FEELING FEATHERY (oh so feathery...)

: F1 Grand Prix of Belgium qualifying. ^^

i hadn't ever made pesto before today. but goddamn, if it isn't ridiculously easy to make, i don't know what is. and there's so many different variations on it, too. i just made it very basically...grabbed a whole bunch of basil leaves off of the plants growing in the backyard (which are doing WONDERFULLY, by the way...ever since i put them in bigger pots, they're quite happy and bushy and beautiful), threw them in the little mini food processor that Kate-chan and her mom gave me ages ago, along with some olive oil (extra virgin), some garlic, a whole bunch of crushed walnuts, and a bit of coarse kosher salt (don't you love my measurements? XD).

put some of it on the wrist-breaking rye (that's what i should call that recipe from now on; it's got a certain ring to it, don't you think? XD) yielded by last weekend...and despite any international treaties this might break, it tasted really, really good. and SO ridiculously easy. ^-^ you really ought to taste it. ^.-

and since i promised it ages ago and forgot to do it, i'm remembering now that i promised you a recipe for tonkatsu sauce. so here you are:

1/2 tsp. dry mustard powder
2 tbsp. sake
1/4 c. ketchup
1 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tbsp. hoisin sauce (or char siu sauce)
2 tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. worchestershire sauce

combine mustard powder & sake in a bowl; whisk until smooth. add remaining ingredients; mix well.

and whee, look at me culinarily procrastinating when i should be doing other stuff. must go plink away at my keyboard now. and maybe make some apple bran muffins. 'scuse me. XD

A (NEARLY) PERFECT DAY

yesterday was great.

had taken the day off and went to meet my sister downtown. walking on the way to the train station, another bug flew into the side of my face rather violently; it then bounced off and landed on my hair right above (and nearly on) my left ear. reflexively, i reached up, grabbed it, and flung it to the ground in front of me.

good thing, too...it was a HUGE bee. it looked pretty messed up, though...and not from being flung to the ground. probably why it flew into me. hrrm.

anyway, after getting lost and wandering around the Grant Park area aimlessly for an hour or so as a result, we finally found out where it was that Mariam wanted to go...she was very anxious to see the Earth From Above exhibit going on in Millennium Park, so off we went. it was REALLY cool...'cept, of course, too many people and lots of stupid comments made. but the exhibit itself was really great...we just should have had the sense not to go at noon, since it was an outdoor exhibit. needless to say, we got quite hot.

so because of this and because by the time we made it through, we were incredibly hot and tired and thirsty and hungry, we didn't end up getting nummy Indian food after all (as we'd planned). instead, we stumbled to a cash machine, looked in vain for a Bennigan's that Mariam was sure was just up the block (and which we later located as half a block up from where she'd thought it was...XD), and eventually stumbled into a Popeye's. where we soon learned that a) i should never order anything to do with chicken (even in an establishment that allegedly specialises in it), because they always take the time to go kill mine specially (evidently), and it therefore takes an age for me to get to EAT it...and also that we really both should have just gotten the fries and biscuits, as everything else was just breading. eeeh.

so after that, we started walking again. decided that we were, in fact, going to go and see that movie..."again" for me, and for the first time for her. were aiming for the 4:15 showing. so we had time to kill...she'd wanted to go to her apartment and clean her ferrets' cage, but we didn't have time to make the trip up there and then back to the theatre. so instead, we walked.

and walked.

and walked.

up Michigan avenue...after having walked most of the morning, only stopping to rest at Popeye's.

in the course of our travels, we came across a most dangerous and delightful discovery on Michigan: The Moonstruck Chocolate Cafe. O.O;;;;

it was even more dangerous than it usually would have been since Mariam's been even more stressed out and upset than usual. i was very good and only got a candy cane milkshake (which was REALLY good...kinda pricey but MORE than worth the cost of admission). we will DEFINITELY have to go back to this place.

since we just kept walking north on Michigan, we jokingly said something about walking to the theatre.

which we ended up doing. it wasn't too bad...according to mapmakers, it's about 4 miles away from where we were. it was a nice walk...we used to do stuff like that all the time. like walk home from downtown when we lived on the north side. XD

when we got up to the intersection where the theatre was, we stopped off at a Walgreens in order to get something to drink and get some more cash. checking out, we saw a self-checkout machine for the first time...you scan your item, it tells you how much...there were slots for cash, change, and even a debit or credit card, as well as a receipt printer...it was very strange. if i'm around there again, i'll probably try it, but something about it makes me nervous. XD

Mariam enjoyed the movie a lot. i was finally convinced earlier that i had to take her to see it because we ran into this gigantic flock of pigeons on the street outside of Popeye's and i started giggling uncontrollably. she and i have a long history with pigeons. and, well, of course i thought of the movie. so there you go. XD

good (if exhausting) times were had by all...i was so unbelievably dead last night that i could barely stand. sleep is a wonderful thing.

now, it's off to go to the eye doctor. it'll be nice to be able to see again, although i wish it didn't cost so much...>.<;;;

...AND THERE WAS MUCH REJOICING THROUGHOUT THE LAND

...i'm SO glad it's not only for X-Box...

with that, i'm off for the weekend. don't expect much out of me till Tuesday, although there may be surprises between now and then...you never know. have good weekends, all! ^-^

MAD BIRTHDAY RUSH, PART TWO

: "please please please let me get what i want." the smiths.

woohoo!:

today would be a thursday much like any other thursday except that it's the birthday of one Jae Young. here's hoping it's great and wonderful and full of Good Things. ^-^ please (please please) help me wish her a happy birthday!

*runs out to the store to purchase several boxes of descending size, some wrapping paper, some tissue paper, and some holographic ribbon. she then proceeds to wrap all of the empty boxes, putting the small one inside the big one until there's only one giant box left, wrapped in layers of sparkly paper and tape and ribbon. she then runs to the post office and posts it off to NYC as quickly as can be*

there. now you'll have plenty to unwrap. XD

(i know, i know...that joke isn't funny anymore...XD)

I JUST CAN'T GET IT OUT OF MY HEAD

: "can't get you out of my head (blue monday mix)." kyle. e. minotaur of DOOM

quite:

this song. it's INSIDIOUS. i really can't get it out of my head. certain 3v331 Ones Whose Birthdays Are Tomorrow put it on certain mixes of theirs. and oh lordy, i don't think it's coming out for days.

...lalala, lalalalala...lalala, lalalalala...

in other news, i gave up on the broccoli and was busily planting spinach, lettuce, cucumbers, and more sugar snap peas yesterday evening.

if anyone needs me, i'll be banging my head into the "class of '94" clock outside. and/or busily trying to steal the burgundy-and-black Mini parked out front.

see ya.

ON ARGYLE ISLE

: "combat rock." sleater-kinney.

rather:

i have the best socks in the world on my feet right now.

thinking that i was merely buying some really cute socks that were soft and not too thin and had fuzzy cuffs, i exited a nearby Target on Saturday with two such pairs of socks in my bag (along with a couple other pairs, including one involving blue argyle).

after putting all of the socks through the washer and dryer, i discovered the truth of these new socks i'd bought.

they were not skimped on; it was not merely the cuffs that were fuzzy, but the entire inside of these socks! ^__________^

they're so fuzzy and good, in fact, that i can't seem to stop making fists with my toes inside my shoes. i'm doing it even as i write this.

in conclusion, i have the best socks in the world on my feet right now, and i thought i should share.

also, i paid a visit to the post office this morning to send off a long-overdue package of 3v331 (the final one i'd had planned! yay! ^-^), and while there i noticed our new standard first-class postage stamp design. looks familiar, doesn't it? therefore, i can only conclude that Paul the Postman must have some high-ranking USPS postage-stamp-designer friends who are concerned about the welfare of Mr. Bear.

nothing else particularly useful to say, except do any of you here know anyone who's so very special that they can manage to injure themselves while kneading BREAD DOUGH??!?!

you do now.

granted, it was rye dough, and therefore far more vicious than regular bread dough. but still. this was only with HALF the recommended recipe, too! i'd probably have broken my arm entirely had i made a full recipe! >.<;;;

FIRST WORMS, NOW LITTLE PLUSHIE BEARS

: "your silent face (live at the BBC 2001)." new order.

Paul the Postman (the gentleman behind the Isabella's Teddy project) has requested my assistance (such as it might be) in trying to get Isabella's Teddy back on the road; please click on the button below to find out more about the teddy's current plight, and what you can do to help. if interested, please pass word along. i don't know how much good this will do in freeing the bear, but hopefully it will do something...

best of luck to Paul the Postman, Isabella, and of course the MIA teddy...

TOURING BREAKS

: "lions and tigers." sleater-kinney.

i don't know why i keep forgetting to mention, but October is shaping up to be a month full of shows.

definitely: Sleater-Kinney on 10th October at the Metro...

probably: The Modey Lemon on 18th October at the Beat Kitchen (yay! will get to hang out with Shannon if i go...^^)

maybe: The Fall on 27th October at the Empty Bottle. (they're also playing the 28th, and i suppose either is as much of a pain as i still have to work the next day no matter which i go to...>.<;;;)

and i'm sure there's probably other stuff as well...@.@;;;

as they say, when it rains...

*whimpers happily and covers the ears of her poor beleaguered checkbook*

hrrm. must figure out what i'm doing and purchase tickets as necessary...there's lots of other stuff i wanna see, but i had to narrow it down and those are the top three contenders...

MAD BIRTHDAY RUSH, PART ONE

: "i'm a vampire." future bible heroes.

wheeee!:

...leading the stack of birthdays immediately on my doorstep is the one, the only...ELVA!!!!!!!!!!!! ^__________^

today is her birthday. many of you don't know her. but she is cool, and furthermore, i bet you wish you did. she also works in a library (and an academic one, at that!), so therefore she is by definition one of the coolest people you will ever come across in the entire term of your existence.

so please join me in a moment of sending happy birthday wishes her way! ^-^

TARANTULA TARANTELLA

: "doris day theearthstoodstill." future bible heroes.

...at least it's friday...:

it was a good thing we took the basil in yesterday morning before leaving the house.

when i got home, all the rains that had been pouring down over us all day had taken quite a toll on the yard. don't get me wrong; we needed the rain, and badly. but as thirsty as the ground was, this was still too much for it to take in at once, so we ended up with our own little mini-swamp in the backyard.

right next to the (newly constructed) walkway, which is next to the garden. the garden, too, was slightly flooded...but it seemed likely to abate a bit quicker than the newly-formed swampland.

and then we noticed worms. LOTS of worms. which were busy drowning in the aforementioned swamp.

they were REALLY BIG, too. so, as with when we originally dug up the area for the garden, we had to rescue as many as we could. worms are really good to have around, particularly if you're trying to grow anything...they're very beneficial creatures. so off we went, reaching into the pool, yanking them out, and flinging them into various parts of the sections of garden that weren't flooded. human skin oils aren't so good for them, but i would think most worms might agree with me that it beats drowning (although i was surprised at how fast they can swim...).

so if anyone's wondering how we spent Thursday evening, we were busy flinging rescuing worms.

(in the garden.)

(with a candlestick.)

stop looking at me like that.

PORCELAIN ETIQUETTE 101

let's suppose you go into a public restroom, wishing to use the toilet. you find a stall, lock the door behind you, and proceed to go about your business.

and then two (or more) other people come into the restroom and proceed to have a very loud and exuberant conversation right in front of your door.

once you're done, your normal course of action would be to flush, exit the stall, wash and dry your hands, leave the restroom and go on about your day, right? if only those people weren't standing right there...

so what do you do? do you exit right into the middle of their conversation? or do you sit in perfect silence in your stall until they're done, hesitating to interrupt but at the same time quite possibly seeming like you're intentionally spying on them?

decisions, decisions. XD

also, there's a grasshopper here at work. it's currently hopped up into one of the lights in the ceiling. we have no idea where it came from, but it's been the subject of much speculation and curious craning of necks.

once again reiterating the fact that we very much tend to take our excitement where we can get it. XD

(and this certainly beats the pigeon walking around in the train station this morning!)

INTO, IN TWO, INTO, IN TWO

: "girly loop." moonshake.

still eh:

"Boundaries are established that limit possible communication or, as with certain responses to Ian Curtis's lyrics, provide judgmental barriers that declare that it is not poetry or good writing, nor is it good singing. This is to miss the point and expect that communication must take an aesthetic form that can, to some degree, diminish its impact. The personal expression of deeper layers of subjectivity is, in the capitalist colony, commodified and controlled by means of the various psycho-therapies in a mishmash of analyst fees and privacy... and, crucially for this piece, by much of the music industry, through the faultless expressions of 'singers' specialised in expressing stereotypical emotions that act as surrogates or replacements for our own. These deeper layers, the idioms of desire, can then come to be commodified too and the result is the commodification of human-relations and a lack of having any need to express anything about ourselves because it lacks the analyst's penetration or the poet's poise. Such a disinclination not only creates the subjective imbalances of the suicidal frame-of-mind, but, is indicative too of the pathological certainty of ideologues and, closer to common experience, the inability to affirm a common goal with other people."

...and look, it's THE POINT. for which all i seem to be able to say at the moment is "thank you."

i really believe the utter imperativeness of such statements cannot possibly be overstated. not just for music, but for everything. the "mere" act of living your life is as important and as revolutionary as you yourself choose to make it, and you should allow nothing and no one to take that from you.

THE WONDERS OF HAVING A FLATBED SCANNER

...have allowed me to share a teensy scan of my hair with you:

now your curiosity might be somewhat sated. XD having never scanned my own hair before, i wasn't quite sure how it would turn out...and it's not quite as true as i'd have hoped. hence, why you don't get a larger scan, as i think it'd be a pointless waste of your time. so perhaps i'll take a photo after all...eventually.

(special thanks to Spaz for helping me scan it, as it would've been difficult to man the computer whilst having my hair on the flatbed...XD)

VOX TEARDROP EXPLODES

: les bains douches. again.

eh...:

...just in case you ever doubted the veracity of those Bond movies, here's a little reminder that diamonds are INDEED forever...O.O;;;

and also, it's good to finally realise that all those years of ELCA education did yield at least one important piece of knowledge: that of the difference in big "C" vs. small "c". quite honestly, i'm surprised no one experienced mass confusion in this regard sooner. but aieeee. though i myself am not a participant in any particular religion, i don't deny anyone else's right to be involved in one. however, luring people into your faith under false pretences doesn't exactly speak well of it now, does it? --;;;

and lastly, listening to this reminds me of a dilemma i often have: what exactly do you CALL a "live recording"? i mean, aside from "live recording"? it just seems like such a silly term. by being recorded (and in this case, being listened to nearly 23 years on from when it was performed "live"), it's by definition no longer a "live" performance. but it's not (and certainly doesn't sound like) a studio recording, either. so i really do think it ought to have a different name, because "live recording" just gets sillier and sillier the more i think about it. suggestions, anyone...?

yes, i'm fully aware i think too much about really ultimately trivial, stupid things like this. leave me and my sorry existence alone. XD

*SNORT*

i predict that Priya will love to view Tales of the Plush Cthulhu. that is, unless she's seen it already. the rest of you would probably be amused as well. but is it telling at all that the first person that brings to mind is, well, Priya...? XD

(the above brought to you via Isabella's Teddy, which is a quite entertaining concept in and of itself. XD)

HE'S ON, HE'S ON, HE'S ON IT...

: "groovy is my name." pizzicato five.

yeah, i'm here...:

again, as is usual when listening to this song (which i haven't done in a REALLY long time), i marvel at the fact that someone was insanely brilliant enough to decide that a FIGHT SCENE IN THEIR FILM should be choreographed to this. my hat will forever be off to Gregg Araki for envisioning this particular bit of insanity. (well, that and launching the career of James Duvall. *snerk*)

so, it's done. next friday, i should be having a whole day o' fun with Mariam, which will be nice. XD for as i've veritably made myself a broken record about, things just aren't the same since we don't work together anymore. and therefore, don't see each other and get to share our wrongness and a LIFETIME'S WORTH of braincrack with one another. ;.; i do rather miss it. my sister is insane. and i love her for it. (not that i, er, should talk, necessarily. XD)

oh, and provided it's still playing, plans have also been made to go see A Certain Movie. not that i'm a vicious sl0re or anything. certainly not. hrrmph!

a curious experience on the way home yesterday: while walking to the train station to go back downtown, something WHAPPED me in the face, completely unexpectedly. it was a small something, and it hit me on the left side of my upper lip, maybe half an inch or so below my nose. it bounced off and then commenced to land on my shirt, just below and to the left of where impact had occurred. just above my left boob. i was wearing a pocket tee, and it seemed to be quite fond of the upper right corner of the pocket...not sitting inside it, but just sitting on it.

looking down at it, it was one of the coolest beetles i've ever seen. which doesn't mean much...i'm far from being any sort of expert on beetles. XD i used to play with lots of insects as a kid, particularly when at my grandparents' house...learned how to catch grasshoppers without them spitting on me or pinching me and without hurting them; caught crickets, and of course fireflies...all sorts of bugs. anyway, this beetle had a really neat metallic green head, other assorted bits of metallic green around its body...except for the wing case, which was a burnished copper. it seemed stunned and stubborn...i wasn't sure what it wanted.

at first, i thought maybe it had been attracted to my hair. (it is awfully bright, and i've seen plenty of flowers this colour that are in bloom right now...) though i wondered if this were really possible, since most insects don't seem to have the best vision in the world (and i'm really one to talk...^^;;;;). and then i remembered that i'd just been drinking this blackberry lemonade, which seemed a good idea when i bought it, but in actuality was far too sweet for its own good. but i thought perhaps there was still some around my mouth, thus attracting this weird little beetle.

it wouldn't get off my shirt, no matter how i tried. i didn't want to just grab it, as i was afraid i'd hurt it...plus, i didn't know if it was angry and would bite, or what. but it was extremely insistent on holding onto my shirt. eventually, i managed to pry it off with a stick, but not before almost missing my train because of it. (when i told Spaz this story last night, he said he thought i should've just brought it home with me. XD) random. but i wonder what it was...?

watched a bit of a two-hour special on Trio last night called The Scream Heard Round The World. it was intended to be a quasi-sociological examination of extreme fangirlism (ie, the screaming, weeping masses so often seen in archival footage of the Beatles, or Elvis, or any number of people) regarding pop groups over the years. thing is, it really didn't do so well at its intended task, especially considering that it was TWO HOURS long. *shrugs* such things are hardly meant to be incisive, in-depth reports anyway...this channel does specialise in Smash Hits specials, after all. i was expecting too much. XD

[addendum: ooh, and almost forgot. know how i was mentioning that Mancow was at the movie on Friday? it definitely WAS him. Spaz was at work and apparently someone there had his show on, and he was in the middle of playing some NO song and interrupted it to mention how he'd ACCIDENTALLY seen the movie on Friday. that he stumbled into the theatre by accident when he'd intended to see something else. wasn't bashing it or anything; said he liked the movie, in fact. but i'm curious...the only other things playing at this theatre Friday were: The Kid Stays In The Picture, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, and Me Without You. therefore, i'm really not sure i buy this "accidentally" thing. --;;; it seems rather lame. and yes, i suppose i am spending rather too much time on this...but it just seems so silly. why would you need to lie about it? afraid you won't keep up your Public Image Of Being Hard cos you went to go see this particular movie? i bet next to no one in the theatre would care, honestly. silly. o.o;;;]

perhaps more later. ^^

SOUND FORMED IN A VACUUM MAY SEEM A WASTE OF TIME

: "temptation" (original 7"). er...the Sunshine Valley Dance Band? XD

nothing more than:

to the amusement of yourself and everyone else (i'm sure), i shall shortly commence to be wholly industrious the whole day through.

*snerk*

but first, a recap of the weekend.

friday, as mentioned in entries below, was the day when Spaz, Kimmie, Rugen and i were all to see 24HPP.

and see it we did.

fearing that tickets would be sold out, i of course bought some for Spaz and i as soon as i got down by the theatre...which was around 5:30. plans had been made to meet up with Kimmie and Rugen around 6:15 and with Spaz around 6:30 so that we'd have plenty of time to find parking and get good seats, as showtime was set for 7:15.

in the meanwhile, i set off to poke around, as i hadn't been in the neighbourhood of Pipers Alley for YEARS. and the last time i had been there, i hadn't really had much time to look around. but it's changed a LOT. super-gentrified. becoming more and more like Lincoln Park. ick. >.<;;; went to quite possibly one of the most USELESS CD stores i've ever been to (See Hear, which is right across the street...i knew it'd be bad, but i didn't know how bad. the most useful thing i found was the Doves' Last Broadcast, which i'd like to get at some point...but, er, not for $14.99. --;;;)

meeting up with everyone went off without a hitch, much to my shock and surprise...usually if there are plans that i'm involved in and there's some sort of "meeting up with people" component, things tend to go...not even pear-shaped, more like twisted-malformed-eggplant-shaped. --;;; but we got into the theatre and got good seats easily...were some of the first people there, in fact. about 40 minutes before the movie. XD and at first, we were thinking that hrrm, we really didn't need to be there so early after all...but then the theatre filled up quite a lot by the time showtime rolled around, and so we were glad we got there when we did. and of all people, Mancow was there. friggin' MANCOW. i didn't realise it till later...he was wearing a Metro shirt and looked an awful lot like this one prick of a security guard who i've seen there before, so that's who i thought he was. but Spaz recognised him from when he had the unfortunate duty of airing his TV show in his past life as a TV boy. he wasn't there in any official capacity, it would seem...but the subject matter of this movie didn't exactly seem conducive to his normal sort of amusement anyway.

anyway, onto the movie itself.

the movie itself was great fun. ^-^ but then, you knew i'd say that, particularly if you're reading this and you've already seen it yourself. ^.- although at the end, i was left wondering if i wouldn't have enjoyed it more had i not known so much about it (not just the movie itself but the stories, the history, etc, etc.) beforehand. i think i probably would've. which is not to say that i didn't enjoy it. but. XD *snerk* the pigeons. XD XD XD Spaz enjoyed it a lot, too...he just hated having to be where we were in order to see it. oldtown becoming a suburb of lincoln park. >.<;;; god, i hate it. --;;; his favourite moments were Tony Wilson's comments on jazz and theatre and also the bit around Vini Reilly and how his scene got cut out but would likely be on the DVD. XD

performances: Dave Gorman as Jon the Postman. ehehehhe. ehehehehheh. ehehehhe. though, truth be told, i wouldn't have realised it was DG had i not known beforehand. and having never seen the real thing, i of course can't offer any useful comparison. but DG was plenty entertaining. XD Sean Harris as Ian Curtis was quite believable when he was onstage. Paddy Considine as Rob Gretton was rather eery, in a good way...Steve Coogan's Tony Wilson was highly entertaining (of course), and particularly after having seen them give interviews together on the subject of this film. XD (BTW, the bit with Lindsay and Howard DeVoto that "didn't really happen" in the Hac was one of my favourite bits in the movie. "where are the car keys?" XD) don't know enough about Alan Erasmus to comment on his portrayal...didn't really buy Ralf Little's Hooky, although it wasn't bad. but dude. prior to actually seeing the film itself, i wasn't sure how much i bought into John Simm as Barney. granted, i've never seen anything else he's been in. so i couldn't very well have any opinion on his acting ability. but i didn't even think (seeing stills from the movie and whatnot) that he really looked like him in the slightest. but Fi was completely right in her assessment: he had it DOWN, except for in closeups. mannerisms, the voice...everything. NOT BAD. Danny Cunningham didn't quite have the Shaun Ryder thing down till he pulled the hoodie over his head, but not bad.

god it was amusing. XD

not much else to be said of this weekend, except that i urged Mariam to go see it. she and her mom recently saw Signs, which she absolutely loathed...when she heard that i'd seen 24HPP, she was very curious, as she'd apparently thought about seeing it. hope it doesn't disappear from around here too quickly, although i'm sure it will.

oh, and i made a really good soup yesterday. i can't TELL you how much i love soup. and this is entirely good for you, too...well, unless you put crispy fried rice noodles on top. like i did. XD but aside from that, it's really good. americanised chinese-ish thai-ish chicken noodle soup. this also sounds like the epitome of me. XD but very, very good. and i think i'll need it, too...i seem to have a sore throat. o.o;;; Spaz made BLTs, which were also really, really good...hadn't had one of those in ages. it might well have been the best one of those i'd ever had, too.

and Keito-chan's package arrived Saturday! crammed full of goodness...four volumes of Kakinouchi-sensei's new Kyuuketsuki Miyu manga (swoon! XD), a lovely Miyu shitajiki (although i'm far from being a collector of shitajiki, it is quite lovely), the first Harry Potter novel in Japanese, and a bunch of sweets and a new San-x mascot whose name escapes me at the moment (and who i don't here with me right now). peach and passion fruit jellies are the absolute best, particularly after being stuck in the fridge. thank you SO MUCH, Keito-chan! *hugs*

and i think that's it. for now, at least.

*contemplates dragging Mariam out to see 24HPP...nikoniko*

THE EPITOME OF BEING ME

as usual, we had breaktime earlier today. went downstairs, and as i'd been feeling so ill earlier on, i'd bought two bottles of ginger ale on the way in. therefore, while hungrily devouring my pasta (for by this point, i was no longer sickly but strangely STARVING...at least, so my stomach forcibly asserted), i finished off the end of the first.

later (but not too much so) on, i opened up the second one.

mostly.

i don't remember shaking it. and i'd bought it around 7:10 or so in the morning, and this was going on 11 in the morning when i did this. anyway, you can guess what happened.

this is the second biggest vaguely food-related mess i've ever been in; the first was the infamous ice-cream incident of last summer. (which, for the record, involved me, a very hot day, a rocky road ice cream cone, and unfortunately no pictures taken. i'd never had ice cream on my elbows prior to that day, though...and to my knowledge, have also not since.)

my hair was not harmed in the spraying of my ginger ale all over the seating area of the coffee shop downstairs, just so you know. but my pants may well never be the same.

DAMN, NOW THE SECRET'S OUT

...there is not a San-X character called "Ninja Nyanyamaru."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXD

i will have to inform my sister immediately.

why, you ask?

because she has long called me "nanamaru." often in babytalk. XD

perhaps my sister's working for San-X and never told me? O.O;;

JOIN OUR WORLD AND PLAY OUR GAME

: the whole of Low-Life. on repeat. for the past couple of days. O.O;;

more nauseous than you'd like to know:

well. that was the closest i've ever come to puking on a train in my life. >.<;;;

let me just recap, since i obviously have NOT yet learned my lesson, and perhaps the writing of it in this blog will facilitate drilling it once and for all into my sorry excuse for a brain: empty stomach + greasy food (and too much of it) + going to sleep straightaway = oh will you be SORRY in the morning. >.<;;;;;;;

the food wasn't even fantastically greasy, though...but as we've been eating a whole lot healthier lately, i guess it was enough. Spaz wasn't feeling so good either, but he didn't seem nauseous like i was, at least.

*shrugs* i feel better now, although still quite a bit like shit. i've got ginger ale (gasp! soda pop! O.O;;;), which is helping. but every time i belch up more of the chicken fajita pita from last night, it makes me want to puke all over again just tasting it. thank god for spearmint gum...without it, i probably would've turned around and gone home. @.@;;;

(but goddammit, i am GOING TO THAT MOVIE TONIGHT. *.*;;;; just hope i feel better by then. i feel better than i did when i left the house, so i'll take that as a portent of things to come. ^^;;)

in other news, i got my hair attended to yesterday. it's now a rather nice dark shade of purple. my hairdresser is in loooooove, and so was all giddy and talking about this girl yesterday, which was cool. i heartily support such endeavours when they're real. ^.- it was nice to see. and then he got all poingy when they played some Vines song on the in-store radio, cos apparently he's all about the Vines right now. and then *i* got all poingy when right after that song, Bis came on. "Action and Drama." he'd never heard of them, so of course i had to tell him more. XD

finally, in regards to this evening, i tried calling up that 1-800-555-TELL line to see about perhaps buying tickets for the show tonight early, cos i'm paranoid. it's been a LOOOONG time since i gave enough of a shit about a movie that i actually wanted to go out of my way and deal with crowds and such to see it the first night it's opened. (in fact, i only really remember ONE other time i did this, and i was about 12 and it was with this other girl's family...so i really didn't have to deal with much at all, as her parents did all the legwork. o.O;;) anyway, the menu's set up so you can speak your choices, right? and if it doesn't hear you properly, it'll say "i'm sorry; i didn't get that. could you repeat that?"

trying to get information on 24 Hour Party People is a fucking nightmare. i couldn't do it. i hung up after about 6 tries in frustration. it couldn't understand me, no matter how clearly i spoke, about 3 times. then it gave me the option of spelling it out using the phone keys.

er, uh, which way?

i tried both. neither worked. leading me to believe that they hadn't got it into their system yet. perhaps they don't do the over-the-phone thing on the first day? i know tickets aren't available for Pipers Alley online; tried that already. but the newspaper ad in the Onion mentions the phone number, that it starts here today, and says you can get tickets by phone using that number.

oh well. we're getting there sorta early, so i hope it's okay...

*crosses fingers*

(if not, well...maybe i can save all my nausea for the box office people...? XD)

perhaps more later. if not, have great weekends! ^-^

[addendum: as of 10:08am, feeling MUCH better now. yay! ^.^ also, here's Ebert's review of the movie in question. i was particularly amused by him describing Steve Coogan's Tony Wilson as "usually the only man in the room wearing a suit and tie, but he looks like he put them on without reading the instructions." XD XD XD ]

WILL YOU LEAVE THIS PARTY WITH ME? WE WERE NOT INVITED ANYWAY...

this review of Bis' Plastique Nouveau is, well...rather ill-informed. drives me nuts when that happens, which i suppose is why i feel the need to mention it here. skip this entry entirely if you're not interested. XD

<rant> aside from niggling things like the fact that her stage name is "Manda RIN" and *not* "Manda LIN" (and i'm sorry, but the r/l transliteration problem does not hold a single molecule of water here...--;;;), which are immediate tip-offs...i wonder, how exactly is spinART sending this to people to review? because both the aforementioned review provided by Ms. Kellogg and also this review refer to it as an album. a proper album. which it's NOT, and never was meant to be. there's mention of a "mini-album" on spinART's website, but i think these people took it far too seriously, and had they done slightly more research, would have seen where reviewing it as a proper album might steer them wrong.

the remixes themselves are new, but most of the "new" proper songs on Plastique Nouveau have in fact been released elsewhere...just not in the US. (and i have a lot of it, big shock. XD) so if this is an "album" proper, and should be considered as such, then i'm guessing This Is Teen-C Power! would be considered an album as well...were it not for the magical letters E and P that are placed after the title on that particular release...oh, and the fact that it's a compilation of singles that had previously been released in the UK prior to the band's signing on with Grand Royal in the US.

both of the above mentioned reviews mention Bis' ties to the Powerpuff Girls. and both wrongly refer to their contribution as THE theme, when in fact it's the ending theme. a fact which most people probably don't care about...and if asked about it, the band have said they don't perform the song live as they feel it's not really them. sure, it may have gotten them more exposure, but i don't know how much that seems to transfer over into winning new fans to their particular sound...at least, not enough to buy albums or go to concerts.

as far as the PopMatters review is concerned...well, i'd again point out that the main fault is that she's regarding it as a proper album, instead of a compilation of rare tracks and remixes, as i'd think it would be obvious it's intended to be...regardless of whatever "mini-album" notations have been made about it. therefore, it shouldn't be surprising that "Manda's vocals have essentially disappeared," nor that "Bis put "The End Starts Today" on two records running." (i'm still confused about "content to be in the most stylish magazines"...erm, when did this happen? i recall brief mention in Seventeen and a one-page photo/article of Manda looking supremely glassy-eyed in an Alloy catalog...and brief turns in various Japanese publications such as Rockin' On. this is hardly the stuff of high fashion.)

it's clear that she doesn't care for Bis' new sound. which a lot of people don't, and i understand this. and to address another point she makes, that "if you're an electronica fan, you may just love this album,"...Spaz is more primarily into electronic music than i am. and he doesn't care for Return to Central-era stuff either, save for "Protection," "Robotic," and everything on the Fukd ID EP that they did for Chemikal Underground save for "Brainclouds." while he's just one person, and therefore hardly representative of an entire group...he too professes to miss the old Bis sound. which i can understand, although i'm apparently in the minority when i say that i like almost everything Bis has done, old and new (and excluding remixes...some of which are alright, but most of which i could live without. save for the "Robotic (Just Last Week)" syndrum mix, of course. ^.-)

the thing that continues to confuse me, though, is...am i the only one who sees any sort of logical progression in the way Bis has changed over time? i'm sure there aren't many other people who care, for one...i'm not kidding myself about that. and i'd be surprised if taking this more dancey turn that everyone seems to find so surprising actually did launch them into some sort of strange SuperPopStardom. but it genuinely confuses me. as someone who's followed them for a damn long time...it really does seem logical to me, and not like this just happened overnight...which most reviews (of this, of Return to Central, and even of the grossly misunderstood Social Dancing [which should have sold a zillion copies...i will NEVER understand how that record could possibly have been a commercial disaster]) seem to assert that they did. these elements have ALWAYS been there in Bis' music. it's not as though they just had done with everything they'd previously done and formed a jug band or something...now that would be a complete change of pace for them.

the other thing that gets me too is, aren't bands allowed to change? to (d)evolve in the way they manage their sound? are our heads not big enough to allow this to happen, that they have to stay in the one little box we slotted them into the first time we heard them? i mean, you don't like it, you don't like it. fine. but i guess it sort of irks me, this idea that "i liked them how they were, why did they have to change?" don't you change, every day? if so, why can't they? you may not like how they change, and that's completely within your rights to do so...but it's going to happen whether you like it or not, so i really don't see how it's such a surprise. and the last thing i'd think their particular changes over time to be would be some sort of cynical ploy to make themselves more commercially viable. >P

and hrrm, here's the press release to accompany PN. it provides a damn lot of information. GreenGalactic doesn't seem to refer to it as an "album," or even as a "mini-album." i wonder where this conception came from, then...? because i think that's the heart of the problem with these reviews. you can't expect something to be an album when it's, well...not.

and of course, there's the issue of New Order being referenced as "sterile." i'll grant you that only if you've only been listening to the big radio singles. Brotherhood can make your neck hairs stand on end...that is an intensely claustrophobic and uncomfortable record, largely due to its production. and even stripped to its bare bones, i fail to see [regardless of whether or not you like it or them] how it, or Low-Life, or in fact any other full-length album OR b-side to a single of theirs can be referred to as "sterile." 'tis an obvious and inappropriate comparison to toss off. exactly the sort of thing i hate. RESEARCH, dammit. or don't mention it. RAR. >P </rant>

[n.b. i'll fully admit and agree to the fact that i'm biased. but obviously, so are they. and i really would be probably about as annoyed in reading a review that mentioned other people that i didn't feel quite as strongly about if i knew it was this badly informed. what good is a review if it's largely innacurate and contains such poorly researched references? it seems incredibly irresponsible to me, is my main problem. i don't take issue with whether or not this reviewer cared for it, after all. she's more than welcome to her opinion...but she needs to buttress it with solid facts if she's going to bring them up at all.]

I HEARD IT ALL BEFORE, I'VE HEARD IT ALL BEFORE...I CAN'T HEAR IT ANYMORE...

: "ceremony" (original 7"). that one band on that one label with that one biografictional movie that i'm going to see tomorrow.

fly me to the moon:

my tomato is growing like mad. i shall have to transplant it this weekend. as well as spacing the popcorn out a little better. i'll also transplant those extra peppers...and i really ought to repot the basil in bigger pots so i can take them indoors in the winter, since i'm retarded and have issues when attempting to grow basil from seed. --;;; i only wish i had more tomatoes, but such is life. the potatoes are completely astounding in their rapidness of growth. and why the hell does my asparagus look suspiciously like fennel? O.O;;;

(note to viewers: as should be evident by now, janni can evidently grow things just fine. it's just that she tends to make Mystery Gardening a daily activity rather than an occasional misstep. --;;; XD)

in other news, sticks and stones may break some bones, but names apparently hurt one Mr. Stuart Goddard more than you'd think...XD

additionally, more from yet another Band That Would Not Die. O.O;;; pain mingles with shock mingles with horror mingles with hilarity mingles with insanity and oh god, i think i'm going to be sick...

oh, and next time i'm at a restaurant of some sort and i'm asked how i want my eggs done, i'm going to have to tell them just like this. XD

finally, further proof that you can find ANYTHING on eBay. XD XD

[the previous fairly pointless message brought to you by: tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow...bwee! ^-^]

SO CATCH HIM IF YOU CAN

: "naked shuffle." the pillows.

what i wouldn't give for a nap:

...cos Schuey's the Modena man...O.O;;
(we ain't no hooligans, this ain't an F1 song...)

(as always with Autosport articles, you don't have to register to read it, although they'd obviously like it if you did. under "click here for registration" is an option that lets you just click straight through to the story. use it well.)

er, uh, yeah. and also, Elva-chan will appreciate the unveiling of MechaHamutarou! O.O;;;

just imagine the size of the sunflower seeds MechaHamutarou would eat! O.O;;;

perhaps more later. oh, and only three more days! ^-^

(in other news, i'm firmly of the opinion that whoever invented Kahlua coffee creamer is a genius. although it's true that there's no alcohol involved...XD)

MURDER!

: "blazin' beat." move.

today is a wunnerful day:

someone searching in Gunma prefecture found this blog with this search query. i feel kinda bad, cos it's not as though i have one, or have any useful information on one, but i still can't help but be amused. XD

in other news, i won a Master Shake car air freshener! which smells like his lovely vanilla innards! (i'm not kidding; it says so right on the package!) it was the prize in Cartoon Network's first-ever Lifetime of Eternal Happiness contest. Rob won one, too...only they actually e-mailed him to inform him that he had won. i never received such an e-mail, so i was pleasantly surprised when i found one had come in the mail for me yesterday. i wonder if maybe everyone who entered didn't win one...? in any case, it's cool. but i still want a Meatwad stress ball. XD

and in still other news, i have basil! *^________________^* Amy, however, seems convinced that i'm out to kill it. because as i explained to her this morning (because she was wondering why the hell i've got two big basil plants sitting on the shelf above my desk), i have some sort of strange problem. basil's supposed to be fairly easy to grow, right?

for some reason, i can't grow it. every time i've tried, it grows enough so that i've got hope that it'll actually, well, survive...and then it dies. i don't neglect them. i don't treat them badly. i don't yell at them and call them names (well, maybe once...)...so i don't understand. ;.;

at any rate, every Tuesday during the summer, there's a farmer's market that goes on outside one of the main post offices downtown. since i get out of work when i do, they shut down before i'd have the chance to stop by on the way home...so i stopped by this morning.

SO many good things. reminds me of all the things i miss about my grandparents' house. and in addition to all sorts of fruits and veggies (those blackberries looked AMAZING), there were also plants. normal flowers, normal houseplants, exotics, and of course...herbs! both in bunches and in pots!

there was so much i wanted to take home. mostly cos i'm retarded and have been having severe problems growing herbs...and basil in particular. so i did buy some basil, at least. the smell of fresh basil is absolute heaven to me...better than most flowers, in fact. so i have two strong, proud basil plants sitting above my desk...one's a regular one, and one's purple basil.

i just hope i don't kill them. i'll try my best not to. i don't get it...i can grow things that are difficult to grow, but i have issues with basil...it's really, really pathetic of me.

(p.s. but! i have BASIL!!!!!!!!!!!!! ^________________^)

more later, maybe.

somewhat belatedly...

whenever i see the letters "D" and "J" together lately, i don't think of dust jackets. (which is what i should be thinking of, given what i've been looking for when coming across those two particular letters together recently.) i don't think of Diana Wynne Jones. and i also don't think of that particular sort of DJ that ought to be hung because of the music they constantly play.

no, no...instead, i think of doujinshi.

which is particularly odd given the fact that i really am not now (nor have i ever been) a doujin h0. and in fact only have one measly little doujin to my name (shhh, don't tell! XD).

may the republic of heaven help me. _O_

ANXIOUS? EXCITED? YOU'VE GOT THE WRONG PERSON...

because i'm not looking forward to Friday at all.

silly you. where ever would you get a notion like that from?

*whistles merrily whilst h0, h0, h0ing her boat gently down the stream...*

^.-

THE BUTCHER, THE BAKER, THE CHOCOLATE FLAKER

: "unison." dave douglas.
(via Rob; hrrm, Björk covers on...trumpet?!? beats all the other covers i've heard people do of her stuff...O.O;;;)

feeling rather:

...and rather randomly, i was looking somewhere for "pullman, philip" and came up instead with a biography of Noel Coward. O.O;;;

i. baked. a. LOT. this. weekend.

as i'd contemplated, i did end up making some weird cinnamon braided sweetbread/coffee cake type of thing. two of them, in fact. and they turned out quite well, so i'm proud, cos it's a sort of bread i've never really attempted before.

also made some fudge brownies and some MONSTER! chewy chocolate chunk cookies. both of which also turned out quite well.

why did i do all this, you ask? well, most of this stuff got sent away in the post this morning, to a couple of people. so now we've got a handful of cookies, the brownies, and half a loaf of the sweetbread left in the fridge at home. the brownies would've gotten sent out as well, but i realised after i'd made them that they probably wouldn't transport via post so well...they'd probably end up melting into some sort of strange mutagenic ooze if left to their own devices in a mailroom somewhere, so they're much better off sitting in my fridge. XD

so. it was fun. and i still had more things i'd contemplated baking. more scones, for one. maybe next weekend on those. and more spiced apple bran muffins, which are really nummy. we'll see. XD

so, to recap, a progress report:

packages of 3v331 planned before this weekend: 4
packages of 3v331 sent out this morning: 3
package of 3v331 pending a few things that are out of my control at the moment: 1

go me! only one to go, but it's going to be a monster...just hope i get it out before the party in question's birthday...been sitting on components of this package for awhile now. ^^;;;

in other news, Meimi, you're not alone...on three counts. one, i'm also unfond of It's A Wonderful Life. sacrilege though that might be to some, i just don't care for it very much. and two...while i don't have any contacts to lose (yet), i did manage to lose the right lense out of my glasses. which, of course, is the expensive one. the one that matters the most. for it's my right eye that's all fuckered up. and i have no idea where it could possibly be...i've checked everywhere that it could be (barring being lost in transit, which is looking more and more likely) and have had no luck. which means i'll be going in for an eye exam rather sooner than i'd planned, and possibly going ahead and getting those hard contacts the doctor was suggesting (due to my, er, rather special eye problems)...sooner than i'd wanted to. due to insurance restrictions, costs of prescription lenses (glasses or contact) are only covered every other year. hence, i was trying to wait till January. because it'll come completely out of pocket otherwise. but if i want to be able to see...>.<;;;;

and finally, i too am not fond in the slightest of how Dobby looks and sounds...at least, in the trailers. saw one at the Powerpuff Girls Movie a little over a month ago, and i forget where i saw the other one. Dobby looks like crap, and sounds even worse. i don't know how much of him i'm going to be able to take, honestly. >.<;;; (also, on a related note: those commercials for the Harry Potter school and party supplies...know how there's the one where they show footage featuring Ron and Harry in the flying Ford Anglia? and then the voiceover says "it could happen!" or something like that, implying that you too could have your own flying Anglia? the first thing i questioned wasn't the flying bit. but i don't believe we ever got the Ford Anglia in the US...or did we? lo, for i am lazy and did not check. XD)

oh Sumy...you have no idea. XD tentative plans have been made with the unstoppable Kimmie and Rugen, and of course Spaz, to go and see 24HPP on Friday. once we find out what showtimes are, of course. i tried calling the theatre over the weekend, but no humans were around and the voice message was utterly useless as regards our movie. oh, and here's a list (at least, partial) of other things John Simm (aka The Man Who Would Be Sumner) has done. i haven't seen any of them, although i have been known to watch an odd episode of Cracker here and there if i catch it...to my knowledge, haven't seen it. and what, no one's mentioned Dave Gorman's turn as Jon the Postman yet? XD

saw this massive Kurzweil workstation this weekend and the first thing i thought was not about how expensive that beast must be, but about how expensive the case for such a beast must be, given its size. a sad little dork am i, ne? XD

we had our first sugar snap pea this weekend! it was tasty and good. i think they're a teensy bit sad, cos it's been too warm for them. i'll plant more in the fall and we'll probably have more peas that way. the flamingo peppers are really happy, though...should have actual peppers very shortly. the popcorn's also doing well, as are the potatos, the strawberry, the asparagus...and the broccoli, which is threatening to take over the world. er, just so you know.

but whee! we're going to have peppers! ^-^

perhaps more later.

[addendum: re: the Ford Anglia. i stand corrected. *^^*]

VINDICATED!!!! (244 HERTZ PUDDING PILFERERS)

: "violently happy." björk.

bwahahahhahaha!:

just got back from the aforementioned scone with Kimmie. and would you believe, the bakery only had two scones left?!??! O.O;;; two lonely lemon-ginger scones. how sad. ;.; naturally, we scooped them up into our arms and took them home with us. and had nummy sandwiches for lunch. it was fun. Kimmie's got cute Enid hair. ^-^

and i will <3 Kimmie forever for bringing me some much-welcomed Tidings Of Great Joy; turns out that 24 HPP IS in fact being released here. opens NEXT FRIDAY, in fact. so far, we only know that it's playing at Piper's Alley. which is a royal pain in the arse to get to, but at least it's not just frigging INDIANAPOLIS anymore. XD however, the little ad in the paper (yesterday's; which i *conveniently* didn't look at yesterday...aiiee, that'll show me...XD) said "in theatres August 16th." it'd be nice if it were playing elsewhere in the area, but i won't hold my breath. all i asked was that it be playing somewhere here, and i got my wish, so i'll stop complaining. XD

also, Virgin Megastore downtown is apparently having a listening party for the soundtrack next Tuesday, the 13th, at 12:30pm, wherein you can also win passes to a free preview screening of it at Piper's Alley later that same evening. not terribly interested...i do have a lot of what's on that soundtrack after all. ^^;;;; plus, i have a job that i should go to. XD but still, it's nice to know someone apparently cares. this whole "Warner Strategic Marketing" thing really irks me, though. --;;;

anyway, back to Scone Time. back at the old 'brary, there was a really nice, quiet lady who worked with me and Mariam and the rest of us, called Laura. no one knew her very well, but she was usually really nice, and she was a very efficient and good worker. anyway, quite some time ago (after i'd quit working there and come to work where i work now), she was apparently somewhere and saw a book that made her think of me. so she bought it. and gave it to Kimmie to hold onto and give to me next time she saw me.

while this was about a year or so ago, this is the first time we've seen each other since then, and Kimmie remembered and brought the book. the book in question? a book called Cracking Animation. ^____^ that was incredibly thoughtful of her, especially as she's someone i barely knew. i feel slightly bad though, cos i wish i could get something for her in return, but i haven't the faintest idea what she really likes. at the very least, i'll have to send her a really nice thank-you note. a year after the fact. XD i expect she won't have forgotten, though...she's got a much better memory (it seemed, at least) than i do. XD

oh, and you'll especially appreciate this. on the way back, we were talking about The Lego Store, which she's been to and which i haven't yet (but desperately need to go to). we then discussed which HP Lego sets we each had, and which we wanted...and neither of us has the Potions set yet, but of course i mentioned that i want it. and made the requisite jokes about Lego Alan Rickman. XD

...and that's when Kimmie said, "...oh my god, is that LUBE?!?!?!?" and giggled. and we looked down. yep, we were in fact walking over a big, flattened, empty (presumably; we regret to inform you that we did nothing to confirm our suspicions) tube of lube. as we were having the aforementioned discussion.

coincidence or conspiracy? you be the judge. XD XD XD XD

(now that is a proper Friday afternoon topic to bid you all adieu with, is it not? ^.-)

till next...

JUST A PRAWN IN SOMEONE'S SICK GAME (or, "what do you have limbs for, if you're not going to serve me?!?!?")

our department just got a phone call. Amy picked it up and answered in her customary polite manner, and the lady on the other end of the line was asking for the Hospital that's affiliated with this institution. explaining that she'd got a wrong number, and that this was the Library was apparently not good enough for this lady; she then asked if she could be connected to a specific individual at the Hospital. Amy said she could try, but probably wouldn't be able to find the right number. to which the lady responded, "well, you shouldn't be on the phone, then."

XD XD XD

what was i saying about having no social skills? that was *Impressive*. O.O;

as said earlier, more later. ^.-

(n.b. and friggin' INDIANAPOLIS, man! *.*;;;;;;)

50 BAHT SHORT...

: my computer gently humming and the noisiness of water being slurped out of the water bottle with the coolest nozzle ever.

rather:

...evidently, judging from the way i closed the entry from yesterday, i thought it was Friday. XD oh well. i swear, if i didn't have the watch that i do, i REALLY wouldn't know what day it was. i think it's honestly more important to me for knowing what day it is than what time it is, sad though that might be.

gonna go get a scone with Kimmie in a little over an hour. should be fun, as we haven't hung out in over an entire year now. O.o;;; perhaps she'll have found out who stole the kielbasa by now and can finally put that particular mystery to bed...? *snerk* eheheh. my inner nine-year-old boy never ceases to be amused. or to amuse me, really. XD

no video games as of yet, but a big box of tea that i'd ordered arrived yesterday, thus making Spaz very happy. he's got a particular affection for Twinings China Black tea (scroll down about three entries), and no stores around here seem to like to carry it. and with what stores around here charge, it's actually cheaper to go to Twinings.com and order it directly from them. and of course, there's a better selection than most stores carry, as well. and while there's plenty of nice boxes of things to come home to sitting on your front porch, tea's pretty high on that list.

but i want my games. ;.;

also, take a look at this. GORGEOUS. O.O;;; Spaz found it. that's an awesome colour, too.

what am i talking about, though? i don't even have my license yet. *.*;;; nyar. --;;;;

more later.

SAN-X STILL WINS

: "koko ni kite." iwao junko.

hard at work (or hardly working):

despite new and drastic measures, San-X could still kick their ass any day. XD

saw someone on TV the other day frying up some plantains. which reminded me of all those plantain recipes i posted up here awhile ago. and y'know, i still haven't made any of them.

i want some plantains. O.O;;;

i also want to bake something this weekend, but i don't know what. perhaps i'll try some weird complicated twisty bread thing i've never tried before. that might be entertaining. or maybe i just like the weird sound of the words "egg" and "wash" together...? XD or maybe some cookies. cookies are always good. more scones, i think...seem to be on something of a kick for those lately. though i might just get depressed if i do that, as Kimmie and i are going out for a scone tomorrow at lunch and the place we're going has probably the best ones i've ever had...so mine probably won't stand up to those lovely things...;.; guess this is why i don't work in a bakery. XD

am also hoping the two Genesis games i've got coming my way get here soon. my Psygnosis fiending led to purchase/auction winning of Galahad and Fatal Rewind, both of which should be happily on their way to me at this exact moment. i'm hoping they don't suck, or that if they do, they at least suck amusingly. but yay for cheap games, as i too am cheap, yo. well, right now, anyway. XD am still contemplating a Sega CD, but if i do so, it'll have to wait till next month, at least.

randomly, know that survey i posted up the other day? question no. 23 asks "what's in the trunk of your car?" Spaz pointed out that the contents i listed aren't actually in my car, as my car (or half a car, as it were) only has an ice scraper/brush combo-thingie in its trunk, and is in fact currently sitting in our driveway. not that this really matters to anyone here, but just so i'm accurate. XD

and finally, here's some interviews i found earlier; all with Philip Pullman. you may or may not have read these already, as they aren't all super-super recent. but they're interesting, which is why i'm posting them. ^.-

(for the record, i'm glad someone else besides me was more than slightly bothered by the Narnia books. i'd read The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe sometime as a child, but never went further than that...instead, actually, i had this really great choose-your-own-adventure book...i forget what it was called, but it was based upon the Narnia books...title was "something-something-Cair Paravel," which i absolutely loved...the sound of the name of that place, it rolled off the tongue so deliciously. *^^* anyway, i really enjoyed that, but i never felt particularly compelled to read the books it was based upon until much later. when i finally did, they did bother me. quite a bit. i don't know that they would have done as a child, but they did later. *shrugs* would've been an interesting experiment, the differences noted between my reading them at the alleged intended age vs. my reading them as an alleged adult. shortly after that, i took on some volume of litcrit dissecting Lewis (the likes of which, i'm sure, are legion), and read up a bit more on his life, and of course got a better sense of where he was coming from when writing these books. to this day, i still much prefer playing in the world he built rather than watching him play in it; i do believe i've still got that choose-your-own-adventure book somewhere; as to where it actually is, though, i haven't the faintest clue. ;.; but it beats the stuffing out of the Proper Books. and doesn't leave one nearly as queasy afterward.)

should i not see you again before the weekend's over, i hope everyone has a great weekend. ^-^

O.o;;;;

[warning: to anyone attempting to access the two Autosport articles below; these links will take you to a page that asks you to register with Autosport Online in order to read the articles. however, if you read the text closely, you'll see an option that says something to the effect of "let me register later; take me to the story." click this and you'll go straight through to the articles i'm referring to; sorry for any inconvenience.]

ACK. >.<;;; i know i'm biased, but. NO. *beats JG with a stick*

i was wondering when this would happen. cos how would it have worked, to effectively run two factory teams against each other? correct me if i'm wrong, but it doesn't seem that Ford and Jaguar are as distanced from one another within the company as, say, Volkswagen and Audi...

also, i really ought to start reading more manga again. i've been rather lazy about it for awhile now. have been reading Other Things. thing is, i don't know when i'll have time, cos i want to finish what i'm reading now (three things at once, as per usual), and i've already got a small queue forming behind those books of still others that i'd like to read...i'd have started them already, truthfully, but i figured three at once was enough even for my scattered brain...XD

one of them is The Architecture of Oppression: The SS, Forced Labor, and the Nazi Monumental Building Economy. which is interesting in and of itself, but is more personally amusing to me because i can hear the words coming off the page, as Jaskot was an art history prof of mine. i only wish i'd gotten to take his Art and the Holocaust course before he stopped teaching it...;.; he's a really great teacher, and i got a lot out of his class.

again, need i reiterate that i miss being in school? >P

NOW I'M BACK ANGELHEADED, HOLLOWEYED

right now:

having nothing useful to say, i submit the following useless babble:

after not really following this for awhile, i see that Tom Stoppard is apparently doing the screenplay for the His Dark Materials movies. interesting...and it gives me hope. cos it really would be cool to see these movies done well, since they're going through the effort of adapting them...

also, the Village Voice is running this interview with Steve Coogan and Tony Wilson regarding 24 Hour Party People (of course). there's also an article about it in this month's issue of Tower Records' fairly laughable monthly free mag Pulse!. and yes, i'm still quite miffed about the whole Indianapolis thing. Madison, perhaps, i can understand. but Indianapolis...?!?!? O.O;;;; i feel slighted. bastards.

i wish i wasn't so sleepy and dazed...>.<;;;

NO, I'M NOT ON MY OWN...I AM WAITING FOR SOMEONE...

: "chicago." bis. (see? they love us! ^-^)

aieeee:

O.O;;;;

...er, but this definitely isn't who i'm waiting for...

aiiieeee...>.<;;;;;;

I BET YOUR MOTHER DON'T KNOW YOU SCREAM LIKE THAT

: "stray cat blues." bis.

feeling quite:

have i mentioned before that Bis, generally, tend to do really good covers? ^-^

yeah, yeah, yeah...i know i've made it abundantly clear how much i love them, but i'm reminded again cos i just re-found Techno Disco Lovers (it had been MIA for over a year, and it turns out it was in Spaz' CD pouch the entire time...XD) and thusly, of course, had to listen to it since i hadn't in so long. and this cover of the Rolling Stones' "Stray Cat Blues" is SO entertaining. i was listening to it on repeat on the way into work this morning, in fact.

they haven't done a lot of covers, but they generally choose what they do choose to cover well, and they generally do interesting things to whatever it is that they decide to cover. which is