It Started with a Journal

Every day should be like yesterday. Except for the part where I had to work in the day time. Anyway, had a blast watching The Hunger Games with adelagia and K, then going to Boiling Point afterward to have us some delicious stinky tofu hotpot. LIFE DOESN'T GET MUCH BETTER.

So, the movie. Most people who are going to see the movie have read at least the first book, so I'm unlikely to spoil plot points, but in the interest of protecting those who don't want to know how the movie compares (and who haven't read the books), I'm cutting this. ( Hunger Games spoilers -- movie and books. )

Talis had his follow-up eye appointment today. The ulcer is smaller but not completely healed, so he's going to have to do the procedure. It's going to cost $750+ ughhghghgh. DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH BACON THAT BUYS? And maybe the worst thing is that once that's done and he's healed somewhere down the road (soon, I hope), he's probably just going to do it to himself AGAIN because he's incapable of leaving Jaime alone.

Freaking Wisconsin and Michigan St., grrrrrrrrr. Syracuse should have been the first 1 seed to go. That would've done wonders for me. But no, the Badgers had to lose by 1 flipping point and Michigan St. totally choked (leading to me losing my first Final Four team). Both Michigan schools this year were big disappointments for my bracket, because I picked them to go much further than they did.

I have to babysit for K and D tomorrow. I'm going to bring over Pandemic and maybe when the kids are in bed, I'll play with their parents. :))

It was pouring snow this morning. What? It's officially spring next week! Every time I dare to think that Seattle weather could not suck more, it proves me wrong. -.- Granted our spring doesn't usually come until June/July (summer is 2 days in August), but it's never snowed this much before.

Going to see Hunger Games with K and adelagia on Thursday! Then afterward we are going to Boiling Point for my favorite stinky tofu hotpot. It will be bliss. The only way it could be better would be if it were Friday instead of Thursday, so that I wouldn't have work hanging over my head for the next day, but oh well.

Now that I have this wonderful smoker I keep dreaming of hosting an indoor barbecue party. Smoked ribs, barbecue chicken, Zuni Cafe mashed potatoes, mac & cheese, corn on the cob, watermelon, mmmmmmmmmm. This is a bit of a pipe dream though because a) the house is currently a mess, so entertaining is out of the question; b) the smoker isn't really all that big, so making enough food for even 6 people would be nigh impossible.

I don't know when it aired, but I just watched ep 12 of The Walking Dead S2. ( Wowza. )

We are down to the Elite 8 in Fandom March Madness! Basically we need to narrow down to the ultimate winner of each of the four categories. On the ballot:

COMEDY: Abed Nadir (Community) vs Leslie Knope (Parks & Recreation) **This is the one I'm most torn about!

TEEN: Hermione Granger (Harry Potter) vs Katniss Everdeen (Hunger Games)

SCI-FI: Sansa Stark (Game of Thrones) vs Donna Noble (Doctor Who) **The most hotly contested competition. I'm surprised but pleased that Sansa's gotten this far. The thing is though that I don't think a lot of GoT TV show-only viewers understand why anyone would possibly like Sansa this much. I can only imagine that those voting for her know her full story (as told so far) from the books.

DRAMA: John Watson (Sherlock) vs Mary Crawley (Downton Abbey) **I just do NOT understand the Mary love. I liked her a lot more in S2, but still. John is so awesome.

OMG!!!!!!! Amazon Fresh is finally delivering in my area! *does a dance* I've been waiting for this for sooooo long. Some of you may not have heard of it because they're only in the Seattle area right now, but I know so many people who use Amazon Fresh and LOVE IT. I know, I thought the whole grocery home delivery thing was dead, but Amazon has somehow made it work. I have not heard one bad thing about it, only people raving about how great it is.

It is ridiculous how excited I am about this.

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OK... I have Mockingjay in hand (thank you, Amazon, for the expediency), but I don't actually feel like reading it. I read the first few pages, and it just sunk me into depression. I guess I'm just not in the mood for dark, post-col (as we used to call the genre in XF fandom) stuff. :/ I do want to know what happens, but I also don't want to ruin the book for myself by reading it before I'm ready. I'm going to wait, and will hope that everyone will be very careful about spoilery information!

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trashy_eats is currently in LJ Spotlight and we have soooo many people posting now, I can barely keep up. Yet I can't look away. It's like a gastronomic car crash.

I joined the comm thinking that there would be a lot of food that's bad for me, but prepared in creatively delicious ways (like English muffin pizzas), maybe some different but interesting combos (say, chocolate-covered bacon), or maybe just stuff that's bad for you but also yummy, like the deep-fried Twinkie I've always wanted to try.

But I've found that a deep-fried Twinkie is child's play to these people. I thought I knew about trashy food; it turns out I know nothing about it. I am constantly amazed by the ingenuity (and iron stomachs) of these posters. Some examples (which my uncreative mind would never have come up with) follow. Keep in mind that these aren't just things people eat because they were dared to or something, but because they honestly find it delicious (and many times come about due to lack of funds -- truly, necessity is the mother of invention):

• Warm a tortilla in a pan till it's a bit brown. Slather with mayo. Roll up and eat. Proclaimed by the poster to be "HEAVEN... I swear it's awesome."


• Variations of peanut butter ramen. Cook ramen noodles until soft, then add spoonfuls of chunky peanut butter. Add other ingredients such as scrambled egg or scallions if you are "feeling wealthy." So many people have posted their versions of this dish.


• Ramen, period. Apparently I am the only person on the planet who has never used ramen for anything other than making ramen (though I will dress it up with egg or veggies or whatever). So very many posts about what else you can do with ramen. And the best trashy post ever, for "Gourmet Ramen a la Felon" -- recipe from a guy who learned how to make his variation in prison after bartering some cigarettes for food.


• "Deathwiches." Basically, sandwiches inside sandwiches, your creativity is the limit. Example: Go to McD's and order a Big Mac and McChicken sandwich. Open up the Big Mac. Place McChicken sandwich on top. Place the other half of the Big Mac back on top. Eat. (This is a fairly tame example. Apparently McD-specific ones are called "McGangbang.")


• Instant stuffing + instant gravy + canned chicken + crushed pineapple. Proclaimed "a staple meal."


• This entire post, in which the poster has made trashy eating a lifestyle.

I love this community, though in a different way than I thought I would. There are very few things shared on the comm that I would actually want to make and eat myself (though I AM intrigued by chili dog pizza), but I am constantly entertained by the posts and taking my brain to places it never would have gone on its own.

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To those of you who asked for books from me and provided a way for me to get them to you, I plan to mail them out today. :D What with those and the PBS and Half.com orders, I'm going to be one of those annoying people at the post office who have more things to mail than I can carry at one time.

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I've started rewatching The X-Files from the beginning, and am on S2 now. (I'd burned myself out on XF so much that I couldn't even watch a single ep for YEARS.) There are so many little things I'd forgotten! Krycek started out as Mulder's partner! Scully was young and chubby! Skinner is interesting! It's amazing how quickly they became "Mulder and Scully." There were only like, 3 episodes in which they seemed like they were getting to know each other. And then it was all familiar touching and glances that lingered a second or two too long.

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Wow, I guess I've blabbed enough for one post. So I'll end with...

TV Show Meme, Day 25 - A show you plan on watching (old or new)

HBO's A Game of Thrones, of course! I am so flipping excited for this one, it cannot come soon enough.

To those of you who have read Suzanne Collins' novels The Hunger Games and Catching Fire, are you on Team Gale or Team Peeta? (I suppose I'll let "undecided" be a choice as well.)

I thought it was pretty clear from the beginning who Kat was going to end up with (the intended OTP), but apparently it's not as clear cut as I had thought! Jade and I differ in our opinions! :O Totally shocking. So now I'm curious, who do you think she'll end up with? And, perhaps a different question entirely, who do you think she *should* end up with?

Inquiring minds want to know!

I finished Catching Fire. ( Spoilers... )

Last night's fried chicken dinner at Spring Hill was very good. Fried chicken is one of my favorite foods. There was SO MUCH chicken. The sides were rather skimpy, but there was a pile of chicken, even more than it appeared initially. Since the kids only had 1 piece each and there's only so much my mom, K., and I can eat, we had lots of leftover chicken. Since reheating fried chicken never works out well, I'll probably use my share of the leftovers to make some other chicken dish. The batter on the chicken was tasty and super crispy, my favorite. Sides were: mashed potatoes with gravy, macaroni & cheese (made with Beecher's, one of my favorite cheddars), jalapeno cornbread with honey butter, crispy oven-baked broccoli, and lightly seasoned spears of cucumber. We thought WE were hardcore because we got the dinner with basically just 3 adults eating (D. ordered a Caesar salad and basically ate that plus some sides), and behind us was a table of 6 adults who got the same thing (the dinner is supposed to serve 4). But then the table next to us put us to shame... 3 adults and a little girl, and not only did they get the fried chicken dinner they also ordered a side of Spring Hill's Monday spaghetti entree (which is not small) as well as two huge meatballs. I have photos, but they're on my SD card at home. D'oh.

Not sure if anyone remembers this, but back in November I was rear ended. Over the next 3 months I went to physical and massage therapy, then I had to wait and wait and wait for them to gather all the expenses and what not to make me an offer of settlement. At long last, after some back and forth, I think the whole thing is going to be settled, which is one less thing for me to worry about, so yay.

K.'s birthday is coming up and it's a big one, so I am thinking of being a good cousin and making her a vegan chocolate cake since she's off dairy right now. I can't imagine a vegan cake actually being any good, but if you know of a recipe for a good one, let me know please.

I am so, so close to being done with The Hunger Games. If my bus hadn't been so fast this morning, I might have been able to finish it. Yes, that's right, I actually read on the bus, which normally makes me feel completely ill. But I'm so immersed in this universe, apparently, that I can do it. ( Spoilers galore. )

I was picking up sandwiches for dinner w/ my mom, K., and family last night and the girl behind the counter was like, "Are you enjoying that? I just finished the second book and it's SOOOOO GOOD!" Sheesh, how did everyone know about this series except me?

K. has requested that her husband and I make an Indian dinner for her and my mom on Sunday, Mother's Day. It will probably be very similar to the one I made before, except chicken tikka masala instead of makhani, roti instead of naan, and add a dal. Except... crap, I've just remembered that K. is currently on a dairy-restricted diet because her nursing baby is on it so she has to do it too. I don't think Indian cuisine is a very good choice if you're restricting dairy... I mean, all the best stuff has cream or yogurt in it! Hmm, will have to check and see if she really still wants to do this, and if so, I may have to substitute dairy-less dishes for a couple of the ones I was planning to make. That makes it not as good for the rest of us, though.

I have somehow misplaced my checkbook. Ughhh. I hope it's just been lost in the shuffle of purse switching and not that I've actually lost it, because that would be a nightmare.

I made my Korean meal!! It was mostly a success. All about it on my food blog. :D

Based on a recommendation from corianderstem, I'm going to be starting a new teen series soon: The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins. It sounds soooo good. I've always been into the whole post-apocalyptic thing. They were always my favorite kind of XF stories, when I was into that fandom. And it's probably why I love Ender's Game so much. As for finishing Breaking Dawn ... it'll happen ... one day.

I am getting really, really annoyed with the weather. I bought a little rosemary starter and a bigger marjoram plant at the farmer's market yesterday, planted them in the evening, and it freaking HAILED in my neck of the woods this morning. Not to mention it's been cold, cold, cold and super rainy. All the stuff in the raised beds look like they're freezing and/or drowning. Seriously, is spring EVER going to arrive in this godforsaken place???? Yes, I am totally losing it over the lack of warmth, which I do every year, but is even more pressing this year due to my enthusiasm over the garden -- a garden that has not grown one bit (in fact, it's gone backwards -- the basil starter I planted is pretty much dead), thanks to this horrible weather. I think I am going to start some indoor herb plants, because the ridiculous 9 months of cold we have around here just does not leave me with any confidence. In less ranty news, the marjoram smells sooooooooooo wonderful.