Not Sad Because You Lost Me
Apr. 28th, 2004 08:25 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jakebe
The mood's passed, for the most part. Moods are like that. Thanks to everyone who offered a shoulder and a few kind words. :)
The chili didn't turn out too well, and I have my theories as to why that is. I used canned red beans, but added green peppers, crushed red pepper, chili powder, onion salt, cilantro, salt, pepper and a wee bit of sugar. I think I could have used a bit of tomato sauce or something to make the sauce thicker. The rice came out OK this time, but I still had to add water. The ratio is one part rice, two parts water, right?
I chopped the celery for the carrot salad before dinner was done, and the rest of the night was spent watching History Channel and Aqua Teen Hunger Force. For those who don't know what carrot salad is, it's this really great, fruity chilled salad that was one of my favorite things that mom cooked. I lifted the recipe from her and from memory. :) Basically, you'll need carrots, celery, raisins, canned pineapple chunks, mayonnaise, sugar and lemon juice. You grate the carrots and chop the celery, and let them marinate in the pineapple juice you get from the can overnight. Then you add the pineapple, raisins and sugar, stir in mayonnaise and sugar to taste (you might not need sugar at all; it largely depends on your sweet tooth) and top it off with a capful or two of lemon juice. Mix it all together, chill it to let the flavors balance out and voila! It sounds really disgusting, but it's very very good. I'm not sure of any exact measurements for stuff; my mom always kinds of eyeballs these things and I tend to follow in her footsteps. Measurements are for beginners. So I should really start using them.
Things have been relatively quiet here. There was a big hullabaloo with the network last week; it turns out several computer had been infected with nasty stuff that had taken down the whole thing. I think everything's been cleaned, but still, it's kind of scary because Joey makes sure we have pretty good anti-virus stuff and it got through anyway. Surprisingly enough, my computer was not affected. I'm insanely lacksidaisical about protection.
I've been in a pretty quiet, contemplative mood recently. I've been talking Tao with Ryngs on a pretty frequent basis, and I daresay he's coming along nicely. :) We rib each other about Tao vs. Zen, but really, I think Zen is just Taoism in a Buddhist flavoring. I could probably be shot for that in many circles.
Finished reading "Fast Food Nation," which was very effective. It's inspired a pretty big change in eating habits so far. I can't really go into a fast food restaurant without thinking of immigrant meat-packers losing limbs and dropping meat. I heard a story on NPR about how the smaller meatpacking/slaughterhouse firms were developing a system to test every single cow that comes through the line for diseases and meat quality in an effort to force the Big Four to follow suit. Not surprisingly, the major firms are considering it to be a waste of money and resources.
Still writing slowly. I go through jags where my confidence is up, I'm willing to experiment a little bit, and there's a pretty good feeling about ideas that come up. Just as often, though, there's the all-encompassing feeling that I completely, irrevocably suck. Usually, this happens when I wake up the next morning and read what I wrote the night before. I'm willing to let myself go on a number of things, but writing is still the hardest to relax about.
The Changeling game for this week was cancelled; I haven't had a good feeling about it in months, and I think I need to sit down and rework the story entirely. On the bright side, I have figured out what's caused the vague feelings of unease that have been plaguing me. Besides the fact that one of my players have skipped the past three games (in a game that runs every two weeks, this is fairly devastating), there's also the issue of a couple players who tend to criticize the setting or actions in mid-game. While accuracy is probably not a strong point, it still takes an incredible amount of wind from your sails when you're fielding "That's not the way things work." every few minutes. I'll be working to shore up believability while talking to the players in question about maybe easing up on the skepticism until after the game at least.
In the complex, the winds of chaos are sweeping through several apartments. People moving in, people moving out, utilities being shut off...it's an interesting time, in the proper Chinese definition. Most people are taking it well, which is good. :) I'm trying my best to be more available when needed, but my mood has been up and down.
Rozberk came down last weekend, and we hung out. It was actually a really good time, because usually other people manage to steal him before I do; this weekend, though, we talked a lot more than usual. He's a groovy guy who never ceases to surprise me, really. He should come down more often. ;)
Through bookshopping for Ryngs, I've managed to fall in love with Thomas Cleary. <:) I wonder if he's translated the Tao Teh Ching? I have translations by Red Pine and Stephen Wu(?) and that would compliment the collection nicely. Added bowing practice to meditation. I can only manage it once a week; prostrations work muscles in your body you never really knew you had, and last week my legs and triceps were completely devastated. This week it hurts less, and maybe in a couple weeks I can move up to twice a week or so. I'll have Massive Bunny Thighs (tm) in no time. :) I'm going to try to squeeze in writing before work.
The chili didn't turn out too well, and I have my theories as to why that is. I used canned red beans, but added green peppers, crushed red pepper, chili powder, onion salt, cilantro, salt, pepper and a wee bit of sugar. I think I could have used a bit of tomato sauce or something to make the sauce thicker. The rice came out OK this time, but I still had to add water. The ratio is one part rice, two parts water, right?
I chopped the celery for the carrot salad before dinner was done, and the rest of the night was spent watching History Channel and Aqua Teen Hunger Force. For those who don't know what carrot salad is, it's this really great, fruity chilled salad that was one of my favorite things that mom cooked. I lifted the recipe from her and from memory. :) Basically, you'll need carrots, celery, raisins, canned pineapple chunks, mayonnaise, sugar and lemon juice. You grate the carrots and chop the celery, and let them marinate in the pineapple juice you get from the can overnight. Then you add the pineapple, raisins and sugar, stir in mayonnaise and sugar to taste (you might not need sugar at all; it largely depends on your sweet tooth) and top it off with a capful or two of lemon juice. Mix it all together, chill it to let the flavors balance out and voila! It sounds really disgusting, but it's very very good. I'm not sure of any exact measurements for stuff; my mom always kinds of eyeballs these things and I tend to follow in her footsteps. Measurements are for beginners. So I should really start using them.
Things have been relatively quiet here. There was a big hullabaloo with the network last week; it turns out several computer had been infected with nasty stuff that had taken down the whole thing. I think everything's been cleaned, but still, it's kind of scary because Joey makes sure we have pretty good anti-virus stuff and it got through anyway. Surprisingly enough, my computer was not affected. I'm insanely lacksidaisical about protection.
I've been in a pretty quiet, contemplative mood recently. I've been talking Tao with Ryngs on a pretty frequent basis, and I daresay he's coming along nicely. :) We rib each other about Tao vs. Zen, but really, I think Zen is just Taoism in a Buddhist flavoring. I could probably be shot for that in many circles.
Finished reading "Fast Food Nation," which was very effective. It's inspired a pretty big change in eating habits so far. I can't really go into a fast food restaurant without thinking of immigrant meat-packers losing limbs and dropping meat. I heard a story on NPR about how the smaller meatpacking/slaughterhouse firms were developing a system to test every single cow that comes through the line for diseases and meat quality in an effort to force the Big Four to follow suit. Not surprisingly, the major firms are considering it to be a waste of money and resources.
Still writing slowly. I go through jags where my confidence is up, I'm willing to experiment a little bit, and there's a pretty good feeling about ideas that come up. Just as often, though, there's the all-encompassing feeling that I completely, irrevocably suck. Usually, this happens when I wake up the next morning and read what I wrote the night before. I'm willing to let myself go on a number of things, but writing is still the hardest to relax about.
The Changeling game for this week was cancelled; I haven't had a good feeling about it in months, and I think I need to sit down and rework the story entirely. On the bright side, I have figured out what's caused the vague feelings of unease that have been plaguing me. Besides the fact that one of my players have skipped the past three games (in a game that runs every two weeks, this is fairly devastating), there's also the issue of a couple players who tend to criticize the setting or actions in mid-game. While accuracy is probably not a strong point, it still takes an incredible amount of wind from your sails when you're fielding "That's not the way things work." every few minutes. I'll be working to shore up believability while talking to the players in question about maybe easing up on the skepticism until after the game at least.
In the complex, the winds of chaos are sweeping through several apartments. People moving in, people moving out, utilities being shut off...it's an interesting time, in the proper Chinese definition. Most people are taking it well, which is good. :) I'm trying my best to be more available when needed, but my mood has been up and down.
Rozberk came down last weekend, and we hung out. It was actually a really good time, because usually other people manage to steal him before I do; this weekend, though, we talked a lot more than usual. He's a groovy guy who never ceases to surprise me, really. He should come down more often. ;)
Through bookshopping for Ryngs, I've managed to fall in love with Thomas Cleary. <:) I wonder if he's translated the Tao Teh Ching? I have translations by Red Pine and Stephen Wu(?) and that would compliment the collection nicely. Added bowing practice to meditation. I can only manage it once a week; prostrations work muscles in your body you never really knew you had, and last week my legs and triceps were completely devastated. This week it hurts less, and maybe in a couple weeks I can move up to twice a week or so. I'll have Massive Bunny Thighs (tm) in no time. :) I'm going to try to squeeze in writing before work.
