ramblings

In which we deck the halls

2009-12-26T04:29:30Z

Happy Christmas everyone!

We watched MythBusters and UP.

From all the hype about Up, I knew it couldn't meet expectations. *shrug* I did like the dog -- however the film was a bit of a downer. Too many dead people and negligent parents!

I got the LOOTS this year. *gloats*

Handsome Man got me a book of maps. The Book of Maps, in fact. It has maps from throughout history, and is detailed enough that I could actually end up using for work. He also got me a $100 gift card for a local department store. This will either mean that I get new clothes (which I really need) or new dishes (which I also really need). My student Bayla (a pointer lab mix) got me a collection of sparkly candles, that I may use to sent the house when I go though my post-Christmas scrubbing. From the rest of my family, I got socks (don't laugh -- these are cool socks), a keyblade (ok, a pocket knife that looks like a key when it's folded up), a Neopets Cash Card, a gift certificate to Olive Garden, a butter plate, a necklace, Camembert cheese, a itty bitty flashlight, and an original copy of the Daily Mail UK that my beloved Tas appeared in.

Keebler got a nice bone, and later tonight I'm going to pull out his pheasant. I'll try to get pictures, as it's become some sort of tradition.

Right now I'm waiting for Handsome Man to get off the phone so we can watch the new Dr Who together. I got Mom a bottle of red wine that turned out to be really good -- she cracked it open after dinner and we (well Jackie, Mom, and I) drank about half the bottle. I think for New Years, I may get another one with a cheese plate for us to split.

There will be, of course, Sparkling Apple Cider for Dad, Handsome Man, and the 13 year old sister.

Merry Christmas Eve!

2009-12-25T03:34:52Z

Merry Christmas Eve everyone! :D

Handsome Man and I have the tradition of opening one present Christmas Eve night -- but the trick is that we get to pick each other's present to open. I opened the CD collection of The Who: Live at the Royal Albert Hall. Squee! He pointed out that all of the CSI songs were in this 25 song set. *grin* It's playing on the Xbox now.

He got a measuring cup. More accurately, the Equal Measure measuring cup from ThinkGeek. He's very excited to use it tomorrow. With measurements like "amount of table salt in a large human" and "two billion grains of powered sugar" who wouldn't be?

Keebler got a present early as well... a migrator goose. I'm amazed, he's had it for almost six hours now and hasn't completely de-stuffed it. This may be a new record. We'll see tomorrow when he get's Pheasant (the fifth).

Tonight I made hot spiced apple cider. No, not the instant kind. I bought some (organic honeycrisp) apple cider, and mulling mix, and cooked it. It is delicious, and I fear I may have gotten Handsome Man addicted just in time for honeycrisp season to end. Oh well.

I got my grades as well... straight Bs. I'm a little miffed about that, because it's the first time EVER I've gotten a B in a history class (and it was by POINT FIVE PERCENT) but this teacher is a notoriously harsh grader. I shudder to think what everyone else got. However, for French? *celebrates* I got a B in the class my other French class was the PREREQUISITE for.

Keebler and Cooking

2009-12-17T00:01:08Z

I'm making Apple Crisp at the moment (only 20 minutes until it comes out of the oven!) and I spilled some of the topping. Keebler is now busily cleaning the kitchen floor for me. *eyeroll*

Thank goodness for helpful puppies. How else would I ever bake. :P

Beware the GAE!

2009-12-16T00:04:03Z

Alright, so this is supposedly a child safety announcement from the 1950s.

It basically sums up as, "Beware strangers, they might have the GAY and kill you. Or even worse, take you out to go fishing."

Yes.

Really.

I has fans?

2009-12-13T02:18:40Z

So.... When I kill characters off, I get fanmail? O_o

The indisputable chicken fill centipede!

2009-12-06T04:52:13Z

Clearly, this film is a "must have" for anyone this Christmas Season:

see more Engrish

sigh

2009-12-02T15:29:12Z

Heads up, this is a mild rant.

People complaining about the NT doing NC Mall tickets for stocking:

Shut up. Please. You complain that TNT is missing the "spirit of Christmas"... and then proclaim the spirit to be "when you give me free stuff without any effort on my part." Oh, I'm sorry, "GIVING". To you. Free crap. Now.

That is NOT the "spirit of Christmas." That's just being greedy.

Personally, I find the idea of stockings like that to be kind of cute. Not $20 dollars cute (I have to think about paying for next term, and I'm broke), but I might pick up the 5 stocking ticket later.

Advent Calender!

2009-12-02T05:31:02Z

Yes. I'm 12. I get very excited for freebies that everyone else gets too. I don't care. <3

Happy Birthday!

2009-12-01T01:41:47Z

Happy Birthday Samuel Langhorne Clemens! I'm a big fan of your work. <3

174th birthday, and still one of the most popular authors in the country.

nimras23 @ 2009-11-06T20:11:00

2009-11-07T04:18:44Z

DragonAge: Origons is LOVE.

I have a DOG.

I have named him MAC:

I love Mac. <3

In which we rant about prong collars

2009-11-04T01:01:40Z

On the way back from school, I saw a man leading his black lab mix on a prong collar. The poor thing was being held so tight that even when it was in the proper heeling position, the collar was completely constricted around his neck. Poor thing looked scared to do anything. When the dog stepped off the curb with the man to cross the street, his front feet hung in the air.

I suspect the dog's neck is going to end up looking like this.

The Animated Bayeux Tapistry

2009-10-29T02:58:41Z

In which we wish to eat gears

2009-10-12T16:32:20Z

Steampunk Cake = LOVE

http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/2009/10/sunday-sweets-steampunk.html

In which we read court literature

2009-10-10T03:24:00Z

So, in French Lit we are reading Marie de France's Lanval

The epic, let me show you it:

Lanval: Woe is me! King Arther was giving out presents, and I did not get one! How could he forget me, as I am the son of a King who lives Very Far Away, and am so vallent, generous, and beautiful? I am going to ride my horse to the river and heroically sulk!

Horse: Dude, you suck. I'm going to dump you and wander away and leave you here to be emo by yourself.

Two Gorgeous Women: Hey! Lanval, our mistress wants to talk to you. You will go because she is sexy.

Lanval: Sweet! Someone recognizes my awesomeness!

Hot Faerie: Lanval, I have come from a place Very Far Away to have sex with you. If you promise not to tell anyone about me, I'll have sex with you every night, because I am a Faerie, and thus do not have periods, or ever get pregnant. But if you ever tell anyone about me, you'll never see me again.

Lanval: I can totally keep my trap shut that I'm having nightly sex with an extremely hot woman.

Queen Guinevere: Lanval, you are the best looking of my husband's knights. Have sex with me tonight.

Lanval: Sorry Queen, I have a hotter woman to have sex with than you.

Queen Guinevere: Arther! Lavnal tried to rape me! When I protested, he then said his girlfriend is prettier than me!

Arther: He said his girlfriend was hotter than you? Arrest that man!

Jury of Old Men: He said his girlfriend was sexier than the queen? These are Very Serious Charges.

Lanval: Woe is me!

Two Gorgeous Women: Better make up your guest room, our Super Sexy Mistress is coming to town.

Hot Faerie: As you can see, I am far sexier than the queen.

Jury of Old Men: We agree, she's sexier than the queen. All charges against Lanval must be dropped.

Lanval: You were mean to me! I'm riding away with my Hot Faerie and you'll never see me again!

The End.

...

Yeah. That's pretty much it. The whole rape thing? Never heard of again.

In which we clean

2009-10-09T19:33:00Z

School was canceled today (my prof had something going on) so I've decided to devote today to homework and housecleaning. With Beau gone, it's been just me trying to upkeep a house with three cats and a border collie while trying to juggle commuting to school and work (I take the MAX) and getting all my homework done. There has just not been enough time in the day.

It's noon, and I'm already on my third load of laundry, have vacuumed the living room, swept and then turned the Roomba loose on the kitchen, and will tackle vacuuming the hallway and the bedroom next.

Kitties, for the record, Do Not Approve.

In which we have big booms

2009-10-03T03:52:31Z

Jenny (my littlest sister) is coming and staying at my house for the night.

Keebler is Very Excited.

We're sprawled on the couch, watching Mythbusters and drinking hot cocoa.

I've spent worse evenings. :)

All alone...

2009-09-30T21:15:42Z

Beau has gone to go deer hunting with his father. I'm torn. On one hand, if he shoots a deer on the first day or so, he'll come home a week earlier. On the other, that would mean he would be bringing back a whole deer to fill up the freezer (that I can't eat).

Keebler, however, would be OVERJOYED, as he would be getting very good dinners for months. And Sammy would be happy because I've promised his mother the deer's neck. Sammy is an Irish Wolfhound who eats a raw diet, so necks comprise a great deal of his diet and variety is the spice of life.

School has recommenced. I'm taking French Lit. 341 (insanely hard), French 301 (moderately difficult) and English history (frightfully easy).

In French lit, we're reading La Chanson de Roland, which is an epic poem written between 1100 and 1200. The vocabulary is... difficult.

L'Empereur va sous un pin,
Et mande ses barons pour tenir son conseil:
C'est le duc Ogier et l'archevêque Turpin;
C'est Richard le Vieux et son neveu Henri;
C'est le brave comte de Gascogne, Acelin;
C'est Thibaud de Reims et son cousin Milon.
Gérier et Gérin y sont aussi,
Et le comte Roland y est venu avec eux,
Suivi du noble et vaillant Oliver.
Il y a là plus de mille Français de France.
On y voit aussi Ganelon, celui qui fit la trahison.
Alors commence le conseil qui tourna mal.

Yes. Like I can keep all those people straight. And that's just the good guys! The bad guys have a guy named Blancandrin, which is just about the most awesome name ever.

Now that my coffee is gone, I'm off to the library to print off my reading assignment for history. This class is so much easier than my last couple history classes. Only one paper to write for the term! And it's only 8-10 pages double spaced. And if you like your grade on the rough draft, she'll let you just keep that one and not turn in a final one!

And there are people complaining about her work load. *facepalm*

I want this movie.

2009-09-24T21:34:54Z

see more Engrish

Words do not describe the awesomeness of this.

In which we run a lot

2009-09-24T02:06:38Z

Keebler is very content with himself.

This morning he got a wonderful bone. This afternoon he went on a long bike ride (well, he ran next to the bike) and has now come home to a nice stuffed Kong filled with frozen canned dog food.

He's now sprawled out, happily slurping and sucking on his Chicken and Sweet Potato, watching Beau play Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon.

God Bless America

2009-09-22T23:32:17Z

So for breakfast I had Irish Oatmeal and Milk.

For lunch I had Eggplant Bhurta with Garlic Naan and Chai.

For dinner I will most likely have Mexican.

Land of the free, home of the brave, and the food from wherever the heck we feel like it. :P

I is broke

2009-09-21T16:55:40Z

So I go to the bookstore for my textbooks today. It looks like it's going to cost me about $385. I managed to luck out and get the PROGRESSIVE teachers who want all NEW EDITIONS.

Go me. *facepalm*

EDIT: I managed to get one of them used. :D

... $358.10.

Ninja Window

2009-09-15T23:09:46Z

I'm watching a "documentary" about the "Secret Bloodline of Jesus and Mary" and they're talking about this Super Secret room hidden in the church, and they go into the Super Secret Room that No One has Seen Inside Of in a century... and as they're panning around the Secret Room...

...and it has a WINDOW.

Yes, people. No one has ever thought to look into the GLASS WINDOW in a hundred years. *facepalm*

On the bright side, there is a lot of background French, so at least I get some practice in trying to understand them.

In which good friends are stupid

2009-09-14T19:18:42Z

So one of my friends is getting married. This, I suppose, is a good thing. She makes him happy. I, frankly, don't see the appeal myself. But I may be lacking the necessary equipment to appreciate her charms. Although my friend and I have been friends much longer than he and my husband have, (due to my inappropriate equipment again) my husband is the best man for the wedding.

This places my husband in charge of planning the bachelor party.

So he and the other groomsmen (since they and the groom are all geeks) decide to have a rockband party, and barbecue, and a huge cake. I approve.

Then the bride-to-be sends my husband the address of a stripper group -- with the list of strippers she likes. Most of the groomsmen express discomfort at this idea. None of them (my husband included) want a stripper show.

Except the bride-to-be has also emailed the stripper list to her future husband. He is thrilled by this idea. He enthusiastically jumps onto the "we must have a stripper!" bandwagon. Handsome Man informs him that many of the groomsmen are very uncomfortable with the idea.

Groom is gung-ho about the idea. He's delighted in the idea that he is marrying a woman who is willingly sending strippers his way. He has "achieved the male dream." There will be strippers.

So this morning my husband and I had to go and pick several strippers from the brides chosen site (we also decided to follow her directions that her future husband "doesn't like blonds or anyone who looks too exotic." In this I may know her fiance better than she does -- I know for a fact that he likes Asian women.

Did I mention that groom is not paying for the party -- or the stripper? No, that gets to fall on the best man -- My Husband. He who doesn't even want to see the stripper show.

Zero Punctuation

2009-09-10T02:36:03Z

Zero Punctuation this week is done in limerick form. The Whole Thing. All four minutes of it.

I am awed.

Just keep editing, editing, editing....

2009-09-09T22:15:54Z

I swear, editing takes longer than writing the story. *facepalm*

On the bright side, I'm catching some doosies of mistakes, so I'm glad I edited before sending it off to Droplet.

I got a new pantry today, I have so much more room to store stuff! :D