It Started with a Journal

I feel like I should say something about the oil spill crisis in the Gulf. But really, The Onion said it better than I ever could.

A coworker and I were talking about our kitties, and he was saying that he had a practically brand-new kitty bed that his cat doesn't use, and I was saying that my cat doesn't like the treats I got it, so we did a swap. :D Hopefully Jaime will like this bed more than Zeke did! Last night was another good night on the kitty/doggie front, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Jaime likes to sleep pressed up against me, whereas Talis is on and off about it. This morning I woke up with Talis sleeping near the foot of the bed and Jaime at my side. Then Jaime started licking my face with his rough little tongue (I can't get over how rough cat tongues are; I much prefer soft dog tongues). I have weird animals. My cat is in some ways a better dog than my dog is.

The internet cam arrived, but I realized that I did not quite think things through. It's not wireless, and where I want to put it, in the living/dining area where I can get a decent view of most of the shared areas (but not into any rooms), doesn't have an Internet port. Argh! I don't think I have an ethernet cable that stretches that far, and even if I did, it wouldn't be an ideal solution. >< So now I have to look into a wireless one.

After some waffling I've decided to get Stieg Larsson's trilogy that begins with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I can't tell whether it's in the teen genre or not, but I also don't want to read too much about it because I don't want to accidentally spoil myself on stuff. It's got huge buzz right now.

I think I mentioned that the lease on my car is ending soon, and I haven't yet decided if I want to turn it in (and get another car), or buy it. My dad is coming up in a couple of weeks to help me car hunt. I asked him to because I really, really hate dealing with car salespeople and the numbers don't really make sense to me, etc.

Sooo, I started Meg Cabot's Airhead. Fun, quick read like all her books, but I cannot believe she went there. If you've read it you know what I'm talking about.

I woke up this morning at 7:33. My bus leaves at 7:55. I scooped Talis off the bed -- he was barely waking himself -- and took him to the yard myself, as I didn't have time for his usual shenanigans. Then I did everything in record speed, considering it also takes me like 10 minutes to drive to the pick-up area. Somehow I made it, but let's just say, I've looked better. Also in the rush I forgot to turn on the Grow light for the seedlings, oops.

Last night I finished reading Jinx by Meg Cabot. It suffers from what a lot of Meg's later works suffer from, which is that it's based too much on a gimmick. It was entertaining enough, but the guy and gal were pretty much the same as all of her protagonists, stuff was glossed over, etc. It would actually have been a really interesting premise if it could have been fleshed out a bit, maybe made into a trilogy or something, rather than rushed through in one novel, but that just doesn't seem to be Meg's thing.

If you haven't been following along, all the stories and artwork for the dgficexchange have been posted! Lots of great stuff to enjoy, so if you haven't already, go check it out! You can nominate your favorites for awards here until May 31.

OMG Lady Gaga episode of Glee tonight. This is one of those rare occasions where I regret not having cable in my room. I just had to look up the time it airs. I don't even know what channel Fox is here, lol. I think my downstairs TV has extremely basic cable though, I might be able to watch it there, if I remember. Otherwise I'll just have to hope that Hulu gets it up quickly.

What's happening in North Korea is seriously scaring me. I'm normally a live and let live sort of person, but in this case I feel like exercising that sort of mentality would just be asking to be nuked in our sleep. Crazy, evil effing people are running that country. It'd make me super uneasy to live in South Korea right now...

I have found a new espresso drink to love: the Americano. If you're unfamiliar with it, it's basically the exact same thing as a latte, but made with water instead of milk (so if you're like me, you have to add your own cream and sugar separately). It's got a lovely, strong coffee flavor, and is harder to 'screw up' in case you're not sure of the barista. It also costs less than a latte, but not THAT much less considering there's no syrup and water is much cheaper than milk. Still, it tastes really, really good, especially with pastries.

K. and I went to Mistral Kitchen last night. It was the first night of Seattle's Restaurant Week. She and I are planning to take full advantage; we both have 4-5 restaurants that we're planning to go to. Tomorrow night we're going to Canlis, then on Thursday I'm going to Crush with my friend S., who's in town from Oregon. (I'm actually seeing him tonight, too -- we're going to Bai Tong, which I've heard from a number of sources is the only Thai restaurant in Seattle worth going to -- we shall see.) Then on Monday I am going to Seastar with corianderstem, to Dahlia Lounge with J. on Wednesday, and finally to Union with my mom on Thursday, the last day of Restaurant Week. Whew!! I do so love eating out.

That's also a good segue way to the fact that my mom is visiting soon in order to help K. out with the kids while K.'s husband is out of town. It'll be really cool to see her, of course, but not THAT exciting since I JUST saw her recently. Plus it means there will be EVEN MORE eating (too much of a good thing in too short a time). She's already made me promise to take her to Senor Moose, and she'll be joining me and K. at Spring Hill for their special, by-reservation-only, fried chicken dinner. K. and I have been looking forward to that for AGES. Also I'm planning to cook at least two dinners while she's here -- a Korean-themed meal and an Indian-themed meal. Hope I can pull it off. What IS really cool is that she'll be here over Mother's Day, and while she's here K. can show her how to use her pressure cooker, which is identical to the one I just got her.

If you haven't already seen, a fabulous mystery artist drew this for me as part of the D/G Fic Exchange. Squee!

The newly repackaged (making a number of improvements, and adding one of the movies) Blu-Ray set of Battlestar Galactica is now available, and Amazon is selling it for $149.99 (retail price is $349.99). So... tempting...

I'm in the middle of 3 books at the moment. I've started Breaking Dawn, which is torturous so far. It's somehow even worse than the series has already been. I find myself wanting to throw it aside in disgust every other line. The worst part of the series is how much Bella HAS, that we are somehow supposed to feel sorry for her for having. Her life is SO DIFFICULT. Not. (To be fair, it is sort of like Mia whining about having to be a royal princess in The Princess Diaries, except Mia is likable. You know, to me.) The only way I am getting through it so far is by allowing myself to stop after every chapter, or every few pages because the chapters are so long (at least, it seems like it -- and ugh that the book is as thick as OotP), and reading something else. Which brings me to the other two books that I've started: Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, a real-life story pieced together about this guy who abandons everything in his life, goes off into the wilderness of Alaska, and is found there 4 months later, dead; and Throne of Jade by Naomi Novik, the second book in the Temeraire series. The latter two are so engrossing that I find myself really reluctant to put them down in order to go back to the dreck of Stephenie Meyer. BUT I promised jade_okelani that I would finish the series, so I will, and plus once I'm done I can list all 4 books as a set on eBay.

Finally, a confession: I have cheated in my garden. I am a total garden cheater. I went to Flower World yesterday, and if you've never been, it's basically like a giant amusement park for gardeners. It is ginormous. There's a map, just like an amusement park, to help you get to different parts of the nursery because it's that big. There's even a part where you can kind of drive through to look at all the big potted trees for sale. Also, there are chickens. ( What I got... )