RUSH IN MY BLOOD---I WANT TO FEEL IT

sometimes, all it takes is a voice.

doesn't have to be human. just must be alive. this does not mean it must be flesh and blood. you'll know it when you hear it, simply because it's the only thing that will do.

it can come from anywhere. it might come from walking down the street, safe in your own head, looking out at everything around you and/or at nothing in particular. it might come from someone randomly tapping on your shoulder and surprising you, or from a small dog chasing something down the street. or the bells of the men with ice cream carts jauntily ringing by as they pedal away past your window. or the sounds of wind crisping through the leaves. or (of course) through the headphones you've got plugged into your ears. or a band practicing as you walk past a house on an unknown block. horns honking, water rushing, sounding...

...but you'll know when you hear it, and you won't be satisfied until you do. even though you may not know it beforehand, you'll know you've found it because everything else fades away---even if only for a moment. it might never come again, no matter how often you try to recreate the condition. it may well be that one perfect moment in time where all things work together to give you the sound you need to hear exactly when you need to hear it.

and then again, you may have inadvertently discovered one of your own secret personal balms; one of those things that soothes and calms you whenever you've got wounds in need of cleaning out and anesthetising.

so many variants, and all are good---if you'd only open your ears.

TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES

this is just to say that i can no longer hear the beginning of "Blue Monday" without hearing "Can't Get Blue Monday Out Of My Head" along with it. dammit. XD

also, am terribly, terribly busy. and even more boring than usual. therefore, Not Much ought to be expected out of me.

until the weekend, at least. and unless i find something particularly amusing to share.

in other words, the usual. carry on. XD

IT'S TOO CLOSE TO HOME AND IT'S TOO NEAR THE BONE

...Frodo has failed.

and that's all i'm gonna say.

TOO BAD IT WASN'T A DOLPHIN MECH...

you may or may not have heard (or cared, perhaps) about the fact that the Flaming Lips were on Top of the Pops last Friday. and in so doing, you may also not have cared in the slightest that they had Justin Timberlake playing bass (or at least miming playing bass) in a dolphin suit during that appearance.

...and if you don't care, then my mentioning that Beautiful Dreams has got screencaps up from this performance won't make the slightest lick of difference to you.

just so you don't know.

EVERYTHING IN ITS RIGHT PLACE

i would now like to announce that as of last night, my turntable is working again.

any and all messages left for Janaki after the sound of the tone will be relayed to her at such time as she is able to respond coherently.

beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep

*squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!*

^_______________________________________________________^

BUILT TO SPILL

the small pocket of my backpack is now full of goo.

oddly enough, considering that i'm me, i haven't really spilled things in or on my backpacks very often. in fact, i can remember only one other time---a couple of years ago, a tube of hand lotion came open in the small pocket of the backpack i used most often then, and of course glooped itself all over the contents of said pocket. which was rather gross, it being lotion and all. there was no other recourse but to throw it in the washer. which was of course a big drag, considering that it was waterproof and therefore not supposed to be thrown in the washer. and that's not taking into account cleanup/weeding out of the contents of the pocket which had been coated in lotion and then lovingly rolled in backpack lint. eee.

but it seems i've done it again. the funny part is, this time it's with antibacterial hand sanitizer. and not just any hand sanitizer, but one given to me as a gift, which came from Bath & Body Works. therefore, the scent is guaranteed to knock you completely out in two whiffs or less. o.o;;;

add to this the fact that it's got little pieces of glitter in and you can see the amusing predicament i'm currently in. XD

what's even more amusing is the fact that the thing that got most completely soaked in this pocket was a little plastic sandwich baggie filled with miscellaneous change. it's awfully fitting that what is by far the filthiest thing on my person at any given time should be soaked accidentally in antibacterial hand cleaner. XD

perhaps it's meant to be a sign, like when i spilled floor cleaner all over our floor? heh. XD

WHY YOU SHOULD FEAR THE SPHERE

i think i want to have a party one day wherein all food served shall be spherical in shape.

i think this is the perfect shape for food. neither colour nor size really matter; it's all in the proper roundness being attained*.

in conclusion, falafel and/or takoyaki for everyone! XD

* = sorta like Christina Ricci's head, yes.

HRRM.

i came to a realisation yesterday.

no matter how many completely trashy, bad movies i watch, none of them will ever come close to the headpain induced by attempting to sit through and make sense of Battlefield Earth. seriously. not even bad in an amusing way.

(and i always forget that WILLOW is the Leprechaun! Kimmie, darling, won't you and C.H.U.D. save me from myself? eeeeeee! XD)

thing is, i have to have noise when i'm in the house by myself. and it helps to have noise going on if i'm doing something else, mostly because then i have some idea of how time is working. otherwise i probably wouldn't notice hours flying by. so i do use the TV as background noise a lot when doing other things. so i wouldn't say i really watch it much, but it's there, in the same room with me while i'm doing other things.

(wow, Denise Crosby has done a lot of shit movies, hasn't she? XD)

...which is not really an excuse, but. why don't i listen to music, then? usually because that's more distracting to me. i'll start singing along, or dancing around, or what have you---and not really do much of whatever it is i'm trying to do as my primary task. sometimes, sure---but lately, i've been very easily distracted by music. though it's kinda funny, cos i'm only that easily distracted at home. at work, i have my headphones on all the time...

(...and speaking of which, as a total aside, i now want EVERYTHING Lolita No. 18 has ever done. *.*;;;;)

...hrrm indeed. XD

more later.

A-OKAY, WE'RE THE COFFEE ACHIEVERS!

so far, the weekend's been mostly good to me. i mean, as good as it could be. had v. productive band meeting yesterday, wherein many things were decided, schedules were established, and all sorts of other Things Were Plotted. all in all, it was good. had fun, discussed new songs, and had a real polish sausage from Maxwell St. tasty. and only $2.30 including tax. and including fries! num. XD

other things to do:

* finish off super secret project no. 695.

* banana bread?

*take turntable apart and investigate---issue is unfortunately not just the belt having slipped off the platter. d'oh. but! shall be fun and educational! ^^

* look into memory upgrade for LifeBook. should be cheap, and must be done. and won't be difficult. so! yes!

* lists. planning. plotting. usual.

don't know if i'll get to anyone's CDs this weekend, either. damn.

why can't weekends be three days long on a regular basis? ;.;

so, have preordered the special edition 24 HPP DVD, which is due out on the 27th. specifically the one with the special sleeve meant to look like the book, which is only available from HMV.co.uk. am excited. must have a treat once in awhile, eh? and the "From the Factory Floor" bit is what really entertains me. wish the North American release got such nice treatment as this one; i'd have bought it then. :P

FALAFEL FRIDAY!

i <3 falafel. it is yummy, and good, and reasonably good for you---and most lovely of all, it's also incredibly inexpensive. ^-^

oh, and it's warm. which is very, very nice on days like today.

i've never actually made it myself, though---yet another thing to add to the list. found a recipe that looks promising, though. and making your own pita bread isn't hard, either. ^^

and hey, there's always The Falafel Game to play while waiting. perhaps one day i too can be crowned the Falafel King Queen King!

(that test has left me all confused...XD)

ah, winter. bringing out the food obsessive in millions each day. XD

random memory, brought on by yet another round of coworkers being quite amused by how bundled up i get to go outside when it's this cold out:

Roz, at the old 'brary. she used to always refer to me (in quasi-Germanic robot voice) as "Fluffy Stealth Marshmallow Ninja Bunny Ikanaj."

...i miss Roz. well, sometimes. it was fun working with her, anyway. XD

on that note, have good weekends!

*trundles off, wrapped in approximately two fucktons of winter gear; head obscured so thoroughly that only her eyes can be seen through a small slit in her winter armour*

it's a bit...brisk out. *.*;;;

I FEEL LOVED

Puu just informed me that i am the pants beneath her wings. XD

i...i don't know what to say. i'm just so touched! XD

oh, and for amusement purposes only, i followed Harpy's lead and took this gender test. and what do you know? they're 86% certain i'm a man!

(so that's why i kept getting all that penis enlargement spam when i was still using Hotmail...XD)

Elva-chan might want to read this: Red Ink Banned from Primary Books.

so now what will you do with all your red pens? ;.;

i s'pose i'll do the little survey-thing now, because it might be entertaining. XD

1. what do you call me?
2. what song makes you think of me and why?
3. if you could give me one present, what would it be?
4. what one thing/event do you associate with me?
5. how well do you think you know me?
6. what made you want to link me (if i didn't link you first)?

why isn't it time to go home yet? ;.;

more later.

SHAMELESS

most of you know what a shameless music pimp i am.

and sometimes, even if it's something i'm not overly fond of, if i think that someone else i know will like it (given what else i know of them), i'll try to pass it on. it's music, after all, and therefore something not to be taken lightly. rather, it's something that should be shared.

it is in that spirit that i will now mention high school evidence which is indeed all my fault. XD i am both the dealer friend mentioned and i also accompanied her* to the show she writes of (though somewhat against my will, but it was a very nice thought of her. XD)

it started innocently enough, with a Creation 7" of "Cigarrettes and Alcohol." featuring a live version of them covering "I Am the Walrus" on the b-side. sure, it sounded like T Rex, but it was all good fun, and i wasn't minding. at that point, i'd never read an interview or indeed any other press---just heard the songs and enjoyed. all on the advice of a (then) friend who had never steered me wrong.

intrigued, i saved up lunch money** and bought the audiocassette of Definitely Maybe when i could.

and there are things that are fun about it. i'll even still say that. my favourite thing will always be "Married With Children," which is absolutely hilarious. do i think they're a great band? far from it. did i get fed up with them very quickly? HELL yes. but at the beginning, they were amusing. and so i shared.

i still have that 7". it still amuses me.

* = she was one of the only other people i knew in my school who was nearly as obsessive about music as me. and Fi will be proud: she was a rabid Pet Shop Boys fan. and also a New Order fan. and Jae Young will be amused to note that she was also (shock, shock) an Erasure fan. XD

** = and if you think i'm not serious, you obviously don't know me very well. ^^

PUTTING THE "YAKKI" IN OKONOMIYAKI

...mostly with help from Kate-chan. ^^

Fi, here's Kate-chan's Okonomiyaki Recipe.

the only thing i really did differently was that i found this special okonomiyaki flour mix (Nagatenien is the manufacturer, i think) at Mitsuwa last time i went that principally involved the yam flour i mentioned, which made it taste REALLY good. (i did this for two reasons, one being that i wasn't completely happy with how the okonomiyaki turned out when i made it the first time, so i was hoping to maybe learn a little from the special flour. and two, it was on sale. ^^)

as Kate-chan mentions, tempura flour is good too---i don't like plain flour because it tastes too bland for this, i think. the mix i used also involved some sort of shrimp powder, though there was at least one other non-shrimpy variety there. veggies and meats (or lack thereof) are all completely up to your taste---this last batch of mine involved shrimp, corn, carrots, peas, zucchini squash, sweet potato, onion, mushroom, and i forget what else. frozen veggies work well for it, too---try the bagged combinations you can find in your local grocery store. the shrimp i used were frozen, too, and tasted quite good.

too bad i forgot to look for okonomiyaki sauce when i was at Mitsuwa last! though barbecue sauce works quite well...had the last of that leftover okonomiyaki today, and it was very, very yummy. ^^

this is a little late, maybe, but...details of Order of the Phoenix revealed! XD

(my one question is, which Weasel was being hidden?)

TIE ME UP AND GIVE ME TOAST

it is so cold out that my eyelashes had ice crystals on them while walking to work this morning. and to make things even better, my top and bottom lashes then tried to stick together when i blinked. and no, no makeup was involved. o.o;;;

saw the best thing written on a tip box ever though, when stopping off to get myself a nice, hot chai---"Support Counter Intelligence."

well, i was amused. XD

more later, when i regain feeling in my brain...

BREAD BOWL MOAT SUPERSTAR! (aka The Dreaded Sequel!)

mmm, Fi's got a soup recipe up that sounds lovely as well. and now that i've caught up with Sunday, i probably ought to mention that i made an entirely different soup last night, since we were all done with the last pot of the other one.

this time, i tried out Sarah's Favorite Winter Soup recipe. didn't do the habañero relish thing, as Spaz and hot foods don't go together very well. i added a couple of bay leaves and it turned out really well, although i think i'm going to tweak it slightly with a bit of beef broth to bring out the beefiness a little more. shall try that tonight. ^^

there were two little loaves of the rye bread left, just waiting to be carved into bowls. thinking that a more liquidy soup like this might enhance the bread even more than the other soup did, i eagerly carved them up and dished up the soup.

...unfortunately, i'd carved too deeply and instead ended up with bread islands as a result. they were cute, though---and tasty! little rye bread islands supporting a colony of soup solids and surrounded by a moat of broth! XD

in conclusion, Soup Is Good. bring it on, oh yes. anyone else got recipes to share...?

i need to master the art of cold soups. other than gazpacho (although that's not bad, either). because soup is good anytime! ^^

BREAD BOWL SUPERSTAR!

ah, yes; the promised scene from Sunday:

that's our favourite wintertime soup (the one i posted the recipe for last week), sitting in lovely rye bread bowls made with this recipe (thank you, Food Network! XD). and of course, there's two lovely salads as well, carefully crafted (in his usual fashion) by Spaz. wish the photo was better; it was a REALLY good meal*. i've got to make more of those bread bowls this weekend...

(that bread recipe does indeed make two loaves of bread, which translates into about six good-sized bread bowls. nummy. ^^ i'd advise against attempting to make this or any other type of rye bread if you're having wrist problems, however---the first time i made it, i ended up wearing a wrist brace for a few days afterward. it's quite a workout. my wrists must have gotten stronger since then, however; i made a full recipe this time around and was perfectly fine! XD oh, and the bread does take quite a lot of time. but it's worth it, and what's best about it is that most of the time it takes, you can ignore it as it's just sitting and rising. ^^)

[the following was added at 11:10am. although i get up horribly early, i generally don't eat lunch at 9am. XD]

i just had leftover ebi okonomiyaki for lunch. it reheats a whole lot better than you'd think. ^-^

in other news, i also just completed a circuit of the library with a backpack full of beef broth on my back.

stop looking at me like that.

more later...

* = yes, Beeru-chan, that is the table. XD

CONFESSION OF SOUND (OF CONFESSION)

spinning: "every good girl." curve.

it's always interesting to see the way someone else arranges their music around them. one boy i knew briefly awhile ago on a bulletin board i frequented was trying to build some method of storage so that he could have his vinyl, CDs, cassettes, and even 8-tracks all together, mixed up in whatever order he felt was appropriate. i have no idea how he'd go about doing this without a whole bunch of wasted space, but it's an interesting premise. particularly if you're keen on keeping your groups together and they Span Formats, no matter what other order you might be keeping them in.

and you and i also have a very similar relationship to memory. although i think that might be why i don't have my collection woven into order in quite the way yours is; instead, i took an extremely logical path and organised them via boring old name, descending into chronology within name (via format). although that's rapidly falling out of usefulness, as i also decided long ago to conserve space (insofar as that's even possible with my collection) and therefore stuffed all my jewel cases away in boxes in the attic; my CDs are now in big, thick binders which are purpose-built for freaks people such as me. along with liner notes, because i honestly couldn't live without them. ^^

vinyl is ordered similarly, although all records are securely within their proper sleeves. there's something more holy about the vinyl, and in particular the sleeves---the artwork seems more true than with a CD, for lack of a better word. so even if i had some other way to store them, i wouldn't. even though 78s work in record albums, i wouldn't do that to my 33s. or 7"s, for that matter. it just doesn't seem right.

cassettes, well---those are just a mess. i ought to sort through them---i probably have nigh on 500 or so, and most are unlabeled. or worse, they're cryptically labeled ones that i must have once thought i'd remember if i saw the words "hyperbliss teakettle orange," or something equally frustrating. (i did it to myself, i did---and that's why it really hurts...--;;;)

i found another box of cassette tapes a few weeks ago. even including some that had broken, and had sent reams of plastic with magnetic bits stuck to it flying off their spools and out of one tape deck or another. certain ones of those, i remember painstakingly taking a jeweller's screwdriver to and taking apart, being exceedingly careful to note which tiny screw went where---never minding the fact that it (usually) didn't really matter. and then i'd very carefully cut out the bad part with a razor and attempt to splice it back together via the tiniest of slivers of invisible tape placed carefully on the wrong side. it was in this way that i could usually manage to enjoy those tapes at least a little while longer, if i had the patience.

some tapes had been shoddily manufactured, even for the medium---and some had just been played (quite literally) to death. and some which had been incredibly precious to me, i never could quite give up. instead, they became part of my (already riotous) wall decorations in my room in my mom's apartment. uncrinkled audiotape makes interesting streamers, and precise razor cuts yield proper amounts and interesting angles at their ends---and more importantly, helps to coat fake wood-panelled walls (which were in actuality probably particleboard of even lower quality than that found in Sauder office furniture) with a thin, protective veneer of personality. the aural lining of my cocoon made external.

(hrrm, what was that about memory? XD)

ALL THE RELIGIOUS LEARNING I EVER NEEDED...

...i got from Legos.

XD

WHEE!

wow! the lovely people at 5inch.com just e-mailed me and told me it's perfectly fine for me to stop by sometime and buy some of their lovely CDRs so that i can avoid the nasty shipping costs! ^-^

shall respond to points brought up in the comments on my rants about self-sufficiency soon, never fear.

also, will (hopefully) post up photos later on of some of this weekend's exploits. depends on how the photos turned out---haven't checked my digicam yet. ^^;;;

more later...

BEAUTIFY THE MIX

in case you've never been there, 5inch.com makes some GORGEOUS custom screenprinted CDRs, DVDRs, cases for both of the above, as well as CD storage items and t-shirts. the CDRs and cases are what to take a look at, though---and they're located right here in Chicago, too. ^^ check them out! ^^

have of course been thinking of such things as neat CDRs lately, as there's a few more CDs i want to make for people. there are a few i've promised people for awhile and just haven't gotten around to yet, and there's always a few others. and there's also mix tapes---right now, though, it seems i'm procrastinating until i go take the turntable apart downstairs and see if it's the belt that's causing the platter not to turn, or if it's a deeper difficulty. if it's just the belt, i'll be very happy indeed, as then i can hook it back up and play once i've reattached it in its proper place. and THEN i'll be ready. and oh, such havoc shall i wreak...>D

am sitting with a bowl of thai red coconut curry---i did chicken, zucchini squash, onion, mushroom, pea, carrot, corn, and green and red bell pepper along with some jasmine rice.

i am the happiest girl in the world right now. of course, the curry helps. XD

maybe more later. although there's loads i've got to do...

DUNK THEM IN BOILING OIL!

Lise, you are completely brilliant. and even more to the point, absolutely dead on. agreed entirely with what you said, and you expounded more in the direction that i really wanted to go but couldn't quite find the words i wanted to earlier, when i wrote that post. i do definitely think it's indicative of the fact that nearly no one (aha! avoiding those pesky absolutes! XD) wants to take responsibility for their actions anymore. and the stupid Perfect Pasta pot, or whatever it is they're calling it---i've seen those too, all over the place. i have NO idea how anyone has that much trouble with pasta either (and lord, store-bought ravioli/tortelloni/tortellini is NOT delicate at ALL---if you make it yourself, from SCRATCH, sure. :P). and while these definitely are items of convenience, and things are indeed always a compromise---to what degree are we willing to sacrifice quality and/or artifice for convenience? evidently a fairly high degree, if these things (and good old Makudonarudo) are any indication.

part of it isn't just people's inherent laziness in creating (which is sad in and of itself, really)---it's also got a lot to do with the fact that a lot of people these days, their parents or whoever they were raised by didn't have the time or make the time to teach them how to do things for themselves. perhaps the progenitors didn't know how to, themselves. in any case, it seems like a lot of people are afraid to try to learn things on their own---they have to have someone hold their hand and show them how.

not just in our generation, either---my mother is particularly horrid about this, and it drives me nuts. or did, when i used to live at home. and for awhile after moving out, i'd indulge her---if she had a problem with some electronic thing (nothing incredibly complicated---i only could learn so much after all, being that she wouldn't let me take her receiver and whatnot apart so that i could learn from it by putting it back together---i tried once and she nearly took my head off...XD), she'd call me and expect me to fix it. and when she got a CD burner, she wanted me to come show her how to record all her vinyl so she could put it onto CDs to take to work with her. a worthy goal, sure, but nothing she couldn't teach herself if she only tried. i mean, for all i might complain about her general twittiness, it's not so much that i think that she's stupid---because she isn't. (she doesn't have much common sense, but that's another issue entirely. XD) however, she seems to be lacking whatever it is in people like you and i that makes us need to find things out for ourselves. regardless of whether or not they're taught in a class.

a lot of times, people will ask how i've done one thing or another. and things i've gotten to be particularly good at are of course the things i especially get questions on. and i'm happy to explain, but i always think to myself that it's nothing most other people couldn't do if they gave it some thought and were willing to invest their time.

so i have another question for you (and anyone else interested): do you think that such things are more about the idea of people not being willing to make an investment of their time, or not having confidence in their ability to do so, or not caring---or some combination of the above, primarily?

i'm no neo-Luddite either; i see the value of certain things, and everything (including the blasted Perfect Cookie) is really just a means to an end. everyone must choose their own road (and the tools to help get them there), be it via the Perfect Cookie or milling their own flour, growing and harvesting their own sugar cane, growing, drying, and grinding their own spices, etc. etc.

i guess the thing i wonder is, do people really consciously choose to use things like this? and if so, why? i mean, everyone's pressed for time---but honestly, i think it takes more time to clean the stupid accessories that are supposed to make things easier and faster than it would to actually take the time to do them by hand.

same with other things in life. your Alucard hat, for example. wouldn't it be (once you'd read up a bit on proper millenery techniques, of course) easier to build the right thing from scratch rather than to modify something already existing until it would merely 'do.'?

when we cosplayed as Kyuuketsuki Miyu and Larva (TV version; i can find photos if you really want), there's no way i could've (or would've) used something existing. i couldn't just have cut up a bathrobe, sewn on some ribbon, and expected it to look right. i modified an existing pattern to make my costume, and i ended up figuring out how to piece together the bits of Larva's cloak completely on my own.

granted, someone else might not want to (or be able to) take the time to do so. but quality and pride do come into play---and really, while some of these items are allegedly so much more convenient, i really do fail to see how they actually are. thusly, the only thing i can come up with is back to the hands-dirtying thing---which i believe is at the heart of the problem. and leads me back to my previous question of why. and when.

and this could of course be applied to things outside of artistic endeavours. as discussed earlier with Harpy and Jae Young, the obsession with clean hands has been going on for ages. but if getting one's hands dirty in ANY capacity is so low, how come the people with the dirtiest hands generally have the least need to be whacked over the head with a clue bar?

(i think it's bedtime for me. ^^;;;;)

more on this subject later (probably), when i'm not sleepy and probably overly exuberant due to excess of plum wine, okonomiyaki, and a small bit of the soup i posted the recipe for below...XD

I MIGHT BE FILLED WITH SCENES OF INTENSE VIOLENCE, COARSE LANGUAGE, AND SUGGESTIVE DIALOGUE

...but Fi's the one whose second son is Frodo! O.O;;;

...scroll down. down. down. or just hit ctrl + f and find "fifi."

there, that's it.

...skandaru! skandarrrruuuuuuuuuu!!!!!!

XD

[addendum: ooh! apparently, i am incapacitated and will slowly die! XXXD

...on that note, have good weekends!]

(this post brought to you by: intense, eye-gouging boredom. BOREDOM. and hunger. for curry. mmm, curry. currrrrrrrrry...;.;)

YES, YES, A THOUSAND TIMES---YES!

hrrm. someone else came up with the same answer to the question, "Are Hummer Owners Idiots?" as i did. and stated it far better than i would have, too. yay!

i keep seeing a lot of ads for The Perfect Cookie and various other similar appliances on TV; all allegedly meant to simplify one's life, particularly as far as cooking is concerned. all of them have one thing in common, too---all of them enable their happy, happy users to get as little of whatever substance they're working with on their hands as possible.

this is a thought which patently offends me. in an immediate sense, most cookies do require touching/handling/holding/fondling/forming in one's hands. in a grander sense, most culinary anything of any sort does require tactile attention at various stages. and in an even grander sense than that---most things in general require rolling up shirtsleeves and getting up to one's elbows in the midst of whatever it is they're working on.

i personally enjoy getting my hands dirty. one thing i've finally come to realise is that i really like doing things with my hands, above all else. it doesn't matter what i'm doing so much as it matters how i'm doing it. and really, it's something i should have realised early on; especially given the fact that i've NEVER had long fingernails. why? because they get in the way, things get trapped under them, they snag, etc., etc. there are a zillion reasons why, and so i've always kept them nice and short and neat.

so things like the aforementioned Perfect Cookie absolutely baffle me---i mean, putting aside for the moment that it's some ridiculous product being pimped on TV relentlessly, the whole notion. how can you make cookies that way? the cookies in the commercial look like crap. there are some things that you shouldn't do with your hands, but there's also everything else.

i like to take things apart. i like to put things together. i like the creating---both in theory and in practice. i like knowing how things work. i like doing everything myself. i like knowing where things come from and how they got that way. i like learning, i like knowing, and i don't think i'd ever like to stop. and while i don't like making mistakes, if they teach me something (no matter whether it's a messy something or not), usually sometime later i'll at least appreciate whatever it is they've taught me. and there is nothing in the world like a big musty book says my inner Yomiko.

i don't understand this at all---when, exactly, did we become so afraid to get our hands dirty? and how have we survived this long since then? O.O;;;

WHAT WOULD WHAMPYRE DO?

heh, now it's my turn to find something so great i had to pull it out of my comments and give it its own entry. the wunnerful Fifichu-chan points out the existence of Creative Commons. go. look. read. it's interesting. and very cool.

while we're at it (and on a completely different note), if you need more to read, go see Bite Me: a Webcomic for the Distinguished Vampire. it's probably best not to read it all in one sitting, given that it would take you quite awhile. but try it out. you might like it.

more later...

I LOVE YOU TOO MUCH

Meril, the outcome of this isn't really unbelievable so much as it is just plain sad. as is the fact that it seems that no one is interested in "public interest" anymore, including and especially the public. :P

anyway, here's a timeline of copyright law in the US. it's v. interesting reading; my favourite bit is:

this comes from the 2000 Librarian of Congress-issued ruling on the DMCA. hrrm.

DON'T DO ME ANYTHING...I'M NATURAL

hot on the heels of Kristina's mention of the intricacies of translating the Lord of the Rings movies into Japanese, here's a great way NOT to translate Fellowship...XD

(well, not into Japanese. but. ^^)

IT'S NOT STONE SOUP, BUT...

inspired by Sarah, i'll now post up our favourite soup to have in the winter. which we in fact have been eating almost this entire time---this is the one i mentioned a few days ago, that i think i could make in my sleep. but it's so good. particularly with Hawaiian bread, although i think it'd be great if i made some more of that Swedish wrist-breaking rye i made awhile ago, carved bowls out of it, and served the soup that way. ought to try it. num, rye.

anyway, before we begin, i'm not hardcore enough that i make my own broth on a regular basis. as a matter of fact, this is another thing i haven't yet done---not because i don't want to, but more because i just haven't had the requisite time. so. if you're against canned broths, you may want to substitute one of your own devising---it'll probably be even better that way. and the other beautiful thing about this is, it's easily made vegetarian---just make sure to use a vegetable broth and you're set!

right, then. this makes a gigantic pot of soup---enough to feed the two of us for about a week, give or take. you can freeze it, too. all measurements for cream and spices are approximate, as i never use measuring implements when making this soup. as always, tweak to your taste!

TIME REQUIRED: 1.5-2 hours, or longer if you'd like.

INGREDIENTS

* 1 49 oz. can of chicken or vegetable broth (we tend to use Swanson's Natural Goodness chicken broth; 100% fat free and a whole lot less sodium than most other commercially available broths)

* 5 lbs. of potatoes (small ones cook faster, but it doesn't matter too much)

* 16 oz. package of frozen broccoli

* 1/2 to 1 c. cream (can be heavy or light, depending on your taste)

* 8 oz. cheddar cheese (sharpness up to your delectation)

* 4-6 bay leaves (depending on size and your taste)

* coarse kosher salt, celery salt, and garlic salt to taste

* corn starch as needed

DIRECTIONS

In an 8 quart pot (with lid), place the potatoes and water enough to cover them. Bring to a boil and keep cooking for 45 minutes to an hour (or more, if you're doing other things while waiting---just make sure to turn the heat down if you choose to leave them cooking longer). Place the pot of water and potatoes in the sink and run cold water over them until the potatoes are cool enough for you to hold comfortably in your hands; drain. Peel the potatoes and chop roughly into smaller chunks; size of chunks does not matter.

While you're peeling the potatoes, microwave the frozen broccoli (make sure to add a little water before doing so). Place the chopped potatoes and the broccoli back in the 8 quart pot. Pour the entire 49 oz. can of broth into the pot. Add bay leaves and seasonings; return to stove. Bring to a boil once more and then moderate heat so that it remains fairly high, but does not cause your soup to boil over. Place lid on pot and ignore for 20 minutes.

Check on the soup occasionally to see how tender the broccoli and potatoes have gotten. Grab your potato masher and mash everything in the pot; once everything has mashed into a satisfying gooey (and slightly greenish, from all the broccoli) mass, you're ready for the next step.

Pour cream into the soup, stirring all the while. Observe changes in the soup; when it's reached the right amount of creaminess in colour, stop adding cream. (The 5 lbs. of potatoes should make it easy for you to use less cream, as they add a lovely creamy texture on their own once they're mashed into oblivion.) If using shredded cheese, sprinkle into the soup while continuing to stir. If using block cheese, cut the block into smaller pieces and place in the soup; lid and ignore for at least 5 minutes to allow the cheese to melt.

Once the cheese has melted enough, stir into the soup. Continue stirring until cheese has liquefied and has successfully integrated itself into the soup.

Observe consistency. If the soup is not thick and creamy enough, put a bit of corn starch into your sifter and slowly sift a little in at a time, stirring all the while to prevent lumps. Stop once it's reached your desired level of thickness.

Ladle into bowls and serve! Your favourite bread would be lovely to dip in this, too! Or serve in bread bowls!

EEK.

...The Smoking Gun got hold of the paper Pete Townshend was working on.

or, er, perhaps that ought to read as, "The Smoking Gun allegedly got hold of the paper Pete Townshend was allegedly working on"...?

errr. no time to read right now. will have to read later on. but go and have a look yourselves...

SLEEPING WHERE YOU WANT

yes!

finally, what you've all been waiting for...a guide to sleeping in airports!

shall have to keep this in mind, should we get any bright ideas to go anywhere...XD

(hey, we'd be in good company...o.o;;;)

MISSION(S) ACCOMPLISHED!

i went to two bookstores yesterday. didn't find what i was specifically looking for in the first, and didn't stay around to browse and find something else instead. i left and went on to my next destination.

...where i purchased only one book, because it was among the handful i'd been looking for---and i only had money enough for one book.

(...marvel at my self control. XD)

other things accomplished? as mentioned yesterday (and as special amusement to Beeru-chan), i helped make Spaz' mom cry. and i also made Sumy laugh!

hrrm, what can i do today? >D

...i see. er, just so you know, the University of Colombo used to be called the University of Ceylon. that's today's useless but amusing fact.

mmm, tea...*.*;;;

*goes glassy-eyed and begins drooling*

nevermind me...

more later...?

THIS JUST IN

erm.

i have apparently been walking around at least half the day with my pants untied.

while this does not mean that i've been waddling around with my pants around my ankles (for, although i may well be very unobservant, i'm sure i'd have at least noticed that)---still.

d'oh. --;;;;

WHY WE NEED TRANSPORTERS, PART 6,945

...i really want nothing more than to jump out of my chair right now and run to the bookstore.

actually, a couple of bookstores. but one in particular.

but alas, have to wait an hour and ten minutes, approximately. plus, i will probably cave and take public transportation rather than run all the way there. main reason being that i'd like to get home sometime this evening.

does this indicate a problem on my part...?

THIS PEPPERUP POTION'S BEEN DOSED

...or not. but, er, didn't want to be one of those obnoxious individuals who leaves their (anti-)holiday decorations up until May. so, i felt it time to revel in the glory of Snappy!-ness and the sheer enormity of my utter geekdom. nyar. XD may tweak link colour a bit...not totally satisfied with that, but otherwise i'm amused.

(dunno if anyone else is, though. XD)

so, weekend. since i knew i'd be super-busy this week, made things that are easy to throw together with other things and have a complete, yummy, warm meal when we get home in the evenings. HUGE pot of soup (more cream of potato, broccoli, and cheddar---need to really make different soup next time. this is my default, however; i do believe i could make it completely in my sleep if necessary.), big bowl of mashed potatoes, and a bunch of brownies. mmm, brownies. we've got a bunch of hawaiian bread, various pastas, hot dogs, and plenty of other things to have fairly good dinnertimes for the week.

finished off Shinji_-kun's scarf, and notified him of this fact. can't wait till he sees it, for i think he will be amused. tweaked Mariam's hat, since i wasn't completely satisfied with it. i think i'm going to tweak it still further and add ear flaps with little tie-strings with pompoms on. we'll see. still have to make her mittens.

turned on the TV on Friday and was flipping around. and felt old when flipping past M2's "retro" hour, fully expecting random 80's-ness to assault me and instead finding Soundgarden and Rage Against The Machine. nary a sign of George Michael's denim clad arse wiggling jauntily and frighteningly to be had. i felt old and silly. XD

Friday night was Spaz' mom's big surprise birthday dinner. went to the Wellington, where we were to assemble and seat ourselves before Spaz' grandmother was scheduled to bring his mom in (hence the surprise). it worked out as planned, and thusly our main goal of making her cry was accomplished. XD

had very nummy swordfish in this white wine & butter sauce. have the sneaking suspicion that the sauce is painfully easy to make, but would definitely like to try. hrrm. and the family had got what is probably the BEST cake i've had in ages (and possibly ever) as a birthday cake. it was a cannoli cake. O.O;;; very light, and VERY good. and overall, it was a pretty nice occasion.

more later...

I'M NOT ONLINE. YOU NEVER SAW ME POST THIS.

two things.

firstly, i had curry noodles. a whole big bowl of them. they were warm and currilicious. and you didn't. nyah. XD

secondly, i <3 Alyson Hannigan. was watching Late Night with Conan O'Brien on Comedy Central a bit earlier (well, what else is on?). doing other things, of course, but background noise is good.

anyway, she was the 2nd guest of the evening and came out wearing a little black dress. and of course, was having difficulty fiddling with the lav they'd provided for her, so Conan offered to assist. she eventually got it to clip properly, but then had nowhere to put the mic pack, since most little black dresses don't tend to have pockets. so she was holding it in her hands, and Conan remarked that someone needed to think up a redesign for them; guys can easily stick them in their back pockets, but what are girls supposed to do when they're wearing things without pockets?

so Alyson helpfully suggested an idea: mic pack suppositories. and Conan could be the first to try it out!

...my kind of girl. XXXXXXD

will hop off again now. if not on again, have good weekends! ^^

WOW, ONLY A WHOLE WEEK LATE!

per Elva-chan's request, here are two photos of our tree.

they're not very good, because my digicam is not very good.* in fact, the detail is so horrid in the second one (which was the best of those sorts of closeups that i attempted to take, which should tell you something) that i ended up drawing little blobby deformed circles in PhotoStudio around where i could make out the HK ornaments, in case you don't see them at first. but they ARE there.

the first shot is mostly meant to establish the size of the tree. Hamutarou does this nicely. he's the orangey-white blob down at the base of the tree. XD

dunno that there'll be more later---am off today (yay!) and am fairly busy...being this evil takes work, y'know. XD

* = you'll be happy to note that this camera is worth exactly the $10 i paid for it. every bit. XD

meep.

i got recognised on the way home this evening.

walking across the Loop (as i do every morning and every evening), this guy is quite obviously trying to get my attention and wishes to speak with me. especially after the incident this morning, i'm not so keen on talking to anyone i don't know, but i did end up taking off my headphones and stopping to talk for a moment. perhaps he wanted directions? for some reason, people seem to think i can tell them how to get places sometimes. (poor them! XD)

him: aren't you the singer from SWEK?

me: O.O;;; yes.

him: I saw you at Acen this past year. You guys were good.

me: thank you.

then handshaking, exchanges of "nice to meet you," etc.

...dude. o.o;;;

i mean, it's one thing to get recognised at a convention. particularly after we've done a show. but this was weird. especially considering my hair's actually quite a normal colour, which it hasn't been in ages. O.O;;;

eee!

*wobbles away*

x20 MANGAFICATION

i had no idea that there was a manga based on my life.

and wouldn't you just know it would be a cooking manga? check it out. Iron Wok Jan. (more from Sarah.)

(well, my wok is made of cast iron. ^^ although i'm fairly certain i haven't changed into a boy. *checks self* nope, no unaccounted-for dangly parts here~~! XD)

coming soon, perhaps there'll be Lava Rock Jan! XD

ah, yes. people often discuss how overinflated things are these days. and look; it's even getting to the fanart! XD

...and dude, addressing me as "hello, little white girl!" while sporting a particularly creepy grin upon encountering me in the street is really not any way whatsoever to earn points. really. for several reasons. O.O;;;;;

more later, i think...

AK-SHEE-ON. OH YES.

firstly, am in the midst of reading a paper entitled "Copyright and Comics in Japan: Does Law Explain Why All the Cartoons My Kid Watches are Japanese Imports?" it has a lot to say about doujinshi and why such an official blind eye is turned to it. and hopefully, i'll have more to say once i'm done reading it. it's interesting reading so far, although not really telling me much i hadn't already known. you might want to check it out. copious footnoting, some of which is amusing. ^^ you can download and read it as a PDF file, or else e-mail it to yourself.

also, check out the 365 days project. this has the potential to be quite amusing and horrifying. i look forward to it gleefully. >D

and finally, both of these wouldn't have been found had i not been reading Sarah Dyer's journal. don't know how i hadn't known about it sooner, but you really ought to check it out as well, even if you're not familiar with her work in comics. it's loads of fun to read, mainly because Sarah rocks. ^-^

all for the moment...

DIVING IS A GREAT BORE

firstly, let me stress that this is just a rumour. but. if The Dark Side of Gary Oldman is to be believed, the idea of GO being in the next two Potter films is really frigging COOL. O.O;;;

(some people suggest the idea of him as Sirius Black. which i can see VERY EASILY. ^-^)

PoA better not suck. else i shall be v. angry. but at least i know the audience will Behave Themselves. >P

more later.

AND YET MORE DISGUSTING NEWS...

...wow, i'm full of...something today, aren't i? ^^;;;

this is utterly disgusting. >P

to borrow a phrase from Rob, here's a tax loophole you can drive a (light) truck through.

*punts stupid SUV drivers into outer space*

(ONE OF MANY) GREAT ROCK N' ROLL SWINDLES

regarding the gigantic CD/vinyl/cassette pricefixing antitrust settlement that's been up for claim signup for some time now, it's interesting that almost no one has filed a claim so far. mainly because i wonder about motivations, or lack thereof. do people just not know about it? do they feel it's not right, or not enough? do they fear that it'll put them on some List?

further interesting speculation about this, how the price fixing slowed down retail sales (with graphs!), and major labels just not getting it can be found via Blogaritaville's archives.

curiosity...what say you? discuss!

BOUNCY SOUND!

dug up my Nihon Ska Dansu: From the Land of the Rising Ska CD when switching out CDs in my pouch that i carry with me on a daily basis. haven't listened to it in ages, and whenever i do think about it, i always think i've got fairly lukewarm feelings toward it. but listening to it again, i remember that it in fact does amuse me mightily---if i'm in the right mood. well, most of it, anyway. ^^ i s'pose the same can be said of many things, but i wonder why it is then that i always think i'm kinda eh about this disc?

weird. anyway, since i don't have the liner notes with me, i went to go see if i could find a track listing online somewhere so i could put up the proper name of both the song AND the artist i was listening to when posting up this entry. however, that Amazon listing linked above is the closest i could come---and i'm not familiar enough with any of these bands (the one i'm most familiar with is Snail Ramp, and even them not so much) to tell you who's done what. in the course of looking it up, however, i found another reason it might amuse me: it and i apparently share a birthday. 'course, Moon Ska Records isn't around anymore. but. XD

..and idly, i again am left to contemplate whether or not there actually are lyrics to Shoulder Hopper's "'67 Beetle." in ANY language. because it sure doesn't sound like it. take a listen if you don't believe me. or even if you need no further convincing, because it's fun. XXXD

(damnable virgo records...XD)

...

Neuticles are the most special sort of implants i've seen yet.

and that is all.

RIDE THE PIG!

...this is just to say that there is now an Invader ZIM shower curtain.

featuring GIR, riding the pig.

no words to clutter it, either.

alas---glass shower doors. ;.;

HO, HO, HO...XD

How to Write Like a Wanker.

XD

*dons "pretentious fuckwit" hat and skips away*

SANTRIO!

spinning, spinning, spinning...:"playground love." air.

so, it was a weekend full of frustration, gratuitous finger injuries, and big boxes full of goodies from certain friends. XD

regarding the GFI, my ability to injure myself in new and superfluous ways never ceases to completely amaze me. you'd think, with all the time i spend cutting things up with large, sharp knives and/or scissors and/or razors...you would think with all that, i'd cut myself with such implements. at least once in awhile. but surprisingly, i never really have.

however, i did manage to split open a rather nice gash slightly below my fingernail on my right forefinger this weekend. i was pulling the sugar canister out of the cabinet to put sugar in some tea we were having, and managed to bash my finger into the top of the cabinet whilst pulling the canister out. the canister being full, there was quite a bit of weight to add to the fun---and i didn't even realise i'd done more than bang it really hard for a little bit.

it looks worse than it really is, but i'm still quite amazed. what a completely stupid injury. :P

as for the box of goodies, it was waiting for me when i got home on Friday. nummy snack & coffee gifts for the whole house, including salt wheels for Diesel! oh, and a set of really cute Hello Kitty tree ornaments. which, although i'm usually not too fond of HK, are really quite nice. i'm not sure what they're made out of, but they have a good weight to them---feel like they're made out of ceramic, maybe? and solid. and the kitty snowball ones are really cute. these remind me of the HK horoscope metal keychains Sanrio put out a few years ago. just wish Sanrio'd put more effort into their other characters. like, oh, Landry! and Hoshinowaguma!

(not Deerie Lou, though. o.o;;;)

so now our tree has unwittingly become Santrio. it had an angel Landry keychain on it from earlier in the week, when i found it while digging through my big blue box of doom in a mad search for something else. and being that it's only about three feet tall, the addition of these new ornaments (nevermind the fact that we'll probably take it down this week...XD) fit quite well. Hamutarou is sitting underneath it, and it's pretty close to Diesel's cage. it is the tree of cute doom, and all must tremble before it! >D

...er, um...perhaps more later?

BUGGER.

...and now, i shall rant. should you not wish to read it, please skip this.

<fit-throwing>
so, it's been decided. i am never going to attempt to see anything to do with the Rings trilogy in a theatre. ever, ever again. unless something rather extreme in nature happens---i really don't like to use absolutes, so i'll leave a teensy glimmer of hope at the end. but it's very, very doubtful.

Spaz and i tried to go see The Two Towers today. emphasis on "tried". and i'd say we got about halfway through the movie before we left the theatre rather hurriedly.

not because of the movie. no, of course not.

because of stupid fucktards who kept LAUGHING at everything! completely inappropriately, loudly, obnoxiously---and most importantly, distractingly.

Gimli takes out his sword? BWAHAHAHAH! that's HILARIOUS! something incredibly dramatic and tense happens involving Gollum and/or any number of hobbits? BWAHAHAHAHAH! too fookin' funny!

...i didn't think it could possibly be worse than when we went to see the last one*. but it was.

i've NEVER walked out of a movie. ever. which means i've sat through some really terrible things, things i really ought to have walked out of, but somehow sat through. hell, i sat through all of Slacker in the comfort of my own home! O.O;;; while certainly ill-advised, i think this should speak to the fact that i'm not that easily put off.

and by no means would it have been the movie's fault, anyway. what i saw of it, i really liked---and i really had been looking forward to seeing this. as i know Spaz was, too. so it was especially irritating to have the experience ruined even further for us than it had been last time.

most of the rest of the (very packed) theatre seemed okay. but for some reason, all the fucktards who wanted to giggle hysterically throughout the film came and sat surrounding us, over in the very, very back right corner of the theatre. and we were pinned in place by this great, huge lady and her boyfriend who were completely blocking the aisle. (i wouldn't take so much issue with this lady had she not been one of the ones laughing REALLY LOUDLY at really inopportune times, either.)

so judging by our track record thus far, it's an incredibly bad idea for us to even think about attempting to see the next one in a theatre. i guess we'll have to wait a year till it's out on video and rent it.

and same with The Two Towers, so we can see the other half of it.

...again, i'm reminded that theatres full of small children are far better behaved at movies than theatres crammed full of the same number of "adults." i've been in TWO theatres crammed to the gills with small children in the past few months, and both times, they were perfectly well behaved.

so while i was wondering if we'd get the same sort of people that many i know have mentioned lately (those ones who've seen it about fifty times already and insist on ruining it for everyone else by either saying lines along with it or offering running commentary on how they would have done it SO much better), i have to say i think this was far more annoying than i think that would have been. gah.

>P

</fit-throwing>

* = entry from the old pita, reprinted as a .txt file here so you don't have to go scroll through a bunch of stuff to get to it. should you even want to, that is.