Saturday, January 23, 2010
Also, I really liked the 3D. The glasses worked well, and it was very interesting and enjoyable. It wasn't over the top and distracting, it just sort of enhanced the experience and made you enter more into the forest world. I know some people are bothered by it and aren't able to see it, or it hurts their eyes and gives them a headache, but I found it relaxing, visually. I guess having my style of wonky eyes doesn't interfere with 3D. It reminded me of how those "Magic Eye" things look, but it was totally easy and natural to do.
Posted at 2:07:00 AM by Laura W. Petix.
Okay, Avatar was pretty good. I liked the giant Christmas tree worms, and all the other undersea-looking stuff in the forest. And the TREES!
Posted at 1:08:00 AM by Laura W. Petix.
Friday, January 22, 2010
We're wearing 3D glasses now. Yes.
Posted at 10:03:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
BTW, my arm hurts again. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!! Also, I did get that fabric today. It's called "brown optic cube."
Posted at 8:09:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
Dean keeps trying to get me to see Avatar (usually I have to bug him to see movies) and I keep balking. The more I hear everyone in the world taking about it, the less I want to see it. It's developing into a Titanic situation. (I have not seen Titanic, and never will.) He thinks he's going to drag me to a 10:00 3D showing tonight. Let the record show, it will be against my will.
Posted at 7:55:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
I found my books!
Posted at 8:53:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
Oh no, I realised the box with my Annotated Sherlock Holmes (William S. Baring-Gould version! not the new version) in it is probably buried behind a million boxes and our hibernating hounds under the basement stairs. I'll probably re-wreck my neck/arm trying to dig it out!
Posted at 8:17:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
I started listening to the LibriVox recording of "A Study in Scarlet" while Thursday-ing! I was probably about 15 when I read it, so I barely remember anything. It's GREAT!!! My arm is usually irritated by Thurs-ing, so this will be a good test. It feels fine so far. I need to dig up my annotated Holmes from the basement. I love annotations. Must follow along!
Posted at 6:23:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
Posted at 3:26:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
Worked out at NEAC for the first time since my arm started acting wonky (that is, in over a month!), and I feel GREAT! The Arm Guy gave me one last neck stretching, then showed me some exercises to do on my own. No more Arm Guy! Good.
Fingered this fabric at Jo-Ann's, afterward. What do you think? For a summer/tropical skirt. It's stretchy and brown. Also, I got some ALB-colored yarn! Will post photo later. It's really weird yarn, so hopefully it won't be impossible to work with or anything. Oh yeah, and wore my new scarf today! Outside, I mean. I like it! Still might add the pearl buttons. I miss Fabric Place. It was really spring-like out today, nearly 50°. I wanted a tart frozen yogurt really badly, but West Hartford center is too far away (since it's Thursday).
I listened to "Abandonded Love" a million times while driving on the Ber Turnpike and from the Ber to the bank in Rocky Hill. Wow, no wonder it's one of my very favorite songs ever. I also sang along, loudly. (And badly, of course.)
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Wow, I didn't think I would like it this much. It's so snuggly to wear, it's hard to take off. I think I might add some little pearl buttons to make it stay in place.
Posted at 8:58:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
Posted at 7:23:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
Wow, I LOVE My Favorite Lentil Soup! It's my favorite soup, period. Thumbs up x 1,000. The weird thing is, if you read the ingredients, it doesn't sound very good (all that tomato and onion???) but the combo of everything tastes totally different than how you'd expect from the individual items. It's a very sophisticated tasting soup.
Here's the recipe. It's actually extremely easy to make; I am just a wimp about recipes where you have to cut up ingredients and cook them for a long time.
MY FAVORITE LENTIL SOUP
* 2 T. olive oil
* 2 cups chopped onions (I am not an onion fan, but the soup doesn't end up tasting oniony at all! I used a big "sweet onion" and it didn't even make my eyes water)
* 3 carrots, coarsely grated (I used my food processor! the food processor didn't work on the onion, though; it made it too watery)
* 3/4 tsp. marjoram, crumbled (I didn't have any marjoram in my herb collection and had to buy some specifically!)
* 3/4 tsp. thyme, crumbled
* 1 28 oz. can tomatoes with juice, coarsely chopped (I used diced tomatoes so I wouldn't have to chop them)
* 7 cups vegetable broth (for this, my mom always saved broth from actual vegetables that you cook on the stove, pouring it off and freezing it into stratified layers so you ended up with a big thing with leechings from a million different kinds of vegetables... I actually DID THIS, but I only had four cups saved up, so I combined it with a 3-cup can of vegetable broth from A Dong... lucky for me, it was the perfect amount) (note: this is a ton of broth, so you need a really big pot... I started making it in my normal soup pot, and it was filled to the top by the time I put in the first four oz., so I switched to my corn on the cob pot!)
* 1-1/2 cups dried lentils, rinsed and picked over (I think you're supposed to use normal brown lentils, but I didn't have any, so I used 1 cup yellow lentils (moong dal) and 1/2 cup red lentils and it turned out great!)
* 1/2 tsp. salt (I used sea salt, of course)
* 1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
* 6 oz. dry white wine (this is the key ingredient! I used Fish wine, a Pinot Grigio)
* 1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley or 2 T. dried parsley flakes (no way! you need fresh)
* 4 ounces Cheddar cheese, grated (my mom always used parmesean, but I tried it with Dubliner and it was really good)
Heat the oil in a large saucepan, and sauté the onions, carrots, marjoram, and thyme, stirring the vegetables, for about 5 minutes.
Add the tomatoes, broth, and lentils. Bring the soup to a boil, reduce the heat, cover the pan, and simmer the soup for about 1 hour or until the lentils are tender. (I did it for about 50 minutes with my lentils, left it sitting around until Dean came home, then did the final step.)
Add the salt, pepper, wine and parsley and simmer the soup for a few minutes. Serve with cheese sprinkled on each portion.
Makes 8 servings. (Uhhhh... more like 4 servings, but the the soup + bread was our whole dinner.) Originally from Jane Brody's Good Food Book.
This is the BEST SOUP EVER.
Weird, the other end looks different! But I think it's supposed to. The DVD lady's looks the same way.
Posted at 6:04:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
...Wow I finished! The scarf is 34" long. It's the perfect length! (For me.) I like the section where the variegated yarn is randomly really thick and whiteish. But what the heck am I going to do with it now?
Using the crochet hook to bind off is really awkward! It doesn't feel like the hook is hook-y enough. I assisted with my fingers, which feels just like trying to eat peas and using your other hand to push the peas onto the fork. (I.e., pretty uncouth, but it works.) I think I did it right, though...
Posted at 5:30:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
On to the starting end!
I am making "My Favorite Lentil Soup"! It's not like MY CAKE--that's the real name! Although, it is my favorite lentil soup, or at least it always was when my mom used to make it. I haven't had it in at least 15 years, so I barely even remember what it's like, other than that I really liked it. It took a while... I had to cut up all these from-scratch ingredients and everything! Astonishing, huh? I thought I could fit in Thursday-ing on the same day, but no. However, it makes a GIANT amount, so hopefully I can freeze the leftovers. Marjoram and thyme smell good.
Posted at 5:04:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
Okay, while it's cooking, I'm going to watch the knitwit DVD to see if I can figure out how to finish off the scarf. Eeek.
Now my arm's going *throb throb throb* a little bit, but, hey, it was better, and that proves it can be better. (Kind of like Chuck?)
Posted at 1:25:00 AM by Laura W. Petix.
All right, we watched the new Chuck! It was much better than the previous three Chucks.
Posted at 12:08:00 AM by Laura W. Petix.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
I reached the end of the rope! I have to listen to the DVD to find out what to do now to finish the ends with the crochet hook, though.
Posted at 9:36:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
What the heck, my arm feels 100% better now. It feels like a normal arm! Just like my right arm! After being messed up for over a month, and hurting extra yesterday, suddenly it's better? Bizarre, but I hope it stays that way.
Posted at 8:21:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
Meanwhile, I am almost at the end of my rope with the knitting! That is, almost to the end of the ball of yarn. When the ball of yarn ends, the scarf's going to end, whether it's long enough or not. Okay, I suppose I could tie on the next ball of yarn (the kit came with two), but I'm not going to. I don't like scarves that are too long, so this is how I'll know when it's time to finish.
We're going to watch Chuck tonight. (I squirmed out yesterday.) Dean's pretending like he hates the new Chuck, since I can't stand it when he enthuses about it. Much better!
Posted at 5:43:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
"I was burned out from exhaustion, buried in the hail
Poisoned in the bushes and blown out on the trail
Honeyed like a crocodile, ravaged in the corn..."
The live version of "Shelter from the Storm" from Hard Rain is so AMAZING.
Not sure why, but I feel so much better now, and my arm doesn't hurt at all! I tried to take it easy today, so that was probably good. It's insanely foggy out right now! Very cool looking, very nice for Poe's birthday. When I got back from my errands and looked in the mailbox (almost 5:30, so not early at all), there was NO mail! But the doorbell rang just now, and the mail delivery woman handed me a big pile and said, "Here's a package, and here's the rest of your mail." The package smells heavenly. It's my new shipment of Kona Mountain Coffee!! I just ordered it on Thursday. So speedy, and I wasn't expecting it at all. Excellent timing, because I only have enough left to make about one more cup, and it can't be decaf. My last order was at the very end of June, so it lasted about six months. Kona Mountain + my Aeropress = love LOVE. Poor postal lady, though. Today is not a nice day to be delivering mail.
What else. Oh yes, very exciting: I had to buy more sugar cubes! The box has 198 cubes. I think my former package lasted about 15 years. Actually, that's a lot of cubes, so maybe I didn't even eat them all. All I know is that my sugar bowl is getting low, thanks to my new absinthe habit. (Okay, it's not an absinthe habit at all. That just sounds good.) I really can't imagine having eaten 198 sugar cubes in the past 15 years. I probably actually ate less than one sugar bowl's worth and threw the rest of the original box away. In any case, I'm all set for 198 servings of absinthe now, and that's a lot of absinthe. No, I don't put sugar (cube format or otherwise) in my Kona Mountain Coffee.
Wow. The Kousa dogwood looks AMAZING. Its bark is all sycamore-esque (more like a London Plane Tree colorwise, but you know what I mean) and one of the branches is enrobed in green lichen. The color variation stands out as particularly beautiful in the drizzling rain.
Posted at 2:48:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
I am obsessed with sparkling Voss + meyer lemon (and eating the rest of the meyer lemon after squeezing it!), even though drinking it is making me cold. I don't understand, what is it about Voss?? I already finished my first big glass bottle. Not good, since the only place that sells it is the West Hartford Whole Foods! Maybe I should bug Glastonbury about getting it. They do carry still Voss, after all--just no sparkling.
Posted at 2:08:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
It's so DARK out again. And damp. My hands are freezing, and I can't fully wake up. Well, I actually attempted a short nap after I got back from the Arm Guy, but I didn't fall asleep, so I guess I'm awake.
Posted at 1:37:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
No Poe Toaster this year, for the first time since 1949! That's so sad.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Oh no, I just remembered that Chuck is on tonight.
Posted at 7:24:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
Sparkling Voss + meyer lemon = ♥!!!
Posted at 6:25:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
My arm's slightly better now that I'm home. I wish I knew what triggers it!
Ow. My arm REALLY hurts today. The Arm Guy is useless.
Posted at 3:00:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
Voss sparkling!!!! Mouth drop x 10!
Posted at 2:27:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
Honeycrisp apples at West Hartford Whole Foods! My mouth dropped open. I thought the season was all over!
Posted at 2:03:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
Wow, I really do love Robek's tart frozen yogurt. I wish they'd open one in Glastonbury!
Posted at 1:35:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
It sounds all rainy-rainish out! ♥
Posted at 11:58:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
Gentian violet is an amazing substance, but v. v. v. stainy. It looks all goldy metallically on top! Good old Storrs Drug. ♥
Posted at 11:52:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
I'm trying a new kind of absinthe that Dean got me a mini-bottle of. It's much greener than the other kind.
Posted at 9:24:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
Dean: Mm. It's good.
Laura: It tastes a little like aftershave.
Dean: Uh-huh.
[Edit: Yuck. I don't want my absinthe to taste/smell like a blue jar of combs at a barbershop. Dean likes it, though! I gave it to him and reverted to Absente. BTW I didn't really post about Absente yet, did I? I am 1,000 posts behind. We watched the Blue Carbuncle tonight. Raffles would totally love the blue carbuncle!]
It's super-dark out today! Parl yesterday was nice. They remodeled again and now there's a much bigger bar section (not that we sat at it, but we sat near it). It was good we got there early, because it got really busy! The Lil' Red Baron is thriving. Their cranberry margarita is still the tastiest drink ever.
Posted at 4:09:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
I love my new hair. ♥
