The pie

I haven't yet named this pie. I want to give it a name like ambrosia, because it seems fancy. Maybe a simple name is better. Brown Sugar Pie?

Anyhow, here it is.

5 T butter, softened
2 C dark brown sugar, packed
2 t vanilla extract
4 eggs (I used 5 medium)
1 C shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)
1 C chopped pecans (coarse or fine, I chopped fine)
9-inch pie crust

Preheat oven to 350.
Cream butter until light, add brown sugar in four parts, scraping the bowl after the halfway point. Once the butter and sugar are well incorporated, add vanilla extract and eggs. Beat until mixture is light and fluffy (at least 2 minutes on high, I beat mine for 5+). Scrape bowl, then mix in coconut and chopped pecans. Pour into pie crust and bake for 45-60 minutes. Check after 45 minutes. Center of pie does not have to be completely set, but top should be puffed up evenly and golden brown. Let cool (at least to room temperature). Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, if you like.

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I baked mine on too high a heat (I was not paying enough attention to the oven. This meant I had a slightly burnt layer on top. I was able to carefully remove the burnt layer, so the pie is gloriously edible, but not very pretty.

Pictures and the taste test will be posted later...

Cooking, fool.

I am baking a pie right now, and if it turns out I will post the recipe. I made it up.
It looked like it would taste good, anyhow.

I am also making an apple crisp, because I had too many apples and apple crisp is the perfect autumnal food.

Also, I made DRINKING CHOCOLATE for the first time ever today. Even though I nearly burned the chocolate, it turned out pretty well.

So more food news later, okay?

Spicy crunchy chick pea snack

I was just really very hungry.: Spicy crunchy chick pea snack

Sometimes I use my blog as a bookmark. Gotta problem with that? I am sincerely sorry for you.

Also, I'm HUNGRY.
REALLY HUNGRY.
So hungry, I'm wondering if I actually ate today, but I did.

---

Tomorrow we do a pickup (or is it pick up) shoot for a PSA I shot this spring. I'm slightly concerned because I can't remember what shirt I wore. I think it was a turtleneck. But if it wasn't, I have no idea. Maybe I'll call the director. Also, I haven't tried on the pants I was wearing for a long, long time. Because I was under the impression they no longer fit. And my hair is 5-6 inches longer.

Looking forward to enjoying the experience in hindsight, while acknowledging there is a good chance I'll be pretty nervous at the time. Wheee.

Now if only I had a bag of roasted chickpeas to snack on...

In Lieu of a Wife...

I need a nanny. Not for my kids, for ME!
It's nearly 4 in the morning and I am awake never having gone to sleep.
This is not okay! I need to be put to bed.

Mr. Mudflap

This is officially on my wishlist (do they have it in a t-shirt?). Shop away, minions!

'Nicole Richie Is Not And Does Not Need To Be In Rehab"

I’m Not Obsessed / Blog Archive / Nicole Richie Is Not And Does Not Need To Be In Rehab

Sigh. Of course she doesn't have an eating disorder.
She looks great now! OH, it hurts even to write that as a joke. She looks like death most of the time.

Short

Time feels short today, as if I'm missing out on something important.

No, nothing going on. Just a feeling of urgency and missed opportunity.

I'm going to bake a batch of cookies and make arroz con pollo. And maybe make hot cocoa and cuddle up under some blankets.

So much reading and writing to do in the next two days. I'm feeling overwhelmed!
But I still love school and feel excited about what I have learned and what I have left to learn this semester.

When I get more done I will post some pictures from yesterday's trip to Olbrich Gardens. It's so relaxing there (we went at 3:45 pm on a Tuesday afternoon and it was very quiet), if you are in Madison, go immediately! Gardens are open until 8pm!

Erg.

In my attempts to add links to this joint, I screwed up my sidebar something awful.
Blogger Beta looks to be easier, but I'm too lazy to work on it right now.

Home with the boys today, translating roughly into not getting much done. I can't help but think: if I didn't have children, I would be a brain surgeon. But that's not true. I might be a more sucessful performer, or craftsperson. But I'd likely be a lot like I am right now. Except more well-traveled.

What I need to be doing right now is organizing this week's studying, finishing up the dishes, and getting ready for a trip to Olbrich Gardens.

"Three-year-old buys pink convertible on internet"

LONDON (Reuters) - Jack Neal briefly became the proud owner of a pink convertible car after he managed to buy it for 9,000 pounds ($17,000) on the Internet despite being only three years old.

How much do I love this story? I don't know why, but this is very amusing to me. It definitely reminds me of something my kids would have done (the car being pink, especially). Also it's a much funnier story than the one I'd read just before about a mother letting making her 18 month old daughter take bong hits.

Not really angry

I was worried that my last entry soundd too angry. GOLLY, I'm oversensitive. Honestly.

Anyhow, I am not angry at the moment. I'm very tired. Very, very tired need a bevvy and a nap.

Crazy

Two things:

1. It's Bi-polar disorder, not manic depression. It's not so freaky. Read up on it. It is still okay to sing along with and enjoy the song "Manic Depression" by Jimi Hendrix, and to a much lesser extent, "Manic Monday" by The Bangles.
   
2. If you think someone or something is of two minds (or has two distinct sides that seem diametrically opposed), say that, don't say "Schizophrenic", because that's not what that means. It always vexes me when people who are otherwise very careful with the words they choose make this particular word choice.
   

And one other thing addressed to someone who doesn't read this blog:

If you tell your kid that his parent is bad for having a mental illness/emotional problem, and that kid is biologically predisposed to having that same or a similar problem, you are setting up your kid for a bad experience if he is indeed diagnosed with a mental illness/emotional problem later in life. Open your eyes and your mind before you cause a little boy damage. Asshole.

Happy Dance, imagined

It's FRIDAY!!!!

Today I'm going to DO HOMEWORK, and be all done long before Sunday night (really trying to learn my lesson from last Sunday).

Right now all I have to worry about tis bothering the cat on my lap when I stand up.

I'm too tired to really do one, but I'm imagining a happy dance.

Plans II

Yesterday I was invited to go see Julius Ceasar at American Players Theater (this Sunday). I accepted the invitation, and was considering that a plan, even though it didn't originate from me.

One reason I'm going to count it as a plan is because I am going to cook or bake something to bring along, and maybe make up a thermos of hot chocolate (it's COLD!).

Wing suggested in the comments that I plan to go somewhere I've never been before. I started feeling overwhelmed considering that when I realized that there are places I've never been located in places (cities) I HAVE been, so I can plan something for soon (the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art for one in town) as well as the longer term plan of somewhere far away.

I finally have a passport, so I can travel outside the country without having to worry about waiting for that to come through.

One place/event I would put on my list for some future date is the Edinburgh Comedy Festival. That would be fantastic.

I'd love to go to Cardiff for a few days as well - and do a more rural Wales thing too.

I don't have a specific place in Ireland I'd like to go, but I'll find one.

London and Manchester (I've got a thing for Manchester bands, starting with ABC in the early 80s), in England.

So obviously, the UK is on my list. :P

---

Thinking about it, my plans for school seem to solidify and become more real as the weeks roll on. One of my classes has become sort of independent study, which is great. Because I get so much energy and joy from being in school, I know it is worth planning a few more years of. Many of the sacrifices I was making (financial) before I started school have become so engrained they are second nature, so they don't seem so bad as a longer-term lifestyle.


Of course, I need to focus back on the STUDYING part of it right now.

Plans

I need to make some plans.
Should I learn to do something special?
Plan an expensive trip somewhere across the world?
Start a retirement account?
Make a date to go see a movie this weekend?

Ouch

Yesterday morning I didn't have time for breakfast, so I ate a crunchy granola bar in the car on the way to school. And somehow got a piece of it lodged in the soft tissue at the back of my throat (I've been referring to it as my tonsils, but I'm not sure if that is accurate). Today I'm running a slight fever and my throat is very red on that side.

Luckily I've got a dr. appointment already scheduled due to some wonky bloodwork (I'm anemic, it looks like). I just don't know how I'm going to explain this, though.

UPDATE: It turns out that I did dislodge the offending bit of granola. It's healing, but gross looking, and my fever isn't bad. More blood work and they will let me know if I'm anemic or just peaked.

Cheese Days

Swiss Alphorn Players/Yodelers

Accordian Player

Green County (7 year old took this and the one below from the car window)



bf eats corn!

7 year old makes a call...

Didn't stay long enough. I got stung by a yellow jacket and I was sad, whiny, and distracted after that. :(

Good things: I got a glass pie plate from a garage sale, there was free chocolate covered cheesecake on a stick, and plenty of cheese samples to go around (after my run in with the wasp I was in no mood for cheese, but I picked up a block of peppered havarti). Bf was my sugar daddy for the day and kept us in lemonade, corn dogs and porkchop sandwiches. Good eatin.

Please advise how to train bf or kid to take a bogdamn picture of me when we go somewhere. I feel invisible - most of my out and about picture sets are of everyone else.

American Beauty

My film class has got me looking at film in different and new ways - because our book mentioned American Beauty, I picked it up from the library.

I remember liking some of the film when I saw it the first time - I understand a lot more of the world now, and I liked some of the same things, but I still was not very happy with the first 2/3 of the film.

The writing and direction was toward very specific performances for all of the characters, namely wooden and stilted for a majority of them, with a little over the top perfectionism from Annette Benning's character, with some (faux) teenage sluttery for Mena Suvari. During the first half of the film this is very annoying.

The last 30 minutes or so the energy of the film really takes off. The characters start INTERACTING with each other. The anger that they feel has been dissipated, they appear really human for the first time. I understand the film is about this very thing, but I wish there could have been more warmth before the denouement. It is just a frustrating film. And a very very very white one.

All those complaints aside, there is wonderful use of colour in the film, and Annette Benning gives a fantastic performance. Okay, and I can appreciate Kevin Spacey's character letting go of the world in the way he does. I can appreciate it A LOT.

[ps. A pox on my insomnia! I have to be up in less than 5 hours, damnit.]

One Million Ways to Die

spit take, anyone?

My Anthropology of Myth, Magic and Religion is helping me look at religion with new eyes.

But I still laughed out loud at this:



Thank goodness I wasn't drinking anything at the time.

I got one more for you. Go on, click. You know you want to.

What kind of worker would *you* like to see being helped by Jesus? First on my list is "Toll Booth Worker", and then maybe "Brazillian Waxer", followed by "Medical Examiner" and "Stripper".

Cheese Days!

Today bf and 7 year old and I are heading out to Monroe for Cheese Days!

I hope to re-learn the polka (although that's at one, and it's a bit of a drive, so we might not make it...), and of course, eat some cheese. When we cemented our plans this week I swore off cheese until today! Actually, I feel pretty good. I've been eating far too much cheese lately.

This morning I had miso soup with diced white potato (these are great potatoes, large but not as long as a russet, with a very thin, pale brown skin and a firm white flesh). The miso was a pale yellow rice miso. It came in a small package and as I usually can't finish the larger packets of fresh miso, I snapped it up. At 59 cents it was a great deal. I love the Asian Food Market. Definitely must go there more often.

Now I'm finally tucking into a cup of very strong coffee.

And soon, we'll be in the car, on our way to the land of beer (Huber/Berghoff Brewing) and cheese, glorious cheese! There is a day long swiss cheese demo. They are making a 200-pound wheel with a play by play.

Finally, I'll take some pictures of something. Cheese, maybe?

Tonight is a party with chums* from my writer's group. That should be a blast.

*Who am I, Martin Prince?
[OMG, the woman who voices Martin also is the current voice of Minnie Mouse, and she is married to the man who is the current voice of MICKEY MOUSE. That is crazy.]

Fie! or, Insomnia sux

Okay, the pattern has emerged. One day up for 20 or so hours, the next day up for 18 or so, and so on for 5 days and then I CRASH and sleep for as much of a day as I can.

I don't WANT to be up, but I feel compelled to be.

Fie! I spit in the eye of this vexation, or I would, if it were corporeal.

Two things to note. I pass on this article from The Guardian in the form in which it came my way. Without comment (although a lot could be said about this. At least I think so).

And another. The Shire is a building development in Bend, Oregon promising "English Elegance, Old World Charm, A Village Community. I cannot do it justice, just click.

I have been ironing for nearly an hour. Apparently I did a lot of laundry this week, but never looked at it until late last night. Clean clothing abounds.

Cooking

I've been cooking a lot lately.

I made lemon curd from scratch the other day. I was going to make an 'angel pie' (meringue crust, lemon custard, whipped cream and strawberries, yum!), but the 97% humidity made the meringue crust not work correctly. It tasted wonderful, but wasn't quite right. Also, the lemon custard stuff that was in the recipe ended up burning in the pan I used, so I scrapped it and made a proper lemon curd.

I've wanted to try my hand at lemon curd for at least 4 years, so I'm pretty pleased that I got around to it (I'll be going to Ireland any day at this rate). It takes much less lemon than I'd thought: the rind of two lemons and the juice of one. Combine that with sugar (1 cup, I think), butter (1 stick) and eggs (four, well beaten). It's a lot of stirring in a double boiler, but man, it's well worth it.

Tonight I made cranberry apple sauce, all with Wisconsin ingredients. That was cool.

I also made a Thai curry that was incredible. I went to what used to be called Asian Midway Foods and got some incredible, inexpensive curry paste, and those great little round eggplants. It was very tasty.

For dessert, I took some (organic and actually really good) strawberries, sliced - some cream whipped with a bit of powdered sugar - and the lemon curd and layered them. Really wonderful. I'm going to make some Tollhouse cookies tomorrow. I got the idea from Cooking for Engineers. I wonder if they will taste like they did when I was a kid? It seems as though everyone would make Tollhouse cookies, not chocolate chip ones. They used to always have commercials for the nestle chocolate morsels, where someone [a housewife] would make the recipe from the back of the package. Honestly, I don't remember ever having another brand of chocolate chip in the house, ever. Now I usually buy Eileen's, which are inexpensive and consistently good. Today I picked up some fancy pants Ghiradelli ones because I was at the Willy St. Coop.

I picked up some ground pork to make Ma Po Tofu, I guess I'll do that tomorrow night. Remind me to pick up some rice tomorrow after class. Or I could just make brown rice... That wouldn't be bad, would it?

Bf is asleep and I feel like talking. Although I won't, I'm tempted to poke at him and wake him up! But that would be inconsiderate.

Wisconsin Book Festival, for real this time

For years I've been planning to go to the Wisconsin Book Festival. This year I gotta go.

Neil Gaiman is going to be on a panel, and Marge Piercy! And tons of other authors who I haven't read (and some I have). So this year, I am REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY gonna go.

Really.

American Family - Emergency Code Whitey

American Family Emergency Code Whitey

I can't explain this, but it made me laugh so hard.
Racial identity struggles are a nearly daily thing for me - and with my kids appearing white, we have them as a family as well.

Yesterday I confided in my Anthro prof that I'd been going through one of those periods where I notice just how many people are white around here.

"Does that ever happen to you?" I asked him?

"All the time" was his reply.

Sometimes it's just necessary to check in with someone who knows what the hell you are talking about.

I'm a dork

I know it's not news to anyone, but I just realized it, in a happy sort of way.

It has something to do with the posters in the library. There's the "Neil Gaiman Recommends" poster and the "Slay Ignorance at the library" poster featuring the cast of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and the "Make it a Hobbit" poster featuring Elijah Wood as Frodo, and all of them make me feel oddly comforted.

Been here [school] working VERY HARD (don't laugh, it's true for once) all day, and I need some food...

On violence

Okay, here's the scoop.

I slept, although not for the 8 hours my psyche wanted.

A little less happy-pants for LOST as I get through the stories of Season 2. All of a sudden the women are gone, not the focus of any of the flashbacks nor participating much in the island day-to-day. Plus, every body is going crazy and doing shit that makes me angry.

I did like a really cool tense moment in the hatch just now (hieroglyphs? what?!?).
Still mad about how they split up the happy family of Claire, Charlie and the huge baby.

Lastly, knowing what fate befalls Ana Lucia is keeping me from wasting any time hating her, mostly. BUT I HATE HER!!! Fuck!

Also, Jack's marriage should have had more lead up.

Oh, and the per-disc special features are paltry, just one episode commentary, and there isn't even one on every disc!

Plus, I want to see Rose and Bernard together!

Brick Wall

I barely slept again last night. I'm knackered.
Skipped class and am laying about, listlessly.

Feel as though I am getting a cold.

So tired, but can't fall asleep.

I even skipped my usual coffee this morning, so I'd have a better chance at sleeping.

Oy.

LOST Season 2

Hmmm.

I've got some INSANE insomnia going on. I've been up since 1 am! I *did* get to bed before 9 last night, but COME ON!!!

So, it turned out to be a good thing that I broke down and rented disc two of the second season of LOST. I've been lamenting the heyday of the early 90s when there were so many shows with coloured people (okay, I suppose it was nearly all black people, so it wasn't perfect). Not only as the token best friend or sassy office mate, but entire shows about them (I'm thinking of "Living Single" here). And the ones I can think of were all comedy shows.

But Season 2 of LOST is full of stories of brown people and I like that very much.

Also, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Mr. Eko) is fine like wine! [Apparently, he was the latest of the LOST cast to be charged with traffic violations. The list is a long one, check it out here.]



But why they gotta have the black man walking around without his shirt on? No, I'm not complaining about having to see his body. Yes, he's not the only cast member to walk around half nekkid, but I reserve the right to be...curious.

The bitchy blonde I was complaining about when I first watched Season 1 has met her end, right when she was redeemed in my eyes. The writers seem to have hit their stride with the cast from Season 1 - although the Kate/Sawyer/Jack triad needs something. I could live with a threesome, but I'm guessing it will be a bit more tame.

---

In other DVD news, Arrested Development fans should RUN out now and buy Season 3. There are some amazing bits in it. I can't imagine they actually thought they'd be picked up for another season, they are throwing story lines and crazy bits around like candy. I'm about halfway through the 13 episodes and I've laughed out loud plenty of times. Scott Baio is great as Bob Loblaw, and there was a silly joke about his blog. David Cross delivers the line, "...Bob Loblaw's Law Blog..." with aplomb (seriously, say it out loud - LOLZ, innit?)!

---

To bring it back where we started: I'm buzzing from my 3:30 am cup of coffee. I need to go clean my house. I'll have to post about the 5 year old halloween outfit I found while cleaning up this morning. I'm wearing it now! It's cute.

Lastly - why does Blogger spell check not know the word BLOG?

Oh hell

So apparently my way of approaching school is this: pick one class that is "hard". Focus most of my attention on that class. Avoid doing work for other classes (mostly reading, oddly enough, because I love to read, I should be doing it, right?) to give self more time to do work for "hard" class, which, in reality isn't much more difficult than other classes.

The biggest part of this may be that I'm actually seeing this semester as turning out "okay" after all is said and done.

I am WAY too hard on myself.

WAY TOO HARD.

It's weird.

More disturbing? Both of my kids are hard on themselves like I am hard on me. Both are exceptional students. Older excelling in math and science, younger excelling in reading and math. Both think they could do much better.

That scares the hell out of me.

Best approach? If you are me, it's renting the first disc of LOST 2nd season, and cursing yourself for not just renting a couple more (or better yet buying the damn thing), 6 chapters of reading be damned.

Pucker up

Well, the vinegar pie was eaten this evening.
I was very curious about how it would go over with bf, and how I'd like it.

As I thought about it, I realized that the pie was probably very similar to a lemon meringue pie (sans meringue), with vinegar in the place of lemon. I can imagine people making this in the dead of winter when there were no lemons in sight, or anytime lemons were too expensive to purchase.

The pie was warmed up near room temperature, and was garnished with a small slice of pecan and pumpkin pies.

It was a sweet and slightly tangy egg custard, with a dusting of cinnamon on top. The cinnamon was barely noticeable, but I do think it added something. I'd like to try a Chess Pie (from the Fanny Farmer cookbook), which is an egg custard pie (similar to pecan) with cornmeal and a little apple cider vinegar. It will be quite tasty, I'm sure.

Bf had two pieces and I sent two home with him, so it was somewhat a hit.

The Recipe I used was from cooks.com, and is the simplest I've found. Many of them were for a cooked custard poured into a baked crust. This one is for a custard mixed and then baked in the crust.

Vinegar Pie

1 c. sugar
2 eggs
1/8 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. butter
1 c. cold water
3 tbsp. flour
4 tbsp. vinegar
Sprinkle of cinnamon
1 unbaked pie shell

Mix sugar and salt with softened butter. Add eggs and blend well. Make a smooth paste of the flour and a little of the water. add to sugar mixture with vinegar and remaining water. Pour filling into the unbaked pie crust and sprinkle lightly with cinnamon. Bake at 425 degrees until edge of crust is golden brown, then reduce heat to 350 degrees. Bake until silver knife blade inserted in filling comes out clean. Makes 6 servings.

You can see it's an incredibly cheap pie to make - if you make your own pie crust, it would be less than a dollar per pie. I bought mine, which would likely put the pie at or just over $1.

I wanted to note, before I forgot, that the pumpkin pie I made was "missing something", and I've finally figured out what it was. I was feeling lazy, so I just used the pie recipe on the back of the pumpkin can. It called for 1 Cup of white sugar, and I'm used to making it with at least some brown sugar. There were no bottom notes to the stuff, it seemed insubstantial. Also, I usually make my pumpkin pie very low in fat, which is nice because, after all, they are made of vegetables and it just makes sense. But I remember the really dense, rich pies my grandmother would make and I want to try one made with cream instead of evaporated milk. Just once, to see how it tastes.

And yes, I'm pretty sick of pie. Bf ordered pizza today, two different pies from Glass Nickel, so all told we ate 5 kinds of pie, including pizza pie.

An embarrassment of riches.

Crushing ignorance

By now you may be aware that "the Crocodile Hunter" is dead.

Cribbing from a journal entry I read elsewhere today, I ask you this: can you name one soldier from your country (assuming yours is a member of the coalition of the 'willing') who has died in Iraq?

Yeah, I can't.

Pat Tillman died in Afghanistan, and Jill Carroll was a journalist who was held captive for a long period of time, but I can't name one American service person who has died in Iraq.

Damn.

Nipples!

In addition to boar hogs, dogs, cats, all primates and many other animals feature the mamma masculina.

I've been thinking about male mammal nipples ever since my anthro prof mentioned them in class last week.

Mammals all have one thing in common: Milk parts. That got me thinking about which male non-human mammals had visible nipples, and a google search led me to this article at Salon (incidentally, this was published on my birthday seven years ago).

A more thorough look into this is necessary, but for now I will rest easy knowing that my nipple search was not in vain. But don't bother looking for nipples on a platypus of either sex. Apparently the milk just kinds of leaks out of them....

Pie crazy

After the blueberry pie I could not stop thinking of other kinds of pie I could bake.

On Sunday morning, bf and I were flipping through cable channels and found Miami Blues playing. It features, among other delights, a vinegar pie (a botched one). So I promised bf I'd bake him a vinegar pie.

Along with the vinegar pie I baked a pecan pie, a pumpkin pie and a savory pie, an egg and cheese pie with peppers.

The vinegar pie is being saved for when bf and I can get together and try it (and I will report on it here). The other three pies have been taste-tested, and are all very tasty.

The pecan (which I am eating right now) is much better after a night in the fridge. I like the custard inside cold.

Funny, I really want more blueberry pie.

---

Also, Wisconsin apples are FINALLY at the grocery store! Hooray! I started off with a bag of Paula Reds.

Banana Bread

Yum. I made banana bread muffins this morning, and instead of 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts (I hardly ever add nuts to my baked goods) I put in 1/2 cup of homemade granola. Funny thing, you can hardly taste the granola, it incorporated really nicely.

This is my all time favourite banana bread recipe. Very simple with few ingredients, but a lovely flavour. It comes out tender, just sweet enough and with a surprisingly buttery taste (the recipe contains no oil).

Banana Bread (from the Fannie Farmer Cookbook)

3 ripe bananas, mashed
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
2 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, chocolate chips, granola, blueberries or whatever you like - optional!

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Mix mashed banana and eggs until blended. Add sugar and mix well. In small bowl mix flour, salt and baking soda. Add to wet mixture, mix thouroughly. If using nuts, chocolate chips, etc., mix them in gently.

Put into one greased loaf pan OR 12 muffin tins (either greased or using paper baking cups).

Loaf bakes for 50 minutes or so, muffins in about 15 minutes, until the top is golden brown and the top is firm.

YUM!

Unfortunately I'm still up too late and I haven't done my reading for my 9:30 class...

Just completed my second writing assignment for my online class. Damn if I'm not getting to be a more disciplined writer. That feels really good.

If only doing lots of reading for my classes felt nearly as good.

I've got 2.5 chapters to plow through.

Or, I could take out Neil Gaiman's "Neverwhere" and relax for a bit.

---

In unrelated but disturbing news, I ran out of coffee beans and I've been drinking INSTANT COFFEE since Tuedsday morning. I must really love school, because believe you me, that hasn't happened, like, ever. Being a weirdo coffee snob I buy coffee that they don't sell at Woody's, and being busy I haven't had a chance to drive out of my way to get it. Soon, I swear it. The Maxwell House isn't all that bad.