Day28 - I got curried away.

Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2008: My Kitchen: Paper Chicken and Curried Veggies.


I think that if you have watched half as much cooking channel, PBS on Sundays as I have throughout my life, I'm sure that you've seen at least one episode where they put some meat and veggies into a little parchment pouch and baked the hell out of it. I know I've must have seen 2 dozens recipes about it, but I've never gone for it because I thought it was either 1) too fancy, or 2) too hard.

Well, this blog pushes me to confront both the silly assumptions and kick the hell out of them. With the help of this website, www.cookthink.com, I found a recipe that was simple and healthy. Cookthink.com is actually pretty cleaver in that you can put in the ingredients that your looking for (Chicken, Fruit, Veggies) or just what you attitude is (Southern, Humble, Flavorful). It's really quite ingenious.

Here is the recipe. I didn't have Basil because of my pizza obsession, so I used Italian seasoning. I don't think you can go wrong with that mix.


All of the yummy ingredients:




The flattened parchment with piles of veggies and chicken.




This little guy got away.




I was actually sweating bullets because I was just about out of parchment paper. I just had enough to make these two. Thinking back, I should have just made on large pocket.





I baked the hell out of them and they came out like this:




And this chicken looked like this:






Outstandingly good. The peppers were nice and soft and the zucchini tender. The chicken was moist and extremely flavorful.


This is a bowl filled with about a lb. of squash and 2 granny smith apples.





Sauté 1/2 c. onion and 1 clove of garlicn a large pan, then toss in this and atleast 2 tablespoons of curry and 2 tablespoons of brown sugar. I probably doubled that amount because of the amount of squash I cooked. I actually finished cooking everything in the microwave because of the shear size of it all. I think that the scales at the grocery store were lying when I measure them.

This is what they look like when done.




And this is what the whole shebang looked like when platted. I wasn't sure that the flavors were going to mix: Italian and Indian, but the underlying sweetness did the trick.





The bummer is that my house now currently smells like Indian Pavillion and I'm not sure if it's ever going to come out of the curtains. Fingers crossed.

Day27 - A peanut butter explosion!

Sunday, Jan. 27, 2008: Sunday Fun


The biggest reason for Gayle's visit was for her to work on the truck a little. I think everyone wants to say they helped out somehow, someway. And why wouldn't you, it's fucking gorgeous. And it's probably going to be the most rad thing we've done in a long, long time.

And, at this point, we could use all the help we can get to make Troy's goal of the end of March.


So Gayle and I sanded one of the front fenders. I've sanded before, and I've bitched about it in depth, but Gayle was a really good sport and she got a lot done in 2 hours.


Here is Gayle looking cute and serious.





This is before. The fenders are huge - easily 4 foot long and really awkward.





Hard at work:





What we accomplished in about 2 hours. She had to get back home so we called it quits. I will be left to tackle this sucker by myself.





I usually spend most of my time doing this:




I dance a lot. Also, that is the finished side that I started and Troy finished.



Later that night, I made these low-cal extremely peanut buttery cookies.




Really easy: 1 cup peanut butter, 1 cup Splenda for baking and 1 egg. Makes 12 cookies at 180 calories each. I limit myself to one and that's fine. I think that they are probably a really good source of protein and, seeing how there is no flour or anything else really, it tastes like hardened peanut butter and nothing else. Very good.


Close up of the yummy:






I know! The screen is just not giving them up. I keep on trying to reach in, but it's not budging.

Day26 - Killinz on the big screen.

Saturday, Jan. 26, 2008: Swifterinz and Killinz

My friend Gayle and her adorable pups Beas and Bean came to stay with us for a mini-vacation and two things happened because of her trip. First, I had to dust.

Troy bought the Swifter duster to try them out, and although I protested for about 2 seconds because of the impact disposable shit like this takes on the environment, I agreed with his decision because I thought it weighed evenly against buying a can of aerosol Pledge.

I was surprised it worked at great as it did. What I liked best is that you don't have to move anything - this little sucker gets around it all - which is awesome if you have a shit-load of books, knicknacks and toys like we do. Precarious is how I would describe our bookshelves. Also, our chinchillas bath in dust so our house is a constant battle destroy dust and dirt. Their dust leads to massive outbreaks of dust bunnies and this annihilated them quickly and without screams. It also worked better than anything else on cleaning our framed prints and pictures.

I didn't have to move a thing and that is awesome!

Now - ON TO THE KILLINZ!!!


We went to see Rambo! IT. WAS. FUCKING. CRAZY!!!! We agreed on that because "If your going to see killinz, it might as well be on the big screen!" The movie has an average of 2.9 kills per minute - therefore, it moved passed "killings" and onto "killinz." You can't take that much blood shed seriously. You just can't. Because if you did, you would be a fucking psychopath or mercenary. I say mercenary because a good part of the movie is about just that.



Basic plot outline: Burma (now Myanmar) is in a civil war/genocide. It's basically a hell hole of human rights violations since the British relinquished control in the late ’40s. A group of Catholic missionaries from Colorado are heading to a village in Burma to deliver medicine, bibles and Jesus. They ask Rambo to take them up river, and he agrees to help the young, blood, naive missionary.

Blood and violence ensues.

At one point, when a soldier get not 1, but 2 arrows throught the skull and then blows up, the audience of mostly males applauded. Troy now want to shoot guns after years and years of peace. I guess you have to have a dick to appreciate it all.


Spoilers ahead: 3 things strike me most about this movie. One: John Rambo effectively killed the abilitiy for anyone else to ever have the last name Rambo. I'm not sure if there is anyone that actually has that for a god-given name, but it is totally ruined.


Two. I don't like how the women becomes the antagonist for all the blood shed in this movie. The mission hangs on her final words of "we must go" and so they do. She is alive at the end of the movie, but she is surrounded by the death that wrought, probably raped many times over and a definite case of post traumatic stress. She looks lost and guilty and horrified by the reality that their visit meant nothing, changed nothing and she is left with nothing. And that is bullshit. Sure, she is an idiot for proceeding but the other 9 men on the mission are too. I appreciate there resolve, but fuck, don't go into Burma without UN peace keepers. Shit.

Three. The first 3 minutes of the movie have a voice-over from newscasters speaking about the violence that plagues this country as well as real footage of the aftermath of violence: decapitations, mass graves, dead women, men, kids. Good job Sly Stallone - you brought reality to the absolute carnage that follows. You can't help but to think that in the scene where soldiers throw land mines into the rice patties and then make villagers march across to a limb-blowing end (and you see all of the limbs blown!) before mowing down all survivors in a hail of gunfire - well, you can't help but to think that is the reality of someone there. I'm guessing something like that has happened at least once.

As well as the storming of villages for their young boys for child soldiers. That shit does happen - check out Darfur. The saddest part of the movie is knowing that LIFE means VERY LITTLE.

I have a lot of opinions, but when it comes to Burma, Darfur, Sudan, I have none. I have no remedies and I feel as though I have no way to help them. Gayle suggests building a wall, like in Germany during the Cold War, and moving the refugees, mostly women to the other side. Let the men duke it out. If only that would work. I almost want to say Nuke it back to the Ice Age, but that is just the 3% Republican in me.

Money is the root of all evil and power corrupts absolutely, and the military dictatorship ruling this country is fueled by both. A situation like this is one of the only times when I am hopeless.

BUT, I'm a chick and a true bleeding heart so what I take away from this movie the injustice. Troy took away from the movie a need to blow something up. The violence, especially the final battle is staggering. Rambo both disembowels, rips out a throat and SETS OFF AN ATOM BOMB!!! Yes, he sets off an atom bomb left from the british military aerial campaign 60 years ago. Not nuclear - no fear of nuclear winter, but Atom - Hiroshima style. THAT IS FUCKING CRAZY.


So… that was long! Go enjoy the movie. Take it seriously or not.

Day25 - I'm going to lay it Bare.

Friday, Jan. 25, 2008: Altoona: Bare Minerals

I'm not a big makeup girl - anyone of you can attest to that. But this comes highly recommend by some friends and I thought I would give it a whack. On a scale of 1-10 of sensitivity, my body is at 7 and my face is at 8.5. Some liquids make my skin red, other moisturizer burn.  This being mostly natural I thought that it would work out pretty well, and for the most part it did.

One problem is that any mineral make-up will lay on top of your skin seeing that it is a powder. In general, most liquid foundations will do this to me too, leaving me looking like a wax doll with paint smeared on. Because of the obscene amount of water I drink during the day, the new facial cleanser I bought earlier this year and more diligent moisturizing - dry skin had not been a great big problem for me. But within the last 2 weeks, between girly monthly stuff and wall to wall wooden floors, my skin has taken a nose dive into break outs and peeling. To try and combat that I bought this:

This is not the exact Jason's moisturizer I wanted to try. This is this, but they didn't have it. What I did by did a really good job of keeping my face looking ok over night. Usually it does not burn, but last night I scrubbed a little more than usual and I felt some tingling. It isn't making me break out, so I'll keep with it.

Girly stuff. It's weird to actually post about anything like this, but I guess that is a sign of growth and that is what it's all about.

Day24 - I kind of want an African Gray.

Thursday, Jan. 24, 2008: My living room: The Final Solution

I finished a  short story called "The Final Solution: A Story Of Detection" by Michael Chabon. I bought it this summer at a church bazaar and it actually belonged to my neighbor who was selling it at said church bazaar. She reads a literal ton, and I took her advice and bought it for a quarter.

The story is of a young boy, around 9, who is the son of a Jewish psychologist during WW2 Germany. Smuggled out of Germany with only his African Gray parrot Bruno, he now lives Vicarage in the countryside of England, some distance away from London. He has become mute and dyslexic, only writing sentences in mirror images, since the forced separations from his parents, whom you can only surmise have been sent to a concentration camp.

His bird becomes matter on interest to both strangers and those who now responsible for his care when it becomes reciting a list of numbers in German. After the bird is discovered missing and a man lay dead, the hunt is on for both and the police turn to an old detective that is most certainly and old and retired Sherlock Holmes, although his name is never mentioned, it most certainly was heavily implied. The most famous detective of his time has now been retired for some 30 years and spends his time tending to his bee hives, all but a recluse in the small village of where he now resides.





Although I am not a much of a fan of detective anything: movie, books, tv, I thought this book was really rather enjoyable and if nothing else, it made me want to read the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle originals. My whole idea of Sherlock Holmes is derived from movies I watched as a child, and this book added some color to my fuzzy memory.

The ending is a wee bit shocking and I didn't see it coming, although I have to admit I wasn't really trying to solve the mystery as much as just enjoying the ride. It was a short story at 130 some pages and the illustrations inside were lovely. I would recommend it to anyone who needed a short read. 

So, it's now official that I've read more books this month (real novels, not art related text), than I read in the first 6 months of 2007. Which is sad and horrific. But so is my keyboard as I look at it. Eww. Gross. I guess I know what I'm doing this weekend. :(

Day23 - New rules to the same old game.

Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2008: My kitchen: Pork Roast

This post isn't going to be very exciting. It's just food that was so-so. Maybe a 3/5, but Troy would probably disagree. 

This is a new recipe for pork loin. Here is a picture of me and Troy disagreeing on whether or not he should have taken the pork out of the oven first before he took it's temperature.

It's a good argument for sure - and I think we came away with a draw.


Here is the finished pork. It def. tasted good, but the was a little dry as pork is want to do. Very simple: 6 red potatoes, 1 cup of carrots, 1 onion cut into 6, 2 cloves garlic. Sprinkle with salt, pepper & italian seasoning and cook for 20 minutes at 350. Sprinkle pork chops (or where we fucked up - sliced pork loin) with same mixture of spices and cook for 15-20 minutes or until internal temp rises to 160 degrees.

It tasted good but was dry and not all of the veggies were soft and said pork was dry-ish.




Good looking but not the best. We'll get them next time kiddo.

Day22 - And then I came to the end

Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2008: My Living Room: And Then We Came To The End

I finished this book called "And Then We Came To The End" today, it is the debut novel of writer Jonathen Ferris. I read about on gawker.com and I was immediately drawn to the book's setting in a Chicago ad agency. It took me about 6 months to get the book and actually sit down and read it. I'm very glad I did because it's now one of my favorite books, not only because of the subject matter but also because of the tone and depth.


And just look at the cover. How could you not be attracted - great art direction here:



If you click on the link here, you can get some background on the book as well as an except:

WE WERE FRACTIOUS AND overpaid. Our mornings lacked promise. At least those of us who smoked had something to look forward to at ten-fifteen. Most of us liked most everyone, a few of us hated specific individuals, one or two people loved everyone and everything. Those who loved everyone were unanimously reviled. We loved free bagels in the morning. They happened all too infrequently. Our benefits were astonishing in comprehensiveness and quality of care. Sometimes we questioned whether they were worth it. We thought moving to India might be better, or going back to nursing school. Doing something with the handicapped or working with our hands. No one ever acted on these impulses, despite their daily, sometimes hourly contractions. Instead we met in conference rooms to discuss the issues of the day.

Ordinarily jobs came in and we completed them in a timely and professional manner. Sometimes fuckups did occur. Printing errors, transposed numbers.Our business was advertising and details were important. If the third number after the second hyphen in a client's toll-free number was a six instead of an eight, and if it went to print like that, and showed up in Time magazine, no one reading the ad could call now and order today. No matter they could go to the website, we still had to eat the price of the ad. Is this boring you yet? It bored us every day.Our boredom was ongoing, a collective boredom, and it would never die because we would never die.

The basic plot of the book? Set in the turn of this century, ad agencies and corporate america started to feel the pinch from the implosion of dot.com boom. This book describes the ennui of everyday office life, creatives and lay-offs. A story that hits close to home regardin all three.

It was hard to get into the book at first, up until chapter 5, because of the narrative "we." Who is this "we?" I kept asking myself until I realized, as the character Benny describes, it is the zeitgeist of the office - the defining spirit or mood. We is "you and me" and the trick of the book is that by using "we" you become a character. It's easy to invest in their lives and personalities because they common among anyone with a day job.

The characters are well rounded and formed. They have clear personalities, without being stereotypes and I spent some of the book relating characters to people that I know. It is filled with the gossip that is present in every office. Also with the apathy that is often found there as well. He nailed it right on the head when he describes the superiority over all mankind that creatives (art directors, graphic designers, marketers, copy writers) feel when they create an ad campaign and the depression they sink to when they fail. He must have worked in an agency to get it that close.

I am so glad I stuck with it. The plot jumps back and forth over the span of a year and half for the majority with the epilogue bringing us into present day five years later. This is beautifully done. One by one co-workers are let go, planting the fear that your life will end and the question  of what will replace everything when you leave? The brilliant last paragraph binds the whole story together so neatly.

I'm sure that I'm not doing the book justice with this synopsis, so look here to find a more in depth read on it.  This is definitely a read for all my college/work friends.

Day18 - I can't find that turkey anywhere.

Friday, Jan. 18, 2008: The Ale House: Turkey in the Pumpkin Patch 

**This post is out of order because my memory is terrible!**

We went out for happy hour tonight with Sarah and Jess to the Ale House. I made the mistake of wearing a short sleeved shirt and sitting in the outside enclosed bar. Brrr! It's just nicer than sitting inside and when we arrived I was able to get a really good spot so I suffered although ever so slightly.

I had the Turkey in the Pumpkin Patch: Wheat bread, turkey, shredded pumpkin and some kind of cheese. It was outrageously good and I probably should have only eaten half the sandwich but I went for the whole thing. Who knew that raw pumpkin could be so tasty. 

I didn't take a picture of the sandwich because talking to my lovely friends was much more interesting/fun. I did find this picture when I googled it:

The sandwich was almost as good as the illustration. Almost.

Day21 - Do you think it's chili? I said Brr.

Monday, Jan. 21, 2008: My Kitchen: Fire roasted tomato chicken chili

It is cold outside. Crazy single digit cold. I hate leaving the house and I'm a total crybaby about it.

Nothing combats freezing toes and all-out body shivers more than chili. Well, maybe macaroni and cheese, but not by much.

This is the first time I've made chili from scratch - I usually just make white turkey chili from a little packet. I wasn't impressed with it, but Troy is in love with it and therefor he's been eating all of the leftovers. We served it with a little slice of dark honey wheat bread instead of crackers.

I just don't think that it was taste-y or hot enough. I would give it a 3/5. Troy says 5/5. The orange bits are shredded carrots. I've had a weakness for them since back in the day when we would get chicken quesadillas at the Bullfrog Brewery. Now I always put them in my quesadillas and chili - I think that it just add something: texture, taste, bulk and good memories. All of the above or any one.

The recipe goes so: 1 large chopped onion, 2 cloves garlic, 1 japaleno pepper diced and 1 lb of chicken cubes cooked over medium-high heat for 5-7 minutes. Add 1 can of fire roasted tomatoes, kidney beans, chili powder salt and water. Simmer. Done. 

I skipped out on the cilantro because I'm not a fan of it and maybe that's what it was missing. It was also missing fire so I should have dumped some hot sauce or cayenne pepper. The jalapeno just didn't cut it, even though I left in the seeds.

At any rate, it was just as easy as making it the lazy way with pre-bought everything. I'm positive I'm not done beating this sad horse. Winter is far from over.

Day20 - I. Am. Not. Impressed.

Sunday, Jan. 20, 2008: My living room: 300

Our favorite undergrad Kyle had off on Monday, as did Troy, so we got together to eat food and watch the movie 300. Where to begin.

Part of the reason why I wanted to see this is because of the promos for "Meet the Spartans." I am unapologetically a fan of stupid comedies and the trailer for it falls directly under that. Being said, I do think the trailer ruined watching 300 because I constantly compared it back to the trailer. This all made for many giggles during most of the movie.

It is undoubtedly a good looking movie and I wish that I would have seen it in the theatre. The color was saturated and the art direction/attention to detail is amazing. The blood was fantastic!

But, the whole movie is about dudes without shirts and it is extremely homoerotic. I can see why it made so much money: straight males came for blood, most women and gays came for ripped fuel and everyone came for action.

I did not come for full frontal sex and boobies - but I got them.

I'm not into the bulging biceps and ripped abs. It gives me the creeps. And since we went to that burlesque show back in 2006, I can't really stand the site of boobs either.

Here is a trailer that you probably haven't seen before and might just put the movie into a different light..

Also, the story teller that narrates the movie distracted me the whole time. I couldn't place him for the life of me and wasn't until I looked him up on imdb.com and found that he is none other than David Wenham of Van Helsing fame. (I also like shitty horror/comedies and Van Helsing is a fav.) I don't know what this is going to mean for future viewings, but I'm sure that I will take in less seriously than I did this time.

Day19 - You are flat out fantastic.

Saturday, Jan. 19, 2008: My kitchen: Flat bread Pizza

I am a major fan of pizza mostly because of the cheese. I don't think anyone has invented a meal that is so versatile, great for: parties both laid back and formal, late night post-bar, early morning post-hangover, lunch, dinner, mid-day snack. Really, it requires no silverware or plates. 

And cheese! Jesus, there is almost nothing better in this world than cheese. Sharp or mild, soft or hard - it doesn't get any better.

But, one slice of cheese pizza has approx. 400 calories! depending upon the restaurant. That is just plain!!! I can eat a whole pie on my own on a good day, especially Facia Luna's fresh tomato/italian sausage pie. Jeez, that is a little slice of heaven right there and I can't imagine what it is racking up. And who isn't in love with the all out gluttony that is Cece's Pizza. There you are encouraged - dared even - to try and defeat their business model. Imagine. It is so easy to be fat in this country.

Sorry to totally rant on dietary concerns and scold a bit there, I'm really sensitive right now to calories and the like. Eat whatever you like, life is short and you should enjoy the shit right out of it.

Anyway, back to the task at hand. We came across this great recipe for a low-cal pizza, it's about 330 calories for a whole pie which is the size of a large burrito wrap. 

Cook 1 medium onion and 2 gloves of garlic in some olive oil. After 7 minutes when the onions become translucent and 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar (my fav) and 1 cup of mushrooms. Cook until all liquid is gone. 

In the oven place an oval flatbread wrap or a whole wheat tortilla and bake for 5-7 minutes at 350. Next spread onion/mushroom/balsamic mixture on top. Add 1 roma/plum tomato and 1 oz. of goat cheese (we used feta) to each pizza and toss back in the oven for another 10-15 minutes or until the cheese is melted. Pull out and toss 1/4 cup basil across the two.

This was FANfuckingTASTIC. I was delightfully full after eating it, all though I suppose if you are not you can start off with a salad before hand. Or add some grilled chicken to the top.

I would easily give this a 5/5. I actually kind of prefer it to regular pizza because the feta cheese certainly gave it a punch of flavor that is not present in the lovely but bland mozzarella. We used a red onion and that added a layer of sweetness that a plain yellow onion wouldn't ordinarily. What I'm getting at it that it was a flavor explosion. Literally. The wheat bread was sweet and crunchy. The vinegar pungent. The tomatoes soft and yummy. You see what I'm getting at. This was G. R. E. A. T.

Well enough of that. My mouth is watering and it's just getting to be too much.

Without basil. I think basil tastes like summer.




With basil - extreme close-up.

Don't you just want to reach out and grab that mushroom. I know - the screen just isn't giving it up.

Day17 - I'd steak my taco on it.

Thursday, Jan. 17, 2008: My Kitchen: Steak Tacos

Tonight we made steak tacos with homemade avocado salsa. I've never made avocado salsa before, and my only other venture with salsa was a disaster that I solely blame on cilantro.

The salsa is avocado, red onion, tomatoes, garlic and a lot of lime. For the first time I did not "bash and chop" the garlic - I used a little grater to finely grate the garlic and I think that made a difference in the over all taste and texture. Finally, something Rachel Ray and I can agree on. 

Also, I liked eating raw onion. Something is definitely wrong with me this year… the Melissa of old would not eat anything crunchy, let alone and onion and, gasp, green beans from a few nights before. This newness thing is affecting me in profound and psychologically deep ways.

I forgot to marinate the steak in lime and garlic, so I just squeezed some on top of it after is was cooked and resting. Just as good. The whole dinner smelled just like Mad Mex and there is nothing wrong with that.

I think the final calorie count was around 380. Overall, I would give it a 5/5. Troy was bummed because his avocado was hard, but I both like the taste and hard texture of it. Although I did swallow a whole piece of avocado and nearly freaked the hell out. Yummy none the less. Oh, and devastatingly beautiful.

Day16 - Orange you glad I didn't say rosemary

Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2008: My Kitchen: Orange Glazed Chicken with Rosemary

Until the spring comes, I will probably be cooking a lot. This season may just be dedicated to food. But I'm really trying hard to push myself to eat heathly and low calorie. So far, it's working out pretty well.

And my body is almost accustomed to the gallon of water I drink a day! That's right… at least one gallon a day.

But my skin is rocking right now.

Today we made Orange glazed chicken. It was really very easy.

Brown some chicken for 10 minutes. Add 1/4 c orange juice + 1/2 c chicken stock + Rosemary + pepper. Cook until Chicken is done, then remove chicken. Add 1/4 c chicken stock and deglaze pan until sauce is thick (med heat). Add orange wedges and cook for 2 minutes. Done.

I would think that eating a slice of orange on a piece of chicken would be gross. Not the case. Actually quite yummy.

We served with steamed green beans and slivered almonds. This is the FIRST TIME EVER that I've eaten green beans intentionally and I really like them. I think that this year is going to be the year of the veggie. I can't get enough of them. I'm actually "Striving for Five." 

Eventually being this much of a grown up is really going to bum me out.

Day15 - You say go faster, I say slow the fuck down.

Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2008: New Vitamins

The hardest thing for me to do is to remember to do something everyday. I just don't have the mind for it. I think that it's because I'm so disinterested in reality most of the time. I refuse to believe it's because I'm lazy.

Because of my new found love of healthy stuff, I decided that I wanted to give it another whack. We went to GNC and asked the chick there if she had an opinion. She pointed the Women's Ultra Mega Active Vitapak out to me, which were more expensive that the vitamins that she is currently taking and the vitamins that she will be switching to. She must be pushing these because they have an "energy enhancer" and that is probably the kind of thing that people are looking for these days.

I am, however, not looking for a boost of any kind. I specifically asked her if the caffeine that is present in these would affect me adversely. She assured me it would not because it is a natural form of caffeine, not some x14 bullshit or whatever the kids are taking these days.

Let me just say that I am currently only drinking water, except for coke when it's mixed with Captain. And that is not an everyday thing - more like weekly/monthly. I really don't even drink juice, just some tea in the morning. I am not conditioned for caffeine.

And I wasn't conditioned for these.

But I do think for my money, I am getting a lot of vitamins. Even though one of them tastes burn-y.




They make me a wreck. And absolute wreck. I want to run around the block and take a nap at the same time. It's just awful.

Last night I took them before I went to bed thinking that I could just sleep off the crazy. I was wrong… I was up all night in a sub-REM sleep. It sucked and I am miserable today.

I just… I've never done speed - no crank, coke, etc. The closest thing was popping Xanies in high school.  I would just rather be drunk or passed out.

So, I don't think that I can take them back and I'm def. not going to toss that kind of money out the window. I don't have that kind of loot to set fire too.

I'm going to see if I can devise which pill is which and delete the caffeine pill from my life. Fingers crossed it's the one that tastes like hell.

Day14 - Let's get organized, people.

Monday, Jan. 14, 2008: My Office: A little hacking.

Now that I have my little Mac running Leopard, I want to push the OS around a little. Even though I use a lot of features Macs furnish, in reality I only use probably 25% of what this guy can do. Today I used the terminal and automator.

With the help of Lifehacker, I basically dmade my dock go from this:

To this:




Now, all of my files are in little bins. Nothing amazing - I'm not going to bore you with the steps - but it looks cleaner and more organized and now I'm not so intimidated a few of the more of the utilities on my Mac.

Day13 - You say 'slut,' I say 'no thanks!'

Sunday, Jan. 13, 2008: Hotel Dode: Shots!

So, this night actually began the night before, after I spent 7 hours upgrading my iMac. Our friend Kyle is giving up the working world and going back to school as an undergrad.

He was already drunk when he got to our house so we had to play catch-up — and we did! Unfortunately.

I'm pretty sure I said "Let's do shots!" somewhere after midnight. I am full of good ideas like that. Full of them!!! It's a tragedy.

Amazingly, you cannot order a Lemondrop at the Dode. That is my shot of choice because of it's simplicity, both ingredients and name. So imagine my surprise when the barmaid said no. Kyle instead brought back Red-Headed Sluts. I think it was in honor of my whore boyfriend, but who knows.

It's honestly hard for me to even look at these. Ugh.


The next shot was a Jim Morrison. Which meant more Jagar. Still, these hurt my eyes.




This was on top of too many Captain and cokes. Too many. It was not a good night in our house that night. Trust that.

Some photos of the night. We were all sorry the next day.





Carla




Me and Kyle




Kyle




Troy and Carla (she's serious.)




I honestly can't remember what was going on here. I only remember getting yelled at by a very old dude for pissing in the men's john. One: the john's are not clearly marked, and two: if you know me, you know I've pissed in worse.




We have video that I can't even stomach to watch. It took me two days to write this. Ugh. I need to lie down.

Day12 - You say meow, it says MWROAR!

Saturday, Jan. 12, 2008: My Office: Mac upgrade to Leopard

I've been a Mac fan since I started college in 1997, but my earliest memories are using a Macintosh when I was a kid at my cousin Jen's house and playing a Winnie the Pooh game way back in the WAY back. Right now I have a Intel iMac, and next to Luke and the other critters, it is my baby and I love it so. It's probably not healthy, but I can't leave a day go by without fucking with it somehow.

This isn't my first upgrade, nor is it the first time I've gone solo, but Leopard somehow feels different. I'm  not sure if that's because this is the first BIG upgrade since college when we jumped from OS9 Classic to OSX. Who knows and who cares. 

Leopard is quite the advancement with tons of cool shit like advancements in iChat, Preview and Mac Mail. Well, that is only 3 of the 300 advancements.

This is pretty amazing. You can now search all of your documents in cover flow. It's pretty awesome for someone like me - in a visually based occupation.

So that's it. Nothing earth shattering - but this will deeply impact my life for the next week, month or year until I retrain myself. Old dog, new tricks, etc.…