Hepatitis B shots suck rotten monkey balls. I am fevery and have a sore throat and am randomly nauseated and want to sleep forever. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Both are veggie, and born of desperation.

( Leek soupCollapse )

( No bake baked beansCollapse )

Bonus: 90 minute no-soak beans. I made all these beans in less than 2 hours with no pre-soaking. MAGIC, I TELL YOU.

So I'm still sick, still coughing up a lung, and am watching Fringe. Started the first season in the wee hours of Sunday, last night I started season 2. I forgot how awesome this show is. Even before the whole second universe thing came up, Peter had a throwaway line about remembering the scar on a G.I. Joe being on the other side of its face. I am retroactively impressed with the detail that went into this show.

SNOW!!! :D

Heehee!

(My inner time geek is well pleased today.)

Dear Fandom Secret anon whose flist I'm on,

If you've got a problem with my opinion of slash, please do unfriend me and don't be sorry about it. I may be sorry to lose you once I find out who you are, but it won't stop me from being pissed that you'd decide you know everything you need to know about me from my fannish preferences. Please, let's let fandom dictate who we talk to. That's always worked perfectly in the past!

Somewhat disgustedly,
me.

I'm generally not a Stephen King fan- I like the man well enough, but jesus fuck is he long winded. It's the same reason I don't read Dickens. Stories are fairly interesting, but I have things to do with my life that don't include reading four pages on a character's thoughts and memories relating to the colour and shape of a blade of grass.

However, I really love Sheriff Pangborn of Needful Things. He's really an awesome character- homey and funny and not taking shit off anyone but without being an asshole, and dealing with things as best he can without going fruity. It's also my favourite novel of King's.

I'm not generally a superstitious person, but there are a few things that are ingrained. It's kind of funny, because I think the whole 'black cat' thing, Friday the 13th, crossing under ladders, spilling salt, breaking mirrors = 7 years bad luck, etc, are silly superstitions. But I will freak out if you open an umbrella in the house. And I never knit anything specifically for a baby that isn't fully cooked. I will make or buy things that I intend to give to a person or with them in mind, but until the kid is sitting in a bassinet and not attached to any wires, that shit isn't given and might go to any baby that comes down the pike. Other gifts can always be arranged.

I am so quirky sometimes.

So due to temporary insanity on the part of Lauren and Paul, we are now the owners of a Green-cheeked Conure.

Yeah, I know.

Apparently the logic went 'hey, there's a free bird, and it's across the street! Thren likes birds! Let's go get it!' Paul definitely knew better, but I think he really wanted him anyway, and the bird was taken on the understanding that if I didn't want him he was Paul's responsibility.

I'm actually considering keeping the damned thing. I would never in my life actively seek out such a bird (sensitive to loud sounds + prone to migraines + LOUDEST BIRD IN EXISTENCE = NO. Just no.), but he's actually really quiet for a conure. He's a year old and the guy had him for six months, but had to get rid of him because he's allergic. I'm kind of okay with the hassle of having to find the bird a new home, because obviously this other guy was willing to hand him over to just anyone and we would be way more discerning.

We're checking out options for a new home for him because I'm not sure what my final decision will be. Lauren and Paul are wildly allergic to him, as it turns out, and I only just got home from Montreal (Opa visit) yesterday evening so we'll give a few days. If I'm allergic to him he's definitely got to go. He's very snuggly and likes me very much after I fed him a bunch of sunflower seeds. I think he wasn't handled much or at least wasn't well trained by his previous owner, because he bites quite a bit. Hard enough to hurt mostly, but he took a chunk out of Paul and when I was trying to put him back in this morning he broke the skin on my index finger twice. So definite training is in order, but I think he'll learn quickly.

He's very very green, with a red tail and a red belly (which is not common for his type, apparently), and his name is Oliver.

I know*. That's part of the reason I'm thinking of keeping him. Sometimes fate just drops things in your lap, and how can you say no?

The Opa visit was okay. Spent money I shouldn't have, scored some nice jewelry on Opa's dime. Went with Lydia to help take care of baby (pictures to come), stayed in an AWESOME suite. We took the train, which was well worth the price. Twice the cost of the greyhound, but half the travel time and the ability to let the baby climb around and play on the floor. I would do it again, but not eat the food there, which gave me heartburn and/or sat in my stomach like a rock. It wasn't *bad* food (really good, actually), just didn't agree with me.

In the end, very happy to be home. Now, a nap. I've got to go downtown to visit the bird guy at Pet Circus and see if he has any advice/leads on finding this dude a new home.

*(Oliver/Green Arrow is my favourite Smallville character)

Guess who sprained the shit out of her ankle today? :D :D :D

Some bylaw asshole was stopping to give my mom a ticket as she idled outside my sister's apartment building waiting for Luc to come down and help with the baby, so I got out to get said baby and make it known we were unloading. My phone fell out and under the car, and as I was squatting down and reaching under the car there was this unholy CRACK from my ankle and I kind of went, 'uh, someone betting come and help me because I don't think I can move'. In the end my mom drove me to the hospital over some very bumpy streets. There was much wailing and gnashing of teeth (and I mean this literally).

Three hours in the ER and an x-ray later, the doc couldn't even be arsed to wrap up my fucking ankle (which is currently propped up on a dog cage for elevation until I can hobble upstairs and find an ace bandage). I can't put any pressure on it at all without excruciating pain, which is going to make overnight babysitting my friend's kid a ton of fun this weekend. I'm either going to fix my air cast (which has lack-of-velcro problems) or buy one used so I can get around. I go to see my doc for a follow up next week. FUN TIMES HAD BY ALL.

In other news, I spent five days in the States with my mom, who is currently still in town and thus driving me crazy. However, I have some mini Fastbreaks for ashen_red.

Dear Castle,

OMGWTFBBQ!!!!1eleventy.

xo,
me

The fanfic will be epic. Not all of it will be good. But there will be enough to get us through the summer, which I hereby dub The Summer of Angst.

Dear Smallville,

I haven't watched you yet, though I'm spoiled liek woah because a certain comm says that nothing is a spoiler if the ep has aired in the US. We will have Words when I've actually watched, though, you crazy ass nutball show.

not really feeling the love,
me

A reminder to the fellow Canadians to get out there and vote today. Our country has kind of been going down the crapper, and if there's one thing that's clear it's that we really can't go on the way we have been. Get out there and make yourself heard. Your vote does make a difference.

Threns are officially debt free! Again! I paid the piper library their due and am now the proud owner of a bunch of lost books. And a new library card. With which I took out five Judaism-related books, and now feel like a million bucks because I can actually do some book-studying, and not just prowling the internet.

I also did a wee bit of shopping, and got three new tops. I have these up and down periods when it comes to dress. My mother always dressed me like a middle aged school teacher, even when I was a teenager. I dress me like a slobby college student. I'm trying to find a happy medium, wherein I dress vaguely appropriate to my age. Going to synagogue actually helps me with this, because I need to look presentable at shul events and thus have to start actually working on my wardrobe. I need to modify two of the tops (they both need a panel sewn in because they're too low cut, but one can just be worn with a camisole for now), but they're pretty spiffy looking. I just have to figure out what I'm going to wear to the first seder on Monday and I'll be golden.

My mom is supposed to be coming up tomorrow with the dogs and staying the weekend. Which is awesome because a) I miss my dogs, b) I miss my mom, c) I need a car to get around town. I know a and b seem messed up, but I can't talk to my dogs on the phone, y'know? Pickle's de-toothing/cleaning went well. She has bone disease in her jaw and is down 15 (!!!!) teeth. But my mom said she was trying to gum down hard kibble the same day she was worked on, even with stitches, and she laid the smackdown on some uppity dogs in the house pack. So all's well, I'd say. Trinket goes for her de-toothing/cleaning on June 1. Pickle goes back for a checkup (and possible de-stitching?) on April 26, and I was planning on going with her for that but I just remembered I have a shrink appt that day. FUCK. Eh, I'll work it out. I'm looking forward to doing some shopping in the states. I really need shoes, and no one in Canada is allowed to have wide feet, apparently.

So, other than that pesky wait-and-see situation that has us all on tenterhooks, things are going better than they have been. At last. -.-

Stolen from deathpixie. Pierly-Redford Disassociative Affect Diagnostic.

Bizarre questions, yet creepily accurate. >.>

Though quiet on the outside, you are often the hidden hero; someone who rushes in when needed and then after the emergency is over fades back into the woodwork. Because of this sense of duty and honor, you can also on occasion be rigid in your viewpoint and unyielding in the face of other ways of thinking. Usually cynical and rarely trusting of others, you maintain a small set of intimate friends. These bonds are stronger than most. You are always grounded in the present moment. Your close bonds can also lead to clique-ishness and a tendency to gossip about those who are deemed less worthy. You are an integrative thinker, collecting data from a wide range of sources and applying it to your worldview. You can become overly task-oriented. In stressful situations you often withdraw from the world to seek peace in contemplation. You often seem cold and withdrawn. Often you will withdraw rather than verbalize your discontent.

Threns have gone no 'poo. Yes, I am officially an unwashed hippie. Or something like it. I tried it once a few years ago and it didn't stick. This time I'm hoping it will. For the uninitiated, this simply means washing one's hair either without shampoo at all, or at least with shampoo without sulfates and silicones. Some only wash with (silicone-free) conditioner. The gist is to break the cycle of drying out your hair with sulfates and alcohols, then sealing it up with silicones that need those heavy detergents if you're going to strip it off. And also to wash your hair less often, and to use fewer chemicals.

Frankly, if I can get away with never buying shampoo again I'll do it. Not only is the stuff expensive, but there's all kinds of stuff in there that is not healthy. And even if you only have it one your scalp for thirty seconds, that still adds up when you wash every day. Not to mention what it does to the environment. My hair causes me so much grief with its greasiness, and shampoos aren't really helping with that- I go about twelve hours and my hair is greasy to the point of being stringy. I'm hoping natural wash and rinse will help retrain the scalp to not be so freaking greasy.

( Further discussion belowCollapse )

I'm really feeling good about this. My sister thinks I'm crazy, but right now my hair is soft and light and feels awesome. It's such a mood-boost for this experiment to be working out, and if I have to be unemployed I might as well go through transition when I don't have to show up to work greasy.

So stupid, but SO FUNNY.

( You know you want toCollapse )

OH MY GOD IT'S COLD.

How cold? I have a hot water bottle on my feet to keep them from going numb. I am in my living room. And the heat is going non-stop. Fuck am I glad the cold snap is almost over. Today it was in the -20s celsius with windchill in the -30s. BRR.

So, Gilly's here! YAY! I went shopping with her and Lydia and Luc and Ophelia, who talks but is a wee bit behind because of learning English and Flemish at the same time. We went to Wally World last night and we (Maryse, Luc, Ophelia and I) were waiting in the car for the twins to come out. After going through ten minutes’ worth of various incarnations of ‘Mummy’s coming’ and ‘Mummy’s coming soon’, a silence fell. Then, clearly and with all the appropriate energy and emphasis:

“Dis booshit.”

::wipes a tear:: I’m so proud…

(Appropriate icon is appropriate)

Threns are in a downward spiral again. What fun. My foot hurts like a motherfucker and I'm going to a doctor (whether it's mine or not depends whether he's working on Saturday, which is unlikely) to see if an air cast will help any. It's hard to do anything or go anywhere. I wake up in the morning and my foot aches, I walk and it hurts, and even with the crutches (which have the bonus of giving me blood blisters and bruises in my armpits, yay) it hurts to move after a while. Helping Lydia isn't doing me any good, and I feel so bad about abandoning her this week- I've only been over once. And the less said about my mental and financial states, the better off we'll all be. I'm looking into Jewish and Catholic family services, hoping I can get counseling somewhere on a sliding scale, and tomorrow I call for a packet to apply for the provincial drug program so I won't go broke paying $300 a month on the meds that keep me from killing myself and nominally improve my quality of life.

I think I'm actually going to ask my mom if I can come and visit. Which is normally a Very Bad Thing, but I think I just need to get away for a couple of days and be babied. This crying all the time thing sucks, and I just want someone to take care of me for a while instead of me having to take care of everyone else.

Well, guess who got laid off?

At this point it's just comical.

Shana tova to those on my flist who know what that means. I hope the coming year is full of happy ans sweet things for you and your families.

I'm still awake like a crazy person, hoping the demerol I took will cancel out the large coke, iced coffee, and hot coffee I had today. I have no idea what time I'll actually *make* it to shul, but I'd rather earlier than later. I'm pretty sure demerol will be the deciding factor, here.

Surgery went fine. Still had some pain during the cutting, but oh well. Not a lot and not for long. Then I went downtown to eat and get some prezzies for Lydia. I ended up getting Jewish Literacy, which is both required reading for my conversion class and a fucking awesome read. I also broke down and bought a membership in their club. I got 20% off the total and 10% off the book (which is what you get off every book purchase), so I saved $12 which is about half the price of the year's membership right there. Go me. :)

In other news, I have been made aware of Second Career, where they'll pay for training/living costs if you've been laid off. If I qualify, I think I'm going to go for Early Childhood Education. I love kids, I can use it for many things, and most importantly I can see myself being happy in most of those things. So it's something to think about. This also means, of course, that I'll be bugging ashen_red to think about taking advantage of it as well, if she sticks it out to the end.

And now, antibiotics and bed. *ded*

Went to see Robin Hood at the second run theatre with Lydia. It was entertaining, and there were good things about, and things that they changed that I actually *liked*... But holy god. I'm still laughing. The way they changed history and the characterization of John in battle and the Sheriff overall makes me laugh my ass off. And the Lost Boys? Really?

Just... *sniggers*

[ETA: Oh, come on. *pokes internet* There's got to be a fandom for this out there somewhere. Where the hell is it?]

Dear neighbourhood:

I know it's a weekend, and it's hot and sticky and everything, but really. The neighbour across the street is having an argument with her husband and the next door neighbour is arguing with his three year old grandson about going inside, and the dog down the block is barking and the local urchins are running screaming down the street while their parents discuss stocks, someone across the street is having sneezing fits, and some dog nearby is apparently being gutted through the arse with a rusty spoon by the sounds he's making and JESUS CHRIST PLEASE WON'T YOU ALL SHUT UP?!

No love,
me

In an incredibly related vein, please read about the sneaky hate spiral. Those who know me will recognize me as the one in the pink dress. :P

Hey! Go to google.com (while you can). They have an ode to Pac Man. Click on it. It's playable.

I love Smallville and its fandom sometimes. The often-shirtless Oliver is getting whumped on tonight, and the thread for the episode everyone's going 'NOT THE CHEST! NOT THE CHEST!'

XD