Random Saturday to the Rescue

* I just posted an amazing Lavender Pound Cake recipe on my foodie blog here. I know using lavender in anything outside of the shower or a closet sachet is a bit out there for many of us, but fresh lavender has a very different scent than the dried blossoms. It's almost citrusy. This cake is SO good I had to give half away for fear I'd gorge myself with it over the weekend.

* If anyone can tell me why I saved "327 Holliston St" in my phone I would much appreciate it. Where does this address take me? What city is it in? I gotta tell you, Googlemaps was no help.

* This is the scariest place I've been all week:

* My mind has gone completely blank. A great idea popped into my head while I was cruising Googlemaps and now I've completely forgotten it. Frak!

* Said in a bar last week: "I have an active sex life in other people's minds".

* If someone can explain this to me (and doesn't make me vomit in the process), I'll give you a dollar:
* Word of the day Jennie has been promoted to another office, so now I have to come up with witty random words all on my own. Tear. Today's word is: Morose.

* Can I get this on a poster?

* Thanks to thedailywh.at.com I am now obsessed with this, and this, and these.

*NSFW: Marilyn Manson's mock-trailer for "Phantasmagoria: The Visions of Lewis Carroll". This film is not yet in production (from what I hear, it's still looking for funding), but man, does it look interesting. At the very least you know Manson will show you something visually interesting and probably deeply disturbing. Sign me up!
*

Saturday Free for All!

* I got nothing today, but felt bad about not posting so much this week. I'm getting sick again and I totally blame AMC theatres and "Robin Hood". I felt fine until I went to the advanced screening, now I'm coughing again and feel like I have a fever even though I don't. It makes it so much worse that I'm stuck, alone, at work. I just want to go to sleep. But instead, I have 4.5 hours left of work before I go to the grocery to get more cold medicine and figure out what I'm making for WWQTW on Monday. (I can't wait to tell you all about it. We are watching what may arguably be my favorite movie- no pressure).

* I think the office is haunted. I keep hearing the back door open and someone typing upstairs, but there's no one there. It's freaking me out! Be gone demon! Step into the light children, all are welcome!

* Watch out pro-choice'ers: A pro-lifer by the name of Marjorie Dannenfelser is clambering to oust Senate majority leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada). She founded and heads the Susan B. Anthony List which is hoping to put representatives in Congress who are pro-life and anti-choice concerning abortions. Read more about her here. (Special thanks to Femme Writes for the heads up).

* So, I'm trying to get ready for work this morning (not an easy task), and I keep seeing movement outside in my courtyard. I think nothing of it, but there's an accompanying noise that startles my cat. I peek outside and find a DirecTV guy waking away at my tree and messing with my dish. Unfortunately, I was running late for work so I just bolted out the door without speaking to him. Who called him? Was he supposed to fix my neighbors dish and got mine instead/as well? I'll tell you, if my TV starts working I will continue to pay the ridiculous bill I get for basic cable at least 1 more month. Otherwise, I'm going to kick them in the shins and demand restitution. I understand that if there's severe weather my dish might stop working, but what's the excuse for now signal yesterday when there was only a light drizzle? Or for the past week?

* Do you watch "The Vampire Diaries"? Did you watch the season finale? WHAT THE FUCK!!!!! This is why this show is one of the best things on TV (Ian Somerhalder isn't too bad himself). Put it in your queue ASAP. It's what "Twilight" could have been- sexy, mysterious, dangerous, sexy.

* If the fire alarm at work doesn't stop going off, I'm going to stab myself or it. Whichever seems easier at the time.

* My Vegan Chocolate Chip recipe is posted on Veggie Sometimes. Check it out, they're delicious!

* Today's word of the day is: disappointed. See also: ill

Hola Saturday!

* You can read all about my experience participating in my first Meet Up here. You can also find my amazing Tempeh Piccata recipe there.

* I am officially in love with Yogurt Land. $2.50 for a giant cup of frozen yogurt and delicious toppings? Yes please! I got the Red Velvet Batter (yum) with brownie bits (not so much), Dutch Chocolate (with Oreo bits), and Lychee Tart (fav!) with strawberries. It really hit the spot while we waited for...

* The Jen Lancaster book signing. I find her amusing and dysfunctional on a relatable level. She's also a major sassy-pants and has an attitude which I also love. She read a passage from the new book, did a quick Q&A, and then we all queued up to get our books signed. We got there an hour in advance and ended up with group G. Our group (which included the always lovely shine , Lauren, and Gofahne ). No matter the wait (about 1.5 hours), we hunkered down next to the cookbooks (bad idea, we were famished) and waited. I think I had more fun talking and reading on the floor with my girls than I did at the actual signing. Still, I love my book and love getting books signed even more. This is why I will never get a kindle or a nook or an eReader or whatever else they're calling the same thing. They have no personality, no presence. You can't get them signed or inscribe them to loved ones. They don't look impressive or majestic on a book shelf.

* Jennie's word of the day is: merriment

* Mother's Day is tomorrow and I've got nothing planned. I thought about getting my Moms flowers, but those die and with 2 cats it's kind of a hassle to find a place to put them. I could get chocolates or candy, but my Dad would probably eat a bunch of them and that's no bueno. What do you get? I'm thinking a card and the pleasure of my company (at least for a little while once I get off work). We never did a big show of Mother's or Father's Day in my house. A couple cards came in, sometimes chocolates, mostly dinner and a movie.

* Have you seen this trailer? Watch now, please:


* Yesterday I had a major case of the fitzgiggles. At first we wanted to blame the Starbucks, but how does a decaf soy frapp make you crazy? Maybe I was just hungry. This could certainly be blamed as all I had eaten that day were some cucumber rolls from Whole Foods (amazing by the way). I really think it was just lounging on the floor at Barnes and Noble and standing in line- these things make me wonky apparently! Random words kept popping into my head. "Elephant!" "White Chocolate Elephant!" God, I'm a weirdo. The positive is I kept the ladies entertained while we waited to get our books signed, and they kept me upright and out of the arms of the law. A thousand thank yous!

Hello Saturday My Old Friend

Hello Saturday, How you doing? I missed you.

* Last weekend I was MIA from the blogosphere due to my internment in College Station, TX. I was visiting my delightful sister and auditing classes. Unfortunately, my twitchy eye has been replaced by a random cough. Do not listen to nurse practitioners/doctors who tell you Sudafed PE is less drowsy- it is not! I missed the second half of classes to sleep off the meds. After that, I just gave up. It's a lot better now (so glad I went to the minute clinic only to be prescribed drugs I already owned- We'll get to that next). So, she had a wonderful birthday, we ate delicious food (you can read all about it and see pictures here). Doesn't she look lovely?:

(I on the other hand am covered in beer. Damned drunken college kids!)

One of the highlights of the trip was our impromptu stop at Blockbuster. All of their stores are closing in College Station, so they set up an outlet store where all DVDs go to die. It was glorious! Everything was $.99! We could not stop laughing and running into each other while pawing through boxes and boxes of movies. I think I was very modest and controlled in my purchases:

* So, back to the drugs thing. It is imperative, I've come to realize, to write the function of your prescription drugs on the label. Otherwise, you have no idea what you're sitting on and will get another bottle of something you already own- I'm looking at you cough medicine! How annoying. Worse yet, is when you have no idea what something does so you look it up and then can't remember why you would have ever been prescribed it. Case in point: Meloxicam. I have half a bottle in my medicine basket. What the heck is it? I looked it up on wikipedia but they were uncommonly unhelpful. I finally came across another website that told me what it's prescribed for- osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. What? Why do I have this? I have neither of these conditions to the best of my knowledge. Would it help the charlie horse I developed yesterday morning, because I need something for that now? There are at least two other bottles of unknown origin and substance in there and I'll be damned if I look those up as well!

* Jennie's word of the day: Turtle

* Over heard: "I've got nuts to chew!"

* When I get an idea, or offer to do something for someone else; I usually repeat said idea/offer at least twice more. Example: I am making a couple CDs for my friend Lauren (who has graced this screen several times). It usually takes me a while to get around to this type of thing as I rarely use my own computer. You see, I don't have Internet at home so I have to pirate if off who ever lives in my building with an unsecured WiFi. About a week after I promised her two CDs, I promised another friend I'd make him a mix tape (my favorite kind). I respect his stance on pirated music much like he respects mine on pirated movies, so a mix tape was a natural compromise. Then on Thursday, I promised another two CDs to my date. Now I have to make 5 Cd's in as few days. Crap.

* This week, I have become obsessed with these sites:
Hyperbole and a Half
The Daily Wh.at

* According to Business Week, The Donner Party did not resort to cannibalism. I don't know why that bums me out, but it does. It also reminds me of a trivia night a couple weeks ago when they were the answer to a bonus question (word of the day Jennie got it right!).

* Dear makers of falafel's: I appreciate that you want to show me the beauty and greatness of your ingredients, however; some things can be too crunchy. You are supposed to be creamy and smooth in the center while crunchy on the outside, like a nutritious hush puppy. I am not interested in being able to pick out grains you may have added to yourself to feel more important. Please refrain from this in the future. Thank you.

Check this out:

Head over to my foodie blog Veggie Sometimes to learn more about how you can pledge to better health!

[side note: Sorry this post is so short, I'm getting ready to go out of town- yea!- and am running a mile a minute. Top it off with this amazing chest cold I've contracted and you can tell I'm having an amazing time. Tomorrow, I'm participating in 20sb 7th blog swap. So check back then to meet a new face!]

It's Bambi- Run!!

I was so excited to be invited to my friends BBQ last night. We all look forward to the time of year when the venison hits the grill. I should mention, he is an avid hunter and his venison is like no other- moist, tender, flavorful. What better way to live my new principles than with grass fed, locally raised and butchered deer meat. What I didn't consider, was that my body would not react in the same way it has previously.

Long story short, I can no longer put away a pound of meat. I should have stopped at the hamburger. Instead, I went back for sausage and steak. It was so good, but so bad and I paid for it dearly this morning. If you're going to reduce or cut out anything from your routine, it's important to remember that you can't eat it like you used to. I just wish I had remembered that last night.

Which seems like the perfect segue into Meatless Monday and my new foodie blog. Recently, I feel as if I've spent too much time talking about food and food issues which was not the original intention of The Art of Throwing Stones. So, I decided to move my usual rants to a more appropriate place, Veggie Sometimes. It will be full of recipes, news, rants, politics, etc. I hope that those of you who enjoyed my food blogs will follow me there. This is not to say that I will never talk about food on these pages; Chez Gris your amateur cooking knowledge will still be here, as well as any recipes that are not appropriate for the other site. I look forward to seeing you all there!