This Blog is My Blog

A little update.

I'm running for president of my school's International Club; I stand a good chance at winning, too, because I'm apparently the only person who really gives a damn about it. I've volunteered for a five-hour shift at the Taiwan booth at the International Festival tomorrow, which should be interesting. It also secures me free entry to the festival on Sunday, so I should be able to do all of my Christmas shopping.

For today's meeting, I prepared a low-fat version of palak paneer (my favorite Indian dish - but since I've given up cheese, I replaced it with tofu) and served it with pita and toasted crickets. I hate to boast, but I prepared it with absolutely no fucking idea what I was doing and it came out wonderfully ...if I may say so myself. I actually spent about five hours working in the kitchen, either cooking or cleaning, and made enough to serve my parents. "I need to get my hair cut soon," I told my mom, "Otherwise I might turn into a woman." Har, har, har.

For the record, no one else made anything for the meeting. The teacher brought in green tea (GREEN FUCKING TEA. How the hell is that exotic?! I drink like sixty ounces a day!) and someone else brought in a bag eggrolls from Panda Express. Oh no, I'm not smug...not at all.

Anyway, the crickets were a hit. Most of the other members are freshmen or sophomores, meaning that they don't yet know how weird I am (fresh bloooood! hahaha). Other juniors and seniors wouldn't even blink an eye if I brought a sack full of fried scorpions wrapped in seaweed for lunch.



Arlecchino (the chameleon) is doing well. He went through his third molt yesterday and came out more beautiful than ever - he's developed vertical bands of alternating emerald and jade, with faded orange stripes between them and white horizontal streaks. That's his relaxed state; when he's sleeping, he still turns pale green, and when he's hunting he gets patches of bright teal and yellow. Beautiful, beautiful creature.... I apologized for eating all of his crickets.

Hot Vegetable Soup:

Makes about two cups, with approx. 275 calories total
Ingredients (can be fudged with whatever is convenient)
- 1/2 cup leftover black beans
- 3/4 cup frozen green peas
- 1 cup frozen collared greens
- 1/2 carrot, chopped
- 2 tablespoons old salsa
- 1 hot red chili pepper

Directions:
Pop everything in a blender. Season with garlic powder, pepper, basil, ect, ect to taste. Mix in blender until creamy, and then nuke it all in the microwave (you CAN drink it as a smoothie if you like, but 'hot vegan soup' is usually more socially acceptable than 'cold vegetable smoothie).

Ghetto Sauteed Mushrooms:

Ingredients:
- Handful of mushrooms
- Seasoning (optional...I suggest, again, pepper and/or garlic powder)

Directions:
Put mushrooms in a glass bowl. Put bowl in microwave. Microwave on high for three minutes. I usually take it out and stir at the halfway point (1:30 obvious) but I don't think it's really necessary. Eat, or mix with soup/pasta/ect.

 

I was dreaming this morning about opening a letter detailing the fate of an old friend. I was just about to open it when I woke to the sound of clinking, as though dishes were being banged together. I looked around my room but couldn't figure out where the noise was coming from - it sounded as though it was in my walls. I slid my dresser drawers closed and it stopped, so I went back to sleep.

Sometime later I heard it again, although softer and nearer to my bed. I sat up and moved around until I knew precisely where it was coming from - there's a space between the back of the chimney that runs through my room and the logs of my walls. I suspected that it was coming from inside one of the logs, so I knocked on it but whatever was making the noise did not seem to notice.

The noise was a scritching; other times it sounded like a marble rolling across a floor. I poked a broken pencil through the crack experimentally and it changed immediately to something like a cross between a buzzing bee and a cat's growl. It got really loud for a few moments and then turned back to the scritching marble noise. I lay back down and tried to sleep, but it was too near and too loud. "Piss off," I said angrily, and waited. When it didn't piss off, I took my dagger from beside my bed and thrust it through the cracks - the angry cat/bee noise returned, and I poked around until it fell silent. I shrugged, and went downstairs to sleep on the couch instead.