chthonicat from birdsite...

Grendel was assigned reading in high school, I think my teacher had been a pupil of the author?

King's The Gunslinger though, I read that when I was in single digits so yeah, probably too young.

Usually when things aren't going well, I think, "Well, at least it's better than when I was in middle school." Now... I'm ready to go back to the 93/94 school year when I was in 7th grade. I guess I'm probably forgetting how bad it actually was though?

This (recorded from TV, I think) was the only cartoon videotape at the house of a grandparentlike couple where I stayed sometimes. Since I was born in '81 I was probably already too old for it when it was released.

I thought Earthsea was just okay too when I read it, also a long time ago. The first book of hers that I really liked was The Telling, the one I've liked the most recently is Always Coming Home.

Same!

Two plates (on a black tablecloth with gold-colored accents). The small, round, plate on the left has white rice in the center, that has been in a flower-shaped mold. The larger, elliptical plate on the right has an orchid blossom and orange slice on one end, the rest of the plate is taken up by 3 softshell crabs arranged on a bed of vegetables (the vegetables are mostly green). The crabs are topped with minced garlic.

Garlic Lover Softshell Crab, don't mind if I do (didn't put this up on my other social media because I guess it looks kind of like a horror movie)!

Gene Wolfe for sure.

My "good" olive oil hasn't resurfaced yet after the move, and I needed some for a recipe a couple of days ago, so had to grab some at Walgreen's. Somehow, it says it's from Argentina, Spain, Portugal, and Tunisia, all in one bottle (4 country codes by the date, w/a legend elsewhere on the bottle)!

Why the hell not?

Okay, I was meaning an auto parts store rather than a mechanic, as such places have helped me out before (in determining what part was needed) without charging $250, but of course I understand that you would know way more details about the specific problem you are experiencing than I do!

Is there a place like an Auto Zone or O'Reilly/Napa Auto Parts nearby? The one close to where I live reads the codes for free so I wonder if that would help in your situation? Please ignore if you have already tried this or if this won't work for an obvious reason!

I liked the basketball part but that was the only part I liked, and I don't even like basketball.

"And the days went by, like paper in the wind, everything changed, then changed again..."

Thanks, Samuel Delany!

The principal walked into my English classroom and said he was so glad we were reading that book, and also said "he didn't do it," then left. Such a bad book. The book An American Tragedy was very bad as well though and I think was also something we had to read in that class.

Large mylar balloon, star-shaped and with star print, that includes the words "HAPPY BIRTHDAY." Has curly pink, green, purple, and blue paper streamers attached, and is tied to a shiny green balloon weight. The ballon weight is on a small table with a few other objects including a Rubix cube and a sugar bowl. The background shows part of a flat-screen TV, a blank white wall, and a door frame with window blinds.

Birthday balloon my male counterpart got me a couple of days back, don't have many decorations out at our new place yet since we moved here just over a week ago. Our cats have to be heavily supervised around this thing.

They are definitely going to mess up literally the only chocolate-filled donuts that I like. :/

YouTube video by Yoko Ono - Topic I Felt Like Smashing My Face in a Clear Glass Window

This except for I don't think I can deal with any more broken glass: www.youtube.com/watch?v=_A9y...

In the early/mid-90s when I was in middle school, upon learning my last name (which is actually Czech) my seat-mate on the bus told me a really disgusting joke about Polish people. I haven't heard that type of joke in a really long time. So yep, checks out.

One of my all-time favorite perfumes as well: www.bpal.org/topic/72107-...

Just ordered this book as a(n early) birthday present for myself, can't wait! I looked at it at a bookstore in Marfa last month and almost bought it, but didn't because I was about to move and was already buying Flores' Tears of the Trufflepig: booksaboutfood.com/bookreview/b...

Moving to a new place 1.8 miles from the previous place... movers came yesterday but there's still some cleanup to do at the old place and such. When we moved there 5 years ago we had 80-ish boxes. This time 120-ish. We have too many books, I have too many pairs of shoes, etc. Sigh....

I always mail them with a breadheel included, that seems to help. One of my husband's aunts did that and it helped with freshness, so I started to.

I think that's part of what the book Blindsight by Peter Watts is about.

I can't really be assessed for autism because I... test people for autism as a part of my job. So I can "look" either way. It took me a decade to figure out why I related so well with the people I was assessing in areas such as their difficulty with eye contact.

I'm the first one usually but apparently "fake fancy" occasionally. I do have a coffee grinder though, so maybe that explains why I've been to the Rothko chapel (etc.) way more times than people who aren't into abstract art?

3 decades or so ago when I was a youngster, some people around me mispronounced the word "garage" in such a way that it contained the phrase "gay-rod." I assumed this was another, um, injection of gross innuendo (these people certainly considered being gay to be gross). But now I'm not sure....

Just the salt.

marbled raspberry pound cake “What kind of cake do you want for your birthday?” “PINK.” “But what flavor?” “PINK.” Who are we to argue with a three year-old? This simple cake as …

I made this when I went to my friends' (multiple friends) house for the recent holiday weekend and it also benefited from the natural color of (regular) raspberries: smittenkitchen.com/2018/08/marb...

I have a garlic peeler (basically just a rubber tube that you put the garlic in and then roll a few times on whatever your food prep surface is... but I bought one that looks like Dracula) that works a treat. I got tired of having really garlic-y fingers.