Happy Thursday! Yesterday we returned to "sunny" California from tall wide Colorado. What beautiful summer weather east of the Rockies has! Warm AND green. This desert-raised mind boggles.
Let me recount to you one or a couple adventures. It all started when we got to the airport. Our gate was 44F...there was 43, and 45 was across the hall....oh, there's escalators down to 44...no. Escalator down to the street. Where a tram was waiting to take us across the tarmac to the "remote terminal" which housed gate 44.
On our way there, we stopped to let planes cross in front of us. I was afraid we'd end up like that cop car in Casino Royale that gets picked up in the engine wake.
But we made it to our proper gate. Shortly, we were walking out onto the runway towards our plane. We were flying on a commuter flight subsidiary of American Airlines. American Eagle, it was called, and aptly so; our plane was the size of one.
"Mom, I had a plane like this when I was a kid," I said, "I think it's in a drawer somewhere."
In any case, it seemed likely that once we all had boarded, someone was coming along to pick it up and throw it to Denver.
We had seats A and B, which, as we soon discovered, were across the aisle from each other. C was the far window seat. The stewardess was angry. I saw the Grand Canyon.
Right near the far side of the Rockies, we hit some awful turbulence. There was one dip significantly comparable to the first drop into the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. My Zune was playing Linkin Park's In the End, and when I noticed I was all "Eff that," and tossed on a one-two punch of Third Day's All the Heavens and Harrison's All Things Must Pass.
I had started My Sweet Lord for good measure, but then the angry stewardess made me put it away and shortly we were arrived alive.
I have four nieces: Ainsley loves dragons, Liberty loves frogs, Melody loves princesses, and Cassidy has this crazy wide-eyes stare at everything. They are 10, 8, 6, and four months.
Oh the adventures we had. Sunday we went to church and had a dedication for the lil one, then we had cake and Kevin barbecued. That was some gentle gentle cloudlike tri tip.
We hiked up a mountain and tried not to fall off of it. We went to Sonic and then saw Toy Story 3 (I fought so very hard not to cry. If I had been in less scrutinizing company I probably woulda bawled through the end).
On one day we went to a candy factory in Denver, a tea factory in Boulder, a cheese import store in Longmont, and a pirate restaurant in Lakewood.
We visited the Air Force Academy, toured the chapel(s) there. We wrapped everything up with a visit to a park that was unrecognizable to me.
It was a great time. It was summery and lovely and freewheeling and they had a cat that was obliging. Oh, and the visiting was fun too.
But alas, we had to return. So we boarded our Matchbox plane and headed for home. (Our steward was not angry--but he had to tilt his head to keep his faux-hawk from scraping the top of the cabin) This flight was ridiculously smooth compared to the first. I played much Professor Layton. On our descent we passed over downtown, and you could see the LED displays from the Nokia theater.
And then we drove home and I slept forever. The end.
I'll be on my way to the AX a week from this morning. Wish me luck.
-Steph
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Hi thur, Summer!
Happy Thursday! On days like these it's hard to believe that there's ever a bad day. It's sunny and the AX is coming and there are beautiful tangerines at the fruit stand.
Yesterday I sat outside and painted my Speed Racer shirt. The inside of his collar and the cuffs of his shirt are white, while the rest is blue. SO I PAINTED IT. Earned me a right-arm sun burn (lefty gets driving sun and is a-ok) and mighty stiffness in the legs. Who knew sitting could be so strenuous??
I also managed to paint my white costume gloves yellow, so now I just need to acquire some sort of loafer and find my red scarf and detach and paint the new G on the shirt. Oh, and I guess buy a whole pack of red socks. And get a hair cut.
So, yes. Almost done. Clearly.
Today I supported local businesses, which felt nice. I went out to the fruit stand, (six tangerines for about a dollar) circled around downtown to Rocket Fizz (Dublin Dr Pepper and a Sprecher Cherry Cola) and then swung by Shamsi's Deli for a half curry chicken salad sandwich and a side of Greek salad ($5.95, if the "too pricey!" reviews scare you off).
This week I spent a couple solid days in Red Dead Redemption, which is like Oblivion only cooler. Except apparently it's not like Oblivion, it's Grand Theft Auto in the Wil' West. But there's not much incentive (for me) to do any grand theft...equine, so to me it's more like Oblivion in that I'm running around the world doing good for people and hunting animals.
It also has a stronger narrative than Oblivion, and a tidier side quests system. Although, to be fair, Oblivion has so many more side quest options that I have yet to properly engage in its narrative. As in Oblivion gave me the "further the story!" quest and so far I've ignored it. Whereas in Red Dead, skinning coyotes is only interesting for a while, and then you're seeking out the next story mission.
Although I did spend a couple of hours (in-game days) cleaning up at a poker table in Mexico. Highly satisfying.
AND after a significant turn in the plot, it gifted me with this song echoing out over the twilight desert trail south of the border: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IkvAb6THQY . Instead of spurring my horse on to my destination, I moseyed along as night set slowly around me and this haunting cowboy song whispered my predicament...."it's so far, so far away"...
A little while later, I threw a fire bomb onto a boat, and running back along the dock I missed the turn and fell into the river and insta-died. :<
I accidentally watched some romantic comedies, and had my disapproval of the genre reaffirmed. When in Rome and today Leap Year. The KBell was disappointing--the script quality fell far short of its comedic cast. They were predominately cult actors; people who do their thing and do it well, but perhaps this movie would have been improved by hiring no names and therefore minimizing audience expectations of it? As for Leap Year..............I knew in my soul it was a waste of time going into it...and yet still I was surprised at how right I was.
Next time you hear from me, I'll have been to Colorado and back. Try not to miss me.
-Steph
Yesterday I sat outside and painted my Speed Racer shirt. The inside of his collar and the cuffs of his shirt are white, while the rest is blue. SO I PAINTED IT. Earned me a right-arm sun burn (lefty gets driving sun and is a-ok) and mighty stiffness in the legs. Who knew sitting could be so strenuous??
I also managed to paint my white costume gloves yellow, so now I just need to acquire some sort of loafer and find my red scarf and detach and paint the new G on the shirt. Oh, and I guess buy a whole pack of red socks. And get a hair cut.
So, yes. Almost done. Clearly.
Today I supported local businesses, which felt nice. I went out to the fruit stand, (six tangerines for about a dollar) circled around downtown to Rocket Fizz (Dublin Dr Pepper and a Sprecher Cherry Cola) and then swung by Shamsi's Deli for a half curry chicken salad sandwich and a side of Greek salad ($5.95, if the "too pricey!" reviews scare you off).
This week I spent a couple solid days in Red Dead Redemption, which is like Oblivion only cooler. Except apparently it's not like Oblivion, it's Grand Theft Auto in the Wil' West. But there's not much incentive (for me) to do any grand theft...equine, so to me it's more like Oblivion in that I'm running around the world doing good for people and hunting animals.
It also has a stronger narrative than Oblivion, and a tidier side quests system. Although, to be fair, Oblivion has so many more side quest options that I have yet to properly engage in its narrative. As in Oblivion gave me the "further the story!" quest and so far I've ignored it. Whereas in Red Dead, skinning coyotes is only interesting for a while, and then you're seeking out the next story mission.
Although I did spend a couple of hours (in-game days) cleaning up at a poker table in Mexico. Highly satisfying.
AND after a significant turn in the plot, it gifted me with this song echoing out over the twilight desert trail south of the border: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IkvAb6THQY . Instead of spurring my horse on to my destination, I moseyed along as night set slowly around me and this haunting cowboy song whispered my predicament...."it's so far, so far away"...
A little while later, I threw a fire bomb onto a boat, and running back along the dock I missed the turn and fell into the river and insta-died. :<
I accidentally watched some romantic comedies, and had my disapproval of the genre reaffirmed. When in Rome and today Leap Year. The KBell was disappointing--the script quality fell far short of its comedic cast. They were predominately cult actors; people who do their thing and do it well, but perhaps this movie would have been improved by hiring no names and therefore minimizing audience expectations of it? As for Leap Year..............I knew in my soul it was a waste of time going into it...and yet still I was surprised at how right I was.
Next time you hear from me, I'll have been to Colorado and back. Try not to miss me.
-Steph
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Yeah I'm feelin burned out
Happy Thursday! Dear Thursday, why are you so cold? Why do you make me sad? Boo, Thursday, go ruin someone else's....Thursday.
I was watching Nero Wolfe today, but it failed to hold my attention, which was a tragedy because that was all I had expected from it. But I know being in a bad mood is silly, 'cause if you really wanted, you could just stop being in a bad mood. You know, by just not being grumpy anymore. But then I went to work so that didn't happen.
Why is it all the negative people come in when you're feeling negative? :<
You know how introvert/extrovert doesn't necessarily mean that you're shy/outgoing? It's more about how you spend your energy. Like an extrovert gets charged by being with people and can get down and out by hisself, while an introvert gets tired by socializing and needs to be alone to recharge.
We took the test ourselves, in a writing class, and I scored one point higher for introvert. As in, just about as right-down-the-center as you can get (but slightly introverted).
So I feel like right now, I'm getting only the side effects of both sides, tired and dejected no matter what I do or who I see. Or how much I don't do or see.
There was one night this week were I went to sleep at 10:30! And then I got up at 7:30. It was pretty intense.
Luckily, I'm going to Colorado to visit my brother in about a week, and not too long after is the AX, so those both should be a nice change of pace to knock this.
The other day I put an epic tale about a three-legged rat to verse. My first story to song composition. And I have first-draft lyrics for a love/zombie song, and the first verse for an alien abduction song--me and Beth wrote that yesterday. And then she played me a bit she's been working on, and then I ruined it with lyric ideas that turned it also into a love song.
You know, to balance out the song about a clown with a clock for a face.
Which she painted, btw. I'll scan it or something. It's excellence.
Also yesterday we went to a fruit stand and the radio was going, and then the DJ was all "and Jason Mraz and so-and-so wrote that song back and forth in emails" and we were all "our technique has been validated!"
There were some good tangerines and strawberries to be had there, as well.
Gonna try to make my own peanut butter and nutella and pickles and mayo. I'll keep you posted.
-Steph
I was watching Nero Wolfe today, but it failed to hold my attention, which was a tragedy because that was all I had expected from it. But I know being in a bad mood is silly, 'cause if you really wanted, you could just stop being in a bad mood. You know, by just not being grumpy anymore. But then I went to work so that didn't happen.
Why is it all the negative people come in when you're feeling negative? :<
You know how introvert/extrovert doesn't necessarily mean that you're shy/outgoing? It's more about how you spend your energy. Like an extrovert gets charged by being with people and can get down and out by hisself, while an introvert gets tired by socializing and needs to be alone to recharge.
We took the test ourselves, in a writing class, and I scored one point higher for introvert. As in, just about as right-down-the-center as you can get (but slightly introverted).
So I feel like right now, I'm getting only the side effects of both sides, tired and dejected no matter what I do or who I see. Or how much I don't do or see.
There was one night this week were I went to sleep at 10:30! And then I got up at 7:30. It was pretty intense.
Luckily, I'm going to Colorado to visit my brother in about a week, and not too long after is the AX, so those both should be a nice change of pace to knock this.
The other day I put an epic tale about a three-legged rat to verse. My first story to song composition. And I have first-draft lyrics for a love/zombie song, and the first verse for an alien abduction song--me and Beth wrote that yesterday. And then she played me a bit she's been working on, and then I ruined it with lyric ideas that turned it also into a love song.
You know, to balance out the song about a clown with a clock for a face.
Which she painted, btw. I'll scan it or something. It's excellence.
Also yesterday we went to a fruit stand and the radio was going, and then the DJ was all "and Jason Mraz and so-and-so wrote that song back and forth in emails" and we were all "our technique has been validated!"
There were some good tangerines and strawberries to be had there, as well.
Gonna try to make my own peanut butter and nutella and pickles and mayo. I'll keep you posted.
-Steph
Thursday, June 03, 2010
Origami
Happy Thursday! It looked almost like it was going to rain today, but it's all clear now. If it had rained, I woulda been severely freaked out, 'cause all I've done in the last 24 hours is play (and beat) Heavy Rain. Here, watch a trailer to see how intense it is: TRAILER.
It's like the length and story quality of a tv miniseries, but it's INTERACTIVE 'cause it's a video game. Where your answers and actions (and reflexes) can drastically alter the outcome of the story. By my estimate, it took me eight or nine hours to get through it once...now I'm doing it again to see what other paths I can take.
Let me just say though, I've never fought my way out of so many death traps in my life. So intense, this game.
Let's talk curry. And, as always, you know I mean curry rice. Except this time I didn't make any rice 'cause I wanted it as filling for meat buns. Which I guess are curry buns. (But it was also real good with the French bread)
One time ago, when I was learning about curry, I read something to the effect that in home made curry sauces, apple and/or mango is used to enrich the flavor. My first experiment was to cut up about a fourth of an apple and let it dissolve into the curry mix--but at the time I was still buying the "mild" flavor packets, and the result was that tiny bit of apple cut nearly all curry flavor. So since then I've put some apple into the medium flavor, and it turns out great every time.
And I thought, wouldn't it be cute to use like, cranberry sauce? And use turkey for the meat? Thematic, right? Yesterday I tossed in two boxes of craisins and a slice of cranberry sauce (although I used three hamburger patties worth of ground beef).
It was a thick slice, and the end result is that it's suspiciously sweet. Not too sweet, just, you suspect it might be sweet. You have a slight suspicion. I think a half-thick slice would have been more appropriate, although on the other hand if I had used turkey I think it would have pulled together quite nicely. It would have been something done specifically right rather than something else done slightly wrong.
Curry curry curry, you are my loved one.
That's all, today.
-Steph
It's like the length and story quality of a tv miniseries, but it's INTERACTIVE 'cause it's a video game. Where your answers and actions (and reflexes) can drastically alter the outcome of the story. By my estimate, it took me eight or nine hours to get through it once...now I'm doing it again to see what other paths I can take.
Let me just say though, I've never fought my way out of so many death traps in my life. So intense, this game.
Let's talk curry. And, as always, you know I mean curry rice. Except this time I didn't make any rice 'cause I wanted it as filling for meat buns. Which I guess are curry buns. (But it was also real good with the French bread)
One time ago, when I was learning about curry, I read something to the effect that in home made curry sauces, apple and/or mango is used to enrich the flavor. My first experiment was to cut up about a fourth of an apple and let it dissolve into the curry mix--but at the time I was still buying the "mild" flavor packets, and the result was that tiny bit of apple cut nearly all curry flavor. So since then I've put some apple into the medium flavor, and it turns out great every time.
And I thought, wouldn't it be cute to use like, cranberry sauce? And use turkey for the meat? Thematic, right? Yesterday I tossed in two boxes of craisins and a slice of cranberry sauce (although I used three hamburger patties worth of ground beef).
It was a thick slice, and the end result is that it's suspiciously sweet. Not too sweet, just, you suspect it might be sweet. You have a slight suspicion. I think a half-thick slice would have been more appropriate, although on the other hand if I had used turkey I think it would have pulled together quite nicely. It would have been something done specifically right rather than something else done slightly wrong.
Curry curry curry, you are my loved one.
That's all, today.
-Steph
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