Book Report - For A Few Demons More

There wasn't really much to say about this one because I don't want to give any of it away, but it freaking rocked. It was so damn good it was an act of will to put the book down. It's the sort of tale where when you get to the last 30 pages or so, you start to feel bad because it's going to end soon, but you console yourself with knowing that you can just turn back to page one and start over again. I'd offer to loan it out, but that's exactly what I'm going to do. Totally worth hardcover price, and I think her absolute best yet.

Precocious

I have a tendency to let Roy wander off while we're upstairs and I'm in the kitchen. As long as he's not near the stairs, and the bathroom doors are closed, I'm not too worried about him. He normally spends his time chasing his roll-a-rounds or one of the cats.

But yesterday, while I was busy preparing the boy's lunch - I caught the sound of Roy giggling coming from the back of the house. So I paused my puree-ing, and followed the sweet sounds of a happy baby....

to find Roy, standing at our dresser, with the second drawer up half pulled out, and some of Russ' t-shirts pulled over the edge of the drawer. Roy is bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet, giggling like mad over his discovery: daddy's cache o' girlie mags.

That kid is too clever by half.

AAARRGGGHHH!!!!!!!!

I just bought like 3 books of stamps!

Hey it's that guy!

Watching '300' I had a very "hey it's that guy!" feel. Most of the main characters rung faint little bells, and by faint I mean, it was driving me crazy trying to figure out who they were the entire time. Placing the actors was made especially difficult by gorgeous and extensive stylization of the movie. I had the sneaking suspicion that I remembered King Leonidas from 'Dracula 2000' as the tortured and immortal Judas cum bloodsucker, and hey . . . I was right! Gerard Butler did play Dracula! Yay!

The other character that bugged me was Queen Gorgo. That crooked mouth . . . the entire night I tried to remember where I knew it from. Eventually I decided that I was thinking of Olivia d'Abo, who was definitely not playing the part. Imdb has saved me! Lena Headey, you saucy minx! I saw you in 'Gossip'! That tripe is from whence I remember that sad look of betrayal and crooked duck lips. You sure showed James Marsden aka Cyclops who was boss in a much less satisfying way than you schooled . . .

Dominic West aka Theron aka the guy in '300' who lends himself to the best female revenge scene ever! Your monkey face is the same mug they attempted to sell as ruggedly handsome in 'Mona Lisa Smile' and 'The Forgotten'. You are times disturbingly ugly and yet strangely appealing . . . not at all.

*SPOILER*
your death scene made the theatre clap, and I would have too, but I'm not a complete tool.

Of Course They Are

I have meaning to put up a post about how good '300' was.

'300' was really good. I saw the movie with Sonny and his friends, and I remember Ben saying that he wanted to show it to one of his Persian friends to see how he would react.

Hopefully he wouldn't react this way.

Who needs President Bush and Congress to declare war when apparently Frank Miller's got that covered?

Random Comments

Did I ever tell anyone how awesome Black Snake Moan was? It was plain old low down dirty fun :). The cinematography and the music combined really well to make a totally worthwhile movie experience. My only complaint was that the people in the film just weren't dirty enough! I went in there thinking that the movie was going to be just a filthy and good as "Plain Dirty" was--another really good movie (or at least I really enjoy it and have seen it a number of times because they play it on the Encore channels all the time)--but it wasn't. Overall however, the movie was super fun to watch...I definately recommend it.

Also....Everyone should congratulate Melissa Neff on her recent engagement to AJ Rowlands. They went to the Dominican Republic this past weekend and before they came back they were engaged. She called me and Anna last night to tell the good news!!! We're both super psyched for her :), but we don't have all the details yet because she was in the airport when she called and couldn't gab.

AND...Whoever left the comment about what a bunch of "bores" we all are wasn't being very nice. Besides, I do lots of fun things. Like Next weekend I am going to run an 8K with Melissa and then get drunk at the St. Patrick's Day parade immediately following. OR at least I am going to have beer or two, depending on the cost, and listen to the bagpipers downtown. And then the following weekend Anna, me, and Melissa are running a 5k together in support of Colon Cancer. THEN the weekend after that, Me and Melissa are putting ourselves through torture so that we can go downtown and Run in the the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler. I am very busy...all of these FUN things require TRAINING. Plus, I am in school which takes up a good amount of my time.

BUT, that's not all...in April (for the week of Lissa's birthday) me and Anna are driving down there to hang out with her. AND as soon as we get down there we are heading out to a beach house in Key Largeass or whatever it's called. AND after that, at the end of April, Me, Anna, and Melissa are all going to see Christina Aguilera in concert!!! I know you all are super jealous. Anywho, all this stuff I just never think to mention because Lissa, Anna, and Celeste already know all these things! But, if other people who read the blog are BORED, then maybe I will start writing about all the FUN-FILLED events that I do to occupy my time.

Book Report - Belladonna

I'm sure Russ is glad I'm done reading this one, because, like most of Anne Bishop's books, I wasn't able to limit myself to reading it during my morning coffee; I found myself sneaking off to get through a few more pages here and there every chance I got. And when I picked it up, the rest of the world (with the exception of Roy crying, of course) would disappear. Russ would say something, and I wouldn't even notice he was trying to get my attention. He had to repeat himself all weekend.

Belladonna is the second book in Anne Bishop's Ephemera series, and I think you'll really need to read Sebastian first. These don't work too well as standalones, but they were both fantastic. The universe she created was confusing as hell to really get a sense of, and if it had been a writer any less than Anne Bishop, I don't think it would have worked. But I love her writing style, and if you stop trying to map the route the characters are taking in your head - maps are no good in this universe - and just enjoy the journey, the stories are wonderful. Sebastian and Belladonna are a pair of romantic tales set against a backdrop of an epic battle against ultimate evil. Both books were superbly written; even the supporting characters are completely fleshed out, and the interaction between all of the players in the tale, not just the hero and heroine, really make the story come to life.

These aren't as dark as the Black Jewels were, but I'm actually glad of that. I get tired of how certain writers *cough*LK Hamilton*cough* feel like they need to constantly one-up themselves on the sex and gore scales in order to keep the audience's interest, like the rules for horror movies are being applied to scifi/fantasy novels. Why not try telling a compelling story, so you don't have to think of what could be weirder or more disgusting than group sex with a leopard-man and a wolf-man? So three cheers to Anne Bishop for not trying to outdo herself on the 'darkness' scale.

This is another set of books I'll end up re-reading, I'm sure. It'll help to pass the time until March of 2008, when her next book in the Black Jewels series comes out.

Next up, probably Kim Harrison's "For a Few Demons More" since that comes out next.

Chicken, Red Pepper, and Green Bean Stir-Fry

Ok...So as promised, here is a post of my first dinner :). Well, second really, but the first one was taco salad and I think we all know how delicious those are!! Anywho, I made Chicken, Red Pepper and Green Bean Stir-Fry last night and it turned out really, really tasty. It took longer than I wanted it to, but total time was 1 hour and 10 minutes from start to finish (including prep and clean up), so over all I'm going to say that is pretty speedy. Here's the recipe as printed on Epicurious.com:

4 ounces green beans, trimmed
3 tablespoons oriental sesame oil
1 8-ounce skinless boneless chicken breast, cut crosswise into strips
1 red bell pepper, cut into matchstick-size strips
1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
2 large garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice vinegar

Cook beans in pot of boiling salted water until crisp-tender, about 2 minutes. Drain. Refresh under cold running water.

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in heavy medium skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Add to skillet; stir-fry until just cooked through, about 2 minutes. Transfer chicken to plate. Add 1 tablespoon oil to skillet. Add bell pepper, ginger and garlic; stir-fry 2 minutes. Add chicken and beans to skillet. Stir in soy sauce and vinegar. Simmer until sauce thickens slightly, about 2 minutes. Serve hot.

Makes 2 servings; can be doubled.
Bon Appétit
30-Minute Main Courses
March 2001

I might try w/ beef next time though because I just don't like chicken very much. The total caloric content for the recipe (WHEN DOUBLED) is 1348/4 servings. 1 serving is 337 calories.

So, I doubled the recipe because I didn't think 2 servings would be enough for me and Nick. I thought about taking a picture of it, but I forgot, so no dice. Maybe next time. Tonight I am going to make my own Chicken Gyros. I'll post about it tomorrow!!! Super excited about it though because I LOVE Gyros!!

CHEERS!!!

Eat Your Veggies!

A few veggie suggestions for you guys, since I've been trying different vegetables lately....

Leeks
Leeks look like really big green onions, but they have a milder oniony taste when cooked. Avoid really fat thick leeks because they tend to be tough, and instead look for thinner (less than 1 1/2" diameter) stalks. The more white/pale green on the leeks, the better, because the dark green stuff is going to get cut off and discarded. They generally sell in bunches of 3 or more, and I find that 3 med leeks will do quite nicely for a side for two people. Here's a simple way to prepare them.

3 med leeks
2 tblspoons butter
salt

Slice off the tops of the leeks, starting where the leaves turn tough and dark green. Take a very thin slice off the root end (you want the layers to stay attached, so make the slice thin). Slice the leeks in half lengthwise, so that you have long half-cylinders. Put the leeks in a bowl of cold water, and swish them around a bit, to get the dirt out of them, fanning the leaves gently if you need to. Melt the butter in a large sautee pan with a lid on med/med-low. Drain the leeks and then place them cut side down in a single layer in the pan, cover it, and let them cook for about 8 minutes, until they get really tender. Remove the lid, turn the leeks over, raise the heat to med/med-high, and let them sizzle a bit 'til any of the liquid in the pan has evaporated. Add a little salt to taste and serve.

Plantains
Plantains are like a yummy cross between a banana and a potato. They're sweet, like bananas are, but are a lot starchier and tend to hold up to cooking a lot better. When plantains are green, they can be twice-fried in slices. When they're ripe, the skin will be yellowish black to completely black. There are all sorts of ways to prepare them, but here's a stupid-simple method for ripe plantains that goes really well with roast pork.

2 large ripe plantains (yellowish black to completely black skin)
butter
salt
1 lime
hot sauce (optional)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with tinfoil. Pierce the plantains all over with a fork, then put them on the baking sheet and let them bake in the oven for about 20 minutes, until tender when pierced with a knife. Take them out of the oven, slice them in half, and then slit the skin on each piece so you can peel it back like a baked potato. Mash up the plantain on the inside with a fork, add a pat of butter and some salt, and then serve with wedges of lime, and hot sauce.

Rutabagas
Rutabagas are also called yellow turnips, and they look kind of like yellowish turnips, only a lot larger. They also lack the peppery sort of taste that turnips have. They're generally coated in wax when sold in grocery stores, and they're a royal pain in the ass to peel, but they're a nice change of pace. Look for rutabagas that don't have any cracks or bruises on them, and don't look mushy or gross on the cut ends. Here's another alternative to mashed potatoes...

1 med/large rutabaga (about 1.5 lbs)
1 sweet apple (golden delicious, fuji, etc)
4 tblspoons butter
salt
1 small yellow onion (optional)

Peel and cube the rutabaga, cutting it into about 1/2" squares. Peel and cube the apple the same. Put the pieces in a large pot, and cover to about 1" over with cold water. Boil the rutabaga and apple until the rutabaga is tender, about 20 minutes. Drain pot, add about 3 tblspoons of butter to the mix, and then mash it all up. If you're going to use the onion, melt 1 tblspoon butter in a small pan on low. Slice the onion into thin strings, and then sautee slowly in the butter until the onion has turned soft and carmelized. Serve on top of the mashed rutabagas.

Groceries

So yeah...this is probably really boring for all of you, but I'm excited about it, so I thought I'd share. Me and Nick are going grocery shopping tomorrow and I finally took a little time out of my work day ;-) to plan out dinners for the next week and create a grocery list. Yay!! Hopefully it won't be too expensive or get too complicated, and by that I mean...hopefully it will stretch out enough to keep Nick satiated because maaaaannnnnn, but he eats A LOT!!! Also, it kind of needs to be kept under 100.00 since I only allot 400.00 a month for groceries. So, I'm hoping that I can do that by going to Shoppers Food Warehouse and employing my savvy shopper skills. I am skeptical that the total will stay under 100.00, but I'm going to give it a shot anywho...

Anywho, I figure, doing it this way seems to work for you three, so I thought I'd try it out too. Plus, it seems like an excellent way for my kitchen to grow and for me to eat healthier foods. I've been feeling really greasy lately, which is mainly due to all the junk that me and Nick eat on a regular basis; things like hamburger helper, pasta roni (which isn't too bad and quite tasty), oven-baked pizzas, take-out, etc... Sooo....I'm going to try this out for a week and see how I like it. Below are all the meals I plan on making for the next week:

Chicken Kabobs (w/ teriyaki sauce) served w/ Rice [4 kabobs, 2 c. rice; 2 servings]
-Lissa gave me this idea and the recipe for the teriyaki sauce, and I think it sounds tasty.

Chicken, Red Pepper & Green Bean Stir-Fry
Chicken Burritos
Taco Salad
Baked Penne w/ broccoli and three cheeses
Orzo w/ Ham and Goat Cheese, serve w/ broccoli florets
Chicken Gyros w/ Yogurt Dill Sauce
Feta Garbanzo beans and Eggplant Sandwich

So, yeah...I'll probably put up a new post each day and tell you all how I am doing and whether or not the recipes are any good. Wish me Luck!!!

In the mouth of Hell

Since this Friday night, Roy has been teething bad. He's been running a mild fever off and on, and is extremely unhappy. He woke up 3 times Friday night, and then woke up that morning starting at 520am. For the rest of Saturday, he alternated between crying and napping, and drooling on everything. Infant Tylenol helps a little bit, and giving him ice cream will settle him down for a few minutes as well, but for the most part he's just miserable. He was so unhappy Saturday night, we actually ended up just putting him bed between the two of us, because Russ and I were too exhausted to try staying up with him any longer. Then he spent Sunday running a mild fever and crying some more. His poor teeth hurt so bad, he didn't even want to drink anything... pretty much the only thing he would let us put in his mouth was yogurt or ice cream. Finally, last night I was cuddling him on the couch when he finally passed out, and I did as well. I woke up around 1am, and put him in his crib, and he finally slept the whole night through. He actually seems to be doing much better this morning, but I really feel like we spent this weekend in the mouth of hell. It was rough enough Russ called in sick today.

Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?

Have any of y'all see this show? Russ and I caught a few episodes of it last week, and it was absolutely hilarious. It's a game show modeled after Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, but the contestants are answering elementary school level questions, and their cheats come from a group of 10 year olds sitting on stage, answering the same questions the contestants are. Jeff Foxworthy hosts, and the contestants have the option of 'dropping out' and taking their current winnings at any time; they just have to say "I am not smarter than a 5th grader" when they do.

The questions are stupid-simple. But how many people still use what they learned in elementary school? So you get to sit on the couch and feel superior for how many elementary school level trivia questions you can answer, and laugh at the adults writhing in embarrassment on stage, because they can't remember how many states share a border with the Pacific ocean. ... or how many sides there are on a trapezoid. ... or whether or not walruses are native to the arctic. Funny stuff.

Yippeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

DUDETTES!!! Guess who is completely, 100% out of credit card debt? I AM I AM!!! As of today, I finally paid of my last credit card! Yes...I'm patting myself on the back...what of it?

Say 'Hello' to Anna Wetzel!

Last night, at 7pm, Anna Wetzel was born! She was 6lbs 1.5oz, and Richard reports that momma and baby are doing fine, although it was a very looong delivery. Congratulations, Richard and Leigh!

I'm so excited. Now Roy has a little cousin less than a year younger than he is! Outstanding timing!

Book Report - Tempting Danger

For my morning coffee the past few days, I read Tempting Danger by Eileen Wilks. It's the first in a (so far) 3 book series. Annoyingly, I really enjoyed the first book in the series, only to find that its sequel - Mortal Danger - is limited in its availability. Amazon was saying 1 to 4 weeks for it to ship, so I had to go through one of their 3rd party sellers to order it. I hate that. Bad enough when the first book in a series is no longer available, but to have the first and third available, but not the second? Crikey.

In any case, Tempting Danger appears to be another in the mixed genre thriller/romance variety. It's set in modern-day San Diego, in a world where people know werewolves and witches exist, and werewolves are legal - if barely. The lead female is a homicide detective in San Diego who can sense magic. She's investigating a murder that appears to have been committed by a werewolf. Her initial werewolf suspect is (of course) the charming, smokin' hot, sexually available, local werewolf prince. And as soon as they meet (of course) they're irresistably drawn to each other, because it turns out they're fated to be mated (hey I rhymed!). As cheesy as the setup sounds, the prose is good, the characters are well drawn, and the plot kept me engaged throughout. I'm keeping an eye on the mail for the sequel.

In other reading news.... my first issue of Buffy: Season 8 will ship in the next week or so, and I have the first four issues of the Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series. It's kept to the story-line from Guilty Pleasures so far, and the artwork has been really good. I'm interested in seeing how they handle things when they get to the gory parts... and if they continue past Guilty Pleasures, how they handle things when Anita becomes the slut-goddess from hell. Guilty Pleasures practically begged to be put into comic book form, though. There's something about a world peopled by vampires, werewolves, witches and the like that lends itself really well to little graphical boxes with bubble-text.

Oooh, and who else finished Blood Bound yet? I kinda wish Patricia Briggs would write longer books.... I finish them too quick, and I really enjoy reading her stuff.

Baby Teeth

Lemme tell you... it is not easy to get a picture of a baby's teeth without a clamp and forceps. But after several attempts, I finally managed...

Here they are, in all their glory. Roy's first two bottom teeth, picture taken through a torturous (for him) breakfast where momma was holding the spoon in one hand, and the camera in the other. See what I put him through for you guys?

My Roommate Must Wear a Wig

Just a quick little post. My roommate, we'll call her A for anonymity's sake, gave me some of her old hair products. She decided to go from brunette to blonde so she had all this "Brilliant Brunette" stuff left over. I've used this shampoo before and I liked it so I gladly accepted. I mean hey it saves me some dough right? Included in her castoffs was this "glosser". It's basically a temporary hair color that you smear on after you shampoo to give your color a little boost. It is supposed to be safe enough to use daily without damaging your hair. It made me break out in hives.

Yesterday I was sad to discover that my hairdryer, which has served me well for five years now, had died. It just would not turn on at all. This morning, I was in desperate need of a hairdryer, so I borrowed A's. As I was styling my hair this patch of nastiness magically appears on my head. I start thinking: "Is there poop in my hair? How did I not notice this earlier? What is that horrible smell?" I go to comb the mystery substance out of my hair (it seriously looked like poop, or melted caramel) and am horrified to discover that it's melted hair! That's right, I end up combing out a big chunk of my hair, that has been BURNED off my head by my roommate's nuclear powered hairdryer!

I mean seriously what the fuck? First her god damn hair shit gives me HIVES which has never happened to me before in my entire life. I mean I thought I was dying until I looked up my symptoms on the internet. Itching that much can be terrifying. AND THEN her fricking ridiculously-high-powered-covered-in-electrical-tape-cause-its-been-massacred-
by-her-bunny-radioactive-should-be-haz-matted-hairdryer just eats right through my beautiful hair!

I can still smell melted hair. Which brings me to my conclusion. Bitch is wearing a wig.

Here I thought of Something...My Quit Stats!!!

I have been quit for 10 Months, 1 Week, 6 Days, 15 hours, 8 minutes and 12 seconds (319 days). I have saved $1,761.95 by not smoking 11,187 cigarettes. I have saved 1 Month, 1 Week, 1 Day, 20 hours and 15 minutes of my life. My Quit Date: 3/26/2006 12:00 AM

I think I will take a vacation with the $1,761.95 I have saved and waste that 1 month, 1 week, 1 day, 20 hours and 15 min, that I have saved of my life and do ABSOLUTELY nothing. I'm sure I'll make it up sooner or later, so no worries. ;).

Livvy Post

Ok...I know I haven't posted in awhile, and here's why. I don't really have anything to say! Everything I do, you guys already know about. I work, go to school, do school work, exercise, run around outside with my friends which is practically the only time I get to see them, watch dad's dog, and spend time with my boyfriend. There's not much time for anything else, as all of the above takes up all--and then some--of my time...for the time being anywho.

I guess what I'm saying is that I'll have more to say later.

Toodles for Now.

Avoiding CHOW and MEALS

I was going to wait until Livvy posted again to put anything up, but this is burning a hole in my head, and Livvy is a slacker....

I've followed a sort of natural progression in my cooking and eating habits over the years. I decided I was sick of just eating the same old rotation of frozen vegetables, and wanted to cook with more fresh produce, so I bought Vegetables Every Day. Cooking with fresh produce made a natural progression into an interest in cooking more real food, and avoiding over-processed products. I'm not going to make my own bread (yet), but I find myself now obsessively examining the labels on the back of products in the grocery store. I only needed to get four days worth of food, and I had a list, but it still took us an hour because I kept having to sort through all the brands to find the one that was made with real ingredients, instead of refined, extruded, concentrated, processed, crap. The amount of crap that's in the 'food' available in stores astounds me. There's high fructose corn syrup in every damn thing you look at, from the obvious - like sodas, to the less obvious or expected - like salad dressing, and your bread. If they need to make it sweet, why the hell can't they just add some damn sugar?

Which brings me to the title of this post. I know Anna has read Good Omens, and I think the other two of you have. But I sat down to have my coffee this morning and it suddenly struck me that what I been so studiously avoiding in the grocery store last night were CHOW and MEALS.

CHOW contained spun, plaited and woven protein molecules, capped and coded, carefully designed to be ignored by even the most ravenous digestive tract enzymes... artifical sweeteners; mineral oils replacing vegetable oils; fibrous material, colorings, and flavorings. The end result was a foodstuff almost indistinguishable from any other except for two things. Firstly, the price, which was slightly higher, and secondly the nutritional content, which was roughly equivalent to that of a Sony Walkman. It didn't matter how much you ate, you lost weight. ...
MEALS was CHOW with added sugar and fat. The idea was that if you ate enough MEALS you would a) get very fat, and b) die of malnutrition.

Sounds eerily like what America is going through today, doesn't it? So that's my new years resolution. With the exception of candy (and I'm even going to work on that) I'm working to eliminate the CHOW and the MEALS from my family's diet. It's gonna mean making my own ice cream, or finding a place that sells Hagen-Daaz by the half-gallon. It isn't going to mean eating lower calorie foods, or less fried foods... but it is going to be a whole lot healthier.

If you're up for the reading, Unhappy Meals is an engrossing piece explaining how we started eating CHOW in the first place. You'll have to register for the NYTimes if you aren't already... or you can use bugmenot to borrow a login.