round-headed kid

hats are awfully tricky things.

particularly for those among us who have big, round, pumpkinlike heads. as i'm one of those people, i can indeed attest to how much of an enormous pain properly outfitting it is.

thusly, any sort of hat searching becomes something of a dilemma. as i'm currently in need of a nice, lightweight, non-revolting summer hat to help stop myself burning to a crisp whenever we go to car shows, picnics, and the like, i'm curious to know if any of you have got any suggestions. anything? anyone? ideas? suggestions?

the only things i'd ask, other than that suggestions not be hideous, would be that they also not be bright red or khaki. although i suppose bright red would be okay if done properly, though it wouldn't be preferable.

also, bucket hats generally look ridiculous on me, and i've no interest at all in visors, and next-to-none in baseball caps.

do i get a squirting flower, too?

wow, i only thought these sorts of spam e-mails went to other people, but never to me. alas, i have been proven wrong! today, i got a fantastic spam e-mail with the following subject:

this coupled with my bottle of iced chai enquiring of me, "What if the Hokey Pokey IS what it's all about?" should tell you exactly what kind of day i've been having.

thank you, drive through please. XD

everyday at the bus stop

those of you who take public transit every day know this drill, no matter where you live*. on occasion, your chosen method of transport gets you to where you're going in record time---but alas, the occasion in question can usually be translated to "slightly more often than once every leap year."

more of the time, the daily public transit-taker is forced to build an extra delay-time-cushion into the schedule---assuming said one is meant to be in a particular place at a predesignated particular time. often, such rides will pass without anything other than the normal sorts of incidents one comes to expect along one's normal route; the one dude nearly kicking in the back door of the bus cos he missed it when it was sitting at the stop and the driver isn't in a particularly charitable mood, etc.

every once in awhile, however, a good story comes out of one's public transit habit. or at least, a semi-amusing one...

my usual route of a morning involves a bus line that hops on Lake Shore Drive for a bit. today, that bus ride also involved two guys with JVC camcorders (i think they used VHS-C, although i'm not positive) and their friend, who they were taping from various angles as he rode the bus. both camcorder-wielding guys had neck straps; one had a full-sized tripod attached to the base of his camcorder as well, and was setting it up in the middle aisle of the bus to tape his friend while we were on the 'express' bit of the journey so people weren't getting on and off. i'd had my headphones on and had been idly spacing out while staring out the window and listening to the Lansing-Dreisden CD i'd been lent the day before, puzzling over why the vocals were buried so in every bloody song.

when i noticed what was going on, i stopped the CD and started to listen, but couldn't quite figure out why they were taping their friend. was it for a class project? a personal project? was this the only taping they were doing, or was this one scene out of many? i suppose i could have asked, but i didn't want to interrupt. i also suppose i was making assumptions that this guy they were taping was a friend who'd agreed to this---would've been a whole other wrinkle if it were actually a stranger they'd talked into agreeing to whatever they were taping.

so many possibilities, and all of them got off the bus before i did.

* = unless, of course, you live in Phoenix. XD

words, words, words

Melanie (one of the bridesmaids) took a bunch of lovely photos at the wedding which you can see here. (warning: Shutterfly won't work v. well in Opera, particularly if you want to view their slideshows.)

unfortunately, i didn't get to take many photos at all, as was too busy running around. ^^;;; i'm sure more will turn up as time goes on, however.

it was really lovely, though. don't know how to describe the ceremony...it had pagan and other elements mixed together and was very nice. the community centre it took place in is on the edge of a forest preserve, and the building had a v. woodsy feel to it---the nicely burning fireplace was also a lovely touch. theme was autumnal, and the decorations reflected it nicely. am even more glad Melanie took such nice photos, so you can see what everything looked like. :)

reception afterward took place in the same room, and was a buffet-style meal that was quite good. there was also an open bar, which was also quite good. and there was also the infamous keeki, which i was pleased turned out fairly well. also pleased we had guessed correctly in thinking that the cake topper would be what it was, since it was meant to be a surprise to everyone, so i didn't know till just before putting it on the cake Saturday evening. :)

as for the keeki itself, the bottom two tiers were 14" in diameter and were pumpkin keeki filled with cognac truffle filling. the 9" tier was a modified black forest keeki, which had a raspberry filling layer instead of the more trad cherry (on request of the bride + groom). top tier was poundkeeki filled with more cognac truffle filling. frosting was white chocolate cream cheese, which of course was coloured green so it could be a pumpkin mountain as planned. the pumpkins you see were solid white chocolate painted with Dust, and the acorns were real acorns coated in acrylic glaze to seal them and make them sparkly and shiny (but really, not so edible).

have a few making-of photos which i'll post at a later date. for now, signing off. ^^

hi, i'm janni, and i'm 9 years old...

dubbed Iron Chef has the best quotes.

previous favourite was super-schoolgirl-giggling actress as one of the panel of judges giggling madly and proclaiming that a dish "ahahahaha...turned masculine in my mouth!" in a very high-pitched, sweet, girlish voice. would love to know what she originally said. XD

today, however, this has been displaced by another super-schoolgirl-giggling actress on the panel of judges for the sea cucumber battle betwixt IC Chen and challenger Fujiwara Tsuguo, apparently the top of Shanghai cooking in Japan. upon tasting a dessert item, the line was, "For dessert...I want the real fun to start when it gets into my mouth."

aieee. XD

in other news, one more tier and we've got a whole keeki! minus fillings, frostings, and other accoutrements, but still. next tier shall be done next weekend. ^^

straight outta keekiland

now spinning: "the birthday party." grandmaster flash + the furious five.

i really wish i could tell you what stage of the keeki i'm currently at. unfortunately, to do so would give away most of the theme i've got in mind for this keeki---so alas, must be cryptic at this point in time. i should take photos, however---won't exactly be posting a step-by-step guide to what i did to create the keeki once it's done, but it'd be nice to have some sort of pictographic evidence as to the evolution of the keeki. must illustrate the wonder of keeki architecture, after all. ^^

let it just be said at this point in time that Sugarcraft, Inc. rules. they got my order here unbelievably quickly, even though i only opted for UPS Ground shipping. prices were v. reasonable, and the stuff i got from them has been top-notch so far. am particularly enamoured of Dust (and not in an HDM sense, either), but shan't go further into it than that at the current juncture.

let it also be said that right now, as of about 8pm CST, my house currently smells like a peculiar mix of curry (of the Thai variety, and involving coconut milk) and chocolate. very strong smell of chocolate. and the two smells together really aren't quite as odd as one would think.

bet your house doesn't smell like mine. XD

my neck is killing me. off to eat and watch something other than Rallye Great Britain (which i'll be taping when it's run again later on---long story).

November is ganging up on me. eee!

*scuttles off*

feeling slightly sinister in an eventide full of brantwijn

am currently enjoying the latest in compilatory glory from the lovely Jazzlah; in specific, her angsty!Harry!OOTP! disc. am also in the throes of writing Yet Another Essay for Yet Another Good Auld College Try. unfortunately, this college (much like all the others) is very likely to be anything other than magical, but the fact remains that this must be done.

also, with necessity impatience being the mother of invention that it is, i fiddled around a bit in the kitchen this morning and came up with a quite delicious recipe of my own for pumpkin spiced cappuccino. quite amazingly (esp. compared to the other recipes i was able to find for a similarly-called thing elsewhere online), my recipe calls for both pumpkin and coffee in copious amounts. funny, that. you can find my recipe at Licking the Spoon, as per usual.

JYK also enclosed some adorable photos which i cannot quite get over. so ky00000000t. don't believe a word she says about me wanting her dead like a dead thing, as it is obvious from this package that it is quite the other way round. between these and the CDs, yeesh. it's only the pumpkin cappuccino coursing through my veins that's keeping me alive. (either that, or the promise of the new batch of pumpkin chocolate cinnamon chip cookies i'm going to make later, since i went and stocked up on cinnamon chips earlier today. XDXD)

Spaz is downstairs playing MediEvil. he's quite a bit further along than i am (having had more time to play, and also being incredibly a bit quicker than i), and has got to a level which takes place in a library. if this game weren't already of enough amusement to me, how could it not be after that? there's just too much wub to go around, i'm telling you. also, i need a GBA, but that's just the pumpkinccino talking. XD

so! my life day is filled with essays*, applications, and letters---the post office will wubwubWUB me tomorrow. and now, back to writing my ruddy essays, CD listening and compiling, and handing out candy to trick-or-treaters. mmm, candy.

* = (these essays may well kill me dead first. :P)

vanished to keekiland!

so, er, the small handful of you whose heads i hold guns to who read this may be wondering where i've got to lately.

while it's true that i'm hideously busy out in the big bad Real World, and thus have little to no time to even attempt to be mildly amusing, there's actually been a further motivation to my most recent bout of near-silence.

have been busy plotting out exactly what sort of wedding cake i'm making for Sarah and Eric.

it's by no means a small undertaking, but it's very exciting. a nice challenge, and one to which i'm really looking forward. the architecture of a proper cake is an interesting thing to consider, indeed.

as a result, there will be at least one test keeki to be made sometime very shortly. want to make sure all my ideas will play together as nicely as i'd like. i won't be doing the full decoration on the test keeki; it's more meant to see that the cake, filling, and frosting work together well.

and that i can frost nicely.

if it turns out decently, i'll be posting keekiporn photos, i'm sure.

hee. ^^

checked the box on the blue coupon

this past one was not a weekend nearly as exciting as last, but still rather okay. although i still haven't managed to get those recipes i keep promising up, but...good intentions, y'know? XDXD

against better judgment, did go and see The Italian Job on Saturday. and y'know---it would have been a fine, entertaining, fluffy, Mini-and-action-packed extravaganza all on its own. not particularly great, but not horrible, either---i went into it having pretty much the lowest expectations possible, and so i was pleasantly surprised when it didn't utterly and completely offend on every level possible. in fact, it was quite enjoyable. Seth Green and Mos Def are my new heroes, in fact.

but the fact remains, it really shouldn't have been called "The Italian Job." none of the characters should have had the same names as the original film, and it shouldn't EVER have been marketed as a remake, because it really wasn't. there were elements that were obviously taken from the original (apart from the obvious name cribbings), but it really wasn't anything like the same movie. it was completely ludicrous to behave like the two movies really had anything to do with one another. didn't people who had such power realise the sort of skepticism and/or ire they'd raise by presuming to have the audacity to remake what many consider to be an example of a fine classic British movie? i mean, maybe they weren't thinking about it very hard, as the original had nothing like the same impact in the US as it apparently had in the UK. but it's still utterly ridiculous.

so yes, the movie's enjoyable enough in a fluffy sort of way if one realises that any pretence of being anything relating to the original is all a blatant lie. :P and apart from the climax of the movie, the score was actually quite good. and whee, Amon Tobin + Photek! (though not together. just so we're clear. XDXD)

went for a drive (well, Spaz was driving, of course) in the STi in the wet on Sunday. FUN. FUN FUN FUN. god, that car is such a beast! it just wants to go! i wish there'd been even more rain, but at least we did get out to enjoy it a bit.

also, Harry Goz (Captain Murphy on Sealab: 2021) is dead. i don't know how, and i don't know when, but it was mentioned during one of the Adult Swim bumpers last night and also on the Adult Swim message boards. (i'd link directly, but you have to be a member to view anything on the board. if you wish to sign up, you'll find it right away.) yeesh, last week was apparently a really bad week. :P

more later, perhaps.

shinjirarehen! (again and again!)

my friend Riki-chan has reappeared!

we used to be in Japanese classes together. i really missed her a lot. this is so cool. ^-^ she's apparently doing variety shows and modelling and grid-girl stuff in Japan now. wonder if i'll ever see her again? she is seriously one of the cutest people i've ever met. i'm so glad she wrote me. please excuse the gushing, but i really did miss her---this made my day. ^-^

speedwell

today darling Fifichu-chan leaves on a fabulous journey. please wish her good luck, tons of fun, and a brilliant journey---much like i'm doing. ^^

(on another note entirely, i did in fact get a Mini for my birthday. i got several, in fact. more details and/or photos to come later. ^^)

answers to mysteries of the universe

...may one day explain why someone found HSL while searching for Telugu porn.

i mean, y'know, aside from any such queries that end people up here now. self-perpetuation and all that. XDXD

also, i somehow neglected to mention a very dangerous booth at the show yesterday. the booth was run by Midlife Classic Cars, and amongst other piles and piles of danger was a whole slew of things out of here.

and i bought nothing. i was in fact very well behaved. despite that book on the rally history of Works Minis. am proud of self-control. XDXD

on another note entirely...

...happy birthday to Harpy. ^^

may all your twee indie dreams come true. ^^

streaks in your hair were larger than your guitars

weekend thus far has been relatively quiet. went to visit Sarah and Eric in the hospital with their new baby yesterday. little Xander. have never seen a baby that newborn before. he's quite purple and smooshy-faced and cute. and also very soft. i think peaches will feel rough now compared to his feet. O.O;;;

still intend on posting those recipes sometime soon. have been coming up with more, too---keep trying new things and having them turn out quite tastily. am falling in love with molasses and have to fight the urge to keep from using it in everything.

...hrrm, i want to make pad siew all of the sudden. damn, don't have wide rice noodles. don't have any rice noodles, i think. curses, thwarted again! ;.;

hope to post up reviews of the comics i mentioned a couple of entries back. i'll start by saying that Lenore #10 is a lot better than #9 was. which is good, cos #9 was really not so good. #10's worth a look, though. and really, i can't push Hopeless Savages enough. Jill Thompson's Death manga really makes me want to play dressup...must...fight...urge to whip out copious amounts of black liquid eyeliner...XD

i can hardly wait for my stars to fall in line

you and you are way too cute for words.

i <3 you to bits. who else would address a package containing a box of nyummy Swiss chocolate to "Ultimate 3v331 c/o Janaki," after all? XDXDXD and write such great letters. letters which demand warning labels, in fact.

XDXDXDXDXD

*sqwishees you both*

in other news, i doubt very much that i shall ever not be Entirely Too Busy Ever Ever Again. in some ways it's nice, as i'm somewhat less bored than usual. at times i want to claw my eyes out, but at least it's for different reasons. XDXD

must make adjustments to that eggplant parmesan; tried making it without peeling the eggplant, as i've never done it before. am not so very fond of it unpeeled---it's got a strange bitterness that isn't really pleasant. allegedly this can be removed if one salts the eggplant first, but as i suspect i won't often think quite THAT far ahead, must peel next time. and bread. tried making it without breading, which was okay---but the breading is nice and crispy. nyum.

made lasagna last night which will probably last just about all the way through the week. turned out fairly well, although perhaps not the prettiest possible. and i left out the basil. d'oh. fresh basil makes EVERYTHING better. but asiago cheese in the lasagna works wonders, oh yes. ^^

have at least three recipes i'd like to post up at LtS, but haven't had time yet. will do it soon, though---and i s'pose i ought to plan on posting up that pumpkin soup recipe i've promised Sarah Dyer soon too, as by the time i actually get around to posting these, chances are good it'll be prime autumn soup time again. :D

bwahahahah

have been watching the old Twilight Zone marathon that's been on SciFi the past couple of days. haven't watched all of it, but it's mostly much more worth watching (or at least having on while doing other stuff) than anything else on. this morning, they played an episode i've seen before but which Spaz didn't recall---"Once Upon A Time."

it involves a time-travel helmet, and travel by one man from the 1890s to, er, whenever it was that this episode was made (not sure what year, exactly). the scenes in the 1890s were done to look like a silent film, which was really cool.

and i thought the gentleman doing the time travelling looked familiar, but i couldn't quite place him. both times i've seen this ep.

this time, i saw the ending credits. and felt really silly upon realising that yep, that's Buster Keaton. XDXDXD (i think they're doing another festival of his films at Doc this summer, IIRC...)

i've been having more car dreams lately, too. last night's involved me winning a Ford Focus ZX3 somehow. lots of weird stuff had been done to it---i think there was a Cosworth wing on it, too. which can probably entirely be blamed on this absolutely mental modded Mini City in last month's issue of Mini Magazine, which this 16 year old kid had gotten a few years before he was going to be able to drive it, and had been working on restoring with his uncle and his dad. amongst other things, he stuck a Cosworth wing on it, crafted a custom dash out of MDF when he decided he didn't like any of the ready-made ones he was finding, and also used a Red Bull can as an ignition coil. XDXDXD

oi. it's funny, yo. XDXD

reading, writing, rhythmatic....

when i get more of a moment, will write about the following:

1.) stuff re-listened to lately.

2.) the comic superheroes two-hour special on the History channel the other night, which apparently Sarah Dyer and Evan Dorkin and Neil Gaiman were all watching too. was particularly amused at Mssr. Gaiman's reaction to watching himself from a year ago. XD special was interesting.

3.) can't talk about OotP yet. haven't read it. have unfortunately been spoiled, even though i tried not to. d'oh. ;.; but at least i'll be getting my copy for free, for Mariam has taken pity on me. as she'd only read it once, she told me yesterday that if i can wait a week while she finishes it (she just bought it yesterday, and she's a more normally-paced slower reader than i and many of my more freakish friends tend to be), she'll mail it to me. and hey, what's another week? XD

4.) ack. there's more, but i can't remember...sorry...>.<;;;

5.) have been awfully, awfully busy. eyeballs about to pop out of head. need serious help. and tea. XD

things learnt...

1) when in doubt, Trust Mr. Brown.

will explain later. it involves cinnamon, cocoa, a big mess, me, and a scaldingly hot beverage.

also, it was not my fault. for once.

(i know some of you might find this last a bit difficult to believe, but since when do i take pains to lie about how clumsy i often sometimes am? XD)

beeru-chan's summer vacation

the one and only Beeru-chan would like for us all to think that she's away from school on summer vacation, happily whiling away her hours playing various bits of the Suikoden saga.

but really, i've discovered the truth.

she's been secretly manufacturing semi-wholesome sparkling juice beverages containing 70% fruit juice and 30% sparkling water. (only, y'know, how secret can it really be when she goes and puts her name all over the thing, complete with a pronunciation guide on the back?!!?)

i'm just saying, is all. XD

REJOICE!

thanks to Rob for this; apparently, the OED has now added such fine staples of modern English as "buggeration," "cocksmanship," "bitch-slap," and "skeevy" to its records.

you think i'm joking?

XD

as Krissy said, today is truly a great day for humankind. XDXDXD

note to self, others:

please remember that every other weekend (when F1 isn't on) is when F1 Decade is. at 8pm, on Sunday (unless they happen to change it.

don't forget.

and in a note to everyone else, Williams Street is apparently working on new episodes of The Brak Show right now

...REJOICE!!!

(although it's quite possible nothing will ever beat pimpin' Frylock...XD)

a little less more and more

saw The Animatrix yesterday.

liked it far better than Reloaded. except probably the first segment, with the Osiris. the one Mr. Final Fantasy did. that one was rather weak. the rest, though, was mostly a whole lot better.

and i <3 Shinichirou Watanabe. <3 <3 <3

also, the Death in Vegas song on the soundtrack sounds like Adult. ripped off the bassline from Blur's "Girls and Boys." seriously.

finally, you and i obviously have no other recourse than to change our respective names to Rob, right?

(and to the Rob i work with...nope, not you. although it's a fine name, and i hope you don't mind sharing. XD)

that will be all.

the phrase that slays

so there's this girl i see a lot; she rides the same train i (usually) do both in the morning and the evening. something about her is rather off-putting. not in a bad way, but just...off.

i think it's that she seems very likely to be what would happen if someone were to mash Fi and Daidouji together. Fionayo*. i'll call her that from now on. XD

she's always very fashionable, but not in a sort of trend-jumping way. she just is. she's one of those people who knows how to fit---not just with clothing, but with everything. she's got this very regal bearing to the way she walks, the way she moves---as though she belongs anywhere she is. and she very well might. but it reminds me a bit of exactly what i said above---if Tomoyo grew up and became more like Fi, maybe. she also seems to have the sort of unearthly beauty common to both mentioned above. can't explain---you just know these people when you see them. i've seen men with it too---Fi will be happy to know both instances i can recall were wearing very nicely fitted, non-icky suits! XD

i'm babbling, i know---but i've very rarely seen someone with a very nice umbrella in this very nice plum colour that so perfectly matches their very nice plum corduroy trenchcoat before. please forgive me. XD

in other news, any list of conversational constructs that really, really irk me would have to include the phrase "i says" at the top of my list. seriously. i cannot BEGIN to say how very much i just want to stab someone when i hear that particular set of words together! ARGH!

</anal-retentive language babbling>

* = much like Deodato, except not at all. ^^

once again...

...i have nothing but love for The Onion.

renewal of faith: Terrifying Bill Passed During NBA Playoffs.

<3 <3 <3

perhaps more later.

janaki in toshokan DAISHOKKU! XD

keeping in mind that i work in a library, where of course would you think my favourite place to go for a weekend afternoon of fun would be?

XD

actually, it transpired that we needed to go get either the Chilton or the Haynes manuals for Spaz' brother's Maxima, since Stuff Is Being Done To It This Afternoon, and it'd be nice to know what the proper torques for various bits are before putting it back together and doing it all wrong. hence---'brary time!

only our library isn't so great. however, it's got connections to Kimmie's former place of employ, the STD Library.

(and needless to say, Kimmie absolutely looooooved telling people where she worked when she worked there. XD)

that place is HUGE. i'd been past it before several times, and knew it to be huge from the outside, but it's NUTS. and the inside is indeed really nice. bits of it remind me of DePaul though, which is weird. XD but it's got a DRIVE-THROUGH. O.O;;;

anyrate, i got out two DWJ books. (hey, i only had about 5 minutes to look around and get my bearings. XD) Deep Secret and A Sudden Wild Magic. and i thought it worth mentioning that Deep Secret was published by Fi's new employers, Tor Books. XDXDXD

and now, off to pop the oleang in the fridge and prolly go out bike riding. oooh.

(which reminds me; i got a really cool water bottle yesterday, in replacement for the one i left on the train. check it out---you can pop the little nozzle out and wash it! i know it's a simple thing, but it's something that ought to have been thought of a REALLY LONG TIME AGO. XD)

all the tea internationally

and as more of a followup to Sabina's Teatalk, look what i found.

International Tea Meetup Day is apparently in 27 days.

eheh. XD

more later.

omedetou!

must offer a slightly belated congratulations to Jazzler for GRADUATING FROM LAW SCHOOL on Friday! anyone and everyone should ph34r her even moreso now than they had previously. ^^

*stands up and leads round of clapping*

theme + variation

today's theme: O.O;;;

firstly, there's the first publicised instance of the RIAA fucking up. surely this will inspire The Grand Meta to create such pieces of fabulous casual apparel as "The RIAA Ceased And Desisted With Ceasing And Desisting Me And All I Got Was This Stupid T-Shirt." i can't wait.

and secondly, at least ONE lonely heart in London caught a plane and flew away to dance on Simon Cowell's lap, apparently. i'd pay money to see this incident if it involved "Rump Shaker" in any way, shape, or form. XD

both of these come via the always excellent XRRF, incidentally.

cow.

also should mention that the tornado warning & sighting of funnel cloud two towns over was v. scary Saturday night. it hauled ass northeast quite quickly and thankfully did not come any closer, but still.

we have no basement. the other house we'd looked at did, but this one needed less work, and was in all other ways well nigh upon perfect, so it's what we went with. we were contemplating grabbing Diesel and piling into the bathroom, though. normally i like falling asleep when it's storming, and the rain sound is usually rather comforting, but not when it's like that.

wanna find out where the sirens are in our town. Spaz knew where they were in Bartlett, but neither of us has any idea of where they are now that we've moved...certainly heard them, though.

eep. am not easily scared. but that was actually quite scary. >.<;;;

grains of wisdom

box of honey nut cheerios in our house (well, till i finished it this morning) has got an ad on the back for "Spoonfuls of Stories," encouraging very young children to learn to read by utilising Cheerios-themed storybooks and a CD. loads of happy toddlers learning to read are also pictured.

just inside the back of the box, on the flip side of that advertisement is another one boldly proclaiming that you (yes, YOU) can obtain 4 pairs of high-quality scissors for free!

it's the three Ss! students, storybooks, and scissors! i feel enlightened already!

this moment brought to you by: honey nut cheerios. nyum. XD

windscreen of my soul

...so i, um, managed to lose my glasses last Friday.

i'm pretty sure i left them at the MCA when Spaz and i were there Friday night for the opening of Rob's exhibit. due to the state of uberbusy i've been in since (well, mostly), i still haven't gotten round to calling them yet. should really do so. ^^;;; i will probably be getting contacts (special ones, oh yes) in August or thereabouts, but i'll still want glasses.

for the time being, it's back to my old ones---can't see quite as well as out of the new ones, but that's sort of the point, isn't it? XD they're better than nothing. plus, my old glasses (which used to prompt Riki-chan to call me "Eriol-chan" and bat her eyelashes cutely XD) have that cool photosensitive Transitions coating that turns them to sunglasses when exposed to UV rays. new glasses just have magnetic sunglasses that attach over the normal ones.

i'm just surprised i hadn't lost them sooner. annoyed, too. but not too much so. that won't happen till i find out i've lost them for good and they aren't in the MCA anymore. >.<;;;

Monday night, had fun semi-practice with Dale. and discovered that although i thought i'd rescued the live video i've got of Shinohara Tomoe doing "Ultra Relax" with a full-on band before i wiped my hard drive, i apparently didn't. ;.; damn. but i did get to expose Dale to the wonder and joy that is DJ Assault. and also Voltaire. and also that one happy hardcore Tetris thing that Beeru-chan conferred upon me ages ago. and also "Closer to Mario," via Sabina. see? some people's lives are shoujo manga; mine is really just one long video game. XD

yesterday, had the day off to go do errandy stuff. woke up and watched a couple of really good episodes of BtVS. because am dork and have been Sucked In (noooo!). XD had plans to meeet up with Kimmie later in the afternoon, but had a bunch of time before that. wandered around in and out of Chicago Comics and various used CD shops. showed some restraint and only came out of it with a $6 used copy of the live Underworld disc Everything, Everything. which prompted discussion later between Kimmie and myself about how even though we've got the means, we generally tend to have these compulsory urges to go and buy the albums proper that we enjoy. Spaz, consummate UW fanboi that he is, has got Everything, Everything (and in fact, he pointed out last night that he's pretty sure i'm the one who bought it for him, so it's quite possible i've now bought two copies...XD). i have a CD burner. have i burned it? no. i can't bring myself to do so. have to go buy the real thing. used or otherwise. all three of us mentioned in this paragraph have in fact offered to buy things for friends when they've asked if they could get a copy of something we particularly enjoy. i find it amusing. XD (which reminds me that i need to go out and buy Think Tank. prolly the limited edition one, so i get the neat book. am curious to hear if it's the Phil Daniels version of "My White Noise," as well. XD) am not in any way opposed to hearing things before i buy, but i usually do buy. *shrugs* is just the way my mind works.

saw all three of Crispin Glover's books at ChiCom yesterday. (although i read somewhere that there are actually eight, i don't know how true that is...^^;;;) also saw Edward Gorey's Dracula Toy Theatre there. it distinctly falls under the category of "things i think are cool and would want if i had anywhere to really display them." eep, is practicality encroaching on my meager fannish existence? O.O;;; XD

there's this one storefront on Belmont that seems to be cursed. there seem to be really good, inexpensive restaurants that open in this particular storefront, stay open for awhile---and then close. probably cos the location is way too expensive and the fact that they aren't charging ridiculous amounts for their foods and beverages drives them out of business. ;.; the most recent of these was a really good place called Wrap N' Go; and despite the rather cheesy name, it was actually a really good place. specialised in donburimono, as well as various wraps and the omnipresent California rolls. also had a small Japanese grocery section wherein one could find various things (mostly snack foods and condiments) that couldn't be found elsewhere nearby, including some varieties of Pocky that i hadn't seen around before.

there wasn't something there for awhile, and then i spotted the new residents from across the street yesterday. it's now home to a Thai restaurant called Duck Walk. of course, i didn't know what sort of food it served by seeing it from across the street. however, its being called "Duck Walk" was enough to make me go across the street and look. XD

...and eventually eat there. lunchbox specials! whee! ^^ cheap and fairly tasty, and the two guys who were up front who worked there were really nice. and the way they've painted the place is really cool, too; i can't quite explain. muted burgundy and burnished (and very subtle) gold tones. a neat shadowy painting taking up an entire wall suggestive of figures off in the distance, but not v. clear on what they might be. bathroom (which is tiny) has a framed painting of a girl out walking. with ducks. XD

and it was weird, too---kept thinking about all the stuff i've been reading to do with Thai food lately. and finding corroboration for a lot of the stuff my mom told/showed me that my father had taught to her when they were still together---mildly amusing. and also being amused that most of the stuff that's made its way over here and become so popular amounts (mostly) to street food. which isn't a bad thing, but is interesting to note---also, a lot of it seems to be stuff that came from the Chinese immigrants in Thailand. granted, most of the Chinese population seems to be based around the central plains areas, which is where most of the food that's become popular over here has come from, but i did still find it kind of amusing---mostly because i've heard people talk about how "Thai food is the new Chinese" or some other similar statement that kinda makes me want to smack them. aieee. XD

met up with Kimmie later on, which was fun and entertaining. she informed me that there is apparently a single (which she's got) featuring DJ Assault remixing Peaches. O.O;;; MUST. FIND. XDXDXD even better than DJ Assault and Princess Superstar working together! XDXDXD oHO. she also told me of her friend who apparently was brilliant and got into med school, so as a congratulatory gift, her parents are presenting her with her very own MINI Cooper S. eeee. considering one of Spaz' brothers' friends was given a BMW 3-series for graduating high school, i s'pose it's not so shocking. XD

in other news, Mariam has now decided (partially against her will, due to circumstances FAR beyond her control) that she's going to actually learn to drive. despite decrying the idea for years. the world really is coming to an end. XD

[addendum: ooh! forgot to mention that i found out what was up with the case full of manga i posted about a week or so back. actually, i found out the very next day, and have thusly been Holding Out On You ever since, muahhhh! >D (ooh, caffeine!) since it was completely obvious, i of course managed to miss the gigantic banner next to the case announcing that it was the winner of the "T. Kimball Brooker prize for Undergraduate Book Collecting." which Rob amusedly pointed out to me the day after i posted this. --;;; coming in today, i see that a name has been given to this individual, as well as their collection; the winner is one Rukimini Singh, and the collection is referred to as "Manga (Japanese comics), Shoujo Manga (Girls' comics), and Boys' Love." XD now there's a title. 'Collector of Boys' Love.' i think that's what we need; more people with names like Dr. Fiona Lee, CBL. XDXD]

let me just say you've got character

loads of people either say they themselves look like someone famous, or else that they know someone who looks (sortakindabutnotquiteexactly) like someone famous. but do you ever see people and think they look like various animated characters?

i mean, it's scary enough if you see someone who looks like Carl from Aqua Teen Hunger Force. and probably even scarier if you see someone who looks like Meatwad. although Carl is probably more common than i'd like to admit. XD

all this is by way of saying i just saw slightly grown-up Hiiragizawa on the way in this morning. 'cept he had dark blond/light brown hair. but everything else was dead on, including mode of dress. O.O;; and i was entirely too amused about this and the fact that he was walking v. slowly down the street because he was reading while doing it. no funky hat though, i'm sad to say. *sniffs*

weekend was strange and exhausting. you?