all the feels.

[sarea]

Hmm I thought it was less than a week since my last post but apparently I was wrong. >.> TUMBLR HAS EATEN MY LIFE. I can't even be sorry about it. I'm dazzled by all the pretty pictures there. I start to write, but then after a sentence or two I just go to my dash and refresh. >< And depending on what's there, I then totally get sucked in. Apparently I just need the internet taken away from me if I want to get any writing done, because I have no willpower to speak of.

I'm also running on very little sleep. I did it while Jade was here, but that's because we were packing our days with FUN things. Now I'm getting up super early because of work, even though I don't go to bed until like 1am. The other night I went to bed after *2*, because I was watching GoT S2 w/ Jade and we went off on a big random tangent afterward. I really just want to find the nearest bed and sleep for aaaaaaaaaages. But speaking of GoT, I realized that I never talked about the S2 finale. I'm sure you all have been dying to know what I thought of it... not. But I'm a completist, and one day I might want to know what I initially thought, and will be annoyed with myself if I don't do it, so here we go.

akscully and I agreed after it was over that at this point, the show has deviated from the text enough that the show should now be considered 'inspired by' the books rather than 'based on' them.

Yeah I pretty much hated the finale.

I mean, Dany didn't have her visions. At least, not her real visions, the ones from the book. Which I know I should have expected, given that they have avoided showing any past event (and thus, Rhaegar et al), but it was still seriously disappointing. Not just because I wanted to see Rhaegar, but narratively, I now don't know what to make of her visions in the show OR in the book. Are the 'visions' she saw on the show "future" visions, or was it just Dany saying her goodbyes to Drogo and her son? Are they actually prophetic, as they are in the books, or did they just drop that angle? And if the former, are we supposed to add them to the visions we know from the book? I put up with the stupid plotline of her dragons being stolen because I thought the House of the Undying scenes were going to be awesome. And then they were lame.

A. did point out that there was "snow" on the throne in Dany's vision, but I don't know that it actually means anything prophetic. It could just be pretty imagery because she's at the Wall for some reason (I guess that might be significant? But then again, of course it's significant; the freaking Others are coming. Not necessarily significant wrt Jon).

Then there was Jon killing Qhorin Halfhand out of PASSION rather than because Qhorin explicitly told him to, in order to survive and bring intel back to the base camp. WTF? JON WOULDN'T FUCKING DO THAT. The whole point of Qhorin basically ordering him to do it was to show us that Jon was obeying his 'superior officer,' and that there were infiltration plans in place, not because Jon is a stupid hothead. Ugh!

Then they made Xaros heterosexual... why? To get rid of Dany's last handmaiden, which totally doesn't happen in the books? Because there are too many gay characters on TV already (not)? WTF. Also I didn't like this part because in the book, there's this whole prophecy of how many times Dany is going to be betrayed and for what reasons. So does the betrayal by Doreah on the show count as part of one of those betrayals in the book prophecy? Ugh, it's all so messed up.

I guess they're going to skip the whole plotline of Dontos 'saving' Sansa and the big reveal of it actually being Littlefinger and just tell us it's Littlefinger from the get go. I'm actually in support of this change. No one cares about Dontos. Also I guess his appearance at the beginning of the season was just so Sansa could show that she was still a compassionate person, and maybe also to see the Hound saving her from Joffrey by giving credence to her bullshit.

And finally... the Others looked so. lame. They were way scarier when they looked more human. Now they just look like... cartoons. Ughghghghgh.

I can't believe GRRM approved all this. It makes me feel like he totally sold out. He hates fan fiction because he doesn't want other people messing with his characters/story, but he allows THIS to happen, just because it's TV/HBO/whatever? Arbitrary line, imho.

And and AND Tom Wlaschiha is no longer Jaqen and it's some ugly dude now so even more there's like nothing to watch for anymore cryyyyyyyyyy. Since they've changed everything else, they might as well bring Tom back. Yes. >.>

I have serious reservations about next season. ><

OK, and the following is for dearnana. She wanted to know exactly what Jade and I ate at all the places we went to during Jade's visit, so heeeeeeeeeere it all is!!

Day One: Jade didn't get in til like 9:30pm so we had reservations at Staple & Fancy for 10:15pm. We ordered their "Fancy" menu, which for $45/pp you just have them bring out whatever they want to.

First course (7 appetizers): I'm now going to severely test my memory: 1) deep-fried oysters; 2) ahi tuna spread on crostini topped with white anchovy; 3) squid with garbanzo beans; 4) some kind of proscuitto, I think; 5) super white tuna sashimi; ok neither of us can remember the last two.

Second course (handmade pasta): Originally it was this red pasta with cured sausage, but both Jade and I found it unbearably salty so we asked for something else. The second time it was like this clam and pesto pasta that was yummy and not too salty.

Third course (protein): Pork tenderloin, cooked medium rare. SO good.

Fourth course (dessert): Ricotta cheesecake with the most beautiful-looking raspberries. Never eating another kind of cheesecake again.

Day Two

Lunch: Rockin M BBQ (Everett) - Shared a pulled chicken sandwich and a pork Cuban. We were trying not to get too full because we were on our way to Lynden for pie. The sandwiches were smallish, so if it'd actually been a real meal I might've had to get another. Anyway, the Cuban was outstanding. The pulled chicken, not so much.

Afternoon snack: Dutch Mother's (Lynden) - Ordered 5 kinds of pie to share. The waitstaff were very tickled by us, kept coming by to fill our coffees and talk to us, saying, "We've never seen anyone do this before!" The pies we ordered: bumbleberry (basically mixed berry), coconut cream, chocolate cream, strawberry rhubarb, and Dutch apple. The two best were the chocolate cream and strawberry rhubarb, but it was definitely not the best pie we've ever eaten. Not worth the drive to Lynden just for that. We had to do it this time to know, though!

Dinner: Benihana (Seattle) - Because of my Passport deal, we got two entrees for $40. So of course we both ordered their most expensive one, the one with lobster and chateaubriand (a thicker cut of filet mignon). We also both got fried rice because if you're going to Benihana you HAVE to get that. Our chef, Jason, was superb. We've both had less-than-impressive food from Benihana before, but he cooked everything to perfection, even the beef, which was the same temp and tenderness throughout. Jason restored our faith in Benihana, and now if I ever go again I'm only going if I can get him.

Day Three

Lunch: Il Corvo (Seattle) - This place is located inside a gelateria, which is totally random but also awesome. It's only open for lunch Tues-Fri. The chef makes 3 different kinds of pasta a day. You have to get there early or they'll run out of one or more pastas. When Jade and I went, we got there at noon and they were already out of one of them. We ordered the remaining two pastas, which were excellent, and also got each one of their appetizers... sliced salumi, green olives, and bread with olive oil. The olive oil blew me away. Jade asked them what it was and it turns out that it's a Moroccan olive oil called Desert Miracle. I managed to find it at ChefShop.com, which is based in Seattle, so I was able to get a few bottles locally. Yay!

Dinner: Ma'ono (West Seattle) - Formerly known as Spring Hill, now a Hawaiian-themed fried chicken and whisky bar. Still has fabulous fried chicken, and plenty of different kinds of side items -- really if you didn't want to, you wouldn't have to get the fried chicken at all. Came here with my cousin and corianderstem. We ordered 1 fried chicken, California roll poke (which was SO GOOD), beet salad (which was ok), kalbi (Korean short ribs, which everyone loved) and Beecher's cheese grits (which was really good, but only when it first arrived all piping hot).

Dessert: Shoofly + Bakery Nouveau (West Seattle) - OK, so Shoofly is right across the street from Ma'ono and I had always thought that it was a shoe store, but it turns out that Shoofly is a type of pie. >.> I'm not Pennsylvanian Dutch or from the South so that's my excuse for why I was ignorant of shoofly pie. Anyway, we didn't get that. We got a mini lemon meringue and a slice of raspberry pie, which we ate at K's while playing Pandemic. Then LATER, we ate the stuff we got from Bakery Nouveau -- the best bakery in Seattle and possibly the entire west coast. Everything they serve is unbelievably good, especially their chocolate cake and almond croissant. I normally don't like almond croissants, they always taste of that fake extract crap, but their almond croissant does not taste like that at all and is to die for. Earlier in the day we'd gotten the almond croissant and a twice-baked chocolate croissant, which we devoured when we got home. Jade agreed that they were the best croissants ever. (Jade had to remind me about Shoofly.)

Day Four

Brunch: Tilth (Seattle) - They make such an excellent brunch. The problem is that you kind of want to order everything. I almost always order their French omelet (especially when it's stuffed with mushrooms). Jade ordered their soft-scrambled eggs, which was topped with lox this time. We also ordered a side of French toast and the scone (sour cherry). Their scones are the BEST scones I've ever had. Normally I hate American scones but these are incredible.

Afternoon snack: The pizza place at Crossroads (Bellevue) - This place has surprisingly good pizza, as long as you use Jade's trick of asking them to stick the slices back in the oven for a minute or two.

Dinner: Fatburger (Bellevue) - Sigh. We were supposed to go to this place called Mediterranean Kitchen for shawarma, because we'd just seen The Avengers w/ the DG gals, but it was PACKED with people even that late at night (it's tiny apparently), so we couldn't get in. We ended up here, which was super lame considering there are Fatburgers in California so it's not somewhere I would have taken Jade voluntarily. Sigh.

Day Five

Brunch: Dahlia Lounge (Seattle) - I looooooooooove their tomato soup. Jade and I both got that plus a breakfast sandwich. It was super filling and satisfying. Maybe a little too satisfying, because we weren't hungry for a long time afterwards, and then had to wait for a late dinner.

Dinner: Lunchbox Laboratory (Seattle) - This was OK. I'd heard so much about it that I was expecting it to be, like, mind blowing. It wasn't that. It had decent burgers, that's it. I'm glad we had a Groupon thingy because I don't think it would've been worth the prices otherwise. It wasn't any better than, say, Red Mill, or Spring Hill's burger, or even the little burger stand in Ballard by where A. lives. Jade and I seem to have a history of being unimpressed with burger places that we go to, though (like Shake Shack in NYC). Maybe it comes from being from California and having In-N-Out whenever we want. Those burgers are so good, and so reasonably priced, that it's kind of like, well if a burger isn't 6 times better than an In-N-Out burger (which is hard to do), then it's not worth it, because you're paying 6 (or whatever) times the cost. The best place to get burgers is actually at nice steak restaurants, because the beef they use is superior, and also you can have it cooked rarer, which for me makes it taste way better and juicier.

This was also the day we saw American Idiot, which I can't remember if I've already talked about here or not, but which was severely disappointing to us both. The 'narrative' was completely incomprehensible. The storyarc was totally dissatisfying, in that the protagonists basically ended up exactly right back where they began. Also my car got banged up by a brick or something while I was parked on the street, which really sucked. :-l x 100000000000000 Around 10:30pm we drove to Tulalip Casino, where we played blackjack and I won $200 and Jade won $25 (adding to the $110 she'd won when we'd stopped there previously, after coming back from Lynden).

Day Six

Lunch: Boiling Point (Bellevue) - Always one of my favorite places to go. I love the flavors, the fact that it's piping hot the whole time, and it's relatively inexpensive.

Dinner: We were going to go back to Benihana, because of Jason and the great deal, but Jade decided that her favorite meal in Seattle was Ma'ono, so we went back there instead (we were lucky they had an extra chicken available).

Dessert: Molly Moon (Capital Hill) - Jade loved their ice cream, and for good reason. I got what I always get, the balsamic strawberry, though this time there was a bit more balsamic than I really enjoy. It made the ice cream too sour, instead of gently complementing the strawberry flavor.

Day Seven

Lunch: Harissa (Ravenna) - This place is a hidden jewel. There's hardly ever more than a couple of tables full when I go, but the food is SUPERB. I don't know how they stay in business, but I'm glad they do. It's Mediterranean food, which is always a favorite of mine, and everything's so delicious. I always get the Walid's appetizer sampler and the lamb kebab. Afterward we went to Molly Moon again, but I didn't get anything because I was too full, and also I needed to take Jade to the airport so I wouldn't be able to enjoy it very much, eating while driving.

WHEW.

Yesterday I hung out with J. We took a little walk (omg at how out of shape I am, it's seriously sad), then watched Moonrise Kingdom (which I only saw because she SO wanted to see it, and also because Bruce Willis and Edward Norton were in it -- otherwise I never would have, because I generally can't stand Wes Anderson movies. I hated Rushmore and actually walked out of The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. MK was ok), then had dinner at El Camion, which I think is the Mexican food truck that slitherhither told me about ages ago and I've been wanting to try. It was DELICIOUS. I had the pollo verde tamale, two tacos lenguas, and one taco carne asada. You guys, I've had a revelation about tamales. I've always hated them growing up, because they were always, without fail, dry and disgusting. For the first time ever, I had a tamale I enjoyed when in Chicago, at one of Rick Bayless's restaurants. It was moist and wonderful, and I realized that that's how they're supposed to be. I had another good one at a Salvadorean place near Crossroads, and now from El Camion. So now I love tamales, but they have to be done properly. Because when they're dry and wrong... ugh, they're terrible. And adelagia, the tacos lenguas were REALLY good, the chunks of tongue were cut really big and tender. Mmmmmm. I really regretted getting the carne asada one, lol.

What a boring update. Sorry I don't have more interesting things going on. Why don't I top it all off by saying that I am still waiting for @#%@ing summer to start in Seattle. It's &#&@ing JULY already! Right now it's &#!@ing 59 @#$&ing degrees. <caps>$@*$</cap>

A few things from Tumblr that I want to share, that's not my usual Clint/Natasha squeeage:

- "Clint" flips off Loki - very well done animated .gif that totally always makes me grin

- Some pretty awesome artwork of the Avengers if they were Death Knights (from WoW). At least, according to me, not the artist. But that's what they look like!!

- This is a drawing -- that's right, DRAWING -- of Hawkeye that someone did, with some artistic "Loki blue" flowing out of his eyes. Seriously, it's so realistic it looks like a manip'ed photo.

- And a non-Avengers rec: An excellent, excellent essay titled "In defense of Sansa Stark." Sansa haters to the left. I didn't start out liking Sansa, it just gradually happened as the series went on, and I don't know if it's as easy to like her if you only watch the show, but this essay articulates much better than I could why she's just as much a kickass heroine as the other kickass heroines in the series.

Also, this is old news by now, but I would be remiss if I didn't tell you that I am SO JEALOUS OF UK SUBSCRIBERS OF EMPIRE MAGAZINE, who get this subscriber-only cover of the August issue.



Jeremy. And rope. His arms... *incoherent muttering*

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