one of our heads is destined for tinfoil

Taken on my doorstep this afternoon. There is so much going on in this picture, I adore it so.



Today I put on my kitty ears and mulched the garden-- there will never be a time when I'm not mulching the garden-- and listened to The Mighty Boosh. Then I went inside and made knish and samosas and waited for the trick or treaters to arrive. Not as many as last year, probably because of the Obama rally in the park down the street that Vali and I are watching Youtube clips of. Sounds like pretty boilerplate stuff but I hope it motivates people to volunteer or to early vote.

On the whole I should take Halloween off more often, it was really swell.

And in 7 1/2 hours I need to be in the gov't center to pick up the voting machines. Bleargh.

First day of vacation! I made

tempeh wingz and "bacon"

two loaves of chikin-flavored seitan, much to annlarimer's horror

a checkerboard cake with Strawberry frostin'. A neopolitan cake, if you will. it will either be delicious or something i'll regift to the co-workers. I inhaled a lot of cake batter. I only regret it a little.

Now i'm in the living room with a blanket on my lap, a purring Casey stretched out on my legs, Googlechatting and exploring Comcast on Demand. Oo, Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid, you say?

( Possible spoilery talk about Planet of the Ood )

Vali had the day off because of the nasty winter weather (all of her co-workers live in unincorporated hellholes that don't have money for commie pinko socialist programs like snow removal). I, otoh, had to go.

(WHERE ARE MY VIOLINS)

I was really grumpy about it, especially when I accidentally removed the driver's side windshield wiper and spent 15 minutes in the snow trying to put the fucking thing back on. Eventually I pleaded with a neighbor help my poor frustrated self. Yes, I'm 36 and don't know how to put on my own windshield wipers. Now is your moment to feel superior.

Vali's all relaxed and stuff, updating her Recs Page and generally just having a swell time. I look at her and think, it must be nice not to be perpetually grouchy. I should try it sometime.

So I subscribe to a mailing list called Meatout Mondays, and this week they had a recipe for jalapeno poppers made with vegan cream cheese. They were FRANTASTIC. ::thud:: Vali and I have become popper eatin' fools. The irony is that I almost deleted the recipe because it had the subject line "poppers" and thought it was more spam.

(I realize the mailing list is just so much vegan product placement, but in this case Tofutti's Better Than Cream Cheese totally deserves it. Nom Nom Nom.)

( the recipe, for those folks who are interested )

Along with the jalapeno poppers, I made tempeh wingz, tempeh bacon, and banana nut muffins. With butter. When they find a nonhydrogenated margarine that doesn't taste like ass, I will be more than happy to make the switch. Until then.

Cinematic Titanic's newest project, The Oozing Skull, is really excellent. We were too nervous, worried that it might suck, to fully appreciate how good it was the first time we watched it, but now we're really in the swing of things. It's really hard to make fun of a movie without descending into open contempt for the finished project. I guess I missed the Joel years more than I realize. The point is, you should buy it and stuff. (My favorite riff is the title of this entry.)

Took co-worker friend to see her Garfield cat again today. She really likes him, but hasn't committed yet. I'm not telling her because it's not right to be pushy, but if she wants him she'd better act quick. He's a completely adorkable squeeze toy attention hound. I came in today to find him all propped up on the lap of luxury on some nice lady's lap. But it's cool, I just want to see him get adopted into a nice home, I really don't care where ultimately.

Went trolling through Doctor Who Icons last night. I found some really excellent ones, and yet I still feel grumpy and dissatisfied.

( Three rhetorical questions for you Doctor Who fans all out there )

And Billie Piper, isn't there a union rule that says you HAVE to let other actresses take a few roles? The UK acting community has collapsed because she is currently in every 3rd role on television. Please stop her before she inevitably gets tagged to play Mary Russell. The sad thing is, she would be *perfect* to play Mary Russell; she sort of has the lock on "I'm an irritating blonde twat who grinds the action to the halt and has the entire universe revolve around her" roles.

...

Mmm. Peckish. Poppers are a-callin'. Then I have to finish The Game. Only 120 pages left to go. (::cries::)

For my birthday I got a baking stone and The Bread Bible.

Tonight I made Portugese Sweet Bread with Honey and Seven-Grain Honey Bread.

Warm with butter.





...................omfg!!!...........................




Next week I'm making bagels for some staff whatsis and just because I can.


I got lots. Who's hungry?

Last night, Vali and I figured out why Last of the Time Lords was so bad.

( Warning: contains clumsy funneh )

Freshly ground horseradish is delicious, but it makes you dream you're wearing nothing but a half apron, granny panties and running shoes while standing at a very busy and cold downtown intersection and shaking the can for the Humane Society. HAVING SAID THAT, I still recommend Isa Chandra's Horseradish and Coriander Crusted Tofu (or Delicious Fake Fish Sticks as I like to call them) very highly, just not around polite company. Beans and all.

Oh that reminds me! The Chicago Tribune yesterday ran an article on pasta e fagioli, with the accompanying picture of "Pasta and Beens." I swear to god the Trib must've borrowed our local paper's spellchecker-- they're worse than The Sandford Citizen. As my dear violetisblue says, Cat Macros? They've finally arrived.

Stuff I've done or am contemplating thinking about doing:

--Last Saturday I was so happy not to be sick that I accidentally cooked almost an entire Thanksgiving dinner, postmodern style: artichoke and white bean dip, rutabaga, spaghetti squash and sweet potato soup (the clear omg winner), stir fry, and tempeh bacon. Oops, forgot to make dessert. I have brought shame upon the family!

--Our first bilingual open house at the library went over very, very well. I am relieved. I was so nervous about my part in it that I could hardly eat beforehand and after two library tours, a couple of raffles, and a Parade of Nations (think "It's a Small World" for Latin America), my blood sugar went through the basement: shaking, headaches, queasiness, the whole nine yards. All the food I'd cooked was at home, oh irony. I am better now, thanks.

Btw, the Parade of Nations was utterly adorable. First there was dancing, so little kids in really fancy dresses stomping and swirling their little hearts out. One group of little kids couldn't stop dancing when it was over and me and the rest of the staff was treated to three-year-olds unselfconsciously giving their all. If this is why people have children, to dress them up in silly attire and make them parade around? Then I am all in favor of it. Although I suggest getting a cat or a doll or a teddy bear, something that won't outgrow the kawaii costume you made for it.

After the dancing came the actual Parade. All the countries get very colorful gear. When it was the United States' turn, it was a man and a little boy in green fatigues. Which I thought was appropriate. I mean, the traditional clothing used to be a cowboy or an Elvis impersonator but that was ruled too macho and besides, this is how the rest of the world sees us anyway.

--To all of your friends currently in love with Ron Paul, may this post be the splash of cold water that wakes them the fuck up. Although I doubt it. Because, like, he's against the war, don't you know? Argh! It drives me completely crazy.

--I have been slightly obsessed with the idea of a tabula rasa lately, particularly of finishing projects. It's bordering on the compulsive and I'm not sure how to rachet it back. I'm trying to tell myself I'm not a bad person for not completing something yet, and have an even harder time of starting something because my brain is so frazzled that I'm having difficulty paying attention to every single thing my brain says I should give equal time to that I'm afraid I'm going a titch bonkers. Four days off will help-- hell, I'll take two days. Can I have two for the lady?

--I bought most of the yarn to make Hogwarts slippers this weekend. When I told the middle-aged (well, older than me at any rate) ladies at the counter my plan to make rainbow Dumbledore slippers for Media*West, it was met with universal squee. To all those scared of Teh OMG Represhun of the Suburbs? Come on in, the water's fine. One lady recommended I take a look at Charmed Knits, which sounds like it might be fun. Otoh, I just dropped a rather large chunk of change on yarn and I've got my work cut out for me.

--Only one more Sunday to work before Thanksgiving, woot.