Cute Bruiser

December 2nd, 2008 | Category: Pets | Leave a comment

For someone who professes to love comics, there aren’t actually many that I like. Especially online ones. I must confess that I am more likely to read Your Webcomic is Bad and You Should Feel Bad or something similar than read a comic.

There are a couple that I read regularly, however. I’ll pimp them later, don’t worry. However, I rarely read anything new. The biggest turn off for me is when I stumble on a comic I haven’t seen before, the art is nice, the characters are likeable, and, from the current page, the story seems decent … then I click the “First Page” link and, well, 99% of the time it looks like a completely different comic. I hate that. I really hate that. When that happens I will immediately close my browser window and do something else.

No lie.

But if, like me, you like comics, maybe you’ll like these:

Lackadaisy is about anthropomorphic gangster cats in the 1920’s. It’s cute, fluffy, and full of violence in lovely sepia tones.

Templar, AZ is set in a fictional city in Arizona. Honestly, I can’t explain it. Just take a look. You’ll know after a couple pages if it’s your thing or not.

Then just tonight I found The Abominable Charles Christoper and, after checking the archives, I think I have a new RSS feed to check.

So, what about you out there? What comics do you like?

November 14th, 2008 | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

I’m still reeling from the last week, honestly. The reality of the situation hits me in small bits, like when I was helping to clear some things from Dad’s apartment and I opened the closet. Seeing his clothes hanging there knocked the wind out of me as I realized he’d never wear them again. Likewise, I’ve been carrying his ID around in my purse along with a bank card and SSN card just in case I need them to close some bank accounts and other things.

After all of this, I’ve decided to do some things for myself in the coming months/year. Things I’ve been wanting or meaning to do but never got around to or just didn’t see the point. School is probably the most important, but I’ve decided to get myself a license and maybe even a car. But definitely a license.

November 9th, 2008 | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

We didn’t have to wait long. Dad was lucid just long enough to scratch out some medical directives and tell the hospital staff to unplug him and let nature take its course. I remember telling Peach some time ago that I wouldn’t cry when Dad went. Sometimes I hate being right. I think mostly my dry eyes have been due to a lack of surprise rather than numbness or apathy. We were told a week ago by the liver specialist that Dad wasn’t going to make it. Peach and I got all of our crying out of the way then while Dad was having one or another test run. I guess we just knew in our hearts this was coming even while we put on a positive attitude for everyone else.

When it comes down to it, Dad’s passing has been more of a relief than anything else. I’ll miss him, that’s a given, but I’m not selfish enough to think only of myself in this situation. He chose his time and I respect and support him in his decisions. That’s what you should do when you love someone, I think. You let them go when it’s time.

So, Dad, it was wonderful to know you and you’ll always be in my heart. You were never a failure, and you can tell Grandpa Thor that from me.

November 6th, 2008 | Category: Family | Leave a comment

I’ve just come back from Bellingham where I went to visit my dad in the hospital. Despite the rather morbid circumstances it was a pretty pleasant trip. My half-sister and half-brother were there — both of whom I haven’t seen in a while due to family drama — as well as my uncle John who I haven’t seen since I think about elementary school.

My dad’s been in the hospital for over a week now. I won’t bore you with gory details, but I’ll give a run-down for those of you who like this sort of junk. He had some nasty bacterial infection, mostly because he decided he felt so good he’d stop taking his medication and then also decided to start drinking again — something his doctor had told him not to do, not even in moderation, not even a drop, Steve, don’t even LICK the outside of a beer bottle! But he did anyway. That’s my dad for you.

So now he’s laying in the intensive care unit with a catheter bag and a feeding tube. Mentally, he’s improving. When I first dropped in on Wednesday he was barely responsive. He could turn his face toward voices and that was about it. He was passing in and out of consciousness with his eyes open and constantly shifting because of the pain he was in. As of Friday night he was speaking, albeit weakly and we sometimes had to strain to understand him, but he was also making jokes and laughing, which was nice to see.

Unfortunately, health wise he’s still deteriorating. His kidneys and liver are shutting down and we don’t know how long that will last. The liver specialist informed me that Dad only had a 20% chance of recovery, but his physician said people do recover. I’m still not sure if he was just telling my brother what he wanted to hear or if he really meant what he said.

I guess we’ll all just have to wait and see.

November 2nd, 2008 | Category: Family | Leave a comment

Movies I Watched This Month:

1. Casino Royale (2006)
   Admittedly, this is the first Bond movie I have seen. It was bloody amazing.

   

2. Nim’s Island (2008)
   Just awful. This film couldn’t decide what it wanted to be and so lacked any real direction. It was an unwatchable mess.

   

3. The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)
   A very honest and true to life movie about — get this — the pursuit of happiness. Will Smith stars and is almost as cute as his kid.

   

4. Eve and the Fire Horse (2005)
   Part Amélie and part A Little Princess, a great film about family, culture and faith.

   

Books I Read This Month:

1. NEXT [Michael Crichton]
   Let’s face it, Crichton’s the potato chip of science fiction; once you open it you can’t stop and you’ll spoil your dinner, there’s no real nutritional value to it but you just don’t give a damn because it’s so good. Junk food science fiction at its best.
   

August 31st, 2008 | Tags: A Little Princess, Amélie, August, Casino Royale, Eve and the Fire Horse, James Bond, Michael Crichton, Monthly Reviews, Movies, Nim's Island, The Pursuit of Happyness, Will Smith | Category: Uncategorized | Comments (1)

Legend has it that the modern recipe for snickerdoodle cookies comes from a traditional Scandinavian confection (or I might have just made that up). Maybe it’s genetic that they’re one of my favourite cookies. Whatever the history or reasons, these are delicious. I’ve added some ingredient substitutions for both the alternative and traditional sort.

Ingredients:

• ½ cup margarine (alt: soft butter or shortening)
• ¾ cup sugar
• 1 egg (alt: ¼ cup applesauce)
• 1 tsp. rum
• 1¼ cup 2 tbsp. flour
• ½ tsp. baking soda
• ¼ tsp. salt

Also:

• 1 tbsp. sugar
• 1 tbsp. cinnamon

Mix margarine, sugar, egg and rum in a bowl until smooth. Sift dry ingredients together and mix in. Cover and chill dough in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes while preheating oven to 350° Fahrenheit. Mix cinnamon and sugar together. Roll dough into small balls and then roll in sugar and cinnamon mixture.

On baking pan, place cookies about 2″ apart. Bake for about 20 minutes. They’ll puff up and then flatten out. Depending on whether you like your cookies crunchy or soft, you can bake them longer or shorter respectively.

Enjoy!

July 29th, 2008 | Tags: Cookies, Recipes, rum, snickerdoodles | Category: Cookies, Recipes | Leave a comment

At this point, I should probably be writing an introduction post of some sort. I think I’ll pass. Not that I don’t love to talk about myself (I do, and I will, at great length) but, honestly, I’m never really sure where to start and end with those kind of things.

Instead, I’ll talk about one of my big pet peeves at work.

Passion.

Tea.

Notice that no where in there does it say “fruit”. However, people will insist on calling it Passion fruit tea.

Before I go any further, I’d like to make it clear that I am aware how anal retentive this all sounds. I know. But we all have weird little things that just drive us up the wall and this is one of mine.

The ingredients list reads as follows:

Hibiscus flowers, natural tropical flavors, citric acid, licorice root, orange peel, cinnamon bark, rosehips, lemongrass and fruit juice extract (color).

See? NO PASSION FRUIT. STOP CALLING IT THAT.

July 26th, 2008 | Tags: passion tea, Starbucks, tazo | Category: Starbucks | Leave a comment