It Started with a Journal

That's right, adelagia. You want my userpic.

I have made two purchases recently that some might find difficult to understand. Heck, I myself waffle between giddy/excited and WTF was I thinking?

First, I got this diamond sharpening steel for my knives, the Global G-38. I've been coveting this ever since my knife class. I figure, I have really expensive knives, so why wouldn't I take care of them by using the best knife sharpener for them?

Second is related to my icon. I keep talking about my new favorite board game, Pandemic. Well, Pandemic was made by Matt Leacock, who has designed several other board games. Two of these board games, Borderlands and Lunatix Loop, are out of print. They had a limited run to begin with (only 100-200 sets of each were printed). I also have his games Roll Through the Ages and Forbidden Island, which are fun but not as good as Pandemic. Anyway, I couldn't find either of the out-of-print games on eBay, but I did find a couple of private sellers on BoardGameGeek (where game designers actually hang out and will answer questions/clarify game rules) selling the games. They are QUITE pricey, being such rare prints, but I figure I'll get hours of enjoyment from playing the games, so it's worth it. The guy who has Borderlands got back to me to say that his games are all in storage because he's going to Afghanistan for a year (!!!), but to contact him next June if I'm still looking. I did, however, buy Lunatix Loop from a guy in the UK. He has a good feedback score and has provided a tracking number, so I'm feeling pretty good about the transaction. VERY excited to play the game.

Watched Game of Thrones S2E1! ( Spoilery comments for 'The North Remembers.' )

I've been reading about the insane ratings jump between season 1 and season 2. Hope they keep it up. Also, from what I've read, the producers and/or GRRM seem to be under the delusion that he's going to be able to finish the book series in time to keep up with the TV show schedule. Ummmmmm NOT BLOODY LIKELY. They're already on S2. Even if they split A Storm of Swords into two seasons, that's still just 2-3 years from now. I'm guessing they'll want to combine the events of books 4 and 5, since they kind of run parallel anyway (I can't see them doing a full season without half the characters), so let's say that's another 2-4 years. That's 7 years max. It took GRRM 6 years to come out with book 5. And they think he's going to be able to put out books 6 *and* 7 in that same timeframe, considering he also has to write an episode every season and has his fingers in like a dozen other projects? Assuming 7 books actually is the final number? (GRRM has said that he's firm about 7 books unless he decides not to be firm. LOL. He's also said he won't let the story be limited by an arbitrary number of volumes.) Also, I've read that he's told the producers two big secret things from the series in case he should *knock on wood* pass away. But guess what? He's also said that he won't let anyone continue the series for him! So what's the good of them knowing what happens, if he's not going to let them tell the story? I guess he specifically means that he doesn't want anyone writing any books in the series, but the TV show is OK. In which case, it's possible that the TV show will actually eventually tell us MORE than the books, and be the definitive continuation (at least to whatever point of the plot elements they're aware of) of the series... which is just crazy.

I'm debating whether or not to buy some Head Country Barbecue Sauce. They're based in Oklahoma and buying it online is just about the only way I can get it (short of flying there). It's probably the best barbecue sauce I've ever had. The problem is that a case of 12 costs just as much to ship as the case itself! Also I don't really need 12 bottles of it. O.o However, buying half that amount individually doesn't cost much less, and the shipping costs slightly more. Yeah, I don't know. Then again, I'm trying to remember my mantra that money is only useful if I'm using it to make myself happy, so there's that. Oh, what the hell, I'm doing it. I called and they said that the expiration is 3 years from the date of bottling, so that seems doable enough (assuming I get fresh bottles), and I can also give some away.

It's on my mind because my stovetop smoker arrived and I made ribs this weekend -- THE BEST RIBS EVER. They were infused with hickory smoke and were juicy and tender. Seriously, I can now confirm that even pre-bacon, this stovetop smoker was worth every penny. I love barbecue, but Seattle's not exactly a great place for it, other than like 2 weeks in the summer. Now I can have delicious barbecue all year long! And while the house did smell like a lovely BBQ joint while it was cooking, it didn't last for more than a day. (Not that I personally would have minded if it had.) There was minimal smoke from the smoker during the full two hours the baby back ribs were cooking -- I was amazed! ( Ribalicious! )

Oh, and while I was at H-Mart, they had TV screens up showing a Korean drama, and I saw Ga Eul! Her character was helping her sick mom. It was kind of like seeing an old friend, lol. Except when I was in the parking lot texting akscully about it, some asshole woman slammed her car door into my car! SERIOUSLY, WHY DO PEOPLE DO THAT????? You wouldn't believe how many times it's happened where I've been in the car and then the person next to it just opens their door without a SINGLE CARE for my car. I would understand if I was parked like a jerk, over the line and what not -- but I was parked perfectly in the middle of my space!! I mean, I sometimes feel like I am the ONLY person who is careful and considerate when I'm parked next to someone, to keep my door from hitting their car. And of course she didn't speak a lick of English, so all my admonitions of how she should be more careful, etc., basically fell on deaf ears. I was so frustrated. It totally left a little ding on my car, and I probably should have asked for insurance information and what not, but I knew I wasn't going to report it, so I just left in a huff. Still, I probably should have, just to make her sweat for a few days and learn that there are potential consequences for being an asshole.

OK, so I have a guilty confession to make. I read and loooooooooved Outlander years ago. I loved the characters, the universe, the story. Outlander felt epic and magical. But I couldn't get into its sequel, Dragonfly in Amber. It took me AGES to finish, and at the end of it I didn't feel much any desire to go on. I haven't read any of the books after that, because the characters stopped being appealing and the historical intrigue that's present in every novel feels so convoluted that it doesn't much interest me. Yet I still consider myself an Outlander fan, so I've always felt guilty that I haven't actually read the books in the series. I don't have much hope that, left to my own devices, I'll actually ever read the other books, so I hit on the great idea that if I read all the details about them on Wikipedia, it might spark a renewed interest. Unfortunately, other than the two novels I've actually read, the Wikipedia summaries for the other books are totally sparse, really not much better than what might be on the book jackets. All I know is that they end up in crazy places with crazy connections and all the relationships are super complicated (more complicated than I really like; Claire being married to Jamie and Frank while traveling to the past and meeting Frank's ancestor in Outlander was about as complex as I like it). And it's not even that I don't like series that have a billion characters and a complex storyline (A Song of Ice and Fire, anyone?) -- but where Diana Gabaldon has taken Outlander is not as compelling to me as ASoIaF. :/ I guess maybe I have to stop calling myself an Outlander fan.

I don't know if anyone else is following f_march_madness, but I actually got in early enough this year to enter the pool. Unfortunately, while I made some good picks, I also made some bad ones -- namely, I should not have picked Scully. Apparently people are totally over Scully. I have Leslie Knope taking it all, but she's going to face some stiff competition from Donna Noble, who people apparently LOVE. (Since I haven't watched past S1 of Dr. Who, I don't know her at all, but I have to root against her or she is going to bust my bracket.) Even though I picked her myself, I'm surprised that Sansa Stark is so handily beating Buffy in round 2. Apparently poor Buffy is in the same boat as Scully in that they're in fandoms from too long ago.

As for real March Madness, aka, the NCAA men's basketball tourney, our office is doing a pool again this year. Since UCLA's not even IN it (sigh), I won't have to be torn between school loyalty/sentimentality and who I actually think will win. The problem is that I haven't been following college bball at ALL this year, so I have no clue who's good and who's not. Therefore I am once again using Slate's advice on what teams to pick. It didn't work out last year, but it was a very close thing, so I figure, why not.

I haven't ventured out to look at the garden in a couple of days due to the rainy weather, and yesterday when I visited again I was devastated to see that the zucchini -- which had sprouted beautifully and had been doing so well -- was wilted and pretty much gone. The stem looked like it'd been eaten away or rotted away or I don't even know what. The last time I saw it, it'd been fine, and you would think that if it was due to bugs they would have eaten it long before now. So I just don't know what happened. But it was like, one of the most promising things in the bed and now it's gone. Cry. I planted another seed, but who knows if that will really come to anything given that it's already JUNE. I have little baby strawberries as I've decided not to do what everyone recommends and am not cutting back the fruit/blossoms in this, the plants' first year. I'm just not hardcore enough. All I want to do is to be able to grow some stuff and see some results THIS season, not next year.

Tonight am going to a sports bar with J. I was totally perplexed when she called and asked if I wanted to see "the game" with her. "What game?" She seemed totally shocked that I didn't know. "Lakers/Celtics!!" I know I should be all about the Lakers, being from LA and all, but honestly don't give a hoot about any pro sports at all. Still, I love sports bars (though they're more fun when a collegiate game is on).

For ages I've been wanting to make coconut ice cream and mango sorbet and marble them together, as David Lebovitz does in The Perfect Scoop. I finally got around to making the bases last night, and let me tell you, you'd think that making 2 ice creams to go together would be twice the trouble of making 1 ice cream, but it's not. It's like 10x the trouble.

Thanks to Tippr I now have $25 worth of vouchers to What the Pho! for $10. I have to admit that I've always been curious about it.

According to UPS my Actifry is supposed to arrive tomorrow. I CAN'T WAIT. I don't know whether I will first make fries or this.

Caught up on Glee. :D ( 'Funk' spoilers. )

I've rented Top Gun from the library so I can watch it for like the 2749831258793th time. Come on, it's one of the best movies evah.

Today was a great day for out-of-state license plates. I even saw another Hawaii! I only wish I could have gotten the Kansas I saw, but I couldn't get to it without risking life and limb and making several traffic violations (I know, I'm so not committed). I've got 21 states so far. ( I'm still missing... )

Tonight I am going to attempt salted peanut ice cream. Expectations are high for this one; my cousin and I both LOVE this ice cream at Spring Hill, so if it's not as good as that, it's a failure.

Got back to my office today for the first time in over a week. There was a $15 Starbucks gc waiting for me, because I guess our team finished these internal training videos first of all our groups. Yay for 3 lattes. I combined it with my other Starbucks card, and now I have over $100 on it. O.o (It's slowly built up over the years, because it's a failsafe gift.) Not that I couldn't easily drink that many lattes, but I do try and show some restraint, for the calories if nothing else. I wonder if you can use those cards to buy other stuff, such as this espresso machine? My cousin just got one. I know, it would be such a ridiculous indulgence. Most likely I wouldn't get it. Probably.

What I did recently get are some Le Creuset silicone spatulas on eBay (again using BigCrumbs and Bing Cashback). :D I don't know why I waited so long. I finally decided I needed some heatproof spatulas that weren't made of wood (too susceptible to stain/retention) or stainless steel (so as not to scratch pan surfaces) when Robbie was here and the spatula I was using melted in the syrup I was making. Yeah. I thought it was heatproof. >.> Anyway, I did some research and while heatproof silicone spatulas (good because they're non-toxic, won't transfer to food, are non-stick, don't retain odors) are fairly common, they are usually heat resistant to about 500°F. That's probably good enough for any home cook, but given my penchant to destroy things, I decided to get Le Creuset ones, which are heat resistant to a whopping 800°F, lol. Let's see me try and do some damage to those!

Oh, also, today I got a whole large pizza for myself and I'm not sorry. Pagliacci Pizza (which is probably the best pizza we have around these parts, but doesn't compare at all to true NY pizza) has a seasonal pie of tomato and basil and it ends tomorrow or something. I've been meaning to try it, but since Robbie doesn't like tomatoes or basil, and since we never really had much opportunity to just go get a pizza, I didn't get to until today. It's good, but a plain slice in NY would still put it to shame. Sigh.