T-O-A-S-T

Despite popular opinion about toast, it is easily one of my favorite breakfast foods. Done just right with a pat of butter and a spoonful of honey -- all sweet and sticky? Mm, delicious. Problem is the "done just right" part of that. It's no easy task. Toasters seem to have two settings: brittle charcoal and warm dough. There is no happy medium unless you babysit the toaster. And who has time for that in the morning?

What? Why?

I either have to toast it several times on the low setting to get an agreeably golden-brown piece of toast, or I get too impatient and wind up with charcoal for daring to use the higher setting. Setting the dial anywhere in between the two results in an indeterminate result. Either charcoal or warm dough, you won't know until you come back into the kitchen. Like toast roulette!

Which presents two questions. The first? Who wants a charcoal option on their toaster to begin with? The only thing that fits inside is toast (and Poptarts if you're fat), so it's not as if you need a higher setting to bake things. Such as with a toaster oven. The second? Who insisted on the warm dough option? Ew.

MEDIUM SHOULD BE THE ONLY SETTING IN THE FIRST PLACE.

A Sweet Treat

We're having another Geek Weekend this weekend and Aaron had to step out to pick up a few essentials to make gourmet mac n' cheese for supper. Several varieties of cheese and heavy cream, mostly. While out however, he saw this and knew I had to have it.

All at once? Yes please.

It's a grinder; pepper/salt style only rather than being filled with unground salt or peppercorns, it's got rock sugar, chocolate, and coffee beans inside. Grinding all three simultaneously into whatever it is you're sweetening. Seems like a pretty delicious idea to me! Aaron knows me so well.

I should really get back to my company now, but look forward to more blogs in the near future. I'll try not to allow SWTOR, college, and pain make me neglectful.

Related:
Things That Are Good At Trader Joe's

Pain, Why?

I was going to finally cover the SWTOR launch review I've been meaning to do since, well, SWTOR launch but I'm in way too much pain to accomplish that. So instead, I'll vent about being in pain for no reason.

Every now and then I wake up, out of the blue, and my shoulder/neck area have me in such pain that I an unable to rise out of bed on my own. I would describe the feeling as an intense 'grinding' pain. Similar to that when you've dislocated a bone but continue trying to use the affected appendage. We've all done that at least once, right?

Only thing is, I've done absolutely nothing to injure myself. No competitive tennis playing. No sword fight for my life. Just a normal day, followed by a normal night, followed by unbearable pain. Usually I just eat pain killers left over from past injuries until it goes away on its own. Which is weird in its own right. Pain that bad shouldn't go away on its own, you'd think. Yet eventually it always does, after a few days or more. Though it also always returns.

Question is, why does it happen in the first place? What the heck could I have possibly done that my bones hurt in this way randomly? Have any of you guys ever heard of something like this? Because honestly I'm baffled. I feel like a dufus walking into my doctor's office and trying to explain to her, once again, that I'm injured but I have no idea as to why. Eventually she's just going to start thinking that I'm an abused woman or something and she isn't going to let me go home.

Blognari Sex

I had a spare minute today between brunch and taking the car in for maintenance and decided to check out the blog stats, since I've been away (holidays/Star Wars -- sorry). What I found was surprising and maybe a little flattering? Verdict is still out on that one. What the hell, guys?

Really?

Can you see which search term I'm boggling over here? It's not the random people Google searching my real name, or the people searching for me in states I've been to. It's that fifth one down there. Yeah, that one. I'm not sure what to make of that or the fact that as many people have searched for that as have searched for clover honey.

RE: Happy Holidays

I drew you a cat. His name is Bowie because he has a blown pupil.
Based off actual cat.

Happy Holidays!

It's 75 degrees today and beautiful in Southern California, where I'm spending my vacation. I had a fabulous holiday. I hope you all did as well. I awoke to breakfast in bed, followed by gift giving, Mario Kart, wonderful company, and then Bag of Bones and a feast.

We brought Eileen a cat and all required feline amenities. Aaron received a plethora of cooking utensils (a set of pans, oven bowls, etc., etc.), Skyrim, a new leather belt, and some comfortable shirts. I received some lovely clothing, hand-crafted turquoise jewelry, a trio of sparkly stackable rings, a wooden tea chest filled with delicious teas, and my grandfather's gift to me will arrive once we're back in Sacramento.

I have tons more to say but sadly not the time to say it, so I'll keep it brief. You'll hear from me again next year, where there will undoubtedly be a blogsplosion! So stay turned for that. If I don't manage to get around to it before it's time, though I think I will, happy New Year everyone!

Caffeinari!!!

I'm not sure if this is something that happens to all narcoleptics or maybe just me, but it's something I experience several times per week if not daily. Heck, it may even happen to some of you normal folk. I don't know.

I've been prescribed what equates to top grade Speed for my condition but refuse to take it. Instead I self medicate using caffeine. Tea or coffee more often than not, all throughout the day. Sometimes however I wake up so remarkably sleepy that nothing I do seems to help at all.

Slept 8 hours. Still sleepy.

I start out slowly, hoping a cup of coffee will turn the morning around for me. Set me off to the right start I must just be shy of reaching.

Mmm, coffee.

And yet...

Not feeling it.

Not one to surrender so easily, I get another cup. Perhaps my coffee to water ratio was off today.

Surely, this will do it.

Nope.

$&#@ you sunlight.

Now I'm mad. But with nothing to direct my frustration towards, I glare out the window and seethe in the general direction of the sun for making it daytime. Then I drink four or five more cups of coffee as fast as I can.

What was that sound?!

Not even this wakes me up. Instead I just get paranoid. Every noise I hear is a burglar. Maybe I can work with this though. Maybe I can frighten myself into feeling less sleepy.

Maybe not.

So I get another cup of coffee and sip at it longingly. Forsaken by the sun and early birds everywhere.

Whatever. Why not?

Then all of a sudden without any warning at all, something happens. Something finally happens.

Oh my! What a nice day.

Suddenly I'm way more awake than I had been moments earlier. I'm also chipper. Even so, I somehow don't realize the caffeine is catching up to me, so I continue drinking my coffee until this happens:

OMG EVERYTHING!!!

Now everything ever is the best and I am able to do anything. Whatever I needed to do gets done in record time. Even things I didn't need to do get done anyway, because doing things seems like the greatest idea I've ever had. The harshness of reality melts away and suddenly the world is composed of rainbows, cupcakes, and purring kittens. It could be the caffeine Armageddon and I was the only one to be raptured but it doesn't matter because it's fantastic.

Then I crash and wind up laying on the floor of the computer room curled up beside the bookshelf. Immune to the effects of caffeine for at least six hours.