right now
work
28. Your car
tinny
29. What you are doing at the moment
procrastinating
30. Your summer
full
31. Your relationship status
married
32. What is on your tv
Galactica
33. What is the weather like
sunny
34. When is the last time you laughed
yesterday

Tired.
Busy.
Later...

Brewmaster, cut faster...

Well, My brother and I are now the proud owner of 42 bottles of what we are calling "Red Dragon Ale". It's a nice high malt english style ale.
Only 1 month of aging until we can have some.



Now if I could just get some sleep!

The costumes are almost done too. Whew.
Much to do at work too. Busy woman I am...
Gotta run!

Evil friends and sewing machines

My friend Chris, in an evil plot to make me waste all of my time, has leant me some of his older playstation games. Chris likes some of the same games I do – the weird Japanese ones that don’t quite make sense and might be for kids, but are a whole lot of fun.
One of them is a game where you drum to the beat…there is even a drun with drumsticks. I suck at it but it is a howl. Another one is a fave of mine – Dance Dance Revolution…complete with footpads. Man – screw the aerobics tapes for the next few weeks! I think it’s fun but I’m too uncoordinated to do it in public…perfect for home (the game even logs how many calories you’ve burned!) The best game we got to borrow is one where you get to roll around collecting things, because your father the king of all things blew up the sky and all the stars. You basically go from world to world rolling a big sticky ball that gets bigger and bigger picking up whatever you roll over, people, trees…you name it. The ball gets bigger and bigger and eventually it can be used to rebuild the universe again. Sooooo very addictive.
J’s been hooked and playing it while I’ve been sewing the past few nights. I’ve actually resorted to the iPod so I can’t hear the games…cuz I want to play them, but I can’t until after the weekend.

You’re evil Chris. You know that don’t you?

I’m sort of on a crazy making overly elaborate costumes schedule. Most of the sewing for my costume is done – it’s mostly decoration now. J’s sash is done and he’ll get webbed hands with cuffs to go with a modified long black robe I made him last year that will go well into him being a driudish something of Atlantis (*not* a king, I have been told). Me? I am going to be some kind of watery woman...maybe Neptunes consort (anyone know who she was?). For me I’m ditching the webbed hands part for time as I’d rather finish the forarm armor, collar and decorate them and the skirt/belt and be happy with them than go nuts and try and make other stuff at this point and have nothing really finished. I can add to it later if I want to. What with bottling beer tonight at my brothers I’ll likely only get and hour or so at it tonight and then there’s just tomorrow night before we take off, so I refuse to go crazy. I have to work in there somewhere too, and I’m not about to put myself in danger in the lab from being exhausted from making costumes.
But they'll be so very cool...we’ll have something neatto wear.

I am bloody tired tho. Gotta go.

I'd give it a 9.3

It snowed a lot last night, so after a long snowy trudge to the bus stop this morning I had a 3 foot bank to hop over to get to the shelter to wait.
I was in a good mood so I took a run at it and hopped over it...and promptly slipped and landed spreadeagle on my back with great style in the snow.

It was kinda fun - like snowing in powder. Everyone waiting was concerned that I hurt myself - not a bit. It was fun enough I wanted to go and hop in the snowpiles some more but the bus arrived so I had to get on.

OH well, there's always tomorrow...

Give me some tea you bastard

I had a very surreal weekend. A friend of J's was celebrating his birthday and we went out for supper and then to where the friend wanted to spend the evening, a local bar called The Hose and Hydrant. Now I'm not much of a drinker, but I like to people watch and it was good company so I figured I'd put off the costume making and head out for the night. It's not a bad place really.

What I encountered was a very surreal thing...like culture shock and a bad vampire move rolled into one. I now empathise with those poor american tourists lured into the vampire bar to dance dance dance, and all of a sudden have the music change, the mood change and have the crowd try to attack you and suck your blood...
Well, OK not so bad as that, but it was, at times, uncomfortable. Not for the usual grabbing my ass kind of reasons. I honestly felt somewhat alien at times.

I have to begin by saying that I like electronic music - not exclusively, but to me psytrance, breaks, reggae and funk are what I like to dance to. I'm open to some house music (which is what all bars here play) as long as it isn't some bastardized version of an already crappy song. I learned that you *can* make any song into a house track (even Highway to Hell by ACDC...*shudder*) and people will dance to it. I've also learned that Saskatoon is stuck in a time warp. Last night songs were played that I recall from back when I was in grade/high school, and people younger than me were freaking out about them...songs like Pour Some Sugar On Me, House mixes of a 80s songs, and even (*sigh*) the macarena. The only rational explanation I could come to was my newly solidified theory that all bad dance/house music is written for girls to dance and jiggle to and guys to like simply because they can watch the girls dance to it...

The thing is...I tried.
I really tried on the odd song of Fatboy Slim or otherwise dancable stuff I could settle on (like Saskatchewan Pirate, Hollaback Girl and Rasputin) to strut my stuff, and I did have some fun, but there were moments where the mood shifted, the song jarred to a stop and into a totally strange one and I honestly did not know the songs being played...and everyone else (except J & I) did. I don't live in a hole, but I don't listen to much mainstream radio...so that alone was odd enough. I'd have been happy with some Goldfrapp or even a remix of Madonna. After such joyful times as Shambhala and Motion Notion I've come to enjoy world class DJs and mixes with flowing and beatmatching, feeding the crowd with energy...not just playing off a bunch of small town "classics" like Fishing in the Dark and Money Money cranked loud for drunk people to hop around to. I'd complain the music was bad, but the floor was packed to a cruching point with happy drunken dancers. People were loving it. And hip grinding to it...don't even get me started on the hip grinding thing.

I know I'm coming off as an asshat elitist...I'm not. Really. I'm open to a good time and love to dance when the mood strikes, and part of the night I really did have fun, mostly from the crowd I was with.
But the vibe and intent of the place was just too alien at times. The strange sexual overtness and need to have fun or else dammit was more than a little disturbing. Having total strangers grind their ass into my crotch and legs "in good fun" is odd and strange and maybe I'm just out of it, but grind your ass on your friend or lover. OK with me...but on me? When I politely turn away it means I'm not into it, thanks. I thought it was just me until a coworker of J's came up and said "did you know it's apparently normal to grind your ass into my leg? I'm confused..."
We both were.
After a while I stuck to off the dance floor and enjoyed the rest of the evening.

*sigh*
Help me out here- Am I expecting too much?
Or am I officially eccentric?

Poppin popadums

Yummers.

Just finished a yummy meal of chicken vindaloo, basmati and poppadums.

And I have a bunch of blue and purple shimmery fabric for costumes. I'm going for a king/queen of the sea, making some colalrs and sashes and forarm armor, with webbed hands.

I'll just have to see how far I can go.

Now I must go and relax. Bye.

In search of Atlantis

I don't work tomorrow!

Lalalalalaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.

I can't wait. Naps & reading and making elaborate food until J is off work (he gets monday off. Boo.)

THEN I must get busy as we decided at the last minute (no planning ahead for us - that'd be silly!)to go to a costume dance in Edmonton (by the same people who put on the Star wars one last year) and it is in one week. Heh...so I have a week to make a costume. Hopefully I can come up with something. I am so picky, I may burn out doing it, but it will be cool, even if I don't have a costume
Well, if I can figure out what it will be!

The theme is Atlantis.
Any ideas??

Gravy Mcguffins

Supergreen.
Not only has it snowed 6 inches of fluffiness overnight, I have just discovered, thanks to Pacian, that Sam & Max , the freelance dog and bunny detectives are back!

Me hee...I've got almost a whole year's worth of cartoon strips to catch up on.
I used to really like the cartoon on late night Teletoon (along with The Maxx) way back when...

(Oh, just a hint (in case you're really dense like me and get confused) the captions appear when you put the mouse over the cartoons)

The evils of spinach

I would like to start out by saying that I didn’t always like vegetables much unless they were potatoey and/or deep fried in batter (or both). Over the past few years, I have evolved from a salty snacky, grease loving girl into a slightly healthier (ok, still salty snacky loving) veggie freak. It is odd to think that I am now a somewhat healthy veggie lover but I am – and lately, especially spinach.

And so this brings me to my ranting of the day:
When do I ever get to eat spinach again?

A while ago some farm in the US that grows veggies (for apparently the entire world) was using less than standard growing practices and ended up with a crop of E.coli infected spinach…and unfortunately a few people actually got very sick and died from eating it. Not only does this make me want to go off on multiple rants about the evils of factory farms and their degenerating effect on food quality, farming in general and sustainable resources, I want simply to ask people why they don’t just wash their vegetables. I mean they’re from the GROUND! And they’ve probably traveled a gazillion miles, handled by who knows how many people and trucks and you can’t just eat them without at least a little rinse. Blech - it’s like rubbing your hands around in the muck, dusting them off and thinking “oh boy! I’m gonna go and eat some poy now”. Again - blech. Why not buy from local farms, who take pride in their quality and product instead of fishing out the sea and buying veggies from across the world when you don’t have to? How is lettuce from Mexico cheaper than stuff from the yard nearby? This is why the latest issue of Science published an article stating that research shows that we WILL fish out all the fish from the oceans and lakes in the next 40 years. And oddly enough noone cares (freaks the hell out of me…). Apparently, the world is more concerned about keeping the evil “poison” spinach from the masses.but I digress.

What was my point?
Oh yes – the evils of spinach.

Apparently now spinach is now considered more poisonous than botulism or ebola. It cannot be purchased or even special ordered from any local grocer. Admittedly this time of year it should cost a bit more to have to buy from greenhouses but right now it is GONE. There is no sign it ever existed, and cannot be found fresh anywhere…and (of course) that means that I am craving it: spinach salad, spinach risotto, spinach and feta lasagna, spinach pizza…*sigh*

I needs my spinach.

Oh great corporate juggernaut, I ask thee:
Can I please have some spinach?
I promise I’ll wash it.

I'm so sweet like a nice bon bon

Aside form listening to Hello Nasty for the past weekend non-stop and a nice romantic evening with J and a fine episode of Galactica, life continues as normal. Only 2 days till beer bottling, and all is clear on the horizon.
So....here's a little meme to fill the gap I wandered across a while ago:

3 People That Make You Laugh:
• Bender & Fry
• David Cross
• Jon Stewart

3 Things I Love:
• cheese
• J
• napping in the giant bean bag for 2...with J if possible

3 Things I Hate:
• terrible restaurant food
• cleaning up cat puke
• dishonesty

3 Things I Don't Understand:
• How George Bush can walk and speak at the same time
• how people can waste money on those stupid dancing singing santas I see for sale everywhere
• Why people need things to be happy

3 Things on My Desk:
• cyclops baby in a jar(no I'm not kidding - it's part of the teaching library)
• Picture of J and the cats
• Coffee mugs

3 Things I'm Doing Right Now:
• Cooking something new every 2 weeks (last week it was pumpkin cookies...yum)
• eating an apple
• Planning the reno of my basement work room

3 Things I Want to Do Before I Die:
• run a 10K marathon
• ride a horseback across parts of India
• have a greenhouse in my yard and grow my own veggies in it

3 Things I Can Do:
• Cook and bake most things
• Envision things I plan to do and how they'll turn out before I start
• Make beer! (from a kit...from scratch is next)

3 Things I Can't Do:
• listen to people complain about other people behind their back
• Shop at Walmart
• keep my kitchen floor clean

3 Ways to Describe My Personality:
• shy
• idealistic
• eccentric

3 Things You Should Listen To:
• Your Mom (usually she's right you know)
• music, whenever and wherever possible
• Your inner voice - you always know something is wrong if you're paying attention

3 Favorite Foods:
• cheese of any kind (except swiss)
• rice crackers (with cheese?)
• Fruits of all kinds (especially pomegranates and raspberries)

3 Things I'd Like to Learn:
• How to juggle (I'm hopeless)
• How to be less shy in social situations
• How to fix my crappy toilet

3 Beverages I Drink Regularly:
• Coffee
• milk
• Earl Grey tea


Gotta go.

Cool Beans and other things

Rented District 13 last night.
Aside from the french rap at the end (just wierd) This movie was great.
Lots of action and entertainment. I was pleased. I'm all for the urban hopping all over buildings and creative fighting in films...and cute men showing of their muscley dexterity...often with no shirt...erm, anyways.

On an aside, I'm amused once again that the odd time of year has arrived that separates the stylish and trendy people from the rest of us who just want to be warm.
Seeing people dressed in summer wear run from car to building and shivver and fret as they wait for busses or walk between buildings on campus never fails to amuse me. It's just starting to get frosty cold...soon the freeze your flesh, actually dangerous kind of cold will come in with windchill and stop our cars from starting and force us to wear rediculous amounts of fuzzy clothing...well those of us who like to be warm, anyways.
Me? I take the bus and it's a 15 minute walk to the busstop, where I sit on the edge of an open windy area - a long frigid walk that means I have to be bundled up or I'll freeze. I have a locker to cram all my stuff in once I get to work, so why be cold? There's always some person in skimpy clothes with a tShirt and a scarf and gloves shuddering away trying to NOT be cold. I'm all for the power of the mind over matter, but frostbite is another thing entirely. I pity our grad students from really hot climates...it takes a good cold snap until they realise that no, we're not just hosing them and trying to make fun of them - it does get bloody cold here...and yes they need to get a warm coat.

And it's only just begun. I am not very stylish at the bus stop...but I AM warm.

Brrrrr

I wish it would jsut snow already. A good dump of snow that stayed and made everything all fluufy and white.
Cuz this being obcenely cold, frosty and windchilly with no snow and green grass is wrong on many levels.
Somehow when the world is white it makes a little more sense...

Agrajag to the rescue

I had a grand experience last night. One of those unique things I'll always remember, as they'll probably not come up again. I'd like to say tho - I'm not a fruit or a nutter. I just like new and unique things. And I'm a geek...
While out on a shoot, J was talking to someone who mentioned that there was a music show he might be interested in. It was a man playing music on crystal bowls.
Go on...
And he also had a collection of large cymbals...
OK...
And his girlfriend was painting with acrylics while he played on large acetate sheets in such a way that the resonance from the music would move the paint and create unique patterns as it dried.
Neat.
AND, the only place open to hold it this time of year was at the local Buddhist temple.
Well, that was it...J was too intrigued and picked up 2 tickets on the way home. Neither of us had been in a Buddhist temple before - it was a simple building, but the statuary was amazing. That alone was interesting enough. We all sat on kneeling mats on the floor and it really was mesmeric as the musician played music by striking and rubbing about 30 different sized crystal bowls, along with 6 giant hanging cymbals and other strange drums, cymbals and bells that I've never seen before. He played 2 40 minute sets with a short break in between. It was beautiful and not like anything I've ever heard before. The paintings were large and billowing with colour and had odd patterns in the paint, like galaxies and constellations look like in photographs. Some previous ones were on display, and you could sit and watch her paint if you wanted.
Fantastic.
AND, although it was Halloween and I was worried about leaving the house unattended for while, I put our candy out in a bowl on the step with a sign that said "take 2 each or else Agrajag will haunt you!" ...and wouldn't you know it, they did! There was still some candy left when we got back.

Good day all around really.

Happy Halloween

Boo.

Dining out with Geo, volume 1: The Golden Pagoda

Having gone to a wonderful local restaurant yesterday for a birthday meal, I was so impressed, I feel the need to tell you all about the place, so if you are ever in Saskatoon you can check it out. Now the birthday meal extravaganza was narrowed down to a few of my favorite places, Amigos (a local mexican place with live bands - fantastic food), Truffles (a local restaurant with amazing food, first class chef and even creme brule on the dessert menu), Red Pepper (a great local Vietnamese place) and the Golden Pagoda (where I've always wanted to go but have not yet tried).

We decided on the Golden Pagoda. It is a Burmese/Asian restaurant, with food that was a mix of Asian, Thai and Indian cooking flavours and styles. The menu was very diverse: soups, salads, appetisers with curries and burmese style main courses along with with a large list of tasty desserts. The atmosphere was quiet and cosy - nothing too fancy, just nice and friendly. The service was friendly and very good. Our appetisers of Burmese samosas with tamarind sauce were fresh and crispy, and the tamarind sauce was delicious. I've never had anything quite like it - nutty and hot at the same time, with just a hint of coriander. In fact, all the food was fresh and amazing. For the meal, Jay had spicy noodles with chicken & veggies, and I had chicken and onion in garlic oil with egg noodles. Both were delicious...subtle spices we've never quite tasted the combination of before and all very yummy and very fresh.
Believe it or not, we had room for dessert, and I am so glad, as it was the best part of the meal. Jay had warm tapioca cooked in coconut sauce - fantastic (and I'm not even a real fan of coconut). I had tempura bananas...they were crunchy, with a soft yummy banana middle and a spicy honey dip sauce that wasn't too sweet and left a hot tingle in your mouth afterwards with the banana flavour. Quite possibly one of the best desserts I've ever had. Better than creme brule...and that's saying a lot.

Overall, I think the Golden Pagoda is vying for my new favorite place. If you're ever in Saskatoon, call me - well go for tempura bananas.
I give it 4 1/2 stars.

Hooray!

Happy birthday to me!
Happy birthday to me!
Happy birthday dear meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Happy birthday to me!

Yay. My brother had me over for food and pie and a movie yesterday...as well as some pumpkin carving. He gave me my own beer brewing kit for my birthday...heh heh...now there will be TWO kits goin as soon as I can ge tto the brewer store and start up a batch of holiday fruit beer. Nifty.
Pack that in with a bonfire, pumpkin carvings, a Darth Vader Mr. Potatoehead and yoda backpack it's been a pretty sweet birthday season so far. I'm hoping to watch Nightmare Before Christmas tonight or tomorrow with J and maybe if I'm extra good I'll get to go out for Creme brule tonight.
YUM.

And a good time was had by all

Weeeeeeeeeell, thanks to all who came out to our little fire.

We had a great time preparing and making lanterns, carving pumpkins and snacks the day before, and hiking out into the woods with good friends and relaxing and talking by the fire.


I learned a few things saturday night:

-lanterns made of cardboard may start on fire (go figure...)
-people can get lost going to and from a fire in the woods in the dark when they've never been thre before- perhaps I need glow sticks to mark the path next time (or I just need how to draw a map better).
-You can successfully roast a marshmallow, make a cup out of it and then drink Heather Cream out of it. It is useful though to NOT poke the stick through the marshmallow when cooking and make a marshmallow funnel - you can't drink out of that (ahem...Curtis)
-The woods are beautiful by firelight and lantern light.
-My husband is a jedi
-Do not put a thermos open and upside down in your car...or you'll run out of hot chocolate before you get to the fire (my car smells chocoriffic though)
-If you rotate who is first and last in the line while hiking in a group in the woods in the dark, the crazy man won't pick you off one by one...too many distractions
-If you invite him, Yoda will bring marshmallows to a party


And most of all...we have some great friends.
Thanks to all who came and shared our fire. We had a great time - hope you did too.

Build a fire….we’re gonna build a fire

Well hello there.

You are cordially invited to a Halloween birthday bonfire on Saturday night, October 28. The flint should hit the tinder at around 7:30 PM, with sparks and crackles into the wee hours. May I bribe you with snacky cakes and hot chocolate? Marshmallows?

Oh yes, it will be great.

So, you probably want to know a few things like:

Where is it?
In a firepit nestled in the woods on the edge of the city, approximately a 10-15 minutes walk from the parking lot of Sutherland Park Beach off leash dog park.

















What will I need?
Warm clothes, a flashlight and happy thoughts. You'll be a ways from the world, so plan accordingly.

Why should I come?
Because you’ll have a great time - crackling fire, good company, tasty edibles and marshmallows to roast - What more could you ask for to say goodbye to fall and welcome in winter? And besides, it’s my birthday soon. Come stare at the stars with me…rumor has it you can see the space station at ~8 PM. I plan on seeing if that's true.

And last, but certainly not least – How do I get there?

Well, park your car in the lot for the cross country ski trail/Sutherland Beach off leash dog park. To get to this parking lot, you can access it from a grid road, with entry off Central Avenue, 50 m north of Attridge Drive. For more detailed maps please see here or here:

From the parking lot, follow the path on the right towards the river, between the 2 barbed wire fences. You can also walk through the gate into the dog park and follow along the fence on the right. Walk for about 5 minutes until you reach a giant sign and a large pile of railway ties at the end of the off leash park. Exit the off leash park and turn right, following the path beside the barbed wire fence. After about 5-10 minutes walk on this path (You'll walk by a farm on your right on the other side of the fence) you will come to a tiny little wooden footbridge. Just past this bridge is a large clearing. Turn left on a path, walk about 6 metres and take your first left onto the path into the trees. In a few short steps you’ll come upon a crackling fire, happy people and will have reached your destination. If we are feeling particularly helpful we’ll put a few flags along the way…but it’s not too hard to find.

It’s a bit of a walk...dress warm, wear hikey shoes and let your jedi senses guide you to a bonfire in the woods. The shindig starts at about 7:30 (unless it's raining) and goes until the fire fades.

Oooooh…Spooky Nootchies.

They weeble and they wobble...

Well, apparently I have a problem with depth perception.
How do I know this you ask?
Well today I have fallen UP the stairs no les than 4 times.
I suppose I should be grateful it was just stumbling up and not DOWN, as I use the stairwell a lot in my job. I haven't been carrying anything when falling which is also a bonus. I just keep looking over my glasses and then regularly through them and getting all mixed up as to where I put my feet.
*sigh*

I believe I"ll need a labcoat made of bubble wrap soon.

Be da be deep deep ba dee dee ba deep..

Attention
Attention

This is a beer world update.

The beer in progress by the as yet unnamed brewery is coming along nicely.
Should be in the carbuoy by tuesday.

In other news, there is no news, really - it's downright mellow here. Getting the house all ready for winter and getting ready for my birthday (I finally get to open my gift soon - meep!). We plan on having a bonfire in the firepit across the lake, and I'm making a few lanterns to hang in the trees and some snacky cakes for around the fire. We're gonna put out an open call to friends and see who shows...and, as odd as it sounds, even if noone does cuz they are going to a more cool Halloween shindig, J and I will sit and sip hot chocolate and look at the stars.

Can't wait.

So there's this giant diamond, see...

Well...now I can say I know what it's like to be busy...

I finally have a few minutes, so I thought I'd just say hi and what I've been up the for the past while.
Saturday was Scott Thompson's show - it was really good. He had a few people opening and with him, one was a musician, she sang a few songs while the other guy (from Blue Rodeo but I can't remember his name) accompanied with an accordian, keyboard and blinky lights (like I said - it was interesting and very unique). Then the Blue rodeo guys did some odd songs and also palyed a few short films he'd done, which were pretty hilarious. Then Scott Thompson did an hour or so of a one man show, about his life. It was wierd, touching and hilarious. He talked about high points and low points in his life, and even had fun at his own expense, looking at some times when he went too far (which seemed ot be very often) and ended up offending people instead of making them laugh. I'm glad I went. It was almost like a very long very good fringe play...with Scott Thompson in it...bonus.

On sunday my brother and I started our beer. All I can say is, Yeesh - don't let a biochemist try to make beer with you. I was WAY too paranoid about sterillity and all that - my brother is a very patient guy. And the funny thing is I'm STILL wondering if it will all be good! After lab work it just doens't seem sterile enough...anyways, we are making Trent County English Ale (Paddockwood Brewery Kit - a local microbrewery that makes yummy ales and sells some of their recipes as kits). Sounded yummy. Should be very full flavour with lots of maltiness and hops. It seemed a safe starter - not to complicated. We used live yeast and my brother hasn't called me yet to tell me it's off, so, so far so good. As for the labels, well we are gonna make our own, but we keep changing our name, so it will be a while before they're done. It's a few weeks until we bottle them, so we have a bit of time to figure it out. Sunday night I volunteered to help out for a Bingo to help raise $$ for the radio station. Long and boring. And yes, little old ladies tried to scam me for money on the bingo cards I was running...craziness. Someone did win $10000. Sadly, it was not me. And watching a room full of people blot at tiny cards for hours was really disturbing. I will say tho that Bingo hall food is really good.

The rest of the week has been crazy busy with labwork, getting better and Dr. Who. I still haven't had time to watch this weeks BSG yet...hopefully tomorrow. Our VCR is acting up. I'm glad it's on twice or we'd have missed it. The Doctor Who episode was tremendous, though, I must say. The monks were a bit overdone, I have not a whiff of complaint about the rest -the werewolf was fantastic and the new doctor is nothing short of brilliant. He is so emotive..and his eyes! Well, I often read people's eyes and like to watch them and tend to look right into people's eyes when I talk to them...to me a brilliant actor can say more without even speaking. David Tennant - well, all I can say is he's a good man. Plus I just like the idea that someone who watched Dr. Who as a kid and loved it and used to dress up as him is now acting the role. Seems proper.

And now? Well, I finally feel pretty much back to the old me again after the plague ran through our land. I've caught up on my wifely chores and had a bit of time to spend with Jay and now, after a bit of reading (I'm into the Dark Tower book 4) it is sleepytime for me. I snowed the first snow of the year, which I'm not amused about, but I'll get over it. Our yard is still full of leaves so now it's a snowy leafy mound. yuck.
Sorry if this seems rather diaryish. Lots to think of over the past while once I put it all down. I had lots more to say and think about and it's all buzzing around in my head, but strangely enough, I'm too weary to write them down. I need a few hours when I can really flush them out and do them justice. Right now it'd come out more like Mr. Mugs than philosphy.

G'night.

fridays are fine for fantastically fresh freedom fries

Hmmm...I can't find my camera.

sigh.

There's been some really cool frost and sunrises lately and I can't photograph them. I hope it turns up soon.

At least it's friday. A final long sniffly day full of work and then I can relax. I have tickets to Scott Thompson's one man show tomorrow night and J is taking me out for mexican food first. AND my brother and I afre going to get a kit this weekend and make some beer. We've decided to be Beast & Bucket Breweries. Should be nifty.

Sorry, but I gotta go.

Poof

That was the sound my head when it exploded....
after watching the season premiere of Galactica.

Man...the writers are going overtime on that show - FANTASTIC!
They're spoiling me for...well...everything else.

BUT, I'm still sick and busier than I thought, but I just had to pop in to say that BSG the new series is fab.

Pie good. Cold Bad.

Well the pie was good...but I'm still sick.
I took the day off to lay at home and sleep and get better, as I have lab stuff I can't avoid the rest of the week.
So off to bed for me. Bye.

Experiment #2: Pie and the Plague

I am hackingly ill, and if it weren't for a few things that must be done today I'd be at home in bed. Sick enough that I haven't watched the premiere of Galactica that we taped over the weekend...that 's for tonight.

But I'm testing a theory:
You see, my Mom makes the best blueberry pie in the 'verse. She made one just for my brother and I. We were both sick. He feels better now that he's had two pieces of pie. I have a few I took home to enjoy when the flavour tasting abilities came back to me. Soooo...I hypothesize that eating lots of pie will help you you get better faster.
I plan on testing this at lunch.
And, yes you can have just pie for lunch.
Just watch me...

I have something to say.

So - after a bit of thought, I'd just like to say that after catching up on a few episodes in prep for the season starter this weekend (which I hope I hope I hope will tape prpoerly when we're gone):

Battlestar Gallactica the new series is the best show on the air right now.

Thank you.
You may resume your lives now

Oh angel of joy and light unwanted, have you known the sickness?

Well..I'm offically infected with the plague.
Oh well...I'm still looking forward to the weekend away. Hopefully I won't give it to everyone this weekend...
The derbies are made, but I kinda miscalculated and there's only 8 (no I haven't eaten any yet). I'm starting to think noone will want the sickly desserts anyways, so it might be OK. All the more for J & I, I suppose.
I still have much to be thankful for.
And so I say: Happy Thanksgiving all.

Taking the plague on the road

Well, what can I say?
The day is done and I'm heading home to check on my sickly husband and make some Derby's - spice cakey ones with cream cheese filling. They're my contribution to Thanksgiving munchables at the lake this weekend. Then it is off to Little Bear tomorrow (I get to leave early - woot!) and the woods and lake and squirrels and relaxing with the sniffly sneezy love of my life. With any luck I won't catch the plague from him and we'll manage to not infect the rest of the family.

Derby!

Cheater Cheater Cheater

I was watching an episode of South Park last night and I was struck again at just how much the guys who do that show manage to say about things that noone else will touch and actually have something GOOD to say. IT was an episode about music downloading and Cartman forming christian rock group...and it was funny and true in a lot of ways, as he just picked any random love song, and replaced girl and baby with Jesus and it was an instant lame christian rock song. It was true ina way - I remember growing up and hearing a lot of christian rock and a lot of it was awful. There was the good stuff, like Steve Taylor and the 77s, but there was the crap, just like all other music genres. The idea that you could make crappy music, as long as it had "good lyrics" and still make a lot of money, because that was all people were looking for was a bit too true. I still remember when bands like Hokus Pick and the 77s made "regular" songs and got slammed - because heaven forbid you just write the songs and words that come to you...where am I going with this? I don't know. There is certain music that inspires me, often to tears, sometimes it's the lyrics, sometimes it's an emotion that I recall when I hear it...sometimes it's just way too good and doesn't even have lyrics. You can't dictate what inspires people. And if you're in it for the money...well your music will suffer for it.
Anyhoo...no soapboxing today. It's too early and I'm not coherent enough to put together a solid statement...I'm still taking in the morning coffee.

I will say though, that "ordinary life" is very nice. It’s been a while and I must say – I’ve missed it. I’m all for working then coming home and relaxing…deciding what to do (if anything) and then doing (or not doing) it.
Last night we just did a few things around the house and read for hours. It’s been eons since I’ve done that. It’s weird when life is normal again and it takes adjustment…

TO stop myself from further pointless banter: a meme
me
me me me me.

Current clothes: Jeans, orange and brown shirt, superstars and black specs.

Current mood: Dazed. I’m back at riding my bike to work in the morning after a few weeks off and my hip is sore, like I sprained it (can you sprain a hip?) but I didn't do anything to it... Plus I’m still thawing out. It was frosty this morning...

Current music: "Swallowed in the Sea” by Coldplay.

Current annoyance: Student loans. I’d love it if you could just make arrangements and pay them off like normal loans, but oh no if you ever have troubles, every 6 months for the rest of your loany life you have to bend over for the anal probe and see just what you owe them for the next 6 months. It should mention in large letters on the loan application that they own your soul once you apply. B*stards. I wish I could pay them off and be done with it. Someday…

Current thing: Reading. It’s been so long since I’ve had time for it, so I’ve been reading voraciously the last few days. I’m almost done the 3rd Dark Tower book.

Current desktop picture: Still a bright red picture of a gerbera flower.

Current song in head: Shake Break Bounce -Chemical Brothers...it's next on the iPod.

Current book: The Wastelands by Steven King. Some of the best stuff I’ve ever read.

Current DVD in player: The second disc of the 7th season of South Park. I watched it last night while eating supper.

Current refreshment: Coffee with fake cream & sugar.

Current worry: Besides student loans? Well, life’s been pretty good. As long as the loan jerks don’t take the extra $$ J makes at this new job we can finally maybe go on a holiday or maybe fix our car before it explodes or something cool like that. (But they probably will, so I don’t want to get too excited) I’d just like a few months of soltitude and happiness with noone messing about with our lives and nowhere to be. It’ll be grand to just “live” and “let live” for a bit.

Current thought: What is my birthday gift? I still have to wait 27 days for it.
Meh. It’s harder to wait than I thought!

Hail to the geek

I still haven't had a chance to wath Star Wars yet...
I've been swinging around my lightsaber as therapy but hopefully we can get to at least one of them this week...
It's hard to when your husband falls asleep early (oddly, I don't mind - I just think "YAY *I'm* not the one falling asleep early!"

How have I distracted myself? Well, I now own an R2D2 Christmas ornament...and a C3P0. Yoda too.

Yeah I know...I'm a geek

We now return to the program already in progress

I'd just like to take a moment and ask:
WHAT THE HELL MAKES SPORTS MORE IMPORTANT THAN ALL OTHER ENTERTAINMENT??

Just for once I wish sports would be preempted for something *I* want to watch...

sigh...

Short Couple, Long Marriage

It's been a busy weekend so far...all sorts of obligations we forgot, but one of the things we went to has filled me with really happy hopeful thoughts.

The couple we stayed with when we went to England a few years ago just celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary yesterday.
50 years. It's crazy when you think about it.
Bill and Arlene are two of the most interesting, crazy and wonderful people I think I've ever met. They're always playing practical jokes and making people laugh and the love they have for each other is humbling. They are some of the most inpiring people I've ever met and after all this time they still do. After spending an afternoon visiting with their family and friends and hearing stories of how they met and their family and all the things they've done together over the years...AND that they'd love to have 50 more years together as merry pranksters, J and I both kept thinking the same thing:
We want that...we think we have that...we will always want that...

Love is grand.

Whirling around like a carnival kid

I just tried something I haven't since I was little.
Spin around really fast until you're dizzy and then lie on the grass and stare at the sky while giggling uncontrollably.

Tee hee.
Best coffee break I've had in ages...

Too crazy even for me

Man...I'm glad tomorrow is the last of all this craziness.
Why?
Well my parents were in town sunday night until tuesday morning to visit my brother and for Mom to get minor surgery (cataracts) and I didn't even get to talk to them. Nope. Nada.
I had to call them last night when I had a few minutes...I felt very lousy about that.
You should never be too busy to call your Mom after she's had surgery, that's just wrong. I feel rather crapy about that, but what could I do?
*sigh*

On an up note, tomorrow is my day of from work, but I may have to pop in to subcultre some cells. Other than that I'm free all day until the very last night of pledge drive. I can't wait. Then comes sleeping in, vegging with J and watching Star Wars. Oh yeah.
Incidentally, at CFCR, we're only at ~34000, when we need ~55000 to get by, so send money donating vibes to our city...we still have a long way to go. There are some music gigs to supprt the station, but we are way behind last year...so if ya wanna pledge or anything...please do. I did. I got a great Tshirt. I'm wearing it right now...

Cute thingy alert

While cleaning out an old lab I have found some really old things - including a few1 mL beakers. It is without a doubt the the smallest lab thingy I've ever seen. I dare to even call it cute.

So now you know. They used to make 1mL beakers...they'd hold a whole 5 drops.
Wow. The wonders of science. Me? I'm taking one home so I can carry about 5 drops of something and feel really intelligent about it...

Me may Mah mo Mooooo

Busy day. Here's a quiz to fill the gap:

1... what is your favourite bird?
penguins of course. Finches and pelicans are cool too.

2...how many pairs of shoes do you have?
Um 6 I think. Oh, and a pair of yellow rubber boots and winter boots…so 8 then.

3...what did you have for dinner?
A chicken and lettuce sandwich on a bagel, with some banana pudding.

4...could you ever eat snails?
I have. It wasn’t really tasty enough to have again. The texture was weird and salty, and honestly cook anything in loads of garlic butter and it’ll have to be good, so why snails?

5...what was the last thing you had in your mouth?
A sip of coffee and my inhaler

6...what is your best feature?
Kindness

7...what is your worst feature?
I can be sarcastic and spiteful.

8...who is your best friend?
J

9...who was your childhood nemesis?
A girl in my home town…geez I don’t remember her name. She had it in for me and seemed to think I had to be miserable for her to be happy. Thankfully I was bigger than her so I could push back and all she could do was taunt me…which I just ignored.

10...having fun?
Meh. It’ll do.

11...where in the world would you like to go to tomorrow?
Vancouver. I need to see the ocean.

12...when was the last time you lied?
Hmm…a few weeks go...it was when I left out something to respond to an awkward question asked by a family member to make them not feel so bad.

13...why?
The whole truth would've hurt them badly. It really would have. And honestly I should’ve just refused to answer, but at the time I was just tired of answering their irritatingly self serving questions.

14...how does bob marley like his donuts?
Um...I dunno... The guy was stoned all the time, I imagine any time was doughnut time.

15...tell us a secret about yourself.
I have a secret love for Bollywood movies. Yes I know they are largely romantic weird fluff, but the costumes and the culture and the cheesiness is just right sometimes…and at the end, everyone dances and sings. How can you go wrong with that??


Gotta get back.
I still need to know about the Champion Sound. Anyone?

The Champion Sound

OK...so I really want to know: What is "the Champion Sound"?

Anybody?

Chemical Brothers, Fat Boy Slim, Freestylers...heck a whole lotta Dj mixes and reggae all refer to it...how you'll know it and love it and it'll take you away.
I really want to know - does it refer to any specific sound, or jsut the crazy tingly vibe you get when the music is just right??
Anyone?

Another day goes by

Well J is back and he had a great time and his set, which was at sunrise on sunday morning went well. Hopefully tonight or tomorrow we'll have time when we're both awake to talk about it more - it sounds like he had a great time. People missed me too, which is always nice to know.
(You like me, you reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaally like me!)
I've hardly seen him and hopefully once he catches up on sleep I can see him...maybe tomorrow.
I don't know how couples who work opposite shifts do it - I am glas he is back but I want to steal him away for a few days and have him all to myself.
Soon.
Very soon.
I am a greedy and covetous wife.

Lower hydration pergatory

Well, J is on his way to Symmetree.
I miss him already.
Man, I really wish I could hear his set. I'm so proud and excited for him. Me and my being responsible and living up to prior obligations...meh. *sigh* Being an adult is sucky sometimes.
I sent him with a cooler full of lots of muffins and sandwiches and water...but I froze the water to keep cold. I am actually wondering now if that was such a great idea and if it'll thaw out to drink if it's in the cooler. I mean, wouldn't THAT suck - "oh I have five 1.5L bottles of water I just can't drink them". Heh...hopefully the venders there will have water just in case. I'd feel pretty dumb if I sent him off to an outdoor camping event with frozen undrinkable water for the whole weekend...it'd be like a form of lower hydration pergatory. J drinks about 4L of water a day so he'd be very cranky very fast. Hmmmmm.
Well, can't do anything about it now I suppose. Guess I'll find out...
But on the plus side, I do get to sleep in tomorrow...and I can hog the whole bed (oh yeah) and stay up late watching Aqua Teen Hunger Force and eat popcorn...if I don't fall asleep after my night shift! Tomorrow I plan to relax, play with the critters, finally read a bit more of the Drawing of the Three and go for a loooooooooong walk by the river before my shift at the station at 4. Ditto for sunday.

All this craziness lately has me wondering. I'm thinking back to when I worked two (for a while 3!) jobs and went to university with a full course load (sciences no less). I don't know how I did it. I never missed an assignment...course I almost never slept either. I even made cookies with caffeine pills bakes into them for final exams to help stay awake through my longer genetics practical exams (we couldn't take drinks in but nacks were OK - the exams were 4-5 hours long). No wonder I made myself really ill with pneumonia every year and came down with a case of mono once that was bad enough to lose a semester to. Sheesh. I feel lazy now just thinking about how much less I do now.
I suppose the key is that I just know when to stop and go home now. And I have a job I love that I'm not about to screw up by being overtired or making mistakes. I went too far the other way after I graduated and vegged out too much and that ws no good either...I think I'm wandering more towards a happy medium finally in life- work I like, time to relax and some hobbies and things I like to keep my brain and body moving. Admittedly the last few days are a bit more than I'd like, but it won't kill me and it'll be over in a week or so. Plus next week J will be back and he can do the station shifts with me.
Which will be good, cuz I sure missed my time with him with all this...and with him gone all weekend I'll be very glad to have him back.
Anyways, I should get to the station. And really, before I know it, he'll be back.

Have a good weekend guys!

Trivia contest

It's friday.
Woot.

And so to celebrate that and a good night sleep I offer the following trivia contest.
And of course there must be a prize - if you get it right I will mail you a few dozen cookies made by the lovely me (you can even choose what kind, altho I make a mean oat-cocochip).
Now no cheating and googling for it...given my music tastes, it's a bit obscure, but I've been listening to this album non-stop for about a week and a half and this part of it always makes me smile - it got me going this morning...so here goes.

What DJ mix album, or what artist made this album, that has the following sound byte in it:

(girls) "Hey eveybody we're doin' it!"
(guy) "Doing what?"
(girls) "That THING!"
(guy) "...Aw YEAH!"

SOooooooooo think up and listen up and you might get some cookies.
Gotta run.

Watch out for ninja #9

OK so maybe this isn't very politically correct and I'm just really tired but this is hilarious.

Weary

I am so very tired.
This working from 7:30AM until about 10 PM with a quick half hour break/drive in the middle is starting to wear on me. Luckily I have Sat & Sun off until 4 PM so I can sleep. I have to help J pack for Symettree tonight as he'll be gone tomorow afternoon, drive down set up, play his set about 2 AM sat morning and then finally sleep. I'm trying not to whine as J is WAY more tired than I am...I don't have to get up at 4:30 like he does. Poor guy us exhausted. I so wish I couldhear his set...it's got some great ethnic and ambient stuff in it. He's starting off in the mellow tent...he figured doing a dance set would be too much for the first one. If you go to the
activities page, and look at performers, J is JJ of Galifrey 7. He's so cool.
Anyways, back to the work thing.

ZZZZzzzzzzzzzz