Pinspiration.

In this series of beautiful-pics-to-remind-you-that-life-is-incredible:

Princess Di being cheeky; fall down seven times, stand up eight; visible howl; must dash; sparkles; it's not just the Royale with cheese that sounds better in French; a little guy who I actually imagine laughing with a French accent; the lightness of youth; the Don; Jackie and Caroline Kennedy.

These Things That Are My Dreams

Sooo... I think I need to stop jumping off/out of things that are high up in the air...  I'll also start off by saying that this wasn't the most entertaining of my dreams, so feel free to stop reading.  Really.  I'll let you know about the good stuff.

So, you know those swings that go way high up in the air at carnivals?  My dream last night involved something like that, except there was a helicopter.  Basically you'd get strapped up with someone else to this cord that would hang from the helicopter and then you'd swing around in the air in the same circular motion as carnival swings (except, well, much higher up in the air).  So, I got partnered up with this random old guy whose turn it was to go up, and there was this whole long tedious process of signing forms and cleansing (weird) and suiting up before you could go up, and you got assigned a number.  I got the number 7, and it was written on my hand in this pretty sparkly silver color.

As we were waiting on the helicopter pad and attached to the noisy helicopter and about to lift off, one of the employees came over and shouted, "Wait, stop, stop... stop everything... what's her number.... 7? Is your number 7?? No, I'm sorry, you have to come back."  According to what this employee was saying, there were others who had to go ahead of me, and I had to be reassigned to number 9, and they wrote it in with an ugly Sharpie.  Now, have you ever tried to logically explain your position to someone who absolutely refuses to let you speak in a dream? Like other things in dreams, the feeling you get from it is amplified times 10.  So I was super frustrated trying to explain that it did not make sense for me to go through the entire flight preparation process all over again and I was entitled to go right then and how this was the last day of my vacation and they were making me waste it waiting around and that I didn't even want to get on their helicopter anymore because they just took all the joy out of the experience for me... and I woke up.

Apparently I was really riled up about not being able to dangle from a helicopter and being bumped to the back of the line.  I actually grabbed the cheeks of the employee who was told to walk me back inside between my hands at the end like a grandmother and said, "You know what? Why don't YOU finish. PLEASE. I insist," since she refused to let me speak.  She just smiled calmly and rolled her eyes and was adamant about explaining to me how their business was actually doing me a favor if I really thought about it, which irked me even more.  Grrr.  Been fresh in my head all day.  Still gets my feathers all ruffled up just thinking about it.

Fin.

FOOD.

Frozen Strawberry Margaritas and Hot Churros

So yeah, strawberries aren't in season like these guys, but I felt like making this anyway.  I used this margarita recipe.  I was made fun of for using Patron to make a margarita.  First of all, there are many margarita recipes that call for "good quality tequila."  Second of all, I happen to take pride in my drink creations.  And finally... I actually would have preferred Tres Generaciones.  But we were out.  So Patron it was.

For the churros, I used this  churro recipe.  Anytime a recipe calls for nutmeg and I actually use it, I end up feeling like I was tricked (dammit!! I fell for it AGAIN!!!), because nutmeg has this magical ability to ruin the taste of anything.  It's like the un-spice.  Other than that, you'll notice that this recipe calls for a "dutch oven" or a "deep-fryer."  With regard to these two things:

1.  I Do Not Own a "Dutch Oven"
Nor do I ever intend to.  I do not associate anything pleasant with the term "dutch oven."  It reminds me of the guy I sat behind on my last flight.  He was a very strange man.  He wore one of these these.  He was not an "active person," though his glasses did indeed remain "securely in place" for the entire 12.5 hours that he proceeded to annoy the ever-loving shit out of me.  Now, I'm sorry, but when you have an entire row of seats to yourself, there is no reason for you to proceed to lower the seat back of every seat in the row immediately after take-off.  I do not understand this action.  Are you making a fucking fort up there??  What's going on??  I'm so confused! Anyway, I actually had to pause my movie ("True Grit"... horrible... it was like a Disney made-for-TV movie... and the girl's mouth moves like it was placed on her face upside down... mouths are not supposed to move like that... every man on the plane was watching "Black Swan".... shocker... anyway, what was I saying?  Oh yes... I actually had to pause my movie...) and look around with this expression on my face, trying to figure out what the hell was going on, until I realized that Bill Nye the Science Guy had awoken from his slumber and was poking his head up out of the small cottage he had built for himself on the plane, had removed his blanket (whoa!! wtf?! no!!), and had decided that perhaps he should make his way to the restrooms.

I'm guessing that guy's single.

So yeah.  Dutch ovens.  No thanks.

2.  I Do Not Own a Deep-Fryer
It's all very well for Paula Deen to own a deep-fryer.  She probably has a recipe for a deep-fried bacon-covered bar of butter with mayo.  I have no interest in acquiring a deep-fryer.  I'd probably end up conducting experiments akin to the "Will It Blend?" youtube clips and frying iPads and glowsticks and such.  I mention this potential use first because I think it's a better idea than deep-frying edible items (deep fried sandwiches! deep fried cake! I can't see my toes when I stand up!!)

It would lead to no good.  Just say no to the deep-fryer.

Anyway... sorry... Bon appetit? Meh, whatever... I'm finishing my drink.  Ciao.

Pinspiration.

In this series of beautiful-pics-to-remind-you-that-life-is-incredible:

-Penelope and Audrey because I adore them both (expect more to come... especially of Audrey... and Jackie O, too)

-A few of the many incredible pictures from Gregory Colbert.  Go check out the site: http://www.ashesandsnow.com/.  I recommend looking at the Enhanced Experience because you get more of a poetic touch.  In the Enhanced Experience, it's easier to see the photos through the "Vision-The Photographs" section, though the "Explore" part is kinda neat.  I've admired this photographer for a long time.  I love the eyes that look at the world in this way.  Seriously, go look at the website.  Good stuff.

-Alexsandr Petrovsky from "Sex and the City"... apparently his real name is Mikhail Baryshnikov and he's a dancer or something (I hope to God people get my sense of humor... and if you don't, you're probably the one going, "What? I thought he was a painter... He dances now??")

-graphic from the short but rich The Little Prince that translates into, "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye"

-Two incredibly moving photos of courage that basically ripped my heart out.

-Children at Holi, India's Festival of Color

-The Doors on the stairs.  Genius.

via http://pinterest.com/?category=photography

Good Idea Bad Idea

Good Idea: Seasonal Centerpieces

Fruit in large vases generally looks cool.  I have some fake ice that I sometimes toss in that looks neat, too.  The shrubberies here are actually part of the traditional Persian New Year spread (along with a bunch of other stuff that all has symbolic significance.... here's more info if you're interested http://www.farsinet.com/noruz/haftsinn4.html) and I used them as a part of my centerpiece here.  The clementines are from our farm house out in the middle of nowhere.  Nice place.  Quiet.  Really quiet.  Go-to-sleep-armed-when-you-spend-weeks-alone-there quiet.

Bad Idea: Seasonings as Centerpieces


Salt?  Pepper?  Ketchup?  Tapatio?  Caraway seed (running out of ideas here...)?  Lame.  Unless you're eating alone.  In which case I commend you for eating while sitting at a table instead of in front of the TV or standing in the kitchen, you damn aristocrat.  Now go wipe the foie gras off your face with that silk napkin you folded in the shape of a Bird of Paradise.

These Things That Are My Dreams

Last night I dreamt that I was taking an exam.  Except it was in Colombia or something.  (No, not the Columbia from PTs... like, Colombia-Colombia... you know, coffee, coke, etc.  That one.)

My friend Misch was in the dream.  She was wearing something like this:  http://lh5.ggpht.com/_t8-Y4w1UKrc/SYeOncnIQfI/AAAAAAAATIU/q-4P4TUm3wU/image_thumb921.png, and also some green tweed pants and round, John Lennon-esque glasses.  So we were in a classroom, and I had finished this giant 5-gallon bottle of Sparklett's water, and was putting some Airborne in what was left at the bottom to take with me.  Then we went to the moat that everyone had to swim across to get to the test center.  Luckily there were no alligators or crocodiles or anything like that... it was just muddy, and there was a little bit of a traffic jam as we approached the test center.  But yeah, we got in.

Then I get my scantron, and someone had already written in my name, but had bubbled it in with, like, two or three letters under each letter in my name.  So as I was shaking my head and saying, "ha, proctors..." to myself and erasing the marks, I noticed that there was a section where you had to write in your family physician's ID number.  So I raised my hand and told my proctor that I really don't remember my family physician's ID number, and he told me it's ok, just put in when your last physical was and that you don't remember.  So I went to this one box and just wrote in, "Cannot recall--will provide at a later point in time," and then I realized that it was the wrong section.  I think I accidentally wrote it in a box where I had to sign my name.  So then I thought, "shit!" and went to erase it, but I saw that the box was actually made of fabric, so I couldn't fully erase what I wrote.

Next, it suddenly occurred to me that I had left my nearly empty Sparklett's bottle with the Airborne in it in the classroom.  Across the moat.  So yeah, I had to swim back across to go get it, and when I got back, they'd started the test, and I still wasn't done bubbling the extra info (wtf is my LSAC number again?! shit!!), and I remembered that the instructions had said "you will not be provided extra time to do this at the completion of your exam," and it was all just a clusterfuck of mass proportions.

Fin.

Pinspiration.

The rain finally let up a little today, and I had the pleasure of meeting up with an old friend.  We pretty much walked all over Santa Monica for a few hours (really long but wonderful walk), and then did something I haven't done in a long time: went to Barnes and Noble, grabbed a random mix of books, sat in a corner, and shared and compared different pictures or stuff we read over coffee (whoa! THRILLING!! :P).  And I remember I used to do this all the time.  Sometimes I'd go by myself, sometimes I'd go with a friend, but I used to go to the Barnes near my old house any time I needed a pick-me-up and would go through magazines, design books, photography books, travel books, cookbooks, fashion books, architecture books, psychology books... pretty much books and magazines on anything and everything.  The one I used to go to when I was younger was only a half hour walk from my house, so I'd put a slip of paper, stubby little pencil, and the couple of bucks I needed for coffee in my pocket, and I'd actually take notes on things I thought were interesting or a good idea (never knew what actually happened to those slips of paper... they'd pretty much just disappear in a drawer or among papers on my desk as soon as I'd get home).  I realized today how much I miss that.  Those few hours would do for me the same thing that art exhibits or movies or live theater do: I left feeling inspired, rejuvenated, and energized.

Also, this week a friend introduced me to this website called Pinterest.  The main idea behind the site is that it serves as a sort of public pinboard, and people put up random pictures of things they find online that they like or find interesting.  Thus, combining these two things, and in the spirit of the random mix of stuff that is this blog, I'm starting a new section on here that's just going to consist of random pictures (yeah, probably mostly from Pinterest... go check it out!).  They'll be pictures I like and think are cool, beautiful, touching, moving, cute, innovative, nostalgic, or which just strike me for reasons I can't put into words.  Feel free to share any pics that do the same for you.

Cheers.

(via http://pinterest.com/?category=photography)

FOOD.

Cheese Fruit Log

I make this when I have people over sometimes and it seems to be a favorite, which is great, because it's pretty easy to make.  I got the recipe from a Christmas cookbook I bought at the UCLA library in undergrad (God knows why... impulsive purchase along with a Burt's Bees kit with poison ivy soap and mosquito bite ointment and a strange bar--yes, a bar--of shampoo that I don't ever imagine using unless I get a buzz cut... I'm outdoorsy to a limit, and poison ivy soap sort of exceeds that limit.  But I digress...), and here it is!

Ingredients:

-1/4 cup shelled pistachio nuts (I just use salted, dry roasted ones, and I chop them up by hand because washing and drying a food processor is too much of a hassle--I mean, because you get more of the flavor and texture of the pistachios that way. Yeah.)

-4 oz. cream cheese at room temperature

-50g dried apricots, finely chopped (uhhh... I don't know wtf 50g in dried apricots looks like, so I just eyeball it based on how much the bag of apricots holds or just chop up a tad more apricots than I do pistachios)

-3 green onions (3? Really? Don't know if I ever actually counted out 3. Whatever. Just don't put in so much that it would start to get weird.)

-1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, drained, finely chopped (Once I tried it with the sun-dried tomatoes that come in a bag. Nasty. Definitely get the ones in oil.)

-3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Directions:

1.  (blah blah blah bullshit bullshit bullshit about preheating your oven and putting the chopped pistachios in there until they get "golden" and stuff... anytime a recipe calls for roasting pistachios or walnuts or hazelnuts or any kind of nut before using I just get annoyed and go on to the next recipe as a matter of principle because I find it pretentious.  It takes a lot to make such a ridiculous task worth my while. Like I said, just use dry roasted, salted pistachios and you're golden.)

2.  Beat the cream cheese until smooth.  Fold in the dried apricots, green onion and sun-dried tomatoes, and add some pepper, to taste.

3.  Form mixture into a log.  Sprinkle the combined pistachio nuts and parsley over saran wrap, shaping it into a rectangle that's as long as your cheese log.  Roll your log in the mixture.  Don't forget the sides.  Wrap it in the saran wrap and put it in the fridge for 2-3 hours until firm.
(the cookbook actually gives the proper dimensions for the log and rectangle, so here they are, if you're dying to know: the log should be 20 cm or 8 inches, and the rectangle should be 20 cm x 6 cm or 8 x 2 1/2 inches.  As you can see, I made a square.  I could care less. You can make a trapezoid or an octagon or a fucking parallelogram for all I care, just make sure the matter comprising your shape of choice ends up covering your cheese log.  That's all.)

Bon appetit.

FOOD.

Chicken Curry with Cashews

I used this recipe:  http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/bestof/toprecipes/bestchickenrecipes/recipes/food/views/Chicken-Curry-with-Cashews-231358.  I used smaller, bite sized pieces of chicken.  I also chopped up fresh tomatoes instead of canned because I only made half what the recipe called for and didn't want to have half a can of tomatoes sitting around.  The good thing about this recipe is that the ingredients are mostly stuff you can find around your kitchen (I did, anyway).  Also, take this picture with a grain of salt (haha, get it? grain of salt?! because it's food! hehehe... okay, anyway....) because it's hard to make a dish like curry look attractive. Trust me, it smells and tastes damn good.  I didn't try any of the recommended wine pairings from epicurious, but I love that they have that feature... I'll have to try it out on one of their other recipes.

Pretty Little Things

I just got back from New Zealand yesterday.  I won't write a detailed play by play of my trip because that's boring and I'm sick and my head hurts, BUT, I thought I'd share these cool little local finds.  Fortunately the weather was absolutely perfect the whole time I was traveling around New Zealand, but it started raining on the last day I was there.  So, my plans to spend the extra time until my flight walking around the Parnell area (look! It looks so cool!  http://www.parnell.net.nz/parnell_photos.htm) were replaced with souvenir shopping on Queen Street.  Most of the stuff I got came from this cool little artsy shop "From N to Z," but some of the stuff you could find other places, too.

The set of block art prints is of Lake Taupo, which is where the tour I was on went to next (unbeknownst to me, I was on a modified version of the tour... sad... bungy jumping in Taupo looked like it would be awesome... I jumped off a building instead, but it just wasn't the same).  Anyway, it's from this company Tantrum Design (http://www.tantrum.co.nz/).  Shann Whitaker is the guy who started the company, and on the packaging for the set there's a paragraph of stuff that has influenced his art so far, which I think adds a cool touch.

As for the little hen, it's from this lady who started this company Happy Hens (http://www.happyhens.co.nz/).  They're handpainted in Dunedin.  The main reason I got one of these little guys is that, somewhere along the way, my family got really into weird, artistic renditions of birds.  We have this crazy metal panel contraption of a rooster (the head is attached to a rusty spring and bobs up and down... it's really weird... hence it got moved to the farm house), a multi-colored glass rooster (also in the farm house), and the Oaxacan parrot alebrije depicted behind the Happy Hen above.  We probably have some others that I'm not remembering.

A bunch of little shops have these nice tea towels, but you have to look around and find the ones with cool patterns and that aren't overpriced (pricing in these shops is completely arbitrary).  So I got one with colorful kiwis, one with colorful sheep, a retro looking one that has a pavlova recipe (Kiwis love pavlova... and yes, I fully intend on trying out the recipe), and a cool pop art sheep one.  I absolutely love the pop art sheep idea and got the coasters, too (sheep are pretty huge in New Zealand... they outnumber people 12 to 1... and they're delicious).  The N to Z shop also had these cool wall clocks made out of bottles of New Zealand beers that were melted flat... perfect for knowing when beer o'clock is.

Alright... time to go make some hot tea with Manuka honey... :)

Good Idea Bad Idea

GOOD IDEA:  Standard Time.

BAD IDEA:   Daylight Savings Time.

That's all.

FOOD.

Sausage, Red Onion and Wild Mushroom Pizza

I used this recipe: http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/bestof/toprecipes/bestpizzarecipes/recipes/food/views/Sausage-Red-Onion-and-Wild-Mushroom-Pizza-231717

Used Pillsbury pizza dough, which worked out fine.  Don't know what Piave is, but I grated a block of Parmesan.  I was worried about how it would come out because I'm not a huge fan of stinky cheeses, but the parmesan actually just bakes into the crust and brings out the other flavors.  I used fresh herbs from my mom's garden.  For the mushrooms, I'd recommend seeing if there is an Asian market anywhere nearby: they'll have a much greater variety of mushrooms for a lot cheaper.  I got shiitake and oyster mushrooms and they were a lot fresher than the stuff I'd seen at regular grocery stores, too.  Finally, the recipe says to just cook the onions until they're crisp-tender, but I added a little bit more oil and let them caramelize.  Bon appetit.

Margherita Pizza

I used this recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/margherita-pizza-recipe/index.html

I put the whole basil leaves on there flat instead of ripping them up because it looked cooler and you got more basil that way.  I accidentally put them on there before the cheese, though, and just noticed that right now as I looked at the recipe again (oops.  still tasted great just didn't look as shmancy).  I used the olive oil from a jar of sun-dried tomatoes to drizzle over the top before popping it in the oven instead of regular olive oil (a little bit of truffle infused olive oil would work well, too).  That's about it.  Keep an eye on it, not sure it needs to really be in the oven that long at 450.  Oh, and I used the Pillsbury crust again.  I think the flavor and consistency of the sauce would be great for bruschetta, too, so maybe make some extra to put on crostini and top it off with some julienned basil.

These Things That Are My Dreams

Last night I had a dream that I was dating James Franco.  Here's how it all went down.

I was at some formal black tie event.  After the event, I was walking through the hallways of a building and admiring old photos of celebrities.  While discussing the fascinating cultural phenomenon that "cougars" were referred to as "foxes" in the town where this event was being held, Franco suddenly morphs in front of me.

Franco:  "So you remember where I parked my Lamborghini, right?"

(This was the first time I had seen or spoken to James Franco in my life.  Nevertheless, I knew that his Lamgorghini was winter green.  I don't think they even come in that color, but whatever, he's James fucking Franco, so he gets to have one.  I also knew that he was parked up the road to the left somewhere.)

Me:  "Ummm... I think so?"

After walking up the road to the right somewhere, I suddenly noticed we were in casual clothes and it was morning.  I was in skinny jeans and wearing this ridiculous oversized patterned sweater that I recently purchased because it was "in."  Franco was wearing grey chinos and a white shirt.  Except it wasn't really "white" so much as, like, dirty-pillow-white.

So apparently somewhere along the way Franco decided to skip the whole get-your-car thing and just walk home.  As I was trying to figure out how to tell Franco that I really should be getting home, we ended up in a Starbucks.  I figured I needed to get some caffeine and food for the drive back home anyway (oh yeah, we were in Santa Barbara), so might as well have some breakfast.

In Starbucks, Franco got us some seats by uprooting this other group of girls from their seats.  Then we stood in line, where we talked about how crazy this all was, and where I realized that James Franco came up to about my shoulders.

When we got to the front of the line, Franco said, "I'll have a tall one," and it was automatically known that he meant a tall regular coffee.  I made a mental note to grab a McMuffin on the way home, and ordered a tall nonfat caramel macchiato.

Barista:  "I'm sorry, a what?"

Me:  "A tall nonfat caramel macchiato."

Barista:  "I'm sorry, ma'am, you're going to have to speak more slowly.  I've never heard of this drink before."

Me:  "Just a caramel macchiato.  Tall.  And nonfat."

Barista (staring at me while scribbling something on a tall cup with the same blank expression of someone who pretends to know what you said because it's just too awkward to ask again):  "Oh, okay."

Fin.

FOOD.

Homemade Red Velvet Cupcakes

Used the Paula Deen recipe off the foodnetwork site... not much else to say about this.  I've used the same recipe to make a cake before and it turned out great, and the cupcakes look and smell promising so far.  Both the red sanding sugar and the pastry bag I used are from Williams Sonoma.  The pastry "bag" is kind of weird to get a hang of, but according to the reviews on the site I won't have to put up with that problem for very long... http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/mechanical-pastry-bag/?pkey=cbaking-pastry-tools%7Cctlpstdec

I also used those Reynolds baking cups with the foil on the outside.  Contrary to what the packaging says, you do need to use a cupcake tin, too, unless you like egg-shaped cupcakes.  They have a paper lining inside them and I'm pretty sure you're supposed to remove the foil after you take them out of the oven, but I think I'll keep them on there.  They feel more festive that way.

Good Idea Bad Idea

GOOD IDEA: Store Rewards Cards

So, yeah, there's the annoying factor of having to carry around an extra card, but you can just register most cards online and give your email or phone number when you go to the store.  You've probably done this at grocery stores, which is super fun, because if you're as lazy as I am you just remember all your old phone numbers instead of changing your phone number on the card.  This is neat, because you get called different names at different stores.  I'm pretty sure I'm Ms. Shmoyer at Vons.

Anyway, the perks of rewards cards are kind of nice.  For example, at Sephora, you collect points on every dollar you spend and get a gift for every 100 points.  Last time I was there, I got a free 12 oz. Philosophy facial cleanser, which isn't bad considering the 16 oz. size is $32.  Sometimes you get free stuff just for walking in the store, like a Tarina Tarantino bracelet I got last year.  Granted it wasn't the same quality as the ones I got at the Tarina Tarantino sample sale downtown a couple years back, but still nice.  (side note: sample sales are an interesting experience if you haven't been--sitting outside a store for about an hour, rushing in like cattle once the doors open and trying to grab anything that stands out as one of a kind, and naked people all over the place trying on stuff out of cardboard boxes... it's like Black Friday with pretty people.  What a horrible thing to say! Meh, whatever.).  Finally, during the month of your birthday, they give you a nice little gift, like this delicious smelling Philosophy 3-in-1 concoction.

Drug stores also have convenient rewards cards, and you get extra coupons on your receipt or when you scan your card at the scanning station in the store.  So yeah, sometimes you get weird stuff like "buy one La Lecheria Sweetened Condensed Milk and get one free!" and check to see if you accidentally scanned your Vallarta card, but other times you just get free bucks to spend in the store (and if you get a cool cashier, they'll use it on stuff like booze, too).

BAD IDEA:  Store Credit Cards

You really want one more bill to deal with?  No.  Just use AmEx.  Those points are worth more than whatever you're saving on your purchase of those hideous high-waisted pleated pants that you think are a good idea.

Aforementioned Dog

(Sorry Cheens.  I love her.  Really.  Kind of. )

Things I Discovered Recently

Because I can't even wait till hump day to share...

(1)  Dressing room lighting and mirrors are set to sasquatch-mode.

(2)  That swimsuit which was just "meh" in the store is actually pretty great (see?? you don't have cellulite on your forehead. chillax.)

(3) Murphy's Stout > Guinness (note: this keen observation is in no way related to 1 or 2. SHUSH.)

(4) When you delete a number from your phone, that phone will not just stand down and take it.  No.  That phone will question you.  It will test you.  It will annoy the shit out of you.

      eg.  You: [click "Delete Harry Dingleberry"]
             Phone: "Are you SURE you want to delete Harry Dingleberry?"
             You: "Yes, goddammit! This isn't a $1.29 purchase on itunes!!!!" [delete. with vigor.]

(5) An abandoned bong and ironing board on a walk around the neighborhood.  Spent the rest of the walk imagining stories on how that came about.  (Solution to a lover's quarrel? Not exactly an even exchange...)

(6) I'm a cat person.  How did I discover this, you ask?  I was staying with a friend.  This friend has both a cat and a dog.  At night, the cat mewed and softly pranced over to my bed, looking over her shoulder as if to say, "Hey there! I poop rainbows! Follow me to the land of nod!!!" then conveniently disappeared.  My friend's dog, on the other hand, devoted her entire evening to guarding the entrance to the bathroom like a goddam emu guarding her eggs.  Not quite up to par on this blogging thing yet, but I'll try to post a pic.
          (a) Btw, the dog is small, so if I manage to post a pic, don't laugh. She barks like an ogre shouting "THOU SHALL NOT PASS!!!!!!" Trust.
          (b) In her defense, the dog was actually nice to me on the last day.  But I think it was more because she saw my bags were packed and figured, screw it, you're leaving anyway.  Let's just make nice.

My Blog

I finally started one.  Couldn't think of a title.  Couldn't think of a background.  So I just went with these natural choices.  Stay tuned.