Stupour.
August 7th, 2003
I feel today like I am stumbling around in a sort of stupour. I felt like I had enough sleep last night but my brain just doesn't want to wake up this morning. The night before I had a horrible night's sleep because there was a thunderstorm and it woke me up from a very deep sleep. I was completely disoriented by that storm and had the worst time trying to get back to sleep. So, perhaps I am suffering from that.
I also feel as though my body is getting all creaky again. I think it is due to the dampness and humidity we have been experiencing. It hasn't been a hot summer, only the first week of June has been temps over 30C consistently, and so it's been generally humid yet cool. Right now everything is covered in mist so you can't see very far. It looks like everything has been swathed in cotton wool, which is how my head feels so it's apt.
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Last night after we had eaten supper, a firetruck came and pulled up beside our neighbour's house. Two firefighters got out and poked around looking in his basement windows. They finally got a little crowbar thing and either broke out his back lower window or broke open his door. We were wondering if our neighbour was ok, but we heard him talking and thanking them for coming so we still have no idea why they were there.
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I have to go up to the school today to run a training session to teach someone how to use HTML. I am sorry I agreed to do this because I really really don't want to go, and I quoted an insanely low price to do it, and I have to go back tomorrow as well. Meh. At least it is only for an hour at a time, so I am not stuck up there all day.
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Back from school. Normally I don't mind riding on the bus, but this time on the way home it smelled like shit. I think the offender was a very odd man who was sitting down and across from me. Hot bus + odious smell = unhappy ride home. I did have a bit of fun right after the HTML session, though. I met up with my former coworkers and we went for lunch downtown which was fun, and then I went to a really neat store downtown and spent the gift certificate that they all gave me when I finished work. I got a silver ring with a peridot, and a pair of coral earrings. They have good taste, if I say so myself!
On the Plate:
Last night I made comfort food. I took two chicken breasts that had been butterflied and sauteed them in a little butter and olive oil until brown on both sides. I then covered them with fresh ground pepper and added some rosemary, crushed garlic, a small knob of butter and a little sherry. When this was reducing, I tossed in a handful of sliced mushrooms and diced red pepper. This was all served over buttered linguini and steamed vegetables.
Books I have Read Lately:
- The Vacant Throne by Ed Greenwood. Meh. This is the second of his books I have read and I am still not impressed. The first one was fight after fight after fight, interspersed with witty banter, and this one is the same. It's like fighting naked and other comical situations combined with healing and then fighting the next thing takes the place of character development. This guy created the Forgotten Realms series of Roleplaying Games and it shows, because this reads like a transcription of a session.
- Rose Daughter by Robin McKinley. This is her second retelling of the Beauty and the Beast story. It's been a while since I read her first one, so this one felt fresh. I enjoyed it up to the end, where it feels like it ends about 20-30 pages before it should, but I guess I am a sucker for explaining everything that happens and not leaving things to be wrapped up in your head afterwards. The ending of this book is more how I prefer the tale to end. A happy ending, but not the Disneyfied version.
(All links go through Amazon.ca because of the affiliate program with The Usual Suspects. I spend so much time on there, that this is the least I can do.)