Texas

Day 1: Houston
This wasn't really a day - we got in lateish, went for food (which involved stealing crab-eating implements from joe's crab shack - how could we not, it was plastic and said, "stolen from joe's crab shack" on it), and turned in for the night.

Day 2: Galveston
Johnson Space Centre sits right between Houston and Galveston :) We spent the whole day wandering around the exhibits, taking a tour through NASA mission control and training areas, looking at moon rocks, and marvelling at all the cool space stuff. I wish penelope_stone could have been there. You would have loved it.

Late in the afternoon, we moved on and headed for the beach. Apparently, Galveston island is a sink hole for sat navs, because Lady had the hardest time getting us to our hotel. Three wrong turns, four u-turns and eventually we spotted the place.
Galveston was nice... a bit odd, because rich, high class resorts sit right next to washed out, abandoned shacks. It's a bit weird to walk down the strip and see the difference. It's like going from rough area to up-market all in one block.

Day 3: Galveston
I got to swim in the sea today :) Woooo. And it was warm, and lovely. It reminded me of the sea in Wellington - it had that same kind of cold when you stepped in, but warm once you got used to it. It's the kind of water you can stay in all day. Wonderful.
Not so wonderful was the flies the marauded up and down the beach - tiny black ones. I think they were harmless (not 100% sure, though) but they crawled all over your skin, and face, and were horrendous. So we didn't spend long at the beach. Awh, but oh well.
We went out for food in a place called Casey's tonight and it was amazing. The best meal so far on the trip.

Day 4: Port Aransas
Port Aransas could have been better. The weather was stormy, the clouds a dark shade of grey. I really wanted to go swimming, but a gale was blowing and the waves, while small, were frequent and frothy. I probably would have gone in, but I'm not sure what lordkilljoy and lainey316 would have been. So I settled for dipping my feet.
After a long stroll of the beach and the town, we headed out for dinner. Dinner tonight was the second best of the trip. Mahi-mahi, cooked to perfection, with the most lovely crab sauce over it. It was the most yummy thing ever - well, maybe not ever - we'll get to that later.

Day 5: Port Aransas / San Antonio
I'd hoped the weather might have improved by today, but it didn't. Still, I headed for the beach first thing with swimming togs on and towel in hand. I got wet up to my thighs, and standing there with the waves breaking over my knees, the sky a dark, ragged shade of grey, mist rolling off the waves reminded me of Ireland. It was beautiful, in a rugged way - a desolate beach, a gale blowing, frothy waves and a pale strand, littered with foam and seaweed, definitely very Irish (but for the fact that the gale was hot and the sea was warm).

The drive to San Antonio was uneventful. The most thrilling thing was that we got to follow the evacuation route all the way. It's cool - they have a specific route for people fleeing a hurricane to go. We wandered around San Antonio when we got there, browsed a few shops and strolled the river walk. The river walk is so pretty - paths wander along the river bordered by pretty shrubs and huge trees. The bank is steep and walled, keeping out the noise and bustle of the city. Restaurants and food stalls line the path - all kind of boutique style with lovely, themed decor.

Day 6: San Antonio
The Alamo sits in the very centre of San Antonio. People are funny. The story of the Alamo is not a good one - a bunch of Americans lost a battle there, and still it is lauded as a symbol of patriotism. I can see why - holding out when all hope was lost and all, but still.
It was pretty, though. Small buildings surrounded by lush trees. Actually - that was what surprised me most about Texas. It wasn't dry and desert like you see in the westerns, it was lush, humid, green and full of trees.
That afternoon we went to the botanical gardens, because coming from somewhere as dry as Albuquerque, you just can't get enough of green trees and colourful flowers.
From there we went shopping, and at this stage the day felt like it had been a week.

Day 7: San Marco / Austin
We left San Antonio early and heading for outlet malls about an hour up the road. It was boiling - 34C and humid. My feet were killing me from too much flip-flop wearing and there were few shops I was interested in. Still lainey316 got loads she wanted, so I was okay with that.

Back on the road again, heading for Austin and we were all a bit tired. We stopped off in barbecue town (aka Lockhart) for food. It was all right, but not what I'd been expecting. We didn't stay long - just ate and moved on. Approaching Austin, the sky ahead of us looked ominous, all dark ragged clouds and strong winds.

We were almost to the outskirts of Austin when the radio cut out. It started beeping and then a voice came on: "This is an emergency broadcast. Severe thunderstorms in [town names I don't remember] with hail the size of a quarter. Seek shelter and stay indoors." We were heading right for the storm. As the emergency broadcast ended, we saw the first fork of lightning hit the ground way off to our right. A few seconds later the clouds lit up with more lightning, and again a few second later. It didn't stop. The wind tugged at the car (and not just a little car - we were in an SUV). As we hit Austin, the rain started. It pelted the windscreen in sheets. It crashed into the road, creating a layer of water droplets about an inch thick. It was so bad we couldn't see the road markings and just had to hope the guy on front knew the road better than we did. It was a scary 10 minutes, but eventually the rain eased off. We made it to the hotel safe and got to watch the lightning from the safety of our room.

That night we went to a rooftop bar and enjoyed the lightening from there. Yea - the lightning went on for hours - flashes every few seconds or so. It was amazing.

Day 8: Austin
Austin was boiling today. It was 35C and humid. We had a lovely breakfast (which may have included a glass of bucksfizz), then tried to walk around for a bit but were defeated by the heat. We rallied with ice-cream, and headed to South Austin to browse the vintage and curiosity stores. I could definitely live in Austin. It's a cool place with loads of off the wall stuff. I don't think I could deal with the heat and humidity, though. This was only May, I can't even imagine what it's like in July.

Tonight was party night. We started with a divine meal in Haddingtons (a very stylish restaurant and cocktail bar). This was the best meal of the holiday. I had rabbit for the first time in my life and it was delicious. It was cooked to perfection and the sauce with it was the most gorgeous thing ever. Nom nom nom.
From there we moved to Red River, which is the live gig area of Austin. It was fine - the gig we went to wasn't very good, though. So we moved on after a bit. We made our way down 6th street (Austin's main party street). It reminded me of Khao San Road in Bangkok - packed with people out to get drunk. We settled in an Irish bar (of all places) to enjoy the Louisiana blues band that was playing there. They were quite good - entertaining and lively.
As all nights did - it ended with food off a street truck, lively debate about how Cork is like Texas and a ride up the glass lift in the hotel.

Day 9: Back to Albuquerque
We woke late and packed up, only to realise that lordkilljoy had lost the car keys for our car in Abq. He figured he'd taken them out of his bag in Galveston and must have left them in the hotel. So the drive to Houston was a little stressful, the keys and diversions because of roadworks outside of Austin setting us a little on edge. But it wasn't too bad once we got on the highway.
We got to the airport and did one last search through the bags - no joy. We checked in, got some food, then made our way to the gate. We had some time, so we played our DSs, and when lordkilljoy opened his headphone case the car keys fell out. :)
So it all ended well. We were excited getting on the plane, and on the bus to the long-term car park, and in the car on the way home and when we got home - exclaiming "you found your keys" every few minutes.


So that was our trip to Texas. It was good.

roller derby

Roller derby on saturday night was brilliant. we spent the first quarter of the first game figuring out how it all worked, and spent the rest of that match and all of the next admiring the teams' skills.
so how it works is there is a track - like a small running track, which the two teams skate around - all in a bunch. there is one girl in each team (the jammer) who starts behind the pack and skates faster to catch up. when she does, she squeezes through the pack - while they try to block her - and skates really fast to catch up to the pack again. then she squeezes through again, only this time for each blocker of the opposing team she passes, she scores a point.
that's basically it, nothing too hard to follow. there are a few other bits and we spent ages figuring out what the refs hand movements meant, but the real excitement is watching the jammer glide through the pack - or not, depending on her skill. all the girls have mad names and numbers, my favourite number was 3.14. another number was 36DD, another 2012 - that girl's name was like apocalypse or something.
they all wore team colours, but they wore fishnets or fancy knickers or mad socks in those colours. it was really fun.

we went to thor yesterday. it was brilliant. i really enjoyed it. the design / artistry of asgard (?sp) was amazingly beautiful, and the story was quite fun too.

i went out for a walk this morning. it was roasting, but nice. there was a lovely grove of old trees on my way, but when i went to tramp around in the shade there were wasps, so i left them to it.
i got a sunhat yesterday (a white one) so i could actually be outside and not have my head boiling to death. my hair is kind of lightening, though. there are strands going coppery :)

i don't think i have much other news.

Today's Lunch

This really is turning into a food journal, isn't it? What is it, that these days I get so excited about the things I make? Actually - I have an idea on that. There are no convenience shops around, so I can't just go to the shop and get something for lunch. I also haven't had bread in the freezer for about a month, so I can't do toast. Therefore, I am left to scrounge up whatever I can.

Today's lunch menu: fish cakes (basic)

A small bit of leftover fish - broken into small pieces
A small leftover roast spud - mashed
A small pack of crisps (I used doritos cool ranch) (or if you have breadcrumbs - yeay) - broken into crumbs
A small egg

This lunch is not for people with massive appetites - even though I came out with 2 fish cakes.

Anyway... Beat the egg. In a different bowl, mix the other ingredients. Combine with egg. Make into whatever shape you like... I went with traditional round (roundish, anyway - they are more oval). Fry on medium.
Mine are frying at the moment, so I have no idea how long to cook them for. Make up a cooking time based on how they look.

I just flipped them over - they look and smell delicious - I am so excited about eating these. Nom nom nom. Yum yum yum.

Scriptfrenzy

So, I finished my script with 98 pages. That's good enough for me. It's a kind of fun story, and it ended well. I suppose I could go back and try to pad out some scenes, but honestly, I think I did enough of that while I was writing it.

I think I just don't have it in me to write a 100 page script. I got to 99 pages the last time I tried - I added in blank lines until I got to 100 pages.

Yea, I don't have much else to say.

We're off to watch roller derby next weekend. That should be really fun. It's lordkilljoy's birthday tomorrow. We don't have any plans.

I think that's it, really.

Bread, again. And other things.

I just made the most delicious bread ever. I'm really biased, but it really is delicious. I put in less flour than called for (3 cups instead of 4), and it came out just perfect. It's light, fluffy, with the most delicate crust - crumbly and perfect, like the texture of digestive biscuits. Mmmmmmm. I just had a slice and I want more. I made it so I could have french toast, but it's far too good to use on french toast right now. Maybe tomorrow.

The weather warmed up again. it's 24 outside and 26 in here. I have all the windows open and the ceiling fan on - there's the most delightful breeze blowing around the place.

What other news...I played a bit of Portal 2 on Tuesday evening. It's brilliant. I must get back to it. Actually, if I get to page 73 in my script today I will go play this afternoon. I only have to write one more page (Mmmm, how did I get this bread to be so good?) but it's kind of hard because it's sort of the climax and I think its going to be a short scene. I want it to be more than a page, but at the same time, I don't want it to feel drawn out.
In other game news, I'm still playing World of Warcraft. I joined a new guild recently, and think it will be fun. I'm now spreading my time over 5 characters, all of whom I love to play - they are all completely different to each other too, which is quite amazing.
D&D encounters last night was fun, too. We were a different table, with a good GM and a good mix of classes (fighters and healers - what more do you need; well, okay, a rogue to open locks, but we got on well enough bashing it open).

Right - I really need to get back to my script.


Ingredients

3 cups wheat flour
4 tablespoons white sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup margarine, softened (I used spreadable butter - didn't have enough real butter, and no margarine)
1 cup buttermilk
1 egg

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease a large baking sheet.
In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and butter. Stir in 1 cup of buttermilk and egg. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead slightly. Form dough into a round and place on prepared baking sheet. Use a sharp knife to cut an 'X' into the top of the loaf.
Bake in preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean, about 30 to 50 minutes.
(I went the full 50 minutes, because my oven is underpowered - I think this is why the crust came out so nice.)

smoothie

mmm, watermelon smoothie. half a watermelon, a bit of lemon juice, a handful of raspberries, and a dash of minced ginger. delicious.

going to enjoy it on the balcony.

Wind

I couldn't go outside today because of the wind. It was gusting gale force 8, and a pretty constant force 6.
... Wind Advisory remains in effect until 8 PM MDT this evening...

A Wind Advisory remains in effect until 8 PM MDT this evening.

* Location... the Santa Fe and Albuquerque Metro areas as well as
new mexicos northeast plains and the Chaves County plains
including Roswell.

* Winds... west winds will shift out of the northwest today with
sustained speeds from 25 to 35 mph and gusts from 45 to 50 mph.

* Timing... wind speeds will continue to strengthen through mid day
then remain strong through the afternoon. Speeds will weaken
below hazardous thresholds around sunset.

* Visibility... blowing dust will drop visibility well below 1 mile
at times in dust prone locations.

* Local impacts... strong Crosswinds will develop on north to south
and northeast to southwest oriented roads... including I-25.

Precautionary/preparedness actions...

Take action to secure trash cans... lawn furniture... and other
loose or light weight outdoor objects.


It's kind of rotten, not being able to go outside because of the wind... well, more because of the dust and sand the wind carries.

We went to see Cage the Elephant on Tuesday night. They were good - very lively, and they played the three of their songs I know. Yeay.

My scriptfrenzy is going well enough. I'm still behind (by slightly less than one day), but catching up. If I can manage to get the pages done this weekend, I should be good. Here's hoping my idea lasts another 50 pages. I have a battle to go, then a whole new area, then the climax and the end. And leading up to this was the start, travel, this area and a battle. Hmmm. I may have to get creative with adding in CUT TO: to try to pad it out a bit. Cheating, I know, but my script is a bit action heavy as it is. It needs a bit of breathing space.

I don't have much other news. I want to make muffins, but I have no eggs, and can't go to the shop because of the wind. Ah well.

Hanna

I am too tired even to make a decent post, I just wanted to mention that we went to see Hanna on Saturday night. It was brilliant. One of the better movies I've seen in a while, simply because it was so different. It was an action movie with artistic flair. A beautifully wrought story about a girl coming to terms with who she is.
We were at home afterwards and I wanted to go back and see it again.

I don't know why I'm so tired. I'm trying to get my 3 pages done for scriptfrenzy and there's nothing in my brain, and no energy in my fingers. Blah.

things

Have I mentioned how odd the weather can be here? It's cloudy and blustery here today, but warm. Perfect thunder weather. It almost feels like it could rain, and when I look up at the clouds it is raining. But it's so dry here the drops evaporate before they reach the ground. Madness. A little warm rain shower would be lovely. I can imagine how wonderful the ground would smell.

I'm doing script frenzy this year. I'm on page 15 (almost 16). I'm behind by 5 pages, but if I can do 6 tomorrow and 6 on Friday, I'll have caught up. I'll have to be super disciplined over the weekend to get my 3 pages each day. No Warcraft until I've written enough for the day. Or maybe I can do 6 on Saturday and do the guild run on Sunday. We'll see, I guess.

We got these lovely chocolate sweets in Costco yesterday. Ok, when I say we, I mean lordkilljoy. We got them home, tried them and it turns out that he doesn't like them. They taste exactly like dime bars. So now I have a massive tub of sweets to eat all by myself.

atlanta

I have the wrestlemania theme tune stuck in my head. not really surprising, considering we spent the weekend in atlanta. ah, it was wonderful. not so much for the wrestling, which was fun but i'm not the biggest fan ever. no, it was brilliant because there were fountains and green grass and trees everywhere. the air wasn't at 15% humidity and sitting outside was simply perfect.
apart from wrestlemania, we wandered around the city, went to coke world, ate bison burgers (yummy), hung out, and got to talk to wrestlers in a pub one night. i wanted to go to the zoo, but no train went out that way, and navigating buses is a bit of hassle compared to navigating trains.
it was funny to come back to the yellow ground of albuquerque, but i suppose i'll get used to it again.

in other news, i'm doing script frenzy this year. the objective is to write a 100 page script in the month of april. i have no outline, and just half an idea of a plot, so we'll see how i get on with that.

it's been so long since i last updated, but i can't think of anything else new. i finally got a lovely summer dress, which was white, but i died blue. i've been walking and cycling.

i don't really know what else to say.

lunch

Yum. Asparagus soup and banana/oat muffin for lunch. I feel so healthy. Doubly healthy because I went out for a cycle this morning too - 10km. Go me!

Asparagus soup is funny, because it looks like it shouldn't taste nice - all pea green and creamy. It's only really because it looks like pea soup, and as we all know peas are the bane of existence. But it tastes yummy, all zesty and spicy (because I wasn't watching the amount of pepper - I was too concentrated on turning the pepper grinder) and asparagusy.

I got the recipe on all recipes. And for posterity I'm going to post it here too.



4 servings
Ingredients

1 pound fresh asparagus
3/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup vegetable broth
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 pinch ground black pepper
1 1/4 cups vegetable broth
1 cup soy milk
1/2 cup yogurt
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Directions

Place asparagus and onion in a saucepan with 1/2 cup vegetable broth. Bring the broth to a boil, reduce heat and let simmer until the vegetables are tender.
Reserve a few asparagus tips for garnish. Place remaining vegetable mixture in an electric blender and puree until smooth.
Melt butter in the pan that was used for simmering the asparagus and onions. Stir while sprinkling flour, salt, and pepper into the butter. Do not let the flour brown. Allow the mixture to cook only 2 minutes. Stir in remaining 1 1/4 cups vegetable broth and increase the heat. Continue stirring until the mixture comes to a boil.
Stir the vegetable puree and milk into the saucepan. Whisk yogurt into the mixture, followed by lemon juice. Stir until heated through, then ladle into bowls. Garnish with reserved asparagus tips. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese if desired.

Om Nom Nom

I just made the most delicious muffins ever (well maybe not ever, but they are certainly one of the nicest (that doesn't involve chocolate) I've ever eaten. I found two recipes and smooshed them together, taking the best bits out of both. They were similar enough that I could do this and be pretty confident things would work out okay. I think the nicest thing about them is how light and moist they are. And they are healthy too :)

Here's the recipe, for anyone interested.

1/3 cup butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar (I used brown sugar)
1 egg
1/2 cup mashed bananas, very ripe
1/2 cup buttermilk

1 cup whole wheat flour (my cup was semi-heaped)
1/2 cup oatmeal (mine was heaped; one of the original recipes was 2 cups of flour)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice


Cream the butter and sugar. Add the egg gradually and mix well, beating all the time. Mix in the mashed banana and buttermilk.
Combine the flour, oatmeal, baking powder and spices. Add this to the creamed mixture and stir just until the dry ingredients are moistened.
Divide the batter evenly among muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full. Bake for 25 minutes at 200C, or until golden brown (mine turned out a dark golden) and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Immediately remove muffins from the pan. Serve warm (optional).

Makes 12

(I think I need a cooking icon that doesn't involve chocolate cake)

Further to Yesterday

More news. Which conveniently escaped my brain as soon as I started typing. Typical.

So, I got a sunhat. Actually, it's not so much a sun hat as an autumn hat. It's made of black felt and I have an idea that if I wear it out in the sun my head will bake. But it's lovely - 1920s style cloche (there are loads of pictures on google if you want to know what style that is). I'm wearing it now :)

I also got a cake decorating funnel with shaped metal tips - for putting icing on things. Ooh - that was my main news. I made muffins yesterday. I used a kind of modified banana bread recipe and they are gorgeous. This recipe called for egg and butter and they made the muffins come out light and fluffy (well, lighter and fluffier than any other bread I've tried). I got the cake decorating thing, because I think some chocolate frosting on top will make the muffins simply decadent :) nom nom nom. And because I've always wanted to have a go with cake decorating / making cupcakes. And yes, muffins magically turn into cupcakes when you add frosting on top.

I don't have much other news.

I don't know if I've mentioned World of Warcraft on here before, but I've gotten up to level 73 and Wrath of the Lich King stuff, and boy are the quests and storylines amazing. I'm playing alliance (because they feel like a big supportive family, where horde feels like a bunch of selfish individuals) and the storyline involving the 7th legion was fantastic. Totally epic. It's funny, because when it ended, I went on to a new area, and it was back to killing animals and providing food for the local community. It felt so small-time.

However, at the same time I reached the alpine area (can't remember what it's called) lordkilljoy was watching Bear Grylls (Man vs Wild, which is a amazing show - I wish I could be like Bear - he can survive in the wild on nothing but insects and plants he finds along the way) in Alaska, and the terrain was so similar to that in WoW that it almost felt like I'd find Bear just over the next hill. So that helped add some of the missing vitality back into the game.

Yea, I think that's about it.

Phonecalls and Daily Life

Phone calls in this country are the weirdest things ever. I just got a call, saw on the display that it was the Democratic Party and wondered did I have to talk to someone who was canvassing. I didn't. I picked up the phone, said 'hello' and in return got a recorded message telling me to press 1 to call and complain to some guy about cutting movie rights in New Mexico (and therefore jobs). Needless to say, I hung up at that stage, but jeepers, people - I can't imagine how successful your recorded message phone campaign is.

And they love doing that over here. I think I've had about 10 calls in the last 3 months and 2 of them were from real people. The rest were all pre-recorded or a voice telling you to push buttons in order so that they can get their records straight, or something.

*

I had another lovely day yesterday. It was wierd, though, becuase I got woken at 5, and didn't really get back to sleep. At 7, I got up, marvelled at the sun on the balcony, and went painting miniatures. I went to the park again, for about an hour - bliss, though it was slightly colder than Wednesday (there were more clouds). I might go again today, but it's really windy at the moment.

Wise Man's Fear arrived yesterday. Anyone who doesn't know of Patrick Rothfuss should go out and buy both of his books right now. They are amazing. Well, okay, I havn't read Wise Man's Fear yet, but I'm sure it will be good.

For having gotten up so early yesterday, I wasn't that tired. I didn't fall asleep that fast. Last night lordkilljoy was on call and he got called loads of times. So, I guess I'm a bit tired today. I imagine I'll feel it later.

I think I'll make muffins today. I have an interesting recipe involving bananas and spices. Ooh - google recipes is amazing. I put in chicken last night (because that's what I had taken out of the freezer), told it what other ingredients I had, and it came up with ramen (a kind of japanese chicken noodle soup). And the ramen was lovely. Slightly too salty (even though I added no salt - stock cubes and miso must have had loads) but really good. I'd definitely make it again.

I think that's about it. I'm going to go to the shop today (we need butter) and I'm going to buy a sun hat. While letting my parting get burned in Ireland is fine (because it only happens 4 or 5 times in the whole summer), it's already been burned twice, and I don't think constant burn on my head is the best thing ever.

Oh, I reinstalled Oblivion yesterday. I am totally excited about Skyrim and needed something from Bethesda to take the edge off.

Lizard in the Park

I should remind myself that when the thermometer reads 12C in the shade, it's about 24 in the sun.

I discovered a park close to us. I am so happy because of this. I can walk 10 minutes to the park and sit out in the sun and not feel like all my neighbours can spy on me. Yeay. So I went today, brought my book along and read for about an hour. It is seriously hot out there. Okay, I was wearing two layers on top, one of which was a dark long-sleeve, and jeans. Every part of me was boiling.

And I saw a lizard. It was dark greenish-brown with a slightly lighter stripe, and really small. It looked like a newt - about 1cm in diameter and 10cm long (half of which was tail). It was so cute. I only saw it for a moment as it popped its head out of a bush. I wanted it to come out and lie in the sun so I could get a photo of it, but it stayed safely in the bush.

I kind of want to grab a blanket, put on lighter pants and go back to the park. But I'm a little scared I'll get sunburned.

Today's question caught my eye

Is there any song you could listen to 20 times in a day without ever losing interest?

When I find a song I like, I'd easily listen to it 10 times that day. I think 13 is my record. I have to stop myself listening to it more than that, because I'm scared I will lose interest. I never do with the really good songs though. With the truly amazing ones, I can listen to them 30+ times in the first week and still love them. These are the songs that end up with 100+ playcounts on itunes (after a year or so).

There is one song, though, that I listened to about 80 times in 2 months - Another Take, by Cork band, Waiting Room. I've listened to it 132 times in total. And still, every time it comes on I get shivers. I love it.

And since I've not done it in a while - here's a run down of my top 10 most listened to songs. Number of listens in brackets.

Sail to the Moon (Brush the Cobwebs Out of the Sky) - Radiohead (155)
Rose - A Perfect Circle (145)
Son et Lumiere - The Mars Volta (135)
Another Take - Waiting Room (132)
Fingerbib - Aphex Twin (126)
Modern Romance - Yeah Yeah Yeahs (116)
Teenager - Deftones (115)
California Waiting - Kings of Leon (111)
Televators - The Mars Volta (106)
Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie - A Perfect Circle (104) (I honestly don't know how this song is in number 10)

cycle to the park

what is it with me not posting for a while and then making two or three posts in a day? oh well.

yesterday, i wanted to cycle to the park, but it was too windy. i kinda regretted not going, because it was a beautiful day and the warm weather isn't meant to last after the weekend. today was equally beautiful, and slightly less windy (still a bit windy) so i went to the park today. it's 5km away (5.1 according to google, 5.3 according to my bike). it was a wonderful cycle. google chose a route for me that didn't involve too many hills (there was just one steep one). the park was nice, but the moment i got there the sun went in. and it stayed in until i decided to leave.
i was on my bike, just accelerating to go home, when the sun came out. so i plonked myself on some (very prickly, dry) grass and sat in the sun for a bit. i watched small clouds and smaller aeroplanes (airplanes?) cross the sky. eventually the wind got a bit cold, though, so then i went home properly. i have no idea how long i stayed. not that long. i left at quarter past 1, and was home at quarter past 3. i was cycling for 45 minutes. so that makes... an hour and a bit. mad.
it was lovely to sit outside in the warm sunshine, though.

right so. i'm going to go now.

chipmunks

There's chipmunks or something in the ditch across from our balcony. they are so cute - like little squirrels with stripes. I just looked them up on wikipedia - they are chipmunks. how cute. Wikipedia describes them as squirrels with stripes - that's so funny.

here are some photos

Spring is giving us a taste of its wonderfulness

I've been watching the weather for the last 2 weeks - watching today's forecast go from 17 to 11 to 14 to 19 to 13. Seems the weather people have a hard time forecasting temperatures. But since that first 17, I've been looking forward to today, because from that first 17, I believed today would be wonderful.

Today dawned (well, I have no idea how it dawned, but when I got up at 9 it was...) cloudy. And I felt cheated. The forecast had settled on 18, but what good was it if it was cloudy?

Roll on a few hours and the clouds had all been burned away. So I went outside, and I stayed outside for 2 hours. I didn't want to come in. I went for a walk, and then came home and took my bike out for a stroll-cycle*. It was wonderful. Warm, sunny, the most refreshing breeze. The sound of dogs barking, a plane flying around somewhere. It felt and smelled and sounded like summer. I had to keep reminding myself that this was spring and summer would be unbearable, so enjoy it now. And that's what I think I'll do.

I got slightly sunburned yesterday. The kind of burn that heals overnight. But still - we were out for about and hour and a half yesterday (about 40 minutes spend stilling outside having lunch - it was amazing).

I have the balcony door open and the kitchen window open and there's a very light breeze going through the place. I have griddle bread on the pan, and everything is good. The funny thing is, our little thermometer is only reading 14.

Actually, I meant to add - my walk was to the shop to buy sun cream and aftersun. Hee.


*a stroll-cycle is one where you pedal the bear minimum to keep yourself going. you let gravity do most of your work.

My Writing Area

My computer desk faces a wall, a depressing, grey wall. Today I fixed that by putting these photos up, and brightening up the whole space a bit.
The sculptures are by Rik Allen. They are pretty cool, and interesting to have in front of me whenever I look away from my computer.

I don't have much other news.