I attempted to make pizza for dinner. I've done this a few times previously, and it's usually worked out quite well. Today? Not so much.

All told, the damage to my kitchen was the loss of a cutting board, a pizza stone, and one of two pizzas that's probably not entirely edible. To make up for that, the other pizza tasted pretty good, although the crust wasn't done on the bottom.

I'm trying really hard not to think of what it's going to cost to replace the stone and board, since that's likely to make this one of the most expensive meals I've cooked.

Not really happy at all. And my allergies have been acting up. And I've been without sleep for the past week.

The party last weekend went off quite well. Despite extending invitations to include eighteen people total, we ended up with nine, which worked out as a very comfortable number. A mental note for future years, but I should probably make sure to tell people about the party more than a week in advance. As I was telling people, it was a bit of an "Oh, shit, I knew I forgot something" moment.

The trip north on Monday went quite well. While I know (from repeated experience) that I can make the drive in one shot by myself, it's really nice to have a few other people in the car who can take over. This is especially true since I didn't get any sleep beforehand. I took the first leg (SF to I-5), then handed the keys over because I figure that anyone can get to Tacoma from there. Once we got up here Chris, Pete, and I spent evening decompressing with some food from The Ram and watching the Director's Cut of The Gamers... which is pretty much the same as the normal edition with nicer special effects and (I think) some improved lighting and sound. So nothing really new, but it was enjoyable to watch.

I slept most of Tuesday. I think when I finally got out of bed, I'd been there for about 12 hours and it was after 6pm. I found out josienutter was hosting some Karaoke thing up in Seattle which sounded like fun, but I also didn't really feel like moving just yet. Instead I took care of a few things, took a shower, and hung out with Pete and Chris again in the evening.

Wednesday through Friday has been dedicated to family stuff. My dad flew in from Indiana on Wednesday, then on Thursday we drove out to Ellensburg for a birthday party for my Grandmother which was done at a wonderful little wine tasting dinner. Given the propensity of March birthdays in our family, this also served as a party for me and my dad. The food was good (even if two of the courses involved pork, which I'm trying to stop eating, and one had walnuts as an ingredient, so I had to avoid it), and some of the wines were excellent.

This also was the first time I'd gotten to see my mom's new house. It's tiny, but it's incredibly convenient to the university. Of course because it's tiny, it's not really condusive for people visiting overnight. I crashed on a futon in the front room, but I think I only got around five hours of sleep.

The drive back to Tacoma was uneventful and went at a nice clip until I got to I-5 in Federal way, at which point it was slow. I stopped at Trader Joes and Safeway for the ingredients for the chili, came back to my grandparent's place, and then promptly crashed out on the couch for three hours.

Since then I've made the chili for tonight. I think I've got a good flavor balance to it.

Calendar:
3/31 - Game Day at Chris's place. Hence the chili.
4/1 - Possibly a Guest Relations meeting (not sure if I can make it), possibly climbing, possibly crashing up in Seattle at Deanna's place.
4/2 - Mariners Opening Day with Deanna.
4/3-5 - Nothing specific planned.
4/6-8 - Sakura-Con (Which I have only just found out is the same weekend as Norwescon, which is a first)
4/9-11 - Nothing specific planned
4/12 - Heading back to SF

Still need to figure out a good time to meet up with various Seattle peeps. Still open slots on the schedule, though, and some things can be moved about if needed.

In other news, I've been reading a lot of comics. Trying to make sure I get through all of Chris's stuff before I have to go back, but I think I don't have any cause for concern.

I should review a few things while they're still fresh in my mind. Perhaps tomorrow. Sleep now.

Something's been bugging me about my latest chili and it just struck me. I forgot the cumin.

Today's dinner was salmon, salad with fruit, and whole wheat french bread. When I seasoned the salmon, I forgot to put any salt on it (just Trader Joes 21 Seasoning Salute and some lemon pepper), but it turned out quite nicely. A little bit of salt would have been nice to bring out some of the flavor, but it had a good subtleness to it. The salad was a bag of greens with a bit of pecans, golden raisins, dried cranberries, and a chopped pink lady apple. The toasted sesame dressing I used was probably the least healthy thing about the meal. I kept my bread down to two slices and I kept the overall meal size down for myself.

I did still feel a bit hungry, so after an hour or so, I ate the rest of the salad, which worked out well. I felt satisfied but not engorged. I think trying to eat smaller meals will help offset some lethargy. I've noticed that I have a tendency to eat larger meals than needed. This first became apparent when I'd go eat out and I'd just try to force myself to finish a meal when there's no reason for it.

My next meal is going to be breakfast, although it'll likely be a dinnertime meal. I'm planning on pancakes (made with soymilk), turkey bacon, and a tofu scramble of some sort. It's mostly an experiment to try and do the tofu scramble style. When I visited my brother back before Christmas, they served a tofu scramble (his financee is vegan and he's pretty close) which was excellent. I need to figure out some veggie to go with it, though.

Despite all the positive progress I've made in the past year or so, I definitely need to up the number of vegetables I eat per day. Since there's groceries that are within walking distance, I should probably start heading down to one every few days just to get veggies for the near future. I could probably do something like what my dad does and get the non-staple ingredients for the upcoming meals only a day or two ahead of time.

That doesn't quite mesh with our tendency to only go shopping every week or two, though.

The big news of the weekend was 300's stunning success. $70 million may not be as impressive an opening weekend number as it was a decade ago (when it had happened never), but it's still sufficiently large to make people take notice.

What's the biggest part of this story, though?

Is it the fact that 300 snagged a March record (topping last year's Ice Age 2), and the third biggest R-rated opening of all time (following The Passion and Matrix Reloaded)? No.

Is it the fact that it managed to do this opening despite having no bankable stars, a relative newcomer as a director, and no wide public recognition for the original work (although well regarded, 300 probably wasn't known outside of comic circles... and even there it might have only been the 5th most well-known Frank Miller work... at best)? No.

Is it the fact that up until about 4 weeks ago, barely anyone knew that 300 was going to come out? No.

Is it the fact that it managed to top its entire budget ($65 million) in only 3 days? Nope, not that either.

The biggest part of this story is the fact that it came from Warner Bros and it managed to succeed. Outside of the impossible to screw up franchise Harry Potter, the WB's had a difficult time at the box office in the past few years. There have been a few successes (Batman Begins, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), but the monumental screw-ups more than offset that. And it's not that WB's been making bad movies. The quality from the studio is likely no better or worse than any other big producer.

It's the marketing, baby. The company probably would have been better served to just put the movies in the theaters and NOT advertise, given how often their films underperformed. It's like their every effort was chosen to undermine any chance of success. I can only assume that Harry Potter would be a series of $400 million films if not for the efforts of marketing.

300, perhaps, marks a change. I suppose there's something in the late, guerilla timing of the campaign that helped it work really well. Even if (as is likely), the film drops like a rock from here on out, it's still going to cruise past $150 million. Mark it as a win and they better hope they can duplicate it. There's some cause for worry. Is TMNT still a valid film product? Can Lucky You work as successful counter-programming to Spider-Man 3 (umm... no.) Will Ocean's Thirteen be better than Twelve (and hopefully better than Eleven)? Is there anything besides Harry Potter that can be guaranteed to sell?

I suppose we'll find out a couple weeks before each film's release.

***

I made another chili today. No onion, light on the beans, heavy on the meat (Turkey this time). Nice bit of warmth that hit right at the back of the throat, but I think I prefer more beans.

I need to learn how to make home-made soup, next. I'm a bit concerned about the sodium content from the mixes and whatnot.

***

Also, apparently today is both "Pi Day" and "Steak and Blowjob Day".

Frankly, I think someone dropped the ball while coming up with S&BJ Day.

It should really be Pie and Blowjob day. (Not that I'm expecting either.)

1 lb turkey
1 sweet Mayan onion
1 pepper. Not sure what type, but it was a little larger than a jalapeno and it was white in color. Doesn't seem very hot
1 large bottle of Newcastle Brown Ale (not really specific, it was just the cheapest single bottle of non-crap beer I could find)
2 cans black beans
1 can yellow corn
About 2/3rds a jar of Trader Joe's red mole sauce (this largely because i forgot to buy tomato sauce)
Some garlic hot sauce (since I forgot garlic)
Cumin, New Mexico chili powder, salt, and pepper for seasoning

Brow the turkey, slightly grill the onions and pepper in the same pan. Mix in pot with beans, corn, and beer. Stir in mole sauce, season as needed. Cooked in oven on 250 for about 4 hours covered. Cooked uncovered for about 30 minutes. Raised heat to 400 and cooked another 20-30 minutes.

Oh so filling. And I think the mole sauce is what I've been looking for to give the chili the depth of flavor. I also didn't use vinegar this time, which may have helped.

Eaten with cornbread and tortilla chips, this is near perfect.

======

I took advantage of some after Christmas sales on Amazon and Barnes & Noble which gives me a bit of reading material but (more importantly) also takes care of a good number of Christmas gifts.

The day I got back, Jesse treated all of us to one of his Christmas gifts: The Bobs concert. I think I'd heard a track or two of theirs before in Jesse's car, but the concert experience was quite good. Despite my warnings that I might fall unconcious at any moment, I was enraptured and entertained throughout. Good a capella music and some well done humor. As an added bonus, they did a drawing, and I got a CD.

Since then, things have continued apace in trying to make this feel like home. I've bought a new vaccuum, a new computer chair, and done some slight rearrangement in my room. A friend's given me his old 27 inch TV (soon to be moved into my room and hooked up to the computer.) My computer still is lacking in stability, but it's not failing me critically at the moment.

I've been giving a more critical look at laptops with a mind towards buying one in the next couple of months. It will probably happen around the end of February or early in March. I'm strongly leaning towards buying a MacBook. Given the capabilties, cost, and support it's the strongest offering out there. I'm just not sure which one to get. There's about an $800 difference between my two choices, of which the biggest change is screen size. While I normally wouldn't consider screen size as that important, it can make a bit difference comfort-wise.

I've made a major plunge into declaring myself an adult. I opened a mutual fund for investment. It's a small amount, now, but I'd like to see if it can become enough for a down payment on a house in a few years. I'm also looking to get myself health insurance. I'm finding a bit of a stumbling point at the moment, though, because I don't really have any basis for how much regular (as opposed to critical) medical care costs which is pretty important to determine whether or not I'm going to hit the annual deductable. It's also important, because I'd like to get myself evaluated by a psychologist. I've noted over the past few years that I have had more difficulty keeping with a train of thought and focusing on a topic. Given that I'd like to a) write novels and b) attend graduate school, both of these are somewhat worrisome. I'll probably look more at this later.

I need to get back into writing more regularly. Besides the novel-in-progress, I want to start working on an historic mystery (or series of historic mysteries) set in the late 1800s with Lillian Francis Smith as the main character.

======

And I turn a milestone this year. While it's less personally relevant than age 28 (my cyclical birthday), 30 tends to appeal to the masses. As such I'm going to try and hold a big-ish celebration. Plans are still tentative, but I'm going to look at getting an area with a pool table and projection TVs (for video games). Not sure if dinner will be a separate affair or combined, yet. A movie might be part of the package, likely 300.

Date is tentatively set as March 17.


======

I've been writing this entry for about 4 hours... I'm -still- stuffed from the chili.

Made chili again today. Two, in fact. One had salmon. The other was my first attempt at a vegetarian (vegan, technically) chili, with tofu. I think they turned out all right, but I woke up a bit late and only cooked them for about two hours, so they feel a bit... off. They taste fine, but there's a back-of-the-throat tang that isn't quite baked in enough for my tastes. This is something I enjoy about making chili, though, because it's experimental and adventurous to try and figure out how to get the right flavor. I think I want to learn how to make gumbo, next... especially if I can do it like On the Bayou.

My holiday plans are coming together. Initially, I had planned to to visit my family in Indiana for about a week. Get there a few days before Christmas, leave sometime between then and New Years. Unfortunately, I delayed on getting my ticket, and when I finally had a chance to get one, prices had skyrocketed. Which may be for the best. I called my dad, and it seems that it'd be helpful if I can be there past the New Years to help watch the kids, houses, and dogs. So my travel plans are (right now) from Dec 14 - unknown, but the latter date is probably around Jan 8. Which is rather long. Not as long as last year, but this could be made to seem longer if (as is possible), my entire family in that area is gone for the first week of January. Kinda odd to go visit and then see them all leave.

I've taken some steps to (hopefully) make it a bit of a more hassle-free holidays, though. First and foremost... I've bought an iPod. With the help of a friend, I've got a discount on an 80 GB one, which should handle all the music I'll want to get for quite some time. It should arrive later this week (woo!) which has gotten me going through iTunes to clean up my music files. I'm also researching earphones to find a good pair to buy. I'm not enamoured with earbuds (causing hearing loss and whatnot), and my current pair, while nice, cause a bit of pain with they way they curve around my ears. I've been looking at canalphone types that stick deep in the ears and, in theory, don't require high volume to give a better sound than earbuds.

I've also been building up my Amazon Wish List. This is largely because of the rather wide disconnect I have with my family on the things that interest me. It's a bit difficult to say that I'd like Volumes 10-20 of the Case Closed Manga or whatnot. In large part, I'm mostly willing to say "clothes and household items", but this also allows me to identify some things I"d like to get. Although the list is currently an odd amalgamation of things I've not yet read/seen and things I have, but would like to fill out the collection. I'll probably revise it over the next few weeks.

For the curious, it's here.

Beyond that, I think there's three things that I'd like to get in the not too distant future. One is related to a thought that's been pinging in my head for a while. I've never been entirely happy with my "decision" to not keep playing a musical instrument. I took lessons for a number, but never kept at them. I kinda wish I'd at least kept playing the piano. While I know I can pick it up again (and probably will), another has been getting to me, too, so I'd like to get a cheap bass to pluck at and try to learn.

The second thing I'd like to get is a laptop. I think I travel around enough (at least two-three times a year), to make it worthwhile to have my own computer to use away from home. I'm eyeing a Macbook of some sort, but I doubt I'll be able to afford it until next year. Which is a shame, since I -am- going on a trip in two weeks.

Third, and perhaps a bit more desireable since I've left my car up north, is I'd like a scooter. Probably a moped class one (50cc or less). The anime fan in me likes the idea of a Vespa, but they're pricey as hell. I've been looking on craigslist for a used one, but the difference in price between a new one that meets my desires and what I've seen there isn't that wide.

Amazing climbing session on Thursday. Unfortunately my last as a "regular" at Edgeworks. While I know I've not had a chance to sample many other gyms (only other one is the Warehouse Gym in Olympia), I think I'm going to miss Edgeworks. It's got a great atmosphere and there are multiple challenge levels for me.

In any case, due to being busy and booching the time of the gym, the last time Chris and I had gotten there was Sept 4th, about two and a half weeks ago.

So we got there and found that the far side of the bouldering wall had been completely redone. There was another guy there who pointed out a new V2. So I hopped on it and got it on the first try. My first "successful" V2. The guy pointed out something on the green V2 I'd been working on for a few weeks, but it was a long arm stretch which I am not capable of repeating.

In any case, from there, Chris and I started working on this long, new V1. We didn't manage to defeat it, mostly because it's really long and tiring. Even so, we worked on it in tandem quite well, I thought, which was fun. For a while, we've kinda been doing our own things and haven't really had a session where we put our heads together to get through a problem. I'm probably going to miss that.

After we'd been going at it for about an hour (I paused at one point to try a few other things, including doing the new V2 once again) we wrapped it up by doing the easier new routes. We got stuck at one point on what is apparently the most difficult V0- known to man. I actually think it's because someone put a hand element on upside-down.

Still, it felt really good, even if my arms are still aching from the intensity.

Afterwards, we went to Chevy's for dinner so Chris could repay me for the dinner I'd covered recently. We hadn't done that in a while, so it was nice to have the Chevy's salsa, which is good even if the chips are a bit too light. The fish tacos they had were tasty as well. And the plates were huge, even by family mexican standards.

On Friday I got up early so I could call the auto shop about getting my car in. Unfortunately, they can't look at it until Tuesday, which means it's going to be quite tight doing that along with everything else next week. But it needs the tune-up, oil change, and whatnot, especially before I leave. Unfortunately, my mom's got classes starting... really soon, if not already, and my grandparents leave on a trip on Monday, so if I'll need to rely on friends to shuttle me around a bit.

I started heating up the chili for dinner (did the prep work the previous night) and Chris and I went to CBI for, I suppose, the last time I'll be getting comics there for quite a while. Since they didn't have long boxes, we ran down to Spy Comics to get one.

I made fish chili for dinner. It was interesting, because I'm not really familiar with cooking fish. I was a bit rushed overall for the chili, so I forgot a few things... like tomato paste. Also, since I didn't use any chipotles this time and I didn't up the amount of chili powder used, it didn't quite have the rhobust flavor I'd have wanted. Even so, the combination of the black beans (normal and cuban style), corn, bell pepper, and onion worked quite well. Bit of chili powder and cumin, some been and vinegar, and that cooked up well. I briefly fried the fish before portioning it a bit and dropping it in the mix. Then let it cook in the oven for about 45 minutes or so with the cover off to reduce. Made some corn muffins to go with it. It had an interesting sweet undertone. It was popular and gone rather quickly. I think I'll keep doing chili after I move.

We had our "final" anime night. Watched a couple episodes of Ouran High School, welcome to the NHK ep 1, Kamichu, and Last Exile. All new stuff, really. I'd seen everything, but others hadn't. Sam, Jack, and Jack's brother Frank all came by for their first anime night, which was cool.

Now... I am very tired. And nervous about moving. Just a few days left. So much work done, but so much more to do.

Tomorrow after I wake up I need to load my car up with stuff to store at the grandparents', run to CBI for the signing (lots of Brubaker stuff), run to the grandparents' for dinner (since I won't see them until Thanksgiving, likely), and do laundry while there.

Sunday is a big packing day... and maybe Fearless.

Monday is work and packing and probably putting anything that remains into storage.

Tuesday is the car and going up to Seattle for an M's game with Deanna.

Wednesday is packing day. Packing party! Load up the truck with my loot! Buy pizza! Fun times had by all!

Thursday...

Chris and I climb fairly regularly. We -try- to go once a week or so, but invariably stuff will happen to obstruct that. On Wednesday we went, which was the first time in about three weeks for me. The previous week Chris had been sick and the week before that I was in Indiana.

For those who've never climbed before, a primer:
In a gym, different routes will be rated for different difficulties. It starts at VB (Basic), then goes V0-, V0, V0+, V1, V2, etc. Theoretically, routes could get infinitely harder. I think the most difficult I've seen in the gym is a V10 or V11. You can usually judge how difficult a route is by how easy the holds are, how many holds there are, how much hanging or stretching there is, and how much you need to do complex movements. A very easy route (VB) will have easy holds, many of them, and it will hold your weight well. For slightly more difficult routes, they could either made the grips a bit more sparse or more difficult to hold, require you to hang a bit more or whatever.

For me, I've tended to handle V0's with regularity. V0+'s may give me some trouble though. I had tried some V1's, but never really got anywhere.

In any case, when we got there, Chris started out on a V1 which we'd tried the last time I climbed. It seemed like a fun route, but a bit more difficult than we'd done previously. That session, I wasn't at my best, so I cheated a bit to get going by going to a "save point" and starting a couple holds in. Even so, we only managed a few moves before fatigue and whatnot overtook us.

After Chris gave it a go, I decided to try. I got in position from the start and then... just did it. First time.

Over the course of the session, I finished that route and three others (another V1 and two V0+'s) which had been defeating me previously. All of them I got first time out. Made me feel really good about the session. I think I'll want to try and get the top out certification so I can do the routes all the way to the top of the bouldering wall, now.


***

Since our D&D group has been put on hiatus for the summer, I've decided (after some consideration) to run a Shadowrun campaign. This will be my first experience running a game in close to ten years, so we'll see how it goes. Right now it looks like Pete and Wooko will be players, and I think we're going to invite Lance as well.

If anyone in the general area would like to play, I think it'd be fine to add another two players or so. I expect the campaign will go for about 3 or 4 sessions, about once a month, over the course of the summer. We'll be using the Shadowrun 4th edition rules. If you want to, just ping me in a comment.

I'm also giving some thought to running a modified 7th Sea or an Earthdawn campaign. Those would be further down the line, though.

***

I'd also like to do a BBQ or two over the summer. Now that I've done my first test batch of chili, I feel more confident making some for a bigger get-together. Plus I've got some buffalo burgers and BBQs are always good.

In the past week or two, I got this urge to make chili. I wanted to do it right, with everything done from scratch. Given how often I engage in cooking or baking, this can probably be equated to a blind man from Astoria deciding he really needs to walk across Manhattan without any assistance. Even so, I started considering how to do it, scanned a few recipes, and pinged Pete for some pointers. I bought various ingredients and earlier today I started making it in ernest.

I've just finished my test bowl. My initial verdict is that it has nice flavor, but it's a bit of a "surface" flavor and the consistency is a bit light and watery. I'll need to add something to provide it a bit more of a rhobust body. The spice also feels a bit on the surface, not fully cooked in. And something went wrong with the pinto beans, as they're still a bit hard. (I first noticed the problem a while ago, but I let them cook for another two hours, which helped.)

I'm not honestly sure I could redo the recipe as I did it. It was very much a zen cooking moment. I didn't actually use all the things I picked up for it, completely forgetting a single habanero (which is fine, as it's spicy enough), a dried red pepper (likewise fine), and some chili powder (this might have helped cook in a bit of the flavor, though.) I may have been a bit light on the garlic, too.

Still, I think I've gotten a good grounding for next time. Here's how I'm thinking to make my next try go down.

2 lbs. ground bison (unless I can get about 2 lbs. of non ground bison which I can cube.)
1 onion, finely chopped.
6 cloves garlic (I used 4 this time)
Some chili powder
1 can chipotles in adobo sauce, chopped. (I didn't chop them this time, instead letting them sit in it as it cooked to provide flavor.)
1 small can pinto beans (I used dried this time, so I may just see if canned works better.)
some cornmeal or a similar thickening agent.
Salt (more than I used this time, as it might help offset the watery feel for it) and pepper (again, slightly more.)
1 bottle beer.
Some tequila (more than I used this time)
Some vinegar (I think I got just about the right amount of this).

I used a variety of chilis this time, but I think i want to scale back to try and build up a stronger chipotle flavor (since I love it.)

I imagine this will be a multi-stage process as I learn how to make a good chili. It's doubtful I'll ever get a championship calibur recipe, but I hope I can come up with something that's at least known among family and friends.