Another Various Subjects Post

A little about yesterday to ease us into the daily blog post. I made a scrumptious dinner, if I must say so myself: eggrolls, green beans and rice. Easy, tasty, quick and using up stuff in the house. The refrigerator has a lot of leftovers in it that need to be eaten before mom and I head to Maine for Thanksgiving. I also studied a little Spanish - took the repaso and finished it in 15 minutes. Eeek! From what the answers turned out to be in class today, I would have gotten a 75 or 80. Yippee! I will do a bit more studying today and tomorrow and ought to be all set for the test on Friday.

What else yesterday. Made a couple new connections on Daily Challenge. I do hope that I will get to meet some of these people one day. They are all over the country and the world. Yesterday's were from here in the US and one in Essen Germany! Yippee!

I also love Word of the Day from Dictionary.com. Today's word was opuscule - a small work. How cool is that. Love words. Speaking of which, is Hot for Words still being produced? Yup, it is...

Finished Gears of War 1 and 2. Now working through Half Life 2 etc. Patiently waiting for Skyrim to appear on the porch...

So, today's daily challenge was to make a small, doable resolution. I made two - order 300 copies of Diary of a Plate Addict and to start working on some of my opuscules. I am going to start a writing blog - to which I will sporadically or with luck periodically publish things. Not sure what. I doubt there will be many pictures, though... :(

And today is beer day! We shall see if Beef and Brew changed up its beers or if I get to go to Red Dove Tavern again. Either way, win-win for me!

Photos from Tuesday, November 15, 2011:

I love this glass - I think it was a premium from a Grocery store many years ago - or someplace else...

My yummy dinner!

Pizza!

My search continued last night for my favorite pizza in Geneva. And so far, the winner is Cam's Pizza in downtown. Cam's has been around for years and years. I don't know if it is the same owner, or if it has changed owners 1000 times. Anyway, I think it might be the last contender - though I haven't tried the local Dominoes. Hmm. I went down there, to Cam's, in the rain and ordered a pizza in the shop. They said 20 minutes, though it was closer to half an hour. The 14" pizza was larger than the box and although I ordered pepperoni and artichoke hearts, I didn't really see much evidence of the artichoke hearts. I know, they are expensive, but still, one actual heart chunk wouldn't have been too much to ask, would it? Still, it was pretty tasty and might just be the winner for the time being.

One of my DC (Daily Challenge) friends thought that the woman I met in the grocery store would actually contact me. I applaud her positivity - but I doubt her grasp on this particular reality. I think the chances are slight that I will hear from her. I will give it a week before I write the supermarket woman off completely, but me, I would have already contacted me. Yes, I am that wonderful. No, seriously. I mean if someone gives me their contact information, I am at least polite enough to send them a note.

What else exciting happened yesterday. Spanish class and Spanish lab - I think I went back to my failing ways on the quiz last night - it was stuff we studied almost two weeks ago and I wasn't really prepared - the info wasn't fresh in my little noggin'. I now know one thing I will have to study up on for Friday's exam. I have the "repaso" to do today. And that is about it for commitments, I believe. But back to yesterday. Nope, nothing exciting to report.

Ok, time to do my repaso. Sigh.

Pictures from November 14, 2011:

A sign!

Do you see an artichoke heart? I don't!

Opportunities

I am not pushy, generally. Certainly not "Type A."(Not high strung). Much more of a laid back sort of guy. Which is good and bad. Bad when it comes to getting what I think I want.

Notice I say that I think I want. I mean, if it something one lacks (which you really don't, but that is another bit of philosophy) how do you know its essence and how that essence will actually be? Sure you can imagine and believe, but neither of those are true experience (again, more philosophy for another day).

Anyway, in this instance, I have a little rule. If I see someone three times, I will, sometimes, make an effort to actually communicate with them. This normally relates to people I find superficially (since I don't know them any other way) attractive. Last night, I went to Wal-mart to buy ramekins. They didn't actually have any that I liked, but I bought two anyway - they always come in handy. I also bought some raspberries for my chocolate soufflé - gotten for me special by a worker named Courtney who was just helping out in the Geneva store - moonlighting? - from her regular store in Canandaigua. Anywho, while I was waiting to see if Courtney would be successful, I saw a very attractive (to me) woman also shopping in the produce area. We interacted briefly and I thought - gee, she is appealing. That being thought, I went about my business and exited the store. Only to see that woman again, heading back inside with some bags to recycle. We interacted again very briefly - like a head nod or a smile or something. I thought, yup, didn't even say hello, Augustus. Great. Never will see her again. Yet another opportunity to meet someone new to me out the window. Sigh. Got in my car and drove to Wegman's. I needed a chicken for dinner. And lo and behold, there she was, standing in line at the deli. I said something about her following me and she said yup, she was. And off I wandered. Sigh again. As I went to get a few more things items, including two more ramekins (which were exactly what I was looking for) I decided to go back and try to find her and actually ask her name. I went back and she had vanished. Slightly dejected, I headed around the store once more and almost knocked her over as she came out of one of the aisles. Ok, I said to myself, let's do this. So I said, hi and we chatted for a bit. I gave her a card - and this is part of the not being a type A thing that I started this paragraph with - I didn't ask her for her contact information - I just gave her mine. If you like something, let it go - if it comes back...also, less rejection possibilities there. Chicken? Perhaps. Ok, probably. Chances of hearing from her - what do you think - 1 in 100? 1 in 1000? Anything is possible - most things are unlikely.

I think that next January, I will continue this blog and start another. The other will be a writing blog. Snippets of work from various projects. This one will continue, but I still don't know with what frequency. At least once a week, that is for sure. And more often when something interesting happens.

I made soufflé last night. I think I would like a savory soufflé better than the chocolate one. The chocolate one was tasty, but too eggy for something sweet - maybe I just made it less than optimally. It was yummy, though. And dinner was pretty good as well. Yippee!

Photos from November 13, 2011:

Goodness that was a yummy dinner!

Turned out ok! :)

Karl's Visit!

We just didn't have enough for Karl to do on his visit here. Oh well. We had a decent list and he accomplished those tasks and a few more besides. Our own handy man! Let's see. Starting outside and working in: he put the side porch away and cleaned it off. He is taking a few old typewriters home with him as he thinks there might be a market for them on eBay. Then he repaired the front door which had a broken pane of glass. Cleaned up a pile of junk that our paid handyman had created and had yet to clean up. Filled the bird feeder. Then inside he fixed a door in mom's room that was irking me - mom has a closet that she uses for mothballing things - unfortunately the door and the house were conspiring to make it impossible to close, which meant that mom had a bit of mothball miasma in her room. Ick. We leveled the oven and a cabinet in the kitchen and he helped me rearrange furniture in my room, which is making me even happier! Then he helped mom sort a bit. The greatest thing he did, though, was spend a lot of time with mom. Partially, this allowed me to have a bit of my own time, more than I normally get in a day! Yippee!

Other than Karl doing lots of stuff yesterday, we had lunch of leftovers and a dinner or tortellini with alfredo sauce, asparagus, an eggroll and garlic toast. And Karl tried to watch Iron Man 2 on Netflix through the new to us DVD player. For some reason it just wasn't working all that well. I don't know why. Maybe I need a faster wireless router. We shall see. Not high on my priority list just this second. Oh, Karl and I also went downtown for a beer. I haven't been out on a Saturday night that late for a long time. Mostly because I don't like crowds. But Downtown wasn't all that crowded. We went to Red Dove Tavern and had a lovely time. Erin was happy to see me. Abby the bartender said he wanted us to remember him to our mother. We shared some pretty yummy french fries and had a couple of beers. On the way home, a woman came running up to us and said "you had dinner at Torrey Park last night! Hello!" Small town, gotta love it!

And that is about it. He heads off to CT in just a little bit. But it was great having him!

Pictures from November 12, 2011:

Karl and Mom ready to eat

The put-to-bed porch

Look mom, no pile!

Someday I will paint this...

Yum! I do enjoy food now and again...

Pies aren't just for eating...

Daily Challenge had an interesting one today, in the Finding Fulfillment Track. We were to create a pie chart to see how we spent our time and to help us to evaluate what we are currently prioritizing in our lives. Below is the result. I don't know, it looks pretty balanced to me, all things considered. I think some of the time I spend on the computer is actually also work study time, but who really knows. I have never taken a stop watch to my day. And I doubt I will anytime soon. I don't think I really need to adjust anything at this point. Hurrah!

26 for Sleeping - 19 for both Work/Study and for Computer - 11 for my mom (though it is probably more)

Had a pleasant day, Friday. Not scintillating unfortunately. But that is ok. I spent most of the day, sadly, waiting for the evening to roll around. Well, after Spanish class that is. Sigh. Karl, my brother, arrived at 6ish. Then we went to dinner at Torrey Park, which was fun. I do like my brother one on one. I haven't really seen him or spent that much time with him since he left for college, but that happens. We are very similar in many respects, quite dissimilar in others. He has a strong work ethic and is apparently quite religious. I do not and am not. The food was good! We got Frenched Artichokes to share, mom had crab stuffed Haddock, Karl Meaty Lasagna and I had their house chicken special. Yum! The rest of the night was passed quietly.

Photos from November 11, 2011 - another day upon which the Earth did not come to a cataclysmic end! Hurrah for the little things!:

A lovely fall photo

Karl and mom (looking bemused)

Frenched Artichokes! Gotta love Frenching...

Karl, mom and me at dinner at Torrey Park

It feels like the year is winding down

Does it feel that way to you? The cycle is coming 'round. I know the shortest day isn't for more than a month, but it just feels like things are coming to a close. And not in a momentous way, but in a quiet way.

Readership is way down here, not that I blame people for not reading my blog. It is pretty dull, all things considered.

My Spanish class is winding down. We have an exam next Friday but we aren't really learning anything new or more before then.

It is 11/11/11 no matter how you look at it. And Veteran's Day! Yay veterans! Wish we took better care of you - and even better, didn't need to have Warriors who became veteran's. Sigh. Visualize Whirled Peas!

Karl, my brother, is coming to visit for the weekend. That will be interesting if nothing else. He is not bringing his whole family with him, which is probably for the best for all concerned. If NC weren't so far away, I would have gone there this weekend while he was here. But it is far away. And I will be going for a whole week, with mom, December 4 through 10 or so. Yippee!

Yesterday, all my troubles...no wait, that is not what I was thinking - yesterday - what the heck did I do yesterday? Oh, right. Laundry. And mom came and helped. She kept asking if her coming and helping sped things up. How do I respond to that? Sigh. Laundry has been one of those things, recently, that I enjoy doing by myself. It gets me out of the house alone and I have some down time. But it is also good that she wanted to get out and about. I really do think that the Aricept 23 knocked her on her butt and that she is still coming back from that.

It was also Ginger day. I don't know what the two of them did, but it was nice for me to not have to participate. Yay!

Ok, I made a determination yesterday. I am going to start writing again, now that my last book has been published. I want to work on three projects - the self-help book (for want of a better description), my book about brew pubs and a fantasy work. I am not much of a fiction author - too much dialogue and description - but we shall see. My goal, as is often the case, is something small, like 200 words a day. That will not include my blog posts - though I don't know if I am going to continue the once a day posting that I have done this year. We shall see. I will start that in January at the latest - after school is over, after the holidays, etc.

It is Friday. And there is a night involved. Yay!

Rick Perry - oh my god! Really? On a televised debate? I bet debate coaches around the world are now coming up with ways to get around a brain fart. I liked John Stewart's idea of faking a stroke...I don't think it really matters who the Republicans put up - they will all look lame next to Obama - even though Obama is not as awesome as I, for one, had hoped. We need a true progressive in the White House. Me in 2024? :)


There you are. How exciting is that?

Pictures from November 10, 2011:

Mmmm, Pocky...

Art photo

Why do ladybugs not seem as bug-like and icky as other bugs?

Doors are not jars...

I had some fun stuff written, but blogger has been acting up today. Oh well, we shall see if I can recreate it.

Starting with doors - the idea that "when one door closes, another opens" is a nice, comforting, optmistic thought. And in this case, that was the case. Yesterday was beer tasting day. I am, as some of you know, working on a video beer blog. I don't anticipate putting anything up until the summer, but who knows. Anyway, I went to the Beef and Brew, our local purveyor of many beers, to find that their specials hadn't been changed this week yet. So I left. And went to another place with interesting beers - the third place in town with an interesting and eclectic beer selection - Red Dove Tavern. I think I have mentioned this place before. It is definitely one of the hipper, better places to be in Geneva. They have 8 taps and rotate at least three of them quite a bit. I met one of the owners last night, Rune. Great guy. I will look forward to talking beer with him one day. I also met one of the servers there - new to me - Erin. I had two beers - Empire Cream Ale on nitrogen - I think all cream ales ought to be nitrogen pumped - and Elysian Men's Room - a very good example of a Red Ale. Yum! Definitely going back there for more tasting and more taping! Taping and Tasting! Hurrah!

Yesterday was also the first major book mailing day. I sent off copies of Diary of a Plate Addict to each of the fifteen Flying Saucers. I would have included a note, but I thought it would be less expensive to send the note in a separate envelope. Turns out I was incorrect. It would have only cost 12 cents more to send the package first class. Oh well, live and learn! I also sent a copy to the Saucer HQ. Next, I sent 16 letters. saying that I was sending them a book and I was hoping that they would carry it in their merchandise cabinets. Small chance of that, unless Keith and Shannon (Shannon especially apparently) decide that they like the book more than they have before. It is a bit different seeing it all finished. If not, I will just have to hope that all of the Saucers will allow me to come to their places and stay for a few days hawking the book - mostly passively. All the packaging and labeling and such was quite an endeavor! I also sent Heather 5 copies for her use. I haven't asked what she is going to do with them...

Other than that, nothing too exciting. I did cook an excellent dinner - steak, broccoli, artichokes and the last of the lentil and rice box of glop I made a few days ago. Yippee!

Oooh, I got the ingredients for making chocolate martinis. I don't know why, but they sounded like a good idea...

Pictures from November 9, 2011:

Book mailing process

Cool sign!

Yum!