Waxy pointed out a hilarious out-of-context list from a Grand Theft Auto forum on in-game girlfriends. Ben plays GTA for hours every night. Maybe I should write my own girlfriend list so he doesn’t get confused.

snip

Good Advice From
a Grand Theft Auto
Dating FAQ.

BY DAVID ABRAMS

– – – –

[I]f you kill a girl through abuse, she will no longer be your girlfriend.

The main reason to date a girl … is to get stuff from her.

If you raise your relationship level with a girl to 100% you’ll be given a special outfit.

You can date more than one girl at once, and as far as I know, your other girlfriends won’t mind if you pick up another.

This is brilliant.

Have you seen the Green Porno on Sundance channel yet? Isabella Rossellini demonstrates the mating behavior of creepy crawly bugs. It’s artistically creative, performance art-like, but with graphic scientific explanations. It’s bizarre. start with the spider or earthworm. If you don’t mind seeing an elderly Italian actress humping a life-sized puppet insect, try the others.

I hate pepid. I hate installing applications. I’m mad at my BB. It will be punished.

So I will watch a kitty video to unwind. Hard to stay mad when you’re watching this.

I’m posting this and the previous from my classroom in Regis. I got here a few minutes early and decided to test the wi-fi. Success! I promise not to use the net once class starts 😉

Miranda has started a monthly dinner group for a bunch of girls. I’m so excited for it! We’re planning our first dinner for the middle of May. She started a website, which I added to my list of links to the right, or you can click to it here. There should be a lot of great recipes you can browse!

I got a couple great products at REI today. This anti-chafing stuff is supposed to prevent blisters. I put it on this afternoon, after going on a long hike this morning in thick boots. Oh my, my feet felt so good in my stiff red flats that I had changed into. I don’t know if they will truly prevent blisters, but it was very soothing. It’s also a sunblocker, great for my frequently burned footsies in the summer. It can be used anywhere on the body. I hate applying sunblock in the morning (so greasy!) so if I unexpectedly find myself outdoors for a while, I can whip this out of my purse and protect my nose.

Ben and I have been lusting over these stylish, cancer-free aluminum bottles. Especially since Nate got one. Since I’ll need to stay hydrated to power through 7 hours of classes each day, I can justify buying this cute bottle, right?

I freaking LOVE these shirts. They had another collection that I fawned over for quite some time before it eventually sold out. The sweet embroidery and feminine cuts coupled with irreverent words – it’s wonderful! They have posted a new collection. Many are reprints of the same design but with new sayings. Sadly, I’m not as fond of these new sayings because they overuse the F-word. High impact, I guess. But there are still a few I would conceivably wear. And some I wish I could wear. Were I to spend $90 on a shirt (Ha!).

link

I used my birthday money to buy a subscription to Everyday Food Magazine – the one from Martha, not Rachel Ray. You may recall that a long time ago I was a devotee to this publication. In fact, I started with issue number one and I think went through the 50s or 60s. (The first year of issues are apparently highly prized, going for quite a few bucks on ebay. I’ve heard tell of $50 for the first issue. Mine are far too splattered and beloved to sell.) But after a few years the recipes got repetitive and I got bored. When I noticed I was no longer cooking out the issues I canceled my subscription.

But now my cooking is stale and I needed inspiration again. I realized that it wasn’t the novelty of the recipes that was so great. It was the seasonal ideas, the pretty pictures, and the simple preparations that inspire me to get in the kitchen. My first issue arrived a couple weeks ago and it has served us well. The following recipes are all from the current issue.

Pulled pork shoulder barbecue sandwiches slathered in Big Hoss sauce. The honey glazed carrots are also from the magazine.

Simplified Paella. I omitted the shrimp and added saffron.

Lemon Poppyseed Cake. This was delicious and served at Movie Club. Unfortunately, it was so tasty that there were no leftovers for me to eat later!

A fresh salad made with a variety of ingredients. It had me hunting the aisles of Sunflower Market to get everything. In fact, I tried three stores for Israeli couscous, aka pearl couscous, aka Middle Eastern couscous -the name by which I finally found it at Whole Foods. It was sold in bulk and I’m happy I bought extra since we really enjoyed it’s texture! The salad also has steamed green beans, cucumber, golden raisins, pistachios, and feta cheese.

Yesterday afternoon I made their basic muffin recipe. I added dried sweetened cranberries (again, hooray for bulk foods at Sunflower!) and topped them with a crusty raw sugar coating. They are deliciously creamy and have just the right amount of sweetness.

I have a couple things left on the meal plan from this issue. We’re going to have their Thai chicken with noodles (substituting udon for glass noodles) and their two pea pasta – made with snap peas, frozen peas, and ricotta. I might also make the artichoke linguine. Yum yum yum.