¡Mira!

I learned earlier this week that a couple of years ago Tumblr was hacked and sixty-five million user emails (and passwords, but apparently they were heavily encrypted) were stolen and are for sale; see here for more details. Anyway, from that article I learned about the very cool website Have I Been Pwned? -- and yes, both Webster (his Adobe account) and I (Tumblr, of course) have been pwned. Change your passwords! (I usually use this website to help with password creation.)

Excellent essay by Edward Snowden about whistleblowing: Inside the Assassination Complex: Whistleblowing is not just leaking -- it's an act of political resistance. And when you're confronted with evidence -- not in an edge case, not in a peculiarity, but as a core consequence of the program -- that the government is subverting the Constitution and violating the ideals you so fervently believe in, you have to make a decision. When you see that the program or policy is inconsistent with the oaths and obligations that you've sworn to your society and yourself, then that oath and that obligation cannot be reconciled with the program. To which do you owe a greater loyalty?

Via Jason Kottke, a short video from the author of On Bullshit, a book I own and heartily recommend, that Kottke calls On Bullshit and Donald Trump.

And now, two videos that made me cry:
From Christopher Fowler, author of the fantastic Bryant and May books (I own every single one), He Was Genius. This is Water which includes a short movie excerpted from a commencement address given by David Foster Wallace.

From 23andme, a brief and moving conversation between LeVar Burton and W. Kamau Bell, about the results of the genetic testing done by 23andme.com: Roots Revisited -- scroll down to see the video. (If you're unfamiliar with 23andme, they describe the company thus: We are not just a genetic lab test or an ancestry service. We are an experience that lets you explore your genetics throughout your life.

From a genetic snapshot of your health and ancestry to ongoing reports and research, everyone learns something different. Both my husband and I have been tested and the results were fascinating -- for example, I have more Neanderthal DNA in my than most people!

Also, happy birthday Hardboiledbaby!

Hey, hi! What a week I've had. Yesterday I met up with an old friend, dear G., whom I met back in my X-Files days. We saw a movie (Love and Friendship, which I adored) and had lunch, but mostly TALKED. Oh my god, it's a treat to live in the same city with her. I hope we will meet up regularly.

I have also met with my ukulele teacher! We're going to start in July. I went with my sister who has been studying for quite a while and is also a brilliant guitarist. I was so impressed. But my sister is impressive.

I visited with Mother on Tuesday and today -- today we had a picnic in the garden, but wow, it was too hot to stay long.

And on Sunday I bought a bike! For $30 at an estate sale. I have a helmet and a bell, so I'm ready. I've been riding it around the lakes in the evenings, except it was just too hot tonight (I'm writing this at 9pm and it's still 97F/36C), and it's supposed to just keep getting hotter -- triple digits, as they say, for the foreseeable future. So instead of biking, I went swimming, which was fantastic, the water like silk.

For dinner I made two new-to-me recipes and I recommend both: Lime Shrimp Dragon Noodles from Budget Bytes -- the sauce was soooo good. I used egg noodles because that's what I had in the house, but any noodle would be good. The accompaniment was Smitten Kitchen's Cucumber Yogurt Raita Salad, also excellent.

Cool stuff: Have you heard about Gillian Anderson as Jane Bond, 007? Even Gillian likes the idea. Here's a cute fan-made trailer, Jane Bond. Gillian also retweeted a fan-made movie poster of her as Bond:

It's Bond. Jane Bond.
Thanks for all the votes! (And sorry, don't know who made poster but I love it!) #NextBond pic.twitter.com/f8GC4ZuFgL

— Gillian Anderson (@GillianA) May 21, 2016

And here is a BRILLIANT fanvid for the Avengers, found via Tumblr: Glitter & Gold. OH MY GOD.

It's been quite a week. ( Mother was back in the hospital )

No wonder I love fandom and am dreaming of returning to London; excellent distractions. Oh, my poor mother.

POEM of the week: The Trees Delete Themselves Inside a Fog-Sphere, by Francis Ponge, translated by Karen Volkman. You'll see why I chose this poem when you reach the end of my list of links.

( In the fog )

ETA: My retirement countdown is now at 267 days. Yippee!

Fannish Stuff:
» We've all heard about DashCon; here are several different accounts. First is an early account from The Daily Dot, describing the con as a descent into chaos. Second, from Mark Does Stuff, who was there, and from another blogger who attended Allison McCracken. Finally, Dashcon has released an official statement, with many screenshots. [W]e apologize profusely to those who had a very different experience. In the end, we ask that no one harass, threaten, or otherwise abuse our attendees, panelists, volunteers, the hotel staff, or anyone else involved in DashCon 2014. None of the fault in DashCon’s flaws falls with them, and they deserve better than to be disparaged for having innocently attended or become even loosely associated with our event.

» I could not believe it when this popped up on my LJ flist, but it's been ten years since Stargate Atlantis premiered. Ten years! Jesus. I enjoyed reading people's memories of their SGA experiences over at The Daily-Flan LJ community. I remember when it started up -- my first thought was Oh god, NO. I was a huge, huge fan of the original Stargate movie and series, so I thought this would be very second rate. Not at all -- or rather, yeah, it was awful, but it was awful with the most amazing potential. The actors were brilliant and I honestly think that almost anything good about that series came from their performances and chemistry. God, I ended up loving that show. I'm still bitter about the ending, and about losing some LJ "friends" over it, but them's the breaks, I guess.

( I went back through my LJ and found the first post I made about SGA )

» Speaking of SGA, remember Jason Momoa? As if anyone could forget him. Well, he is doing better than anyone else from SGA; here is a very positive review of his Road to Paloma from the NY Times: A Fugitive Who Stops to Smell the Flowers. Mr. Momoa softens his striking physical appearance with a restrained, sometimes playful performance. He seems determined to stretch beyond the warrior roles that have been his bread and butter, and so far the evidence looks promising. But he’ll have to do more than shave his beard to make us forget Khal Drogo.

» Okay, I am still furious at the writers of BBC Sherlock -- the third series just enraged me. Yeah, yeah, who cares, but that explains why I loved this enormous post about which ACD stories might have influenced series 3 and perhaps will influence series 4: Down in the Valley. Who was she before she was Mary Morstan? I really liked this -- you know I'm a fan of the original stories, and this writer knows them well.

» I've only listened to the first ten minutes of this fifty-minute talk by Tom Shippey, but it sounds really good: Tolkien Book to Jackson Script: The Medium and the Message: In this talk, Tom Shippey, the world’s foremost Tolkien scholar, charts the creative reshaping of Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings into Peter Jackson’s award-winning trilogy of films. Professor Shippey was the literary consultant to Jackson and the actors as they worked on the films.

» More reviews of Richard III with Martin Freeman: I found this first one via Tumblr, I think, A Horse! A Horse! My Richard III Experience: As the show progresses one begins to feel that Richard, for all his verbosity, is an animal. Watching warily and inscrutably from the shadows in the beginning of the play, then later evolving into bursts of ferocious brutality. Richard is a beast who walks on two legs and pretends to be human, but he is not.

And then Rachel let me know that she has also seen the play, lucky woman; here is her review: Throughout the play I was extremely impressed with whoever edited down the script -- they succeeded in making the text highly accessible, they kept clear the relationships and rivalries amongst a large and unfamiliar cast of characters, and they did not trim out the real beauties of language for the sake of time or simplicity.

» Oh! Oh! Marvel Comics' New Captain America Will Be African-American Sam Wilson! That's after learning that the new Thor is female! This is in the comics, not the movies, but wow!

» This sounds like a wonderful book, though I haven't read it yet: Last Kind Words: Lost 78s and the insular world of music obsessives. But the way that 78s are nothing like LPs has to do with the music recorded on them. 78s are often the only remaining example of a recorded song. Since metal masters were usually not made of 78 recordings, as Petrusich puts it, "if the records themselves break, or are crammed into a flood-prone basement, or tossed into a dumpster, then that particular song is gone, forever." It took a couple of chapters to really sink in for me. But think about that for a second: There are amazing songs out there that no one living today has ever heard, or will ever hear. Doesn't that break your heart? I often think about the music prior to recording technology; what have we missed?

» Sabriel-otp created this fantastic poster, There Will Be Porn. Heh.

Non-Fannish Stuff:
» Golly, both Nadine Gordimer and Elaine Stritch have passed away. I can't imagine the world without Gordimer's voice, her powerful stance again apartheid and inequality. What talent! Elaine was a year younger than my mother. The twenty-four minute video embedded on that page I linked to is definitely worth watching; I found it poignant as well as amusing.

» Holy Warriors, a new play by David Eldridge, and that link is to a youtube video of Eldridge and Alexander Siddiq, who just gets better and better. The play opens Saturday and god, I wish I could be there. Why is London so very far away?

» I read a lot of novels set in England and I am always shocked when someone in a novel offers a guest instant coffee. I would no more keep instant coffee in my home than I would a mad dog, so I was surprised to learn that almost half of the world prefers instant coffee. WHY? The instant coffee market in North America isn't merely the world's smallest -- it's also the world's slowest growing. Virtually all growth in the [US] coffee market will come from fresh -- not instant -- coffee between now and 2018, according to estimates by Euromonitor.

» Good interview with Edward Snowden by the Guardian, though not long enough at only 13 minutes: If I end up in chains in Guantanamo I can live with that. The video starts immediately so mind the volume.

» Seriously, if you live in California, get a Tdap booster. I did. Fucking anti-vaxxers. Whooping Cough Reaches Epidemic Levels in California. California public health officials announced that the state is facing an epidemic of pertussis, or whooping cough, with more than 4,500 cases reported this year in the state, including 46 in San Francisco. The highest rates of the illness are in Marin, Napa and Sonoma counties. You can get them at Safeway and Walgreen's as well as your doctor's office.

» Each of my links gets sadder and more serious this week: A Disappearing Planet: Animal species are going extinct anywhere from 100 to 1,000 times the rates that would be expected under natural conditions. According to Elizabeth Kolbert's The Sixth Extinction and other recent studies, the increase results from a variety of human-caused effects including climate change, habitat destruction, and species displacement. Today's extinction rates rival those during the mass extinction event that wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.

» Survey of Academic Field Experience: Trainees Report Harassment and Assault. I found this via Andrew Sullivan's blog and since my undergraduate degree is in anthropology, was compelled to read through it. Very depressing stuff. Codes of conduct and sexual harassment policies were not regularly encountered by respondents, while harassment and assault were commonly experienced by respondents during trainee career stages. Women trainees were the primary targets; their perpetrators were predominantly senior to them professionally within the research team. Male trainees were more often targeted by their peers at the research site. Few respondents were aware of mechanisms to report incidents; most who did report were unsatisfied with the outcome. Not pretty, and sadly not surprising.

» Can You Die From a Broken Heart? Short answer: yes, you can, and this explains how and why. I keep thinking of my mother in her dementia, fearing Dad is angry at her and staying away, though in fact he died nearly twenty years ago.

» Let's move to something a bit happier: Forest Man, a wonderful 16-minute documentary about a man who planted a forest in India. Watch it; it's heart-warming, and exactly what I needed.

» A few weeks ago I linked to this bread recipe, Tartine's country bread. Well, I made it and it was a HUGE amount of work, such a pain in the ass, and messy? oh yeah, but my god, that bread -- wow. Stunningly good taste and texture, mmm. My husband loved it, too, and wonders when I'll make it again (I told him after I retire). So that's a rec, and what made me think of it was this charming little video about bread and butter at Razza Pizza Artiginale. If I ever get to that part of the world, I am so eating there.

---

This week's terrific fan artist is Shootbadcabbies; check out her lazy comics. Her name! Not mine! I'd call them Adorable Comics. Yes, some are ridiculous, but they all make me smile, like right now -- I have a goofy smile on my face from reviewing them.

This is my favorite; ooh, that face! Basically. Heh. I also really love this one, kind of a genderswap, and this one where they're older and have a kid. To temper all the sweetness, here is a really sad one. Good stuff: I love the coloring, her lines, and how she captures their expressions.

Be sure to check out past artists because many are still producing gorgeous work. ( The list of past artists is so lengthy I've put it behind a cut: )

Last day of the month! Actually, I'm a little sad because it means winter is passing and I love winter. In our mediterranean climate, winter means rains and green hills and flowers; summer means heat and no rain at all. I will miss the rain.

But onward:

» This is for Txvoodoo: Iso the Puppy takes a bath. Seriously, how cute is that little guy? VERY cute.

» My birthday isn't until April but I already have my gift: we're going here, to the Sonoma Canopy Tours! I am so excited! Imagine soaring through the air amidst giant trees and experiencing nature from a different perspective. After strapping on a specially-designed 2-piece seat and chest harness, ziplining lets you zoom from platform-to-platform, high in the sky. Attached to your harness is a caribiner, a metal loop that secures you to a wheel on a cable that's strung from one tree to another. Together, this high-flying equipment allows you to glide effortlessly through the forest and take in the beauty of Northern California's Coastal Redwoods. Eeeee!

» This is a gorgeous photograph and, though I'm in no way a photographer, I was fascinated by how he took the shot, a 24-hour shot in Greece.

» The Chronicle of Higher Ed has a very cool interactive map that lets you track education in specific parts of the US for the past sixty years: Adults with College Degrees. I have Opinions about this, but they are both boring and predictable.

» I saw a lovely talk on TEDxDubai today -- remember that gal who wore the same dress for a year? The Uniform Project? She spoke; I found her inspiring: Sheena Matheiken

» I wanted a way to track my G2 in case I lost it or if it were stolen. After much googling around and reading reviews, I bought (a whole 99 cents) Seek Droid. I chose it because it doesn't use SMS, doesn't show up in the app drawer, doesn't live on the SD card, and it has great reviews. And it works! Blew my husband away when I showed him. Lifehacker said You can also hide the app from the app drawer and keep it from being uninstalled, so you won't ever lose its location. You can even grab your recent calls so you can keep up to date with your contacts while you work on getting your phone back. Setup is extremely simple—you just install it, set up your code, and that's it! The rest is done from the simple web interface, which requires minimal registration to use—you don't even need an email address. There's no reason you shouldn't have this on your phone. I hope I never, ever need it, but I feel better knowing it's on the phone.

» And because this is the last day of the month it's also the last day of my Post a Recipe Pretty Much Every Day of the Month. Today's recipe is one I haven't actually made in over ten years: first, we thought Webster had celiacs and then we discovered he couldn't eat dairy. This has both wheat and dairy in it, so problematic for lots of people, but oh my god, it's delicious. It's from an old and much-loved cookbook I've mentioned before, Anna Thomas's The Vegetarian Epicure.

( Spanakopita )


*From Nigella Lawson: "What I'm doing here is seeking to offer protection from life, solely through the means of potato, butter and cream... there are times when only mashed potato will do."

I worked a very long day yesterday and came home happy to fall directly into bed. I was even happier not to have to set the alarm, and happier still to be able to sleep in a bit. This morning I even made pancakes from scratch for breakfast, mmm.

Plus I woke up to some lovely pleasures:

» The rain is back! The sky was soft, sitting on the hilltops, though the real rain didn't arrive until this afternoon. It was so pretty that ( I took some pictures. )

» Winkingstar is having a tea party in her LJ, bless her heart. I drink gallons of tea, as does my husband, so I had to participate. As I told her, I think tea cures all ailments; when it's hot, it cools you; when it's cold, it warms you; when you're happy, it helps you celebrate; when you're sad, it comforts you.

The comments are not just making me thirsty for tea for also making me long for London. I can't believe it's been seventeen months since I was there. Each month I put a little money away, saving for my next visit, which I have decided will be for a full month. I can't wait.

» Oh! I had the coolest thing happen: NakedBee wrote me a lovely note about my story I Am Your Image Dressed as the World and to let me know that she had created two pieces of art for it; you can see them here. I am so honored that someone would take time from her busy life to do this. Thank you, NakedBee, so much!

» Here's an interesting little video I saw today from TEDxSydney: Rachel Botsman: The case for collaborative consumption: We are moving from passive consumers to creators. I found her a bit over the top, but I also think she is, by and large, correct. Plus she's cute and I love her accent.

» Because I missed posting yesterday, ( here are two recipes. )

» Now, a story: Many years ago, when I was working on a master's in English lit, the capstone course had us select an author to write about for the entire semester. The criterion was that the author had to write in English but not be from the US, England, or Canada. Anywhere else was okay. I have for decades wanted to visit New Zealand (and this was long before the Lord of the Rings movies), so I started researching NZ authors. I discovered Witi Ihimaera, liked his stories, and spent the semester writing about them (sadly, I no longer have a single essay from that class, nor do I remember what they were about). Ihimaera was the first Maori published novelist, and considering this was in the early 1980s, that's tells you a lot right there.

( At the end of the semester, )

*From Monty Python's The Lumberjack Song

» Exhausted, exhausted, exhausted. I'm managing three very large, very different projects at work, and a key person in the biggest is leaving -- in fact, her last day will be Monday. I have absolutely no idea how we'll manage without her. I've decided not to think about it. After all, what can I do? Just take one day at a time.

» Then I come home to find Webster is down with a bad migraine, the puking-and-cold-sweats kind, so that's lovely. I re-watched the second BBC Sherlock Holmes episode, The Blind Banker. Not the best episode, but it took my mind off everything to such an extent that I am seriously considering watching it yet again.

» Let's get to tonight's recipe. I hesitated about this because I haven't made it in at least fifteen years. Back in the day, I must have made hundreds of batches. There was a time when I made it for every party and every potluck; it was in great demand, so much so that I always brought a copy of the recipe when I brought the goodies. And goodies they are.

The recipe is from Margaret S. Fox's Cafe Beaujolais restaurant in Mendocino, a lovely town in a gorgeous seaside setting. The Cafe Beaujolais is still in business, though it's passed through several owners since Margaret. (The menu still looks good.)

But this is a recipe from the old Cafe Beaujolais; I found it in Fox's 1984 cookbook of the same name.

( Congo Bars )

*From Cafe Beaujolais by Margaret S. Fox.

» CASTLE! Oh my god.

» I am exhausted, so straight to tonight's recipe. I got this from Ciderpress and it is so, so delicious, ( Scalloped Tomatoes with Croutons )

» I missed yesterday's recipe! But Webster's is doing fine today, though he spent a sleepless night. The procedure was easy-peasy start to finish, and took less than thirty minutes. He was so nervous and so stressed out beforehand that they put him under, so he doesn't remember a thing. He even thought I was with him while they did the procedure, which kind of makes my heart hurt. But he is fully recovered and today has been a very nice day, which we both deserved.

» I love Fringe -- I've watched it since the first episode, completely fell in love with Olivia and Walter and Astrid and eventually with Peter, and -- unlike the X-Files -- I trust the writers. There are some great supporting (and underutilized) cast members, too, especially Lance Reddick, Blair Brown, and Michael Cerveris, who is so fucking creepy -- and yet I really like him.

( Last's night episode )

» Almost every winter, January forgets that it's winter and lets summer creep back in, so we are having amazing weather. Today I weeded, and got hot wearing just a tee shirt. I'm anxious for the rain to return; our water and snow levels are doing fine but we need more to avoid a drought. Still, it's impossible not to enjoy such fine weather.

» My phone is here! I got a G2, also known as Eeeeee! I waited a long time to get a smart phone, and I did a shitload of research (even asking people here) before making my decision. I did have some limitations: I'm with T-Mobile because that has the best reception where I live, and I knew I wanted the Android OS. That still left me with several phones to choose from, but I finally got the G2. No phone did everything I wanted, but this was the closest that had the highest reviews.

Well, I am here to tell you that I love this phone. I've downloaded lots of cool apps (I'd been saving links to people's lists of "ten best Android apps" for months). The most magical is Shazam, of course; just the idea of my phone is "listening" to music is cool, but so far we haven't been able to fool it. Webster, who had been deeply skeptical, is completely won over because we can check Google, Google Maps, and especially Places. I doubt I'll be able to use it next time we're in the Sierras, but I'm sure as hell gonna try, and here in Sonoma County, it works a treat.

Also, the camera is totally cool. Here's a picture out my front door on this most beautiful of days:





» A recipe for you! An old family favorite from an old family friend. It's a short-cut to wonderful baked beans without doing all the soaking and slow-cooking they usually require. ( Flo's Baked Beans: )

» Does everyone know about the jazz guitarist Johnny A and I'm the only newcomer? He is stunning. Webster and I are crazy about his guitar work. Here's his version of Oh Yeah. Youtube has tons of his stuff. What a sound he gets from that guitar -- which Gibson built special for him. If you like his sound, here's a good Youtube "list" of his work.

» This is a wonderful day. I'm a little loaded on champagne left over from the party; I made a big batch of bean soup that is excellent; I'm listening to wonderful music (see: Johnny A, above); I love my new phone; best of all, my husband is well and happy. Tomorrow everything could go to shit, but right now? Right now is a wonderful moment. I hope your moment is as well.



*Closing song on last night's Fringe episode, "The Firefly," sung by Jeremy Little (I think).

» I saw a marvelous documentary today, 180° South: The film follows adventurer Jeff Johnson as he retraces the epic 1968 journey of his heroes Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins to Patagonia. That's pretty much it, except it has gorgeous cinematography and I want to get the sound track. The first review on IMDB says "If you enjoy watching smug jerks thinking highly of themselves; it's for you," but fortunately the other reviews are closer in line with my feelings. I'm also a big fan of Yvon Chouinard (and his company, Patagonia), and think what he and Doug Tompkins are doing is more than admirable.

Here, have a song from the movie: Journey from the Past, by James Mercer.

» Speaking of Patagonia, what panties/knickers do you like? I loved Victoria's Secret high leg briefs for years, but they keep changing them and each change was for the worse. Now the fabric is so thin that I literally put my finger through it -- not at a seam, right through the material, and in a newish pair. So fuck 'em.

The only alternative I've found that I really like is Patagonia's Active Hipster but Jesus, look at the price! I buy them on sale, but that happens too rarely. They're great for traveling; you can wash them out at night and they're dry by morning, plus they're super comfortable. But the price? Man, as much as I support Patagonia's mission, that's too much for one pair of tiny knickers. What do you wear (and love)?

» Interesting (to me) article about Is Mobile Affecting When We Read? The answer appears to be yes, it certainly does: as devices become more mobile, it’s not only changing where we read, but when.

» For the soup recipe I gave last night, I linked to Cut 'n Clean Greens, which are excellent. The soup recipe doesn't use an entire bag, though, so I use the leftover greens in this recipe which I found on the Cut 'n Clean website, ( Creole Mustard Greens: )

» Today is my husband Webster's birthday; he is 61 years old! He's lost most of his hair, and his beautiful red beard is now snow white, but his eyes are just as green and his humor just as side-splitting as when we first met in 1977. I was standing on a third-floor balcony and saw him across a parking lot. I thought to myself: that is the most handsome man I have ever seen. And now, all these years later, he's still here and still handsome.

*Attributed to Jonathan Swift

Back to work tomorrow and I really don't want to. The fucking construction crew never came today nor did the contractor call. When I called him, ninety minutes after he said they'd be here, he said they decided to take the day off. Well, since it's MLK Day I don't object; what I object to is his not calling to let us know. Goddammit.

I hate this. I feel like it's going to drag on forever.

Anyway, it's MLK Day, and Webster and I had our usual conversation wondering what the world would be like if he hadn't been killed. We both believe it would be a better place. And then I get all teary-eyed because the world is so shitty.

Okay, some links to cheer me up:

» Sudden Words, Suddenly Gone: a strange and strangely beautiful art form.

» The cubicle is no place of rest for Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz: No need to click; here's the part I thought most interesting:
And it was then that Thomas Dent Mutter, that genius, that cad, spoke to me through 150 years of history. He wrote a speech in 1847 that I just happened to be transcribing in 2010 and in it he said, "The world is no place of rest. I repeat, it is no place of rest but for effort. Steady, continuous undeviating effort. Our work should never be done and it is the daydream of ignorance to look forward to that as a happy time, when we shall wish for nothing more, and have nothing more to accomplish."

That's Why I Came, a column in The Atlantic by Michael Chabon that I really liked.

A kind of cheering article about California. For a fucking change. California’s a basket case? The state has one of the highest living standards in the country, yet over the past 10 years the economy has still grown much faster, per person, than the national average. According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, it’s up 15% — compared to 8.9% for the U.S. overall.

It’s grown faster than low tax neighbors like Arizona, Utah or New Mexico. It’s grown three times faster than Texas.

And this was from 1999 through 2009: In other words from the peak of the dot-com years through the depths of the recession. It managed this growth despite the double blows of the tech and housing busts.

Most of the states that have grown faster than California during that time are farm states, riding an incredible boom in agriculture prices.

Fact.

Tonight's recipe is kind of embarrassing, but it's so good I'm gonna share anyway. ( Oyster Stew: )

*Attributed to Jonathan Swift

» I bought a smart phone! Eeee! It's a G2, and of course now I'm freaking out. But only a little bit.

» Other than that, I did pretty much nothing today. I stayed in bed almost all day, and it was wonderful. Which is good because next week looks awful -- they're ripping out our old deck and replacing it. That part is good and I'll be glad to have a new, safe deck instead of one you crash through, but oh my god, the noise. The mess. THE NOISE.

» Tonight's recipe is from Smitten Kitchen and although it's a bit of work I think it's worth it. Warning: I take a lot of shortcuts with it. Plus I tweak the hell out of it. Anyway, it's ( Chicken Pot Pie: )

*From the Smitten Kitchen's "about" page.