wisteria

I'm feeling somewhat better today, but my doctor told me to stick close to home for the next 48 hours because I'm probably contagious. I must admit I'm glad to have an excuse to stay home for New Year's Eve. I've never really enjoyed going out, anyway. But since my appetite has finally returned, I headed to the store -- I figured that short trips were fine as long as I didn't cough on anyone -- and got a ton of groceries because winter break always makes me feel like nesting. I also called Mom and got her recipe for Beer Weenies. Guys, these are the best things ever: cocktail sausages in a barbecue sauce made with beer! What's not to love? ( Collapse )

For Christmas, my brother-in-law gave me a 250GB external hard drive, and I was quite excited because I figured I could store all my .avis on it then plug it into my DVD player instead of going back and forth with a USB drive. Unfortunately, the DVD player didn't recognize it when I plugged it in. I did some searching online and saw that I'll probably have to reformat the drive to FAT32. Techie friends: is this a good idea, or is it going to screw up my new hard drive?

Another fun present from my sister was a t-shirt from Mental Floss! Folks, they have the BEST shirts, full of clever puns for post-college types. Sis got me "Idioms are for the birds". Can't wait to wear it to school -- maybe the kids will learn something from it. ;) I also want to get "Hyperbole is the best thing ever!"

Hmm. I'd planned for this post to be much longer, but if I don't finish up now I might never get it done. Since it's the end of the year, I think I'll wrap things up with one of the fic memes that's been going around. ( Collapse )

1. I'm trying to be more frugal right now so that I'll have a bit extra for Dragoncon weekend. This means that instead of getting the good cold cuts at the grocery, I went with the cheap packaged stuff hanging in the display cases. I might've saved five bucks, but I sacrificed a lot in flavor. Ugh. Can't wait for payday. And in other depressing sandwich news, I realized just how many grams of fat are in mayonnaise, so I got the lowfat version. *sigh*

2. Last night's Middleman wins for having vampire puppets! Almost (but not quite) as amusingly whacked-out as Puppet Angel. And on themiddleblog, Javi answers a burning question about the last scene. Made me very relieved. ;)

3. From Time: Making an Arguement for Misspelling. When I saw the headline, I growled because I'm pretty hardcore about spelling -- but the article does make some very good points.

4. Not much else to report, so here's a linkspam:

-- The Washington Post goes in search of The International Sweet Tea Line.
-- Jezebel wants to know are we "girls", or are we "women"? I don't really mind either way, but I agree with several of their points. (The header photo is NSFW.)
-- Mental Floss offers an environmental argument for boxed wine and lists five things I didn't get about Pixar's WALL-E.
-- Here's a very helpful guide to when leftovers go bad.
-- To promote the season two DVDs, Dexter has a Rorschach test to see if you're a budding serial killer.
-- Check out the teams for the new season of The Amazing Race. I'm not feeling the love so far.
-- I'm behind the times, but apparently spaghetti-eating cats are all the rage.

First of all, thanks so much to everyone who replied about the phone usage! I'm also cellular-only, mostly because I'm not a huge fan of talking on the phone (except to my family, of course.) And I guess I'll ask another question. I have an addiction to takeout. While I *can* cook, I seldom actually *like* anything I make for myself. Plus, living alone tends to screw up my motivation. So, do y'all know of any websites that feature recipes for casseroles or other simple dishes that can be made and then frozen or refrigerated for leftovers?

And while I'm asking questions... ( Collapse )

Not much else to report tonight, so here's the usual linkspam.

-- Mental Floss celebrates the joys of toasters.
-- JoshReads describes losing on Jeopardy.
-- PopPhoto lists six vacation photos that can kill you.
-- Time wonders if iPods are bad for your hearing? (I hate those earbuds. Give me good ol' headphones.) They also interview a man who wants to save the plastic shopping bag. Hmph! ;)
-- Sepinwall asks what is a telling/funny/surprising detail that you never noticed until your umpteenth viewing of a beloved film or TV show?
-- PopWatch wants you to name the TV sex scene that left you breathless. Some familiar ones there. And apparently David Boreanaz wants to blog for them. I look forward to future posts about the evils of poultry.
-- And via Broadsheet: go buy yourself an abstinence thong.

P.S. I love the photo in my icon to itty, bitty pieces. If any of you want it, you're welcome to snag. :)

I am baking because I have to go to the new school early next week to move some boxes (we're talking boxes of books, all by myself), and I figured bringing cookies and brownies would be a great way to suck up to the new bosses. You always wanna have the school secretary on your side! Unfortunately, I have learned that applesauce is a great low-fat substitute for cooking oil, but sometimes you just gotta got with the oil. And in semi-related cooking news, I also learned that just because the package of bacon has microwave directions doesn't mean you should microwave bacon. Yuck!

Fandom stuff: proggrrl linked to some interesting spoilers from today's BSG Comic-Con panel, but I'll put those in a separate post. IO9 has a good spoiler-free writeup. EW also has video of Joss, Eliza, and Tahmoh from after their panel. Very, very pretty.

I'm conflicted about tomorrow's Mad Men premiere. I call it and The Wire "Veggie TV": shows I know I should watch, but I don't always want to watch. So I loved this post from Vulture: What makes a show a Show You Should Watch?

Which brings me to linkspam time.

-- Lists: 10 ridiculous undergarments worn by women in video games; 20 ways to eat smart while dining out; and 5 awesomely NSFW mini-games.
-- Quizzes: the Hello Kitty personality test (quite odd), and some cool brain tests.
-- Slightly amusing: Jezebel talks about slips (the undergarment kind), and Cakewrecks asks what happens when bakers screw up?
-- From the NY Times: saving Pompeii from tourists, and are some of China's gymnasts secretly underage?
-- From Salon: hang up and drive!, and what's in a batcrap crazy name? (I rolled my eyes at some of the talkbacks, which were obviously urban legend despite the writer's insistence that "I know this person!")

I baked bread last night... and it actually turned out well! Not that light and fluffy, but still quite edible. I actually did two recipes. The first was just basic beginner bread, and the second was apple cinnamon walnut bread. Fairly simple recipe, though the part about mixing in the apples seemed rather strange.

Also, I finally booked my flight to Vancouver and Seattle. I'll be there June 9-17. Here's hoping my passport arrives in time (I mailed the renewal application two weeks ago.)

But this post is mostly just an excuse to clean out my bookmarks. (See, I *can* talk about something besides BSG!)

-- Junot Diaz' The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao won the Pulitzer for fiction. Excellent! I read it over Christmas, and it's a GREAT novel.

-- I skipped the Yarn Harlot's shindig yesterday because I didn't want to deal with parking in Virginia-Highland, but the AJC has an article about it, along with how knitting has become such a social activity. Kinda wish I'd gone.

-- Wow, someone has already made a plushy version of the, uh, thingy (keepin' this spoiler-free) from the Doctor Who season premiere. Cute!

-- I grew up watching Cheers, and TV Squad lists the vibe biggest Cheers mysteries.

-- Mental Floss lists ten reasons why James Dyson (the vacuum guy) doesn't suck. Yeah, I had a teensy crush on him in those commercials. ;) They also list eight fairy tales and their not-so-happy endings.

-- One of the PopWatch bloggers rewatches When Harry Met Sally and has a bit of Single Woman in Her Thirties panic. And Jezebel takes on the "Hollywood Freemale". I don't particularly want to get married, but I do have those tiny random moments of "What if I choke to death alone in my apartment?" (Gee, thanks for the inspiration, Liz Lemon!)

I'm giddy on a TV high tonight. USA is rerunning The Bourne Identity, which I always have to stop and watch (despite owning it on DVD) because the Bourne movies are awesome and I'm a little bit in love with Franka Potente. The Project Runway finale starts in five minutes; I'm predicting Christian, even though he's a (talented) little troll. And yeah, I'm also recording Law & Order because I can never quite resist. And tonight's delicious dinner is garlic mashed potatoes, steamed-in-a-bag green beans, and chicken marsala. I love that Trader Joe's now sells marsala sauce in a jar; I've been trying to find that for ages.

Pi found a new BSG promo tonight, and she gave me permission to re-upload: www.sendspace.com/file/c4ym4m . I had to make a screencap of one particular shot. ( Collapse )

In non-media news, I bought a box of those Crystal Light bottled water mixers on a lark last week, and I've quickly become addicted. It's like instant Kool-Aid! I've already bought three more boxes since then, with claims of having antioxidants, immunity boosters, "good" fiber, and/or multivitamins. Maybe it's all a scam, but at least it's got me drinking more water.

Anyway. Time to clear out the bookmarks, and I have a ton of 'em:

-- Popwatch wants to know your favorite cover of "Hallelujah". Looks like Jeff Buckley is winning. Pity it has become so overplayed.
-- The New Yorker's Janet Malcolm raves about the Gossip Girl books. Yes, you read that right.
-- Jezebel reviews Harriet the Spy. I also got a kick out of this unintentionally(?) porny Dora the Explorer toy.
-- Creative Loafing offers a semi-defense of Will Ferrell.
-- Time's TV critic has an interesting post about Dungeons & Dragon's influences upon pop culture.
-- From Consumerist: Six days in jail for overdue library books.
-- And finally, my dear daybreak777 wrote "The Price", a lovely Kara-and-Laura ficlet set after 2.07. :)

I've been toying with ideas for a sequel to the Kara-as-a-Cylon fic. Definitely NOT what I want to see onscreen, but it's such an interesting premise. No idea if anything will come of it yet -- I'm in the brainstorming stage, and I don't have the best recent track record with fic! Still, I've been listening to R.E.M.'s "Exhuming McCarthy" almost nonstop lately, and while I'd always seen it as Lee in 3.20, it now feels completely perfect for this Final Five idea. Here's an mp3, if any of you are interested. Gotta love oldskool R.E.M. when they were all political and indignant 'n stuff. ;)

Tonight I am ... baking bread, thanks to a recipe that ww1614 posted yesterday. The dough seems to be rising, but I suppose the baking will be the real test. Still, it's been fun so far, and at least the kneading gave my arms a workout!

And here are a few things from my bookmarks folder:

-- The Galactica DVDs site has several deleted scenes that apparently won't be on the actual discs. Someone has posted them to YouTube. I can see why they were deleted, but I'm still pleased to have something new! (Thanks to Asta and Grey for the heads-up.)

-- I also got a kick out of these photos of Trucco and Kate Vernon walking the picket lines a few weeks ago. I *love* his "Frakking Toaster" t-shirt. (Thanks, proggirl!)

-- romanticalgirl posted a very hot Kara/Helo. voleuse wrote a lovely Lee character study. And for the hat trick, canadiangirl_86 has a bittersweet post-3.20 Kara/Lee. (I need to catch up on all the other klficathon stories!)

-- Jezebel linked to this commercial for Durex. It's naughty and kinda icky in a hilarious way.

-- Salon talks about indies "taking over" the Oscars.

-- I've been giggling at the new blog Stuff White People Like. "Number 67: Standing Still at Concerts."

-- On the heels of yesterday's serial comma debate, the NY Times celebrates the semicolon. (Thanks to Indi for the link.) One of my biggest grammar peeves is its misuse. I'd rather people just skip it altogether!

(Subject line courtesy of tonight's Pushing Daisies.)

Thanks to the holidays, I'm feeling the need to do some hardcore baking. The only trouble is that the folks at work don't seem to be into cookies this year, which means I'm stuck with dozens of extra cookies. Delicious, but somewhat unhealthy. Ah, well! AllRecipes has another great selection this year, especially on their Cookie Advent Calendar. My favorites are Oatmeal Craisin Cookies -- basically just your average oatmeal cookie, but with dried cranberries instead of raisins. Mmm. I've had good luck in the past with Peppermint Patty Surprises; they're labor-intensive but worth it. And if you want something more festive for your shindig, go with Booze Brownies (aka Chocolate Mint Dessert Brownies.) Really, all you have to do is bake regular brownies -- I'm fond of the boxed mixes at the store -- then make the frosting and melt the chocolate for the top. I tend to add a bit more creme de menthe than I should, hence the "booze" title. The finished product looks much fancier than it really is, and they're a big hit at parties. Any other delicious recipes that I should try?

Valuable lesson learned at school today: When telling students that they can "check out ask.com" for their research projects, it is very important to enunciate the word "ask". (Just think about it.)

Speaking of school: I'd love some recs of holiday albums (that are appropriate and appealing for young teens) that I can play while they're working on computers tomorrow. Thanks in advance!

Much love to everyone who replied to the Love Meme! It's really making me smile, and that's a good thing. Tonight's project is to leave comments on some of the other entries. :) Meanwhile, here's a big ol' linkspam.

-- ez_as_pi posted some caps from the "Making of Razor" bonus disc. I snagged one to make this icon, which you're welcome to borrow. Yay for BSG/Conchords crossovers! And here's the icon without text.

-- gnatkip posted Fannish Browsing Tools, including lots of Greasemonkey scripts and Firefox extensions.

-- luna_k linked to Vixy, which converts YouTube and Flash streaming files to .avi and .mov. I've already tried a few, and it works quite well.

-- Via Mental Floss: an explanation of just how IKEA comes up with all those names, and trivia about Munch's "Scream".

-- Via the NY Times: The 53 places to go in 2008. I'll admit I hadn't even heard of a few of them. And this article about the maligned sitcom Cavemen was surprisingly interesting.

-- Broadsheet has an article on new technology in bra design.

-- CNBC offers a guide to holiday tipping in the service industry.

-- I love this Jezebel post's title: Ryan Gosling, Just Walking, in a Pea Coat: Hot.

-- And since I waxed nostalgic about them the other day, here are two chestnuts from Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince: Parents Just Don't Understand and Girls Ain't Nothin' But Trouble. (Y'know, these songs are much smuttier than my 8th grade self ever realized. ;)

Marvelous dinner tonight! Lemon herbed salmon, mushroom risotto, and asparagus spears. Sounds fancy, but it's all from my Target run this afternoon. ;) At least it wasn't takeout. I do know how to cook -- I just tend to hate everything I make for myself. I'd say this might be a change for the better, except I suspect this will be a rare event.

Three more Vividcon recs:
-- I'll join the legions recommending sockkpuppett's Vogue (Yes, that Vogue. ;) I've never seen 300, nor do I have any desire to, but this video is technically and visually stunning. Go watch. Now.
-- cherryice made Only, about the Cylons and especially the Final Four. I'm still surprised we haven't seen more talk about the F4, because I'm utterly fascinated by them. This vid touches on all those gorgeous complications.
-- barkley and friends made Canadian Actor Bingo. HEE!

I also wrote Quadrangle Of Doom meta for sasa_hq, if you're craving some BSG talk during this too-long hiatus. ;)

PopWatch asks What's the most insane thing you've done trying to avoid a spoiler? Not an issue since I'm a spoiler whore, but it's still quite amusing.

Via txvoodoo: If you type in "DSC00001.jpg" in Google images, you'll get a sneak peek at the first image that people took with their brand new digital cameras...and what a sneak peek it is!

And via sarmoti: Making friends is hard for Jason Bourne.

Obligatory Conchords content: Poor, poor Mel. Dave cracks me up. And Bret is so very, very pretty. I'm reminded of that recent quote by Michael Cera about how he wasn't a good comedian until he realized he had to be willing to completely embarrass himself. I love how Bret and Jemaine can look like utter dorks... and also be so damn hot hilarious. ;)

(This one is long. Very long. I'm in one of those moods tonight, and I don't feel like my usual cut-tag extravaganza. Bear with me. The mood shall pass!)

Food coma. Oh my god. Tonight I took a break from cooking and got takeout from Shane's Rib Shack for the first time. I ordered the shredded BBQ chicken platter, with baked beans and fried okra. Damn, that is a lot of food. I've only eaten the sides and two bites of the chicken so far, and I'm utterly, almost painfully stuffed. (And that's why I'm using this smutty moodpic. Hee!) At least I can claim that the okra counts as a green vegetable, right? And at least I'll have a lovely lunch tomorrow, because no way in hell am I going to finish that chicken tonight.

I now have something else to add to my list of things that aren't fun: attempting to teach my mother how to use Netflix. Via a long-distance cellphone call, instead of in person. Mom: "The site won't let me log in." Me: "Did you enter your e-mail address correctly?" Mom: "Oh, I forgot to add that that 'a' with the circle around it." She and Dad got an HDTV recently, and despite my best efforts, I couldn't convince them to give it to me instead. I'm currently watching Planet Earth on DVD. It's marvelous, and I've heard that it's downright exquisite on hi-def. For once, Mom listened to one of my recs, so she wanted Netflix in order to rent it for herself. I hope they like it!

Just saw a commercial for DeKalb Medical Center, featuring a voice-over by a very posh British woman. Uh, if you're trying to promote yourself as a great local hospital, shouldn't you use someone from around here? Look, I love Brits! I love the accent! Lived there for a year and loved every minute! I'm just quite amused by how American advertising seems to have decided that if you want to look classy, you use a British VO. Hey, friends from the UK? Are all of you really rich and fancy? ;) And do your commercials use American actors when the product wants to seem sophisticated? More fun with stereotypes!

Time to clean out my bookmarks.

-- Since watching the pilot on Sunday, I've become semi-obsessed with Flight of the Conchords. (Yes, Kiwi friends, I know they're old hat to you. ;) Kinda like if Tenacious D guest-starred on The Office; the sense of humor is deliciously bone-dry. I can't get any of the songs out of my head, especially "Most Beautiful Girl", and someone needs to do a BSG vid to the robots song. You can catch the full episode on that site until Sunday, and check out YouTube for a bunch of other hilarious clips.

-- From Slate: an explanation of the odd terms used to describe wine, a slideshow of tragic US soccer (football) uniforms, where do Hollywood babies come from?, and a very long-but-funny dissection of Vanity Fair's sycophantic profile of Angelina Jolie.

-- Salon explains how the collapse of a book distributor has forced many independent publishers (including McSweeney's) to the verge of bankruptcy, and what this means for publishing in general.

-- From Radar: Is this art from the Venice Biennale... or a 7-year-old? Mental Floss also asks: Discontinued Ben & Jerry's Flavor or a band I found on MySpace? And I love their Vocab Rehab feature.

-- According to a new study, when viewing photos of naked people, men are most likely to look at their faces, while women immediately check out their naughty bits. Huh.

-- Though I usually roll my eyes at the lolcatmacros craze, I did a lolpilots picspam over on sasa_hq. Even more hilarious ones in the comments, and I about died laughing at dionusia's if ur smrt u could b dis bottle.

P.S. An hour after I began typing this post, I still feel like someone has stuffed ME with barbecue poly-fill. Blech.