It Started with a Journal

Very happy birthday wishes to jade_okelani. <3

I am very happy with my Tumblr queue at the moment. :D Bwahahaha

So suddenly adelagia and I are terrible at Pandemic. We don't know what's happened. Possibly it is just the Pandemic gods punishing us for our hubris. We got really good at it, even trying Legendary mode after 5 and 6 epidemics seemed like child's play. But the last few times we've played, we have sucked. We must have played 20 games without A SINGLE WIN. We had various role combos, some good, some bad. They all resulted in us letting the world succumb to horrible disease. We always played with purple and 6 epidemics. We refuse to go back to 5 for an 'easy' win, but 6 is totally owning us. :/ I refuse to believe that all the times we won before was a fluke!!

Last weekend T., slitherhither and I met up for dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, then we went to see THE AVENGERS!!!! It was B.'s first time (and my seventh >.>), so that was awesome. Later we asked which of the guys she liked most, and she totally went against type (androgynous and thin) and picked Thor! Just goes to show, Chris Hemsworth is completely irresistible.

So I read this fanfic that started out very promising, but petered out by the middle for me. It was a Sherlock xover, and had John Watson taking over for Coulson in the Avengers handling department. I freaking love Watson/Martin Freeman, but I had several issues with the story as it progressed. ( Cutting in case of spoilers for the show/fic/etc. )

Celebrity quotes that have made me laugh recently:

- When asked if older sister Maggie ever beat him up, Jake Gyllenhaal responded, "Depends on what you call beating up. She performed the musical Cats for our parents, and she made me lick milk from a bowl while she sang, which was, in a way, abuse."

- Joshua Jackson on A Song of Ice and Fire: "I've got a slightly obsessive problem in that when I get into books, particularly a series of books, I cannot put the fucking things down. Nobody told me that the story is not done yet and that he takes, like, seven years between books. Last summer I plowed through something like 9,000 pages of A Game of Thrones and I finally started saying, 'Wow, that's weird. I don’t feel like there's an end coming.' I got to the end and my friend said, 'Oh no, it'll be like ten more years.' I grabbed him by the shirt, pulled him close and said, 'What?!! I will have kids in high school by the time these things are finished!'"

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You guys, this is the best recipe ever posted. You must read the comments. I saw an article on Slate this morning that was all about this recipe, and my coworkers and I have spent the last 30 minutes crying from laughter. No recipe comment stereotype is left unsaid!

I have had a revelation about pour over coffee. Using a gift card that I got last year, I bought all the equipment necessary to make pour over coffee, and stopped by Whole Foods yesterday to buy some single-origin coffee beans. I wasn't sure what to expect, if this would be yet another disappointing hype, or if it'd be amazing. If you like coffee, I think the pour over method is definitely worth it. I can't believe how many flavors I got from the cup of coffee I made last night (though less so with the cup I made this morning, so it's still dependent on the type of coffee). Finally, I know what all those descriptions are talking about, when they say that a particular type of coffee has hints of chocolate/caramel/orange/what have you!

I have beautiful Jeremy Renner images to share with you from Tumblr. ( You know you want to click. )

So I forgot to mention another teen book that I read recently, maybe because it doesn't belong in the category of "terrible teen lit" that was the theme from yesterday's post. I finally read Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater. I enjoyed it. It was well written, which is like, 90% of the battle. BUT. ( Potentially spoilery. )

This is a post restricted to things that make me smile.

Jeremy Renner. It's hard to fathom how someone so utterly DORKY (like, all the time. Seriously) can be so hot. Somehow he manages.

- ( My top 5 favorite photos of him. )

- Being forced to sing "New York State of Mind" by Jimmy Fallon, and the look on Jimmy's face/his reaction afterward when Jeremy actually starts to sing. Everyone who forces Jeremy to sing (it's bizarre how often it happens) has the same reaction! :)) They just don't expect it. Watch the video here; I have no clue how to embed it and you can't find it on YouTube.

- In his Academy Award nominee questionnaire, under "Do you use social media? If you tweet, what is your Twitter name?" he wrote, "NO. Can't be bothered." Ahahahaha so awesome. <333333333333 Plus he's left handed and his Starbucks drink is an Americano. CLEARLY ALL THIS MEANS WE ARE MEANT TO BE FRIENDS. ...yes.

Clint/Natasha.

- ( This is a movie that needs to happen. )

- ( Does it, or does it not, look like they are one second away from planting one on each other in this? )

- There's tons of Clintasha art on Tumblr, but this is one of my recent faves. I love protective!Natasha and hurt!Clint, probably because it's reminiscent of the movie. ( OMG this gives me so many feeeeeeeeeeels. )

- Jeremy and Scarlett being really cruel. ( *cries* )

- My icon!! allisnow and sugar_fey are right, it is the adorablest thing ever.

- It's been awhile since I last did a recs post, and I've read a crap ton since then, so I'm just going to rec the stories that have really stood out for me. That's not to say that I haven't enjoyed others, or that I've read every fic -- I'm sure I've missed some, so if you can't believe I left a fabulous fic off this list, enlighten me! I tried to keep the list fairly manageable. ( Have some C/N fic recs. )

Green Day. This is "Oh Love," a new single from ¡Uno!, the first of three upcoming studio albums that will be released between Sept 2012-Jan 2013.



I don't know how they can continue to be so awesome. Oh wait, yes I do. His name is Billie Joe Armstrong. Billie Joe is one of those guys I've loved for forever. I mean, he's incredibly talented, writes/creates quality music that is consistently thoughtful and catchy, is a total superstar, holds ideals I agree with, and has been married to his wife, with whom he has two kids, for eighteen years, since he was 22. In this day and age that is a minor miracle from anyone, much less from a highly successful punk rocker. Seriously, how can anyone not be at least a little in love with him?! I've only seen Green Day in concert once, but it was amazing. Or rather, Billie Joe was amazing. I'm sure Trey and Mike must've been there too, but... Billie Joe is Green Day.

Dog pictures are on a roll. First there was that baking dog. ( Now there's this. )

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.

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.

I don't know why I have been talking about food even more than usual lately. BUT I had to mention that I am very excited about the reservations I have this Sat for Joule, the restaurant that K and I go to monthly. K's going to be in NorCal until I leave for SoCal, and I won't be back until March, so this is my only opportunity to have their February supper. Since they're not good about updating FB about what that is on a monthly basis, I just called and asked what the menu is... and it sounds ah-may-zing. ( Joule's February Family Supper menu. )

One of my favorite coworkers in the world, C., lives in New York. She's turning 50, which she just told me and blew my mind, because she literally looks like she's in her mid-30s. Anyway, the last time jade_okelani and I were in New York, I asked her for recommendations on places to go to eat, and she gave great advice. Anyway, for her birthday her husband is taking her (and 8 guests) here. Her birthday cake is going to be from this bakery. Look at one of their cakes:



They also make cupcakes:



Seriously, I can't even imagine the work that went into these.

Now a little something for you gamer nerds -- and if you like old skool Eminem ("Guilty Conscience" is one of my favorite Eminem songs), this is a really awesome parody of that song + Starcraft II. I don't play SC2 enough to fully understand all the terminology, but it really doesn't matter.

( Eminem + Starcraft parody! )

Thanks to adelagia, I've now watched the pilot episode of City Hunter (based on a manga, of course). I LOVED IT. It is slick. It is an actual adult drama -- maybe a first for me in terms of Asian dramas. >.> It's more Alias than ... well, there's really no American TV equivalent to the wonderful guilty pleasures that are Asian teenish dramas, but let's say Gossip Girl, just to distinguish the genres. If you watched Boys Over Flowers and found Lee Min Ho hot (which, unless you're an incomprehensible person like akscully, you probably did), you will find him even hotter in this.

Plot summary: North Korea does something terrible to South Korea. SK plots revenge, and sends a team of commandos to do something terrible to NK. Then there's a political change of heart, but it's too late to stop the commandos. In order to save their own asses, SK disavows any knowledge of what the commandos did and goes so far as to kill all of them as they're returning from the mission. There's one survivor, a guy saved by his best friend. The survivor kidnaps his best friend's son (as you would) and raises him, making him go through intense combat training so that one day the kid can exact revenge on the political a-holes who betrayed them all. The result is that Jun Pyo Yoon Sung is basically a total badass (except he doesn't seem to know he is one). He's got Lee Min Ho's vulnerability and charisma, and so far what Yoon Sung wants more than anything is to find and meet his real mommy.

See??? You so want to watch it!

There's romance too, but it hasn't really happened yet so I'm not sure what I'll think of it, because I already like the story without, so it might just be extra crap I don't want or need. I hate it when movies/shows force a love interest just because they feel the hero/ine has to have one. The girl seems cute enough though.

Also, I have a couple of funny things to share with you. First is this article, which is totally not work safe and is completely un-PC, but is hilarious. They're "money-saving tips" that people are actually using for real. Wow, what people will do, to save pennies! I mean, I love not spending money when I don't have to, but even I wouldn't go to these lengths.

There's also this, which you may have seen in a forward from someone you rarely talk to, but which is also very entertaining. ( You have two cows... )

By the way, you guys, I am the worst role model ever. This is why it's a good thing that I'm nurturing handbags instead of children.

( Two small incidents from the dinner party Sat night... )

So BEWARE letting me be around your kids.

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Something weird's going on with my arms. Remember last year when I was having shoulder pain/weakness in my right arm? Well it never really went away even after physical therapy. What's weird is that it's now spread to my left arm! So now both my arms are all achy and painful (not so bad now, but last night was pretty bad)! I have no idea WTF is going on. My physical therapist and K. both suggested that I take Aleve regularly for two weeks and see if that helps with the pain (as it will bring down the inflammation). I still haven't done it, but now I'm thinking maybe I will. I want to do it before I make another appointment to see my doctor, because I'm not really sure there's anything she can do. At least if I try this out, it'll either work, or it will be something I can tell her that I did and it didn't work, which might help narrow down what might be wrong. :/

Conan O'Brien: The FDA egg recall has hit a total of 380 million eggs. I can't wait till they find the tired, evil hen that did this.

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If you've requested books from me and aren't someone I regularly see in person, please provide your address (if you haven't already). Sadly, the day has not yet come when I can beam them to you using only the powers of my mind. ;-) Also, a few of those books have been requested through the PBS system, so they're no longer available. If I have somewhere to send them I can take them out of the system. If you've changed your mind that's fine too. :-)

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Tried a new burger joint per jade_okelani's recommendation: Five Guys Burgers and Fries. They have a ton of great press/awards from the east coast/south, but I think they are slowly making their way westward. Apparently they started out in the DC area; I can't believe I never heard about this place when I lived there. They have 2 locations in the Seattle area, one in Northgate and one "coming soon" in Lynnwood (yay). It was very, very good. I still like In-N-Out burgers more, but their fries are way better.

I got to use Lexus Destination Assist for the first time trying to find this place, lol. Jade had told me it was called "Five Brothers." So this woman was trying to help me find it, and we kept going back and forth on what it could be; I knew the location and that it served burgers. The coolest thing was her finding it for me, then "beaming" the location to the navigation system in my car, which then led me to it. For as long as my free trial lasts, I won't have to call Jade for addresses/directions to places!

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Books I am excited about:

- Mockingjay, the last book in the Hunger Games trilogy. Amazon has told me that they've shipped it. Yay!

- Clockwork Angel, Cassie Clare's new steampunk series, which is going to be out at the end of this month.

- The Passage by Justin Cronin, which corianderstem highly rec'ed. I've been looking for a used copy at HPB, but couldn't find one until the other day when I found a signed first edition -- argh! I can't resist such things! So I ended up paying more than cover price for it. Sigh, hopefully one day it will be worth more.

- Tongues of Serpents, which I hope to have soon. I'm #3 in the queue!

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I watched Inception again this weekend. Still love it. Even after second viewing I still have some unanswered questions. ( If your brain wants to go there... )

I also saw The Switch, which I had great hopes for because I love the leads. Ugh, what a total waste of talent. It was terrible. It sucked the life out of me when I was watching it. ( Spoilery stuff. )

Finally, I also saw Brick, a whodunit set in high school, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt. I LOVED it. He is so mysteriously hot. And it's an excellent movie, even if the dialogue takes getting used to.

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TV Show Meme, Day 24 - Best quote: "Remember when he ate my goldfish, then you said I never had a goldfish? Then why did I have the bowl Bart? WHY DID I HAVE THE BOWL?" - Milhouse, The Simpsons

LOLOL that still cracks me up. Oh Simpsons, there's no one like you.

Amelia, Jade and I noticed that you haven't taken the latest HP quiz. We know you're a busy woman about town, so we've taken it for you. : ) No need to thank us. We would have only done it for someone we love so dearly.

( HP Quiz Results for Amelia )