ad astra!

WTF do we watching this for?
I know I don’t want to sit home an a friday night and hear all about the sex lives of a group of 40 year old women who I have nothing in common with (especially not the same income bracket).

If you were say, out on a Saturday night for a martini (having, perhaps, an actual sex life), and ran into four 40 year old women would the first thought in your head be, “Wow, I wonder how much action they’re getting!”?

To me, a gathering of 4 middle aged women reminds me more of a bridge game or an advertisement for various incontinence products moreso than a prime opportunity to catch some steamy gossip about the over-40 straight singles scene.

Bean & Bacon soup

This hearty soup is easy to make with off-the-shelf ingredients for quick and easy prep.

• 1 package pre-cooked bacon, shredded
• 2 cups sliced mushrooms
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 cans reduced sodium beef broth
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 cans cannellini beans
• 12 oz dark beer (Bass, Guinness, Newcastle, etc)
• about 1/3 teaspoon each of oregano, basil, thyme
• 1 tablespoon black pepper
• about 1/2 teaspoon salt or seasoned salt
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 410mL water (about 1&1/4 cup)

Cut the bacon into small, thin, spoon-size pieces and combine with mushrooms in a large pot. Brown the mushrooms & melt the fat on the bacon over medium heat for about 5 minutes. At this point you can either drain the remaining fat or leave it in. Add the onion, celery, and garlic, sweating for 5-10 more minutes. Reserve about 1/4 cup of the liquid from 1 can of beans, and drain & rinse the rest. Add beans and liquid to pot along with 1 can of broth, seasonings to taste and the bay leaf. Be careful not to use too much salt, as the bacon already has plenty. Bring to a rolling boil, then add the beer and brown sugar. Boil for about 2 minutes, then add the remaining broth and water and return to a boil for about 5 minutes, or until the bubbles from the beer are gone. Reduce this to a nice volume but not until stewy. Cover and simmer on low heat for 30-45 minutes, removing the bay leaf about halfway through. Serve with a good crusty bread. Serves 6-8.

“He came up to us beaming,” the Post quoted an agent as saying. “He said, ‘You are a great man.’”
via the BBC

Fictional things our intelligence systems have tracked:
1. Santa
2. WMDs in Iraq

Got the car started. I’m about to start it up again & see if it’ll start. If not, the alternator’s probably shitted out.

Oh joy of joys.

I hate my car. There’s so much work that needs to be done to it that I don’t have the money for, and now little things that I do need fixed immediately are cropping up.
Last Wednesday the driver’s side window got stuck. Rolled down, of course. There was a great big freezing rain/sleet/snow storm rolling into town, so I figured I had better get it fixed before that. I got it propped up on Friday for $50, but I don’t think it works at all now. I’m sure not gonna try it until it’s nice and warm.

Then Friday night I got stuck in my driveway, and I left the lights on while Josh and I shoveled and shoveled, and it wouldn’t start after that. Thankfully we have this battery charger that Mike borrowed from his brother in law, so I was able to get it started with that.

Saturday I had to take Josh to the bus station, but my car wouldn’t start again. I ended up borrowing Barb’s mom’s car (bless her!) and then came home and charged my battery up. It started fine Saturday and Sunday, but today I went out there and it wouldn’t start. It’s trying to crank but it’s like it doesn’t have enough power. Either that or it’s too cold; it was 11 degrees outside, but it’s exhibiting all the symptoms of a dead battery.

So I borrowed Elinor’s car again today (thank you!!) so I could get to work. I guess tomorrow I’ll play with it more. Hopefully I can at least get it up and running so I can take it somewhere and get a new battery installed. Which I guess will cost around $120. Hopefully I can call around and find it somewhere for less; I’d buy one at Meijer but it doesn’t look like a job I can do myself; it’s not in a place where it just comes right in and out and I have no idea how to do it anyway. So it might behoove me to shell out the $30 to have someone else monkey with it.

So… I’ll be spending any and all money I might’ve bought other people stuff with. I guess you’re all gonna have to get your own crap this year. Sorry.

“Mice suspected in deadly cat fire”
via the BBC

Mice may be responsible for a blaze that killed nearly 100 cats at an animal shelter near the Canadian city of Toronto, officials say.

In 1980, when Obama was a freshman at Occidental College in Los Angeles, he was approached by an aspiring photographer named Lisa Jack, who asked him if he would be willing to pose for some black and white photographs that she could use in her portfolio.

“Who throws a shoe? Honestly! You fight like a woman!”

It’s been a decent week so far. I got to Ann Arbor Monday afternoon, did errands with Brad. I also had a cold so Tuesday & Wednesday I pretty much stayed in and made origami stuff. I learned how to make a new bird form and a decent rabbit, as well as a basic kinda doggie. The dogs stack together well, and you can make it look like they’re making more paper dogs.

And I learned that the trick with origami rabbits is to just make one, cuz you know what rabbits do.

Wednesday I slept a lot but got a haircut and dinner with Brad, and then we went to the shop to work on the set he needs to build, which is going to consume our time this weekend, too.

I might go see Slumdog Millionaire in a bit, but I’m not sure yet.

I don’t want to go back to work on Monday. Or ever, really! Haha. If only.

In my experience of the world, any man over the age of 25 who hasn’t outgrown wearing a baseball cap is either bald or balding.

Just so you know.

I’m on vacation until December 14.