Salanth's Salacious Salutations

Pain

2017-02-07T12:07:54Z

Right side, chest, throat and under tongue. A little nausea. Heart, too.

5 minutes.

salanth @ 2015-05-11T19:34:00

2015-05-12T00:34:25Z

Well, I made a post that disappeared in a crash. Meh, still good to get it out? I don't know.

Back again. Icepocalypse?

2013-12-23T07:17:10Z

Apparently I like to post while hungover. This was a pretty crazy weekend. I actually flew in on Wednesday via San Francisco, where I picked up a loaf of sourdough french bread to go with the Seattle clam chowders I was bringing. Those babies were still very frozen 14 hours later! I wrapped them in my winter jacket and it was all good. I also froze the loaf, and we were supposed to eat it last night, but the ice storm took out a lot of the city, mostly the suburbs, so they're all still hiding out in a pretty full chest freezer. Should be good for another 48 hours.

Friday night, I went to see Les Misérables with my Festivus people for our pre-Festivus activities. Then we went for supper at Patria, a Spanish restaurant. Unfortunately, I think I'm a bit spoiled from the Toro Bravo cookbook dinner I had. Afterwards, we went across the street for bottle service at Brasaii. I'm in it for the dancing!

The next day, we did lunch at Café Boulud, and I had the crispy duck egg, which is the signature dish. I also had the seared calf's liver, which was okay. I had it boxed, since I wasn't that hungry thanks to the previous night's festivities. My legs were so sore. Now I wish I'd just gotten two appetizers.

Afterwards, we went shopping for snacks for the suite cocktail party. I finished my lunch and we drank a lot of cava and Beaujolais. Then it was time for the actual Festivus dinner at Marché, where the food was as bad as usual. Next, we went to BierMarkt for Fruli, but I got a German dunkel to start. I got my Fruli afterwards. The location sucks because of noise and overcrowding at the bar.

Then it was time for karaoke at BMB. Unfortunately, the bubble machine was busted. There was a lot of soju. We ended up at a Korean restaurant, but at that point I had had too much to drink. Somehow got me back to the hotel. I really like bathtubs while drunk.

I missed the post-Festivus dim sum brunch and took a late check-out from the hotel. Having Gold status let me skip the really long front desk line. I love our credit card. The fees pay off in time saved alone!

I took the TTC subway home via the Bay bus. We passed a stuck streetcar and I waited for a long time for the bus that goes by my parents' place, but I made it home safe. I had to walk half a block and I was shuffling along on the slick ice with my luggage. My jacket was soaked, too.

My mom was preparing the house for a shutdown, making sure that the faucets had a drip to protect against burst pipes. She also had some insulation for the windows. I helped mostly with my phone flashlight, so she could have both hands free to work with. I also blew out the candles. We packed some food and some stuff to overnight downtown. All I needed to grab was fresh clothes, since my toiletries were still packed up! I'm crashing at my sister's, while my parents are sleeping in their store. We're safe, but we'll make a bunch of calls in the morning to check up on our friends and family in the suburbs. They all said they were fine for tonight, so we'll see.

I may or may not be back

2013-12-04T23:30:44Z

Hello, from a slightly hungover me.

It is mid-afternoon and I have a coffee that I am slowly sipping. Advil inside, and I believe the caffeine/NSAID synergy is working well; not that I had much of a headache. I finished off my pickle juice and will probably nibble a little kimchi to up my internal bacteria, which are probably somewhat upset at the moment.

Turkey broth is simmering. I made turkey parts for American Thanksgiving. This was totally impromptu this year. Usually we go out to a restaurant, but I screwed up and forgot how early they closed. I kind of secretly wanted to do it myself this year, too. I bought a turkey leg, wing and boneless breast from Whole Foods, along with organic cranberries, a parsnip, what apparently is a Celebration squash, Yukon Gold potatoes and a Tetra Pak of Pacific Foods' new organic turkey gravy. I also gave in and bought myself a rosemary " Christmas tree". I've wanted one for a few years now. I may also have gotten some organic chocolate milk to kind of appease my husband... because I really shouldn't have been spending too much money that month.

I had a pack of organic baby carrots in the fridge, but went out and got frozen organic peas and corn and some white bread. I can't make stuffing without some ordinary white bread. What goes in it? Chopped onions, sage (I used fresh from our condo's herb garden, but misjudged and needed to add extra later - dried is way more consistent), finely chopped carrots (thank goodness I got lazy and went for the baby ones), half an apple (it was a not-so-good Pink Lady or something), butter (the original recipe used margarine, but no. Just no.), salt and pepper.

I also had some German Butterball potatoes that I bought a couple of weeks ago. Oh yeah, I also got some whole berry Ocean Spray cranberry sauce. Got to have tradition!

I made the stuffing the night before, actually, just in case. You definitely have to make that ahead to get everything mashed together.

The day of, I got all waffly about what we were going to do. Then it was around 5-ish and it turned out we missed the restaurant we wanted to go to. So then I went nuts and cooked everything. This would have been a lot easier had I a clean kitchen, but I'm extremely bad about that. Ugggh. I have no counter space because I'm so bad at letting things pile up. Blergle.

Anyhow, I put the two kinds of potatoes and the parsnips in my largest glass baking dish, put the stuffing into a bowl and mounded it up and placed that in the middle of the baking dish and put the turkey parts on top. I stuck sage and rosemary bits in there, too.

I steamed the carrots, meaning to save the water for gravy, but ended up forgetting about that. The corn and peas were microwaved. I baked the squash with maple syrup, but I should have done it the day before, because it was undercooked. I made cranberry chutney by just cooking them down with maple syrup, water, sugar, orange zest and orange juice, cinnamon and nutmeg?, ginger and possibly star anise. I just kept throwing things in. I also added some finely chopped apple, too. There was a lot of tasting and adjusting going on, but you can just leave it simmering on the stove (covered, because those popping cranberries are kind of scary).

Once the turkey came out, I put the meat on a cutting board to rest and got the vegetables in bowls so that I could get some of those drippings to make a roux with some flour. Oh yeah, I used the wingtip and a bunch of frozen vegetable peelings I had to make a turkey broth early in this cooking madness. So that's where I got most of my homemade gravy started. I also had some Horne's GraVee from Canada. I like my turkey gravy to be a rich brown colour and fairly thick.

This is how it turned out:

Okay, so the homemade gravy ended up in a mug and a lot of the food got kind of cold, but we got a Thanksgiving this year! We ended up doing nothing for Canadian Thanksgiving other than getting our cat, Pooky, a can of "Thanksgiving Dinner".

Leftovers galore! That bottle of Mountain Dome sparkling wine, while non-vintage, has been around since 2007. It's a really pretty golden colour and seems to take aging pretty well. We bought a stash when we moved away from Seattle to Toronto and still have a few bottles around in the wine cellar downstairs.

If I do this again, definitely doing squash ahead of time. I'll probably curry it, too. It would help to have a clean kitchen. Ugh, why do I hate housecleaning for myself?

Anyhow, welcome to my first turkey dinner.

Not feeling well.

2012-09-27T08:36:44Z

I've been having vertigo on and off today. Not good.

I had an applesauce container. Called my husband and got him to bring me home some soup for lunch. I mostly tried to rest, but did start the dishwasher and hand washed a bunch of stuff. I also ate a banana and made edamame. We went out for happy hour at Wann because I didn't want to cook. I had a couple of pieces of a California roll and the atsuage tofu and a bowl of the tempura udon soup. We also ordered tako wasabi. My drink was the "oolong high", which is oolong tea mixed with shochu.

I will see how I feel tomorrow. I have no one to take care of me other than my husband out here.

The highlight of my day was getting my tortilla press from Jorge Cortez. It's made of cherry wood and feels gorgeous. I got the small one. Maybe I should have gotten the larger one. Now all I need to do is get some masa harina.

Meh.

2012-09-23T07:26:03Z

Woke up a little late. Went for coffee. Got a sandwich for lunch. We also bought an olive ciabatta. Bought the "50 Shades" trilogy because the author visited our building and got them signed. I guess that means I have to read it.

Went for coffee again, except that I had a strawberry-banana smoothie. Then we went to QFC and bought a bunch of groceries. We are back in juice and cookies again. We had frozen pizza and bread for supper.

I made a Vesper, since we bought the Smirnoff Blue. It's pretty good. The lemon peel is essential.

People today seemed to be especially lost and looking for directions.

I swept the balcony in the hot afternoon sun. I will have to shower, because the dust was very black.

I believe I will head up to Vancouver soon.

The Big Read

2012-07-12T05:57:01Z

I borrowed this from scearley's Blerg Meme.

There's apparently something called The Big Read with "100" books - some are series and one is totally a cop-out.

I have to agree with him: "Fuck this "intend" stuff, and forget the "LOVE" stuff. I'm just marking the bold for 'I read it'. Whether or not I loved it or hated it is immaterial, consuming a novel will change you regardless. Intentions to read a book mean nothing til you actually open the damn book."

I did italicize the ones I've read in abridged versions, which is what translations essentially are.

01. Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen

02. The Lord of the Rings – JRR Tolkien

03. Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte

04. Harry Potter series – JK Rowling (first 5 books)

05. To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee

06. The Bible.

07. Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte

08. Nineteen Eighty Four – George Orwell

09. His Dark Materials – Philip Pullman

10. Great Expectations – Charles Dickens

11. Little Women – Louisa M Alcott

12. Tess of the D’Urbervilles – Thomas Hardy

13. Catch 22 – Joseph Heller

14. Complete Works of Shakespeare (why is Hamlet marked separately at #98? Fuck this entry)

15. Rebecca – Daphne Du Maurier

16. The Hobbit – JRR Tolkien

17. Birdsong – Sebastian Faulks

18. Catcher in the Rye – JD Salinger

20. Middlemarch – George Eliot

21. Gone With The Wind – Margaret Mitchell

22. The Great Gatsby – F Scott Fitzgerald

23. Bleak House – Charles Dickens

24. War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy

25. The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams

26. Brideshead Revisited – Evelyn Waugh

27. Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoyevsky

28. Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck

29. Alice in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll

30. The Wind in the Willows – Kenneth Grahame

31. Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy

32. David Copperfield – Charles Dickens

33. Chronicles of Narnia – CS Lewis

34. Emma – Jane Austen

35. Persuasion – Jane Austen

36. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe – CS Lewis

37. The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini

38. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin – Louis De Bernieres

39. Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden

40. Winnie the Pooh – AA Milne

41. Animal Farm – George Orwell

42. The Da Vinci Code – Dan Brown

43. One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel Garcia Marquez

44. A Prayer for Owen Meaney – John Irving

45. The Woman in White – Wilkie Collins

46. Anne of Green Gables – LM Montgomery

47. Far From The Madding Crowd – Thomas Hardy

48. The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood

49. Lord of the Flies – William Golding

50. Atonement – Ian McEwan

51. Life of Pi – Yann Martel

52. Dune – Frank Herbert

53. Cold Comfort Farm – Stella Gibbons

54. Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen

55. A Suitable Boy – Vikram Seth

56. The Shadow of the Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafon

57. A Tale Of Two Cities – Charles Dickens

58. Brave New World – Aldous Huxley

59. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time – Mark Haddon

60. Love In The Time Of Cholera – Gabriel Garcia Marquez

61. Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck

62. Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov

63. The Secret History – Donna Tartt

64. The Lovely Bones – Alice Sebold

65. The Count of Monte Cristo – Alexandre Dumas

66. On The Road – Jack Kerouac

67. Jude the Obscure – Thomas Hardy

68. Bridget Jones’s Diary – Helen Fielding

69. Midnight’s Children – Salman Rushdie

70. Moby Dick – Herman Melville

71. Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens

72. Dracula – Bram Stoker

73. The Secret Garden – Frances Hodgson Burnett

74. Notes From A Small Island – Bill Bryson

75. Ulysses – James Joyce

76. The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath

77. Swallows and Amazons – Arthur Ransome

78. Germinal – Emile Zola

79. Vanity Fair – William Makepeace Thackeray

80. Possession – AS Byatt

81. A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens

82. Cloud Atlas – David Mitchell

83. The Color Purple – Alice Walker

84. The Remains of the Day – Kazuo Ishiguro

85. Madame Bovary – Gustave Flaubert

86. A Fine Balance – Rohinton Mistry

87. Charlotte’s Web – EB White

88. The Five People You Meet In Heaven – Mitch Albom

89. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90. The Faraway Tree Collection – Enid Blyton

91. Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad

92. The Little Prince – Antoine De Saint-Exupery

93. The Wasp Factory – Iain Banks

94. Watership Down – Richard Adams

95. A Confederacy of Dunces – John Kennedy Toole

96. A Town Like Alice – Nevil Shute

97. The Three Musketeers – Alexandre Dumas

98. Hamlet – William Shakespeare

99. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Roald Dahl

100. Les Miserables – Victor Hugo

35 out of "100".

Some of them I have read over and over again, while one run was enough for some of the others. I did actually read The Little Prince in the original, but my French isn't really high enough for full-on novels unless I feel like doing the whole dictionary thing.

Lately, I haven't been reading much.

Writer's Block: B.Y.O.B. Holidays

2011-12-16T00:40:09Z

To receive? I enjoy candy and chocolates. As I said earlier, we don't really need anything materially in particular that we can't get for ourselves. As well, we'll only be able to carry so much with us on the plane.

I just want to see my family. Since we live far away again, it's not like I can just drop by anymore. I'm terrible on the phone. Also, I want some home cooking. Yeah, that's what's really on my wish list. Mm...

I really just want good things to happen to my family and friends.

Writer's Block: B.Y.O.B. Holidays

2011-12-13T00:55:36Z

We do the Advent candles every Sunday, mainly because it's a family tradition for my husband. Comes from the Lutheran.

We also do 3 Christmases to accomodate our families. Christmas Eve for my mother-in-law's side, Christmas for my side and Boxing Day for my father-in-law's side. Turkey time! It's great! Only problem is that there have been some rough events this year, so it should be very interesting. Basically we got to keep all of our Christmas traditions. Worked out pretty well! It's not really about gifts anymore for my husband and I. We're pretty much the most financially secure of everyone and can afford anything we need and lots of toys. It's all about the people, which I'm quite happy with. We all get along fine. I just need to be better at talking. I'm pretty bad at talking normally. The only person I converse with regularly is my husband. I hate the phone.

New Year's Eve has always varied. Always with my husband since 2005, but one year we did it at my friend's place, other years at my family's place or at home. This year, we're going to be far from our family and friends since we're travelling back early from Toronto. We're looking up restaurants and will probably do a dinner and midnight champagne toast somewhere nice. This year, same as last year, we will be looking forward to a better year. Times have been a bit emotionally unsettling. My husband and I are doing fine, but our families need better times. I hope we can get them to visit us in Seattle in the coming year.

Writer's Block: Starstruck

2011-12-11T06:04:39Z

Of course! Last person was Deepa Mehta. She was at my graduation and I shook hands with her. Now, as for a close relationship with someone somewhat famous, eh, not so much. A friendly relationship, yes.

Commenters on newspaper websites

2011-11-19T08:19:03Z

The idiots that complain on newspaper websites fall into some obvious categories, aggravating those of us who try to make coherent comments that are actually relevant to the story.

1. People who complain that this story is "wasting space".

First of all, these are stories on the INTERNET. Wasted space? Really? Actually, by clicking on the story, you are actually increasing the page count for it. That increases advertising revenue and encourages MORE stories of that type. What space is being wasted? Your brain capacity? I suppose so.

2. People who bring up some other issue.

I'm sure that the starving children of Somalia might appreciate your heartfelt appeal to pay attention to their plight, but is this story the right place to bring it up? Certainly their suffering is terrible and a huge human tragedy. However, what good does it do randomly inserting it into places, insisting that whatever the problem of story doesn't matter compared to their situation. Of course a horrible famine is awful. That doesn't automatically negate the problem that the story is talking about. In fact, you're not even really offering a solution. You're just being sanctimonious. Why don't you sell off all your possessions and go volunteer in Africa then, instead of commenting on some article?

3. People who are extremely partisan

Yeah, that's right. LIE-berals and CONs who vilify each other on any article, finding a slant with the slightest hint and accusing the newspaper of bias. Guess what, all newspapers have bias. That in itself is not a crime. Just attacking their "identity" isn't good enough. Either prove your point or quit the name-calling and make a coherent argument, not a character attack.

That's all for now, but those are my main 3 annoyances.

Not yet.

2011-11-12T09:33:52Z

Not ready to blog about this week, but let me say that wow, I get sloppy when intoxicated. At least with typing. :S

So, got lots of food events this week as well to post about. Will get around to it, I promise!

I swear, it's so much easier on Twitter. :S

The thing is, I don't really trust the iPhone LiveJournal app. As well, it's so much more complicated writing long posts rather than 140-character bursts.

Easy to spin something off. Hard to make a larger, more narrative post and get everything in, get it all set up properly for a good read. Anyhow, I am working on getting back into blogging. I used to be big into it. Reading my old posts, however, is fairly painful. So embarrassing! :S I was so shallow. I'm probably still plenty shallow. However, I hope I have improved.

My darlings...

2011-11-12T04:30:45Z

i have had an intense week. I will blog about it. However, I am currently intoxicated and will fill in when I have time. My husband and I are going to meet one of his former co-workers. More later. *kiss*

Things

2011-10-24T07:28:06Z

Okay, apparently we only ordered the drawers, not the secretary desk. We'd been looking at the furniture so much that I got a little addled. Eventually we'll get the secretary desk. Our next furniture need is apparently a desk. Now that we've got the iMac working, gsimmons is getting sick of working from on the floor. The problem is that our desk nook is an awkward quadrilateral (like a rectangle + a right triangle), so we're still figuring that space out. Either we'll spring for a custom desk or we'll have to do some combination corner thing.

Another important piece of furniture is also some sort of buffet/sideboard. We have a space that's extremely close to the limits of a piece at McKinnon, that we'd like to stick our liquor and glassware in, but the desk is more important at the moment. We have a lot of stuff!

Some of the excess stuff we've been selling through my husband's workplace. Some random Christmas gifts that really aren't for us. Yeah. Let's just say that he has odd relatives. I wonder if anyone will buy the burping keychain...

My heart is a bit heavy. What can you do when things are going well for you, but not well for others you know? We'll have to see. Unfortunately, no one has the resources to really fix the problem at the moment, so it's a waiting game at the moment.

I've been less productive than I should this week or so. There's still a lot to do, so the unpacking goes on. I'm still sorting through my mind. There's too much to think about, really. Adjusting to a familiar, but new environment, figuring out what to do, as a non-worker, keeping house, since I need to get over my slovenly ways.

In other news, we're enjoying our new toys, eating well and getting settled. Pooky decided to vomit on the carpet instead of the easier-to-clean hardwood or tile, and we found most of the important stuff.

What is with the race to the bottom?

2011-10-17T08:34:46Z

Any time anyone talks about their troubles on news sites, there are always those that insist that they have nothing to complain about and are just whining and should be grateful for whatever they have because it's so much worse somewhere else. Then they imply that since they made the wrong choices in life, they should give up everything that's not required for basic survival and that it's their own fault that they're in that situation. Too bad, so sad.

It's sickening and infuriating. Libertarians and conservatives insisting that all it takes is hard work and you'll get what you deserve. As if accidents didn't happen. As if illness, enemies and mistakes dictate that you must live in misery and suffer.

Deserve? What do people deserve? Is life fair? Is it supposed to be fair? You can't always make your chances or predict the future. Some may choose to be ignorant and lazy. Does that mean that because of a few bad apples, no one should have any support, because they should have figured it all out already?

Rolling along.

2011-10-13T06:31:40Z

More boxes have been unpacked and interesting things discovered. I found the necessary cables for the iMac and the printer a couple of days ago, so my husband has been working on updating it since we shut it down back in June. So much has happened since then! Both in computers and in real life. :S

Two sad deaths, Jack Layton and Steve Jobs, both taken too soon, in their prime.

We ordered a couple of pieces for our bedroom from McKinnon Furniture, a secretary desk and an 8-drawer dresser. First, we need quality furniture. We left the crappy drawers behind and are currently living out of suitcases. Second, this is our anniversary present to ourselves! 5th year = wood!

We won't get them until late November or early December, however. They're actually handcrafted here in Seattle, and we bought them near the end of the sale, so our order is after a whole bunch of others.

We bought something for instant gratification, however. Squabbling Ravens, a very cute art print. We just love their expressions, especially Mr. Spiky on the right and Mr. Puffy in the middle.

Slowly integrating back into Seattle. We spent our anniversary evening at Marché, the restaurant formerly known as Campagne. It was their opening night and they were giving out complimentary glasses of crémant and passed appetizers. We had a sit-down meal, which was really nice and tasty, and most of their cocktails. Everything was very tasty and we had a great time, congratulated the chef (now part owner) and enjoyed the general goodwill. Then we went off to Cinerama to see Lawrence of Arabia in 70 mm. It was excellent. Also, the theatre's food choices aren't too bad. $3 for a large bag of candy like you see in grocery stores and they stock some local products as well.

Got the condo!

2011-09-02T05:00:23Z

Yay! Picked up keys yesterday and moved a little bit of small stuff today. The movers are going to bring our stuff out of storage tomorrow morning. A real bed again! All my kitchen stuff! Boxes and boxes of stuff!

It will also be my birthday. No time for play, just lots of work.

I'm actually quite tired today as well.

I guess a condo is a pretty big present.

We're moving over the long weekend, basically. Lots of cleaning!

More updates.

2011-08-16T08:28:12Z

So, last weekend, we had dustthouart and her baby, Pippa, stay overnight for their trip to her parents place from Sea-Tac. The futon we had ordered was going to arrive too late, according to the website delivery windows, but it turned out that they called and would be able to deliver it on time. Yay!

It did arrive on time, albeit about 2 hours later than the end of the delivery window. We were getting pretty annoyed and tired, but everything turned out fine. I put it together. Interestingly, the legs were hidden inside in a secret compartment! We now have furniture!

What else... yeah...

We kept up with The Next Food Network Star by going to one of the rooms with TVs and finding the right channel. Seeing it in HD is such a difference! Too bad some of the editing didn't catch some of the wrong proportions in a few shots.

We went to the company picnic yesterday. It was mostly for small children, but it was still nice. The mountains are gorgeous and there was plenty to eat and drink. I'll see if I remember anything else good.

Mostly about food.

2011-07-24T07:21:26Z

Today we went to Eltana and Via Tribunali. Eltana is a wood-fired bagel shop that uses the Montreal-style method. My husband had the poppy with plain cream cheese, while I had the sesame with fava bean and mint spread. I also got the ginger limeade. The bagel was good, although I don’t think the spread was salty enough or something. As well, the limeade was a bit too sweet for me. Still, we’ve finally find bagels that we can go for.

Next, we walked to Via Tribunali. Because of the Capitol Hill Block Party, we had to make a detour for a couple of blocks to get around the barriers. Just as we were about to go up Pike from Broadway, two people tried to stop us, telling us the street was closed. Yes, we knew that, but all we wanted was pizza! Bleh.

Via Tribunali is pretty dark inside, but you can get a clear view of the oven from the bar and a couple of the booths. I had the melon and prosciutto appetizer, while my husband had the roasted tomato Caprese. I think I prefer fresh tomatoes for salads in general. As well, I now realize how good the Niagara prosciutto by Pingue really is. Truly balanced and not too salty with a good porky sweetness. Man.

Compared to Pizzeria Libretto, the pizza had a harder bottom crust with less blackening on top. The mozzarella was in about six large chunks, compared to the more even sprinkle of smaller chunks that melted smoothly at Libretto. As well, they added the basil after taking the pizza out of the oven, and also added Grana Padano.

I think Pizza Libretto is superior. Their dough tastes lighter, the even distribution of mozzarella melts better and having the slightly wilted basil just melds better. I think the Grana Padano interferes with the pureness of the tomato and mozzarella flavours.

Yesterday, I had lunch at the Athenian in Pike Place Market. I ordered a cup of clam chowder,the fish and chips and a Fremont Brewing Summer Solstice. I got carded, of course. I swear, I’ve been carded more often since I’ve been back. Practically every time!

The chowder was bland. It tasted more of creamy blah than clam. The fish and chips were mediocre. Frozen fries, which were merely a vehicle for ketchup, and the fish wasn’t too exciting. Mind you, the batter was an amazing shade of golden yellow. Like goldenrod! They do have malt vinegar available, but it isn’t pure! What the hell is corn malt doing in there? The coleslaw was pretty flavourless, and the tartar sauce was too smooth. I like the exciting little chunks of pickles/relish in there! As for the beer, it was a touch too hoppy.

It’s got a great view, but a pity about the food. Still, I’ll give them another chance because someone I know back in Toronto is interested in the place for some reason.

Other items of note include the usual trip to Seattle Coffee Works, the chocolate and coconut doughnuts from Street Donuts and a trip to Borders to check out the closing sale. I made out with a clearance copy of the Silver Spoon Pasta Book and a few magazines. Most of the good stuff is still only at 10% off. Oh, I also grabbed a pink cat pen. The cats outweigh the pink.

Alright. Posting very late, but putting it off won't make it any better.

2011-07-15T08:38:05Z

So once we got into the temporary housing, I pulled out the disposable litter box that I got from Canadian Tire and set it up in the corner in case Pooky needed to go. Nasty clay litter, but better than dirtying the carpet! I also put out some water and a few treats.

We checked out the apartment to see if there were any defects and found out that the balcony door didn't seal quite right and the outdoor handle was broken, but otherwise everything looked okay. Pooky was so happy to get out of the carrier, since it was finally a quiet place.

Somebody really got into organizing everything. The cups were spaced out evenly in the cupboard and the utensils were arranged in a precise pattern. I'd post pictures, but haven't figured out which way I want to do it yet. Fricking iPhoto.

We freshened up a bit, then headed out to Dragonfish for happy hour goodness. Mm... $3 beer and lots of little bites!

Sunday, we slept in and then went to Seattle Coffee Works to get back in touch with our favourite coffee people. Sebastian, the owner, was very happy to see us back in Seattle. Thus caffeinated, we went up to Mud Bay to pick up some pet supplies. We got dry food, litter and a covered litter box. I had brought over the last can of wet food in my luggage, so she also had some of that.

This week, we ate at Steelhead, Mae Phim, Wann, Brave Horse, Lola/Gordon Biersch, Thai Ginger, and Lecosho.

A lot of them are familiar favourites, while a couple are new to us. We weren't too impressed with Lecosho at dinner, but I did enjoy my happy hour there, though it's one of the pricier ones. Steelhead has awesome cocktails and I remember when it opened.

In Seattle.

2011-06-20T08:53:20Z

Saturday's travel was a long day, since we were still packing the remainder of our items to go in our suitcases. We wanted to wash all our clothing and linens, so there was a lot of waiting for the dryer. As well, we were tackling evil dust bunnies and hair spiders. I got Pooky into her case, which wasnt so bad because I had taken her to the vet the week before, and we loaded up the trunk and the seats in our ride.

We had some bad traffic on the way to the airport, with some annoying drivers cutting in and all. The hardest part was customs, with the border official being all nasty and threatening not to let us in because the offer letter was over 30 days old. Then he made us wait while he talked loudly with his co-worker about how much he enjoyed rejecting someone the previous day and how they were all panicking. However, after a while, he ordered my husband over and told him to go over to the other guy and pay the fees. I brought Pooky over, but he said not to get too close because he's allergic. He saw her papers and that was it. Going through security was easy, since there was no line-up. I took Pooky out and carried her through the metal detector, and got her back in easily. She hates getting out of the carrier when she's in an airport more than being in it.

Next, we went to our gate. Unfortunately, Terminal 3 is the crappy one with nothing much to eat, except for really expensive bad food. I got a soup, which cost over $4 but was about the size of a small coffee. Plus, it was something they just reheated in the microwave, and not particularly well, since it was still cold in the middle.

The first plane was small, but Pooky fit fine under the seat and it was only a 45 minute flight. Detroit's a pretty good airport, with a lot more choices for food. We got some Wendy's, which was reasonably priced, and let Pooky have some time in the family washroom. She didn't really want to get out, so I just wiped her down a little.

The second plane sucked because even though it was a bigger plane, the space under the seats was smaller and we traded seats to get her under it properly. The ride was also bumpier, so service was delayed. We were pretty thirsty by the time they came around. Landing was fine and we took an airport limo because we had four large bags and two had bad handles, along with a carryon and a big backpack, plus Pooky.

Temporary housing was easy, since it was in the same complex that we used to rent an apartment in when we last lived in Seattle. Pooky was happy to get out, finally being somewhere quiet and home-like. More later.

Better start blogging.

2011-03-25T21:51:10Z

So, this is the end of my first week as an intern at StickerYou.com. How did I get the job? Twitter! Amazing, eh? No experience, no refs, just me and my tweets. Well, that and my fabulous personality! :P

Right-o.

What do I do? I'm learning about SEO (Search Engine Optimization), a little customer service and other startup-related activities. The company is pretty small, but the office is downtown and has plenty of space for its needs.

What does the company do? Custom stickers, baby! That's right, no having a limited selection of whatever the company's artists could come up with, though if you want to just go with whatever, that's fine. You can upload any graphic and it'll be printed AND die-cut for you. I can see this being very useful in so many ways, most of which are already listed on the site.

What have I learned? So many things! One of which is getting used to Windows again. Man, I haven't used it in... dang, about five years! Yeah, it's a big hump to get over, but I'm managing. I've been using Google AdWords to help research keywords, wrote a customer reply email and checked out the competition's websites.

Apparently ReadWriteWeb is a web tech blog to keep tabs on.

Marshell explained how to do coupon codes and how to use the various content management tools. Ashleigh showed me the blog and various social media tools she uses to get the word out.

I even played a little dodgeball! Man, I throw very weakly. Some people have cannon arms!

I'm developing a routine, and it feels good to be doing something tangible.

My sourdough bread!

2011-01-14T05:34:08Z

I made one a couple of days ago, using this recipe. My starter is a happy little beastie in its jar.

I did leave it in the fridge a couple of extra days because I never remembered to take it out early enough to let it come to room temperature.

It's oiled because I forgot to cover it with plastic wrap. This is what happens when you think you're familiar with a recipe. Oops.

Slashed before going into oven.

See those whitish marks? That's because I didn't cover the dough!

The bottom got extra brown because I tried using a thin aluminum sheet pan, I think. I'll have to see next time.

So. It was still tasty, and went really well with Brie.

The pizza!

2011-01-07T07:42:30Z

Sorry about the blurriness.

Went to a Leafs game!

We won!

It was a close game and very stressful, since we blew a lead and the shootout was really close!

I have to go to bed now. I'm in big trouble.

No rush after all!

2011-01-06T08:36:39Z

I rushed to my appointment today only to find out there was no appointment. No appointment at all. So I made one. Then I went to the library to finish my notes for my essay. Then I went home.

I made the pizza. Pictures will appear soon. It turned out okay. Much more delicious than yesterday's pizza, but my husband did not like it either. So now I have more leftover pizza to eat. I'm going to eat pizza all day tomorrow.

In other news, Haribo's Tangfastic mix is delicious! I like my candy mixed so that I can try lots of flavours!

Don't bother with the Life brand chocolate orange. It is too sweet and the orange flavour is off.

My household is a ball of stress at the moment from work. Mine is schoolwork, while his is work that has been stressing him for most of December. The project should be finished soon, but it's been a rough past few weeks.

Oh yes, Angry Birds. It's evil. The good thing is that it's not like WoW, e.g,. expensive and highly collaborative and competitive. The bad thing is that it is addictive.