Gather Ye Rosebuds

We'd planned on getting out of Orlando, and going to Tampa to visit with my brother, for a while, and this weekend we finally did it. We had some problems trying to rent the car, but finally they gave in on Saturday afternoon and let us rent. What a load of hoops we have to jump through! Not getting into that now though. We hung out for a bit in my brother's condo for a little bit, watching the cruise ships departing, and watching the wildlife on the bay. He lives on the 14th floor, so the view is pretty good.

We decided to go to the IMAX theater at MOSI (the Museum of Science and Industry) for the film on Greece at 7pm. As it was a double feature with Mystery of the Nile, one we had already seen, we got tickets to the controversial Bodies exhibit and saw that for the first 45 minutes. The exhibit is controversial, for those who may not know, because all the bodies are real. They are mostly dead Asian prisoners, but they have a preserving laquer of sorts so the bones and muscles and such are all real. We were rushed, so while we saw everything (including black lungs from smokers), we did not have the time to properly read all the display info about the bodies or the organs on display. The sad, and somewhat sick, part of it all was how much we wanted beef jerky and/or steak afterward. Seriously. I know, we're sick fucks, we are. After the time at MOSI, we headed out and had sushi at a nearby restaurant. Yep, sushi won over after all. And we ordered a shitload of sushi, OMG! So full afterward, but we still headed to the Tampa Bay Brewing Company, where my brother's friend was celebrating his birthday. It was a good time, other than this asshole cop giving us a parking ticket for a meter violation, when we had 45 minutes on the meter still, *and* when members in our party (who didn't even know it was our rental) asked him about it, and he still left it. They even asked if that car was allowed to be parked there, and he said it was, and did not indicate that the ticket was for anything other than the meter, which had NOT expired. My brother was simply going to take the ticket and pay for it, without us knowing about it, but he did not know the girls had come in from smoking and told us about it, which made me go out and check our car. The ticket is not for much, just $25, but we still want to dispute it, BECAUSE ASSHOLE COPS SHOULDN"T BE ALLOWED TO GET AWAY WITH THIS KINDA SHIT! We walked around Ybor City for a bit, then came back to my brother's place, watched a comedy special and then went to sleep.

Sunday we slept in late, and then went over to my brother's friend's house for Easter. While I brought my bathing suit to go swimming, I decided not to go in the pool, and instead, sat in a comfy chair and looked at some catalogues. I saw this Indian wok, which captured my interest, as did the recipe the pages featured. I helped Correna and her MIL with making the food. Most of it was already semi-prepared the previous night. We stayed in Tampa much later than we'd planned, but that's ok, because we had fun. Got in late last night, and went to bed.

But, on this trip, I came to a realization. I realized why, or at least partly why, seeing downtown Vancouver at night was so moving. I mean, it is not like I have never seen skyscrapers at night before, but it WAS different. That is what I discovered last night, coming home. The big difference is that in downtown Vancouver, many people *live* in the skyscrapers, whereas here, most of the skyscrapers in downtown are for offices, that meaning that at night there are far more lights in the buildings at night in downtown Vancouver than downtown Orlando. There are differences in the building materials, and I think that it gets darker in Vancouver too., but I think the number of lights on in the building was actually a big factor. Well, at least that is my rationale. :)

Well, gotta go to bed early becaause I have to leave for the doctor appointment fucking early in the morning.

I never thought it would work, but it did. After a Pampered Chef open house at maggie226's house a few weeks ago, I saw the "ice trick". What is the "ice trick", you ask? Well, I will tell you. :)

Take 2 ice cubes, place one in a small bowl, and the other in the hard anodized skillet, and watch them side by side. The ice cube in the skillet melts MUCH FASTER than the ice cube in the small dish. The general thought is that there is a reaction with the hard anodized material pulling the heat from the air and into the pan, or something like that. So it goes to reason that meat would thaw well in the skillet too. Right? So, I tried it in my Calphalon pan which is also hard anodized, and I think the pork chops (3 thin cut) were thawed in about half an hour...considerably faster than if it thawed in the fridge or on the counter, and more evenly than what you can do with a microwave. It was cool. It was a very Alton Brown thing to do. I wonder who came up with that in the first place?

*yawn*

Chas and I are so sleepy.

"Worst Person In The World" first, then bed.

There are things, random things, that I have been thinking about. I have been told to make a more substantive and longer post than I have recently, because some people want more to chew on, more to linger on, so anyhow...

In recent news, midway through the Florida Film Festival, one of the judges had to back out, because their child got sick, and like any decent parent, they're taking care of their child. As a result, Chas got promoted to jusge to take their place. Now I should mention, to those who don't know, that Chas has been covering the Florida Film Festival for the last 10 years for various publications, so he was a natural choice to fill in. Anyhow, the point of this is, that being a judge has perks, is being invited to the special events...and the special event of note this year is the luncheon with the special guest, John Waters (yes, *the* John Waters). Of course, this means that I will be in the same room with him, and if I am lucky, I may even get to meet him face to face.

Had 3 cups of tea today. Had some tea dorkbot picked up on his visit to China yesterday...ok, China in the World Showcase at Epcot. It was a nice gesture. The tea is pretty good, and the packaging is very nice, but I think this is best a gift sort of tea, because it comes in a pretty package, and way too expensive to have on a regular basis. I have been having a lot of Stash Tea at work. It just isn't convenient to have loose tea and an infuser at work. :(

New Degrassi next Friday!!! I have to see what happens to the gang! Liberty's baby? Paige has the hots for chics? New hook-ups? The teen angst is driving me wild. :P

I should head to bed, but I just wanted to say, that there is a girl on my friend's list, who I really admire, for her ability to triumph over all the shit that life continues to deal her. And yet she still moves through life, not letting it stop her from living. She loves life, and she lives it.

Ok, way past bed time. Nini everyone.

A picture I took today while waiting for the bus to take me to the mall after my doctor appointment was over. I had a 40 minute wait. Oh for a decent bus system.

Through the treetops.

My parents are stuck out at sea...somewhere between Aruba and San Juan. We don't know what the problem is yet, or when they'll be able to return. It is possible that their return tickets are invalid now too. :(

( Here's the email my parents sent yesterday )

Update: My brother, Mark, called Carnival, and the problem has something to do with the ship's propulsion unit or something. Bascially, the ship is moving rrrreeeeaaaallllyyyy sssslllloooowwww. Because of it, they will miss their flight home and not sure whether they're tickets are any good. So far, this is as much as we know.

For those of you with any sort of basic cable, any sort of interest in sci fi stuff, and any interest in good writing, I strongly urge you to tune into Sci-Fi tomorrow evening (yes, St Patrick's Day) at 9pm, and absorb the holy goodness that is Doctor Who. Just to give a little background to the unfamiliar, as they say in Spaceballs, the short-short version: Legendary British sci-fi adventure tv show from the 60's-80's returns with great stories, great cast, and a budget (well, CGI). Sci-Fi will begin running Season One, which aired last year in England and Canada (and maybe elsewhere like Australia??). Season two should begin airing this month in England and Canada, and such. So basically, Sci-Fi was scared to pick it up on the initial run, were impressed with it and saw how successful it was, and how foolish they were to get in the game so late, but at least they are showing it now, and they have bought Season Two sight unseen.

First, I have *got* to stop taking my decongestant before I go to bed. I keep forgetting that it keeps me up all night, or I just toss and turn and wake up often without getting any good sleep. I think entirely too much when this happens. Though I have been thinking a lot these days as well. I have a few projects and tasks I want to accomplish, and my plate seems it will be getting fuller in the coming months. As a result, I may not be on here as much anymore. I think I may have to do a friends cut soon. I keep falling criminally behind even if I have to skim posts sometimes. Most of you who are reading this shouldn't be affected, but there are a few people who don't post anymore or that have created more than one account but only update one that will probably be cut. Maybe a few people who I tend to skip their entries lately and they tend to skip mine, or at least haven't commented to any post in ages (like over a year), will be cut too. If you think that you're one of those people, who read but don't comment, now would be the time to say hey, I am here and I read, but don't cut me. This won't affect the reading load that much, but it will be a start. But I have plans for the next coming months...projects you could say. And I will need time to dedicate to them that I am currently using up by being online so much, trying to check email and posts.

( Some of the projects I have been thinking about... )

Well, I guess I should eat, check my cell to see if it is charged, give Kris a call (the munchkins miss me, how sweet!), and maybe start to go through my clothes, or read more of my NCTI book.

Hi to catmcroy from...







(drum roll)







VICTORIA!!!!!!!

I've had songs from Oliver! in my head now, since late last night I think. ;)