Mr. Clock, Mr. Clock, His Eyes Go "Tick", His Nose Goes "Tock"

Huh? Oh, yeah. I don't pay much attention to Livejournal anymore, but I do update my Facebook pretty religiously. If you're interested, look me there. If not, then a little LJ love every so often is in order.

So, last night I went out drinking (as is typical for a night off these days, I have to admit) and after staying around the Hill (went to Summit Pub, Clever Dunnes, and the Cuff (for laughs and to look at hot guys, of course)) I met Cera and Gerald at Gameworks, which is about the furthest I've ever been away from the Hood that drunk. Naturally, more drinking occurred (one huge beer, shots of Jager and scotch and half a gin and tonic) and the by the end of the night we were all pretty wrecked. It was weird in that I'm used to being inebriated on Capitol Hill where there's a solid 70%-80% chance that the hot guy I'm gawking at is queer- downtown is all different with its tourists and straight people.

Oh, and about the Hill- the Wikipedia page on my neighborhood mentions Dick's and Taco Gringo! It also makes it seem like the coolest neighborhood on God's green Earth, which I am quickly realizing it is.

Good times!

I haven't been paying all that much attention to my Livejournal, and I'm considering sacking the thing. I don't really have much of a need for it anymore, as I'm getting to the point where gassing on about myself on the internet has lost its appeal. Facebook is enough for me.

That having been said, things are really starting to roll here and I'm regaining the stability that I hadn't had since New Mexico. I love living here. Even the bad times aren't that bad.

I went on a laughably bad date yesterday. The guy would not stop talking about WoW and admitted to playing video games for ten hours a day. And he was 29-- yowza. I have another date with a different gentleman today. Hopefully that goes okay?

I admit that I've been partying a bit much lately, and I think I'll start to calm down a bit here. This has been one of the weirdest summers of my life, and I'm ready for fall and a nice, calm winter.

Next trip to LC will likely occur around my birthday next May. :)

Yay-a!

Seeing them next weekend at Vera. Totally in love with them, totally in love with the new album and totally in love with THIS VIDEO. The last minute or so is pure art.

Dear Seattle,

I love you, oh so much. You are amazing. You are beautiful. You are cultured, you are smart, you are a revelation. You are the best sex I've ever had. As Prince and Sinead O'Connor would say, Nothing Compares 2 U.

YOU BELONG TO ME. ANGEL, ANGEL, DOWN WE GO TOGETHER.

Luv,

Caleb.

P.S: BITCH DON'T CHEAT ON ME.

...in a few words? Best. Date. Ever.

I'm totally smitten.


I totally love Seattle.


I think I'll stay put for a while. :)

Stupid fucking top wisdom tooth chipped, producing a sharp point against which my cheek tends to get scraped. God damn you, human evolution. HAVEN'T WE MOVED PAST OUR NEED FOR THESE RIDICULOUS VESTIGIAL TEETH?

Bah. I'm going to have to fucking break down and get them extracted. Damn it to craphell.

Other than that, Las Cruces trip is thus far fun, but I had stupidly forgotten how much this city hates pedestrians. YES, I'M TALKING TO YOU MISTER ASSHOLE IN THE CORVETTE WHO STOPPED ON TOP OF THE CROSSWALK ON TELSHOR. :( :(

Sorry for the caps. They have to go somewhere, don't they?

...and I've already found some great local bands- Backward Masks and To Get Her Together.

Seriously, I'll be going to at least four or five shows a week!

As to be expected when you use an online service to book the cheapest flight possible, I'm going to have a four and a half hour layover in Salt Lake City (which, as far as airport clusterfuckery goes, actually isn't that bad, considering how big it is). Considering that my round trip from Seattle to El Paso was less than $250, I really can't complain at all. All that's needed is proper preparation; I will be finishing off some episodes of Sailor Moon S (rewatch of the series is, astoundingly, more than half way through) and some X-Men (original, bitches). The plain ride itself will give me some time to read. All in all, I'm looking forward to a tiring-as-fuck day of travel.

Had my last day at work today; it was uneventful. Got to Andrea and Bretton, who will be sorely missed; I am going to try as hard as I can to make it down to Yakima again for their wedding in August.

Beyond that, just typical last minute moving frantic-ness. Allegedly, due to various bridge closings and whatnot, the drive to Seattle may take as long as five hours, which I simply can't understand. In any case, we'll be leaving in plenty of time. Jay is a fucking shark when it comes to logistics- as lame as it sounds, it's one of the reasons I fell in love with him. :p

Seriously, Theoretical Girl is the best thing happening in the UK pop scene...just as she was in 2008. Isn't that voice a dream? I just love her!

The tortilla soup I made in the crockpot today turned out particularly good, probably because I made a few minor changes- added diced peppers, used diced tomatoes instead of tomato juice, added more jalapenos and cut the chili powder. The result was quite good and ultimately heartier, with a nice, hot peppery smell to it.

One of the major things I miss about New Mexico is the food-- green chile, mole burritos, searing hot menudo and eggs mixed with chorizzo.

I totally want Chico's Taco's right now. Or a gordita from Saenz'. I'd kill for a good chile relleno.

Moving on from my bout of food-nostalgia, I am totally ready for my trip back home. Those wanting to hang out, please let me know.

I've been in love with Telepathe since I first heard them back in 2007ish and have rooted for them heartily ever since. It's great that they're getting some of the attention they deserve.



Aren't they wonderful?

Even if the portion with Amy Adams sucks (as it very well might; her bit looks like something of a standard soulless American Rom-Com) you have Meryl Streep, that national treasure, portraying the patron saint of the kitchen. She nails her manner perfectly.

My obsession with Julia Child continues to grow-- what a woman! I have been trying to make the damn perfect omlette using her method for two months and shit, it's difficult.


Isn't she just amazing? A goddess of the art of cuisine. Just splendid.

Authors and actors and artists and such
Never know nothing, and never know much.
Sculptors and singers and those of their kidney
Tell their affairs from Seattle to Sydney.
Playwrights and poets and such horses' necks
Start off from anywhere, end up at sex.
Diarists, critics, and similar roe
Never say nothing, and never say no.
People Who Do Things exceed my endurance;
God, for a man that solicits insurance!
--Dorothy Parker

Seattle, here I come.

...proves their worth once more and makes buying shoes much easier. I found 2 pair in my size that I really liked within five minutes. Furthermore, when I checked the order status an hour thereafter and realized that the second pair were listed as size 14D instead of 16D, I called them, waited only 3 minutes to speak with someone who fixed the order within two minutes AND emailed me a new receipt and updated the order status on their site to reflect the changes.

Seriously, they're the shit-- I recommend everyone with freakishly large feet to shop with them.

Edit: Now it makes sense- they're located in Portland, OR, easily the coolest city in the country. See-Portland is made of awesome.

Wow, there certainly are a fuckload of amateur "reviewers" on Youtube, and a lot of them ultimately know shit about the book they're reviewing. A particularly funny one included a review of The Left Hand of Darkness, an amazing piece of science fiction and one of the most beautiful books I've ever read. The reviewer's point of contention seemed to be that "there wasn't enough action" and that "the ice planet it's based on" is "boring". Uh, if you actually READ the book instead of imagining Princess Leah giving you a handjob you would have realized that that's the whole fucking point. What a retard.

I hate that science fiction is now so closely tied with action/adventure in the American mind. And I similarly hate that properties in which there is no science at all (like Star Wars and similar crap like that) is still considered science fiction.

*sigh*

Ah well.

Here's a video of Mrs. Le Guin, making a brilliant point not only about the role of the "future" in science fiction but of the "past" in historical fiction.

I'm on a download fest of SM StarS and first-third stage Sera Myu. The problem is that it's filling up my hard drive damn quick, which is to be expected. Ah well. I've a stack of DVD-R's that will stand as a reasonable facsimile of an external hard drive; all should be well, and I should be in possession of damn near all of the Sailor Moon media that I'm missing, buahahahahaha /evil laugh>.

I'm reading Wicked by Gregory Maguire at the suggestion of Jay's sister, and I'm almost finished. What a great book! I'm loving it and I'll like seek out his other stuff. Because of this I'm also inclined to read the original Oz books, more out of curiosity-- I vaguely remember either reading them on my own or having them read to me by my mother as a small child.

Writing continues; I'm contemplating submitting a piece to a "queer" literary journal I know of. I've realized that if I wish to write gay characters, as I do, I will likely be categorized as a gay writer, which I am. That cannot be avoided; I wonder why I even considered this an issue.

Ah well.

Oh, Jay and I are going vegan.

Say what?

Yes. He and I are on kind of a health food kick, so much so that we bought a couple of books on eating "light" and whole foods. It compelled Jay to the point where he now wants to cut out eggs and meat (dairy not being an issue for him since he's pretty harshly lactose intolerant). He made me read some things (i.e basic facts) about milk and cutting out dairy seemed a logical, sensible step. And when I finally looked at the jug of vitamin D milk in the fridge, I realized, shit, yeah, one cup does in fact have 50% of my recommended daily fat intake.

So dairy is out; I don't miss it. Next goes meat on the basis of fat and sodium contents as well as considerations for the chemical shit storm that seems to be injected into most animals. I was concerned about protein, but after doing some reading the majority medical consensus seems to be that a vegan diet is markedly healthier than the standard American diet; grains like quinoa can provide complete protein and are a good staple food for vegans, as are dried beans and whole grains in general.


Mika Miko video added purely because I love Mika Miko.

After a rough day at work, Buddy Cole makes it (mostly) all better.

Seattle was awesome; a good time was had by all.

( Brace yourself for a LARGE AMOUNT OF PICTURES :D )

Oh, and due to the rotation of the Earth around the sun, I am now 24. All in all, I had an excellent birthday-- seeing Cera for the first time in forever was great and we had an lovely time in Seattle! :D

All the stars are aligning to suggest that this is going to be a fun, fun weekend.

Jay and I were planning to leave by 9:00- judging by how loud he's snoring, that seems unlikely to happen.

http://www.uwajimaya.com/index.html
-- A coworker made me aware of this place when I told her Jay and I were going to Seattle for the weekend. I am tempted to cut something short so we have time to go.

Hooray!

So the oatmeal raisin cookie "experiment" that could very well have been a disaster had excellent results.



I took a basic oatmeal cookie recipe, cut the sugar by about a third, nearly quadrupled the amount of cinnamon, added an inordinately large amount of ginger, used whole wheat flour, added more raisins, added pecans, and drizzled some honey on each cookie prior to putting them in the oven. The result- a delicious, semi-sweet, spicy cookie with a nice crunch on the outside and a tender-but-hearty body.

These would probably go really well with vanilla yogurt, mint jelly or lemonade.

If anyone wants the exact recipe, I will post.