It's a very photographic day here at the Survey. They've set out this big box of 35mm cameras and lenses and filters and such because they are "old and useless" but they hope that someone will be able to use the lenses on their digital cameras or something. See, since it it Survey property they can't sell them or give them away. They must stay in in-house use or be exiled to the dusty Noble warehouse or sent to Surplus to process and sell. It's a travesty I tell you. I'd buy them all! You know me and old cameras.

Otherwise, I lugged my scanner in to the office because they needed me to scan some old slides left by a Dr. Bell. The slides are in these metal and glass cases so they can't use their slide loading scanner here and if they take them out of the cases they're too flimsy for that. Luckily my scanner is awesome. It's been a lot of fun scanning this in because I get to see some beautiful pictures of pottery, pipes, and all kinds of artifacts, as well as the occasional mound (like Cavanaugh Mound, which we didn't find on that day of mound viewing... The one that's now in a trailer park, if I remember correctly) and skeleton.

Otherwise... I feeling a little brittle. Just too much at once, I guess. And, as per usual lately, I seem to combat this with little cooking experiments.

The first was really easy -- tempura vegetables. Oh man they were so good! Especially the kabocha squash. Mmmmm... For the main dish, however, was...



...okay, just kidding! I wouldn't know what to do with a duck head (let alone a whole pack) and I am not sure that I feel brave enough to try one right now. However, they did have duck legs (and pretty cheap) at Super Cao so I figured I'd give it a shot. That same cookbook I've been using so much lately had a recipe for Thai curry duck. Well, my curry didn't come out appetizing at all -- I think I misjudged duck cooking time so the curry cooked too long while I waited for the duck to finish. However, the duck itself was pretty tasty. The curry flavor had soaked into the meat, giving it a nice flavor. I may try this again sometime, but I think I'll perfect it with chicken first since I am more familiar with how that cooks. Then again, I have not been having much luck with poultry lately...

I couldn't help it. I had to buy these Christmas mice for my cats! It was a good buy, too 'cause Deimos has not been this excited about a toy mouse in a long time. Then again, maybe it was his recent adventure with a real mouse that's got him realizing that he can play with them himself. I only gave him one last night and he spent hours tossing it around... And he stole the rest in the night. I'm not sure where he stashed them except for the one he drowned in his water bowl.



Otherwise, nothing too exciting going on... I did cook two new meals out of that cookbook I've been using (the Best Recipes in the World by Mark Bittman). One turned out okay and but wasn't real great... It was "Chicken With Citrus Sauce" and was my first try at Caribbean food. I don't know if the taste was just too far out of my experience or if I needed real honey rather than the agave honey I had in my cupboard or what. It was an interesting experience, but I don't think it's something I would make again on my own. Maybe I should head down to Monique's Cafe and see if she has some on her menu. Then I could find out if I'd done it right...

The other recipe turned out great and was also an ethnic food first for me. This time it was Indian food: pork vindaloo.

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Hmm... I hope that the people in this town are happy that they voted against upgrading the library so they could have more police officers... Since the incident report online doesn't actually work and you can't place a non-emergency call to the police department if it's the weekend or outside of normal business hours. I did go buy a locking gas cap, though. Let's hope this isn't shutting the barn doors after the horses have already got out. :P

Yeah, I do these every time one comes through my friends' list, facebook, e-mail or whatever because it tickles me each and every time.

The rules are thus:

1.) Put your music player on shuffle (or use a music engine – no pre-programmed play list)
2.) Press forward for each question.
3.) Use that song title as the answer.
4.) NO CHEATING!!! What you get is what you get!
5.) Respond with your own thoughts on the Psychic Radio predictions.

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I have really discovered Amazon.com's free music. There are so many free samplers up there and I am getting all kinds of good stuff! For instance, I found out there's a new Joe Henry album out because there was one of his songs on the Amazon "Anti Sampler Fall 2009" called "The Man I Keep Hid." It's definitely another great one from him! (redfaerie -- you might be interested to know there is a Neko Case song on there as well). Mostly, however, I have been downloading all kinds of free world music samplers -- Turkey, Scandinavia, and all other kinds of places. There's plenty of fantastic stuff. How wonderful that I don't have to pay a cent for it! samedi you'll have to remember this when you get back to the States 'cause I know you'd love a lot of it (and probably end up putting many up on your radio_alouette! (I don't think you can download stuff if you aren't in the US, because I know it wouldn't let me when I was in Mexico a couple summers back... But maybe there is a closer Amazon that allows for downloads in South Korea with similar neat stuff?)

http://www.pandora.com/music/song/joe+henry/man+i+keep+hid Here ya go -- a sample of this song I'm loving so much. Otherwise I seem to be stuck on a lot of the songs from the Glee soundtrack ("Take a Bow", the "Halo" and "Walking on Sunshine" mash-up, and "Bust Your Windows" especially) plus some neat songs that katsuninken has sent my way (DJ Shah's "Poolshaker (Chillout Mix)" has been especially nice).

And... That's where I am stopping today. It would not be wise to let my mind and typing fingers wander around my mind too much today.

The books since last time.

65, 66 & 67. Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman's Rose of the Prophet series comprised of the Will of the Wanderer, the Paladin of the Night and the Prophet of Akhran. This is a series I read near the end of high school/beginning of college and remembered loving. Really, pretty much anything by the Weis and Hickman team was wonderful (I couldn't tell you about their newer stuff). Basically, a series mostly set in an Arabic themed continent dealing with conflicts amongst the gods. The first book was great, the latter two pretty okay. Like many series, it's the beginning book with all the explanations of the world, characters, magic and so on that really get me excited. Otherwise, it's a rather epic series and it does make me want to re-aquire more of their books and reread them (like the Darksword trilogy and that one titled something to do with stars, I think -- the total sci-fi one. I believe I still own the Deathgate Cycle which is an amazing series. Course, it may still be in AK... I need to get my books reorganized and alphabetized!).

68. Hunting Ground by Patricia Briggs -- I enjoyed it somewhat more than the first book, though I was disappointed with how they characterized the blind witch in this one. I don't know if she is much different than she was in her short story or if it's just that she isn't as clever sounding when you don't get to know her inner thoughts. I dunno, though, the main character -- Anne, I think -- still doesn't really make a lot of sense to me yet. I still feel like Briggs tried to make her too opposite of Mercy Thompson (her heroine in a related series) so that she doesn't really have much of a personality of her own.

69. the Gigolo Murder by Mehmet Murat Somer -- an okay mystery and it hasn't broken the series, but once again this one seems to be more about Turkish transvestite life than the mystery. I wish the books would be more like the first.

70. Grave Secret by Charlaine Harris -- the characters of this series never grabbed me as much as the ones in her Sookie Stackhouse novels, but the premise was interesting enough to keep me going. Basically that a woman struck by lightning in her youth gains the ability to sense dead people. They are sort of ghosts, but more like a last thought. She uses this talent to find missing people and, incidentally, solve murders. However, though decent, the series never really picked up for me all the way... Don't ask me why I have bought them all in hardcover when they first come out. This one answers a question that the whole series revolved around: what happened to her sister, her disappeared long ago. Kind of like the title character in the show Bones the main character of this series hopes and fears that she will someday stumble across the remains of her relative. I wonder if this resolution of this mystery means that the series is done?

71. Nine Gates by Jane Lindskold -- not a bad follow up to the first book of the series, though not quite as good. I guess, to me, the book was a lot of fun, but it wasn't as fascinating as the first one. The first one had a lot of world and magic system building, though, so of course I loved it. The characters in this book don't grow or progress near as much as they had in the first. The only one who does is sort of annoying and I don't buy most of it... But then I never really felt she fit anyway. I mean, really, elite warrior/magic user sent to our world on an important mission and she can't keep even the smallest and pettiest of emotions under control? Plus the resolution of the love triangle was weak. My only real beef with the book, though, was the introduction of Celtic magic. I just feel like it's become pretty cliche and there wasn't anything to indicate that this occurrence was going to be fresh and new. The central focus on Chinese-flavored magic was one of the things that made this series seem so interesting. Why dilute it? Oh, and the evil back country woman was also kind of annoying. I'm still excited for the next book to come out, though!

72. Motel of the Mysteries by David Macaulay -- a short, cute spoof of archaeology. In the far future the United States is known as a nearly mythical lost civilization (lost when it was buried beneath what turns out to be mountains of junk mail). A Victorian era style "archaeologist" discovers an Usan (U.S.) tomb (motel) and explains all the objects found inside such as the altar to the gods (television and stand), sarcophagus (bathtub), and ritual accoutrements and instruments (toilet seat and commode).

I've found that I love using my microplaner to zest citrus fruits because it just smells so darned good. So, finding two citrus recipes in a friend's old cookbook I just had to give them a shot. This Betty Crocker's Cookbook was published in 1976 so you can guess that there are some very interesting -- and often very colorful! -- recipes in it. I plan to mine it for more later. However, as for now, these two recipes are definitely going to end up in my personal cookbook when I get around to copying them down. Both recipes got rave reviews from my friends!

I hadn't used my cookie press in forever so I decided to go for the Orange Crisps recipe first. I may not have the cool camel shape that my mother's had when I was just a little tyke, but I still find cookie presses to be a whole lot of fun.



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I was getting ready for work today when my cat, Deimos, started making some crazy noises from my bedroom door. I glace at him and at first I thought he was wandering around with one of his toy mouse, carrying it around by the tail. Then it started to wriggle.

He actually had caught a real mouse! Course, then he meowed at me again and let the tail go and chased the mouse across the house... And actually caught it again, holding it by the scruff of its neck. I know that calms a lot of animals down... I can see how it helps when they are babies, but surely it's not so helpful once they are adults?

Anyway, I am not even sure Deimos knows the difference between a cat toy and a real mouse... Luckily the critter didn't appear to be hurt though, unluckily, it escaped Deimos before I could find someone to put it in so I could take it out to someplace more mouse friendly. I have to admit that resolve to not let my cats kill mice (should Deimos have figured out that he was supposed to) was wavering... But near as I can tell, the mouse hasn't been getting into my food or anything and it was really pretty with this dark stripes running down its back.

Anyway, it's kind of a weird feeling day... I dreamt all night about chasing and rescuing and I guess I woke up feeling like I was on a hamster wheel. All this movement, around and around and around and around and around and yet I don't ever seem to get anywhere near the things that I want. So I guess I am kind of numb today, though not completely numb because there is some terrible news I got yesterday pawing at my mind.

Maybe if I can catch the mouse (I set out that live animal trap that I got at Lowe's that is definitely too big for mice, but I'll give it a try anyway) I should put it in a terrarium. The mice were fun pets before.

Is this not awesome? The first pair of cufflinks I have ever owned and an awesome present. I even have some formal occasions coming up (three weddings -- so far -- next year) where I can show them off. Thank you geowench! Sorry to hear you were at the dentist -- and definitely that is a good reason to force me into Scrabble withdrawals. ;) It's funny how addicted I am to that game, even though I am not a terribly good player. But games are just fun. Man, I miss board game nights... ooh, which reminds me, must find a complete mahjong set...



Here's another cell photo for about_right. I am sure it is terribly normal to some people, but I find the figures rather creepy. Sort of medusoid tentacles rising from beheaded and dismembered torsos... Wish the camera phone had better focus, but, of course, most stores wouldn't look too kindly on me pulling out my camera and photographing their precious displays.



Speaking of medusoid... Here is the result of a tragic cookie press accident. Don't weep too harshly, though, they were tasty enough.

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My friend fwog19 is always mentioning this lumpia stuff she likes so, seeing that it was in the cookbook she got me (the Best Recipes in the World by Mark Bittman) I had to try making them. They ended up being extremely tasty even though I completely messed up the wrappers. I'm gonna need a lot more practice on those... At any rate, they ended up being sort of more like lumpia tacos than spring rolls.


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Here's another recipe from fwog19's the Best Recipes in the World by Mark Bittman. I made this last night and I'm really impressed -- we're two for two right now and we'll be seeing if we can be three for three in about an hour. Last night I tried a Turkish dish and maybe you'll recognize it since I've posted about it a few times. I've been questing to find a lahmacun recipe that tastes just like the ones we'd buy in Turkiye. This one may be the closest so far... It's got some closer qualities than the others I've tried... So it may be much more spot on if I can just get the dough rolled out thinner so I can lay the lamb on better. We'll see!

Incidentally, they were quite tasty as leftovers this morning.


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This recipe is the first I tried from the Best Recipes in the World by Mark Bittman, which I received from fwog19 for an early birthday present. The title seems presumptuous, but I have to say that this recipe lived up to the hype! It was fantastically good, even though I worried the whole way through that it might be too tomatoed up. I might use fewer tomatoes next time or perhaps some pureed ones or something... But it's not really necessary.

I picked this one first because a friend of mine made the same dish from an internet recipe he found and raved about it. I am not sure how this compares to his but I think I'll find out in the near future. This recipe definitely deserves to made many times again!

I know the photos are kind of weird... Guess I need to cook earlier in the day so I can have some sunlight! plus I need to find my little tripod...



Chilaquiles

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Saturday was really exciting. I received a birthday present from fwog19 in the mail -- a package full of fun things from recipes to glow in the dark frogs to cookies! You can expect that I will be trying some new dishes soon and I'll post them if they are any good. I am especially excited that there is a lahmacun recipe in there. Maybe it will work better than the ones I've already found. Someday I will have authentic tasting lahmacun and the taste of Turkiye will exist in my kitchen!

I may even try to make one of the recipes tonight (I have three that I am going to try right off) but it all depends on if I can get over this weird headache that is making me all kinds of nauseous. Anyway, away from headaches and back to an exciting Saturday.

I found out that Norman has a photo competition about Oklahoma trees. There were cash prizes and everything! However, I decided not to enter it because 1) I apparently can't subtract so I thought I had much less money in my account than I do and 2) the frame requirements and photo sizes and so on would have cost more money than I thought I had to spare, as well as time. Oh well, but maybe next year if I am still here!

Tim wanted to head down to Duncan to check out this used book store that was in the paper. It was a whole lot of fun because it felt like a real used book store -- unlike the ones in Norman. I shouldn't have, but I bought a small stack of sci fi. One was that Hambly book I had read ages ago and was trying to find (mentioned in that "does anyone know these books?" post), as well as two of the Rose of the Prophet books (wonder if I will still love them?), and some old BSG books just because. Being that it was Tim and I, we also wandered around and took lots of photos.



Those two are random Duncan, OK photos. Now here's one from Chickasha, OK.

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I just cleaned off my camera after a trip to Duncan, OK so I'll post more later. Maybe I'll even try to figure the Flickr thing out... But until then, I hope you enjoy this photo. I didn't need to go any farther than my local Hobby lobby for this gem of a find. Now I just need to figure out who I'll send this to with no explanation... (cue evil laughter)

I am more than a little creeped out that Walmart sells pet gravestones. Actually, what's worse is that they've clearanced them! Now, before anyone says anything about Halloween you've got to know that I took this photo before the holiday and actually noticed them in the clearance aisle long before that but didn't have the phone juice to take a photo. (wretched phone -- the darned thing still drives me nuts... Someday it will die and I will feel like I am allowed to buy a new one)



Er, I assume it's for pets. I guess it could be a BFF headstone?

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Hmm... haven't done a real book post in a while and my read book pile has been all mixed up on my shelves now that I've moved and all... Oh well, I'll just have to go with these five that I can recall (mostly because I read them since moving). Course, a lot of my free time went to watching Battlestar Galactica which had quite an ending... But in some ways it seemed like the last season didn't fit as well with the other seasons (plus many really annoying things happened). Anyway, on to books!

60. Proust Was a Neuroscientist by Jonah Lehrer -- just finished it this morning and it was an awesome book! Well, except maybe that one chapter... But anyway, I love how he shows that art and science can draw the same conclusions. In these cases, art came up with it first because many artists are trying to understand the way our humanness works. Lehrer also had such a wonderful criticism of post-modernism in his last lines. The big problem they have is that in deciding that no truth is perfect is that they've forgotten that not all imperfect truths are equally as imperfect. At any rate, I have his other book on order. It doesn't appear to be the same kind of book, but I bet it will be interesting. Something like "How We Make Decisions."

61. A Scattering of Jades by Alexander C. Irvine -- another excellent book. This is an historical fantasy set in earlier U.S. history, but dealing mostly with Aztec (and some Kentuckian Native American) legends. Part of what makes this book so fascinating is that I've not come across many fantasies based on Mesoamerican religions at all (usually people seem to stick to Celtic and/or Native American, and there's a bit of Japanese thrown in here and there) and certainly none went as in depth as this. There wasn't even a mention of Quetzacoatl (which seems to be where everyone goes if they are going to do some Mesoamerican beliefs), though Tlaloc, the Rabbit in the Moon, and others less well known to popular cultures make appearances. Anyway, the book is well written, entertaining, and I need to get more by this fellow.

62. Hollow Earth: The Long and Curious History of Imagining Strange Lands, Fantastical Creatures, Advanced Civilizations, and Marvelous Machines Below the Earth's Surface by David Standish -- it's hard to know whether to recommend this book or not. Really, what I'd need to do is recommend certainly carefully marked portions of the book. I've written bits about this one already, so I'll just say that the guy needed to figure out what kind of book he was writing. Was it a history of science? Literary criticism? Tongue-in-cheek jaunt? The latter chapters were most irritating because they were badly written criticisms of mole men movies and Tarzan's adventures at the center of the earth. Really. How does this fit with the earlier chapters about scientific calculations and theories about how the earth was hollow? And don't call my lovely B sci-fi movies only good if you are a stoned teenager. Jerk.

63. Creepy Susie: and 13 Other Tragic Tales for Troubled Children by Angus Oblong -- a very short, twisted and amusing book. That's really all you can say. Also, watch the show. It's hilarious (and you can see how the book was a rough draft for it).

64. Monster Garden by Vivien Alcock -- yep, a kids' book. I picked it up at a library book sale and it's still almost as fun a read as it was when I was in grade school. Basically, little girl accidentally grows a monster from material taken from her dad's lab and it's all about acceptance and responsibility and so on. Plus I like monsters.

So I made another recipe from tara_diddle's gift (Potato Recipes from Idaho: the Potato Capital of the U.S.) -- Scalloped Potatoes! I love those things but have never made them from scratch before (I confess to usually using a Betty Crocker box). It turns out they aren't at all hard to make from scratch and they turn out really tasty!

However, first I'll show you a picture of some Pumpkin Butterscotch Chip cookies I made from a Joy the Baker recipe. (the photo is much more appetizing looking)


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This is a beautiful thing, yes? Man I love library book sales!



Okay, now back to work.

Chocolate Potato Cake from Potato Recipes from Idaho: the Potato Capital of the U.S.
(which, in turn, was from tara_diddle)

This cake turned out to be incredibly moist and tasty. However, you have got to let it cool down all the way before you eat it because it has a weird, indescribable quality underlying the tastiness when it is warm. The next day, however, this cake is absolutely delicious and I was lucky enough to gain many guinea pigs to tell me so.



( Recipe and pumpkin carving )

Here's why I shouldn't browse course catalogs:

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