The Kitty Kat Lounge

Come On

2009-12-09T20:15:00.002-06:00

So, I don't want to sound like a hard-up prude (well, not a prude anyway), but lately I feel kind of weird when a guy hits on me. I can't explain it, but it makes me feel weird like that kid who would suck up to The Beaver's mom, June Cleaver. Maybe it's because I haven't been on a date in a year or that I sometimes think guys shouldn't hit on 32 year old women, but it's vaguely disturbing and creepy. Maybe I'm just jaded and think that nothing good can come from a guy being interested in me...or maybe I'm just out of practice with talking to guys...yeah, let's go with that.

Strange Milestone...

2009-11-11T13:20:00.002-06:00

This month I will have been celibate for an entire year. The main reason why, though significant, is not fit for public consumption at this time. Suffice it to say, I have been actively avoiding dating and interacting with men in any sort of romantic way. I just didn't like who I felt I had to be in order to attract and keep a man. I felt like I was constantly visiting with my grandparents, you know, always on your best behavior, covered in a thick veneer of respectibility and detachment, because god forbid I'd let a man see the real me. It's always easier when someone rejects your false self, you know. I didn't like that I had to pretend to be this jaded 30-something single gal in order to not scare men away. Because, lord knows, desperation is a smelly perfume. Not that I was desperate...just earnest.

I just got tired of the cycle, the charade, the endless rejection for one bullshit reason or another (although, not every man I've dated was like this...you know who you are...). I got tired of the abject fear of letting someone in and losing them, chalking up another failed relationship to endlessly dissect with friends over beers and cigarettes. I got tired of feeling like that was all I was talking about with my friends. Men, sex, love, breaking up, heartbreak. Enough. I went into hiding...leaving only for work, school, and the odd beer out with really close friends. I was too tired to deal with anything else. Too tired to put on the fuck-me heels, jeans that make my ass look good, and the low cut top. Too tired to flirt with Mr. Right Now. Too tired to give out my number and take their calls. And I was sure as hell too tired to go out on actual dates.

And you know what? It's good. It's good that I'm unfettered and alone. I like figuring out who I am alone. I like figuring out that yes, I would like to maybe get married in the future (not only just because I like cake and that people will say nice things about me) even though for years I denied that I did. I like that I have 2 cats that are like my babies and give me a reason to not sleep all day. I've discovered that I'm a really clean person and that, yes I do like all that Martha Stuart and Real Simple stuff. And I'm realizing that I don't really want to date a guy that at just has a steady job and health insurance. I'm not ok with dating a guy in his 30's who smokes pot every day and likes jam bands. I'm not ok with dating a guy who doesn't get along with his family. I'm not ok with dating significantly younger men. I don't like motorcycles and I don't like guns...even hunting rifles. I still like guys with tattoos...or those who want tattoos, but I'm starting to realize that I want someone mature, stable, funny, and NICE. And I'm ok with sticking to what I want in the long term and not settling...even if it means I don't get married till I'm 50.

Be the Change of which You Speak

2009-11-08T18:30:00.002-06:00

Those of you who know me, know that I'm not particularly religious and overt displays of one's religious views often make me uncomfortable, but today I read a story in the Star Tribune that truly touched me. Shit, it even choked me up a little. Here's a snippet from Sandwiches from a Savior:

"Every night of the year, Law, 64, is on the streets of Minneapolis in a van packed with sandwiches for the homeless. The painted words "Love One Another" festoon the red van. While Law doesn't preach, he takes his born-again Christian beliefs seriously.
"I truly believe that God put me on this Earth to help the poor," he said. "I will do that until the day I die."

Last year, the retired Minneapolis schoolteacher distributed 85,000 sandwiches to hungry people. This year, he's on track to hand out 170,000. Because of a serendipitous encounter with a former student, volunteers at more than 100 Twin Cities churches will make 200,000 sandwiches this year for Law.
It is what Law does, and who he is. The kitchen of his Edina condo holds two freezers. Three more sit in the living room. His bed is covered with coats he is collecting for the homeless. He says he makes 70 stops a day on his mission to feed and help people, stealing an hour or two in the middle of the night to snooze in the van and napping at home before he hits the road again."

This man does this on his own dime and time and works with a group called 363 Ministries that doesn't get nonprofit status for simplicity's sake. I know Christianity is filled with people that truly live according to Jesus's teachings, yet all we hear about lately are those who spend their time hating their neighbor, killing in the name of God, or seeking to keep down those they view as "sinners." It really does warm my heart that this man simply doesn't sit back and bemoan the problem of hunger and the homeless and impotently wishing "someone" would fix it. He's out there, in the shit, handing out sandwiches, buying prom dresses, and helping people pay their light bill. He's not just handing them off to some faceless bureaucracy, but actually serving according to his beliefs. He is an example to everyone, Christian or no.

I'm an Excellent Driver...

2009-10-19T23:20:00.003-05:00

So, I got pulled over tonight for a traffic infraction and was let off with a verbal warning because of my perfect driving record. Don't worry, I haven't missed the irony in this situation.

Driving Life Lesson: You'd be surprised that you can get out of most tickets just by acting slightly ding-y, saying that you're really tired and anxious to get home, and then apologizing profusely. Oh and it helps when the cop's not a dick.

Egg Pie

2009-10-11T19:01:00.002-05:00

This is just a quick notice to let you know that the best quiche in America, possibly even the world, is made at Queen City Bakery in Sioux Falls, SD. Seriously, that quiche would make Julia Child slap Jaques Pepin right in the mouth.

This business alone could make me abandon Minneapolis altogether for the prairies and strip malls of Eastern South Dakota.

Alabaster*

2009-10-05T22:36:00.004-05:00

This coming Wednesday my parents will celebrate 37 years of wedded bliss. They met in high school (set up on a blind date by my mother's friend, who initially wanted my dad for herself) and married 5 years later. In a year where celebrities are marrying for publicity and gay couples seeking to marry are accused of undermining the sanctity of marriage, my parents will celebrate "making it work" for almost 4 decades. Even though their union wasn't (and still isn't) all hearts and flowers, they're still hot for each other (gross) and still go on dates (slightly less gross). When I was very young, they almost didn't make it. Teetering on the edge of poverty which was exacerbated by my dad's poor impulse control regarding credit and a fondness for Windsor, my mom packed her bags and we moved into her parent's creepy 100-year-old house for six months, telling dad to either get his shit together or sign the papers. Thankfully, they worked it out and continue to fly in the face of the nation's divorce statistics. Their marriage is a testament to love, patience, and perseverance.

Happy Alabaster Anniversary, mom and dad (even though you don't know, and will never know, about this blog)!

*Alabaster is the traditional gift for the 37th year.

Patience

2009-09-23T08:34:00.002-05:00

I've never been a particularly patient person. Most people, including my mother, blame this on my being an only child. As much as I hate having my few character flaws (cough) blamed on the circumstances of my birth, I'd have to admit that this is probably true. I mean, it's not like I ever had to fight for the attention of my parents, and while my parents couldn't afford to spoil me monetarily, they certainly spoiled me emotionally (wait...that sounds bad). Although, my threshold for bullshit has waxed and waned as I've gotten older, I've found that, yes patience is a virtue and it will be rewarded, but you know old habits die hard.

Things that I have no patience for:

Standing behind old ladies at the supermarket or bank
Long voicemail messages.
Standing in line in general
People who ask questions about the menu at a fast food restaurant. Really? It's all crap and it all tastes the same and I only get 30 minutes for lunch, so make a fucking decision or bring a damn sandwich.
Any songs over 3 minutes or that has more than 3 guitar solos.
Professors who lecture the obvious in a graduate level class. If you don't know how to write a research paper in AMA format by now, graduate school is not for you.
Getting stuck in the right lane at a red light behind someone who is not turning right. Fuck you.
People who come to work sick. Your incessant coughing makes me stabby.
Farmer's markets...especially those women who butt in front of you to ask if those cucumbers are locally grown and then proceed to have a 30 minute conversation about their locavore coming-to-Jesus moment with the seller. Die in a fire.

What tries your patience?

Wells Fargo, Making You Crazy By Doing Their Jobs

2009-08-12T22:35:00.004-05:00

I've been a Wells Fargo customer for many years...since 1993, as a matter of fact, and have never had any complaints (other than the fact that they have iron-clad loan conditions...but that's my problem, not theirs). Well, recently, I had reason to believe that my PayPal account had been hacked, which put my financial well-being in jeopardy. After closing the account, I notified Wells about the possibility of fraudulant activity that may, or may not, happen and that they should refuse PayPal transactions after July 4th. Well, I didn't realize that I had made a purchase on Etsy from a nice lady in Tennessee on the 20th (not the 4th), so of course, Wells Fargo being the well-oiled mega-banking machine that they are, issued a stop payment against the $20 transaction and opened a fraud case.

Sigh.

Well, fuck. I hit the reply button like Mike Phelps hits the bong and told them that I had authorized that one transaction, but nothing else (thankfully, no haxors tried to buy whores or $400 gaming systems or whatever) and that they should reverse that stop payment. I also notified the nice lady that Wells Fargo is the rotwieller of fraud prevention and apparently have lightning fast typing fingers and that I was trying to straighten it out. The next day (!) I recieved another e-mail from Wells that the stop payment was deleted and I thought that was the end of it.

Now, because I'm obsessive about balancing my checkbook, I checked by balance and noticed a $20 credit in my account. WHAT THE FUCK?

Double Sigh.

So now, because Wells is so happy to serve me by making sure 14 year old boys aren't buying hydroponic equipment with my paycheck, I have to write the poor Southern lady who makes nice soaps and lotion to check her PayPal account for rescinded funds and then call the Claims department to find out what the hell is going on. Not only that, I'm probably going to have to figure out a way to re-pay the nice soap lady for my lavender soaps without involving PayPal. I'm thinking this will involve a cashier's check or money order (god, it's like 1996 all over again), unless she has a Wells Fargo account and then I can directly transfer money into her account.

Now, don't get me wrong, I heart Wells Fargo for taking a possible $20 fraud case seriously and being so johnny-on-the-spot about it and everything (and they don't even charge a fee, take THAT Bank of America), but I can't fucking believe I have to do all this running around for $20.

Road Trip Part I

2009-08-03T18:18:00.003-05:00

As promised, Mega Fun South Dakota Road Trip pictures and commentary!

After experiencing the fun and excitement of visiting various gas stations and rest areas that southbound I-169 has to offer, Max, Courtney, and I enjoyed $3.50 margaritas in historic downtown Sioux Falls.

The patio at The Phillip's Ave Diner was eerily quiet and we got the stink eye from the over 50 set that were scattered amongst us. I have no idea why.

After a couple of cocktails and some overpriced diner food, I ferried us to the Big Sioux River Falls area.

From this vantage you can feel the fishy spray from one of the more polluted areas of the Big Sioux River. I look forward to my uterus rotting out.

WTF?

View from the observation tower/prison guard shooting deck:

The next morning, we set out for the epic drive to The Black Hills. Mitchell, SD's world famous (har) Corn Palace was first on the list of travel oddities to see.

People were seriously lining up at 9:30 am to take their photo with this guy:

Yep, there it is. Made of corn.

Corn mural of the Corn Palace...on the Corn. Palace. Dude, I'm freaking out.

After running around, taking pictures and running in front of cars in Mitchell, we geared up for the most exciting part of the trip. Four hours of this gripping scenery:

More photos and gripping commentary to come tomorrow (i.e. slap happy visits to Wall Drug, the Badlands, Mt Rushmore, and authentic Mexican food in Rapid City).

Bronto Butt

2009-07-27T21:22:00.001-05:00

Bronto Butt, originally uploaded by kittykatlounge.

I'm still around...just recovering from a massive road trip to the Black Hills with Coco and Max. More photos and commentary to come. Until then, enjoy this pic of a 70 year old brontosaurus butt.

A Call For Good Thoughts

2009-07-12T00:54:00.002-05:00

So, my mom's sister has been fighting breast cancer for the past 3 years and we just found out that she's losing the fight. At her last MRI the doctors found a lesion on her brain. It's inoperable and about the only thing to be done is a fuck-load of radiation and some new drugs. These same doctors have given her the non-prognosis of a month to a year. She's 59. So, yeah, she's probably terminal. About the only thing we can hope for is that what time she has left is not filled with pain and dramatic personality changes. So, I'm putting this out in the ether for prayers, good thoughts, incantations, or whatever else you can think of. Not only for my aunt, but for my mother (who's extremely close to her sister) and the rest of my family.

Fuck cancer, dudes.

Relearning the Thrifty Way

2009-06-20T19:04:00.002-05:00

So, I recently discovered that Wells Fargo has a time limit for in-school forbearance on private student loans and that my time of living high on the hog is over. There's nothing like learning you will have a new bill equal to a car payment for the next 12 years of your life to start you thinking of ways to save money. So, here are the steps I have taken to ease the strain on my wallet, some of which have inadvertent benefits to the environment:

1. Packing a lunch: while this is actually increasing my grocery bill, it's been kinder to my waist line and a lesson in will power. I have discovered the wonders of fruit and yogurt and found benefit in the new produce extender bags (Hefty now makes them for half the cost of those "As Seen On TV" ones). Also, I'm washing and reusing sandwich bags, not just for the environment, but because those fuckers are spendy!

2. Actually using leftovers and shopping around for deals, although I have not yet been to Aldi, I discovered that SuperTarget has better produce prices than Cub (especially on seasonal fruit).

3. Making my own cleaning products. Today I made my own all-purpose cleaner with Borax, baking soda, dish soap, and water. It works amazingly well and the next batch will include some lavender essential oil. After the initial purchase of the huge box of borax ($2.99) and baking soda ($0.50), that cleaner is probably a fraction of the cost of some of the fancy shit I've been using and better for my own environment. Here's the recipe I used.

4. Along those lines, I discovered that Borax is not only cheap, but can be used for everything from a laundry booster to deodorizing carpets and whitening porcelain.

5. I also bought a big jug of vinegar for household use. I've always used it to descale my coffee maker (works like a charm and is actually better than that CLR shit), but you can also add it to your homemade cleaner, use it for glass cleaner, disinfecting counter tops, deodorizing your kitchen, as an additive to your rinse cycle to brighten clothes, and even remove deodorant stains on shirts. Here's a list of all the household uses for a $2.50 gallon of white vinegar from the Vinegar Institute (yes, there is actually a Vinegar institute).

6. I also downgraded my cell phone service from a fully wireless PDA phone to just a regular "phone-phone" and took advantage of my 15% corporate discount. By my early calculations I'll have cut that bill in half.

7. Paying my small-balance credit cards off and canceling them. I've got the Best Buy card almost all paid off and now will work towards the one with a $600 balance. I figure, the less bills I have, the more control I'll have over my finances.

8. I'm still saving a portion of my check every month, but am reducing that by $25 for now.

9. There is a possibility that my love of cleaning and organizing may translate into a monthly job for a friend who may let her cleaning lady go. I'm going to do some research on natural house cleaning and may even see if I could make it into a side job. So, if you're looking to have someone clean your house for an event, on a regular basis, or if you're moving and want to ensure getting your whole deposit back, and live in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, send me an e-mail.

10. Alexis has turned me on to using beauty bars instead of body wash to cut down on plastic. 4 bars of Dove's Go Fresh Burst with nectarine and white ginger beauty bar is about $5 (cheaper if you use a coupon) and lasts forever. I'm still working on the first bar a month after buying the 4-pack, which, by my calculations, will save me about $20 because I go though a bottle of body wash every month and a half. Also, I discovered Suave's professional line, which works suprizingly well with my hair (I'm using the strengthening type which is a knock off of Redken) and cost $1.92 per bottle on sale at Target.

11. I've also been more concious of my electicity usage (especially after watching a particularly gripping documentary on IFC about the coal mines of West Virginia) as a way to cut my electrical bill. That means keeping the lights to a minimum (I hate sitting in low light) and making sure to turn off my computer and cable tuner before running off to work. However, I don't have time to run around and unplug all the small appliances, so the good people of WV are just going to have to cut me a break on that.

However, there are certain things I just can't skimp on:

Digital cable and internet (I don't go out that much, so this is my main entertainment expense), brand name cat food and litter (you really do get what you pay for), Diet Coke, smoking (seriously, no one wants to be a party to my quiting...it won't be healthy for anyone involved), name brand lotion, and my Sunday paper (hello, COUPONS!).

Anyway, I already feel pretty good about my plan, even though there has been some initial investment for groceries and such, not to mention some of my clothes and shoes are pooping out and need to be replaced, but that's just to be expected (and why Kohl's and Target exist).

What are some of your money-saving tips?

Donut Fries

2009-06-01T18:07:00.003-05:00

If there is a God, he lives and works in San Jose. Please bear witness to the GREATEST invention in deep fried pastries since the doughnut hole:

These, my lovelies, are donut fries (!!) with raspberry jelly and Bavarian Cream dipping sauces. I can only hope they're actually fried in lard, and not that pussified transfat free vegetable oil. They can only be found (as far as I've searched) at Psycho Donuts in San Jose, CA. Sigh...why couldn't some beautiful bastard in Minneapolis/St. Paul have thought of this? Or at least some enterprising fair food vendor? I think these could be the only thing that could drag my lazy, afraid-of-flying, cheap ass to California. Fuck the beach, I want some donut fries!

(via This is Why You're Fat)

Apartment Living

2009-05-23T23:34:00.002-05:00

So, I was doing some laundry before going out to a friend's party, and what should I find waiting for me on top of the dryer? This little masterpiece of passive-aggressiveness:

Now, I'm pretty sure I know who wrote this, and let's just say, after my living here for 6 years to her one and a half, I can tell her a thing or two about "consideration for neighbors." I've had one neighbor who would throw pot parties with the guy next door while her kids ran wild through the building, one lady who smoked crack in her apartment ALL DAY, people who spill detergent all over the machines and the FLOOR and just leave it there, and one (just recently) who harbored a predatory offender with outstanding warrants. I've endured jackasses breaking the locks on the security door, propping the back security door all night, shit heads who were siphoning gas (not from me), and one fuckstick who balanced an entire couch on top of the dumpster, making it impossible to throw your trash into it.

Not to mention, I take issue with her assertion that one dryer will make the ENTIRE FUCKING BUILDING warm. Really? I highly fucking doubt that. Did she go door to door taking measurements? Furthermore, if it's such a goddamn issue for you, why should I be the one to call the landlord (as you can see from my response)? Why don't you pick up the phone yourself and tell the landlord to fix the problem you have invented, instead of being such a fucking passive-aggressive busy-body who writes three paragraph notes and leaves them in the laundry room.

And yeah, I know it's pretty P-A to leave that response and then bitch about it on my blog, but since I don't really know who wrote it, nor did that person just knock on my door and ask me about it, so I have to vent about it here on the internet.

God, I hate some people.

Pass The Bedpan...

2009-05-11T22:43:00.003-05:00

Check out this little tumblr blog about hospital food.

I gotta say, the best thing to come out of Dietary when I was in the hospital for two months was the meals I was fed through a tube in my arm.

Oh, and the tapioca pudding...seriously, every once in a while I get such a jones for that tapioca, I consider asking someone to run over my foot just to get admitted.

Orange You Glad I Didn't Say Banana?

2009-05-11T20:40:00.009-05:00

Hi, my name is Aliecat and I'm a banana waster.

Well, not really a waster, per se, rather I buy more bananas than I'll probably eat just so I can make banana bread. Every time I make it, I try a different recipe, hoping I'll hit on one that's close to my grandpa's (which I'll never get because I swear he just makes it up as he goes along). Anyway, I found this recipe on the Food Network site and decided I'd give it a try, using my neglected muffin tin.

Here's how they look:

...with honey drizzled on

They taste pretty damn good. It's close to Grandpa Skip's banana bread, but not as dense, thanks to the muffin tins. Anyway, I'm bringing them to work because I know I'll eat them all myself if they stay here.

Oh, and my apartment smells FUCKING AWESOME.

Keep on Truckin'

2009-05-09T20:14:00.002-05:00

If you every want to feel empowered, just drive around a 1 Ton truck for a few hours and move something very heavy.

Now, excuse me while I scratch my balls for a while.

Hipster Douchebags and the Zen Art of Fried Fish

2009-04-25T11:18:00.006-05:00

Sandra and I decided to take advantage of the nice day and go for a walk around my favorite neighborhood and attend Sea Salt's opening day. Ever since hearing that they were opening last week, I've had a serious jones for a crawfish po' boy. So we decided to create a fried fish buffer and walk down to Sea Salt.

I'm not sure what this is but a squirrel ran out of it and almost made me pee my pants.

This was the line at about 6:45. Lot of people and their dogs were eager for some fish:

After waiting for almost 2 hours, we finally got our order in and hid out inside, since the temp dropped about 15 degrees.

I was glad we finally got our food because I was about ready to MURDER this tragically hip, entitled couple and their surly kids. For the entire time we were waiting behind them they did nothing but parade around in their manufactured, ill-fitting, thrift store-ish clothes with this maddening "oh look at us, we're such cool parents" looks on their faces as they walked around with a baby and a beer in their hands. Seriously, they took turns holding the baby in one hand and (probably) a glass of Surly in the other as they continually did laps around the restaurant. As if I should be impressed. And if I had to see this guy's hairy beer gut peek out from under his too-small Len Druskin shirt one more time I was going to freak out. I have no problem with hipster families enjoying a nice day and good food, but the sense of entitlement wafting from their well constructed image of coolness nearly put me off my food. This is how I get when I have to wait for 2 hours to eat and am starving....

Clam fries and crawfish po' boy's make everything all better...

I tried some of Sandra's Catfish and it was so silky and fresh tasting. It was almost like tofu...so good...

We ended up leaving most of the clam fries there because it was an absolutely huge portion (I'm pretty sure fried clams don't reheat very well).

Observations From the Neighborhood

2009-04-19T19:45:00.002-05:00

It's interesting what you notice about your neighborhood when you're walking. These are the events and things I've noticed in just 2 short walks:

1. A man yelling at his dog for rolling in poop while he and a bunch of his friends played softball. He kept yelling "WHY ARE YOU DOING THAT??? WHAT ARE YOU DOING??? Super funny at the time.
2. There's a lot of trash on the ground. Next time I'm bringing a bag.
3. People are starting to let the paint jobs on their houses go to hell.
4. There are tennis courts 2 blocks from my house.
5. A porsche. I didn't know people still drove those...kinda douchbaggy if you ask me.
6. People drive really fast in this neighborhood.
7. Old man sitting alone at the nursing home.
8. There are some really big ass houses in this hood.
9. Birds are really loud.

Anyway, I'm going to try and wake up at an obscenely early hour tomorrow and walk before work.

Random Happenings

2009-04-18T14:34:00.003-05:00

I have nothing interesting to write about (well, I do, but it's all about work, and I don't blog about work...kind of like Fight Club), so I'll just tell you the mundane shit that's been going on with me:

-Started a savings account so that I can buy a new bed and I already have $275 in it after only 2 months. I have a feeling I'm going to get all Smeigol on those little dollars and not be able to spend it once it reaches over $600. This is a common problem.

-I've decided to start walking every day for at least 30 minutes until the size of my ass decreases by half. I'm not a very fast walker, but if anyone wants to join me for a turn around the lake or something, let me know.

-I bought new tennis shoes for this endeavor, so now I'm committed.

-I'm looking for a new apartment, but am hoping the housing market picks up because rents are fucking ridiculous right now.

-I have suspicions that the apartment building across the street is a crack house. Suspicions confirmed by a pair of tennis shoes hanging from a telephone wire.

-My parents came to visit this past weekend and my mom noticed said shoes. Played dumb to avoid a complete paranoid freakout.

-I'm so close to being done with grad school, so I put my resume up on Monster.com. Within a day I was recruited for a supervisor job. I work for The Man, I don't really want to be The Man...torn.

-My power steering fluid is leaking, so guess who gets to drive to Sioux Falls in a few weeks? Fun.

-Guys think they want me, but they really don't. That's what it feels like, so stop wasting my fucking time.

-Sea Salt opens next week. CRAWFISH PO' BOYS, BITCHES!

Sacred Cow

2009-04-06T21:58:00.002-05:00

OK, this is kind of weird, but bear with me...

Saturday night, I was sitting on my couch, watching TV (I don't know why I'm still single), when this really strange feeling washed over me and a hazy picture of my future life floated in my head. It was me, about 10 years from now, in a suburban house, making dinner with my kids, and doing the "mom" thing. Then that picture jumped forward another 30 years or so, with me sitting in some sort of assisted living facility being elderly and awesome. And then as soon as it came, it was gone. I think I may have gone into some kind of trance or something. It was SO REAL that I freaked out a little.

Now, I'm not much for believing in past lives, horoscopes, fortune tellers, visualization, or anything superstitious, religious, or mystical, but this feeling was just so strong that I can't help but still think about it even 2 days later. I'm still thinking about it because the face in the vision wasn't really mine and I didn't exactly know it was me, so I'm wondering if it was some past life residue intruding onto my consciousness, a waking dream, a brief episode of clairvoyance, or just that third beer?

But don't worry, I'm not planning on shaving my head an buying a pair of paper pants or anything...

Spring is time for self-pity...

2009-03-28T18:27:00.002-05:00

Ugh, I'm sick again and that means that I have little to no energy to get off the couch and take care of things around here. I have a leaking shower (STILL!), a broken drawer rail (that I tried to fix, (but quickly became exhausted by the effort), tried to clean around the house (I hate you, litter boxes), have to buy some new bras (which I've put off till tomorrow), and then attempted to work on some homework that's been tea bagging me with it's ridiculousness (who knows how to figure out capacity of a manufacturing machine, moreover, who really gives a shit). All I want to do is lie on the couch, drink Diet Coke until my kidneys cry out for mercy, watch terrible movies, and have someone (preferably male) wait on me hand and foot.

Sometimes I hate being single.

NARCalicious

2009-03-23T15:31:00.003-05:00

So, I came home early today with a headache only to be roused from the couch by a sheriff's deputy looking for some dude that could be living with my across the hall neighbor. Not only does this dude have outstanding warrants, but he's a convicted predatory offender. Now, I've never taken a good look at the guy I sometimes see taking out my neighbor's trash (I'm not really that observant), but it could be him. So, as I took the sheriff's card, the cop actually tells me that if I see him, I should let him know that he's got outstanding warrants. Yeah, I'm really going to let a 6 foot, 200 pound stranger that the po-po's after his ass. I'm probably going to have to call the landlord.

UPDATE: The dude is supposedly home and the sheriff's practically banging the door down. Good lord.

New Recipe Day

2009-03-21T20:24:00.002-05:00

I was pretty bored today and wanted to use up some wild rice that I bought, so I made this:

Wild Rice and Artichoke Salad
1 cup wild rice
4 cups water
1 garlic clove, peeled and cut
3 tbsp. minced scallions
1 cup cooked peas
8-10 cherry tomatoes, halved (or as many as you want, I used around 15)
1 jar marinated artichoke hearts, halved. Reserve liquid.
1/4 cup fresh parsley chopped
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp. sugar
1 tbsp cooking sherry

Combine 1 cup wild rice and 4 cups water. Cook according to package directions. Set aside to cool. Rub a large wooden bowl with garlic, discard garlic (I forgot this step). Toss the rice, scallions, peas, tomatoes, artichoke hearts, and parsley. Salt and pepper to taste. Prepare dressing. Combine sugar, sherry, and reserved artichoke liquid and stir well. Pour over salad and toss.

This was really excellent. The rice was nutty and sweet and would be excellent in a pita pocket or as a side to chicken or pork.

Then, I made this for tomorrow morning to savor over coffee:

Cherry Almond Coffee Cake
1 pkg pudding-type white cake mix
1/4 cup water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
2 tsp. almond extract
1 can cherry pie filling
1 pkg (1/2 c.) sliced almonds
Confectioner's sugar
Prepare cake mix according to directions, using 1/2 cup water, oil, eggs, and almond extract (batter will be thick). Spread batter in greased 9 x 13 cake pan. Spoon pie filling evenly onto batter, fold in to give a marbled effect. Sprinkle with almonds. Bake at 350 for 55-60 minutes (I took it out at 50, but should have taken it out at 45) or until cake tests done. Cool. Sprinkle with confectioner's sugar.

Seriously, this cake has made my apartment smell so good, it's almost sexual.

Obsess Much?

2009-03-19T22:39:00.002-05:00

Right now I am obsessed with all things lavender scented. Soap, candles, laundry detergent (Seventh Generation has an awesome one), dish soap, lotion, etc. Shit, I'm holding out hope for lavender scented kitty litter. It's kind of becoming a problem. If someone made lavender scented crack, I'd probably buy it.

What smells are you obsessed with?