Sunday Market

Sunday again, meaning time to go off to market. Found some more "golden" bell peppers, as well as some "Hungarian" hot peppers (green not red). The vendor I purchased them from was warning me on their spiciness, but I told her I had eaten them before, in Romania, and like to use them in tuna salad. Actually, I just need to grab some tuna and onions and I think I have all the ingredients for a decent tuna salad. Other than that, I bought a small bag of mixed new potatoes, mixed as in red, yellow, & blue. I haven't decided what I will do with them, but a few things have crossed my mind, one even involves the Hungarian hot peppers.

This is ridiculous

If I can ever the picture to upload, I will have some proof of the potentially gluttonous nature of some Burger King customers. Recently they sent out coupons for their new sandwich, "The Stacker," which is lots of beef, lots of cheese, and bacon thrown in for good measure. Amongst the "buy one, get one free" coupons, there was one for the "BK Quad Stacker" which is more than a pound (pre-cooked) of beef on each. The coupon doesn't mention if you can get extra buns so you can share this carnivore's delight with a handful of your closest friends and not feel that anyone will leave hungry.

(On 8/21/06, I uploaded the photo of stacker coupons. I know it is exciting, so I hope everyone who wants to see it gets the chance.)

W's comments

I heard somewhere today that Bush didn't publicly approve of the partisan use of the war on terrorism. He said something about it being fine to have different views of how to fight the war, but neither party should underestimate the need to fight the war. One of my biggest beefs with the whole war on terrorism is that rather than fearing the terrorists, I am fearing the government of the country I was born and raised in. The less than gradual shift away from civil liberties and secretive switch to constant surveillance is more than a bit unnerving, especially as those doing the surveillance seem to get upset when someone suggests there be some oversight.

Finally...An update

OK...So I have been a bit negligent this week. Unfortunately, it is hardly the first time since starting this thing that negligence has occurred. This week was hardly a wild and woolly ride, but I managed to get to the gym Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday--I may even get there today after finishing this. Yesterday was strictly cardio, so my muscles won't hate me too much if I go and do a repeat of Wednesday's upper body, which I was still feeling Friday.

Last night I was trying to decide if I should go out. I opted for bed instead, shortly after my Morrowind character got killed off by some sort of frost thingy. Call me stupid for not using a fireball on him, but I didn't know the monster had a cold affinity until it was a bit late. I don't always pick up on the color coded glows.

While I finished reading the Communist Manifesto a week or two ago, this week I managed to finish the third of the fine fantasy "Obsidian Trilogy," "When Darkness Falls." A fun book, filled with characters that I can see being revisited sometime in the future, though I do wonder, since they decimated their enemy so thoroughly, what another visit would bring.

We actually had a bit of rain this past week. Since I am in Seattle, that really shouldn't come as a surprise, but July & August tend to be dry out here, so it was a nice bit of change. I am sure I will be saying the same thing about sunny days in the months to come.

Let's be a "Fictioneer"

What a fun conversation I just had with my best friend, now creative writing grad student. I think he is glad he is doing a poetry program of study rather than fiction; otherwise, he would be a "fictioneer" as opposed to a poet. He found fictioneer a funny word--whereas I think it is absolutely hysterical and needs to be used as often as possible for maximum effect, with the hope that eventually I will stop smirking when I say it. (Actually, I believe Dave has the same issue.)

I wish I could report fabulous happenings, but they don't simply exist right now in my life. It does seem about time to plan my house-warming, especially as I have made the ninety day mark at work, so theoretically they now have to pay me unemployment if they let me go for some reason or other, though I don't plan to test that theory. Truth is, I have never really figured out how unemployment worked, though several times I know I would have qualified for it.

Just a Sunday morning

Someday I will get around to writing something on the back of this postcard and mailing it to my sister, but until then, it was something fun for a Sunday morning. I don't know if it is true in this case, but if you add pictures, does it really make something automatically more interesting?

Not much going on, I went out and played some pool again last night and managed not to win a game, but since it was free, that was cool. The best time to practice is when you don't have to pay for all the games you lose, though at least one of them was lost because of the eight ball went prematurely into a pocket.

Looks like another nice day outside and there is a farmer's market over on Ballard Ave, so I should probably look through a cookbook and see if anything appeals to my inner Betty Crocker.

Blueberry Muffins (again)

It is Saturday morning, time for coffee and blueberry muffins. Since I don't keep all the ingredients around to make muffins from scratch, I just make use of Jiffy mix, which is even better when real blueberries are added to it. The other nice thing about it is that I don't end up with a dozen or so muffins, which I guess I could freeze, but that seems more than I need in the first place, especially as I don't have the ability to thaw them quickly (lacking a microwave, as I do).

Last night was fun, perhaps a bit too much beer, but I enjoyed myself, and so did Kip. I played pool poorly and while he claimed to be playing poorly, the only game I won was when he scratched with the 8 ball. It is fun to blame the pool cue, and I had more miscues than normal last night, but I am sure some much of the problem was my own lack of ability, though it has only been a handful of weeks since I last played.

SeaFair is this weekend, and I haven't decided if I am going to watch the hydroplanes go round and round.

another picture...

I can't say why, though I am sure there is some technical reason behind it, but my scanner didn't give me a black and white photo when I scanned a b&w negative, though it was all shades of one color originally. I kind of like the rather odd tones in this one, though it is no where near as gorgeous as some hand tinted work.

This evening I think I am heading out for a beer with a friend, but I called during dinner, and haven't heard from him since, though he said he would call later. Such is life.

Work this week wasn't too bad, and my--just received a phone call, and have to get going. Friends do call and remember that they need to meet you for a beer.

Photos for Wonderment (or Bewilderment)

Sometimes as you go through things, you discover something that makes you go, "What was I thinking?" Anyway, I found this picture of me goofing around with the statues near the old Purdue Arts Buildings. The temporary structures were already elderly in these pictures, and they have since been put to rest, I believe.

This weekend I went down to Portland to visit my brother and his family who happened to be there visiting some of his wife's family, and bought a new scanner/printer on the way home. Of course, I had to have one that could do negatives, and this scan is actually from the negative. New toys, pointless fun, and something to do after (or instead of) the gym. I am sure more photos will be discovered in the future that only a mother could love.

Dare I say it...

Actually, today was yet another warm and toasty day, with the temperature in my office reaching 86, I think--it may have been 87 by days end. I discovered that it is far too difficult to stay awake at work at such temperatures, but, alas, I don't really have much choice.

I had new tires put on my car tonight. I am planning a trip to Portland because my brother will be there with his family, so it is a good time to go, but I needed some basic stuff on the car as well. Next will probably be the rear brakes. I was told the struts might also need to be replaced, but that new tires may delay that repair for a bit.

Dinner tonight was two slices of leftover artichoke pizza (with a white sauce base, rather than red), and a tomato, bean, and fried basil salad. The latter I was trying for the first time, and I think I need to work on it a bit more. It was tasty, but I don't think I cooked the basil long enough. I still have some, which means I will find out if it tastes better for having sat longer.

Dave, my best friend who has provided photo fodder, asked me to read "Notes Toward a Supreme Fiction" by Wallace Stevens. My impressions after reading the first section, "It must be abstract" are that in the poem supreme fiction equals poetry, but not poetry divinely inspired, as "Phoebus is dead, ephebe." There is also an indication that poetry should celebrate the abstract, rather than the concrete. I have only read the first section, so I am my impressions are likely to change. If I am lucky, I will manage to avoid reading any criticism online, which might very well affect my perceptions.

Hot Sunday.

My best bud was kind enough to give me a disk of photos from our vacation together back in '04. This particularly disturbing mannequin seemed all the rage in a certain Sarajevo Boutique, as they had at least three of them, though I don't recall if all of them were missing limbs. I was trying to make the perceived expression a little more bizarre, but I couldn't manipulate the image enough to make it odder than in the original.

Today was actually another warm day where a late lunch/early dinner in an air-conditioned restaurant didn't seem a bad idea, so I had a beer and a chipotle chicken calzone at Olympia II. The food was tasty.

I don't have much to write today. It has been warm. I have gone to the gym, did a bit of puttering around the house, read a bit more of "The Communist Manifesto," and bought some (more) blueberries. If I am not careful, I will become much like Violet Beauregarde, though I won't have to wait until they work out the kinks with dessert.

Another Hot Day....

Today is supposed to be in the 90's again. A bit unusual for Seattle, but nothing impossible. Last night I went to the Mariners game and watched a rather painful 4-5 innings before the Mariners were able to score something and make the final score look like a real game rather than what was more like a home run derby for the Red Sox.

I don't know what is on the schedule today. Probably just hanging out a bit and going to the gym.

One great discovery I have made this week, after owning my pc since November '05, I finally decided to try and connect my cam and scanner, and to my dismay, neither are supported by their manufacturers for XP. Just a few more dollars I need to spend that I hadn't planned on spending just yet, but that is life, and it just makes my move that much more expensive--at least I have a few pictures stored digitally to manipulate when bored.

The Internationale

After watching Chico Marx play the "2nd Movement of the Beer Barrel Polka" I noticed in the related videos a music video for "The Internationale" A quick warning if you click though, it seems "The Internationale" "may contain content that is inappropriate for some users, as flagged by YouTube's user community." I guess the flag is for people easily offended by anthems? Perhaps it is just to advise you to react intelligently upon hearing the song, rather than going bonzo anti-red ballistic on the poster. Don't know, don't particularly care, but it does seem that such a notice is perhaps over-blowing the threat posed by such a song.

Saturday's (Non) Events

Last Sunday I was out at the farmer's market on Ballard Avenue and bought a bunch of mixed berries. Nothing quite like fresh blue, black, and raspberries. So, after freezing a bunch and giving some to my neighbor, I used some yesterday to improve a Jiffy Muffin Mix. Yesterday, half the muffins were gone, and I need to report the disappearance of the other half this morning. After making muffins, I went to the gym, and did a leg workout and cardio--so much fun there. Then, thinking to use my new grill thing, I made a quesadilla with bacon, eggs, cheese and salsa. Quite the mess, but rather tasty. When I unpacked my grill I discovered it had no cleaning device with it, so I had to call the store and ask if I needed to bring the whole thing back to trade in, or did they have one of the cleaning things handy. At the time, all they would tell me is that I didn't need to bring the whole thing back, and they would check to see if there was one in the other box. Turns out there was(either in the other box, or laying around somewhere, I didn't ask), so later in the afternoon I managed to go and get it. Anyway, after eating my quesadilla, I decided it was far too nice a day to hang about in the house so I walked over to Fremont, the Center of the Universe, to check on my friend Lenin and look about some of the stores there. I did suffer a minor disappointment during the afternoon when I couldn't get a fun pair of shoes, but that is life sometimes. The reason for not getting the shoes is that one was just barely too tight and the other felt too big, and they were both the same size according to the shoes' markings (I couldn't locate them online to create a link). Never before had the difference between left and right been so apparent. After returning home, I had the message to go fetch my cleaning thing for the grill, as well as a message, apologizing for missing my call yesterday, but asking if I wanted to go over for dinner, from Brad & Steve. Steve is a good cook, so I went over for dinner. The two of them are great company, so it was a good food/good conversation sort of thing. After dinner, I had extant plans to meet someone at a bar I had never been to. Of course I gave myself far too little time to get there and find it, so I was late, but it was a nice sort of dive bar and I played some pool, not losing too spectacularly, which was suprising since I hadn't played in a while. After a few beers there, I came home and went to bed. Perhaps not the most exciting day, but it was full, and it was pleasant. Today I am off to Mitch's for a birthday/croquet party for Mitch. The invitation didn't specify croquet, but considering that seems to be the primary purpose of the lawn, I have a hunch it will be on the days events.

Sea Planes

In Chicago virtually everyone lives in a flight path. Ten miles from the airport and I could see the planes heading in for landing most nights, directly above my apartment. Here in my new place in Seattle, I am not in the flight path, but rather have a view of the flight path, and I have to say, Sea-Planes seem to be louder than jets, though I do know the things are closer to me as well. It was kind of cool initially, but with most kind of cool things, the novelty has worn off.

My weekend aside from that observation has been uneventful, though I have managed to get to the gym I joined Friday three times, which for me is a good record, and a percentage I will be surprised if I manage to maintain.

damned Blogger...pop-ups...and the internet in general

Actually, I had written a rather cool little post, but tried to do a spell check, then ran into a pop up blocker, and when I decided to allow pop-ups, it reloaded the page, swallowing my earlier text.

Now this is a short tiny rant for those who so abused the concept of pop-up window that blockers were required in order to maintain the semblence of control of your computer.

What I had written was that I was reading "American Skin" by Don DeGrazia, enjoying it, and wondering why I never have as much fun as characters in books. Is it because I edit the fun from my life before it happens by the decisions I make? Who knows?

Then there was some stuff about Hero Worship, though not quite--more relating to what sort of people I thought were really cool in school.

That is about it, but morning comes quickly for me when I am at work by 6 a.m. So much so, that even if I drove instead of walking, I wouldn't get that many more minutes of sleep.

Gorgeous Sunday

I skipped the parade, but the day was far too nice to spend around the house unpacking boxes or rearranging the contents of said boxes, combining some of the half emptied ones so I can break down one of the two. Earlier I was out, sort of looking for a sofa, but not really with much heart, so I walked up to Golden Gardens Park, which is a nice walk, and a nice park. I decided to take off my shirt for a bit, but as I now live in Seattle, I have too little of anything resembling a tan for me to leave it off for more than 30-40 minutes. On the way home, I stopped into the Old Town Ale House and had a pint of Dick's Cream Stout, which is a fine and dandy sort of stout, though perhaps a bit heavy for the day's temperature.

I wish I would have had a camera for a picture, but someone had set up the hydraulics on their white Town Car to life the driver's side front wheel several feet off the ground. I was at Market & 24th when I saw the car making a left off 24th, and I have to say, I thought it was pretty cool, though another spectator commented that it was a stupid thing to do. I can't imagine life without the occassional stupid things that are necessary to bring small joys to people. The car gave me a smile, and that was enough for me to think it a good thing.

First Saturday

It was my first full week in the new place, and if I had a camera I could post pictures of the boxes in the living room, full of books, for which I lack shelving. I am trying to refrain from the bricks and boards model of shelving, and perhaps things will stay boxed until I can find appropriate things to put them on. I also have to set up my stereo still, having spent the last week relying on my cd collection which has been copied into my computer, and onto my ipod, and a portable cd player.

Actually, I had almost had a crisis earlier this week when I discovered the power adapter for the computer speakers had been left at my previous address. I still haven't managed to go get it, but I have managed to find a replacement adapter amongst all the stuff, perhaps from a previous set of computer speakers.

The weather was gorgeous today and I managed to spend much of the day outside helping the Peace Corps man their table at Seattle Pride. It was nice to be outside, though unfortunately I didn't see anyone I knew.

Nice day, today was.

I don't know how many hours I spend doing it, but I finally managed to get all my cds (except classical and opera, which don't do random very well) copied onto my hard drive. I don't know the exact number, but somewhere just shy of 11, ooo songs, for non-repeatable play time around 28 days. I have no idea when every song will end up with a time played stamp, nor how many will make it past one.

Other than that, today was Mother's Day, and while I was a bit neglectful in getting flowers out, I did manage to talk with Mom on the phone, which does count for something, as she lives a half continent away, and if I had sent flowers, she wouldn't have been home to receive them, as they left Thursday for a visit to my sister.

First Week Completed

I finished my first week at my new job. So far, it looks very promising-- co-workers are cool, and the boss is understanding of the learning curve, so I haven't just been dumped in and expected to sink or swim. With their computer system, that is a very good thing, since it is taking me some time to make heads or tails of it.

I have also begun the "oh, so fun" apartment hunt. Today I am going to looking at something charming and cozy, and if it is both of those, I will be pleased. Since I don't have a bunch of furniture right now, it isn't as if I need something palatial.