one of our heads is destined for tinfoil

It turns out that no, you can't substitute vegan soy creamer for soymilk and not have a cupcake that flies apart when you touch it.

>.>

Still, even a hot mess of a cupcake still tastes pretty good.

Read The Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters for mystery book discussion. I really didn't like it until I imagined Amelia and Emerson as "Bella and Edward Travel To Teh Pyramids & Wrote Doawn Wat They Did Thar," and after that it was a pretty fun ride. You know, with how Emerson must not like her because he's so OMG MEEN to her and all that. Except I don't think Bella would be allowed anywhere near the Pyramids because she'd probably trip over a ledge and break Egypt or something.

Written in 1975, and the world didn't end then, either.

This book I'm listening to for book group (I started reading it but gave up on page 20), it's like someone stuck parts of 10 different serial killers in one. He's a lawyer! A photographer! A child-molester! A cop killer! An English major! A cop raper! He is master of teh Interwebs! NOW HOW MUCH WOULD YOU PAY.

This villain is so ridiculous I'm having trouble remembering This Rr Srs Biznuss.

Anyway, if someone wants to recommend Michael Connelly's "The Poet" to you, just smile and tell them you have to wash your hair that evening.

Sometimes it's a real pain in the neck being limited in your mystery book club selection to books you can get through the Indiana Humanities Council or Kokomo Howard. They've always been very generous, but they only have so many mysteries to choose from and I'm starting to scrape the bottom of the barrel here.

...


Casey says go away.

Did my book group tonight. Frothy froth froth, nice & easy. Is sleepy nao.

...a ginormous brunch sometime around 2PM, followed by a solid afternoon of Do Whatever The Hell You Want. Ahhhh.

Yesterday Vali made chili sin carne al mole from Vegan with a Vengeance. She let the sofrito simmer longer than when she made this last time, and it produced the loveliest slow burn sensation in the mouth, yum. That and some garlicky kale with tahini dressing and brussels sprouts, and the memory of tinned dog food haggis is far, far away.

Vali's reading experiences have been more satisfying to her than mine have been of late. I'm reading The Game by Laurie King. It's not awful, it's just that I don't buy the central premise of the tale: that Sherlock Holmes would not just marry a woman, but marry a woman several million years younger than himself. But have no fear! She's tough! Smart! Beautiful but not too Beautiful! Resourceful! She's Mary Russell!: the wonder somethin'-or-other. (eyeroll)

I'd've ditched it ages ago, but I have to read it because it's for the book group I run and I don't remember things quite as well if I listen to them on tape. So mentally I've been searching and replacing Mary Russell with Watson. So far it's working, even when Watson has to wear a sari to the fancy dress ball on the slow boat to India.

There is one May-December couple that I totally buy, and that's Eight/Lucie Miller. Am listening to Blood of the Daleks and they are just yowsa, and it's made all the better by the fact that Lucie really doesn't care for Eight all that much. HOWEVER, i will be extremely grateful when we can get past this cultural moment of The Big All-Encompassing War That Will Change Everything garbage. It's not like I can blame Americans for this one either, as it's an English production. Here it's more of a case of "Lord of the Ring/later book Harry Potter"itis. Also, Daleks are lame and they suck and they will never be interesting no matter how much stirring music you put behind their screaming. I like the little moments better, of which there are many.

Am keeping happy by reading Vali's Life on Mars fanfic recs. I love how Sam Tyler and Gene Hunt bring out every retro impulse and every slash cliche ever, and do it in such a completely hot way. Moar, said the fangirl!