It Started with a Journal

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. ( Spoilers for GoT 2x10 'Valar Morghulis.' )

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!! ( We don't overeat. Why do you ask? )

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. ( I NEED THIS. )

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They aired the last 3 eps of S3 of Community all in a row last night. >< WHY DO THEY HATE THIS BRILLIANT SHOW. No one ever watches the good comedies, which means shows like Community and Arrested Development get undeservedly short runs. It makes me sad. ( Spoilery comments through S3. )

I had a FANTASTIC dining experience with K. on Wed night. She was invited awhile back, after being noticed at Tom Douglas's restaurants a lot, to join this special mailing list for VIP customers. Occasionally she gets invited to special events. Wed it was "Thai night" with guest chef Joseba de Jimenez (who used to own Harvest Vine). ( Cut for length. )

And finally, I bring you... The Avengers fanwork recs! I keep meaning to do this, but then another day passes and I consume more fanworks, so the list just keeps growing and it's getting overwhelming. Since not everything is on LJ, this is a good way for me to keep track of my favorites. This is a compilation of stuff I've found that I enjoyed, as well as recs from others.

( Avengers recs! Clicky this way. )

Wow, that was so fun. More to come, I'm sure.

Totally random cuz I just saw it on Tumblr: ( Look how cute Emilia Clarke is as a natural brunette!! I didn't recognize her at first! )

GAME OF THRONES. OMG. How great was last night's episode?! Vanessa Taylor, you are my new Jane Espen! ( GoT 2x6 'The Old Gods and the New' spoilerrrrrssss )

Meanwhile, jade_okelani and I are nearly caught up on The Vampire Diaries. Spoilers through ( 3x18 'Heart of Darkness' )

Had brunch this weekend with some local UCLA alumni. I only went because I felt I owed it to the organizer, H., who I met a year+ ago at a Dinner for 12 Strangers. But I ended up having fun. I always seem to dread these things, but then end up having a better time than I think I will. We ate at Emmer & Rye, which I was not impressed by at ALL. We all ended up having to season our own food with condiments, which would NEVER happen at Tilth. I'm so never going back there. The neighborhood was cute, though. Anyway, ended up talking ASoIAF with a copule of the girls and now we MAY be starting a book club. I've always wanted to be in a real book club! Though initially all we may end up doing is talking about ASoIAF, trading theories and what not. The problem with this is that I am so convinced that I am right about my own theories, I'll just be like, how can you not see how wrong you are? :))

Hello LJ chums! I find myself in a very good mood because it's FRIDAY and I'm looking forward to the weekend. Tomorrow adelagia and I are going to Boiling Point, and then there will be gameage. Last week we ROCKED the game of Pandemic that we played. That's right, we saved the whole world from disease and no one even realized it... it's like we're real superheroes.

I lost to the esteemed carrie_leigh in the last round of the Hump Bracket Challenge, so here are the drabbles I wrote. It was really fun to participate, and I got to stretch a bit and practice writing outside my comfort zone. Great experience.

( Round One: 'Keeping Promises' | Marcus Flint, Katie Bell, Draco Malfoy, Adrian Pucey | PG-13 )

( Round Two: 'More Than This' | Pansy Parkinson, Draco Malfoy, Ginny Weasley, Seamus Finnigan | NC-17 )

For the third round, I actually have three drabbles to share with you. >.> The first is the one I actually submitted. The second is the one I wrote first. And the third is the one I wrote second. Clear as mud? See, what happened is that the first drabble I wrote, jade_okelani and I both had qualms about whether it really spoke to the prompt I was given. So then I wrote another one. I sent it over to Jade to beta almost at exactly the same time that she sent me her story to beta, which which I resisted reading until I'd finished my story. The second I started reading her story my heart sank -- WE HAD CHOSEN THE EXACT SAME PAIRING! And not only that, approached it in a nearly identical way. Guys, for the most part it's great to share a brain with someone, but at times it can be a trial. :)) So it was back to the drawing board once more, to write the story I actually submitted. There's no reason for me to hold any of them back, so here's all three of them. :P

( Round Three (submitted): 'Just Once' | Sirius Black, Lily Evans | PG-13 )

( Round Three: 'Fueling the Flames' | Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter, Ginny Weasley | NC-17 )

( Round Three: 'He Remembers' | Severus Snape, Lily Evans | PG-13 )

I finally watched the last episode of S4 of The Wire. Even though I knew what was coming, I still cried. I didn't even cry when this happened! Though I was still super bummed. I ended up really enjoying the season -- I really liked the kiddie crew. I also watched the first season of S5, and it's always tough at the beginning to get used to a whole new host of characters again.

Every now and then I get a bee in my bonnet about ASoIaF theories, particularly my two favorite: Who are Jon Snow's parents and Who is Azor Ahai? I wish people would update their essays with ADWD text/proof. Le sigh.

This is a "Who are Jon Snow's parents?" essay that I haven't read before. It gets more in depth than this one about all the potential mothers and fathers, but the latter essay provides more actual book references. Both are good reads.

I loved reading this about what exactly happened during Robert's Rebellion. We get our info in such bits and pieces from various characters that it's hard to put together a clear picture of what happened when. This essay provides a great timeline of events.

Teeheeheehee:



Have a faboo weekend everyone!

I love all the Sexy and I Know It parodies. First was the Nerdy and I Know It Starcraft video, now there's these Hunger Games "texts." ( Seriously this new LJ cut sucks. )

( Game of Thrones 2x3 'What Is Dead May Never Die' )

( Restaurant Week: Tilth )

I'm starting to realize that I really don't need to wait for RW to enjoy these restaurants more often. What generally ends up being the case is that we basically get the dessert for free... yet the desserts are often the weakest part of the whole meal (with the exception of Mistral Kitchen and maybe the Tom Douglas restaurants). I'd almost always rather have another savory course.

I just found out that ordering an entire case of Head Country BBQ sauce was totally unnecessary. It turns out that the butcher I occasionally go to carries it. >< SIGH. I wonder if there's any chance at all they'd take it off my hands and I could get meat in exchange. Hmm.

I think I'm getting the hang of Tumblr. It's, as akscully says, a "superficial way to interact with fandom." I can't imagine building friendships or having meaningful conversations over there the way you can on LJ, but it's a great way to consume and share amusing things. ( Two GoT 'The Night Lands' examples. )

I'm such a loser that I didn't step foot outside my house all day yesterday, so I didn't even know that it had reached 70°F. !!! But I'm not going to let Seattle fool me this year, as it has every spring. There are a couple of warm days and I think, "Yay, spring is really here!" forgetting that spring does not come to Seattle until July. In ASoIaF terms, THIS IS THE TIME OF THE FALSE SPRING. It'll get us all excited then turn into winter again. -.- Mark my words.

The reason I was such a shut-in yesterday was because a) I was mainlining The Wire; and b) making delicious things to eat, like the Best Biscuits Ever and a veggie burrito that's so good, I don't even notice or care that there's no meat in it.

OK, The Wire. IT'S SO GOOD. I mean, that should come as no surprise, because every critic ever says that it's a great show, but after The Sopranos I'm a bit wary of such claims. Not that The Sopranos isn't a good show, but after watching 4+ seasons of it I didn't feel like it was the best show that's ever been on television, which is something that's commonly said. It's also said of The Wire, but while Breaking Bad still has my vote on that score, I can at least understand why people say that of The Wire. It's just so fucking real, and has heart, and tells a good damn story. It's inspirational at the same time that it successfully conveys the gray areas of life. I like the characters, even the bad ones, because I can understand where they're coming from. That is totally juxtaposed with the characters on The Sopranos, who I pretty much hated all the time. They all seemed like selfish assholes, whereas The Wire's characters are about living the life you've been given or have chosen, but it's real life and you do what you have to to survive. I guess that's supposed to be what The Sopranos is about too, but it's just different.

( Slightly spoilery thoughts from S1. )

I also watched a British movie called Exam, which had a fantastic premise but didn't actually deliver on it. I had many issues while watching it (though it was entertaining enough), and even more after talking about it with jade_okelani. Premise: The film is set in present-time United Kingdom in an alternate history, where a disease called The Virus has made a large part of the population dependent on medication that must be taken every few hours to prevent falling into a coma followed by death. Most of the film takes place in a single room, where eight candidates take an exam for an important job as the Personal Assistant to the CEO of a mysterious bio-tech company that is said to work on a cure for The Virus.

Hilarious: Ryan Gosling saves writer's life

Jarett Wieselman‏: "Ryan Gosling saves woman from being hit by cab, NYC-ers begin hurling themselves into traffic."

And Rock musician gets rabies shots after bat pees in his eye

Everyone knows you should get a rabies shot BEFORE you have a bat pee in your eye.

One of our vendors at work yesterday catered Din Tai Fung for lunch and I am practically still full today from it. I love DTF even though it's extremely overpriced because the food is good and there is a dearth of good Chinese dumplings here (in fact, the supposed second "best" place to DTF around here is so crappy I won't even go). It's 1,000 times better to eat at the restaurant though, because the food's piping hot.

jade_okelani is finally getting an Xbox! This means I might have some motivation to tidy up my living room after all -- I'll need the Kinect space to play multiplayer games w/ her. :))

I confessed to akscully yesterday that I'm starting to develop an interest in Robb/Sansa. I put it in my interests, and even trying four different variations, I was the ONLY person who had it listed. Wow. I'm MORE OF A DEGENERATE than anyone else on LJ when it comes to this? Really? I almost feel duty bound to start a Robb/Sansa comm, except I'm kind of afraid that grrm is going to come yell at me. True story: I was never that interested in Robb until Richard Madden made me like him.

OMG, awesomeness.

This artist is celebrating the return of Community by artwork depicting each of the characters as a Game of Thrones character! Two of my favorite fandoms colliding!

( Greendale is coming! )

And the fun doesn't stop there. There's also the return of Arrested Development. And this blog brings you... Arrested Westeros!

( I've made a huuuuge mistake. )

March Madness update: OMFG MISSOURI WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU. That's my first Elite 8 team to be out. DAMN IT. At least others had them going to the Final Four, but STILL. &$@#&$#@* I am BOTTOM DEAD LAST in my office pool. FML.

This is funny... but also how I feel about spoilers. :))

I've started using MyFitnessPal again. I started it like 2 years ago, used it for a bit, then stopped. After my latest doctor's appointment, I felt inspired to go back to it. I really need to lose weight. I barely recognize myself anymore! Usually when I think of dieting, I get really discouraged because it seems like some far away goal, I won't see results right away, it'll take years do undo what I've done, etc. But right now I am on a "lose 1 pound a week" plan on MFP, and I realized that that meant if I really stuck to it, I could be close to my goal weight by the end of the year! An actual, real day that's within sight! So I'm giving it a shot. I have terrible self control, so we'll see. I keep telling myself that I did it before so I can do it again, but back then I had more things going for me -- I lived in a neighborhood where I could safely take long walks, I wasn't running a food blog (there's a certain amount of pressure to, you know, be making/consuming good food when you run a food blog), and I had good distractions... namely, World of Warcraft. >.>

It's made me want to play WoW again. I know, losing weight through playing WoW is like the antithesis of the image people usually think of when they think of video gamers (see South Park's "Make Love, Not Warcraft"). But for me it worked. In order to have fun, you have to interact with the game. Your hands are kept busy. I often ate only a bit of my dinner before I'd get distracted playing, and then I felt full. It's the opposite of watching TV for me -- when watching TV, I like to be doing something else, and eating is perfect. So I just eat and eat. Portion control is very difficult when I'm watching TV -- I don't eat until I'm no longer hungry; I eat until I'm stuffed.

So I'm going to try. Keeping the fitness diary really helps because 1) seeing how many calories something is, is really an eye opener; 2) I don't want to have to add stuff to the diary; and 3) it helps me realize what '1 serving' really amounts to. Last time I cut out, like, everything that was 'bad' -- ice cream, chips, fried foods, bacon, other junk food. I'm not going to do that this time because I think it was so restrictive that I had to fall off the wagon at some point, and I want something I can keep up with long term. Then again, last time I did it not to lose weight, but to improve my cholesterol. That seems under control now (at least so says the physical that I got in September), because I've generally been eating better (just too much of it).

I want to be able to wear all those nice jeans I've unearthed in my closet! LOL.

But speaking of bacon and TV... >.> Today is the last day I'll be curing my bacon. I had enough dry cure to cure it for 6 days, so I'm stopping here. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall (the British "meat guru" whose advice I'm taking) says that a 5-day cure is perfect for breakfast slices. Longer cures allow the bacon to last for months, but become unpalatably salty (you have to boil away some of the salt before using). I obviously don't have some drafty shed in which to hang my bacon, so I'll just have to use his alternate suggestion and keep it wrapped in cheesecloth in the fridge. I've also been reading other food blogs about homemade bacon, and there's this ultra simple method of doing it (even simpler than what I did, which was already pretty darn easy), where you just keep it in a plastic bag the whole time with the cure and flip it over every other day to redistribute the liquid (because it does release a lot of liquid). Since I had two slabs of pork belly I probably should have tried one of each method to test which was better, but oh well.

( Finished American Horror Story. Spoilery. )

( Watched through ep 4 of Downton Abbey S2. )

How awesome does the new season of Game of Thrones look?! The trailer (thank you, akscully):



Also, ropo found this for me. We'll stop by the next time we're in Vegas. In fact, I think I saw this place the last time I was there!

Rose Leslie (better known as Gwen, the housemaid who wants to be a secretary, in Downton Abbey) has been cast as Ygritte in S2 of Game of Thrones! I'm not gonna lie; I never really liked Ygritte much, but maybe this actress will make me change my mind.

I started Merlin S4. It "looks" way better than previous seasons did, much less campy. ( Spoilers. )

I've been rewatching Vampire Diaries S2 in preparation for S3. jade_okelani is finally watching the show (she's almost midway through S2), so we're going to watch S3 together, which is why I'm not starting yet.

Right now I'm set to go to TEN Restaurant Week lunches/dinners. That makes me very excited and happy, which I need right about now.

I'm a little disappointed with Stephanie Izard's Girl in the Kitchen. It doesn't SAY that it has any recipes from Girl and the Goat, but that's what I was looking forward to. My bad for making that assumption, sigh. I mean, I wouldn't expect it to have recipes that wouldn't be friendly to home chef (like Pig Face), but I was realllly hoping for her recipe for sauteed green beans. ropo says she probably wasn't allowed to share that one because it almost certainly has crack in it. LOL. Also, I went to her site after getting the book, and like, all the recipes were there! So I just paid to get them in book format, I guess.

I am going to revisit the Anne of Green Gables-athon that got shelved when all the craziness happened in the summer. akscully, I think you should come.