It Started with a Journal

Some coworkers with kids just told me that it's been the rule for awhile now that kids are not allowed to bring peanut butter to school (in sandwiches and otherwise), due to the prevalence of peanut allergies. Is that true?! This is super shocking to me. PB&J is *the* school lunch! I mean, I know the times, they are a-changin', but man, this more than anything else has illustrated just how different they have become.

Jaime's nonstop hunger has not abated. A coworker of mine who has two cats (well, one is her cat, the other is her partner's cat) says that it's due to alpha behavior. When one of their cats died, one of the two remaining suddenly started eating nonstop. Her theory is that cats who do this are trying to bulk up in order to become the new alpha. It would make sense, I suppose, since Jaime has Talis to contend with, and Talis is nearly twice his weight.

LOL: How to Tell If Your Cat is Plotting to Kill You. Jaime does almost all these things except bringing me dead animals and throwing up grass, but that's only because he's not allowed outside. He also doesn't paw at my face while I sleep -- thank God, because his nails are SUPER sharp.

TV Show Meme... Day 08 - A show everyone should watch: Mad Men

Totally and completely brilliant. The authenticity (such as I can tell) is amazing. Great actors, storylines, execution, etc. I don't know how this show ever got the greenlight (studio execs seem in general to be totally unimaginative and I can't even imagine pitching this show), but I'm glad it did. It deserves all the accolades it's gotten. It does take a few episodes to draw you in, and maybe more than that to get you totally hooked, but once you're in, you won't be sorry.

Edit: This is exactly what I think of Twilight.

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... )

Okay. I love nature, except when it's insisting on coming into my house. There are definitely critters in the crawl space above my room/below the roof. I don't know if they're birds or squirrels (I'm not entertaining any other possibilities atm), but they make a lot of noise in the morning, scratching and running back and forth and what not (it wakes me up). Also it's creepy.

Then there's the damn woodpecker. In the past, I've heard it on the roof, this rapid tapping like someone's trying to drill into the house. Recently it's taken to sitting on the metal chimney stack (I think that's what it's called? No real idea) and drilling there. It echoes down the chimney really loudly and freaks Talis out. I have to go outside and scare it away by clapping my hands loudly or yelling. I'm not in my house all day though, so who knows when that woodpecker comes back and does it again? I don't want to have to pay for repairs to the damage it does!

Effing woodpecker, squirrels, and birds... GET OFF MY LAWN!

I've watched some more BSG... I think I am almost done with 8 episodes from S3 now. ( Spoilers. )

My cousin is coming here at the end of March. He got an interview at UW for a PhD program, so they're flying him up here. First of all, I changed his diapers and fed him formula as a baby. HOW can he possibly be applying for PhD programs?! It's like, wut. Second of all, I'm excited because this will give me an excuse to go back to Senor Moose! "DoyoulikeMexicanfoodgreatIknowwherewecango!"

I'm on book 3 of the Twilight series. I HATE this series. It's so horribly written and stupid. I'm sorry to those of you who love it, but I just don't get it. I've read tons of fanfic that are written better. Why anyone would find this series compelling -- much less exceptional -- is seriously beyond me. ( Ranting. )