I voted!

I wish that I got a sticker when I payed my rent or fed the cats.  It takes me back to elementary school when stickers were a very cool reward.  Now they're just stickers.  But I do value this one.  It gives me that old elementary feeling of accomplishment and self worth.  Oh, and don't you just love the cat hair?  Stupid white cat...

I will not tell you who I voted for, but I will tell you that I feel very grown up.  Far too grown up.  I'd better remedy that - I think I'll go to a party dressed in an inappropriate costume, drink and possibly do something I will regret in the morning.  Yay Halloween!

Inspiration

I will admit, this doesn't look very pretty, but it tasted wonderful.  I was having a blah day today.  I walked to the campus art store and got a brayer and some ink after work, but when I got home all I wanted to do was sit around and watch TV.  So that's what I did.  Then I got hungry.  I did not want to eat my three day old leftovers so I looked for a yummy salad recipe on the Internet.  I found Rachel Ray's website and there was this recipe for what you see here - sort of.  So I drove myself to the store and dragged my feet around getting the ingredients, sad that nobody called me so I could say "I'm at the grocery store" like I was out doing something important.  I got the stuff and came home feeling a bit weak from hunger.  

To make this thing, you put some EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil for those of you not familiar with Rachel Ray) in your frying pan and fry up a couple pieces of sourdough bread.  Then you put some feta on top and stick it in the oven.  You are then supposed to fry up some tomato slices with salt and pepper, but it was at this point that my cheap frying pan decided to erupt in smoke.  I turned away to get the tomatoes (and a handful of Craisins) and when I turned around the smoke had already filled the kitchen.  I'm lucky the smoke detector didn't go off, but now my entire apartment smells like burnt EVOO.  Even the cats.  So after that crisis I figured, whatever, and just put the tomatoes on and stuck the whole thing in the oven.  Then I remembered it's supposed to have a sunny side up egg on top.  So I get out a pot (having only one frying pan, of course) and put some eggs in there.  I haven't cooked eggs very much (I used to hate them) so mine turned out scrambled instead.  

When I finally sat down to eat, after the lackluster day, the boring grocery store trip and the frantic fanning of smoke out of my front door (cats escaping every time I turned my back) I was beat.  I took a bite, and it was bliss.  I love the combination of goat cheese, tomato and pepper.  I ate everything even though I had to take breaks and force the last few bites in.  It was totally worth it.  I felt revived and even inspired.  I took a risk making something new but I think it really payed off.  I was inspired to get some work done so I spray-painted my Wonder Woman rope a lovely metallic gold.  I plan to finish touching up the paint on my costume, read for class and if I really feel inspired, start my paper for my preservation class.  Dinner to the rescue!

On a side note (notice how I didn't say "in other news"?) I had a dentist appointment yesterday.  I was worried because my one wisdom tooth is starting to break through the surface.  I really didn't want to have surgery or have to PAY for surgery.  I turns out that I don't have to do either one!  It's straight, in the right place and not crowding any of my other teeth.  Thank the lord!  

Halloween preview

Can you guess who I am?

This is my third wig (and counting.)  I still have a bit of work to do on the costume, touch ups to the paint and some sewing, but I am excited.  Apparently the party my friend and I plan to attend is going to be iffy.  Oh well, any excuse to dress up, right?  

In other news (do I use that phrase too much?) I finished reading "Blindness" this afternoon.  Wow.  The ending was sort of what I expected, but not what I wanted.  I won't give it away.  All in all a pretty awesome book though.  I've heard the movie doesn't do it justice, so I won't waste theater money on it.  We'll see if "The Road" does any better.  

Finished

Remember how I said that construction guys were doing stuff in my parking lot?  Here's what they were doing.  The driveway is super smooth now, there are more parking spaces and shiny new paint.  People can't just park willy-nilly now, they have to go between the lines.  The only  negative to this face lift is the dumpster is now even further away - which I suppose is not all that bad.  It's just scarier at night.  

Ok, my bad

I know that you people have had some trouble commenting on here because you have to have a Google account.  Apparently that is a setting I can turn off.  Sorry guys!  As of now, you should be able to leave a comment without having to log in or sign up for any accounts.  Let me know if it still doesn't work.  I love comments!

Winter is coming!

It was sunny and warm when I went to class today and when I came out... (cue "dun dun dunnnnnn" music) it was windy and about to rain!  I could actually keep my sweater on the entire walk home.  Apparently this means winter is on it's way.  Or the mildly cold, rainy weather Texans consider "winter."  The cold fronts are coming as is the much needed and overdue rain.  I am excited, I was beginning to think there were no seasons down here!    

Here is a lovely picture of the storm clouds from the stairs of my apartment building.  

Things I learned about Texas

I learned two things about Texas yesterday.  

One:  hard liquor is only sold at liquor stores.  You cannot get anything over 15.5% ABV at "regular" stores like HEB or gas stations.  You also cannot buy any sort of alcohol after midnight, and on Sunday liquor stores must be closed.  

Two:  there is a McDonalds IN the Walmart near my neighborhood.  Right inside it.  How tempting is that?  It's like combining the two biggest American evils under one irresistible roof.  

My friend and I were supposed to play poker last night with some friends but that fell through.  The only other option was playing this charade type game with two couples that already knew each-other and played that game all the time.  Though I enjoy charades, I was disappointed about the poker and did not feel like being the only outsider in a cliquey game, so my new BFF/replacement sister and I decided to go to Walmart.  On a Friday night.  To our surprise, it was hopping.  Apparently Walmart is the place to go - it sure was in Arkansas!  We bought some things we didn't need, ate McDonalds and then went home to watch The Office on my computer.  All in all a pretty good night despite the initial disappointment.  Sorry I did not take any pictures.  

Rapture

The Magnetic Fields concert was last night.  It was worth every penny.  I laughed, I cried, I was just blown away.  They played songs from almost every album and the songs from the new album, "Distortion" were played acoustic so they sounded much better.  Like they are supposed to sound.  I've decided they are better in concert than on the CD's.  From my balcony seat I couldn't really make out the faces of the band members, but my view was not obstructed.  It was a highly entertaining show with much witty banter and the horribly depressing songs that are somehow funny that they do so well.  They did not play all of my favorites, but the highlights were "The Book of Love," any song I had never heard before, "Courtesans" and "I Wish I Had an Evil Twin."  Oh, and "Yeah!  Oh Yeah!"  I mean, they were all good, but those were especially good.  Best concert ever, I'm so glad I went.  I can't even describe further what I felt and how it was to experience.  It was just rapture.  

In other news, today was the first real rainy day I've experienced since moving here.  It rained off and on last night and all day today.  I walked home in the rain.  It was wonderful.  Everyone was happy because we definitely needed rain.  In other, other news, I ate a frozen Three Musketeers bar while writing this.  Yep, I'm living the good life.  

The evolution of my dinner

Ever since my parents were talking about eating it a week or so ago, I have been obsessed with beef stroganoff.  Mmm, beefy goodness.  I may have put a little too much sour cream in it, and I think egg noodles would have been better than the penne I made, but otherwise my dinner was delicious.  The only bad part was doing the dishes afterwards.  

I'm having fun making meals I have never made before.  Some new, some that my parents used to make when I was a kid.  It's so different when you're only cooking for yourself.  More leftovers, which gets tiresome, but I also don't have to deal with anyone being picky.  I can eat whatever I want whenever I feel like it.  Life is good.  I think as it gets cooler I will start baking more.  My neighbor bakes all the time - pies, muffins etc.  If I make anything big, I'll have to bring it to work so that I won't eat it all myself.  I am already planning to make a big batch of cake mix cookies closer to Christmas.  I love those cookies!  

Yes, my stove is quite small.  Yes, I painted the fish on that plate.  

Dude...

I'm in graduate school.  Whoa.  

This is what happens

I guess this is what happens if you Zen-ify your desk.  All that empty space is just too tempting.  I will admit, this new keyboard is much easier for a cat to lay on than my last one.  I'll just have to keep my eye on him.  

Amendment:  I guess I failed to say that the black keyboard I bought initially did not work out.  Every time my computer went to sleep, after it woke up I had to unplug the keyboard and then plug it back in.  That was really annoying.  I took it back and got the keyboard I really wanted.  

Zen desk top

Oh Apple, how I love your minimal designs in this world of excess.  No matter how much more you cost than the other brands, I shall always love you the most.  Don't even get me started on your simple yet stunning commercials with beautiful white backgrounds.  My new favorite is this iPod commercial:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9vqOajE45Y&feature=related  How does Apple find these perfect songs?  There is only one problem on my desk, the cords!  I have taped a few down, but there are just too many.  Going cordless is quite expensive, however, and I am poor.  

So my new keyboard has inspired me to organize not only my desk area but my closet as well.  After getting a lot of clothes out of it because of my new dresser, I was able to reorganize it so that it is more spacious.  I also managed to get my big sheets of paper to lay flat up near the ceiling so that they are out of the way.  Magic!  I love to organize.  

Doing stuff

Some guys are doing stuff in my parking lot.  I noticed yesterday that the area behind the dumpster was taped off with orange cones.  Today they are moving dirt and gravel around and subsequently freaking my cats out.  I wonder what they're doing.  

Also, here's a self portrait from after lunch today.  I guess it's picture explosion week for me - enjoy it while it lasts!  

Also, you may remember an experiment I started several weeks ago.  I was going to do a before and after comparison of my teeth whitening adventure.  Well, they have improved, but my camera refuses to take a good picture of them.  You'll just have to take my word for it.  I'm sure I'll take a smiling picture of myself at some point, and then you can judge away.