Alan, Liz, Nina, gum / peanut butter, Corey / packages

I just got off the phone with my sister: she, Jon, and their Toronto friend Alan Liu and his girlfriend Liz (who just flew in from Malaysia) are picking me up tomorrow. Apparently, a Yaletown Brewery lunch is in the works, too... so the thing will have to wait. Alan and Liz are staying till Monday, going to Victoria for a week, and flying out on the 18th. Steph wants me to come over for dinner and see the madhouse (sure!), and told me that she / Alan / Jon all went for haircuts with Grandma earlier! So I should email the hard drive dude AGAIN to change things again.. I should really learn to check plans before making assumptions, heh. (Alan's sleeping in the loft, and Liz is in the bunk bed)

I should get off here now and take a shower / go to bed, but it's not too likely I'll do so: we're playing Colorado instead of Edmonton, and I gotta bug Corey about Luongo's saves and the Canucks winning (so far) 1-0. Wait... I also need to call Nina to see what's up. The weekdays are bad for her, but the weekends are a bit better since her son's dad has him overnight. I'll call her again later since she's tired.

Jon now thinks I'm nosy because I want to know Liz's last name for cataloging purposes... not really, haha. (according to Steph, Alan and Liz now both know I'm very randomly weird!) Corey says he got my Christmas package of word searches / ginseng stuff / postcards / rocks, along with three grippers that came in a different package at the same time. Coolness!

Since I now have more time and patience, I went at the gum on my shirt with peanut butter again: it worked this time, phew! I could have bought non-stick cooking spray also to help with that, but what am I gonna use it for after I get the gum off? I can hear you now: COOKING! Yeah, but I don't properly cook / bake much. At least I can eat the peanut butter and now wear the shirt again after it's been laundered! SWEET STUFF! :D

My sister's reaction to the rat news: "Are they stupid to flush it down the toilet?! Let's hope it doesn't plug the system!"

My dad's reaction: "What rat in the nursery?!" (he's the church administrator, so needs to be kept in the loop.. heh)

My mom's reaction: "Oooh, ewwww!" (same reaction she had to Jeremy's porter.. maybe she just doesn't like beer, which is fine, but then why try anything Jon brings home? weird...)

Flushing dead rats down the toilet / Soothing kids who are crying for no reason we can see

Henry called at about 2:30 to say that he'd be a bit late, and also that he changed his car from a BMW to a Mini-Cooper on Tuesday. Good to know because then I won't look for the old car... I hope! He called to let me know he was here about an hour later, so I shot off a very quick email to Hard Drive Dude to ask if he were available tomorrow morning. By the time I got back, I'd received a reply: he is available tomorrow before 10, so that should work out IF Enrico can drive me. There are certain things I don't want certain people knowing about, and this is one of them!

Henry also said that he has to take a final next week, so he won't be driving me to / from the church. I'm sure I can arrange something else tomorrow... I hope. Emily Lam thanked me for her birthday card after I asked if she'd gotten it from her brother Joey. Then I gave Christmas cards to Emily Choi (who also got a birthday card) and Melia. They thanked me for them and said I was pretty early: yeah, I know, but eh. Later on, I gave David and John's birthday cards to Auntie May since she's their mother / mother-in-law. I just want to be rid of them... well, no. Not sure when I'll see them again, so I'll take that route instead to make sure they get the cards, haha.

During Awana, Jason and Amos found another rat: it was inside the nursery, and Andrew helped them kill it by putting a cardboard box over it and moving it around. It ran all over the nursery, but they eventually killed it. Auntie Vivian had gone back home by this time to give her son William a video camera and the PLANET ECCENTRIC! book I'd brought so he wouldn't be totally bored. She couldn't fit him inside her car with his sisters Sarah and Mary and three other kids. So Amos and I left the secretary corner unmanned temporarily for a bit because he came over to tell me about it, and I naturally had to see the rat blood in the nursery for myself.

There wasn't too much blood even on the walls, and the floor was covered by a garbage can and bag! Jason and Andrew came up with the dead rat inside a glass from the kitchen, covered by a plate. Both glass and plate were thrown away later when the guys flushed the dead animal down the toilet near the furnace room. Makes you NOT want to go into the nursery, but I have to do so tomorrow for the toddler Sunday School! (Auntie Rebecca said to get Eric T.'s dad to clean the carpet with disinfectant or something)

After unsuccessfully trying to find something for Alysia, Amos and I discussed our weeks. He didn't have a snow day at school for him on Monday, and there were some snowball fights even if those weren't allowed. Sounds like good times, haha. By this time, Auntie Vivian was back, so I told her what she'd missed. I think she was glad she'd missed seeing a dead rat, on the whole. Amos said that the tail was longer than they thought it was, but it went down in one flush. Apparently, he likes flushing dead rats down the toilet. We have a future exterminator in our midst, heh.

Later, I was writing Christmas cards when Samantha saw what I was doing. She asked if that was a birthday card for her sister Rosanna, who actually IS a Christmas baby. No, it was my friend's Christmas card. I decided to take two different Awana stickers to decorate Jeremy's Christmas card: Sparky head fit fine, but the VeggieTales Sherlock Holmes did not. She suggested sticking it on the front. After thinking about it for a bit, I figured it couldn't do any harm since Jeremy DOES keep all the cards he gets, and there was room on the front by the picture of Godzilla / the Tokyo Monster eating Santa and his reindeer. I then thanked her for it, and told Bob and Zoe to stop playfully hitting each other. (Bob's 12 already! Or 13...)

After Awana, I said hi to Rachel and her grandma. Then I walked over to Ian and said hi. He shyly said hi back, so I asked him if he liked ladybugs. The answer to that was "I don't know," so I decided to keep it simple. I asked if he liked stickers, but he didn't know what I was talking about. So then I asked to see his Awana handbook to see if there were any inside: a quick glance gave me nothing. Gave it back to him, then asked where his spoon for the lychee pudding was: he had it in the crook of his arm, so I put the tiny thing in his uniform pocket. (that way, it wouldn't get lost)

Then he started crying!!! I put an arm around him and tried soothing him. Sabrina also talked to him in gentle Chinese, telling him that his parents would be here soon to pick him up. The guys got Mike (his leader), who tried distracting him with talk of snow / cold / ice. I asked him if he liked the snow: no, he didn't. So then Mike tried thinking of something else while Hilary's dad said he'd get Ian's dad, who came downstairs within two minutes. We told Ian not to cry and that things would be okay. When his dad showed up, he soothed Ian and said that there was no reason to cry. I certainly hadn't done anything to him! After they left, I walked over to Gwyneth, who was playing with an Awana toy. She asked me a few times if I wanted to have dinner at her house: sure, I did! Heh, gotta love little kids. :D

Amusing non-words, Teen Girl Squad, rhymes, blogs, marriage

I encountered another amusing non-word today: "desilusiolated." Context: "they don't want to post more there because they are very desilusiolated on how this board is." Reminds me of the time Eric thought I said "euthanaiouus" instead of "euphonious," haha. Of course he knew what that meant since he's a musician and all. :D

There's no hope for a certain peanut butter-slathered shirt sleeve, so I'll just junk the shirt. I knew I shouldn't have worn that shirt out to ping-pong night. *sigh* (at least it wasn't the Engrish / dragon-snake shirts or anything else I seriously liked) Last night, we were talking about gum, which somehow segued into a discussion about the Teen Girl Squad (Homestar Runner) and verbs such as "sworded" and "guitared." I think it was because I brought up the Miller beer box with "fridge" as a verb right on it: dumbing down of society, indeed...

Okay, so I'm leaving a certain place AGAIN. Not sure why I re-joined in the first place, but at least I'm not leaving because of the drama! Reading my friends page will be much easier now, as a plus! Nobody had better message me with "your / you're" errors, either.. it's funny how I'll let them slide with certain people, but today is one of THOSE days. (I knew I shouldn't have stayed up so late...)


Checked blogs: I still can't read Jen's. Ugh. Spoz has presented his weekender adventures to us in sepia film format... haha, it's creative! "Dedicated to the memory of himself," indeed... simple things like this amuse me! Vivian has a few UBC snow day pictures up: icicle fountains, yay! She also has some PEARLS BEFORE SWINE comic up... stream-of-consciousness, anyone? (I should NOT try writing in that style, otherwise I'd have no readers left, haha!) In her list of "bring Christmas on!" items, I could SWEAR that I read something about "I've been ushering for two weeks solid now," when in fact she has done no such thing. It was really "the quickly imminent ushering in of December"... that's it. I think that I will SLEEP after Henry brings me home from Awana tonight! (but I probably won't, sigh)

Dawn has musings about the time and darkness, money and rent (legitimate ways of making money?), Ralph Wiggums from THE SIMPSONS and how she relates to him, missing China, and nursery rhymes. Seems her boyfriend Eni made one up himself since he didn't grow up with such stuff as Mother Goose: let's just say it isn't the type of thing you'd read to your child at bedtime, haha. Dave is / was in Colorado, and counted three Asians so far: one may have been a white dude with hepatitis, which is scary when you think about it. Then he said that he was tired... he knew that since he lost two games in a row playing tic-tac-toe against the computer. Seriously. Who loses to anyone in tic-tac-toe after the second grade?

I have my own version of that. You know you're tired when you put a pot on the stove and set it to "boil," thinking that you've put water in it already! (as happened to me just now) Thank goodness I caught it before it became a real fire hazard! Time to eat my noodles now... maybe I actually have time to take a shower, too!

You Are 45% Ready for Marriage

You aren't quite ready for marriage, but you're getting close. You still have a few relationship issues to work out - whether it's with your current partner or someone new.

Are You Ready for Marriage?

Goals, snow, beer / November 2006 BBT Tally

Right after that last post, Eric called to tell me to get ready. It was a pre-emptive call because he pulled up just as I walked out to the parking lot. When I got in the car, he blamed me for (among other things) the Canucks' lack of goal production. It's not MY fault the team only scores one or two goals a game! (later, he told me that he expected them to score six against Edmonton tomorrow... if not, it would be my fault!) We discussed other crazy things like Purell smell, it being "too cold" to tobaggon, the snowy driving conditions (especially on Monday), my complaints about the snowy sidewalks (why did I go out again?!), my computer case being hard to open (for me), the baseball commissioner, and things like that. I didn't ask him about the motherboard thing, but maybe next time.

We went to Bible Study, with Eric walking right behind me as we went into church. He told me to be careful getting out, which I appreciated. Paid for our Bible Study books, and said hey to Jeremy and others. Vivian had to go to school for a 30-minute evaluation, and it took her three hours to get home! Christon woke up, listened to the radio, found out UBC was closed because it had no power, and went back to sleep. I have a feeling that I should get to know Martin better, but it's kinda hard to do when I have other things competing for my attention. Besides, he seems pretty well entrenched with the Dawn-Vivian-Dylan crowd... so perhaps not, heh. Bible Study with the new group wasn't too bad, so maybe this will be good. Gave Christmas cards to Jen and Eric, who thought his was something for his birthday (which was a long time ago) or something far in advance of his next birthday. Thank goodness he's aware I don't usually operate like that!

Talked about our passions in life and our reactions to hearing bad news about people we loved. I took the same thing as Jon: Nathan's mom dying. Then I took Jen and Jon's "environment" passion and expanded that to include God's people. After Bible Study, I managed to thank Jeremy again for helping me (coming to my rescue?) last week; he didn't say anything about it, but that's fine. Eric asked what THAT was about, so I had to tell him it was about the ugfart's party. Went upstairs to see what people were doing after Resonate (Jon thought the music was pretty good without him there), and literally bumped into Esther from the Richmond church. She and a friend were blocking the available space in the entrance to the sanctuary right by the snack table: shrimp crackers, chocolate, and more! (at first, I thought the shrimp crackers were fries when I saw them in Christon and Karen's Styrofoam cups, haha) After telling them where the filtered water and church kitchen was (and a better way to get there that involved going through the sanctuary and downstairs instead of going down two staircases and the basement), I said hey to Lucas and Stanley: Stanley's failing a class with only 30% on the quizzes... not good, dude!

I noted Cordia and Joyce bugging each other, so asked them what they were doing. Quan told me that they were bonding in sisterly love: sure, sure! Jeremy termed some others "crazy kids" after they made lots of noise: I agreed! We discussed weird college courses we'd seen online: Madonna, Batman, and the history of anime! (Jeremy would like that one even if he only likes a small sub-set of the whole thing, hahaha... Jon knows about the popularity of COWBOY BEBOP and NEON GENESIS EVANGELION even though he doesn't watch it... the people that do are pretty passionate about it!) Talked to Vanessa about politics (Jon's Toronto friends are REALLY political, but his Vancouver friends aren't), which caused Steph to run away. She attempted to come back after we'd discussed post-modern literature with Daniel, but they were still talking about it. ("Run away!") Steph was wearing an Atlanta Thrashers Dany Heatley jersey: just one of 45 in her collection! At first, she told us not to leave without her, but she went home with Ivan and the other Richmond people instead when Jon announced his intentions of going to Dragon Ball, which had closed down till Nov. 24 because of the "boil water" advisory.

We went downstairs for a bit, where Jeremy came up with a most revolutionary idea: THE ANTI-CONSUMERISM STORE! ("You know how they have Buy Nothing Day? They should have a Buy Nothing Store! You can have a shopping experience by pushing the cart around, but you can't buy anything! Then again, how would they operate / stay in business?") Others were talking about how Tim Horton's had no cover charge, and was open 24 hours. After a while, we went to Dragon Ball: Jon told me that the sidewalk wasn't that slippery, and Jeremy had to slide over on the way back to the car to make room for me in the back seat. The guys amused themselves by thinking of alternate names for a Starbucks-like shop: Celebrity-Dollar, DREGS ("we don't understand why no one buys our 25-cent coffee since we pass the savings on to you!"), etc. Jeremy complained that his face was cold, especially his nose (it's an extremity, dude... of COURSE it's going to be cold!): luckily, his hands were pretty warm so he could warm it up! (Eric confirmed that later after he put his ski gloves on the wrong way, and Jeremy wanted to try that too!)

Saw my OLD friends Judy and Marian at Dragon Ball: Andrew K.'s sister and Joe Wu's sister. They didn't recognize my brother at all, heh. Guess he's changed a lot from when he was a little kid, which is probably the last time they saw him! I got starfruit-cranberry (changed from cranberry-mango), Eric got blueberry-banana, Jon got papaya-lychee, and Jeremy got longan-starfruit. Tried some of Jeremy's and Jon's after I let them try some of mine... it's what we do! Jon had a copy of the GEORGIA STRAIGHT, and reminisced about the time when Smashing Pumpkins / Billy Corgan was really popular. Then Jon and Jeremy did a credible Raine Maida imitation on the Our Lady Peace song SUPERMAN'S DEAD. (I think that grew out of a discussion on LIFE AFTER GOD and superheroes) Eric tried balancing a bubble tea drink on my head: I'm not surprised, since he tries dancing stuffed animals on my head whenever we're at Nathan's! We talked about our plans for tomorrow, and what time we woke up normally: sleeping in, horrible snow stories, Awana, Alan Liu coming in from Malaysia, Mom not approving of three hours spent drinking beer (and her weird idea that Alan / his girlfriend / Steph living with me for two weeks), teaching, etc.

We left before midnight, and discussed gas prices (102.4 vs. 99.9 across the street) and my "You too..." directed at Jon and Eric when they said something weird about me. Eric thought I said something about Youtube, Jon thought I said something about U2, but Jeremy came the closest: "She said YOU TWO... you know, Y-O-U and the numeral 2... as in T-W-O!" Since that was close enough, I let it slide. Then I told them about a site I'd seen called KILL EVERYONE, heh. Told Jeremy that HE better not start on questioning my sanity! :P We stopped for a bit at Jeremy's (no skidding on side streets for us!) while Jon went in to grab three bottles of Jeremy's porter which is apparently really good. Mom will probably want to try some, but she always thinks the beer Jon brings home is gross. :P Then I went kinda crazy, but they took it in stride. Eric's radio went in and out as usual when we tried to listen to the CBC and jazz... oh well.

Hey, my bubble tea was free tonight! Since I have another card with all ten stamps filled in, I can get another free one next time we go. They have nice-looking new stamp cards now, and I should get one when I redeem the old one! My two free bubble teas this month should help a bit with the money situation: I know it's only a bit less than eight dollars, but it counts! Jeremy was almost like me the last couple times we went and forgot to take his number card initially. I made reference to that when he asked if he was supposed to take that, heh. Eric's not buying any church Christmas cards since he doesn't really give them out, and his parents would probably feel weird sending cards with Chinese on them. Heh, I can understand that! Not sure if I would buy them from the Chinese fellowship even if the dollar per card does support the church building fund, heh. Guess we'll see! At least I won't be asking Henry to drive me all over town to nowhere tomorrow, which is a good thing! I don't see why Eric would be complaining about the Purell smell (other than that it's powerful coming from my knapsack or hands) because it doesn't give him any seizures or problems... no, I am not going to bathe in it, buddy!


MONTHLY BUBBLE TEA TALLY, NOVEMBER 2006 (2)

peach-pudding with pearls and coconut jelly @ Dragon Ball (Friday, Nov. 3)
black plum-honeydew with pearls and coconut jelly @ Dragon Ball (Friday, Nov. 10)


Taken from Sarah G., via Myspace bulletin... what does my middle name mean?

C: You are really silly.
H: You have very good personality and good looks.
I: You are great in bed.

W: You are very broadminded.
A: You like to drink.
H: You have very good personality and good looks.

Hahaha. It really means "cigar tree / catalpa tree."


A: You like to drink.
B: You like people.
C: You are really silly.
D: You like to drink.
E: Damn good kisser.
F: You are dead sexy.
G: You never let people tell you what to do.
H: You have very good personality and good looks.
I: You are great in bed.
J: People adore you.
K: You're wild and crazy.
L: Everyone loves you.
M: Best kisser ever.
N: You like to drink.
O: Awesome kisser.
P: You are popular with all types of people.
Q: You are a hypocrite.
R: Freakin' crazy.
S: Easy to fall in love with.
T: You're loyal to those you love.
U: You really like to chill.
V: You are not judgmental.
W: You are very broadminded.
X: You never let people tell you what to do.
Y: Best girlfriend / boyfriend anyone could ever ask for.
Z: Always ready.

Hardee's Biscuits / Slaughter, gross words, anime

Hardee's Biscuits

Categories: Copycat, Breads
Yield: 1 serving
2 cups Self-rising flour
1 tablespoon Sugar
1 cup milk
1/3 cups Mayo

Combine flour, sugar, milk, and mayo into a smooth dough. Divide batter equally between 10 paper-lined muffin wells or cupcake wells. Bake at 350° about 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden brown and doubled in size.


Today's Rebellious Yet Truly Morbid Fact!

During an uprising on July 15, 1857, a group of British women and children being held by rebels in Chawnpore, India were cut to pieces with knives and hatchets. Then their remains were tossed into a well. When British forces finally retook Chawnpore, the captured rebels were taken back to the house where the slaughter took place. Then they were forced to lick the floors clean, after which they were hanged.

Culled from: Rotten.Com
Generously submitted by: Sandy

**********************************************************************

Morbid Film Du Jour!

So, I just finished watching the best little chestnut of a movie: Hard Candy. It's about a 14-year-old girl (played by the amazing Ellen Page) who wreaks some most-righteous justice on a 32-year-old pedophile who made the mistake of chatting her up online. Although I was a bit disappointed that the film wasn't as brutal as it could have been (you'll know the scene I'm talking about when you see it), it is still the feel-good film of the year. (Unless you're a pedophile, I suppose...) Scores extra points for having the most realistic chat sequence I've ever seen committed to celluloid. I give it 5 skulls on the Morbid-O-Meter!

Hard Candy (2006)

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Morbid Word Du Jour!

Bre has added a new word to her vocabulary and wanted to share:

"I heard this word mentioned on the radio the other day. The only thing the DJ could say was they found it more disgusting than necrophilia. I then decided I HAD to know what it meant, so I searched for it and found this. The word is munging, and if you go to this site, it gives you the disturbing definition."

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Wretched Recommendations!

ThePretender has a DVD recommendation:

"I just wanted to make sure you had seen Neon Genesis Evangelion. If not, it's a life-changer. The series is mindblowing, and the movie is one of the achievements of the century (the only thing that comes close in levels of fucked-up is 2001)."

Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995)

Autopilot into birthday mode on Christmas cards is NOT GOOD!

Amy (twirlybird73) and Carmina (on_the_ground) got my Christmas cards, yay! Not sure how many more I'll send out, as I don't think they'll get mailed any faster if I go out to the mailbox today. (even if it's just a few minutes' walk from where I sit) Maybe I'll mail them on Monday or something... which reminds me that I really need to get in touch with Hard Drive Dude and Nina to see what's up with them first before making any plans.

The postcards DO need to be bought in mass quantities, especially since I've just run out of those... maybe the cards too, from the right place! (I'd have bought some from the Kingsgate Mall dollar store while I was waiting for Jeremy last week, but didn't want to cart those around all night at Nyala and the Whip in the snow!) At least I wrote some Christmas cards / December birthday cards earlier. However, I went on autopilot while writing Hien's birthday card and accidentally wished her a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. It's okay since her birthday IS close enough to both those events (it's on Dec. 30), except not really. Oh well, I did tell her that I was losing it... which is what happens when you're getting old like me! :P

Now I gotta get ready to leave. Eric just called me to say that I should, after all. His word is law around here when it comes to that sort of thing, heh. ;) (if he's reading this: DON'T GET A SWELLED HEAD OR AN EGO BECAUSE OF WHAT I JUST WROTE!)

Annoying returns, Sarah G. and cards, quizzes

WHAT THE HECK?! I CAN'T BELIEVE THEY RETURNED IT! MAN, NOW I HAVE TO MAIL THINGS AGAIN! Time to cancel a couple of things, maybe... at least I did my shopping and paid my phone bill, so that's out of the way! Gotta love special kinds of bread, after all...

Here are some quizzes. Good thing Eric probably won't come online now and ask me to take the bus out to the community centre! Sigh... what to do. Sarah G. vacillated about sending me a Christmas card, but I understand that her life has been very stressful and such. We're going to do that exchange, then! :)

Your Fragrance Profile

The best calming fragrance: jasmine The best fragrance for everyday wear: sandalwood The best fragrance to boost your sex appeal: rose The best fragrance for energy: peppermint

What's Your Fragrance Profile?

You Are Somewhat Mature

You definitely act like an adult sometimes, but a big part of you is still a kid at heart. While your immature side is definitely fun, you're going to have to grow up sooner or later.

Are You Immature?

What kind of person are you?

You are black!

Take this quiz at QuizHeaven.com

This quiz's results were very mean, so I chose the one which I could live with. Nothing wrong with being black, after all.

You have no result.

This part of the result is optional.

Take this quiz at QuizHeaven.com

You are...

You are a nerd, sorry. But you like video games and stuff!

Take this quiz at QuizHeaven.com

Intelligent Ninja

congratulations

Take this quiz at QuizHeaven.com

I may be intelligent (ninja or no), but the creator of this quiz isn't, since they spelled "intelligent" wrong! (of course I fixed it!)

Who are you from Charlotte Wood?

You are Val! You are nice, fun and have low self-esteem... but people love you

Take this quiz at QuizHeaven.com

What is your Fate? Let your name reveal the mystery of time!

You will own a company that manufactures six-toed socks.

Take this quiz at QuizHeaven.com

What Song Are You??

Come As You Are

Take this quiz at QuizHeaven.com

Totally wicked and rocking! :D

What Kind of a Unicorn are You?

The King

Take this quiz at QuizHeaven.com

what does your name mean?

you like to do exotic things

Take this quiz at QuizHeaven.com

Not so much, no... :P

December Musings / Hard Rock Café Tupelo Style Chicken

Yay, I officially survived Snow Dump 2006! Man, I can't believe it's December already. I still wish I had certain people in my life like Arthur, but I can't do a thing about it. Oh well. In one month, I'll be doing my yearly recap. I'm sure you can't wait for it, haha. Maybe I can get that thing today, but I'll see what Eric says when I get up tomorrow. I'll try pushing for NO TRANSIT if possible, which makes me wonder about a certain other thing that I should have received by now... aiya, where is it? Hope it didn't get lost! (I also hope I didn't do something inadvertently!)


Hard Rock Café Tupelo Style Chicken

The world's most famous theme restaurant pays tribute to the birthplace of Elvis Presley with this chicken finger appetizer dish and two tasty dipping sauces. It's probably best they chose to name the dish after a city, rather than after the King himself. "Elvis Style Chicken" sounds like a concoction that should include bananas, peanut butter, and bacon grease.

4 to 6 cups vegetable oil

Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 1/2 teaspoon prepared mustard
2 teaspoons honey
pinch paprika

Apricot Dipping Sauce
2 tablespoons Grey Poupon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon apricot preserves
2 tablespoons honey

1 cup corn flake crumbs
2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
1 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
dash garlic
1 egg
1 cup milk
1 cup flour
1 pound chicken breast fillets

1. Preheat oil in a deep fryer to 350 degrees.

2. Make the honey mustard dipping sauce by combining the ingredients in a medium bowl. Cover and refrigerate. Make the apricot dipping sauce by combing those ingredients in a medium bowl. Cover and refrigerate this sauce as well, until your chicken is ready.

3. Prepare the breading by combining the corn flake crumbs, crushed red pepper flakes, cayenne pepper, cumin, salt, paprika, onion powder, and garlic in a medium bowl.

4. Beat the egg in a medium bowl; add the 1 cup of milk and stir.

5. Pour the flour into another medium bowl.

6. Slice each chicken breast lengthwise into strips approximately 1/2-inch wide.

7. When the oil is hot, bread your chicken by first coating each strip with flour. Dip the chicken into the egg / milk mixture and then back into the flour. Dip each chicken strip back in the egg / milk mixture and then in the cornflake crumb mixture. Be sure to coat each chicken piece thoroughly with the cornflake crumbs.

8. Fry 6 to 8 coated chicken strips at a time in the oil for 4 to 5 minutes or until the chicken is golden brown. Drain and serve chicken with the dipping sauces on the side. Serves 6 to 8 as an appetizer.

Circumcising your eight-year-old?! WTF?!

Today's Obedient Yet Truly Morbid Fact!

Edwin B. Baxter, 33, of Oregon, was convicted in December 2004 of attempting to circumcise his 8-year-old son. The fundamentalist Christian, who sat with a Bible in the courtroom, decided to circumcise his son on Sept. 3 after reading the Old Testament: "I had no reason to think I would be in violation of any of God's laws. I felt it was an act of obedience." He put his son in a dirty bathtub on some towels and used a hunting knife, then called 911 when his son began bleeding profusely. His wife was pregnant with their 10th child. The boy recovered.

Culled from: The Columbian
Generously submitted by: Desmodus

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Yet more proof, as if we need it, that religion is hazardous for your health!

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Morbid Link Du Jour!

Now, here's a website that's not nearly as cool as it could have been - The Kill Everyone Project!

Here's the set-up:

"The world is overpopulated. The people that overpopulate it are stupid. They should be killed.

"Please help us achieve this noble goal virtually by participating in the Kill Everyone Project. The task is difficult, though. The population of the Earth is currently 6,489,333,770 people and it increases with an ever-growing pace!

"Our body count in 1,973 days is only 6,125,099,578. With current rate, the extinction will occur in 1,735 days. There are 75,051 participants involved in the project, who by average have killed 81,612 people each."

So basically, you click your mouse like crazy to kill people. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah...

Here's how I would do this site:

You add people that you know - by name - to the site, select a method of death, and kill them. When other people register and sign in, they do a search to see if the person they want to kill is already listed. If they're not listed, then they add them and kill them. If they are listed, darn, they go search for another person to kill.

Wouldn't that be MUCH more interesting? You could even have methods of body disposals! Fun, fun, fun!!! Of course, some boring person out there would probably try to have me arrested if I dared to start up such a site. People are just No Fun. But, then again, that's why we need to kill them all!

Thanks to kelshubert for the link.

*******

Shocking Soundbytes!

Robert forwarded me an .MP3 file which captured the roar of the deadly December 2004 tsunami that were picked up by underwater microphones designed to listen for nuclear explosions. MSNBC describes the file thusly: "The audio recording of the quake starts out silently. A low hiss begins and the intensity builds gradually to a rumbling crescendo. Then it tails off but, frighteningly, builds again in waves as Earth continues to tremble. The audio file is sped up 10 times to make it easier to hear. As it was recorded, the sound was at the lower threshold of human hearing, but it could have been noted by someone paying attention."

It makes for a rather creepy listen with headphones on.

I KNOW IT'S OVER! I buy bottled water REGULARLY!

Note: LJ Friends' Zodiac Signs Meme, by Pratibha.


Finally went food shopping today, which was a good thing. Picked up some Neapolitan 4L ice cream: I guess the special holiday flavors aren't in yet! Starbucks frappuccinos are back, so I picked up a few of those instead of Milk2Go. Also selected a box of mandarin oranges, soya milk, other mundane stuff, a LOT of instant noodles (sixteen packages?!) plus 3 loaves of bread, with cheap soup and on-sale chili / stew (not Stagg since it wasn't cost-efficient) to go with it. Gotta have the winter sustenance, after all. ;)

There were some After Eight Irish Cream chocolate wafers on sale, but I decided not to go with that. Maybe they'll be there when I can justify budgeting for them. (same for the postcards and Coke Blak) When Barry saw that I'd bought some bottled water, he told me that the "boil water" advisory is over. I KNOW THAT! I'm not THAT naïve! If he PAID ATTENTION, he would know that I regularly buy that stuff! Sheesh.

At least the snow wasn't too bad outside today. However, I will kill if Eric makes me take transit tomorrow afternoon, what with all the power outages and delayed buses. I know they shouldn't be a huge problem now, but you'd never know it with all the posts somewhere about Translink! Meh, the guys will be around to help me at night with the snowy / icy patches in Vancouver, so I'm not TOO worried about that! (but maybe I should be, with the way the sidewalk to Dragon Ball was after it snowed last year!)

Bling, chili, ropes in church, Jeremy's cards

Sister just emailed us something: Ingenious use of the word "bling"... hahaha! When I saw the URL, I thought it had something to do with redrum... oh my! (but 'tis really a sports blog) Bloody hell, it is. :P

Yay! The temperature's back to normal again! I know this is only an effect of advertising, but now I really want some Stagg Chili. Last time I bought some, they had these big cans in various flavors. Maybe they'll have it again this afternoon, heh. (mustn't forget to go by the LIST, or else!)

I had a weird dream which involved my having to walk to church from my house. For some reason, that only took an hour: in real life, that would take a LOT longer! Once I got there, I discovered that there were a lot of floors to the church (which was laid out like an immense dollhouse), but I wasn't allowed to go to another level yet. My mom was there and she was REALLY PISSED OFF about something! A few of us (including the Foxtrot characters Jason and Marcus) tried to get down to the lower levels by climbing down ropes, but there were these black Darth Vader-like aliens that caught us. The aliens made us go back to the upper level by parking us in big rides shaped like fish (like Crazy Teacups at the PNE), and then made us go around and around up through the levels like underground parking floors would be.

Finally, we were allowed to go outside / to other levels if we chose. So I went home, only to discover that I had to walk to church again for some reason. *sigh* I also had a deck of cards in my pants pocket which belonged to Jeremy... the weird thing is that I did NOT have it during my previous excursion to church! On my way there, I really wanted to go to the 7-11, which was in a green house. I only had four minutes to do so from 9:11 to 9:15, so I made the most of it by grabbing chips and drinks from their cooler / cold drinks refrigerator. While there, I recognized Adela and Eddie. Eddie was there with a bunch of children, and Adela was there by herself.

My old friends Raymond, Ronald, Eleanor, Melodie, and Andrew were manning the cash registers. I accidentally let the F-BOMB drop, and reflected while leaving the place that it wasn't a good example of witnessing. (especially when there were kids around!) The dream ended soon afterwards... very bizarre. Can't think of any triggers for this one: I haven't been around when Jeremy's played Big Two at Dragon Ball for some time, or so it seems! Crazy stuff. o_O

Christmas Card List / Hard Rock Café Pig Sandwich

It's Darren's birthday today, but he never reads this. So I won't wish DFRANCIS a happy birthday like you've grown used to. I just hope his birthday / Christmas cards get to where they're supposed to, that's all! (Edit: They didn't, and were returned to me... what the heck?!)

I've fiddled around with the idea of putting my Christmas card list online before, but always opted to go just the pen and paper route. For some reason, I decided to go with it this year. I always end up misplacing my pen and paper list from the previous year by the time I need it again, so this will perhaps solve that little problem. Fortunately, I've grown past the stage where I thought that almost every one of my friends at school / church / work / other places needed a Christmas card. Those were some crazy insane days 10 or 15 years ago, I tell ya! :P

Yay for cards received by my friends! :D


Christmas Card List

various LJ / Our Place people (Candy, Marie, Steve / Carol)
Andrea
Billie
Christon
Chrystal / Emily
Chung and Karen (stick it in Chung's birthday card)
Cindy / Dianne
Citrus
Corey
Daniel / Michelle
Danielle
Dave
Denise / Brian / Julie
Dylan
Eric H.
Eric M.
Farrah
Ivan / Karen
Jen
Jeremy
Joanna / Mike / Margaret
Joe, Helen, and Nathaniel (stick it in Joe's birthday card)
John A.
Mike T.
Nathan
Phil / Melia
Quan / Hien / David
Raymond
Sheena / Chalaine
Vania
Vivian / Karen


Hard Rock Café Pig Sandwich

Take a big honkin' bite out of one of these and you'll soon know why it's the Hard Rock Café's most popular sandwich. According to the menu, the pork is hickory-smoked for 10 hours. But since we're impatient hungry people here, we'll cut that cooking time down to under 4 hours using a covered grill and carefully-arranged charcoal. Just sprinkle wet hickory chips over the hot charcoal arranged around the inside edge of a grill (such as a round Weber), and let the smoking begin. You can certainly use an actual smoker if you've got one, and go the full 10 hours with this puppy. But while you're still waiting for your sandwiches, the rest of us will have already dragged our full, round bellies over to the couch for a nap. By the way, make your marinated cabbage a day ahead of time, if you have the foresight.

Marinated Cabbage
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
4 cups thinly-sliced cabbage

4 cups hickory smoking chips

Spice Rub
2 tablespoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons cracked black pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon ground sage
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon cayenne

1 boneless pork loin roast (3 to 4 pounds)
vegetable oil

Sauce
2 15-ounce cans tomato puree
1 cup white vinegar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke (hickory)
1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
8 Kaiser rolls

1. Make the marinated cabbage at least one day prior to building your sandwiches. Like coleslaw, this garnish needs some time to develop in the fridge. Combine the vinegar and sugar in a medium bowl. Add the cabbage, stir, cover the bowl and store it in the refrigerator until you are ready to make the sandwiches.

2. Put the wood chips in a bowl and cover with water. Let the wood soak for at least 1 hour. Light the charcoal after it has been arranged around the inside edge of your grill. You don't want coals directly under your pork. When the coals are hot, drain the water from the wood chips and sprinkle the chips over the top of the coals. You should now have smoke.

3. Combine the spices for the rub in a small bowl and mix well.

4. Rub some vegetable oil over the surface of the pork roast. Sprinkle the spices over the entire surface of the roast.

5. Place the roast in the center of your grill and put the lid on. Let the pork cook for 3 to 4 hours or until the internal temperature of the roast reaches 175 to 180 degrees.

6. As the pork cooks, make the sauce by combining the ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium / low heat. Let the sauce simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, then cover and remove from heat. Set this aside until your pork is ready.

7. When the pork is done, remove it from the grill and let it sit to cool for 15 to 20 minutes or until you can handle it. Now you want to tear the meat along the grain, making bite-size strips of shredded pork.

8. Put the shredded pork into a large saucepan over medium heat. Add 2 cups of the sauce to the pan and stir. Keep the rest of the sauce for later to serve on the side. Cook the pork for 15 minutes, or until it is heated through.

9. Grill the faces of the rolls and stack about 1 cup of pork onto the bottom half of each roll. Add a rounded tablespoon of marinated cabbage on top of the pork, add a tablespoon or so of extra sauce on top of that, then cap off each sandwich with the top half of the roll. Serve with clones for the Hard Rock's coleslaw and baked beans on the side, if desired. Makes 8 sandwiches.

Kentucky packages, Catholic saint names, morbid facts and horror

Hmm. I wonder if a certain person in Kentucky has received his package yet. *checks friends page and email* Ah yes, he has. Yeah, at least the Canucks won against the Columbus Blue Jackets 1-0 that night. Low-scoring, but Luongo had a shutout! Good for whoever has him in their hockey pool around here... ah well, time to eat some Wacky Mac now that my appetite's returned to normal. (hope to go food shopping tomorrow...)

Today's Arresting Yet Truly Morbid Fact!

A Hillsboro, Oregon father was sentenced to three years in prison for repeatedly siccing his dog on his two children as a form of punishment. David Hoskins, and his wife, Joyce, were arrested in May 2004 when police say the couple's eight-year-old son had a chunk of his left ear bitten off by the pit bull-Doberman mix. "Those kids mean more to me than anything in this world," Hoskins said in court. "I just, I thank God they're okay and they didn't get hurt worse than they did."

Their seven-year-old daughter needed stitches to close multiple puncture wounds on her arms, legs and back from dog bites. The children were placed in foster care after a neighbor called police when she heard the girl screaming. The dog, who weighed at least 90 pounds, has since been euthanized.

Culled from: KATU News
Generously submitted by: Katchaya

**********************************************************************

The best thing about this story? I finally have "official" confirmation on how to spell the word "siccing."

The worst thing about this story? They euthanized the dog for following his owner's commands, but they didn't euthanize the owner for training his dog to attack his kids. There's something wrong with this world...

*******

Wretched Recommendations!

FJCancel has a film recommendation:

"I saw The Last House on the Left in the 70's at a drive-in: it scared me good and I have never forgotten it."

The Last House on the Left (1972)

Here's the Amazon.Com review:

"Future Nightmare creator and Scream weaver Wes Craven's film debut is a primitive little production that rises above its cut-rate production values and hazy, grainy patina via its grimly affecting portrait of human evil infiltrating a middle-class household. The story is adapted from Ingmar Bergman's The Virgin Spring, but the film has more in common with Sam Peckinpah's Straw Dogs as it charts the descent of a harmless married couple into methodical killers. A quartet of criminals -- a distorted version of the nuclear family -- kidnaps a pair of teenage girls and proceeds to ravage, rape, torture, and finally brutally murder them in the woods, unwittingly within walking distance of their rural home. The killers take refuge in the girls' own home, but when the parents discover just who they are and what they've done, they plot violent retribution.

"Along with George Romero's Night of the Living Dead and Tobe Hooper's Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Craven helped redefine American horror with this debut -- all three movies portray modern society crumbling into madness and horror. But, unlike his fellow directors, Craven gives his film an uncomfortable verisimilitude, setting it squarely in the heartland of modern America. While at times it's awkward and inconsistent, with distracting comic interludes, his handling of the brutal horror scenes is unsettling, and the death of the daughter is an unexpectedly quiet and lyrical moment."

I saw this movie recently and was distinctly unimpressed, but maybe it was a bit different to watch it in the '70's. I still think that I Spit On Your Grave is the same basic story told much, much better!

I Spit On Your Grave (1978)

*******

Morbid Mirth Du Jour!

Have you all seen the viral advertisement for Volkswagen that features a suicide bomber? I think it's brilliant, but of course the No Fun people at Volkswagen are threatening legal action against the film's creators because they would never, ever even THINK of releasing a film so horrible and so disrespectful to human life, yada yada yada. No sense of humor, I tell ya!

Thanks to Desmodus for the link.

Nerds, reincarnation, Kelvin, being ticked off

Quizzy post. :P

You Are 48% Nerdy

You may be a bit surprised with this score, but you're more of a closet nerd than an actual nerd. Stop denying your inner nerd! You're truly dorkier than you think.

How Nerdy Are You?

Leslie is going to be reincarnated as...

A kung fu movie star

'What will you be reincarnated as?' at QuizGalaxy.com

Who will be your celebrity husband?

Brandon Flowers..... He remembers you when you were young

Take this quiz at QuizHeaven.com

How sexy are you?

Whoa... you're very sexy!

Take this quiz at QuizHeaven.com

You are Kelvin

You must be Kelvin. You are so like Kelvin that it's not even funny. You can't replace the real thing, though.

Take this quiz at QuizHeaven.com

Not much...

You make your own decisions, and you don't need approval from any other source. Go ahead and roll your eyes and neck to the next person who's got something to say.

Take this quiz at QuizHeaven.com

What word / phrase will be your last?

Jimmy Choo is a designer brand of footwear...

Take this quiz at QuizHeaven.com

65% OH SNAP! Did you click on 1 star?

It's not your fault. It's just your destiny. It is slightly likely to very likely that you will fall down a well. Maybe you were a bad person in your past life, or wells have a natural hate for you. Maybe you were cruel to an Amish kid, and you didn't even know it. FALL DOWN THAT WELL!

Take this quiz at QuizHeaven.com

YOUR STUFF IS THE BEST

YOU FELL IN LOVE WITH THIS ... SO YOU STICK WITH IT AND SMOKE OUT EVERY DAY ALL DAY LONG... TILL IT'S ALL GONE GONE!

Take this quiz at QuizHeaven.com

White Russian marijuana, eh? Hmm... sounds exotic, but I wouldn't try it!

you're a fresh snowboarder!

You always keep it gangsta! Everything you do is smooth and dope. Keep it fresh!

Take this quiz at QuizHeaven.com

ARE YOU AS COOL AS BROOKE?

you think you're cooler, eh?

Take this quiz at QuizHeaven.com

Wow! You're not a FAG! GIVE YOURSELF A PAT ON THE BACK!

Hurray! You're not gay!

Take this quiz at QuizHeaven.com

George Harrison, snowy cold, Christmas potlucks

RIP, George Harrison. It's been five years now. Listened to a Jeff Woods Under the Influence of George Harrison Rock 101 Legends show on Sunday and Monday, and apparently the station's going to have a special with rare tapes and such at 10 tonight. You bet I'm going to listen to that one!

Still cold here with lots of snow on the ground, and 10-20 cm more to come... kinda makes you want to cuddle up to someone, but that's not gonna happen for me. Maybe someday... *sighs and goes back to making random Cure references*

Dylan's sent us an Evite for the Fellowship Christmas potluck. It's on the 10th at 6. Since Eric can't go, I guess that means I could be fresh out of rides because I have NO idea what Brother's doing. Who knows, as there's still lots of time to figure things out. At least maybe Mom will make a dinner dish for us to bring, haha. I remember last year's edition was devoted to entertaining babies Joshua, Nathaniel, Megan, and Olivia. Of course Helen hadn't brought her newborn Nicholas! Dylan told me that it was a relief that it was all over since organizing it wasn't the easiest thing in the world. I can imagine... although it doesn't look like we'll have any problems with venue this year. (last year, it was supposed to be at Lesley's, then got shifted to next door with not very much time to go) Good times, at any rate. :D

Opening computer cases / Hard Rock Café Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

Note: LJ Friends on Drugs / LJ Casting New Babylon 5 Episode / LJ Friends and a Thesis / LJ Online Game blogquizzes. (by Amanda, Patricia, and Elizabeth)


I managed to find the places for those two missing screws in the back of my computer tower, so that's a relief. Unfortunately, it involved the computer power supply falling into the case. But things were recovered without any damage, so that's excellent. However, I can't open a computer case. Corey (who's home now) has tried telling me things about screws, which is all very well and good. That doesn't mean I have the physical strength required to open one, even if it doesn't take much force. I've tried, but it doesn't seem to work. At least I have one thing to tell Eric when he asks how my week's gone in online land, haha. Maybe I'm going at this the wrong way, but he can't tell unless he's actually here. (that will NOT happen, heh)

I hope what I put in someone's Christmas card doesn't make me sound pathetically grateful for the help he gave me on Saturday. All I said was that I appreciated it very much, and also explained things a little better than I may have done in person. I thanked him in person too, but I'd make sure of that and do it this Friday as well. I think that should do without sounding too sad, heh. He doesn't seem to expect eternal gratefulness like certain others might, so score one for me / us!

Movie plans, budgeting, church and snowballs, ice and peanut butter

I called my sister a while ago, who'd forgotten to call me back. Apparently, Mom doesn't want to see a movie tonight, which is fine with me. She's too absorbed in watching other TV shows. It was either going to be HAPPY FEET or JAMES BOND, anyhow. Sister wants to see if we can go together when it stops snowing and raining. (although the rain would melt the snow, maybe later this week) The guys and I *did* see some snowmen on Saturday night on the way to the Whip, so that was cool.

Discussed church with her: Nathan, Jeremy, Jon, and Eric led worship and Pastor Edward spoke. Afterwards, Steph came in the middle of a Cordia-Joyce snowball fight (I'd have crumpled to the ground if someone threw a snowball at me just a little TOO hard, maybe!), and accidentally hit Joyce in the face. Not quite a facewash, but certainly not hitting her in the chest, which is where she was aiming! Not many people were at church, and at least my parents didn't say too much when I announced my intentions to not go on Sunday morning.

I was afraid of cramping my sister's "go wherever you please without worrying about others" style, but she claims it would have been fine. Fair enough, though maybe I should have called Auntie Fonda and let her know I wasn't helping with the toddlers. Note to self: make sure the church 2007 directory doesn't get thrown away due to insects or staining! (that's what happened to the ones from the past few years...) At least Saturday night was fine thanks to Jeremy and others, and I told her how THAT went. I should certainly budget for the rest of the month, which should be fine as long as I don't go out at all. (which is never gonna happen!)

She asked about my food situation, which is all right. As long as I can go shopping on Thursday, things should be fine. If not, then I dunno. We'll see on that one. Apparently, her work building downstairs hallways are freezing since there's no heat, so they all have to wear jackets when they go to the washroom. Then she asked about my heat and Amacon: eh, it's fine for now. Not sure about the shoveling situation, but it LOOKS okay from what I can see out the lobby door. (I just got dressed to take some garbage out, and it is fine!) Then she got to Rachel's place: Rachel is leaving the first week of January for Edmonton. Best of luck to her!

I wonder if putting my gummy shirt in a tub full of warm water to melt the ice would work before I tried getting rid of the gum on it with something like peanut butter? (yeah, I forgot about it till now... go figure!) Maybe after I take a hot shower...

Loose screws, the deep freeze, snow, community complaints, Matt, and accidents

Hmm. I seem to have misplaced a Christmas card around here that I was going to mail. No, I didn't mail it already since I have written nothing in the card. Maybe I'll find it later... when / if I do, I'll mail it even if it's late! Also, my spray bottle from the dollar store is now bent, sorta. DAMN. Maybe I'll go back there at some point, too. Ran out of postcards, again! Maybe I'll just buy 100 at some point, since that would be cheap! (thirty dollars at 30 cents a card, and $25 at a quarter a card!)

I was messing about with the screwdriver earlier, and now I don't know where two screws go into the case. Luckily, they're in the envelope and not somewhere on the floor! Guess you could say the computer is literally operating with a couple of screws loose, heh. (or close enough to literal, haha) Still, I'd love to know where those go so I'm not worried about the computer coming totally loose from its moorings. Eric and Corey, come online STAT! (haha, that way I can ask Eric where to take this thing in if the fan / motherboard chipset needs replacing)

So damn cold today... the newspaper said it best: Into The Deep Freeze! Yeah, I know you're laughing if you're from Calgary or wherever, but it's true! The closest I'll get to outside today is when I do my laundry since I have to go near the front door of the apartment building to access the elevator to the second floor. Then again, I might have to take some garbage out today. I refuse to wear a scarf / mittens / toque (all of which I've found, a couple days late for church) to do my laundry even if the hallways are FREEZING, but I'll definitely wear those items and the pink flambé jacket to go outside! Brr! Apparently, it'll rain tomorrow, so that's going to melt it... and make it look all yucky. :P

Someone else in the Vancouver community said it way better than I could about the snow, so I'll just steal it:

Wellll, from what I can gather, I think the snow situation here is unlike what happens in the rest of Canada? It's heavy, wet snow that turns to ice sheets if it doesn't melt right away. People don't have proper snow tires on their cars, and since it usually only snows once or twice a year here, there is really no reason to shell out for them. Since everyone in the Western part of the Western world is so spoiled when it comes to weather (and clean drinking water and warm houses...), it is understandable that a weather-focused hysteria perpetuated by media runs a meaty course through the crowds.

Also, with all the accidents / unsafe drivers / transportation delays / power outages / and general complainyness of the city folk... it's understandably easier for large institutions to remain closed. It keeps thousands of people off the roads and reduces liabilities if someone gets seriously injured or killed on campus / on the way to school / etc. Or maybe the power is out? It would make sense that the message from yesterday remains the same since school is closed and no one is there.


Also, in that same post, the mod (elsabet) warned someone else for correcting the original poster's grammar and spelling. Personally, I think that behavior should be ENCOURAGED and not labeled as a personal attack / trolling. It's her PERSONAL pet peeve, so she shouldn't let it spill over in her community! I try to be as fair as possible in my communities: if there's a question about (say) Satanism, I'll let it stand. I don't like / believe in Satanism, but other people might want to know about it! Gay issues are a little grayer of an area for me, but I'll let those questions and such stand as well. What is wrong with some people?! That person who's now warned has a most excellent username: GRAMMARPUNK. Yay! :D

Hehe, Matt (yaymatt) says I can stick the replies to his birthday post into my userinfo. Sounds good, even if the spinny hugs are from last year's birthday post. I'll just immortalize it here for now before I forget: You rock, and are definitely the queen of leaving comments.

If you ever leave the beautiful confines of Vancouver (not that I know why you would) and are on this side of the Atlantic Ocean, let me know and we will go eat spätzli. (recipe in French) *spinhugs*

xoxo

Whoa. SEVEN-car accident on the Alex Fraser? Good thing I'm not really going outside today! Not that I live out there or go there on a regular basis, but... eep. Sister just called and informed me that Mom wants to watch HAPPY FEET or some other movie tonight, and I can come with them. Eh, I might if I can get through my friends list. Right now, it's time to get some soup!

My Handwriting / Hard Rock Café Coleslaw

I love Children of Bodom's Mask of Sanity! Been doing a bunch of editing old entries and drafting some private entries this evening, so I've been remiss in not responding to comments from 12 hours ago or more. After this entry, I shall do so. (I've got a reputation to keep up, after all...)

Kaitlin (norsk) got my Christmas card and Vancouver postcard today. She says my handwriting is awesome, which I guess is a way better assessment than what my old French / Spanish teacher Mrs. Tijman gave me YEARS ago: "Do you have to CARVE your words into the paper?!" I remember thinking some not-so-charitable things about her after THAT, but still was grateful I didn't get RAMBO! (another French teacher whose last name was similar enough to Rambo, and was just as mean as that monster!) Anyhow, Kaitlin offered me a raver kandi... which I guess is a beaded bracelet people wear at raves and such. (that's what miss_watson or Danielle tells me anyhow) So I'll take it since they look so colorful and cute! :D


Hard Rock Café Coleslaw

If you want the authentic Hard Rock Café Pig Sandwich experience, you just have to serve your clone of that pulled-pork sandwich with this creamy, delicious coleslaw on the side. Even if you don't whip up the sandwich, you'll want to dive into a batch of this secret slaw. It's just too easy to make, and Who Wants to be a Millionaire? isn't on tonight. But be sure to let the stuff hibernate in the fridge for a day or two after you toss it. That's the only way to get the flavors up to dancing the perfect tastebud mambo.

1 1/3 cups mayonnaise
3 tablespoons white vinegar
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons milk
dash salt
8 cups chopped cabbage (1 head)
1/2 cup shredded carrot

1. Combine all ingredients except the cabbage and carrots in a large bowl and blend until smooth with an electric mixer.
2. Add cabbage and carrots and toss well.
3. Cover and chill overnight in the refrigerator. The flavors fully develop after 24 to 48 hours. Serves 6 to 8 as a side dish.

What I got for Christmas 2006

Most of this list is along the lines of Christmas cards received / postcards... there might be some gems hidden within! ;)

What I got for Christmas 2006

Auntie Esther - Christmas card, two small handmade Christmas wreath ornaments, Christmas Digest, a plaque with Romans 8:39 on it, a little Head Bean stuffed animal, and a painted white tin

$40 in lucky money from Uncle Sam's mom

cards from Vania, Denise / Brian / Julie, Cindy / Dianne, Sheena, Randal, and Dylan

Steph - 100g Lindt chocolate snowman (she gave our brother some liquor-filled mini chocolate bottles)

Grandma - light blue mittens with snowflakes on them, and a dark blue hat with "Angel" on it in pink writing from Ardène

Parents - fringed teddy bear scarf, mug with cats on it, green dragon pin, beaded change purse with a red dragon on it, a black beret, a small keychain accessory bead with a yellow dragon on it, some seaweed

Harmony - The Man Who Scared a Shark to Death and Other True Tales of Drunken Debauchery (Noel Boivie and Christopher Lombardo) and Why Don't Penguins' Feet Freeze?: And 114 Other Questions from the Popular 'Last Word' Column (Mick O'Hare) [I don't think I want to know what my brother's been telling her...]

holiday_wishes - a bunch of new LJ friends, and five dragon icons!!

Kaitlin Olson (norsk) - Christmas note, drawings of a cool eye / moon and stars, and raver kandi (beaded bracelet with red / purple / green / silver stars, yellow / yellow / blue / orange letter squares that spell out "FLAM," and round pink beads)

Julie Steffey (julie709) - Christmas card

Deborah Goldman (depine1pssets) - Christmas bookmark with snowmen and trees... computer-made is good!

Jenessa Serna (cuteapple) - Christmas card

Samara Mondor (mystic_notions) - Christmas card and a note

Kelli Ellis (neonrose5) - Christmas card

Jamie Rei. (corporatebeach) - Christmas card which featured a white kitten with Christmas tree-shaped sunglasses (plus a picture of her and her husband in Santa hats with a decorated Christmas tree in the background) ["Not a creature was stirring, coz I ate the mouse!" SO funny to my twisted sense of humor!]

Sheryll Tow. (sheryll) - Christmas card and two long Harry Potter stickers

Nyssa Eve. (giggles_19) - Christmas card

Denise Morris (rostand) - Christmas card

Candy Burns - Christmas card and heart / happy face stickers

John Abbott (snooooopy) - Christmas card (snowmen gag gifts relating to heat, hahaha)

Natalie H. (chibi_blackie) - Christmas card

Taru Rouvinen (tarutar) - Christmas card and Finnish candy (Karl Fazer milk chocolate bar)

Taru Tamminen (sinnarn) - note and Finnish candy (salmiakki licorice)

Farrah Fong (lilaznffairy421) - Christmas card, stickers, dragon stuff, postcard from her college

Carmina (on_the_ground) - Christmas card and Winnie the Pooh / winter stickers

Amy Capuano (letmypidgeonsgo) - Christmas card and New York postcard

Ana Coil (glamourcorpse) - Scooby Doo Christmas card, coloring sheet with pictures on it, plenty of heart-shaped confetti, a cool bracelet, and Insects Stained Glass Coloring Book (Dover Little Activity Books, by John Green... it features the bumblebee, fly, two-spot ladybird, caterpillar, butterfly, grasshopper, ant, and spider)

Dewitta Lim (doublu) - chocolate sunflower seed balls from Singapore, plus a Singapore postcard

Jennifer Lum. (tehgreenfairy) - Christmas card

Grace Anderson (kyuuketsukirui) - grape Pocky, "Ramune Morinaga" Japanese candy, plus some Kasugai chocolate gummies in apple / orange / strawberry / grape

Matt K. (jarethshair) - Christmas card and a postcard of the University of Oxford

Alessandra Poletti (dru_it) - Christmas card

Lyndsey Nicholson (fenellaevangela) - Christmas card and rainbow / unicorn stickers for little Sean (he seemed very entertained by those!)

Steve and Carol - Christmas card

Kristin (wyldkyss) - Christmas card

Marilynn (_angel_of_nite_) - Christmas photo and a holiday poem

Marie Smith - Christmas card

Jenna (jennaxrose) - Christmas card

Janina (mrshannibal) - Christmas card, winter stickers, and Oakland postcard

Billy S. (fdolarhyde13) - Christmas card with irreverent Nativity scene, haha

Savina (bodha) - postcard of Palace Schönbrunn near her home in Vienna, Austria

Kadri (bad_habit) - postcard of her hometown in Talinn, Finland

Soleta - Christmas card

Chris H. (dingo727) - Christmas card

Sara W. (sparkle_bint) - Christmas card

Kitty (bornwitch) - Christmas card

Saara (sinnarn's friend) - Japanese postcard

Sandra (thepooloftears) - Christmas card

Frane Kalanj (bodha [Savina]'s uncle) - two Croatia postcards

Katya (katzk) - Russian Christmas card, and a postcard of the Savior-on-the-Blood cathedral in St. Petersburg

Windchill / Rare Disease Dream / Serial Adders

I can tell you one thing: if the windchill is going to make it -19° tomorrow, I'm certainly not going outside and dealing with ice! In retrospect, going to church yesterday might not have been so bad, but at least I haven't looked like a total klutz and slipped / fallen on my butt yet! (although I'd imagine that's common now...)

Why did I dream of kids with a rare disease that made them die in their teens, and changed their features subtly but noticeably? They didn't want anyone to know about it, and were featured in a magazine article that my mom had. So of course, a bunch of us went to see them. They were doing a lot of crafts with construction paper and glitter. We even saw a few of them die. What the heck is up with my subconscious?!

Oh yay. First, it's the trolls. Second, it's the Russians. Then it's the people with blank journals. Now it's the bots / serial adders. STOP ADDING ME COZ I WILL NOT ADD YOU BACK! Damn, I hate these people!

Damned snow, weird dreams, swear words as slang, holiday stuff, the F*CK LIST

This entry would have been posted earlier, but I was busy writing the first part of someone's Christmas card / checking my email / updating my address list for holiday_wishes. Dallas has a GPS in his pocket, which I should really invest in since I get lost easily in unfamiliar territory! (as I was telling Jeremy, haha)

I got up at 9 AM for no reason! Food shopping has been put off till Thursday at 1 because of the damned snow... maybe I'll just go back to bed and sleep off this anger, if I'm not wide awake! No wonder I'm posting this kind of thing (see below meme) in here... apologies to anyone who's offended by it. (and I better not dream of a team tripping Rick James in a puddle, or of writing "Tyler Ripolo" on a school wall with student numbers again...) It's -4° here, too...

Although that reminds me of what the guys were discussing on Saturday night at the Whip: Dennis said the people in the Czech Republic (while having great beer and such) also tend to use "sh*t" for just about anything. That reminded Jeremy of when he wanted to learn Singlish (Singaporean English)... who knew that they liked to use the word "p*nis" frequently? Not us! Then we discussed the F-word and its various uses... reminds me of a prank call I have on here, haha.

The mail just came in, and I got a holiday bookmark thing from Deborah! (depine1pssets) I can tell it was made using the computer programs she had... trees and snowmen, as if there aren't enough of those around here now! However, the envelope looked like it was already opened... WTF, post office?! That's why I tape all my envelopes closed, even some for cards that I just give to friends! No, I'm not paranoid... but you can never be too careful!


The F*CK LIST, from Angel via Myspace bulletin:

Add one thing to the f*ck list IN 20 MINUTES or you'll have a f*cked-up 20 days! (Oh, please!! Just do it coz ya wanna!)

1. f*ck Heartbreakers
2. f*ck, hmm.... I don't know.
3. f*ck CHEATERS
4. f*ck the IRS
5. f*ck the gas prices
6. f*ck the Red Wings and Todd Bertuzzi
7. f*ck T.O.
8. f*ck the police
9. f*ck EVERYTHING
10. f*ck Finals
11. f*ck Starbucks
12. f*ck Haters
13. f*ck all the GUYS who cheat with friends... :-(
14. f*ck all the girls who think guys don't know what love is!!!
15. f*ck Girls!!!! Hard!!!! HAHA! Sorry I had to!!!!
16. f*ck Liars
17. f*ck people who talk during the movie
18. f*ck stupid people who breed.
19. f*ck me... why can't I catch a break?
20. f*ck friends who aren't really there for you
21. f*ck IMMIGRATION. - Straight up
22. f*ck Bush
23. f*ck hairy backs... hahahahaha, I love you, Nikki!
24. f*ck BALLS! Haha, I love you, Amber!!!!!
25. f*ck life...=[
26. f*ck @$$holes
27. f*ck not making sense with our senses. Ha ha, Britt and Meaghan!
28. f*ck people who try to shank you
29. f*ck school and the laws
30. f*ck hoes who get money
31. f*ck Joe Brown (my ex... sorry, that is all I could think of)
32. f*ck IGNORANCE
33. f*ck the drums - buhahaha, Kyle
34. f*ck rap
35. f*ck country
36. f*ck depression
37. f*ck anger
38. f*ck confusion
39. f*ck FRUIT BOOTERS
40. f*ck U!
41. f*ck this
42. f*ck liars
43. f*ck the Broncos
44. f*ck senioritis!!! I wanna go to college!!!
45. f*ck going back to school tomorrow
46. What the f*ck?
47. f*ck MSU MYPORTAL
48. f*ck 3000 miles and 2 year difference.
49. f*ck Emotions
50. f*ck POINTLESS FEELINGS
51. f*ck LOVE
52. f*ck Bulletins
53. f*ck it
54. f*ck you!!!!
55. f*ck number 43, whoever said f*ck Broncos.
56. f*ck the fact that I have to post this shit or my next 20 days will be f*ck!
57. f*ck Sneaky Pete
58. f*ck this gay bulletin
59. f*ck Huge Bar Tabs!!!
60. f*ck stoopid Mexican girlfriends and their lameass boyfriends that try and start fights at ASU home football games against ASU fans, and f*ck Oregon too for that matter, and USC and U of A... Okay, focker, out!
61. f*ck ALL ex-boyfriends who claim that they are trying to make a difference in your life and that they have learned their lesson.... all in all.... f*ck YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can you feel the anger?!
62. f*ck the because(s)
63. f*ck whoever put number 63 and all the faggot, hippy, pussy, liberals and their bleeding heart bullshit... go back to Canada!
64. f*ck Wiggers n such...
65. f*ck jealous people!
66. f*ck chicks that carry small dogs in purses!
67. f*ck Sarah Oviedo. No, really... she needs to get laid!
68. f*ck Halloween Hangovers. And f*ck work.
69. f*ck, I need a vacation...
70. f*ck John Kerry and what he said about our troops!!!
71. f*ck BEING SAD
72. f*ck guys who have no idea what the hell they want!!!
73. f*ck dumb ass sluts that start shit for NO reason!!
74. f*ck guys that walk out on their girlfriends and kids for uglier girls that we refer to as whoreface!!!!!
75. f*ck YEAH... In response to letta!!(#74), f*ck all of the f*ckin whorefaces that are allowed to walk this earth.. they should be shot!!... oh yeah, and f*ck #21... if it wasn't for immigration, you would be workin' at the sh*t plant... f*ckER!!!
76. f*ck RANDOM BREATHALYZERS
77. f*ck guys letting their girlfriends run their lives...
78. f*ck everyone but me
79. f*ck guys who mess with girls' heads
80. f*ck guys who are too big of pussies to admit how they really feel
81. f*ck girls who talk shit about you cause they're ugly and need to grow the f*ck up and need to stop acting like they're in high school
82. f*ck The Miami Dolphins for beating the Bears!
83. f*ck.... liarrrrrsssss
84. f*ck CHELSEA!
85. f*ck my empty cigarette box
86. f*ck people that lie to people and use them to get what they want.
87. f*ck Hoes!!
88. f*ck guys. they all suck...
89. f*ck the Detroit Lions for beating the Atlanta Falcons
90. f*ck HIM AND HIS NEW GIRLFRIEND. SORRY, BUT HE'S NOT STAYIN' WITH HER, IT'S EITHER ME OR NO-ONE. AND DON'T SAY SHIT BOUT THIS f*ckIN' REMARK CUZ YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WHY THE f*ck I SAID IT FOR. SO STFU!
91. f*ck THIS DUMB SH*T
92. f*ck EMO KIDS
93. f*ck life.
94. f*ck THE ST. LOUIS BLUES FOR MAKING A WHOLE BUNCH OF OFFSEASON SIGNINGS AND STILL SUCKING ASS! DAMN IT... WIN A f*ckING GAME, NOT GO TO OVERTIME AND LOSE!
95. f*ck all the guys who don't cherish what they have...
96. f*ck this gay thing.
97. (Angela Says:) ......no.....
98. f*ck 13-year-old little bastards who steal the computer when you went to school and work all day, just to come home and talk to their big sister who also happens to be your girlfriend. [Cameron... I hate you] (also f*ck #63)
99. f*ck those anti-emo pr*cks who think they're tough and big coz they're part of some gay group of fake f*cks! and f*ck those people who try to put God and Jesus in all of our minds... some people don't believe, so f*ck you!
99. f*ck me :D
100. f*ck bikers... they're gay ^_^
101. f*ck Chuck Norris. and f*ck all of you who say he's awesome. Oh yeah, and f*ck everybody that hates me and my music... coz I love it. =D
102. f*ck ALL THOSE f*ckING BITCHES TRYING TO f*ck WITH TAKEN MEN!
103. f*ck COPY CATS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND THAT F*CKIN CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP SONG AND THE PEOPLE THAT LIKE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
104. f*ck GIRLS WHO BLAME THEIR EX-BOYFRIENDS FOR EVERYTHING THAT WENT WRONG KNOWING DAMN WELL SH*T IS HER FAULT FOR NOT CARING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
105. f*ck two-faced bitches
106. f*ck the person who started this f*ck list, haha.
107. umm, have to go with f*ck fake people
108. Shady People ~ Just Be Honest
109. f*ck You, f*ck Me, f*ck the World, and while you're at it, f*ck the "F" Word To!!!! (There, I summed it all up for everyone)
110. f*ck you, Andrew
111. f*ck THESE STUPID f*ckING CHAIN BULLETINS!!!!!!!
112. f*ck ME
113. f*ck the system!!!
114. f*ck THE PITTSBURGH STEELERS coz they suck as bad as the Browns... #86 said it all
115. f*ck all these two-faced little bitches in Ellwood City who can't fight their own battles !!! like Bethany Grier and her best friend Bri!!!
116. f*ck the stupid f*cking preppy bitches who think it's fun to make fun of my friends and me just because we have different views
117. Balin - f*ck the American Capitalist Government
118. Broge - f*ck the world
119. f*ck Radicals & Extremists, and f*ck # 114's answer... the Steelers don't need no punk ass fair-weather fans anyway!!!
120. f*ck the people who KNOW how to use proper English on the Internet, but don't because it's not "cool" ... I have news for you: it's cooler to use proper English / spelling / grammar than NOT! :P Oh, and also: f*ck the SNOW and COLD around here! YUCK!

Borat's Myspace / Hard Rock Café Bar-B-Que Beans

HAHAHA. Borat has a Myspace page! (no, I am not surprised!)

I also created quite a few filters / folders / labels on Gmail tonight. So now in addition to the more general "Friends" folder, I have one specific folder for each friend who's sent me email so far. Much easier to navigate, haha. Note to self: forward Randal's funny email to Teunis. He might get a kick out of it, too!

Did a few dungeons tonight, and will be doing more as time permits. I'd like to see how my dungeon's changed since I've added a few people since the last time I went through it, but that would require at least two hours of free time NOT spent multi-tasking to sort through! Oh well... I should go to bed and try to sleep since I assume I still have a food shopping appointment tomorrow, even with all the fluffy white stuff on the ground. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: "DAMN YOU, KILLER SNOW!"


Hard Rock Café Bar-B-Que Beans

If you love baked beans, you'll go nuts over this clone recipe from the world's first theme restaurant chain. It's really easy to make too, since you just pour all of the ingredients into a covered casserole dish, stir, and bake for an hour and a half. The only element that may give you pause is the pulled pork. It's an effortless addition if you've got some of that pork on hand. If not, just leave that ingredient out. Or you could add some cooked bacon to the mix. Either way, the beans will still come out awesome as a nosh-worthy side dish or snack.

2 15-ounce cans pinto beans (with liquid)
2 tablespoons water
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/2 cup ketchup
1/3 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons diced onion
1 teaspoon prepared mustard
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
1/2 cup shredded pork

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Pour entire contents of the can of pinto beans into a casserole dish (with a lid).
3. Dissolve the cornstarch in a small bowl with the 2 tablespoons of water. Add this solution to the beans and stir.
4. Add the remaining ingredients to the dish, stir well and cover.
5. Bake for 90 minutes or until the sauce thickens. Stir every 30 minutes. After removing the beans from the oven, let the beans cool for 5 to 10 minutes before serving. Serves 6 to 8 as a side dish.

Dragon Icons Rule!

Ugh. The computer restarted on me. Thank goodness for autosaved drafts and for Firefox saving the work I did in various windows!

Hey, I found Sommerland, which is a neat site on dragons! I also found Draconian: Here Be Dragons in the same search. Right up my alley, haha. Courtesy of the first site and looking in holiday_wishes, I now have ten new dragon icons! :D

(speaking of dragons, the dragon plush that my sister gave me for my birthday STILL needs a name... any suggestions?)

(Aww.. he looks so sad!)




Just to break the dragon theme, here are three more that I found whilst randomly browsing LJ icon communities. I'll never use the last one since it has teeny-tiny font that NOBODY would be able to read. It just reminds me of the Chinese teapots and stuff that we used to have when I was a kid.

(all these Hitchhikers' Guide radio shows lately have had an influence in me, har har)

(now I wish I had one of these things in real life, heh)



I also learned that Julie (julie709) got my Christmas card the other day: how nice! Maybe I should add holiday_thanks to my community list, too. Not like I don't have enough to read and catch up on already, but it's only seasonal. ;)

No sideways Awana hugs for YOU! / Thin noodle dream

I could have gone to church today, but didn't think it wise with all the snow out. Sure, I could deal with it last night... when it WASN'T FROZEN OVER! (and I didn't feel like literally leaning on various people today :P) No, I wasn't worried about having no potential regular seatmates. :P More time to work on Christmas cards... must include note of thanks in Jeremy's card, haha. I'm sure he knows I appreciate it, but I wasn't about to give him a sideways Awana hug yesterday at the mall and tell him that it meant a lot to me. (I'm oddly touched by friendly favors sometimes... what can I say? :P)

I had a weird dream which involved little kids, the washrooms at church being oddly crowded, Pastor Edward harboring a demon inside of him, everyone trying to kill the demon, Jeremy having a red ponytail of hair (I like him better with his own hairstyle :P), and thin noodles with important directions inside. (found only after we died and before we resurrected) Weird way of processing the hot pot dinner... o_O

Randal emailed everyone to give Steph suggestions on what to bring the next time they held a dinner at the church. Google Image Search can certainly be funny, all right! Some cheap furniture that's great to have around in case the dinner guests get a bit rowdy, interesting matches that are guaranteed to light up every time (for hot pot burners / candles), and very effective mousetraps for the mouse that he saw running around the basement during Sunday School a couple of weeks ago. He says we can find all these items on eBay... the guy DOES have a sense of humor!

Two pints of Black Plague / Hard Rock Café Orange Freeze

Let's see how quick I can make this since I got home at 1:45 and need sleep. Maybe the 2 pints of Black Plague I had at the Whip will help in that regard...

I ended up calling Henry after all, who was fine with the alternative arrangement. When he got to my place, he wondered where Regent was relative to Knight Street... I had no idea. So we went on this lovely detour across the Oak Street Bridge, 41st Ave., and into Burnaby past Metrotown. We were past Sussex when Henry decided to just go to church since neither of us knew really where it was, and we were running really late. Fine by me, since it was about 4:15 when we got to church. (the time we're ideally supposed to be there is about 3:30-ish, but he was late picking me up) In retrospect, we should have called HDD (Hard Drive Dude), but I took care of that when we got to church: "Yeah, we're running REALLY late, so maybe we'll pick the thing up later!"

When we got there, it had just started to snow... William made a snowball a while later and said that there was a lot of snow on the ground. I kinda supervised Amos and Andrew throwing away a LOT of junk that had somehow made its way into one of the Awana boxes: spoons, balloons, paper, an adorable Mother's Day card done by a kid, coin rolls which were totally squished, plastic tarps, old Awana receipts from 2001 or 2002, garbage bags, etc. We encountered a problem with tangled-up toys from a stock box, so I got my dad on the case: he couldn't do it, so it was Auntie Monica's job. As I told Auntie Vivian later when it DID get all untangled, we're too lazy to have a lot of patience! Now I'm the keeper of the toy rat which made its debut at Timothy Camp this past summer: I amused myself by trying to convince Auntie Vivian that it was very cute, haha. I also have some stickers that we found in the wrapping: no idea whose they are, but those were the only good things not worth throwing out! Made a few phone calls, especially after I found out that Floodlight was cancelled: Steph wasn't staying around while Zion went on, and Jeremy was still game to meet me at the mall!

After Awana, I talked to some of the kids about keeping warm while playing in the snow. Then I had Henry drop me off at Kingsgate Mall after he received some coaching on how to get there from Melia and various people. Thank goodness I knew where THAT was, having bused past it a thousand times over the years. (I've been there a lot, too... mostly on Fridays) I saw Uncle Wayne in the mall, who works in the liquor store: we said hi to each other while I went to find the Shoppers Drug Mart so I could wait for Jeremy. He tapped me on the shoulder a while later: his purple coat really wasn't as warm as it looked, he told me. I showed him the rat, which he had seen somewhere before. I'm not sure whose it is: Quan's? Joey's? Meh, I'll figure it out later.

Waited for a reasonably empty Main bus while brushing snow off our coats: Jeremy thought he saw Dallas walking by, and thought it would be funny if it WAS Dallas. Later, we found out that it WAS since the buses were ridiculously full... whoa! We talked about some stuff, and then I saw Dennis at the bus stop. He was headed to the restaurant too, and then Jon called Jeremy to say that he was trying to get OUT of Richmond after teaching. (accidents everywhere, like on the Oak Street Bridge!) Eventually, we got there... taking the bus is NOT for non-skinny people, especially if you're blocking an intersection and people are wedged between newspaper boxes while trying to get on the bus! Sat by Jeremy on the bus while Dennis kept us from falling like that time I went for coffee / dinner with him in January. Good times for nostalgia and discussing thesis-writing from Fredericton. (he's going to New Zealand too!)

Was introduced to one of Jon's Regent friends (Matt from Michigan) when we got to the restaurant. The Ethiopian food was kinda like Peking Duck in that you ate a doughy flatbread and meats with your hands. Steph loved the garlicky hummus! Eric didn't show up since his mom was worried about the snowy weather... oh well. Talked to Ty and Dilys, whom I haven't seen in a LONG time. There are differences between Chinese-Chinese culture, and the one we grew up with and which our parents had to adapt with coming here. Lots of tradition, lots of "if you're not getting straight A's in school... we'll cut out church, so just go on Sundays!", and all that stuff. Dawn dropped by with her boyfriend Eni to give Jon a bottle of chocolate beer. I told Matt that our mom would be horrified, haha. Jon says that Mom always wants to take a sip of his beer, and always gives him this really horrible look afterwards as if it were really awful. (Jeremy backed that up, haha.. now I wanna see it for myself)

We had goat, lamb, and various other things before Steph had to leave early since she didn't REALLY want to leave our parents at church! (she left the house at 5:20 and didn't get to church till 6:40!) She asked if I wanted to go, but I decided to brave the snowy conditions: yay for snowplows and salt trucks! Jon was busy explaining everyone's connection to him: siblings, church, UBC, etc. We explained the dynamics of Vancouver snow to Matt, who said that Michigan just had heavy rain and such. Yeah, it's crazy when the city goes into meltdown because of a few inches of snow... but what can you do?

After figuring out the bill since it wasn't an individual bill, it was off to the Whip with some of us. We had pints and pitchers of the Black Plague: it's sorta like Guinness, but not as heavy. Jen had a smoke outside, then joined us later. We met Jon's friend Aaron, then his other friend H.Ross (who has a great Southern accent since he's from Missouri... he called me "ma'am," haha) showed up later after busing from Sasamat! (the other side of town) Good thing the Whip is only three blocks from Jeremy's place, so he could walk home from there after being kinda sober for a bit. We talked about the cheese platter that the chef whipped up after coming back in from being sent home early: Guinness cheese and such?! I split an orange slice with Jeremy while we talked about beer, brewing, malt, hops, Pho, gangsters (Vietnamese and Indo-Canadian family tradition!), dating, certain questions about Harmony which Jon didn't answer to our satisfaction (but he knows that he likes her artsy side!), and travel. Good times, indeed. Jon and I dropped Dennis off at the Skytrain station, and Dallas off at home before heading to Richmond. Sweet time out, even if I was gonna cancel coz of the snow. I handled it just fine... thank God for friends!


Hard Rock Café Orange Freeze

Here's a quick recipe for the dessert drink served at Hard Rock Cafés all over the world. With only a few ingredients, you can make this one super-quick in the blender. Great on a hot day. And it's easy to double or quadruple to serve more.

2 cups orange sherbet or sorbet
1 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
1/4 cup milk
1 sprig fresh spearmint

1. Put the sherbet, juice, and milk in a blender and blend for 15 seconds or just until the sherbet is smooth. You may have to stop the blender and stir the sherbet up a bit to help it combine.
2. Pour the orange freeze into a tall, chilled glass. Place a sprig of fresh spearmint in the top and serve immediately. Serves 1 as a dessert or beverage.