National Pancake Day

Eat some pancakes to celebrate. I'm going to. With berry sauce. Yum......

Observations made on top of a purple ball at 6:30 in the morning

You know...I'm not a morning person. I'm by habit a night owl, although my body is the sort that if I'm tired I will fall asleep anywhere. Period. I kid you not, I've nodded off to sleep in pubs and at an engagement party in a friend's yard oh so many years ago they lovingly made me a "bride to be" reclining lawn chair with a blanket for me to sack out in, and the party went on around me when I happily zonked out about 2 AM or so...it's why I don't drive late at night period. I actually used to piss off some friends as we'd play Risk late into the night and I'd be zonk out and woken up for my turns, play them and go back to sleep and still win the game...heh heh...amateurs.
That is why getting up earlier to work out was scary to me. Over the last 6 weeks - even just 25 minutes was at first, I thought, a one way ticket to cranky exhaustion. At first I was exhausted by 9 PM because I still tried to stay up till 11:30 - I felt cheated if I went to bed early. Slowly I got used to it and managed to find a happy medium of around 10 or 10 :30. The thing is, I'm a sleeper-inner. Nothing delights me more than lazy weekend mornings and dozing as long as possible, reading and even more dozing. My newer schedule is really making it hard to sleep past 10 or so now. Not a big deal to some of you maybe, but very odd to me. If I happen to stay out late with friends (and stay awake thru it all) I still awaken early...wierd. Not sure if I'll ever like that part of it.
Strangely enough, it is getting easier. Oh it's not that I like getting up at 6:15. The fact that I now need to expand my exercise routine and wake up 15 minutes more early from this week onwards is still a struggle. I like sleep! The neet thing is, most mornings I feel really good by the time I exercise. It is kind of cool...by now there is no more nodding off in the middle of my ball workout and dropping the ball on my head as I lay on my back...definitely a good thing for my poor nose!
And after 6 weeks what do I have to show for all this morning angst? Well, I've lost (ooh aah) 3 pounds and I feel fitter, have more energy and I can feel muscles in my body underneath the insulation. I don't jiggle (as much) and I am looking forward to the banishment of the horrid winter so I can start walking outside and maybe even jog abit...one bit at a time. I'm a healthy weight for my height. I'm just not healthy...but I'm well on the way there now.
I know I'll never be uber fit. Heck, I just don't want it badly enough and quite frankly, I like to eat food. I was starting to get into uberfitness back in university and well, it's just not that important to me to spend that much time on it...but I have to say that feeling healthy is great. Knowing I'm doing my bit to be around here longer and be healthier with J is very satisfying. We both are more healthy and fit now than when we met each other over 10 years ago and feel like "real" people. We get out and do more things. And I must say that going into a store and trying on pretty much anything flattering , especially with the limited normal clothing choices from the current bar slag style craze for women feels better when you look better.

SO...what brought all this pattern of thinking on? I was wondering this morning while doing pushups on the purply ball just what I was getting out of all this really...and a neat thing came to mind on top of all the things I've already mentioned. Since I began in January I not only sleep better and feel better but I get lots of wierd dreams. Latest example? Well, sunday night I dreamt that I could play my hand like a flute...you know, like when you were a kid and you'd put a thumb on your nose and wiggle the fingers at people? Well I could blow in my thumb and depending on how my fingers were bent, I could play different notes. I was just getting good at it when I woke up...
Maybe it's a sign my brain is bored and I need to start doing mental excercises and take it out for a spin every once in a while...

Meep

Just realised that today we vote and find out in a day or so if we have to go on strike or not. I really don't want to...all you of the praying sort, pray for a yes vote. I like my house and I'd rather not trade it in for a cardboard box.

Meal of the gods #1

OK,
I did cheer meself up and have a nice weekend. Spent it with J and had some friends over saturday night for some Settlers of Catan, Krokono and a few beer. It's become a bit of a tradition for a few friends to come over, watch Battlestar Galactica on saturday and then hang out. A good time. Sunday was veggin with me luv and having the most amazing breakfast in ages (OK so breakfast at 2 PM is more of a lunch I guess...). Jay had the idea and I made it and it was so good I have to tell you all how to make it because, quite frankly, you all need to try this. It's beyond yummy. What is it you say? Crepes with fresh fruit sauce...so good.

Crepes:

• 3/4 c flour
• 3/4 c milk
• 3/8 c warm water
• 3 eggs
• 2 T sugar
• 1/4 c melted butter
• Pinch of salt

Mix it all together with a food processor or a blender and let it sit covered in the fridge at least 30 minutes before cooking (it can sit overnight). Heat a non-stick pan on medium heat and use a bit of butter for frying (about a chicklet's worth) - the heat is right when the butter melts and bubbles, but won't brown. Ladle ~3 or 4 T of batter (it is really thin) into the center of the pan and swirl the pan around so the batter reaches the edges of the pan. Flip it over with your fingers when it starts to brown. Keep making them until you run out of batter...you should get at least 12 crepes. Spoon in about 1-2 T of fruit sauce and roll up and dust with icing sugar if ya like ( I don't but some do). You can use jam or preserves too, but nothing beats fresh fruit sauce in my book.

Fruit Sauce

• 1 1/2 c mixed berries (Frozen is easier -I like safeway's mixed frozen berries-strawberries, blackberries, raspberries and blueberries)
• 1/3 c water
• 2 T sugar (or more to taste)
• 2 T cornstarch mixed with 2 T water

Heat the berries in the water with the sugar until the water just starts to boil and the fruit is very soft. Puree it all in a blender or with a hand mixer and return to the heat, adding the cornstarch mixture. It'll thicken up in a moment and be done. EEEEEEasy. Probably more than you need but it keeps well frozen and is yummy on pancakes too.

So there ya go. Stop what you are doing right now and go have some crepes. If you want to impress the ladies or score big points with your loved one make them crepes. They'll love you. It worked for me!

Have a great day all.

M is for miserable

I'm downright miserable.
It's cold, I'm tired, I don't feel like doing anything and am feeling low...I actually think I have extra rung added to my ladder of moodiness today. I'm not going into any of the gory details. Suffice it to say that for many reasons, some of them self inflicted, I'd be crap to be around right now. The thing is, usually I'm pretty happy and cheerful. I like to cheer up other people and the things of life can generally roll off my back, or can at least be put in a cupboard to be taken out when I'm ready to have a go at them...but today I just can't do it. I'm bloody miserable. And unless I shake this I have a miserable weekend ahead of me.
Goody.

I Stood Up and I Said Yeah

Hooray for me.
Our copy of The Flaming Lips 5.1 audio release of their 1999 album The Soft Bulletin finally arrived yesterday (So did the new Orb album Okie Dokie but I haven't had a chance to listen yet). I've liked the Flaming Lips for a long time, all the way back to Transmission from the Satellite Heart in '93 and it's funny, every album I listen to is "oh this one is my favorite". They keep improving and changing musically...from a lot of fun noise into some of the best rock & roll out there. And they are truly interesting people who genuinely try to make people happier and have a good time with their music. There's even talk of releasing their experimental album Zaireeka on DVD in 5.1 (which is good seeing as noone I know has 4 separate CD players to play the 4 CDs at the same time and so have never heard it) and I'm happily anticipating their new album to be out sometime this year. I loved Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, their last album release (which is also out in 5.1 remix should you all be interested) and this new album, from the single I heard last week, appears to be a slightly different sound yet again.

If you've never heard the Flaming Lips or The Soft Bulletin, do so. Beg or borrow it and have a listen. Pick up the DVD if you have a home theatre system...there's even a little kaliedescope fro each song to watch if ya like while listening. It will make your ears smile.

The Devouring of Biscuit City

Sounds like a childs perfect dream doesn't it? I'm all up ins about it myself.

Apparently at Selfridges in London, great time has been taken lately to build a city of biscuits. Today is the day where you can come at 4PM and devour the city with a cup of tea.

How very cool and very British.

I've made Gingerbread and cookie houses before but never ones to be devoured or even really worth showing off to other people, let a lone inviting them round for tea and a munch on it...I keep getting mental images of Homer in the land of chocolate.

See what I've done?
Now I'm hungry.

I'm going to go and have a bar of hippie crack and a cup of coffee for a break and get back to it.

I.P. Freely

Hey!
HEY!
When I moved to my new lab I thought there was no bathroom on this part of the building.
Well...I took a wrong turn and there it was!
I can now pee freely without going on a long cross country journey to the distant land of relief.
Hooray for me.
And it only took 3 months to find...
(permission granted to mock me now)

N is for Normal

Oh people, I have to say I'm dissapointed at the lack of mojo music out there...feel the love people. Feel the love!

________________________________________________________________
Just to be sure, I checked if I am normal, and everything is as it should be.

The Free Thinker
68 Anti-Normal Points

You are quite strange indeed and not very normal at all. You are cool. We have a few things in common, so send me a message. You are very open minded, creative, and intelligent. People like you and secretly want to be you, because of your overwhelming coolness. Just watch out the world doesn't suck out your originality

You scored higher than 61% on the How Normal Are You Test

________________________________________________________________
PS - Feel the love.

Mojo Music

So, in my attempt to pass time my thoughts have been a wandering all about. Heck I should have a eurorail pass for all the tangents I've been exploring today. Why? well, here's just one example of my odd day today:
At lunch I had a wierd conversation where we got to passing around the ultimate "make out" music (yes I know I work with odd people). Some odd music came up...different things for different people. It got me curious, soooooooo I'm asking all you out there: What do you think of as good make-out music? I'm curious what gets the mojo of you all out there. I've got a few in mind, but I'm not gonna be the first to spill the beans.
OK, OK..here's one: the "Mystic Groove" compilation album.
Now you....
Come on...humor me.

I am not a crackpot

OK, so I'd just like to state that I'm not a nut. I usually don't go for conspiracy crap and I'm about as cynical as it gets when it comes to that kind of stuff.
Yet, on Sunday I watched a google hosted film about the 911 attacks , specifically to watch the first part to learn more about the whole "plane hitting the pentagon" thing. It was interesting enough that I ended up watching the whole film (it's over an hour long). Now while a bit of it goes a bit too far for me, a lot of the evidence presented about the plane that crashed in a field and the one that supposedly crashed into the pentagon was fascinating...it seriously looks as though it didn't happen, given all the evidence present (and the fact that a lot recording and data are suspiciously hidden from the public about the event that could just confirm things one way or the other is just odd). And a lot of evidence presented about the twin towers talks about secondary explosions before the collapse and a prior knowledge of the event - like a planned demolition...Now I feel all crackpotty for saying this, but if you have some time to kill, watch the movie. I know it's long...skip thru the first bit of intro if you must, but the bits on the planes and towers is really interesting. If the facts that the only buildings of this type to utterly collapse utterly due to fire are these 3 buildings, especially the tower 7 which had a bunch of FBI and other agency offices in it, something is definitely NOT right. The questions raised about Bin Laden's supposed video confession are aslo very alarming. The film has photos and evidence I've honestly never seen before...and it made me wonder...just how much of it was real? And if it wasn't...why? And holy crap indeed if it was known about ahead of time or faked.

Man...I guess I need to go buy a "conspiracy theorist" t-shirt now...cuz this film got me thinking. A lot. Watch it. Tell me what you thought. Am I being a bit wonky here? Cuz it sure looks as though something is definitely not right...