I'd like to thank the academy...

So the movie "Million Dollar Baby" just won all these awards and its funny cause I just saw that movie last night with a friend of mine and watched the Academy Awards with the same person, and after we saw the movie we went to a diner where I ordered a salad and then a gigantic, whopping slice of lemon merengue pie which I could not finish and which caused me to bounce around or tremor or something (according to him) and tonight just before it won an award I started craving another slice of that pie...I heard that wineries started selling out of Pinot Noir or whatever, just because of that "Sideways" movie. Wouldn't it be funny if diners all across America started selling out of lemon merengue pie? Hah.

--Insert lemon merengue pie graphic HERE

tea

There is an art to loose leaf tea, I'm discovering. Certain combinations are quite palatable; others are not.

For example, if you put 1-2 teaspoons of loose green tea in the bottom of a "grande" size mug and layer it with approximately half a dozen to a dozen dried chrysanthemum blossoms, & then pour boiling water over it...thats a pretty nice beverage.

But when you decide to go all crazy with it and enhance your drink with with a pink of rosebuds here, a sprinkle of uva ursi there, and why not tosss in some red clover while you're at it...ugh. Don't do it unless you feel like drinking a dried flower watery mess.

By the way I didn't mean to say "a pink of rosebuds" but I kept it in because I like it.

I am super post-happy on this blog.

I like to procrastinate and I have no television.

Today I bit it on a flight of icy steps. The chrysanthemum tea prescribed by the acupunturist flew out of the cup...a silver Copco cup I bought at Wegmans. That went flying, too, and the lid broke apart. Green tea/chrysanthemum mush was scattered over the sidewalk (also icy). "Are you okay?" the people next door asked, but only after I thought "hey, why aren't those people asking me if I'm okay already" "Yeah I'm okay." I said. My fingers were freezing as I walked a block and a half to my car and tried to put the plastic lid back together. I finally managed it after I sat in my car, got my fingers a bit warmed up a bit, and said to myself, "fuck, that was scary."

now in paperback...

Home repair...electrical wiring...alternative remedies...a history of famous seductresses...Barnes and Noble should love me for these impulse buys. Why would someone compulsively buy books, or spend money on expensive $1.99 amaretto truffles, and then (in an effort to curb spending) graduate on to a daily habit of melting a dish of chocolate chips in a stove top pan of boiling water & adding top shelf amaretto?

Maybe its because some people will say things like" I am not a good person" or "I am cruel." Some people think that since they've "come clean" and they've been "honest" about who they "really" are, that is the perfect excuse for them to act in a way that some would deem"cruel." I, however, think that should qualify as a logical fallacy...

"Dry. A memoir." by Augusten Burroughs was the most recent impulse buy. So far, its funny ;-)

Another one that I liked is "May and Amy" by Josceline Dimbleby. But its hardcover so I haven't bought it. Its all about relationships and letters exchanged between the Pre-Raphaelite artist Edward Burne Jones and Dimbleby's ancestors (a mother and a daughter).

In some ways, this has been a nice semester; it affords me some time to read for pleasure.

Rearranging furniture is fun, and being scared of where you live isn't. :-D

So about that website I mentioned earlier...it really is the most riveting procrastination tool that I've stumbled across in quite a while.

If you're into cartoons and eschew long paragraphs, check out Lenore's page.

If you like cooking, creative writing exercises, and don't mind knowing that a beautiful girl can eat whatever she wants and never gain an ounce (ha ha) check out Voltaire's page.

If you want to know what its like to get your body type brutally dissected on a message board by a bunch misogynists, check out Quinne's page.

Monet's page is interesting...she's an aspiring art student...also Al's page and the links to her friends' pages (can't think of anything catchy to say about them, I just think they're interesting.)

FYI

Woke up really early--like 4 or 5 a.m.--because of a terrifying ungodly noise that seemed to be coming into my apartment through the direction of the burglar bar windows. Lay in bed with stomach cramping from fear. Eventually managed to gear up the courage to peek out the window...saw nothing but the outline of the neighbors' burglar bar windows reflected on the snow...later when it became more light outside I went into the kitchen to eat some yogurt and the ungodly noise came back and I peeked out that window and saw a tiny bit of light sweeping the snow but still no indication of what the noise was. However, I think it might have just been a snow plow paving a parking lot or something.

Future entries may be dedicated to more pleasant and safe seeming topics, such as strawberries and Chinese restaurants. Don't ask me why those come to mind...probably at some point in life when I was feeling carefree I was cultivating an appreciation of those two things. Although, when I was a little kid a local Chinese restaurant burned down in a fire and I was in a state of disbelief about it because I liked it so much. They used to give me a little paper umbrella anytime I went in and make me twirl it over my head. "Umbella" they said. I told my parents that I had learned how to say umbrella in Chinese.

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After a scary experience several weeks ago, I am finally beginning to recover some sort of sense of security and safety but its a process. I am ever vigilant/watchful; however, I don't want it to completely spoil some of the quirky charms of the area where I am living.

More to come.