Thursday, June 30, 2005

The Adventures of Jack and Squirrel!

Well, I finally decided to name her Squirrel. If a squirrel and a cottontail rabbit had a torrid affair, their offspring would look just like her. We let them rampage around the bathroom for a bit, and we took some pictures. Here is one of Jack, and several of Squirrel.


Captain Jack Sparrow




Squirrel


Squirrel



and more Squirrel




Unfortunately I wasn't able to get any pictures of the two of them together, but that's next on the To Do list.

I made my famous Orange-Dijon Chicken tonight. I haven't made it in at least a year, which is crazy, because it's one of my favorite recipes. Anyone curious to try the recipe can either as for a copy of it, or bribe me to make it for your. Trust me, it's worth it.

I think I finally made the decision to stick with Drifting Visions (another of Smitty's brilliant suggestions, once again, he is my hero) for the name of my website. Stav got started on the graphics for the webpage. So far it is really simple. Black background, white lettering...all that fun stuff. I am basically going for whatever will set off the photographs the best. I am still madly editing photos until my eyes start to bleed. Part of the problem is that I've been working on them on four different computers, my desktop and laptop, and Anthony's desktop and laptop. And yeah, we own too many computers, I am actually aware of that. But that's slowing me down because I keep having to burn CD's and send emails to myself. Pain in the ass is what it is. But I am already loving the way the site looks and getting really excited about the idea of it.

Wednesday, June 29, 2005

Well I'm Surprised

I was so worried about introducing Jack to the new bunny. Apparently I was crazy. Anthony and I put them in the kitchen together, and for the first 20 minutes or so they basically ignored each other. They hopped around checking out the new room and occasionally sniffed each other. We decided to put them in the big cage, and they've spent the past hour or so checking the cage out and getting acquainted. So far they've been eating hay together and she's been licking his ears. It was adorable. I can't wait till I see them snuggling together asleep. I spent a couple hours reading through various articles explaining all of the steps you should take to introduce them and all of the things that can possibly go wrong. I didn't actually need to worry about any of that I guess. I had visions of fur flying and a dead and or bleeding baby bunny. Instead, they're best friends. Further proof that you can never predict how people or animals will behave.

Tuesday, June 28, 2005

Baby Bunny

I bought a bunny last night. I know, I've become obsessed. I was at the pet store about a week and a half ago, and saw the cutest baby bunny. She is part Netherland Dwarf (mixed with something else unknown) and she looks like a wild rabbit. She has that brown fur, and a little white tail. She was sweet and cuddly and really laid back. I didn't even consider getting her then, she was $30, and I figured my parents would murder me if I bought a critter. I talked to my mom about it a couple of days later. I didn't even suggest getting it, just that I was completely in love with her. Well, a few days after that when I talked to her on the phone she said "your dad and I talked about it, and if you want to get the bunny, you can." I think my jaw hit the floor. I told her I'd take a couple of days to think about it. As much as I'd love a friend for Jack, they are kind of time consuming. I decided to get her if she was still there. Last night I went to the pet store, and she was the only bunny left, so I got her! She's 6 weeks old, fits in my hands cupped together and is so friendly. I am going to take some pictures of her this week and I'll post them as soon as I get them done.

I haven't introduced her to Jack yet, I am going to let her relax and get to know me for a few days before I stress her out like that. Thursday I am going to barricade myself in Anthony's kitchen with the two bunnies and see what chaos ensues. It could be love at first sight or a nightmare. It should be interesting either way. I am not sure what I am going to name her yet. Since I already have one named Captain Jack, I am tempted to name her Ginger. After all, Jack and Ginger just seems to go together. Mmm, good drink. Anthony is suggesting Scallawag, in keeping with the whole pirate theme. She also kinda of looks like a squirrel, so I could just call her that. Any suggestions or comments on the name idea would be appreciated.

Monday, June 27, 2005

Dreams, Cops and a BBQ

I had the oddest dream the other night. I think I've been watching too much Law and Order lately. I had a dream that I stabbed a plastic surgeon (multiple times) because he had been experimenting on homeless guys. How does my brain come up with stuff like this?? I always have such odd, vivid dreams. The weird thing is, dreams like that never upset me. I woke up from it feeling completely calm. But this morning just before I woke up, I had a dream that Anthony and I were arguing. Granted it's not something we actually seem to do in real life, but in the dream, we were definitely getting pissed about something completely ridiculous. Why is it that getting in an argument is more upsetting than committing murder. (shakes head) I am not quite right in the head.

I went to a party at the neighbors' Saturday night. Fun party as usual, but for some reason the neighbors decided to call the cops. Apparently it was the old lady who lives behind me. At 12:30 the cops showed up and broke it up. The old lady called in a noise complaint. It's a party, in a college town, on a Saturday night. What do you expect to have happen?? We back right up to a 'real' neighborhood though, so I think she's probably just cranky that students live near her. I've decided when it's this hot and humid and I haven't had much to eat or enough water to drink in a day, I probably shouldn't go to a party and drink. I had two gin and Sprites (for lack of tonic) and a shot. I wasn't drunk, I just felt horrible. After I got home I ended up taking a nap in the bathtub for a half hour. I felt a lot better after, and once I had a little bit to eat and some water to drink I was alright. It's just weird. I've never been that overheated while drinking I guess.

I went back over there Sunday for a BBQ. They had them all the time last summer, and they are always entertaining. Although, this time we kept wondering if the cops were going to break it up because we were wafting aromas in the cranky neighbor's general direction. It was a good weekend, although I am looking forward to next weekend even more. Anthony doesn't work and we'll have three days where we have NOTHING that has to get done. Such a wonderful thought.

Friday, June 24, 2005

Alcohoroscope

Your Sagittarius Drinking Style

In vino veritas -- and, for you, in booze blurtiness. When battered, you'll spill all your friends' secrets and many of your own.
Tactlessness aside, you are just plain fun to drink with.
You are under the sign of serious partying (what else would you expect from the sign of Sinatra, Keith Richards, the Bush twins and Anna Nicole Smith)?
You're the person who chat up everyone in the room, then persuades the entire crowd to travel somewhere else -- like a nightclub, or a playground, or Cancun.
Good-natured hijinks are sure to ensue (including a high possibility of loopy groping; a spontaneous Sag like you is a brilliant booty call).

Your Signature Cocktails
A travel-loving sign, Sagittarius might be intrigued by drinks like Moscow mules, Singapore slings -- perhaps even a Long Island iced tea (not a bad option, given how much you can put away and still stay vertical). Party monster that you are, you're attracted to shots, like the ever-popular lemon drop. You rules pears, and you could use a nice pear cider right about now, come to think of it.

Your Celebrity Drinking Buddies
Britney Spears, The Bush twins, Margaret Cho, Lucy Liu, Brad Pitt, Anna Nicole Smith, Jay-Z, and Jake Gyllenhaal.

What's Your Alcohoroscope?

Restless

It's 1am and I can't sleep, for the second night in a row. (sighs) It's the usual summer restlessness I think. The problem is, in the past I could go out and kiss/break the hearts of random boys. I need to find a new outlet for myself. Since Anthony probably wouldn't appreciate me going to the bar and making out with strangers, I guess I need to be creative. I've never been in a relationship in the summer before. It's kind of odd. But last year I met Anthony in June, we started dating, and here it is June again, and I've never been happier. That still doesn't necessarily help me sleep on warm summer nights when I get bored though. If I were smart, I would go out running or something, but I lack the ambition to get dressed and go. Pajamas are way too comfy at the moment, and I don't think satin pjs and barefeet are terribly good for running. I am not in the mood to read, and the thought of knitting right now just makes me cranky. I need something new and exciting to do before I go out of my mind with boredom. Any ideas?

Wednesday, June 22, 2005

Photos

I spent most of the afternoon scanning pictures for the website. I have a huge box with hundreds of photos. Tonight, I finally started to organize them. All of the photographs are out of the envelopes, sorted by size and put in shoe boxes. The negatives are in a separate box. I need to get some nice real photo boxes and then sort them by roll. I think I'll still keep the negatives separate, but they will be in order too, maybe not chronological order, cause I am way too lazy to do that much work, but at least marked with a number. That way I will know Negative One corresponds to Roll One. It's a fairly ambitious project, but more than worth doing. I've been wanting to do it for years now. I will (at some point) scan all of the negatives and photographs and burn them to DVD's too. But that's pretty far in the future. Unfortunately because I didn't have them organized, some of the pictures have gotten damaged. Scratched/bent/or otherwise messed up. But, on the photo envelopes I noticed the Kodak guarantee, as long as I have a photo that is printed on Kodak paper, with the negative, they will replace them for free, no matter what I did to them. I have all of the negatives, and I've never had them printed on anything but Kodak paper, so I should be all set. That's kind of a future project too, although before the massive scanning, cause there's no point in scanning damaged pictures. Unfortunately some of them that I need to put on the website are a little dinked up, so I will have to do some Photoshop editing. But, I could use some practice with Photoshop anyway, so it should be ok. I am getting excited about all of this. Other than Stepha's graduation pictures, I haven't done many lately, and I really miss photography.

Tuesday, June 21, 2005

Scanner!

I have a scanner to use!!! Anthony got one and I am so happy with it. I spent most of this afternoon going through boxes of pictures and scanning them. Anthony and Stav are going to put together a website for me. The website will have all of my photography on it, basically an online portfolio. I still need to go through all of my negatives too. There is a negative/slide tray that fits into the scanner, so I can scan them also. Once the website is put together I'll post a link on here. We're going to work on it next Tuesday I believe.

I am also having a lot of fun with www.last.fm , it is a basically an online radio station where you get to choose what you listen to. You set up a profile and make a list of music you want. It will either play just your music, or the music of the people you list as being a friend. It's kinda nice. Regular radio tends to annoy me because I don't like half the music, most of the DJ's are really obnoxious, and there are too many commercials. This is like a cross between playing your mp3 collection and radio. Only music you like, no commercials, but without the hassle of having to download music. Plus, it's a great way to preview music before you get around to buying it. And of course it's free, which makes me very happy. My user name is VampireSass (of course). If any of you join, let me know and I'll put you on my friend list. I supposed I should give credit where it's due, Smitty was the one who introduced me to it. Plus, I was having issues with it and he helped, so he's my hero.

Monday, June 20, 2005

Catching Up

Well, everything is transferred over from the other site. The order of posts is a little funky, but I don't have the ambition to play around with it tonight. Now it's time to catch up on what I've been doing lately.

I went home on Wednesday night, and had a doctor's appointment Thursday. That went fine, it was just my yearly checkup and I had the usual blood tests done. The lab tech was EVIL. She missed the vein in my arm, and WIGGLED the needle around to find it. So I now have a black and purple bruise the size of a quarter. Plus there is a nice shade of green around it. My arm was sore for two days. Because she was too lazy/in too much of a hurry I have to suffer. After that my mom and I went shopping, we went to Whole Foods and had lunch. Plus, I stocked up on all sorts of yummy food. I got running shoes too, cause I've finally decided I need to get my ass in gear again and run on a regular basis. I've been way too lazy and I need to get in shape again.

The 16th of June was the anniversary of Anthony and my first date. I got him flowers and something, um, fun for me to wear. I'll leave it at that. He got me a book with gorgeous black and white photos of couples from old movies. Sort of hard to describe, but really cool. Also, Phantom of the Opera on DVD, and he took me out for sushi. Mmm, sushi. It was so good. I love Sushi Ya, they are amazing. There was a bit of confusion with what we ordered, so we got an eel roll for free. We also went to see Batman Beyond. I love it. It was exactly what I wanted the other Batman movies to be like. I've had a mental image of a dark, tortured Batman in my head, and the other movies were just too cheesy. This one made me so happy. I won't pretend it's the best movie that's ever existed, but it was at least a great Batman movie.

Today we went strawberry picking with my parents. Unfortunately we didn't have much luck with the berries, the weather has been so weird. Most of them were either unripe or rotting. We got enough berries to make it worthwhile though. I was going to make strawberry shortcake tonight, but there was a lack of baking soda and I didn't have the ambition to go get some at 10:30 at night. Maybe tomorrow.

Ugh, time to go to bed I think. I am really tired, my eyes are dry, and my calves are sore from running today. Good thing I'm cute, cause I am definitely falling apart.


Your Seduction Style: Siren / Rake





You possess an unbridled sensuality that appeals to many.
The minute you meet anyone, you can make the crave you almost immediately.
You give others the chance to lose control with you... spiraling into carnal bliss.
A dangerous lover, you both fascinate and scare those you attract.






Jack on a Leash

June 14, 2005

We took Jack out for a walk today at Anthony's apartment. He is starting to have fun on the leash and the harness. He's so cute hopping around. People give us the weirdest look when they see a pet rabbit on a leash, especially in the middle of a city. He explored the front yard, the sides of the house and around the back. He is definitely a fussy rabbit though, after he touches anything that could possibily get him dirty, he stops and cleans his paws. Spectacular, I have an OCD rabbit. 'Must wash...so dirty...yahhh.' (shakes head) only I would end up with a weird little critter like that. He is SO cute though, and it's so much fun to see him get excited about exploring the outdoors.


Picnic and "Mr. and Mrs. Smith"

June 13, 2005

We went on our picnic yesterday. It was awesome. I made deviled eggs with an herbed mustard and a mandarin orange wild rice salad. We had our three types of cheese with crackers, grapes and a really good French white wine. It was so nice to just take some time and relax in a gazebo in the park and enjoy myself.

After the picnic we went to see "Mr. and Mrs. Smith". It was AWESOME. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. It's not a life changing movie, but it was more than worth spending 6 dollars and 2 hours of my time on. It was funny, romantic and the action scenes kicked ass. I'm not obsessed over Brad Pitt like a lot of people are, but I did do my share of drooling over his abs in "Fight Club". As much fun as he was in this movie he doesn't compare to Angelina Jolie. She is ridiculously HOT. I always want to laugh at the people who say violence isn't sexy. Either they are too uptight to admit it or they've never seen Angelina Jolie shoot a gun. This is by far one of the most fun movies I've seen in a while. It's even worth actually buying the DVD instead of just renting and copying.


IQ Test

June 12, 2005

Your IQ Is 130

Your Logical Intelligence is Above Average
Your Verbal Intelligence is Genius
Your Mathematical Intelligence is Genius
Your General Knowledge is Genius





Lansing City Market

June 10, 2005

There's a market in Lansing that is amazing. Anthony and I have been driving past it for weeks, and haven't had a chance to stop. We finally went yesterday afternoon and I am so thrilled with it. There are two long aisles with a courtyard in the middle. One side has a stands with fresh vegetables, fruit and cheese. The other aisle has gift shop stuff and the courtyard is full of plants and other garden stuff. We only had about 15 minutes before they closed so we spent most of our time in the food section. I nearly went out of my mind at the cheese stand. There were THREE cases of imported cheese. (moans) I have actually found heaven. There are hundreds of cheeses within several miles of me. Does life get better??

Unfortunately between the two of us we only had about 10 dollars in cash. So we rationed it out for two homegrown tomatoes and three quarter-pound slices of cheese. We got Applewood Smoked Cheddar, Derbyshire Sage Cheddar, and Fourme d'Ambert bleu. The tomatoes were amazing, I chopped one of them up with a zucchini and baked it over salmon. We haven't tried the cheese yet, I think we're going to have it with wine on a picnic this weekend. And yes, if you were wondering, this journal is probably going to be mostly me talking about cooking. Deal with it.




I'm Doing it Again

June 10, 2005

A few years ago I had journal entries I was posting on the photo website Erin and I have. No one ever read it, so I got lazy and quit posting. I make no promises that there will be anything terribly enthralling in here, or that I'll update it on a regular basis, but I'll do my best.

Journal Site

I tried a different journal site, and like it a lot except for one little problem. You have to be a member to leave comments...which is just irritating. (sighs) So far the only journal site I've seen that looks great is type pad, but I am way too poor to be spending money for something like this. So, I am trying out this site. I'll also do a post with all of my stuff from the other site.