Saturday, December 30, 2006

Stollen

My mom is making stollen now. Yes, I mean NOW - at
2:30 am. She was going to make it days ago, but has
been sick. (I just hope she's not developing that
god-awful hacking cough I had a while ago. I've been
pestering her to go to the doctor.)

So, I guess since she's feeling slightly better and
has spent all her time resting, she must have felt
that it would be okay to bake like six of these
freaking things off at this time of night/morning.

The house does smell good though. Rich and buttery and
fruity. Stollen is kinda fruitcakey ingredient-wise,
but whereas I would not touch fruitcake, I will eat a
piece of this. Possibly "tomorrow" with my tea at
breakfast.

Friday, December 29, 2006

Controversial opinions and tea

So Saddam is to be executed soon. In a weird way, I feel bad for the dude. But that's not to say I think he's a good guy - no, he most definitely isn't (ask the Kurds or Kuwaitis). HOWEVER, he was, like much of the Mideast is, treated like a pawn by our government. If you ask my opinion, they should also be hanging Rummy right alongside him. Anyone remember the smiling picture of Rumsfield shaking hands with Saddam? Um yeah. That's because at the time, our illustrious government thought it would be great to arm Saddam to use him against the Ayatollah. So now, after having first created the criminal (or at the least arming him up the wazoo) we feel free to kill and dispose of him. Very convenient.

We should have left well enough alone EVERY country in the Middle East. Because now, after having played just about every country there against each other, we're screwed.

In other, less political news, I got an IngenuiTEA, mug and some teas from Adagio. If you're seeing this post on Blogger, the background is in fact from Adagio Teas. Dude, I am so impressed with my little IngenuiTEA! And I'm still very much (surprisingly) in love with the Earl Grey Brava. The Kuicha green tea however? Ugh. Not to my liking.

Reminisce

I probably spelled that wrong, but I'll go back and fix later.
 
God. I am finally - LONG overdue - reviewing the photo books I am trying to make of my August/September trip to Ireland the UK. Shutterfly is having a big discount sale and I need to get these things developed!
 
I am finalizing my Scottish photobook. It was nice to have some time away from it - I have been able to go back and cut out some photos that really weren't all that good and to redo layouts.
 
I am taking some of my saved paper information and inputting it into the captions.
 
The effect of all this has been making me absolutely heartsick. I want to go back SO BAD. Especially to the Isle of Skye. I wasn't all that impressed with the tour I took - - it was good for being short on time, but the things we absolutely ran through without time to enjoy them were shameful. I could spend days on certain trails. I have been backhunting information on some of the places we hit and GOD! The things we could have done if there'd only been time (and money). If I were rich, I would spend every damn summer doing something different. A hike here, a climb there...

Wednesday, December 27, 2006

I can't stand it

I am so fucking bored. Companies should just GIVE us the time off between Christmas and New Year's. It's absolutely ridiculous. It's not like anything is getting done. There is only one other person here besides me right now. Only five other people came in for my department today. Four of whom have already left for the day. I am leaving at 4:10pm on the dot. I didn't take a lunch, so I'll still get in my eight hours today.
 
GOD, I wish I'd had enough vacation left over so I didn't have to be here. I'll be here tomorrow, but not Friday, thank god.
 
Fifteen more excruciating minutes. Then I'm gone. Home to get my gym bag, then a quick trip to the mall to return a gift perhaps, and then most definitely the gym to burn off my crazed energy. No yoga tonight - I definitely don't have the attention span for it tonight.

Sunday, December 24, 2006

Home made candies

I got the latest (75th anniversary) edition of The Joy of Cooking and am having a little crazy fun.
I made turtle candies. Eat your hearts out bizatches!

Looks rather like something a turtle shat out, but ... really, it's tasty. I MADE the caramel. From scratch.
122406_17341.jpg

Friday, December 22, 2006

Friday before Christmas

I'm at work. And it's dead. There are like four people in my department here. Maybe five?
 
I have brought in my crocheting and damn if I won't just sit here on my ass - until they hopefully let us out at 2pm - until the day is done.

Thursday, December 21, 2006

Anglophilia

I really am getting to be a disgusting Anglophile and "Britphile". I'm about to drop a ridiculous amount of money on Ireland / England / London / Scotland / Wales calendars.
 
I was already a calendar freak to begin with. There's just something about the New Year and "time to get a new calendar!"

HOLY FRIJOLES!

Some people at work got together and got me a $100 gift certificate for the YOGA STUDIO!!
 
*is amazed*
 
Ok, I'm having second thoughts about leaving this admin gig for the christmas crap alone.

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Wah wah wah fuck Laura Bush

Let me take a moment here to say how much I DON'T give
a rat's ass that poor little Laura Bush had skin
cancer? She's from a family of rich thugs currently
living a parasitic existence off the backs of the
wretched and stooped - us. All while debasing our
rights.

She's got access to the best medical care. Who gives a
FUCK.

I say it's too bad Georgie poo didn't get it himself!
He already IS a cancer. A cancer on the face of the
earth.

Monday, December 18, 2006

Email cleanup

I had a ridiculous number of emails that needed to be cleared out. Over 300 - - now I am down to a tidy 76. I should be working on my goals and growth planning documents at work. Bleh. So booooring!
 
It's remarkable how chipper I am now that I know I am getting out of the secretarial gig. I just hope it's not a "out of the frying pan and into the fire" thing, because well...that would just suck. 10.5% pay raise wouldn't be worth hell on earth.
 
More on that gig later...
 
Also: made Alton Brown's peanut brittle recipe last night. Holeee Shiiit. It's good and I'm not even a peanut brittle fan. I made people at work little goodie cartons (out of chinese take out boxes I bought at Michael's Craft stores) and put some of the brittle in them. Spicy!

Saturday, December 16, 2006

Cookies

I have cookies and you don't.

I also have a killer backache you wouldn't want from
bending over and wielding a rolling pin all fucking
afternoon.

I have made so far: chocolate macaroons, peanut
blossoms (they look like boobs), sugar cookies, and
poinsettia cookies (what a pain in the ass).

I am maybe half way through the doughs I made.
cookies.JPG



cookies2.JPG

This is a pic of my mom's tree she finally put up.


momstree.JPG


And some ornaments on it...

morna.JPG


And this garland she has of cats carrying puddings cracks me up.


puddincats.JPG

Thursday, December 14, 2006

Job

I got the job! (well, one of three that I'd seriously applied for.)
 
Here's hoping it doesn't suck!

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

'Devin Can't Wait' a reel football classic

Devin Hester is the sickest kick returner...EVER. I cannot believe the man!!

December 12, 2006

BY JAY MARIOTTI Sun-Times Columnist ST. LOUIS -- If a game could be reduced to watching Devin Hester nodding and talking to himself, bobbing his head while awaiting a kick that he can deliver to the house any time whatsoever, you'd have no worries. We are witnessing maybe the greatest returner ever, the most pulsating No. 23 in Chicago since You Know Who, and I am tempted to place him in a cocoon and forget about the rest of the Bears, including Rex Grossman.

''It looks like the gates of heaven just opening up for me,'' said Heaven Devin.

Call him unfriggin'believable. Call him the freak of freaks. Call him Gale Sayers, Deion Sanders, a miracle in stick-on eye black. Give him a nickname, too, like Billy (White Shoes) Johnson. All you need to know about Hester, as he returned two more kicks for touchdowns Monday night and blew away the NFL single-season record and every St. Louis ghost in his path, is that the normally humdrum Lovie Smith was boogeying down the sideline after his 96-yard sprint in the fourth quarter.

And talking, at long last, about maximizing the rookie's sizzle by playing him on offense. I mean, duhhhhh. Get Hester as many touches as possible. Be creative and wild. Because you are watching football's most exciting player, a dizzier blur than Reggie Bush and Vince Young, a kid who made hair grow on Tony Kornheiser's head during a 42-27 victory that temporarily eased Bears angst everywhere.

A shout-out to Neon Deion''It's about time we start looking at him as an offensive player,'' Smith volunteered late in the night. ''Devin has made as much impact as any rookie. He's made so many big plays.''

So many, in fact, that he evoked images of Neon Deion, the flamboyant flash who has spent time teaching Hester the return trade. Aren't you the new Neon Deion, kid, doing those Sanders dances as America lapped it up? ''That was a little shout-out to him,'' Hester said. ''I was thanking him for the time I spent with him and for him being my mentor.''

Chicago thanks him, too. For Hester is saving a season. Like Sanders, Heaven Devin wants to be the most feared guy in the league, and with a 94-yard kickoff return in the first half and his crowning blow late, can anyone dispute the claim? With a Band-Aid placed on the Grossman issue, we can better appreciate the miracle of Hester, who now has six kick return for scores. Think of all the electric return men through time, and it's stunning to think he has more TD returns after 13 games than Deion, White Shoes or anyone else put together over a season. With the Bears trailing 6-0 and begging for an early jolt, Hester provided it, whipping around the left side, flipping on the turbochargers and high-stepping into the end zone. He saves his best work for national audiences, fueling the Arizona comeback with an 83-yard punt return for a score and defining the victory over the Giants with his 108-yard return of a missed field goal.

Why, oh, why do other teams even kick to him?

''It's the NFL,'' Hester said. ''Teams aren't going to bow down to one player. One player can't beat the other team.''

Wanna bet?

I cannot write entirely after Hester, not after Grossman answered a call to either play like a legit NFL quarterback or get out of our lives. What we've always liked about the guy is his poise, and if it wobbled like a weeble the last two months, he recovered it in time to restore some measure of faith he might not collapse in the playoffs. It would be dumb to make any rash proclamations, but for now, until the next game, a quarterback who had committed more turnovers since Oct. 15 than 31 NFL teams -- only Pittsburgh was worse than Rex, 22-18 -- needn't worry about trading his job for a backwards cap.

Rex did not choke. Not only did his passer rating soar from 1.3 into double digits, it climbed to 114.4, which should stop the newspapers from splashing his name across the front page like a civic epidemic and calm down amateur shrinks trying to psychoanalyze his entire being.

''I was able to relax. It was easy,'' Grossman said. ''There was a lot of pressure on me to do that -- I had to do it. Efficient, decisive, got the ball out of my hand, went to the right guy, played with a sense of rhythm and efficiency. Obviously, I wanted to respond the way the coaches were backing me.''

His leash just grew a little longer, as Smith was only happy to rub in our faces afterward. ''Rex Grossman went through a lot. His game has been dissected by everyone who knows football,'' he said. ''There was a lot of pressure on him, and he stepped up to the plate.''

Who couldn't appreciate the joy in Grossman's step as he raced off the field after the Muhammad score, raising his arms? Who didn't notice Griese patting him on the helmet after Berrian's TD? The idea now is to maintain the vibe and momentum and transport it to the playoffs.

Rex responds. Again, in the volatile world of Rexdom, it's just one good performance, giving him three in his last eight games. Batting .375 might win a batting title, but it's not going to win you a Super Bowl. Let's see what happens in the winter blur of Soldier Field two of the final three regular-season games before declaring, once and for all, that he's a better postseason idea on January lakefront weekends than Griese. But you have to like how Grossman responded when an entire football nation was waiting for him to bomb out.

It helps when he has a weapon like Hester, who would help the quarterback immensely. With Nathan Vasher's absence, Hester was filling in at cornerback and beaten on an early touchdown pass. But you know he's a special talent when he responds with an instant TD. It has reached the giddy point where Bears fans, numbering in the thousands, let out a chagrined ''awwwwwww'' when Hester called for fair catches as a punt returner.

''It's just vision,'' he said.

Can his eyes see Miami, his old college town, host of Super Bowl XLI?

Jay Mariotti is a regular on ''Around the Horn'' at 4 p.m. on ESPN. Send e-mail to inbox@suntimes.com with name, hometown and daytime phone number (letters run Sunday).

Sunday, December 10, 2006

Super Hero Weekend

I've had Superman Returns and Batman Begins on,
non-stop practically, this weekend.

Background ambience for while I struggle to finish my
semester crap. I am writing up one last final for that
god awful community college course. I just can't be
bothered. It was a retarded course! I don't want to
write a damn fucking thing.

But, back to hot men in tights and other form-fitting
apparel...

I love contrasting Batman and Superman in these two
movies. One is so dark and gothic - the other so light
and hopeful. I really need to go and splurge on the
TPBs of Bruce Wayne: Muderer? and Fugitive . I got all
the single issues back in the day, but never bought
the TPBs. I've gotten rid of the single issues. And
WTF? His bodyguard ended up an OMAC? Jay-sus.

I live and dream in the hope that I will one day
witness a Batman/Superman movie with both Bale and
Routh. Gaaaah, eye-caaaaaandyyyyy! "Hawt"!

And a congrats to the <a
href=http://redrighthand.net>Shin-Kickee</a> for
finally making it to California...

Friday, December 01, 2006

New xmas stocking (#2)

Second time around, I finally got it right. Had to start from the bottom up as opposed to top down. But it looks great! The main color is "paprika" - a lovely red color. I have granny sqaures in brown, a cream w/ brown threading, and a tricolor mix yarn that's green/cream/sparkly.