Penguins Like to Party, too!

Another holiday fun time at the Walrus Arms! Per usual, much champagne was consumed to the enjoyment of all! I learned, too, that penguins are very fond of champagne. I might even go so far as to say too fond...

He looks are happy here, ready to let the good times roll, ready to bring on more bottles of the bubbly...



But then, after a few, suddenly he's all in your face and, like, "back up, bi-atch, that there is my champagne! Do you get it? Do you see me here? I'm talking to you!"



But fear not, faithful readers, I let him know exactly what I thought about him getting up in my face like that!

And while the quality of this pic may not be the best, the smiles on the faces of these lovely friends of mine are just perfect!



Happy New Year's Everyone! Bring on 2010!!!! I'm ready for a new decade of joy and happiness and I mean to have it!

Sometimes there are no words...

Trying Out the New Digital Camera

Just got my new digital camera today -- days early as it wasn't due to arrive until 12/28. There's lot to learn about this thing. It's a Panasonic ZS3. So far I'm liking it. Overall it's easy to get started with and I'm just playing around with some settings. Here are my first favorite feline pics using the pet setting.

Katja up close and personal.


Katja doing some serious cuddledowning.


Oh, 'da Keiko!


Keiko keeping it real.


Keiko gazing off into space.

Oh, O'Doul's!

No names to protect the guilty.

Beware the Evil that is Cthulhu!

I recently acquired an icon of the evil god, Cthulhu.

Already the apartment is filled with the aura of his horrible beauty.



But some dreaded work is about... I received a second icon of him this afternoon. Could it be the story of old is coming true, that "They had come from the stars, and had brought Their images with Them"? Could it be that this second idol is just a warning of what is still to come?

If so, I say, come! Come Cthulhu, come! Cthulhu fhtagn, Cthulhu fhtagn!

Happy Thanksgiving!

It is possible that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year. Though it is a quintessential USA holiday, it should be a universal one -- a day when we can sit back and give thanks for all that is good in our lives and the world. It is easy to spend most of the time thinking on all the bad things that are going on, but it is important not to forget the good things, especially in a world where so many go without.

So I'm going to take a moment and acknowledge those good things and say some thanks: for being employed and having a roof over my head, for having a loving family, for being blessed with so many wonderful and truly exceptional friends, for being healthy, and for being loved. I know I am blessed.

My apartment is full of the smell of Thanksgiving. The turkey is in the oven cooking away. This year I'm making a cider glazed turkey that was brined overnight in a cider/water/salt/allspice bath. The skin is already browned and now I'm just going back in every so often to reglaze the flesh now cozily protected under foil. I expected the bird to take a good 5+ hours to roast as it's an 18-pounder, but the breast temp is already 155 degrees and it has only been roasting for a little over 2 hours. I expect this is because of the brining - I did read that a brined turkey will cook faster. But still. I've lowered the oven to 325, to slow things down a bit.

The stuffing is a fairly traditional sausage, apple and raison one using fresh sourdough bread. And though I was only planning on bringing the bird and the stuffing, I realized I couldn't have a Thanksgiving dinner without some sweet potatoes, so I also prepped a sweet potatoe dish with brown sugar, pecans and cinnamon. It may not be sweet potatoe pie, but I expect President Obama would enjoy it just fine where he joining us for dinner. Oh, yum, I can't wait to get to MH/EI's place so we can start the eating!

It will be a good group of us for dinner -- 8 total. Then the missing usuals will show up for dessert. It promises to be a fun afternoon and evening and I am especially thankful that this year it is at someone else's house. :-)

Happy Thanksgiving!

DimpleWalrus Shout Out!

I'm lucky to be surrounded by friends who are interesting, creative, fun and, yes, crazy. So while it's not that surprising when I get to do a shout out to one of them, it sure is special.

In the recent edition of 7X7: Insider's Guide to the Best of San Francisco, I guess it's the November/December printed edition, DimpleWalrus's 300 word love letter entry for her neighborhood, Hayes Valley, won the love letter of the month and was published. You can see the web version of the article here: http://www.7x7.com/content/e/hood-month-hayes-valley. But it would be better if you picked up a copy of the magazine - it just looks cooler to see the short and sweet essay in print, on glossy paper, surrounded by some nice neighborhood pics.

I sure am proud of that lady. Makes Bellhops all squishy and happy and cool and stuff.

Obsessive Activity Circle

Reading obsessively --> knitting obsessively --> WoWing obsessively --> repeat. I'm now in the WoWing part of the circle. My elbow hurts, but I'm having fun. :-)

I start my new job Monday. Already have projects on my list, plus the task of having to transition my replacement.

And please do check out KP's blog: http://saywhatkp.blogspot.com/. She's doing it for her class, so show her some support by reading and, if you are so moved, please post a comment, too! I know she'd appreciate any comments.

A Day Without Cats PROTEST

Go ahead, call me a crazy cat lady. Sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me! Besides, I revel in being called a crazy cat lady! I take pride in it! Granted, I only have 2 fluffy felines, but I consider all the beautiful fluffitudes living with friends and family as part of my own feline federation!

So, to you people over at Urlesque, and to you shamefully supporting cute lovers at Cute Overload, I PROTEST this Day Without Cats. You guise it in the form of giving cats a break, as if somehow cats need your help from shameful catsploitation. Cats don't want a break. They aren't being exploited. They believe, perhaps rightfully so, that they are the center of the universe and should always be in the forefront of everything. No, you insult them with this day, trying to hide them, pushing them into the closet, locking them in the laundry room! Shame, shame, shame.

Nuku supports this protest and happily presents his exceptionally fluffy tail and bloomers!

Agh, Knitting Frenzy!

Warning: This is a ridiculously long blog entry. I take no prisoners!

Since Saturday, I have twice been admonished for failing to update my blog.  In an effort to redeem myself, I shall therefore blog.  First to clarify: my failure to blog is not because I have been playing WoW obsessively.  In fact, you may doubt me when I say this, but I have not actually played WoW in many weeks.  The reality is I needed a WoW break -- and frankly I had to catch up on my movie watching.

I had a burst of Roku/Netflix watching madness where I watched all available seasons of the BBC series, The Chef, many many movies -- some of which were simply a poor use of my time, random episodes of 30 Rock, South Park, and Couplings, and, well, other stuff too.

Then I decided to catch up on my Tivo list -- which was mainly episodes of this season's The Closer.  Okay, kick ass.  The Closer still retains status as one of the best shows currently on television. (Speaking of which, who the heck did I loan my Season 1 DVD collection to?) And I caught up on Top Chef (only 3 episodes so far).

Once I was back on the television side of things, one thing led to another, and I started watching some On Demand stuff.  Like S2 of True Blood. I'll confess without shame to have watched all episodes twice, now. Snarfffable Survey says: 50-50 on the rating meter.  There are essentially two story lines, one involving vampires and the other not. Having a preference to vampires, I prefer that story line.  The other story line is just a bit over the top even for me and my fondness for supernatural curiosities.  Despite that, I think I might say that S2TB is better then the first.

Lest you think I've done nothing but work on turning my brain into mush, I have also been reading a lot.  On my Kindle, of course.  I read all the books in the Sookie Stackhouse series (of which True Blood was based on).  They were okay.  The first few were very entertaining, but as the series progressed I found the author spent far too much time trying to explain pervious storylines (in case a new reader started later in the series).  This was very distracting.  Also, I think the author lost some of her interest and enthusiasm because at seemed at times like she was trying to fill up the pages with anything, rather than something really good.  Nonetheless, I don't regret the time spent. The vampire love scenes were just perfect.  Who needs women's erotica when you can just pick up one of these books and thumb to a love scene with Sookie and her vamp of the week?

I read some other stuff, too.  I started re-reading the Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin in the hopes that the last book will come out soon -- or in prep for the HBO production.  Well, there are other books I could list, but suffice to say the Kindle makes it very convenient for me to read all sorts of random stuff.

So, that's a lot of TV/Movie watching and book reading.  But that is not all.  I have also been knitting like a fiend.  I knitted a little cozy for my MacBook Air because I couldn't find a cover I liked.  That then inspired me to knit a cozy for my Kindle.  Of course I then had to make cozy's for the Slacker, so know he has his own set.  I'm also knitting a scarf for PacoTacoMike to keep him warm out there in the windy madness of Chicago.  I'm using Misty Alpaca Chunky and let me tell you, such softness!  I found the very manly pattern on a knitting blog for a yarn shop out in Philly -- can't link to it yet cause I don't want PTM to see the scarf pattern before he gets his -- but that blog led me to several other patterns I am also working on -- some new scarves with lovely silk and beaded yarn and a lap blanket for the Slacker (in dark colors, of course). The yarn for the blanket is organic cotton, perfect for the Bay Area. I liked the Misty Alpaca so much that I got some for myself and am knitting another scarf for myself.  When I'll ever have cause to wear such a warm scarf, I have no idea.

This here is my MacBook Air Cozy.  One thing I do have to say about this was my seaming at the bottom kicked ass. I'd say very nearly perfect.  I also really dig the pico edge I did after the couple of inches of seed stitch. Gives it a nice finish.


This one is the Kindle Cozy I made the Slacker.  I was trying for a much different pattern, but I didn't plan out well, and this is what I ended up with.  I'm not really happy with it, but the Slacker likes it, so I guess it will do for now.  When I find another yarn I like I'll knit him a new one.  I made myself one in this same yarn, but it's a straight stockinette stitch with just a little change towards the top edge where I did a couple of rows of seed stitch before going back to stockinette for the final inch before bind-off.


Here's Slacker's MacBook Air Cozy.  The yarn I used was a much lighter weight -- really a sock yarn -- so the stitches are much finer.  I really loved the variegated blue yarn and it worked up beautifully.


Here's some pics of works-in-progress...

This one is a scarf I'm making with the scrumptious beaded silk yarn noted above (I purchased several colors so I could make one for a few of the girls). Below that is a pick of the 3 other yarn colors.




This one is another scarf in the same pattern as the above but using the Misty Alpaca Chunky.


And this one is Slacker's blanket in progress. I'm using just four colors and I'm planning on 3 repeats of those colors (though the size is off from the pattern, which will require me buying 4 more skeins of yarn). I'm thinking the middle repeat will have more rows of the pattern, maybe 8 or 10 depending on how much yarn I have.


My hands have not been idle.

Amidst all the above, I've done a little bit of socializing and relaxing, but nothing exceptional.

Oh, I am changing jobs, too.  I asked to transition from my position as the Director of the Project Management Office to a newly created position of Sr. Systems Analyst.  I decided I didn't want to keep doing the project management stuff.  I'm hoping the new position will give me a chance to get back to doing some more technical things. We'll see how that pans our over time.  I'll be in the programming/dba group and my main focus is to be the go-between between our functional users and our technical team.

So, there's my update.  I can only hope this will satisfy my impatient readers.

Ciao!

Kittehs! The Horror!

What better way to start my vacation then with a post about KITTEHS!!!!

Really, one can only tolerate so much cuteness in one day. Despite the dastardly heat this past Saturday (88 degrees at 10:00 am up to 104.5 degrees at 5:00 pm in Sonoma) I found myself completely in thrall of these lovelies. But really, can anyone blame me? I mean, for pity's sake, their cuteness is quite demonic and therefore absolutely irresistible.

First, the duet: Samantha (the calico) and Tiburon (the tabby). Both girls, about 2 months old, rescued from the animal shelter in Petaluma.



Then some Samantha details:

Clearly she is thinking, "Yes, human, come closer so I can practice my claw-sharpening skills on your soft, fleshy, furless face. Yes, closer... closer..." (Notice the serious whiskerage.)



Samantha, being exhausted from her various skill improvements, decided she'd relax with my Kindle. She was certain that Pride and Prejudice and Zombies would be to her liking. She ended up dozing off instead, the poor tired little sweetling. (Notice shaved little belleh!)



Then there is Tiburon (aka the blood thirsty shark). This is what happens to kittehs after they've been scratched behind their ears for just a little bit. Total collapse. She stayed like this for a LONG time. In fact, I was unable to depart because of it. How could I possibly move? I might have disturbed her!



Okay, look, if you're going to get sick from the overwhelming cuteness, please take it elsewhere... (Notice the multi-colored schnozzle.)



And finally, a must have for all you Rorschach fans. What do you see there? No, please, keep it to yourself... really...

Picture Catch-Up

It's been a while since I posted pictures, so here are some catch-up pictures. Hope you enjoy!

A picture of Joe with the lovely, fog-shrouded Golden Gate in the background. This was taken on the J&B day we had on his last visit to SF.



Joe and I drove down below the bridge, on the north east side. While walking out on the dock there was a big ole' seagull chilling out. I took a nice pic of the big guy just sitting there. As I went to snap another pic, he just took flight... I love this shot... look at his cute little web feet...



Some fungi I came across while talking a walk through Muir Woods with Michael and Edwin. Tasty.



A lovely yellow flower -- if you know what kind a flower it is, let me know -- seen on the same Muir Woods walk.



And saving the best for last, my folks! This is from their March trip. We went to the Japanese Tea Garden.

I Have Kindled my Reading Fire

Test drive of my bro's Kindle was a success. So, he got me one as a VERY early xmas/bd present -- yes, I'm painfully spoiled.

I've already downloaded a bunch of books:
The Strain, by Chuck Hogan and Guillermo Del Toro
World War Z, by Max Brooks
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith (yes, the four Bennet sisters are quite adept at decapitating zombies -- as if there was any doubt)
The Little Stranger, by Sarah Waters
Fool Moon (Dresden Files, book 2), by Jim Butcher

I'm contemplating We Can Have Peace in the Holy Land, by Jimmy Carter, but the sample only goes up to part of the introduction, so I don't get a real sense of Carter's writing, so I'll have to wait to check out the book in the store so I can read the first few pages of the first chapter.

I also downloaded a free book Amazon was providing, Serial, by Jack Killborn and Blake Crouch. We'll see how that goes.

Oh, and an issue of the Narrative writing journal. Just to check it out.

Anyway, I'm digging it. Is it possible I'm reading faster with this device? I find that hard to believe, but who knows.

To Kindle or Not to Kindle..

My friend, Walker, recently passed a Kindle commentary by Pierre Tristam along to me as I had told her I was taking my brother's Kindle for a test drive.

I loved the article and, in essence, agreed with him... the Kindle is a good supplement, but it won't replace my desire to have the physical book. I was talking to another friend about it last night and he, being somewhat of a purest and a skeptic, was opposed in principle to the Kindle. But, as I explained, I read so many books that I don't keep or, frankly, don't want to keep, why shouldn't the Kindle be a good solution? If I come across a book on the Kindle that speaks to me like any number of other books have in the past, I'll have no problem buying a hard copy and adding it to my collection. But for all those murder mysteries, spy novels, the occasional guilty pleasure of a romance novel, the random funny books I find and the multitude of fantasy novels the Kindle may prove very worthwhile.

Tristam write, "Most of all, books' physical existence reassures me." He's right. There is something about seeing those books on the shelf, knowing I can pull one down, feel it's weight in my hands, finger through the pages looking for a particular passage or quote, that somehow ensures me that all is okay with the world, even in times that often seem dire.

But boy, finding a book I'm interested in and being able to download it in seconds and be reading it in minutes... well, that's something, too!

Laziness is a Virtue

It is my humble (perhaps not so) opinion that being lazy is, in fact, a virtue. Why is it that people think we should always be productive? Always doing something. Accomplishing something. Achieving something. Blah. I say, be lazy. Lounge. Recline. Nap in the middle of the day if you like.

Of course, it doesn't hurt that I'm on a little vacation. It is easy to be lazy when you have rented a little cottage amid tall redwoods. A place where you can stumble out of bed at your leisure and immediately curl up on the couch with a book until you feel productive enough to get breakfast together -- at, oh, around about 11 a.m.

Pan to just around one o'clock when you decide it might be worthwhile to take a drive somewhere, like out to Occidental to peruse the little shops. Then another leisurely drive out to the ocean via Coleman Valley road. Maybe a stop in Bodega to check out the historical location of the school house from The Birds. Then maybe a late (4:00) lunch at a tasty, tho' decidedly over-priced, restaurant on Tomales Bay. Ah, fresh oysters. Wine. Fresh cut french fries. Grilled sardines. Yum.

Pan back to the cottage for another evening of doing absolutely nothing -- not even games. Just sitting on the porch or couch reading, occasionally chatting, but mainly just being quiet. The only real noises the crackling of the fire, the occasional snorts of the pug or the periodic Michael-chuckle.

I say, laziness is a good thing and done far to infrequently. Revel in it when the opportunity arises!

Fire Fire Burning Bright

Ah, the joy of a smoldering fire. Here we are up in the Russian River area in our little weekend cottage getaway. Michael shows off his fire-making prowess as we settle down for the evening.



We had a really nice drive up to Healdsburg where we walked around the square a little and then had dinner outdoors (restaurant patio). Weather is warm, tho' the night is cool enough for the fire. There were many children playing on the grass next to our table. It made Edwin and I cranky. Kids, who needs 'em!

The cottage, built in 1938, is terrible cute and quaint. Perfect for the 3 of us and The Gobi.

Tomorrow perhaps some wine tasting and a drive across the valley and the hills to Calistoga.

Birdie

Oooohhhhh Lobster

Yum

I'm Not Admitting Anything...

... http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/833751/how_i_overcame_world_of_warcraft_addiction.html?cat=19

Do Re Mi Joymaker

It's been a while since I wrote anything, so how appropriate to come back with a great item to share. Many of you may already have seen this video on You Tube, but I first came across it in an email from my Dutch Uncle and had at least one other friend ask me if I had seen it (thanks, Walker), which lead me back to Uncle Jim's email.

I can't explain why I react as I do when watching this. All I can say is it fills me with a weird and profound kind of joy and hope. I cry each time I watch it, which makes no sense. In a way, it reminds me of a quote from Goethe's The Sorrows of Young Werther, where he writes,

"Sometimes it takes hold of me--not fear, not desire, but an inner unfathomable turmoil that threatens to break the confines of my breast and choke me." (*)

Though for Werther this quote describes a darker feeling of turmoil, watching this little production makes me think of the turmoil not as something sad, but as the joy I'm suddenly filled with and as it breaks free of my breast, the choking is me trying to get my breath back after being overwhelmed with the pure joy of seeing all these people dancing to Do Re Mi. I suppose that is the beauty of art that it can suddenly inspire in you such a depth of feeling.

I hope you all get as much pleasure from watching this as I did, and continue to do.



(*) From the Signet Classic translation by Catherine Hutter, 1962, p107.

One More Reason for WoW...

For some of you it is hard to understand why I enjoy playing WoW. But it isn't always just about running around killing things. Blizzard did a beautiful job with the graphics for this game. Sometimes I'll just be wandering around on a quest and I'll come across something just lovely and have to take a moment to appreciate the moment. So it was tonight, as I was trying to find my way back to an Alliance base in Azshara, where I could catch a gryphon to Tanaris. A lovely waterfall in the distance. So, I wandered up the rocks a bit for a better view and then sat down to just enjoy the falling water. I could very nearly hear the roar in the distance and I imagined how lovely it would be if I could be in that place, smelling the fresh air, feeling the cool breeze through my hair. Don't get me wrong, this doesn't replace the real thing. But in a world where we work more then we play, even a moment of peace found in an online game environment can be worth a lot.



Granted, if I was on a PC I probably would have had better graphics, but I'm happy to have my gynormous iMac.

On a separate note, today was the 2nd Annual Business & Finance / ITS Chili Cook-Off. I spent Sunday preparing my chili with as much love and experimentation as possible and ended up with what I thought was a particularly excellent batch of turkey chili. I ended up getting 3rd place again this year (2 green ladles now). A fun and tasty time was had by all and I look forward to next year's event. Here's Mr. B helping get the chili samples out -- once again patiently working with a bunch of perfectionist women.



Also today, a visit to the physical therapist. We had a two week hiatus while she was out of town, so I was a bit apprehensive about going to see her, feeling like I had slacked off a bit. But things weren't too bad. While it seems like a didn't improve much, she noted that she wasn't having to work that hard to stretch it out. She thinks we may be able to move soon to just twice a month. Tomorrow I have a check in with the orthopedic surgeon. I'm sure that will go well.

Avoid Migraine Medicine Late in the Day

Okay, note to self: do not take migraine meds (in this case the basic over-the-counter Excedrin for Migraines) late in the day. My migraine is gone, but the 65mgs of caffeine -- which doesn't seem like much to me -- has me totally wired. For the past three and a half hours I have been tackling a whole host of work related tasks. I started out just planning to do some quick project updates, but then I kept going, and going, and going, like the proverbial Energizer Bunny. I have, however, been extremely productive. But I might have also added a bunch of tasks to my Toodledo list. I will not look at it any more tonight and tackle it tomorrow instead.

I've got American Idol playing in the background, while I wait with baited breath to see who will get booted. I am surprised to say that the first two folks Ryan pulled out as in the bottom three where not from my list of poor performers. It is very stressful. LOL.

My elbow continues to improve slowly. I have a two-week hiatus between PT appointments while my physical therapist is out of town. I've been off-and-on with my stretching, but I am trying to remember to stretch the arm as much as I can during the day. I hope when I see her on Monday that there will be some improvement despite my minor slacking.

Hoping to see Watchmen this weekend. Will post a review if I do.

Update: oops, just realized I took two of those Excedrins, so that's 130mgs of caffeine! According to a Yahoo Answers! response, that's more than the caffeine in two cans of Mountain Dew and just a little less then that in two cans of Jolt! Eeek and Eee Gads! I swear I'm blinking only four times a minute right now! LOL. Please let my new SleepStream iPhone app work tonight!

The Latest Victim

Katja and her deadly fangs have struck again. This time, my poor Dad. Apparently Katja did not appreciate the ruckus we were making. First, she attempted to attack me. I soothed her and she seemed to have settled and we lowered our voices. But then, while she was walking along the couch's armrest, Dad did the typical and seemingly pleasurable act of petting her when, yes, out came her fangs. Normally this would be a minor nip, but the heart meds Dad is on thin his blood, plus I think his skin has thinned with age. My poor, wounded father. Luckily the house was full of medical supplied and all was taken care of with no shedding of tears, or fur for that matter.

While I blame the noise volume on Katja's nipping tendencies, I suppose I should consider the possibility that she has grown to like human flesh and that, in reality, no one is safe.

Yum

Oh, the yumminess of it all!

Wine, wine and some more wine

The weekend away at Russian River for Barrel Tasting weekend was lovely. We rented a place on the river from Russian River Vacation Homes called River Dream. On the whole, the place was really nice. It is much more spacious than it appears in the pictures. Kitchen was nice, deck was nice, having a gas fire made things easy. But... ah, with a rental house there is always a but... the beds were very soft. I think they were using the memory foam type mattresses, but if they were they weren't the good ones (not like SP's). Of the 3 beds, two lodgers complained. Also, the site says wifi, but we almost never had a usable signal. The biggest complaint, though, is that the site says the place sleeps 8, if you use the pull-out couch off the living room. But the couch was unusable. AS ended up sleeping on the couch without it being pulled out (it was a love seat size) and MM slept on the wicker couch in the living room. They had a tough time of it, poor things. Other than that, the place was nice and we all enjoyed the weekend there. I would consider renting the place again, but not for more then would sleep in the three bedroom and without any expectation of wifi.

Saturday was our day of tasting. I purchased gobs of wine... we hit quite a few vineyards, starting further north than we usually do: Korbel (where we picked up our tickets), Dutcher Crossing, David Coffaro, Mazzoco and Quivira. I bought several bottles at Dutcher Crossing, one at David Coffaro (I would have bought futures there, but you had to buy by the case and it was just too much), and a ton of stuff at Mazzoco (per usual). I ended up joining their club because I wanted to buy some of their Maple Reserve, but only club members could buy it, so there you go. The plus was I got to taste to reserve wines they weren't actually pouring that day, one of which goes for about $125/bottle. It was a very nice, smooth Zin, though MM turned his nose up at it. By the time we got to Quivira, I could no longer taste anything and just hung out outside with EI. In total, I think I came home with 10 bottles. Not too bad. I look forward to drinking each and every bottle I purchased. :-)

We had two nice dinners together, too. Friday night AS and I prepared dinner (simple pasta and sausages). Saturday night, MM's friend R, who had joined us for the day, cooked up some extremely tasty Chicken Karange (sp?) with rice and broccoli, finishing it off with her insanely delicious rum cake. Yum. Word. Of course, no weekend would be complete without beef, and despite all the food a big bit of tri-tip ended up on the grill and served up with breakfast this morning.

Overall, it was a very good weekend, what with it being my first trip since the fall and my first time really drinking again. I truly was missing wine.

Now I must prep for a week with the folks. Dad and Adele arrive Tuesday.

Gobalicious

The Gobe snoozing will we are rambunctious. Half the group heading
into Guernville for drinks.

RR Settling

Fire going. Chilling. Soon to open the first bottle of wine.

U2's New Album: No Line on the Horizon

Just want to say... it kicks ASS!

Mmmmm, Fresh Brains

This is Sarah's brain. Really.

New Toesies!

Red like your blood. Tasty.

Cook with YOUR Heart!

I was very disappointed with the outcome of Top Chef this week. First of all, the arrogance of Stefan and Hosea thinking that they only competition they had was each other -- regardless of Carla's later poor decisions -- was stomach churning. Guys get over yourselves. All you proved is what we all already know -- you have to have faith and confidence in yourself.

This is where Carla lost it. Here we have a gifted and talented woman chef who doesn't want to ruin someone in the process of achieving victory. A woman who cooks lovely and, from her progress in the show, yummy food. Who's confidence in herself progressed from the beginning all the way until the very last episode. Her she loses it and takes advice from her sous chef -- a previous LOSER -- on what to cook. Carla, honey, cook your OWN food your OWN way with your OWN heart!

But I suppose I should be relieved it was Hosea who won and not Stefan. Stefan's disrespectful brand of arrogance brings out the worst in me.

But now we have American Idol, so my reality show compulsion has a new line of focus. I do have to say that some of the 36 have been sounding pretty darn bad. I feel for them and the stress. But I had to cringe at a few of the performances. I do look forward to getting the final 12 decided.

Until next time!

Elbow Update

Just wanted to give an update on the elbow. Despite the ibroprofen setback, I'm still improving. Yesterday, for the first time, I was able to bend my arm back enough to touch my thumb to my shoulder! Last time I had seen my surgeon I told him in no uncertain terms that I was determined to do that, and I know can! I look forward to the time when I can do it without having my left arm help me on the way!

Straightening the elbow is better, too. At PT last week we got it within 5 and 10 degrees of being straight! Woo Hoo!

Pronation and supination is still tough, but we make progress. Both get pretty far now. I think at one point we got supination to 75 degrees!

So, progress continues!

A Plague on My Right Side

If my stomach were located on the right side of my body, then I would know for certain that there is a hex on my right side. Newest right side injury... mushed toe while stumbling into the bathroom yesterday afternoon. Luckily it looks worse then it feels.



Speaking of my tummy, my diet is exciting these days: oatmeal, bananas, apple juice, oatmeal, bread, oatmeal, white meat poultry, oh, and more oatmeal. Yum.

To Hell, To Hell

Is there no justice in my world? Just when I get off the pain meds - no vicodin since Saturday - I get hit with a return of the acid reflux, thanks to the awesome ibroprofen I've been taking for my arm. Two nights of misery and sleeplessness. I just want to be normal again. Sigh. Whimper. Whine. Complain. I have until March 6 to recuperate from this, cause that is barrel tasting weekend and I will NOT be prevented from tasting!

On a pleasant note... kitties in a basket!!!!

WoW Valentine's Celebrations

My new Blood Elf Warlock, Sorean, has been grinding away at the Valentine's Day activities. Today she acquired several achievements, including completing the special quest chain which led her into the dangerous foothills above Hillsbrad. Luckily she has many lives because otherwise, well, it wouldn't have been pretty. Instead, she ended up just lovely in her new sexy blue party dress. She also has one in black because you never know where your sweet green Orc might be taking you.



While you may not be able to see it in this pic, she's also sporting some pink polish on her toes!

What's a Girl to do?

A girl cannot be held responsible when in a shop surrounded by cuteness and lovliness...

On my way home from work this afternoon I stopped over at Q for some mac and cheese and tots for take-out. While waiting for the food to be prepared I went across the street to a visit to Park Life. These are the items I just felt I couldn't do without...

• Chicken tape dispenser... I mean, how could I not get that for my desk?
  
• Wood stapler... a girl's got to think about the environment sometime.
  
• Earrings... perhaps far too extravagant, but hand tooled, all gold, so, that's okay, right?
  
• Tokidoki cuteness... no justification is necessary.
  
• And an egg... but not just any egg... I won't provide any more details because this is actually a gift for Walker... of course, now as soon as she reads this she's going to be, like, why did Snarfff get me an egg... muwhahahaha, my evil plan is working!
  

And just in case that Tokidoki cuteness needs a closer look... meow, pfftttt!

All Gone

No more sushi here...

In the Snarfffable T.V. News...

Every once in a while a t.v. commercial comes along that just makes me giggle, say to friends, "hey, did you catch that commercial for...", and has me hitting the back button when skipping through a Tivo recording. It has been quite a while since I've seen such a commercial, but it's here. It seems that this particular one first aired during the Superbowl... I must have been chatting with the girls when it aired cause I'm sure I would have remembered it...



"Mmmm, mushy mush..." Where's my melon baller? Go Hulu.

On another t.v. related note, I'm in reality t.v. overload. A.I. has been going along just dandy. Today they selected the 36 contestants who will start the public voting part of the competition. I think it's a good group of interesting and talented performers. We've got the crazy ones (split personalities, drama queens) and the heart wrenchers, the ones you love to hate and the ones you just love cause they are just so freakin' cute... I'm so ready to vote! But why is it that the one truly irritating and annoying one comes from SF? Well, she may be a weirdo, but she does have a great voice, so I say, bring it Tatianna!

Then there's Top Chef. Down to the final 4 tonight and I'm happy to say my favs made it... Karla, the lovely, long, lean Southern lady who reminds me of an graceful crane and who makes beautiful and simple food and Stefan, who I don't really like cause he's just an arrogant ass, but whose food looks very good, very tasty and creative and I wouldn't mind chowin' down on some of those little bites. Meh to the other two. They don't impress me much. But during the show Fabio did totally make me laugh when, after messing up his finger and being asked if he wants to go to the hospital says, "Hospital? I'll chop it off and sear it on the flat top so it doesn't bleed any more and tomorrow I'll deal with nine fingers." No wimpiness there... but I will say with complete certainty that if he was racing through the kitchen, slipped and dislocated his elbow he wouldn't be saying the same thing... :-)

The End of another Weekend

Well, here it is, Sunday evening already. Why is it weekends always go by so quickly? Is it because we are so happy that we are blissfully unaware of the time passing by, unlike while at work where we just can't wait to get out and watch the clock far too closely? Regardless, it's back to work tomorrow and the hopes for a quick passing.

The weekend was nice. Drove down to SJ to visit the bro and got to see SP and the Gabeish, too. Helped out the economy by doing some shopping at Fry's, though I was a bit irked tonight when I opened up my new DVD of The Pelican Brief only to discover it was damaged. Instead, I'm watching Raider's of the Lost Ark.

Today I crawled out of bed late for my brunch date with Walker... thankfully she is patient with me :-) We went to Paul K, which I have written about before, if you recall. Overall I was very pleased with our food. I had brioche french toast with blueberry butter and maple syrup. YUM! Walker had poached eggs with smoked sturgeon (they were out of lox), served over a biscuit and then topped with hollandaise sauce. Another tasty dish, though the sauce was a tiny bit too lemony. Consistency was nice, however, and the swapping of the english muffin with the biscuit was a nice touch. We shared some maple bacon -- well, what can I say about bacon? YUM! We also shared a trio of sorbet -- blackberry, white peach and raspberry, I think. All tasty. And of course we enjoyed a lively chat and each other's company. We then took a little walk, stopped at the local bookshop where I picked up Shalimar the Clown, by Salman Rushdie (haven't read him before so we shall see) and ended up back to her place to watch A Secret Life of Bees, which I liked a lot, though it did make me cry.

This brings me to a quick update to my blog structure... I have never successfully kept my lists for currently reading, recently read, recently watched updated, so I decided to take them out and have added one list for "worth reading/watching." I'll only put things worth mentioning there.

Hope all of you are doing well!

Khoma-licious

Khoma reallocating Slacker's shoulder for his own feline purpose.

Drinks Out

Went out after work for drinks with some work colleagues. Location: Poleng Lounge. I ordered a Hylantree, some froofie cocktail concoction with the following ingredients: muddled lime, nigori sake, elder- flower liquor, and a kiss of apple. A kiss of apple? The bartender was pretty cute, so I guess that's okay. Only downfall to the drink -- it was garnished with a cucumber. Who garnishes a fruity drink with cucumber? I could have done without the cuc -- and I love cucs -- but come on...

Michael and Bill

Friday Acheivement

Woo Hoo!!! I tied my shoes all by myself today! Now if only I could collect change without dropping it all! But still... to be able to tie my shoes, well, that's just great progress.

Missing Plate Setting?

Monster is certain Suie forgot to set a place for him...

There are no words...

Foot Massage

Monster gives Niyazi a foot massage.