kelliem

To: Network TV Execs
Re: Season Finales

I point you to Criminal Minds and suggest you all watch this season's finale and take a lesson.  Now that is how you do a great season finale. 

You may notice that it was not a cliffhanger.

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Just FYI, yesterday I disabled non-registered user commenting on my DW account but today thanks to bethbethbeth  I found a different way to discourage spammers so I've reenabled it, anons just have to use CAPTCHA if they want to comment.

What follows is Adventures in Elder Care with Bonus Food Poisoning, and it's long and whiny so I am cut-tagging it so those who don't want to read it don't have to.  ( Feeling masochistic? Read more! )

However, I am feeling quite a lot better now and am planning to go with Kham and one of his friends to see Avengers tomorrow after first having a DVD mini-Marathon of both Iron Man films, Thor and Captain America.  I am SOOOO looking forward to that.  Hot men on screen!  Stuff blowing up!! Snarking!  Rampant homoeroticism!! Women kicking butt!  Good guys (in the non-gendered sense) saving the world!  That's exactly what I need right now.  And I promise I will post about the movie because I really must post something other than bitching once in a while!
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Not that I have much to say very often, but I just want to let y'all know that I have disabled commenting on my DW account from anonymous users due to being pornspammed.

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Electronic Arts (EA) -- one of the largest video game makers in the world - is the target of a hateful boycott campaign. Why? Because they approved a gay romance story in one of their partner BioWare's most popular games: Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Anti-gay letters are flooding Electronic Arts headquarters, calling for a boycott. Without our help the company, its staff and more than 100 million registered players could be pushed to the dark side if the forces of hate get the last word.

Master Yoda wants to make sure Electronic Arts knows anti-gay haters don't win the game. Add your name to Yoda's letter urging the company to stay away from the dark side. Yoda himself will deliver the message directly to the headquarters of Electronics Arts in Redwood City, California. Petition Here

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Saturday I was talking with a friend about some of the more... unusual slash pairings and stories I've read and I mentioned a movieverse Tony Stark/Jarvis-Armor story I read, and she wanted to see it. I know I originally found the story linked on a friend's LJ but I can't remember whose it was, and it was probably a few years ago, I think before Iron Man II came out. Does this ring a bell for any of you? (I don't have an Iron Man icon so Astroboy will have to do...)

eta: Found thanks to crimsonquills! You can also view this post on http://kelliem.dreamwidth.org/232816.html

So I was on my way to work this morning, and is often the case, got stuck behind the schoolbus that goes through our neighborhood. I think it's an elementary school bus, as the one that picks up the older kids goes by earlier than the one that gets the younger kids. As I sat there idling, waiting for the kids to board, I suddenly noticed that one of them looked a tad odd. At first I thought it was just a trick of the eye or something but I kept looking and it didn't change. One of the kids had a wolf's head. Seriously. A complete, rather well done prosthetic wolf's head. At least, I assume it was a prosthetic and werewolves aren't riding the bus to elementary school these days. Although, that would be pretty cool. ;D

Watched the premiere of 'Awake' last night. I had thought the premise didn't sound very interesting but I love Jason Isaacs so I gave it a shot anyway and was surprised how much I liked it. Very good acting all around (including an almost unrecognizable Wilmer Valderrama). I will definitely keep watching it.  Also, just for the record, Jason Isaacs has amazing eyes.

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Man, I haven't posted in forever- seems like I rarely have anything interesting to say! But I did have to acknowledge the passing of one of my very earliest crushes: Davy Jones, gone at 66. Far too young!

All the icons of my youth are disappearing! Wah!
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Last weekend the kidunit and I were at PetSmart and saw a kitty drinking fountain that was a new design, very slim, and quite inexpensive.  We'd always wanted to get one for the cats but were stymied by the fact that all the ones we'd seen were all too big to fit in the space where they like their water dish (in the bathroom between the toilet and the wall, yes, we've tried moving it other places and they don't like it), but this one was a lot narrower and we figured it would fit, so we bought one, took it home, and it fit in the space just fine and once hooked up was a lot quieter than we'd thought it would be, so yay!

Now, both our boys are complete wusses.  They freak out at the slightest change to their environment (OMG a piece of paper!  OMG a wrinkle in the bedspread! OMG your PANTS!!  OMG the pizza guy!!!) so needless to say they were a bit weirded out by the fountain at first.  But after some encouragement they both were eventually persuaded to drink from it and we thought all was set.  Oddly, Riku (the gray one in my icon) who's normally the more skittish of the two was the first to accept the new dish.  Probably because he likes to drink out of faucets so running water was a Good Thing. Sora on the other hand was Very Suspicious of this new device, no doubt some sort of Fiendish Human Plot.  He took to sitting on the toilet staring down at the fountain like this:

(You can just barely see the edge of the fountain down on the floor between the toilet and the furnace grate. And yes our bathroom is a hideous shade of turquoise.)

You may notice in the above pic that we have a covered toilet-paper dispenser. This is because when he was a kitten, Sora used to play with the TP, unrolling it and shredding it so we installed the covered dispensers in self-defense.  Once he outgrew his fixation with TP, we got a little... lax... about putting the cover down (see below).  You see where this is going, right? 


We went to bed that evening thinking all was hunky dory, because both kitties had, if reluctantly, drunk out of the new fountain.  When I woke up the next morning I could hear the fountain making a lot more noise than it had been the night before.  I just figured it was low on water, and got up to go fill it.  And proceeded to step into a huge puddle. ARGH!!!!

Apparently one of us had left the TP cover up, and to express his displeasure with this new Infernal Device, Sora unrolled about half the roll into the fountain which made it overflow and clog.  The floor was wet, the bathroom rug was soaked, it was a complete mess.  I cleaned it all up, dug the wet TP out of the fountain, discovered he hadn't actually managed to break it, and reinstalled it.  Needless to say, since then we have been very careful not to leave the cover up on the TP.  Sora still spends quite a lot of time lurking on the toilet seat staring at it, but he is actually drinking out of the fountain regularly now, so we have hopes he'll eventually stop trying to destroy it.  All I can say is it's a good thing he doesn't have opposable thumbs. ;D

(Sora, grumpily getting a drink from the new fountain.)





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Sort of relative to my Eureka post from earlier this week, this little bit from NPR TV blogger Linda Holmes actually had me cackling out loud. No, I don't have permission to copy it here but since I am linking and crediting, hopefully she won't be too mad. ;D

Twenty Humble Suggestions For New Cable Network Slogans
by Linda Holmes

MTV: Hurry Up, Human Cloning! We've Got Plenty Of Snooki's DNA

TLC: Next To These Appalling Moms, That Time You Accidentally Dropped Your Baby Isn't Really That Big A Deal

Lifetime: Still Trying To Fill The Gap Left By Hours Of 'Golden Girls' Reruns

USA: Ha Ha, We Can Make Successful New Hourlong Dramas And You Can't

Bravo: Fighting The Real Enemy, Which Is Horrible Tiny Rich Women With Tans

Spike: We Really Show A LOT Of Wrestling

History: Patriotism, Gun Safety, And Pawn Shops, Pawn Shops, Pawn Shops!

A&E: Two Of The Letters In 'Hoarders'

Food Network: GRILL STUFF LOUD FAST CHEAP RIGHT HERE BOOM SMACKAROONIE CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT

OWN: We're Not Here To Tell Anybody How To Live. Psych, We Totally Are

TruTV: The Highest Percentage Of Squad Car Dashboard Footage Anywhere On Television

FX: So Gritty It Will Polish Your Teeth

WeTV: If We Don't Have It And It's About Absolutely Horrible People Getting Married, You Don't Need It

Animal Planet: We Still Can't Believe We Didn't Think Of Shark Week

SyFy: We Specialize In Shows You Will Hate Us For Canceling

Hallmark: Everything You Need To Know About The World You Wish You Lived In

Oxygen: We Have More Yellow Than That Coldplay Song 'Yellow'

HGTV: Resent Your Surroundings 24 Hours A Day

BBC America: We've Got Swoony Accents. You've Got Anglophilia.

TNT: We Aren't The Ones Who Watched 'Franklin & Bash,' People
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I was just perusing NPR's newly-posted list of the Top 100 Science Fiction & Fantasy Books and while I have plenty of quibbles (Connie Willis all the way down at 97??) one of my top ones is the presence of "Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell" at #63 - or frankly, on the list at all. Seriously, that was one of very few books I ever just gave up on. I found it slow, hyper-stylized, and mind-numbingly boring. Clearly, I missed something. Check out Glen Weldon's take on the list, he has some interesting things to say.

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So I heard last week that SyFy was going to give Eureka a shortened 6th season. Then yesterday they took it back and said nope, no 6th season, it ends at 5. Today, there's new news, apparently they get ONE episode extra, to 'wrap up.' One episode. Damn you cheapass SyFy execs.

I'm going to miss that show. Thank goodness there are still a few eps for next year.

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It's National Book Week. The rules: Grab the closest book to you. Go to page 56. Copy the 5th sentence as your status. Don't mention the book. Post these rules as part of your post.

"Beside me, the old woman looked up and smiled; and the executive with the briefcase gazed at me unblinking, and the drunk shifted on his seat and awoke, and his eyes were bright and knowing as he watched me."

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I haven't spammed in a while, so I guess it's time. Found these links on a couple of people's posts, and being a logophile, had to follow!

Test your vocabulary: http://testyourvocab.com/

I scored 42,200 words

And I knew 27 of their 34 "hardest words", and just learned a bunch more since of course I clicked on the definitions of the ones I didn't know previously!

Fun test! Yes, I know, I have a strange definition of fun. ;D

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Doesn't it just figure that the US mainstream media has so far completely ignored the fact that some 40 people were rescued from that horrific Norwegian shooting spree by a married lesbian couple. Heaven forfend that LESBIANS be brave and heroic.

/disgustedbymedia

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Godspeed, Atlantis.

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Still here- still boring. :)

Saw X-Men: First Class and Thor last weekend. Enjoyed XMFC way more than Thor, though Thor was still worth seeing. I loved Chris Hemsworth's Thor- he actually has great comic timing and it would be fun to see him in a romantic comedy. Where I had issues were the portrayal of Odin as a loving touchy-feely dad (SO not how Odin is shown in mythology), and in the convoluted confusing mess that they made of Loki's characterization and motivations. (And minorly, I will probably never be able to see Jaimie Alexander as anyone but Jessi from Kyle XY so her Sif didn't really work for me.) Heimdall really rocked, though.

XMFC was a delight. Despite some quibbles with the "divorce" and some continuity issues between the first X-Men films and this one, over all the movie just held together better for me and was far more enjoyable. And with McAvoy, Fassbender and Vaughn all apparently agreed on a homoerotic reading of Charles/Eric, my slasher's sensibilities were definitely pleased. Not to mention that as someone who lived through the 1960's (yes, I'm ANCIENT!) it was fun to see where they got it right in set and costume design (especially loved the oscilloscope as part of Cerebro! Every '60s sci-fi device worth its parts needed an oscilloscope!) and also the attitudes toward women. It's actually got me reading fanfic again for the first time in ages.

That said, I've found several new items for my semi-annual spelling and homophone rant! I have seen a lot of 'alot'* and 'alright' is not all right. Here are some of the new goodies:

Bare/Bear - You bare your soul, (or possibly your body). You bear a weight or a burden (or you see a bear in the park!) You can have bare skin, or a bear-skin. ;D

Feat/Feet - A feat is a noteworthy or extraordinary act or achievement, usually displaying boldness, skill, etc. Feet are those things at the bottom of legs which come into contact with the ground. Oh, and also a unit of measure.

Rein/Reign - Reins are the things by which a rider controls a horse. To Reign is to rule over. You don't reign in your passions, you rein them in. Oh, and it goes without saying (I hope) that rain is water that falls from the sky.

Wail/Wale/Whale -
*Wail: to utter a prolonged, inarticulate, mournful cry.
*Wale: 1.a streak, stripe, or ridge produced on the skin by the stroke of a rod or whip; welt. 2.the vertical rib in knit goods or a chain of loops running lengthwise in knit fabric 3. the texture or weave of a fabric.
*Whale: any of the larger marine mammals of the order Cetacea.

Whoa is not spelled woah unless you're deliberately using netspeak. (Courtesy of shayheyred)

I'll have to try to remember the other ones and update my list. :D

One other mild slash fanfic-related grumble-- can I just say how TIRED I am of the one-finger-two-fingers-three-fingers-cock thing? Seriously. It does not have to be done that way every single time!!

*And if, like me, alot bugs you a lot, check out this link which was just pointed out to me in a comment by melodyunity.

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I have one more day in which I can use my Spring icon, so I shall. Though it doesn't feel very springy today, with temps in the 50's and snow overnight in the mountains! :)

Watched the final ep of Game of Thrones s. 1 last night. I'm so pleased with how they've adapted these books for television- I have very few quibbles at all with what they've done (the main one being taking Tyrion out of last week's battle). The casting is fabulous, especially Jon, Arya, Tyrion, and Danaerys. On my first read of the books a couple of years ago I basically skimmed over Dany's chapters because I just didn't connect with her character at all, but Amelia Clarke has really fleshed her out and invested me in her story. Also, they did a great job with the baby dragons last night. I just wish we'd gotten a better look at all three of them, not just Drogon.

Also watched the Falling Skies premiere. It wasn't bad- I'll probably keep watching it at least for a while, though I do wish it had been a tad less predictable. Props for a well integrated cast though, it's nice to see that not just white people survived the coming of the aliens. It did raise yet again a long-standing question I've had - in visual media, why is it that nearly everyone in post-apocalyptic societies wears fingerless gloves?? How did that get to be THE signifier of a post-apocalypse era?

On the personal side, I did go ahead and file for bankruptcy- that is proceeding apace and I hope to soon have things resolved, which should improve my monetary situation a lot. Also, my mom is doing ok, though she's still having trouble adapting to the left-side weakness and has had a couple of falls recently, one where she gashed her head and had to have stitches and another where she broke her finger badly. She tends to forget that you just can't make sudden changes in direction when you use a walker, and she also tends to let her walker get too far out in front of her, which isn't safe. She's in assisted living now (a very nice facility- heck, I'd live there if I could!), which is expensive but it's good to know she has trained help at the touch of a call button if she needs it. We go over to visit her at least a couple of times a week to try to make sure she doesn't get too bored and lonely, but I have to say I am kind of miffed at her friends, very few of whom have bothered to come and visit her.

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There is this thing... it's called 'birth control.' You might want to read up on it.

(Apparently unplanned pregnancy was the plot device of choice this season... it came up in Fringe, Hawaii 5-0, Bones, House (two even!!) and The Event. And that's just the shows I was watching. There may be more I am not aware of.)

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I used to have a great Firefox add-on that let me right-click on an LJ (or DW) entry and expand all the comments, but it mysteriously disappeared last time Firefox updated itself, and I can't remember what the danged thing was called so I can't find it again to reinstall. Do any of you know what I am talking about and remember the name of the add-on? I used it ALL the time and I miss it a lot.

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Just ran across this article:

"Add Wiccans and Druids to the list of faiths that have their own chapel at the Air Force Academy.

A circle of stones around an altar was dedicated on a hilltop above the campus Tuesday with earth-centered prayer and speeches about religious liberty at the academy, a school that has long faced criticism as a bastion for evangelical Christianity. (more at the linked article)

That's pretty cool, even if it's sad that they have to put up surveillance cameras to keep people from vandalizing the site.

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For any of you worried about LJ stability, I have 14 unused Dreamwidth codes I'd be happy to share. Just comment on this post at either location and let me know if you want one.

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If you, like me, have ever wanted to see what the aurora borealis really looks like, but can't afford to go where you can see it... this is amazing:

The Aurora from Terje Sorgjerd on Vimeo.

eta: don't know why it won't embed, but just click on the first link.

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Okay, yes, there's still some of the old Due South love burning, so a quote appropriate to the day:

They have called this day the Eleventh of March! And whomsoever of you gets through this day, unless you are shot in the head or somehow slain, you will stand at tiptoe when e'er you hear the name again, and you will get excited at the name March the Eleventh!

We happy few, we few, we band of brothers. Our names will be as like household names. And those who are not here, be they sleeping or doing something else, they will feel themselves... sort of crappy. Because they are not here to... to join the fight, on this day, the Eleventh of March! -- Buck Frobisher, Due South, "The Call of the Wild"

In a totally unrelated note, I'm sending {{{copingvibes}}} and as much good energy as I can to the people of Japan. What a nightmare.

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Hey, do any of you know the title of and original performer of the song that was used in last night's Criminal Minds episode "Coda"? The one the autistic boy kept playing? I can send you a download link to an audio file stripped off the show's soundtrack if you're curious.

I haven't posted in forever, mostly because I feel pretty overwhelmed by Real Life. Work continues to be difficult, they still haven't let us have our front-desk person back so office support for 35 faculty, plus about 90 grad students and 600 undergrads continues to be done by just two people- myself and my co-worker. I discovered that we're the lowest-staffed department in the college, despite the fact that we teach more Core student credit hours than any other department. I feel like we're being punished for being good at our jobs. Plus, state employees haven't had a raise in 3 years and on top of that, they're taking more out for our retirement, so essentially we've gotten pay CUTS.

The kidunit got laid off in mid-November, the same week that Bluster passed away, and shortly after we found out about his autoimmune issues. His being laid off was not a result of his health issues, but they make him difficult to insure, and I am dreading his fast-approaching birthday when he will no longer be eligible for my plan. In the mean time, I can barely pay my own bills let alone his, so we're seriously considering bankruptcy. I wonder if a bankruptcy attorney will give us a two for one deal?

My mother had another stroke about a month ago, and despite her showing all the classic signs of having had a stroke, it took the hospital 24 hours to actually diagnose one, by which time it was too late to give her the tPA like they did last time, so her recovery has been much, much slower this time. While the stroke fortunately did not affect her ability to communicate, she has left-side weakness/unresponsiveness which is responding only slowly to rehabilitation. They're letting her out of the hospital this weekend but sending her to a skilled nursing facility to continue rehabbing, in hopes that she will eventually be able to be independent, but it could be the best we can hope for is assisted. No matter what, she's going to have to sell her townhouse which is on 3 levels and completely unmanageable for her now, so that she can get an apartment in a senior living facility somewhere which can accommodate her needs.

I have been spending much of my free time at the hospital with her trying to help keep her spirits up, and running errands and suchlike for her since she can't do it herself. Once I get home from that, I'm pretty much braindead and only good for staring at the TV. Fortunately a lot of my shows continue to please me- Chuck, Castle, the NCISes, Hawaii 5-0, Criminal Minds (though I am leery of this Prentiss arc, I fear the worst since I know she was on the chopping block at one point this year and may still be for all I know), Top Chef, and The Mentalist. I know everyone else is hating on Supernatural this season, but I'm sort of enjoying it, though I am willing to admit that may be because my critical thinking faculties have gone on hiatus due to stress. I was bummed that Fabio went home on Top Chef. He was my favorite, though I kind of knew all along he probably wouldn't win. Sucks that he went home because of a hamburger, though.

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Ardent-muses and I were able to attend Bluster's memorial service, which was held at a beautiful small church. The priest clearly knew Bluster well and even mentioned her love for cats in the service. We conveyed the condolences made by Bluster's online friends to her mother, who seemed genuinely touched to hear how many friends Bluster had. It's still hard to believe she's gone.

I also wanted to let those of you who've asked know that Bluster's kitties will be taken care of. Her vet came and got them as soon as he heard what had happened (except for Griz who was avoiding people, but they were confident they would catch him soon). The vet will probably keep Malcolm himself, and will find good homes for the other cats, making sure that the ones who need special care get it.

Now, in an effort to try to get a bit back to normal, I have to pass on today's xkcd comic, because it made me laugh out loud for the first time in a couple of weeks:


(Yes, I have a weird sense of humor.)

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Ardent and I were devastated to learn yesterday evening that Betty (Bluster on LJ) passed away earlier this week. We don't know details, but it was apparently natural causes. They are holding a memorial for her on Monday. If you would like a link to the obituary please email me at kelliedru at gmail.com and I will send it, I just didn't want to post it publicly.

If you would like to make a donation in her name, I think one of the Humane Societies near her would be the perfect place, as she always said she was "one of those crazy cat ladies."

Aurora Humane Society
1301 23rd Street,
Central City, NE 68826
(402) 694-2738
(they don't have a webpage I could find)

or the Central Nebraska Humane Society.

I am going to miss her something awful.

ETA: my son ran across this quote earlier today- it seems very appropriate.

Death is but crossing the world, as friends do the seas; they live in one another still. For they must needs be present, that love and live in that which is omnipresent. In this divine glass, they see face to face; and their converse is free, as well as pure. This is the comfort of friends, that though they may be said to die, yet their friendship and society are, in the best sense, ever present, because immortal.

--William Penn, More Fruits of Solitude

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*

Not that it is likely to do much good, being blue in a mostly red state, but I did, and my kidunit did as well. He's not very political and tends to tune out that kind of stuff so I had to spend some time talking about local races and ballot issues with him last night, but that's time well spent! I was happy when he mentioned several of his friends are voting too. One of our state races is too close to call so it's possible that my vote might count after all. :)

*voting 'sticker' courtesy of lunaris1013.

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I think I'm the only person in my building who dressed up today-- but that's okay. The costume is awsome, if I do say so myself. :D I think I'll call this Drusilla Farnsworth (my middle name and a family name- it sounds appropriately steampunkish!) Here's the front view:



Most of the outfit was purchased pre-made and altered (changed the bottom of the jacket, dyed the shirt with tea, etc.) but my son the costumer made the skirt for me- it's from an actual Victorian walking skirt pattern.

A few more pix ( behind the cut. )

In unhappy news, there's another fire up in the canyons above Boulder. This is Not Good. I hope the firefighters can get a quick handle on it.

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It's been decades since I did any costuming for myself, but I wanted something for this Halloween (not that I have anything fun to do, but I will be wearing it to work) which would also be good for other costume-appropriate events like attending midnight premieres of Harry Potter movies with the kidunit. :D I decided to be trendy and do a Steampunk-themed outfit. I'd been perusing eBay looking at various Steampunk items to accessorize with but they were mostly way out of my price range. So for the past few weeks I've been working on making my own. I bought a toy raygun and repainted it, and bought an inexpensive brown top-hat and have found lace and veiling and other goodies to make it more interesting. I'm pretty happy with the results and I want to share pix!

The gun (it has lights and makes sounds!):

( The rest are cut so you don't have to see them if you aren't interested )

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I'm making an effort to post more often, so today you get baking talk. :) I had some bananas that had gone way past their eat-by date (in my house that's when they have no green left on the skin) and I didn't want to just pitch them, so I figured I'd make banana nut bread. Being a little bored with my usual recipe, I decided to tweak it a bit. I thought chai flavors would go well with banana so I added a couple of teaspoons of chai masala. Then I had a brainstorm and threw in a bit of cayenne. It turned out amazingly well! The kidunit agreed, so I am definitely making this again. I don't have any pictures of it because I didn't think to do that before we ate it all, but here's the recipe in case any of you want to try it.

Spicy Banana Nut Bread

1 3/4 C flour
1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
2 tsp chai masala*
1/8-1/4 tsp cayenne (a guess- I didn't really measure)
2/3 C brown sugar
1/3 C vegetable shortening
2 eggs
2 Tbsp milk or half-and-half
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 C mashed ripe banana (about 3 small)
½ C coarsely chopped pecans (I usually use more like a cup, because I love pecans!)

Preheat oven to 350 F and grease a 8"x4"x2" loaf pan. I like to line my loaf pan with a long “U” of parchment paper which helps you lift out the loaf without it sticking. I use ordinary binder clips to clip the paper to the rim of the pan and keep it from curling in over the bread while baking.

Stir together dry ingredients, set aside. Cream shortening and sugar. Add the eggs to creamed mixture one at a time, beating until smooth after each addition, then add the vanilla. Alternately add the dry ingredients and the banana to the creamed mixture, beating until smooth after each addition. Fold in nuts. Turn batter into pan and bake for 60-65 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool at least 10 minutes before attempting to cut.

*a blend of ground ginger, cardamom, coriander seed, black pepper & cinnamon used in the making of chai tea. Sometimes it also has bay leaf, fennel seed, and/or anise seed as well. The one I used was an inexpensive mass-produced blend I found at a local Asian market, but if you can't find this locally, it would be easy to blend your own. Or, the Savory Spice Shop has a version for sale online.

And here is a bonus recipe. A friend with a surfeit of green tomatoes asked me for this and since it's the time of year for those (pull them in before the first frost!) I figured I would share my grandmother's recipe for a spicy green tomato relish. Gramma used 'farm' measurements which I've tried to convert to more standard ones, but it's hard to find conversion charts for specific produce. It would be pretty easy to halve or even quarter the recipe, if you wanted to.

Damn Hot Stuff**

2 quarts green tomatoes (about 5 pounds)
2 quarts onions (about 4 pounds)
2 pints jalapenos (about 1.5 pounds)
2 pints (4 C.) cider vinegar
2 pints (4 C.) sugar
16 oz prepared mustard (she used plain yellow but you can use your favorite)
1 tsp. salt

Roughly puree tomatoes, onions and hot peppers (she used a meat grinder but a food processor probably works just as well). Don't puree it smooth, there should be lots of chunks. Pour into a large non-reactive dutch oven or stock pot. Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Pack in jars, seal. Great with pinto beans, green beans, ham, on hot dogs- lots of things!

**yes, this was Gramma's official name for it. ;D

You can also view this post on http://kelliem.dreamwidth.org/225979.html

(Wow, two posts in two days? A recent record!)

Just now as I was in my office working, I kept thinking I was hearing a cat meowing outside in the amphitheater (which the wings of my building embrace), so I got up and went to look. I didn't see anything but a crow sitting on a light stanchion wire near my window. After a few moments, I realized that every time I heard the 'meow' I could see the crow's beak and throat moving. It was the one meowing!

I wonder what on earth made it decide to learn to meow?

You can also view this post on http://kelliem.dreamwidth.org/225674.html

It's been a while so thought I'd check in-- things have just been a tad nutty in my life of late. It seems like I don't have much down time, between work, ferrying my mom places since she's not allowed to drive (though otherwise she is doing well), feeding the dogs for my brother and SIL when they have to be at the hospital for continuing care for his pancreatic issues. He is having what is hopefully his last session at the hospital this afternoon. He is doing better, foods are beginning to taste right again and he's stopped losing so much weight. We are all looking forward to his being completely recovered.

Then, since my kidunit finally got onto the insurance through his work, we've spent a lot of time and money going to doctors, getting all kinds of tests done (bloodwork, physical exams, an MRI, an EMS... you name it he's probably had it) and have met with 4 different doctors. And we finally have a diagnosis-- he has an autoimmune disorder. Fortunately, the docs did not detect any of the more severe symptoms of his disorder (apparently many people who test positive for it never develop the more severe symptoms) however, he does have a couple of the less common ones. Apparently while they can't treat the cause, they can treat the symptoms, and have started him on a drug which is supposed to help. We'll have to wait and see.

To add to the "interest" in my life (for Chinese Curse values of interesting), I had to have my car towed out of my parking lot at work day before yesterday- it wouldn't start. I was thinking it was the starter, solenoid or the ignition switch but it turned out to be the battery. I was sure it wasn't that, because the radio and 'door ajar' dinger worked, but apparently it was. (This is why I am not a mechanic!) ;D It also needed new battery terminal cables (the old ones were badly corroded) and a new bracket that holds the battery in place (also corroded into uselessness). It was an unwelcome expense, but still, I am sure the total was a lot less than fixing one of those other things would have been!! And I had a coupon for 15% off labor which helped bring it down a bit.

In more fun things, I've been working on a Steampunk outfit for Halloween and other costume-appropriate occasions (I found a top hat, goggles, and some amazingly inexpensive corsets on eBay!), and have been watching a few new shows (The Event, Hawaii 5-0, and No Ordinary Family) along with my old favorites. Enjoying a couple of non-US shows, too- Shattered, and Lost Girl. Anyways, I've been vibing for folks who seem to need them, and reading posts, but it's hard to find the energy to do much posting or commenting myself.

You can also view this post on http://kelliem.dreamwidth.org/225407.html

One of my faculty brought this video about plagiarism from the University of Bergen to my attention and it made my day! It's in Norwegian but it's got subtitles. ;D



In family news, my mom is doing fine after her stroke, other than being frustrated because she's no longer allowed to drive. But that did spur her to go to an occupational therapist and a vision therapist to get some exercises which, even if they don't get her to the point where she can drive again, are definitely worthwhile. My brother is slowly recovering from his gallbladder removal. Have any of you had that surgery? How long did it take before food started tasting normal to you again?

TV-wise I've been watching The Closer, Rizzoli & Isles, Warehouse 13, Covert Affairs, Top Chef, Project Runway, Eureka and Haven. R&I is the weakest of the bunch, I think. Everything else has been fun. I was amused by the results of the Top Chef finale. It was so weird, Angelo and Ed seemed to have swapped personalities over the past few eps. I started out hating Angelo and liking Ed, and ended up being at least a bit empathetic to Angelo, while Ed got really annoying. So the final outcome suited me well.

The fall TV schedule has very little on it that interests me, other than returning old favorites. There are only 3 new shows I am even vaguely interested in-- The Event, No Ordinary Family, and Body of Proof. Ah well, that should make it easier to watch everything I want to watch this fall!

Saw the BBC Sherlock series and loved it. Have managed to get my hands on Shattered, CKR's new show, and the first two eps have been quite good, though it's kind of weird to see Ty Olsson and Karen LeBlanc working together and NOT in Defying Gravity (which I still miss!). I guess we Eureka fen now know why they replaced Sheriff Andy (with another fave, Kavan Smith aka Lorne from SG:A).

Oh, and I cannot WAIT for Game of Thrones to start.

You can also view this post on http://kelliem.dreamwidth.org/225264.html

I've been worried that it is too early to say something about this- that I might jinx things, but I decided to post anyway, as a PSA if for no other reason.

On Monday afternoon I was on the phone with my 84-year-old mother when in mid-sentence, she stopped making sense-- groping for words, using words that did not make sense in context, and saying 'uh' a lot. The weather has been very hot, and thinking it might just be dehydration, I asked if she was staying hydrated, and she exasperatedly snapped "Yes!" so I knew it was more serious than that. I told her I thought she was probably having a stroke, and that I was going to call my brother and SIL and have them come get her and take her to a doctor right away. They live about 5 minutes away from her. She'd had a couple of TIA's in the past, but they never caused any perceptible symptoms other than brief dizziness. They took her to the emergency room where she was evaluated and they confirmed my suspicions- she had had a full-blown stroke (not a TIA), and her speech/language processing area was affected. When I got to the hospital, though she clearly recognized us, she was unable to identify any of the family by name, and kept inserting 'schedule' and (oddly) 'Obama' when she tried to convey complex meanings.

After a couple of hours with no improvement, the doctors told us that there was a chance that she could be helped if they gave her a tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) which must be administered within 6 hours of the initial event, but that there were serious risks of side effects involved, especially in the elderly, though her general good health made her a better candidate than some. After discussing the situation, we decided she would be upset with us if we did not make every effort possible, and okayed the drug. They administered it in an IV drip over several hours during the night, keeping her in the ICU so they could closely monitor her reaction to the drug.

By the next morning, she was using full sentences and was able to identify everyone by name again. By mid-day she was remembering phone numbers of friends she needed to call, and facts about her youth (prompted by the bizarre coincidence of discovering that her ICU nurse was from the same tiny postage-stamp of a town in another state that my mother was born in!) so we knew she had both good short-term and long-term memory. By the next evening, she was shaky, but had all her vocabulary back and was allowed to eat after an evaluation by a couple of speech and occupational therapists. Yesterday afternoon, they released her to go home!

On Monday, we were sure she would be in the hospital and/or rehabilitation for months. The fact that she got to go home yesterday seems rather like a miracle. The confluence of events were so fortuitous it's almost hard to believe. If I had called her just ten minutes earlier, we'd have been done talking before the event occurred, and we would most likely not have known about it for quite some time, which might have ruled out the use of the tPA. That, coupled with the the fact that she was a good candidate for the tPA therapy to begin with despite her age- it's all pretty damned amazing.

This all comes on the heels of someone I work with being diagnosed with permanent short-term memory loss (think Memento) due to several small strokes caused by uncontrolled high blood-pressure. He's younger than I am and may never be able to hold more than a menial job again, despite having a doctorate and years of teaching experience.

I guess what I want to say to you all is this: make sure you take care of yourselves (and your loved ones) and have your blood-pressure checked regularly, know the symptoms of stroke, and get to the hospital ASAP if you ever experience them. Don't blow it off thinking it's no big deal.

You can also view this post on http://kelliem.dreamwidth.org/224951.html

It's come to my attention that I've been a slug about posting and some folks are worried about me. Nothing's wrong, I'm just boring as heck and can't think of anything interesting to write about. My foot is mostly better- at least enough that I no longer have to wear the Boot, thank Deities. Unfortunately I had to buy some new shoes because my foot's still swollen. I had to go to an 11WW. It was bad enough being an 11W!!

This summer I have mostly been sitting around reading urban fantasy, watching TV, and have managed to see a couple of movies. Iron Man 2 was fun, though not as good as the first. Saw The Sorcerer's Apprentice which was cute-- it's been getting bad reviews but what do you want from a summer action flick with Nicholas Cage in it?? It doesn't take itself very seriously, the FX are good, and the two leads have good banter, so we liked it. I'm very happy that Eureka, Warehouse 13, and The Closer are back. Of the new summer series we've checked out Rizzoli & Isles, Haven and Covert Affairs, which all have various issues but are fluffy but entertaining enough to keep watching for now. Love the setting of Haven, it makes me think of Gus Knickle and Buried on Sunday which is a good thing. :D The weather's been miserably hot. I do not deal well with hot. I am not a happy camper.

Here are some pix of our small garden, hanging basket, and cats instead of actual content.


African daisies & some salvia.

( The rest are cut so you don't have to see the rest if you don't want to )

If you want to see more pix of the cats, flowers, and various birds, check out my Flickr Photostream.

Wow, have I really not posted for two months? Ack!

Part of that is computer issues at home, part is that I broke my foot a few weeks ago and have been feeling remarkably hermitish, and things have been pretty crazy at work too, so when I get home mostly all I want to do is watch TV. So that means I have to post about a few season finales! Not really spoilery, mostly just a few opinions, but I'll cut them just in case because I know even opinions can be spoilery to some folks. ( Read more... )

On the birding front, my winter juncos have migrated to wherever it is they go in the summer, and a bunch of my summer birds have returned! I'm seeing goldfinches, red-winged blackbirds, and we already have hummingbirds even though we don't usually get them until June! Our Northern Flickers have re-occupied the nest cavity they used last year and are incubating a new brood. Twice now I've seen a male Bullock's Oriole, and a male Lazuli Bunting. I want both of them to come back and hold still long enough for me to get photos, they're both gorgeous! Of course, warmer weather means that the grackles are back and eating me out of house and home, too, but you have to take the irritating with the good.

Oh, and if you're a US citizen and like me, think it's a shame that our military does not allow gays and lesbians to openly serve their country, please take a few moments to go to the Human Rights Campaign website and use their form to encourage your representatives in Washington to vote in favor of repealing DADT. It's quick and easy. Of course you can always do it the old-fashioned way with pen and paper, too.

Please watch this YouTube video.

Nutrena is partnering with The Pet Project to donate pet food. They've already donated 38,000 lbs. of food, and they only need about 2500 more views of the linked video before the end of April and they'll donate a second truckload of food ($50,000 US worth).
More info here and here. It doesn't take long and it's a great cause.

Click.
Watch.
Pets in need get food.

Sora and Riku (see icon) said to. :)

A friend of mine sent me a link to this, and I think all my Due South fen friends will appreciate it. ;D

Finally, FINALLY, they passed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. I'd gotten to the point where I thought it was never going to happen, that partisan politics would kill it, but it passed! It's not perfect, far from it-- I, for one, was really hoping for a public option among other things. But the fact that you can't be turned down for a preexisting condition and the prohibition against dropping people when they get sick, right when they need insurance most-- that's just HUGE. And this is very personal for me-- my son has three preexisting conditions which between them made it impossible for him to get decent affordable insurance coverage once he aged off my family plan. Now maybe he'll be able to get insurance, and treatment for the condition that has made it difficult for him to work in his chosen field.

(ETA: Also, I keep reading about people harping on the fact that Obama isn't "honoring his promises"... please to remember that it took 8 years of a certain former president to get us into this mess, it's going to take more than a year to get us out. Especially with the Rethuglicans doing everything they can to keep him from honoring them.)

I like this one. :)

You're on my Reading List. I want to know 35 things about you. I don't care if we never talk, or if we already know everything about each other (or think we do). Short answers or long, whatever you want to say (or not) is cool. Copy from here and then repost in a comment.Then repost the empty questions on your LJ. You know. If you want to.

Or you can just say Hi!

01) Are you currently in a serious relationship?
02) What was your dream growing up?
03) What talent do you wish you had?
04) If I bought you a drink, what would it be?
05) Tell me one thing you like about yourself.
06) What was the last book you read?
07) What zodiac sign are you?
08) Any tattoos and/or piercings? What and where? (And why, if you'd like to tell.)
09) Worst habit?
10) If you could have any one thing, right now, what would it be?
11) What is your favorite sport?
12) Are you naturally optimistic or pessimistic?
13) What would you do if you were stuck in an elevator with me?
14) Worst thing to ever happen to you (that you're willing to share here)?
15) Tell me one weird thing about you.
16) Do you have any pets?
17) What if I showed up at your house unexpectedly?
18) What was your first impression of me?
19) Clowns: Cute or scary?
20) If you could change one thing about how you look, what would it be?
21) Would you be my partner in crime or my conscience?
22) What color are your eyes?
23) Have you ever been arrested?
24) Soda/beer: Bottle or can?
25) If you won $10,000 today, what would you do with it?
26) What's your favorite place to hang out?
27) Do you believe in ghosts?
28) Favorite thing to do in your spare time?
29) Do you swear a lot?
30) Biggest pet peeve?
31) In one word, how would you describe yourself?
32) Do you believe in/appreciate romance?
33) Favorite and least favorite foods?
34) Do you believe in God?
35) Are you happy?

( my answers behind the cut )

I'm surprised that I haven't seen anyone on my reading list mention being amused by theme of the BC tourism ad-campaign being run during the Olympics. "Super, Natural British Columbia." Cracks me up every time I see it. I wonder if the cast and crew of Supernatural do, too?

Y'all may know I used to be a Highlander fan (cheesy, but fun!) and an X-Files fan, and an Stargate: Atlantis fan. Because I was an X-Files fan I started watching Fringe, which I love (Walter Rules! I need a Walter icon...) because it's sort of like The X-Files could have been if Chris Carter was a better producer (don't throw things fellow X-philes, you know ol' Chris "I don't believe in a show bible" Carter was a terrible showrunner!). So recently I saw some previews for Human Target and decided to watch it because Mark Valley was in it (this relates to Fringe in that he was on it, and is now married to Anna Torv and I like him {Keen Eddie!}). Wow, this is getting convoluted... sorry!

Anyway, the first ep aired on Sunday and it was watchable, but one of the first things I noticed was that Christopher Chance (Mark Valley's character) lives in Duncan MacLeod's old apartment (it's unmistakable despite the different set-dressing, how many apartments are accessed via an old cargo elevator?). The first ep featured many familiar Vancouver faces (such as Donnelly Rhodes and Tricia Helfer) and apparently, David Nykl (Radek Zelenka, my favorite character from SGA) will be in the first regular-broadcast ep tomorrow night.

I feel like my fandoms are all colliding. ;D And of course, my brain is wondering if Christopher Chance is really an Immie and that's how he can risk his life in all those crazy ways.

To all my fellow pagans,




Enjoy the longest night of the year-- have a cup of mulled wine and toast those who have gone before us.

This is the view out my office window right now:



And a couple of closer ones:




No, I'm not getting any work done, why do you ask? ;D

(Click on the pix for bigger versions.)

Last night as I was just getting ready to leave work, one of the faculty came in to tell me and my co-worker to come look out the window in his office, as a hawk had just caught a pigeon and was chowing down on it atop a kiosk out in the outdoor amphitheater my building surrounds. So we did, and it was. I ran back to my office and grabbed a camera and got a video and a few still shots. The quality isn't the best, I was fairly far away shooting through a dirty window, but I am still pretty amazed that this was taking place right outside my office!

After I got home I checked my birding books to ID the type of hawk, and I'm pretty sure it's a Cooper's Hawk though it could be a Sharp-Shinned, they look a lot alike. I think this is a Coopers because it doesn't have the rusty cheek-feathers that the Sharp-Shinned seem to have.

Warning! These shots may be a bit graphic for those of you who don't like to see things being eaten by other things.

( cut for the delicate )

There's a new version of Discover's 'The World is Awesome' commercial out -- and it's purt' near as cool as the first one. :)



Enjoy!

Wow, time gets away from me. I haven't posted in quite a while! We had two feet of snow last Wednesday/Thursday, but it was mostly gone by Saturday. Which does not explain why we had NO trick or treaters at all. Even with our porch light on and our decorations out. It makes me sad that the tradition appears to have mostly died out. Everyone's too scared they'll get a razor blade or poison in their candy, I guess, even though those things are pretty much urban legends. Here's a blurry cellphone pic of the jack-o-lantern my son and I carved:

You get a gold star if you recognize the source. ;D

I have a bunch of new pix up on my Flickr stream, mostly birds, including goldfinches, various woodpeckers, a hummingbird, a white-breasted nuthatch, and a bunch of photos of my thrilling back yard. Here's a preview of downy woodpecker:

and a goldfinch:

Hey, SPN fen-- or maybe I should say RHPS fen. Tell me if I'm wrong or right here- I'm having an argument with the kidunit about someone we see in the preview for next week's ep, "The Curious Case of Dean Winchester." That is ( slight spoiler behind the cut ) isn't it?

In case you want to see for yourself, here's a blurry Youtube copy of the preview because there isn't an official one up yet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HST0jF2ldrM

So, childhood idols are dropping like flies, I'm in debt up to my eyeballs, they've cut a position at work so I have to do twice as much work, the kidunit needs to see the dentist but no longer has dental insurance... the list goes on and on.

But hey, I haven't caught H1N1 (yet), my mom is doing well, and there's new Fringe tonight! I can immerse myself in fantasy-land and pretend all is right with the world.