Loot! Loot for m..e?

Actually, I did not get super excited when I picked up the package from the post office this morning.  (It was express, and they wanted me to sign for it.)  I suspected and then saw that it was from John the Scientist and Nathan.  I had a little thrill of apprehensive fascination, wondering what strangeness awaited me.

I did open it at work, but not with anyone nearby, so I didn't have to explain why someone was sending me food-grade bull penis.  Mmmm... yummy!  :D
I think the really raunchy jokes will be reserved for a more private venue, but job well done, boys.  I think I was a little more icked out by the idea of meat that's been in the mail (with an ice pack, yes) for a day or two, rather than the source of the meat itself.  I'm probably not going to eat it a) because it was in the mail for a day or two and b) because it's main attribute seems to be chewiness (and is a good treat for dogs).  Nice try.

A Study in Contrasts

The Seattle Space Needle as Legos (from the UCFers)
St. Basil's Cathedral as a 3D puzzle (from Karen)

Thank you, everyone!

One of these was well documented and easy to assemble.  The other?  Mmm... not so much.  The former I'll be keeping on my bookshelf.  I'll let you guess which that is...  :)

My FABULOUS PRIZE

I believe the established procedure is to exclaim:
"Loot! Loot! Loot for ME!"

Last week, Janiece asked for some feedback on what graphic she should use on her next set of address labels. She promised a prize, but I consider living within a short drive of Janiece to be a prize in itself.
Surprisingly enough, I actually won.

Today, my prize arrived... YAYAYAYAY!

Yes, those are the (in)famous Bonbon Bars!
Of course, when I was photographing the above, Matti had to check things out. :)


I've decided to save them for my visit with Susan next weekend. I find pleasures shared are generally twice as nice as pleasures alone.

How on earth am I resisting the siren call of the Bonbon Bars? Well, I don't think I could have if I didn't have these in the fridge:


Thank you so much, Janiece! You are the best!

Driving off the Goths

On Saturday morning, I went to counter protest the Westboro Baptist Church. (Google them if you are curious. I'm not going to link to them here.) They are a bunch of extremists whose basic premise is the God hates homosexuals so much that he is destroying America for its tolerance of them and blacks, Jews, and pretty much everyone else who is not like them. (Where people get the idea that God and Jesus are white and the Bible was originally written in English is beyond me. I won't even get into their missing the point of Christ's message of universal love.) They came to Denver for a long weekend to protest various places and on Saturday (the Jewish sabbath, I'd like to point out) they decided to protest at several Jewish temples and community centers.

Here's how I got into the counter protest:
Hot Chick, Janiece, posted about her interest and ambivalence in going. On one hand, conventional wisdom is that one should not reward inappropriate behavior with attention. On the other, is being silent the equivalent of being complicit in their behavior? There was much discussion on Janiece's blog and I decided to join her when she decided to attend.
The day of the protest arrived and our ranks had swelled to four, including Janiece's Hot Daughter and our dear friend, Stacey. It was a cold, damp day and the WBC group was small and included a couple children. We followed them around to their various locations, stopping for coffee and then a delicious sandwich at the Spicy Pickle during the intermissions. Janiece gives a great summary of the day on her blog (with pictures!), so go there for more detail, but suffice to say, we felt successful at the end of the day. At the third venue, the WBCers left halfway through their allotted time (as specified in their protest schedule on their blog). I never thought that would happen!
Why did I end up doing it? Because I wanted the targets of the protests and the people who saw us by the side of the road to know that I don't agree with the sentiments professed by the WBC, and furthermore, that I cared enough to speak out against it. This is unusual for me, as I generally tend to live my beliefs, not try and change others minds, but I guess it was a confluence of circumstances -- me feeling more extroverted than usual, having friends I wanted to support, and a ridiculously wrong group (I find most groups to be varying shades of gray, but not this one) coming to Denver. And finally, I went because of what one of my favorite protest signs said, "Thanks Westboro, You're Only Bringing Us Together!"

And I'm glad I went. Otherwise, I'd never had found out that Godfrey is Love.

Now That's a Knife

As always, I had a wonderful time during my cousin and friend, Susan's, visit. She came down yesterday at about noon and we went shopping. First, to the Savory Spice Shop, where we got - you guessed it - spices and herbs. (One was a truffle salt that we are going to share, but Susan forgot to take her half.) Then, we stopped by a new place, In Season Local Market, that specializes in local produce. We purchased eggs (pasture-fed), yoghurt, mushrooms (elephant ear and some red-capped something-or-other), and soap. Then, it was off to one of my favorite places to empty my pockets, Sur Le Table. There, among other things, Susan contributed towards my latest birthday present, a new knife:



It's a lovely blade and I look forward to using it lots and lots! :D

It's always tough to avoid spending way too much at Sur Le Table, but I've never regretted a purchase from there, so I guess it's alright. Finally, we stopped by a pretty large Asian supermarket that a friend of mine pointed out to me that I hadn't checked out yet. It's pretty awesome, with great looking produce and a huge selection of ramen (they even had Tung-I!). I found the proper boba pearls (I'd like to learn to make "bubble tea"), mochi ice cream, and other fun stuff.

As Susan and I are fans of fine cuisine, we usually try to find ourselves somewhere delicious to feast. Yesterday, it was Brasserie Felix (which is only 1.5 miles from my house, so we walked). We had red wine (a Spanish Tempranillo), escargot, paté, beef bourguignon, and coq au vin. All was delicious. We ended the day with a long, deep talk, chocolate peanut nut dessert, and a chocolate digestif.

The next morning, after sleeping in as long as we dared, we put The Knife to work with the local produce we had bought. Here's the mushrooms and some bacon:

Added the eggs (they were mixed colors, indicating mixed breeds of chickens):


The final breakfast included: eggs scrambled with mushrooms and bacon, yoghurt sweetened slightly with honey (delicious!), Indian chai, and bread with apple butter and chokecherry jam.


I gave the knife a workout this afternoon, chopping up lots of veg for a lentil-rice-vegetable dish. It tastes yummy and has lots and lots of veg, but the lentils are way overdone. Note for all y'all: lentils do NOT need to be soaked prior to cooking, no matter what the package says.

When I saw this...

I thought of my good friend, Jen Amber.
This is the vault where they keep county records at a courthouse I visited recently. They're vaulted not to keep people away, but to keep the records in a safe environment. There are racks and racks of these books and when I saw them, I thought of Jen. She loves things with cool patterns and this was right up her alley.

:)

Birthday Weekend, Part 1

I have a brief lull in my work schedule and I'm trying to get the Bathroom-in-the-Basement done, so I decided to take a couple days off work to do that and to relax a little for my birthday. The progress on the BitB is going well. I managed to get the tile walls grouted and Sunday I'll do the floor. Hopefully I can set up an appointment for the plumber to install the plumbing fixtures early next week. There are still quite a few things to do, but the end is in sight!

The birthday weekend had a good start when I found a box from Amazon on my doorstep. I opened it to find three books from my Amazon wishlist:

The packing slip said "Happy Birthday! Happy Birthday! Happy Birthday to YOU! Love, Michelle and Michael"
Thank you so much, Michelle and Michael! You guys are awesome. I love that you picked such a diverse selection. Big hugs!

Today I'm going to a friend's to help with a school project, to Janiece's for a little R & R, and then to another friend's to cook up some Indian food and do some socializing.

I love long weekends. You can get stuff accomplished AND relax!

WWA: Back At Home

For those who enjoyed Michelle's Weekly Word Association last week, it's back in it's rightful home.

And Anne's Blog can go back to being the sleepy little town after the president's cavalcade passed through its one intersection.

Wednesday Word Game: The Road Show

I just went over to Michelle's for a mid-day break and a peek at how her Wednesday Word Association game was going. I was sad when I arrived there and remembered that she is taking a well earned blogging break. So I decided to pick up where she left off and give the WWG a home until she's back (to let you know - she can really shake 'em down). If you're not clear on the ersatz "rules" take a look at the most recent game to figure it out.

This is an experiment, since I don't get quite the traffic that Michelle does, but I hope it entertains some of you.

The word is: cookie.

I Miss My Friends!

A couple weeks ago, a bunch of friends, including a Hot Chick and Her Smart Man, went to Seattle to have fun without me. :(
Oh, I was invited, I just didn't have the funds to go along. I'm not saying they should have canceled the event, since I wasn't able to go, but the least they could have done was have a horrible time! But noooooo, they had to have a wonderful time...
:)
Seriously though, I was sad to miss out on the laughter, the sushi, the shoes, and the geek fun. I am starting an emergency UCF get together fund to make sure I can go to the next one.

In any case, my dear friends got me the super cool Lego version of the Space Needle pictured above. After I open it and put it together, I'll photograph it next to the 3D puzzle I got as a prize at Christmas. I'm pretty sure it'll be a study in contrasts. (My sister knows whereof I speak. :)
Thank you so much guys! It's wonderful that you thought of me! I missed you!

In fact, that could be said for most of my friends. Some of them are doing a great job of keeping in touch and not letting me get too focused on work. So I am getting to see a few of them, but I miss them all, nonetheless! Thank you, my friends, for being MY FRIENDS. You are awesome.

A Full Weekend

Had a full weekend, even without adding work into the mix.
I spent Saturday with family:
- seeing my nephew taking pride in his new ability to walk
- making chicken wonton soup with my sister
- eating toad-in-the-hole made with brats (Mmmmmm!!!)
- making chocolate chip cookies that ended up a little flat (guess we need more practice, eh?)
- chatting with my brother about work and life

Then, on Sunday:
- had brunch with Hot Chick Janiece (who's looking hotter and hotter with her healthy lifestyle changes) and her Smart Man
- Janiece and I did a little shopping and then went to get pedicures (Janiece, a delicate lavender, me, deep blue. Winter is the time to experiment with toenail colors.)
- The very kind and thoughtful Janiece gave me frozen dinners for the times I need to stay late at work and the Smart Man gave me more music to listen to. It's tough to find better friends than these. :)
- when I got home, I got moving on a bunch of chores that had gotten a little out of hand, and though I didn't get *everything* done, I made some good progress.
- I also made a broccoli, mushroom, and rice fritatta to eat for breakfast for the coming week. I'll spare you the pictures, since I plan to do this regularly from now on. (My metabolism works much better, I've found, when it gets an early start.)

A lot of this domestic, familial, and friendship-related contentment was brought into sharp contrast when Janiece and I received texts that our good friend Shawn Powers' house burned in a fire. All the family is safe and sound, but all their possessions were destroyed and their pets (several dogs and a cat) were killed. As Shawn says in his own blog report, "Their loss is the roughest part right now, as everything else that was lost is just stuff." I know that's the part of it that hits me the hardest. When I got home, I couldn't sit down for more than 2 minutes without one or the other of the cats sitting on my lap and, even more than usual, it was tough to evict them. Life is so uncertain. Who knows when it might be the last time you get to pet your animal or kiss them on the head? Or the last time they tickle you with their whiskers when they want you to get up and feed them or let them out? I'm so glad that Shawn's family are safe and experiencing the love and support of their friends and community, but I grieve deeply for the animal friends that they lost.

RIP, furry friends.

Avatar: WOW!

Ahhhhhh...
There's nothing quite like seeing a really excellent movie. It's sad that it happens so rarely.

I saw Avatar today.
Wow, was it ever a fantastic movie!
I've seen comparisons of it to Star Wars (the best one is Jim's). The comparison is apt in many ways. It is truly an amazing technical piece that takes movie story-telling to a whole new level. (Remember how amazed we all were with how realistic Gollum was? Multiply that by 10.) And the funny thing is, the criticisms I've seen about the movie, about it being too simplistic, too predictable, those are all criticisms that have been leveled at Star Wars. All those "stereotyped" characters are also archetypes. So yes, the Noble Savage is not so generally wonderful as portrayed, and the Military is not so generally single-minded as protrayed, but it is in the context of a fairy tale and we have the knowledge that real life is not so simple.
It is fun, the writing is great (don't believe the critics!) and so is the acting. I love how the hero shrugs off digs on his intelligence because of his profession. "Yeah, whatever you want to think," it seems to say. Sam Worthington, the actor playing the hero is great. He really manages to embody the curious, eager, passionate, courageous, and charismatic character. (I saw an interview later in which he talks about how he felt that a hard core Marine would be difficult for people to access and identify with, so he modeled the impetuous, childlike nature on his 7-year old nephew. It was a brilliant move, because that excitement and energy really carries you into the movie.)
The animation was fantastically done and the emotional value of the natives really comes through. It helps that it's modeled after real people. Little details really made a difference, and yet there was still an alien feel to them. They weren't just people with funny ears or bumpy foreheads. The world really felt real to me and I was sad when the movie ended. I wanted to get back in line and watch it again (this time in 3D) IMMEDIATELY! :D

I will watch it again in the theater. I will see it in 3D, as I understand that takes the fantasticness to an even higher level. SQUEE! I can't wait! :D

_________________

I also got some awesome cookbooks from Hot Chick Janiece. I really look forward to using the recipes in my day to day cooking! :D Thanks so much, hon! I really wish I hadn't forgotten your (actually, Boogie's) gift at home!

First Present

This morning, on my way to work, I thought I saw a beached cloud. At least, that's what it looked like. It wasn't up in the brilliantly sunny sky like it was supposed to. No, this one was lying on the ground near the highway. Very peculiar.

Work was very productive (as it usually is when I'm at work when no one else is around). I felt good enough about what I was doing that I regretted having to leave it unfinished. AND I was learning a cool program (Google Sketchup). It's very intuitive and it's free!

I spent the evening with my family, eating yummy Crockpot lasagna and talking about nonsense, as usual. My nephew kept us entertained and my latest marshmallow experiment - vanilla marshmallows made with honey, sesame and poppy seeds - turned out well.

This evening, I returned from my brother's house and decided to check that I didn't have any presents tucked into the inside corner of the front porch. Good thing I did, because sitting there unobtrusively was a gift package from the lovely and talented Jen A.

Inside was a thoughtful card, cookies, a cool reusable bag, a lovely bracelet (perfect color for me!), and a sweet little keychain with a pair of people hugging. I love it!

The bag was a really clever design and quite attractive when open.

Thank you so much, Jen! You are wonderful!

Merry Christmas and/or Happy Holidays to everyone!

1001 Tales AND Gifts From the East

Just noticed that the last post was my 1000th post, which makes this one = 1001. Here's to another thousand posts, just as random and personal as the last thousand posts. :)

Today, I found a package on my front porch -- a package that had been threatened by one John the Scientist, infamous sender of such heinous delicacies as Durian Cookies and Swallows Nest Soup. He also forced a member of the UCF to eat stinky tofu at gunpoint. (Ok, maybe it was his finger pretending to be a gun, or maybe it was just strong peer pressure. Nathan can be a big pushover sometimes...)
Anyway, it wasn't without some trepidation that I opened the box. Who knew what vile edible items lay in wait within?

Turns out, some pretty cool edible items did.

Remember my post about taste testing ramen?

John sent me a variety pack of different brands of ramen, mostly in the beef or seafood/shrimp flavors.



Neat! I'm looking forward to trying them. MWT's favorite, Sapporo Ichiban is there, as are a number of other essentially (because I can't read Korean or Japanese, though I can identify them) nameless brands. There are two made in the US and marketed for Asians (Sapporo Ichiban is one). One is from Hong Kong, one from Korea, and one from Vietnam.
Squee! This is going to be fun. :D

Thank you, John!

Edited to Add:
Michelle has posted on her latest mystery package from John. As MWT says elsewhere: "Yay tentacles. :) Nomnomnom..."

MWT has also posted on some tasty sounding Asian treats from John. Which confirms things for me, I'm making rice krispy treats for Christmas!

Mmm... Baking Tools

My lovely friend, Tania, recently downsized her household and wanted to get rid of some pans. I, always on the lookout for cool free stuff, volunteered to receive them. Yesterday they arrived -- two springform pans with molded inserts, one tube cake pan, and one giant heartshaped cookie cutter (?). She also sent along some fun gifts, coffee beans, birch syrup, cat treats, and catnip (yippee!) for the cats.
Thank you so much, Tania!

(((((Hugs!)))))

Lovely Dream

I had an awesome dream over vacation:

I was in a house that was my house (not my current house, but some sort of townhouse) and it was full of people. There was a party going on -- a surprise party for me -- and all my friends were there, laughing and having a great time. It was so lively, it felt like a restaurant (though there was one quiet little secret room for writing). The food and the service was great, and when I finally had a spare moment to go to the bar myself, the bartender complimented me on what fun and cool friends I have.

The truth is, my life IS full of fun and cool friends and family.

Thanks for sharing my life with me.

Weekend Rundown

I had a wonderful Saturday, including babysitting my beautiful nephew. I hadn't seen him in three weeks and in the interim, he's gotten more mobile and more alert. He is a funny little monkey man and boy oh boy will he be hell on wheels when he's older. (And he'll be able to charm his way out of anything, I'm sure.)

Then, my dear friend Susan came down from Loveland and we went to a holiday party for WiD. It was *fabulous*. First of all, we looked fabulous. Susan wore a lovely charcoal gray asymmetrical blouse and long black slacks that unfortunately covered the sexy black heels she was wearing. I wore a purple silk cocktail dress with my killer purple heels and a Julie Knudsen necklace. Second, the party was hosted at a fabulous place: a penthouse apartment at the Denver Art Museum Residences. The building was designed by Daniel Libeskind (a smooth talking architect that a friend of mine described as being like Saruman) and the apartment was on the top floor with a view of the art museum and the city beyond. Every room in the house was an architectural showpiece with gorgeous bathrooms, a heavenly kitchen (which had been taken over by the caterer, but we sought out to admire), a second floor with bedrooms, and glass everywhere. In fact, the glass that provided such lovely views from the upper level (though the two story space of the living and dining rooms) had privacy settings that would make the glass opaque when electricity stopped flowing through the glass (this has a good graphic of how it works). Every bathroom was decorated differently and somehow managed to be cooler and cooler with each successive room, culminating in the master bath that had a giant shower that must have been like showering in the rain and a dual flush toilet that had the tank in the wall. On top of that, there was artwork everywhere. It was, essentially, an apartment turned into a gallery. It was fabulous, if a bit unsettling. After all, every time you sat down, you wondered if you were sitting on a piece of art. Granted some stuff was just uber expensive or even just expensive.
The food was really great (catered food will always be disappointing to me now that I know how good it could be) as well as the service (something I think really separated first class from the rest). The crowning touch was the lovely company. Intelligent, creative women and their lucky/smart spouses.

Afterward, a lot of the gals were going out for drinking (an dancing, I found out later). Susan and I declined. I had a craving for sushi (one of the appetizers at the party was tuna and roe on a disc of cucumber), so we went to Sushi Sasa, which is quickly turning into my favorite sushi restaurant in Denver (which leaves Junz to be my favorite sushi in Parker). Of course, we had to wait, since it was Saturday night and we didn't have reservations. By the time we were seated, we had been standing most of the night, so our feet were killing us, but the wait was worth it. We had a fancy roll (that was tastier and half as expensive as Namiko's), a really good spider roll, and yummy yummy nigiri. When compared with what I had at Namiko's it really was astonishing how mediocre that sushi was. And the price! What Susan and I got was not that much less than what I had in my previous dining experience, AND we got sake and it still cost less. I don't think I can manage to convince myself to waste money at Namikos again -- not when I can go to Sushi Sasa.

Today, Susan and I made homemade oreos. I'm very embarrassed to say that I screwed up the amount of butter (we were doing a double batch and I didn't double it properly). They are unfortunately flawed (which really tears me up, funnily enough) but good enough that I'll still share them with others.
I'll just have to make more, I guess!

Carving Fun

Some of the fabulous jack o' lanterns made at the pumpkin carving party this afternoon. (Some had been taken home already at this point...)
I think my cousins had a good first experience with American Halloween traditions. I had roasted pumpkin seeds, pumpkin pie, artichoke dip, hummus, carrot sticks, caramel apples, and mulled cider. Cheryl brought apple crisp. So, it was a lot of the traditional fall treats.
The process of the pumpkin carving was explained and the kids set to the task as if they'd been doing it all their lives. Even Angeles ended up making one after her husband drew the guidelines of a lovely cat profile.
A good time was had by all (and I figured out that 14 is the maximum number of guests I may have at my house when the outside is not a good overflow option.)

Thanks for blessing my house with your presence, all!

Four Horsewomen, But No Apocalypse

Having a good time on horseback...





The scenery...





A large herd of elk -- these are the bachelor bucks on the fringes hoping to sneak in when the leader, a big seven point buck, wasn't looking.

A Rejuvenating Visit

This weekend, my dear friend, Susan, came to visit. We happen to be cousins, but I love to be with her. She is creative and intelligent and beautiful and loving. She is wonderfully self aware. So, even though she only lives an hour away, I treasure her visits. Other visits have been well documented here.

As that last link describes, during the last visit we planned to do to much at once. So, this weekend, she and I planned very little and simply went to have dinner at the divine Junz, in Parker, with Janiece and her SmartMan. We had a great time eating delicious sushi, heavenly risotto, and splitting two excellent desserts, chocolate crème brûlée and rice pastry wrapped mango ice cream. The conversation was, as usual, first rate.

We got home late-ish and proceeded to stay up late talking. I have to admit, I would have been disappointed if we DIDN'T do this.

Our cooking entertainment I'll leave until tomorrow's post, but I'm glad to say we already have at least one visit planned for November. :D