Three Things (The Fucking Chelsea! Edition)

1. Work continues to be work-like. For every vaguely exciting/important release, like Squeenix's new game and Facebook's IPO (I geek out so much over our Squeenix, EA, and Blizzard releases, it is kind of embarrassing), there is the afternoon where I set up ten dividends and a release from a company that makes penis extender devices. The first quarter earnings period officially ended this week, and we've just hired on a load of new editors, so hopefully things will soon be back to normal insane, rather than tear-our-hair-out-and-sob-over-excel-tables insane. On the bright side, I had my 90-day eval on Tuesday, and it was all positive - my stats are all solid, my manager said I'm good at most things and steadily improving on the things I'm not, and I am most definitely certainly not going to be fired in the near future. Also, our operations VP got us all ice cream yesterday.

2. I had my first driving lesson today! It went fairly well, in that I'm not dead and the car's still in one piece. I took a lot of time practicing stopping and starting, and eventually graduated to driving in circles around the parking lot of the Mormon church down the street from my dad's. I even did a few figure-eights, and a bunch of laps weaving in and out of the parking divider. Not terrible progress, considering that the main point of the first lesson was just to get me a little less panicky at the whole idea. I'm currently aiming to have my license and enough saved up for a down payment on a used car by the end of September. It's going to stretch my budget a bit, but if I'm careful (and with the extra money from the raise I'm getting this month), I think it will be okay.

In the meantime, I talked to my manager this week about taking a few minutes off my lunch and leaving a little early at the end of the day so I can make the 7.12 bus instead of having to wait for the 7.50, and he said that was fine. So I've been getting home a lot earlier with a lot less standing around on street corners. I'm also probably going to be buying a bike in the next few days - I'm not going to bike the whole way, because I'd have to go under a kind of sketchy overpass in a heavily traffic-ed area, but being able to bike just from my bus stop would make things a lot more convenient. Helpfully enough, we have a bike shed in the back parking lot of our office, and my HR guy said he could get me the forms I need to be reimbursed the cost of bike commuting (which will just about cover the cost of the new bike). This is all working out much smoother than last week's freak-out would suggest.

3. Seriously, guys, FUCKING CHELSEA. Who the fuck did John Terry have to sell his soul to (assuming he had a soul in the first place, which seems doubtful...) to get that result? I am so bitter and heart-broken right now, I barely have words to describe it. EXCEPT THAT BASTI'S SADFACE IS THE SADDEST FACE THERE IS.

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masterofmidgets: oh hey, question for you?
colourofsaying: always
masterofmidgets: which monastic order would you say was most dickish?
colourofsaying: ...hunh
colourofsaying: I'd have to have a list in front of me
masterofmidgets: I...am working on backstory for my rp character
colourofsaying: Augustinians, probably
masterofmidgets: and I decided to go with a medieval crusades naming theme for her cult colony and the anarchists
colourofsaying: Jesuits are also on my list for having no sense of humor
masterofmidgets: what about the Benedictines?
colourofsaying: I seem to recall that the Cistercians could be asshats
colourofsaying: and I have a soft spot for the Benedictines because of Brother Cadfael
colourofsaying: And no one can hate the Franciscans, really
masterofmidgets: nope
colourofsaying: some of them were incredibly nuts, but still
masterofmidgets: Bernard of Gui was a Dominican...
masterofmidgets: the anarchists are going to be the Order of Acre
colourofsaying: oh, Dominicans
colourofsaying: I don't like them either
colourofsaying: them and the Cistercians and the Augustinians
colourofsaying: Jesuits are better than those three
masterofmidgets: Jesuits are at least academically rigourous'
colourofsaying: /exactly/
colourofsaying: you can get somewhere with a jesuit
colourofsaying: they'll admit they're wrong if you're logical enough about it
masterofmidgets: but a Cistercian?
masterofmidgets: man, fuck em
colourofsaying: exactly
colourofsaying: *giggles*
colourofsaying: thank you for vastly improving my evening
masterofmidgets: *beams*
masterofmidgets: I am always there will some vulgar opinions about medieval monastism

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Had a serious mass-transit related meltdown today. Getting to work wasn't a problem at all, but getting home...I thought I was at the right stop - I've taken the same bus line before from that stop! - but that was several hours earlier in the day and apparently there's some weird fuckery with the routes after 5pm. Anyway, my bus didn't stop there, so I ended up waiting for almost two hours before I finally gave in and called my dad to pick me up and drive me home. And then spent the next hour freaking out and crying on the phone at my mom because I had no idea how I was going to get home from my job anymore. I am, as it turns out, reasonably good at coping with on-going terrible fucked-up situations, but absolute pants at coping with temporary pot-holes.

Anyway, she talked me down and reminded me that I have multiple options here, from carpooling with someone at work to buying a bike to paying L to chauffeur, and one missed bus is not actually the end of the world. And I took some time out, shopped for used cars on Craigslist, and watched Korra while eating chocolate ice cream, and I feel a lot less like sobbing into my pillow. Now that I'm calm enough to poke around the ABQ Ride site and google maps, I think I even know what the problem was - paradoxically enough, to get to my apartment which is south of my office, I have to take the northbound bus. I'll confirm it with the bus driver in the morning, an maybe make sure I have a back-up ride before I try it again, but I think it will be okay. If I'm right, I might have even shaved a few minutes off my commute, because the northbound stop is a couple blocks closer than the south.

I still might start making plans with my dad for driving lessons, though. I don't know if I can afford a car right now (because honestly, if I can make the bus work than the car is way lower on my budget than cable, netflix, and video games), but maybe in a few months or a year when I'm making a little more money it might be something to consider. The only problem is keeping my relatives from finding out. I'm almost angry at my aunt right now - her constant bringing it up, all the insisting that I don't know what I'm missing, that as soon as I was on my own I'd realize how wrong I'd been, that I'd love it as soon as I tried it, has made it impossibly more difficult for me to even admit to myself that it might make my life a little easier, let alone ask for help learning how to drive, because it makes me feel like I'm betraying my principles. I know it's irrational to dig in my heels this much, but I can't seem to stop myself.

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Moved into my new apartment this weekend, which is great and all, but more importantly I also saw the Avengers!

( Mostly uncritical squee here, with some spoilers )

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Signed the lease on my apartment today, hurrah! I am really locked into being an actual grown-up now - I have a ten-month lease, a two-year cable contract, and a 401k plan. I am shopping for coffee tables guys, that is how bad this is. To be fair, I mostly need a coffee table so I have somewhere to put my pizza while I'm watching cartoons, but still, the specter of responsible maturity is looming. There is something deeply alarming in the idea that I'm being trusted to pay my water bill and have real furniture that doesn't look like it was made out of industrial scraps - and somehow something more alarming in knowing that I had the sense to set up online billpay weeks ago, make a budget spreadsheet, and buy a vacuum cleaner.

Minor adulthood and furniture related freakouts aside though, I'm getting very excited about moving. I love my dad, and he's about as easy to cohabit with as anyone could be, but gods above will it be wonderful to have my own space. No more having to listen to his sports while I'm in the kitchen, no more feeling self-conscious about singing sea chanties in the shower, no more leaving for work two hours early. I can walk around in my bra whenever I want and blast opera while I'm baking! I don't know, possibly it's being an only child but I'm terrible at sharing my space - I try to be accommodating but deep-down I really want to be nit-picky and territorial and passive-aggressive over not being able to do things exactly the way I like them. I want the freedom to be unjudged and unobserved and private. This NYTimes article sums it up very well, I think(even if it makes us weirdo singletons sound a bit like an exotic alien species).

Other things I'm up to...I've been meaning to do a media recs post when I have a few minutes to spare (work is demonically awful this month, fuck earnings, don't even ask), but the short version is that I'm on a bit of a historical bent at the moment. Still working on my Templar project - the sourcebook I bought is proving more interesting than I expected (for a collection of clerical and legal records, seriously, why is this so fun) and has a decent biblio so my reading list is getting longer, along with the books I already need to buy about monasticism and that bio of Philip the Fair (he's a massive douchenozzle but he is pretty central to the whole affair, I don't really have a choice). I have pages of notes I've made on my lunch break, although they aren't very academic - mostly things like FUCK WILLIAM OF NOGARET and GOD SAYS NONE OF YOU SHALL WEAR POINTY SHOES. Because that's the most important thing to take away from the Latin Rule, obviously.

I've found myself in the mood for historical dramas, too, rather than modern rom coms. I have a pretty long list of series that other people have recommended to me - The Princess' Man, Sungkyunkwan Scandal, Queen Seon-Deok, etc, really anything where there will be period costumes and court intrigue and hopefully people sword-fighting on horseback. My current series is Warrior Baek Dong Soo, about which I have so many many feelings. But they mostly boil down to 1) wanting to hug Gwang-Taek, who has the saddest eyes in the world, 2) wanting to get Yeo Woon all the therapy ever, because that boy is pretty but so so fucked up and 3) wanting to smack Dong Soo in the head. At least the last one actually happens in the show with some regularity.

To end with, here is a link to a ridiculously catchy song about D&D I found the other day and have had stuck in my head since. Enjoy.

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Fucking hell, Nando. Now of all times you have to remember how to score a goal?

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I have been very remiss in posting recipes lately! I haven't given up on my cooking project, but because of my work schedule, I've doing less exciting cooking lately - my dad and I trade off days in the kitchen, and I'm not trying as many new recipes because I don't have as much time to spend looking them up. It's been too easy to just default to pork with kimchi, or miso chicken, or meatballs in tomato sauce, things I've made plenty of times before and know we'll both like. Today I tried something new though! And I didn't quite have the ingredients called for in the recipe I was using, so I ended up improving it into something that turned out quite tasty. Not super complex, just light, slightly spicy and nicely tangy, good for a friday dinner after a long week.

Tamarind-Lime Tofu

1 block of firm/extra-firm tofu
2 tablespoons tamarind water*
2 tablespoons fish sauce (or soy sauce, if you want this to be vegan)
1 teaspoon sugar (I use raw brown sugar)
2 small red chiles
2 kaffir lime leaves (we keep ours in the freezer)
zest from 1 lime
2 cloves garlic
loads of spinach, rinsed

*make the tamarind water by soaking 2-3 tablespoons of tamarind pulp (I don't measure, just grab a reasonable looking chunk off the block) in 1/4 cup of warm water for about 15 minutes, then pushing it through a strainer so you end up with just the brown glop. For this recipe you want it to be pretty thick and pulpy. Or you could just buy it in a jar, I guess.

Drain the tofu for about 15-20 minutes. Chop the lime leaves and chiles up, removing the seeds from the chiles if you want a more mild dish. Combine the leaves, chiles, lime zest, tamarind water, sugar and fish sauce in a bowl. Cut the tofu into cubes and add to tamarind mixture. Stir to mix thoroughly and set aside to marinate for about 15 minutes. Heat up a large frying pan or wok over medium high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of oil, then the garlic, frying until fragrant (about 30 seconds). Fry the tofu in batches until it is crisp and browned on all sides (about 3-4 minutes). Throw all the tofu back into the pan, along with any leftover marinade and the spinach. Toss until the spinach is wilted (about 30 sec. to 1 minute). Serve with rice.

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Things I Did This Weekend:

1) Filled out my tax return

2) Made Italian bread and 3 lbs of napa kimchi

3) Washed three sinkfuls of dishes and scrubbed down the kitchen (now that we got our running water back)

4) Went shopping and to my grandmother's to get things for my apartment, mostly kitchenware (I now have a toaster oven to replace the one Apartment Roomie set on fire, as well as an electric wok, a cheap rice cooker, and all the serving dishes I will ever need)

5) Played Star Wars: The Old Republic for 16 hours straight

...this adulthood thing is a work in progress, okay?

(Seriously, though, TOR is kind of completely awesome and I am seriously contemplating getting a subscription, either next month when I get a raise or at the end of the year, after I've had time to save up for a desktop for gaming because apparently that is a thing I do now. Except if I have a TOR subscription I might never sleep again. DILEMMA.)

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In the last two days, I've edited press releases for Aon (Manchester United's shirt sponsor), Universal Studios, and a company that does tech R&D based on psychic remote viewing. The remote viewing people had pictures of the secret alien Mayan sea lab they discovered in the Baltic sea. I had to call my boss over so I could ask her, look, I know this is [our cheap no-touch internet product] and they are all crazy, but do we have an actual bar of Too Crazy For The Internet?

As it turns out, we don't. As long as the Mayan alien psychics aren't engaging in pornography or online gambling or threatening litigation, there is no such thing as too crazy for the internet. Such is my job, folks.

Hope everyone is having a nice Easter/Passover weekend. Not my holidays, and family doesn't really do easter, so we don't have any big plans. I intend to spend it dealing with apartment stuff (getting electric and cable set up, and possibly buying a coffee table), playing the SWTOR free trial, and waiting to get our running water back. I may even watch some football. I might have heard about Arsenal playing a game this weekend, some team from Manchester, I don't know, doesn't sound like that big a deal.

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Well, summer is rapidly approaching (today's freezing rain notwithstanding), and you know what that means: opera season! For those of us in a state with an open-air opera house, anyway.

This weekend my grandma got me tickets to the Opera Southwest, which is a much smaller scale production than Santa Fe but still very professional, especially now that they've moved out of the Kimo Theater to the Hispanic Cultural Center (The Kimo is a gorgeous vintage theater, but it is not set up for opera at all, and it showed). And it was a fun show - they did two of the one-acts from Puccini's triptych, Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi, and they were both entirely enjoyable. Suor Angelica was a little...simple, perhaps, music-wise. It was all very pretty and well-executed, but there was nothing about it that really grabbed me by the throat the way some of his more developed operas do. It is, however, a very moving story, and by the time they got to the end and Angelica's miraculous vision, I was kind of actually crying.

Gianni Schicchi, on the other hand, is a fairly thin story - wealthy old guy dies and writes all his greedy relatives out of his will, they get a local rogue to pretend to be him to dictate a new will, he takes advantage to will himself a fortune - but it's so clever it's hard not to be charmed. There's a lot of crude, slap-stick-esque humor (this was probably the first time I've heard the audience laugh out loud multiple times at an opera), and the way Puccini used the music to add an extra twist to the humor on stage was really interesting.

Oh Puccini. You are so good at pushing all my buttons, sir.

I also bought my tickets to the Santa Fe opera today! I wanted to wait a little longer, since this is going to be an expensive month with the moving and all, but I didn't really have a choice. I realized this weekend that the show I wanted to go to in August was the same weekend as Bubonicon, and while I probably could manage two days of geeking it up at a sci-fi convention along with a night at the opera, I don't think I'd be good for much the rest of the week. And they only had one other weekend performance of the opera I want to see, and when I checked online today there were two tickets left in the cheap seats. And while spending the money now is a little bit of a twinge, it's not nearly as bad as having to spend $200 dollars next month because there's nothing left in the balcony. So, I'm going to see The Pearl Fishers at Santa Fe at the end of June. Which, seriously, only has one of my all-time favorite duets ever, I could not be more excited.

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