New hauls from Craigslist

$50 forum posting gig at Toggin.com
$15 for a purple bike that just needs air in the tires
$10 for a 4×6 slatted bamboo rug
$15 for a brand new desk
$30 for a brand new hand vacuum. Yes, expensive but it’s pretty and works really well and is cordless. And I couldn’t put off vacuuming bird seed and feathers for much longer.

Now just have to cut a deal for cable and internet because paying shitastic Time Warner $102 a month for sub par service is robbery.

On another exciting note, I have peroneal insertional tendonitis.  How do I know?  I did the hypocritical thing and self diagnosed my injury.  But having taken a human anatomy class, and sat through a 2 hour guest lecture by a podiatrist, I think I have more leeway than the patient who storms in the waiting room with googled printouts saying he as cancer when it’s only a strep infection.  I failed a quiz because I couldn’t remember what the peroneal tendons were.  And now it’s coming back to get further revenge.

I started wearing my really worn in Aeropostale ballet flats again, that I bought four years ago for $5.  Wore them religiously for the longest time, hiked through a rainforest, ran through Sydney beaches, in airports, around campus, you get the drift.  They were the most comfortable shoes I owned.  However the soles are worn down to almost nothing and the glue is wearing off.  So walking around dirt and gravel on shortcuts through campus wearing them this past week put a ton of stress on my tendon and eventually inflamed it.  And now it hurts like hell to put any pressure on it, so walking is agonizing.  Sharp pain that throws off my balance if I try.

Funny twist is, I have an excuse to wear my high heels now.  Seems counterintuitive since heels are the source of a myriad of foot problems, but the treatment is to wear ‘heel lifts’ to keep stress off the tendon and let it heal.  They’re foam cushions you’re supposed to put under your heel to lift it up.  Why do that when I have a massive collection of pretty shoes I never get to wear?  And lo and behold, I slip on my sexy pumps and it DOESN’T HURT TO WALK ANYMORE.   The pain completely goes away.

Rissa and Andrew came down to pay a visit.  It’s triple degree heat outside so nice leisurely float down the river sounded nice.  Except we got our asses owned by some churning water and rocks because of low water levels.  Aside from the scrapes and bruises, it was amazingness and I definitely want to head back there again.  They even rent out tubes with a cooler attached to store your beer.

Brought my regular point and shoot camera instead of the fancy paperweight one.  Was interesting trying to not drop it in the river; we had it sealed up in a ziploc bag.

My best fishy pufferfish face

Duckies.  These things were massive and could probably take off a finger if they tried.

Sunset driving back

Canary Island Cilantro Soup
Recipe: http://www.recipezaar.com/32441

I grilled some salmon to put in there, topped it off with feta cheese because the flavors are perfect for it. And instead of beef broth, I used the vietnamese pho base.

Pan seared catfish with parsley cheddar mashed potatoes and sour cream

No recipe really for this one, threw a bunch of things together because I wanted to finish off the catfish before it got freezer burned

Vanilla cupcake with blackberry filling and cream cheese icing

1 ½ sticks of unsalted butter
1 ¾ cups of sugar
Beat well, then add:
Add 2 large eggs
2 Teaspoons of pure vanilla
½ teaspoon of salt
2 ½ teaspoons of baking powder
2 ½ cups of flour
1 ¼ cups of milk

Beat well, fill cupcake liners halfway and use piping bag to add a generous mound of blackperry pie filling, then continue filling liners with cupcake batter, and bake at 375 degrees for 18-20 minutes. For icing, recipe is here.

Coconut-Lime cupcakes with lime sugar glaze
From: Martha Stewart

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
6 T unsalted butter, room temp
1/2 c + 1 Tb sugar
1/8 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup lite coconut milk
2 large egg whites
5 Tb shredded sweetened coconut

Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare 6 muffin tins. Beat butter & sugar until light & fluffy. Beat in vanilla. With mixer on low, add flour, baking soda, salt & milk in three parts, alternating dry & wet, starting & ending with the flour. Beat until just combined. Set aside.
In a clean bowl beat the egg whites on high until stiff glossy peaks form. Fold 1/3 of the egg whites into the batter until combined. Gently fold in the remaining egg whites & coconut.
Fill muffin tins half full. Bake for 20 -25 minutes until golden or a tester comes clean. Allow to cool completely. Makes 6 cupcakes

Lime Glaze
1/2 c powdered sugar
1 t lime (about 1/2 of a lime)
zest from 1/2 lime
milk
shredded coconut (optional)

Mix sugar, lime juice & zest together. Add milk 1 t at a time until desired consistency, usually between 1 & 2. Glaze cupcakes & sprinkle with shredded coconut if you wish. Let sit until glaze has set. Makes enough glaze for 6 cupcakes

I can’t think of good dish titles.  Anyways, Sunday night, came home after 8 hour shift at work.  Was interesting.  One particular boy had to get some blood drawn.  And this boy had to have been at least twelve years old, so he wasn’t some screaming toddler.

So we’re in the lab draw room, he’s sitting down in the examination chair with the standard rubber band on arm, antiseptic wipe, etc.  Needle goes in, then the mother and I’m assuming aunt whip out a BIBLE and start quoting a passage that said “May he not feel pain” or something along the lines.

Really now.  They’re allowed to subscribe to whatever belief they choose, but get the kid some water or hug him.  Not stand outside the doorway reading from a book because when a hard metal object goes through your skin, it’s going to hurt no matter what god(s) you follow.

Dinner…I thought I had nothing in the fridge since I haven’t gone shopping in awhile and when you cook nearly every night of the week, food goes out fast.  Dug through the freezer and fridge, found some frozen catfish, spinach, then had a tomato and half an onion, lots of random scraps of food items I never finished.  Whipped em all together on a whim and made the best dish I’ve ever invented  so far.

Raw catfish nuggets drenched in italian dressing, dash of cumin, black pepper, salt, sauteed until fish is browned

Tomato, onion, spinach, and a clove of garlic all diced up

Dump fish out on a plate, because italian dressing is olive oil based typically, just saute onions and garlic until caramelized

Add tomato, spinach, etc. No pictures, but add in cooked rice, a handful of colby jack cheese, and 1/4 cup of milk. Stir fry it until cooked through, add salt to taste

Sprig of parsley, voila.  Toast some french bread, grab a glass of iced tea…yumminess

My bird has a really bad habit of needing to be within a few feet of me 24/7.  If I leave his line of sight to brush my teeth, do the dishes, grab some laundry, play piano, etc. 90% of the time he will fly to me.  If he can’t find me, he will shoot like a rocket in circles around the apartment, screaming…until crash landing in my hair.  And begging for cuddles.

I made these the night before my ecology exam.  Procrastination owns.

Mocha Cupcakes
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup strong brewed coffee (or 3 shots of espresso), room temp
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temp
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 large egg

Beat butter and sugar together until flufffy, beat in egg, mix in dry ingredients. Bake at 350F for 20 minutes.

Ginger cream cheese frosting
4oz cream cheese, room temp
1 tsp vanilla
1 stick of butter, room temp
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp powdered ginger
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Whip butter and cream cheese together, add in everything else, spread or pipe to cupcakes.  Add more powdered sugar depending on how thick you want the frosting.  Grate some chocolate on top for extra prettiness.

The website is pretty wicked as well.  Mmmm corpses and smashing.  Release date please.

“Exciting new classes like the witch doctor bring new gameplay options to the table. Returning classes, like the barbarian, have been completely redone with new skills to give them a feel unique to Diablo III. New customization options will provide for an even greater level of character specialization than the previous Diablo games, allowing the player to create unique characters brimming with power.

Diablo III is powered by a new graphics engine that can display characters and hordes of monsters in lush, fully 3D environments. Powerful special-effects systems and Havok-powered physics allow the player to lay waste to the Hells’ minions in spectacular ways.

Also, Diablo III builds on the random environments of the previous Diablo games by introducing a host of new ways to create random scripted events throughout the game. This creates a dense and exciting world alive with quests, NPCs, dynamic encounters, and viciously challenging new monsters and bosses. Diablo III’s environments add a great deal of interactivity to the game, including destructible elements and environmental obstacles that can be turned against your enemies.

In addition, Diablo III will benefit from Battle.net upgrades that will provide some exciting new features for players. Cooperative online play remains a primary focus, with multiple enhancements being planned to make connecting with your friends easier and cooperative gameplay even more fun. We’ll have more details on all these aspects as well as other exciting new features at a later date.”

http://www.blizzard.com/diablo3/index.xml

MANIACAL LAUGHTER.  THIS BUILDING HAS PLAGUED ME FOR THE PAST TWO YEARS.

Before

After…

So, I have a major lab practical worth 10% of my grade tomorrow, which means hunkering down and studying.  Aka browse random sites on the internet until it’s 2am and your eyes are bloodshot and getting nothing done, pushing you into an all nighter.

Wordle.net is a cool little image generator.  Type in a bunch of words, out comes this artsy cloud of pretty words.  You can mess with fonts, colors, distribution.  Easily amused I know.

So I pasted whatever was on my clipboard (study materials for my Anatomy lab), hit “Create” and voila.  It’s like one of those poetry magnet sets people put on their fridge to seem all intellectual and hip.  I’m sorry mister, $7.99 at Barnes and Noble does not make you coffeehouse artsy.

Not my Matt, I know where he is.  Talking about this one…

About Matt

Matt is a 31-year-old deadbeat from Connecticut who used to think that all he ever wanted to do in life was make and play videogames. Matt achieved this goal pretty early and enjoyed it for a while, but eventually realized there might be other stuff he was missing out on. In February of 2003, he quit his job in Brisbane, Australia and used the money he’d saved to wander around Asia until it ran out. He made this site so he could keep his family and friends updated about where he is.

A few months into his trip, a travel buddy gave Matt an idea. They were standing around taking pictures in Hanoi, and his friend said “Hey, why don’t you stand over there and do that dance. I’ll record it.” He was referring to a particular dance Matt does. It’s actually the only dance Matt does. He does it badly. Anyway, this turned out to be a very good idea.

A couple years later, someone found the video online and passed it to someone else, who passed it to someone else, and so on. Now Matt is quasi-famous as “That guy who dances on the internet. No, not that guy. The other one. No, not him either. I’ll send you the link. It’s funny.”

The response to the first video brought Matt to the attention of the nice people at Stride gum. They asked Matt if he’d be interested in taking another trip around the world to make a new video. Matt asked if they’d be paying for it. They said yes. Matt thought this sounded like another very good idea.

In 2006, Matt took a 6 month trip through 39 countries on all 7 continents. In that time, he danced a great deal.

The second video made Matt even more quasi-famous. In fact, for a brief period in July, he was semi-famous.

Things settled down again, and then in 2007 Matt went back to Stride with another idea. He realized his bad dancing wasn’t actually all that interesting, and that other people were much better at being bad at it. He showed them his inbox, which, as a result of his semi-famousness, was overflowing with emails from all over the planet. He told them he wanted to travel around the world one more time and invite the people who’d written him to come out and dance too.

The Stride people thought that sounded like yet another very good idea, so they let him do it. And he did. And now it’s done. And he hopes you like it.

JESSICA. IS. DRIPPING. WITH. JEALOUSY.