I had some veal mince in the fridge to make meatballs... but I've eaten too many meatballs lately. I also had some leftover sheets of shortcrust pastry in the freezer (when you have to make a large mound of triangular pasties, shop-bought sheets of pastry are better than making the pastry by hand). So here is what I did:

500g veal mince (or any sort of mince)
1 large onion
1 egg
1/2 cup bread crumbs
2 tsp mixed herbs
Salt
Pepper
2 sheets shortcrust pastry
Glaze made from tbs cornstarch and 2 tbs water

Preheat oven to 220 degrees celcius.

Dice onion. Mix mince, onion, egg, bread crumbs, herbs, salt and pepper in a bowl with your hands.

Cut each sheet of pastry in half. Brush the edge of one of the halves with the glaze, then spoon the mince mix on the opposite edge and roll up the pastry. Make sure the edges are securely pressed down. Continue until you've run out of pastry and mince mix.

Cut each sausage tube into thirds or quarters, then lay on a tray with the join side down. Brush with glaze and sprinkle with poppy seeds or sesame seeds (or any herb or spice you think would work).

Bake in the really hot oven for 15 minutes. Then turn the oven down to 190 degrees celcius, and bake for a further 20 minutes.

***

They were a bit dry and under salted. The dryness could be overcome by including bacon, or dunking in tomato sauce, which would also help with the seasoning.

I really need a better cooking icon.

You will be pleased to know I haven't been swallowed up in the dust storm that engulfed eastern Australia this morning. Though a lot of it was deposited in my lungs.

I've been Creating. At the end of October, I'll be doing a Roman feast, using recipes taken from Apicius (the one who killed himself when he realised he wouldn't be able to live in the manner to which he was accustomed, because he'd eaten away his fortune). I thought it would be interesting if we could get people wearing Roman garb as well, only no one seemed to know much about it, so guess who's been making Roman garb. It's been fun, and there should be pictures soon.

Work on the Seecrut Project (Involving Badgers) also continues, I should actually have the damn thing finished before the end of the year. Possibly even before the end of November. This will make the Worshipful Company of Broiderers very happy.

And if I ever express a desire to undertake a project involving couched gold cord on velvet in an intricate design, I will get someone to lock me in a dark room with a large supply of DVDs, excellent tea, chocolate coated coffee beans and really nice cheese until I see sense.

I had a crappy week at work last week. After a couple of weeks of only minor hassles, the fibromyalgia came back and screwed me up. Then a project that's been consuming vast amounts of time turned ugly. But I won't bore you with the details, and don't ask anyway, because I don't like to talk about bad work stuff on my blog. Still, it was bad enough that I broke out some cooking wine when I got home (before anyone freaks about be drinking cheap stuff, my cooking wine is what wine lovers drink. There's no point using crap wine in food).

I've had a bit of a cooking frenzy this weekend. The sumac chicken salad was amazing, the ginger shortbread was lovely, the macaroons... didn't work. I didn't read the bit in the recipe ingredients that said "50g egg whites, beaten to soft peaks", I just read the "50g egg whites" and the macaroons spread into manky, runny globs. They taste OK, but they ain't macaroons. I'll be trying the lamb shanks tomorrow.

Still, the cooking frenzy has worn me out. When the time came to go to the Baronial gathering this afternoon, the thought of getting up made me whimper. My head had the staticky feel that fibro gives me*, so I decided to stay home and veg. And scour the internet for stuff. I'm thinking I need a proper mixer - I have a hand held one that's OK, but gets mighty tedious when whipping egg whites. And you can't do bread with it. I really, really want one of these - a href="http://www.catererswarehouse.com.au/product.asp?pID=2743&cID=270" target="_blank"> a Kitchen Aid Ultra Power Mixer</a>. The whopping price tag is a worry, but the thing will probably last for years, and it comes with a range of awesome gadgets, and you can even get an ice cream maker attachment. Guess I'll have to start saving.

Oh yeah... I've meant to post about one of my culinary creations from last week - coffee jelly. I'm thinking that jelly is fun to play with, and relatively simple once you work out how to handle gelatine. I need to strain the coffee a bit more (some of the espresso grounds sneaked in), and it won't appeal to everyone - surprisingly, non coffee drinkers liked it more than coffee drinkers. Many people just couldn't get their head around coffee in the texture of jelly.

* Honestly, "head full of static electricity" is the best way I can describe the sort of tiredness fibromyalgia causes. It's not like the weariness you get when you've been working hard, or not sleeping. Other people describe it as "fibro fog." Whatever, it's not pleasant, and people don't always believe you when you say something's wrong.

Lately, I've been doing a fair amount of research into Roman garb (specifically late Republic / early Imperial). This is because we're doing a feast with Roman food at the end of October, and I'm aiming to put together a simple guide to Roman garb so everyone can be spiffily dressed.

Roman garb seems to have many advantages for SCAdians, especially those on a budget. For women, it looks like you can get away with just 6m of material for a complete outfit based entirely on rectangles... and cotton can be PERIOD, not just what you use because it's what you can afford. Footwear is mostly sandles, which can be bought cheaply from second-hand shops, and you can get pretty decent jewellery from cheap chain stores. Of course, one of those rectangles of material basically immobilises one arm, which is a drawback.

At last weekend's cooking afternoon, I measured up the attendees and we talked a bit about fabric and construction. I checked my email this afternoon to find one of those young women has bought her material and wants to know how to put it together.

I haven't yet completely worked this out. Ye gods, these young 'uns are keen!

This will spur me to actually sit down and work out the construction, if nothing else. And I have to say, it's really quite humbling to know I'm helping to inspire people.

On Wednesday, I put a post on the Baronial mailing list asking for a male guinea pig to volunteer to have garb made (if he pays for the material). I've had several responses - I'll be looking at new people first. For starters, they need more help with garb, and people who've been around for a while and "always wanted to try Roman stuff" could always have tried it themselves... Or maybe I'll ask for a small commission.

For the last couple of months, Sunday nights have been my favourite TV night. Starting at 6:30 on Channel 10, we've had Merlin, followed by Master Chef. And yes, I'm aware that Merlin is basically soft-core for adolescent girls. And this is a bad thing because...?

But Merlin finished last week, and Master Chef the week before, so last night Channel 10 inflicted Eragon on us. Well, you know my opinion of that piece of... umm... stuff, so there was no way I was sitting through the movie. Besides, I was cooking Chicken Yakitori and reading one of the wonderful Christine Manfield's books.

But it did make me realise... I promised a review of Twilight some time ago, so here goes.

Phoenix girl Bella Swan decides to go and live with her dad, even though she doesn't really feel much for him and isn't keen on the town where she will be living. But when she arrives in the small town of Forks, she is immediately attracted to the indescribably georgeous Edward Cullen, who turns out to be a vampire. He is also attracted to Bella, because she smells nice. He can't be around her because she's so attractive and he's afraid he will hurt her, but this doesn't stop him from sneaking into her bedroom at night. Edward and Bella moon over each other for several hundred pages, before some bad guys turn up and threaten Bella and Edward has to kill them. The End.

A few years ago, I couldn't get hold of my usual lavender bubble bath, so I bought another brand which people raved about, and cost more than the other brand. It was a metallic, sparkly purple syrup, which was hard to get out of the bottle, didn't really smell of lavender and brought me out in a terrible rash.

And that, folks, is a perfect analogy for Twilight.

( Read on, if you dare... )

It's really weird... MasterChef Australia has been over for a week, yet the forums are still running hot discussing the show. The main topic up for discussion is the "conspiracy" behind ensuring the "right" person won the competition.

Basically, all the conspiracies boil down to the fact that the eventual winner, Julie, was a "home cook" who won because she would appeal to the broadest demographic; part of the prize is a cookbook deal, so the theory is Julie will sell the most books and the producers will make a bucketload of money, more than they would had any of the other contestants had won. The fact that all the judges are either world renowned chefs or food critics who would not be putting their reputations on the line doesn't enter into it.*

But I'm not writing today about MasterChef conspiracies. One commenter on the forum posted this little gem:

I believe there was a conspiracy to kill JFK

I believe there was a conspiracy to kill Martin Luther King

I believe FDR knew about the impending attack on Pearl Harbour up to 8 months in advance

I believe that there was prior knowledge of the events on 9/11 and that forces within the administration allowed it to happen......a new Pearl Harbour

If I can believe the big conspiracies then I can certainly believe that a reality TV show was rigged.

Egad.

Some people scare me. Good thing this person didn't mention the moon landing, or I'd be really worried.

And that's why I'm posting, to firmly express my disgust in 2 of those conspiracy theories. I do believe the official explanation behind JFK's assassination was rubbish, and I also believe there was more to Martin Luther King's assassination.** But the Pearl Harbour thing? 9/11? Please, will these people grow another brain, or at least learn to use the one they have?

( The Pearl Harbour conspiracy and why it's rubbish )

( And here's my personal debunking of the 9/11 conspiracy theory. )

So there's my personal debunk of 2 of the great historical conspiracy theories. I'm not expecting to convince any conspiracy theorists they're wrong, because as Sleek Geek Dr Karl Kruszelnicki says, conspiracy theorists willingly exist in a vaccum of perfect ignorance, and won't allow anything to penetrate said vacuum.***



* For what it's worth, I do think that some of the other contestants have more potential than Julie to be truly great chefs. But based on what I watched, Julie is an awesome cook, and so what if she has no pretensions towards Michelin stars, but just wants to open a popular, family-oriented restaurant? I want to eat her food.

** And there was definitely more behind Bobby Kennedy's assassination too. But most popular conspiracy theorists don't know about that one, because he was only a presidential candidate, and Sirhan fired at least some of the shots, so it's harder to come up with a Kewl theory.

*** That's something of a paraphrase, I can't remember his exact quote. He was talking about the Great Moon Landing Conspiracy; his main evidence debunking that theory is the thousands of people all over the world who were responsible for the success of the moon landing, none of whom has come forward to say it was all a hoax.

You may be one of the growing number of people adopting a gluten free life, for whatever reason. Maybe you've been tested and discovered you're coeliac (or perhaps you have 2 of the 4 coeliac genes and you've decided that's too high a risk). Maybe you have Crohn's Disease or Colitis and gluten is one of your triggers (like it is for many of us). Maybe you have a psychosomatic reaction to gluten. Maybe you've just decided gluten free is healthier. Whatever. Here are some very simple rules to follow.

1. Don't whine about how hard it is to avoid gluten, particularly to other gluten-intolerants. WE KNOW. And we know how to deal with it. We've bought the gluten-free ingredients booklet from the Coeliac Society, or we've learned to read labels. We cope. Do the same. And this may astonish you, but people who aren't gluten intolerant don't really care.



2. Learn to cook. There is a surprising number of easy meals that don't involve gluten, and you can easily avoid the gluten in bottled pasta sauces etc by learning to make your own. It's tastier, cheaper and healthier, because you avoid all the extra salt, sugar and preservatives that go into those things. And no, making bolognese sauce from scratch does not take a long time.



3. If you don't like rice, either shut up about it or learn to like it.



4. If you are going to occasionally indulge in gluten food (yes, I do this, very occasionally) be aware of the affect it will have, plan for it, and don't whine about it.



5. For the love of kitty cats, STOP EATING NORMAL BREAD, PIES, SAUSAGE ROLLS, HAMBURGERS, DONUTS AND THOSE GODAWFUL CHICKEN SCHNITZEL THINGS if you have decided to go completely gluten free. If you really are that intolerant, there are no half-measures. You either avoid all gluten or you don't. And no, only eating "2 or 3 slices of bread a day and the odd hamburger" isn't avoiding gluten. Following this rule is particularly important if you are going to constantly violate rule #1, if you want to avoid snarky remarks from other gluten intolerants.


These rules are simple. Which is not the same thing as easy. Never said it was.

I know, I know, it's been over 2 months since I posted...

Sorry about that.

Truth is, I haven't had the 'puter on much in those 2 months. If you have any news you think I should know, drop me a comment and also feel free to berate me for my long silence.

If you want to know where I've been, like literally millions of Australians for the past few months, I was glued to the TV watching MasterChef Australia. This show has been a phenomenon - the final on Sunday night was officially the third highest rating show in Australian broadcast history. Yes, a COOKING SHOW. And a REALITY TV COMPETITION COOKING SHOW at that. TV commentators and network executives have been falling all over themselves wondering why the Hell a cooking competition has been such popular TV; for me, I love food and cooking shows and always watch them (unless it's a Gordon Ramsay show, in which case I want to throw things because I don't like him). The cooks were all amateurs, but generally had great skill - these were ordinary people, doing something that just about everyone does each day - cook. And most people like to try to make their food enjoyable. The three judges were knowledgable, and good judges - they praised good efforts, but when food was rubbish, they said so, and gave valid reasons as to why.

So after MasterChef (and the nightly discussion with my mother and/or brother, because they both liked it too), I would look through my growing collection of food books, dreaming up new things to cook. And yes, I have cooked a lot in the past few months. Here's a tip, though - monster cooking sessions beginning around 8:30 at night aren't recommended. Especially when you are incapable of leaving the washing up. Especially when you have to work next day. And especially when you have fibromyalgia and need sleep.

But now, if you;ll excuse me, I've just found a Japanese grocer in Sydney who has an online mail order service. And I'm still looking for somewhere that has Australian bushfoods for sale online.

Just ordered more stuff from Amazon. And the last order hasn't even shipped yet. Oh well. The latest order was relatively small for me, books about the spice trade and spices in medieval cooking (and one on Roman clothing).

I had to sneer at one of the reviewers for The Spice Route, who insisted that the author obviously knows little about spices as he called cubeb a pepper. Even though it's in the Piper genus, it's not a pepper, apparently.

And here was me, thinking that "pepper" was the general term applied to spices derived from plants of the Piper genus. And all my spice books that class cubeb as pepper are clearly wrong as well. It must be nice to know you're right when the rest of the world is wrong.

On Sunday night I did a Tudor chicken recipe, Chicken in a Lemon Sauce. It was really tasty, though I made it with drumsticks. This was a bit of a mistake; you braise the chicken, which makes the skin fall off during cooking, so it looked somewhat manky on the plate. If I make it for myself again, I will probably use chicken thigh fillets, because they braise beautifully and don't go manky. However, for SCA feasts, I imagine drumsticks will be fine, as in the dim lighting a manky appearance won't be as much of a turn off.

Tonight I made my good old Garlic Soup for dinner (yum yum 25 cloves of garlic I will still smell it a week from now), which meant I had 3 egg whites hanging around. My freezer already has quite a few frozen egg whites, so I decided to have another shot at making some coffee meringues (second time I've ever tried anything meringue). The first time I used too wide a bowl, so I couldn't beat the egg whites properly. This time I used a much narrower bowl and the meringues turned out much better - they didn't run everywhere. And they taste really good, too. They're still a bit too crisp for my liking; I just found a cooking tip to lower the cooking temperature when you put them in the oven, which crisps the outside while leaving the inside still slightly gooey.

( Recipe for Chicken with Orange or Lemon Sauce )

But right now, I'm hunting for recipes for tea-smoked duck breast. And even though it's quite late, I think I'll have another coffee meringue.

Dear Amazon,

I have just posted an order for over $AU200.

I do not need to "treat myself to a little something," thankyou.

But right now, Tilly is demanding Love. She has trapped a hand and is headbutting me. And kneading ferociously.

This post was prompted by two things.

First, the news that two girls have been expelled from an exclusive school for cyber-bullying. This can't erase the damage their vicious attacks have caused, but good on the school for acting promptly. I certainly hope this follows those two preshus girls wherever they go.

Second, this post from the from the ever awesome naamah_darling, about the horrific damage verbal bullying can cause, and I back naamah up 110% when she says that telling a victim to turn the other cheek is probably the worst thing you can do.

For whatever reason it occurs, bullying is wrong. Maybe you're jealous that some girl has sprouted breasts before you have. Maybe you feel threatened by someone's intellect or sporting prowess. Maybe your parents are divorcing, or your dog just died, and you need to lash out. Maybe it's hormones. Maybe you're being bullied yourself. Whatever. Don't care. The minute you strike someone who's done nothing to you, whether physically or verbally, with the express intent to harm that person, you have become a stain on society. And if you're a victim of someone else's bullying, more shame on you.

I was a victim of bullying throughout most of my school life, to the point where I still have intimacy issues and allowing people to get close. To say nothing of still trying to sort out my self-image and ideas of my own attractiveness. I have fond daydreams of dipping parts of my tormentors into hot oil, and I've often shocked people by saying there's about 5 people of my school year (out of about 120) that I wouldn't waterboard given the opportunity. No, I'm not kidding when I say that. Nearly 20 years later, the wounds inflicted are still very, very raw.

Like Martin Luther King, I have a dream, born of the frustration and despair that comes from being singled out as "different" and treated badly. But unlike King, my dream is not uplifting and inspiring. I dream of a huge complex enclosed by barbed wire, out in the middle of the Simpson Desert, where it's always unbearably hot during the day and very cold at night. All the buildings are made of corrugated iron, there's no air conditioning, and very basic amenities. And anyone, any age, any gender, is sent to this place when they bully someone else, for whatever reason and for whatever cause. Whether it be schoolyard bullies. Whether it be abusive spouses or parents. Whether it be nasty bosses. Whether it be men who think they can touch up women whenever they please. They can get let out once they have learned not to bully anyone, ever. Or until they are destroyed by someone else's bullying.

At least bullying is becoming more of an issue these days. School boards are implementing anti-bullying programmes, if only to be seen to be doing something, and it's becoming a media issue. But still, when 11 year olds are driven to suicide and parents feel it necessary to take schools to court for failing to stop the problem, it's clear we have a very, very long way to go.

( Some thoughts from a survivor about how to cope. WARNING, some may find these measures extreme. )

Today, I think I have finally cracked the recipe for Chicken and Leek Pasties, so I am recording it for posterity (this is about attempt #5, I think). It's based on a recipe from the Goodman of Paris (a late 14th century household manual written by a wealthy burgher for his much younger wife). My recipe differs quite a bit from his, and it's taken me a few goes to get it right.

( Yum yum yum... )

Hi everyone, I figured it was time I posted an update to let everyone know I'm still alive.

As all Lochacians will know, the Easter weekend means Rowany Festival, which was (mostly) highly enjoyable. And the non-enjoyable bits (centring around other people not washing up their dishes so the campsite had many flies) weren't insurmountable. This year, I took 3 classes - Embroidery For Absolute Beginners, How To Do Effective Research, and The Brew That Fuels the SCA - a Brief History Of Coffee (the full title is important). The research one was greatly appreciated, and there were so many people at the coffee one they spilled out of the tent. So I got nervous and talked too fast, but everyone got a cup of coffee, and found the talk informative (I suspect many people turned up because the word got around there was coffee being handed out).

In the week leading up to Festival, I took a look at my wardrobe and realised I didn't have any cold weather clothing. I spent that week making a wool coat and a wool dress. I didn't need the dress as it turned out, but the coat was invaluable at night. Plus, it completely covers my jammies for the early morning toilet run. The Offensive Gumboots are still on display, but they wouldn't be Offensive Gumboots if they weren't seen. (They are Offensive Gumboots because they are Hello Kitty gumboots - our Baron really doesn't like Hello Kitty, and seeing as it's basically impossible to get plain gumboots for women where I live, I figured I might as well get a really offensive pair). The coat and dress still aren't finished, so I won't be posting pictures of them just yet. The seams aren't finished, they aren't hemmed, and the trim on the dress needs to be sewn down. But the great thing about wool fabric is that you can wear it without hemming it, because it doesn't fray much.

I've also been reading and enjoying the Sookie Stackhouse books, and am currently on my second read of Turn Coat, the latest book in the Dresden Files. Finished Twilight, thank the Gods, and am not going to read the rest of the books. I'm working on a review, but I can only write it a bit at a time, otherwise I start foaming at the mouth. I seriously wonder how anyone can like these books. I think it was a very effective marketing campaign, and Twilight will be somewhat like The Da Vinci Code - hugely popular for a while, then no one thinks about it anymore. I really, really hope so.

We had our baronial Newcomer's Feast (barbeque) on the weekend. 17 people had said they were going to come, we figured on more than twice that, had around 50 people there, so some people missed out on lamb kebabs. It got to the stage where I was holding back food for the fighters, who wanted to eat after they'd fought, and people got huffy with me. What was really annoying was the fact that all the fighters had booked, and paid, and several of the huffers hadn't booked. Next time, there will be tokens for people who've booked in advance, and everyone else will have to take their chances.

It was still a very good event, and everyone liked the food. It's always a complement when people don't clear out to get McDonald's, people come back for seconds, and there's not much in the way of leftovers.

I have also discovered my behaviour gets somewhat manky during food preparation. I snapped at a couple of people, in fact I think I frightened one person. Though in fairness to me, pouncing on me to tell me they had some stuff I'd loaned them when I had my arms full of stuff, and then later trying to talk embroidery while I was up to my wrists in raw lamb threading kebabs was probably not the best move on their part. Still, I have made up a sign warning everyone I'm a manky bitch when getting food ready, so best to stay away unless I've asked for help (seriously, asking a person if they need any help every 10 seconds is not the best course of action).

But onwards, ever onwards, and on to planning the next feeding frenzy. This will probably be mostly Roman. The Romans had lots of cool finger-food, great for eating outdoors.

Hi, everyone.

I can confirm, officially, that the fatigue, pain, dizziness etc I have been suffering for some time now is definitely fibromyalgia. On Monday I had an appointment with a rheumatologist, and he confirmed the diagnosis by prodding me all over, and noting where I said "OW." Which was pretty much everywhere. I kept yawning throughout the consultation, because I was typically weary, which again tied in. It's a relief to have it confirmed.

I need to stop drinking caffeinated beverages, which is going to be hard. I love my tea, and the occasional cup of coffee. I need to keep doing the hydrotherapy and the walking, and take low dose paracetamol several times a day to take the edge off the pain.

I was going to post this on Monday night, but on Monday, I ate some dodgy sushi for dinner and... you can probably work out the rest. At least I got to spend yesterday in my nice comfy chair watching Dragon Booster and patting Tilly.

Right now, I need to go and have a bath, because I had a hydrotherapy session this afternoon, and the smell of chlorine on my skin is starting to annoy me.

(In which I have terrible trouble tracking down certain ingredients that would have been readily available in ancient Rome)

Today was our fortnightly Baronial cooking group, in which we continued our search for a dish involving carrots and no honey (honeyed carrots have been done to death at SCA feasts and they are BORING). We also made some egg and cheese cakes, and stuffed meatballs. We're doing a bit of a Roman theme so far this year. Most of our recipes come from Apicus, who really loved his food. In fact, he ate himself into such bad debt he committed suicide rather than face his creditors.

The carrots were cooked and served in a cumin sauce, and were extremely tasty. Apicus knew what he was talking about. The egg and cheese cakes were tasty, but need some more work, partially to get the recipe right, and also to figure out how to stop them from sticking to the dish. We made them a muffin tray, and they stuck to the tray badly. Admittedly, I was using an old, somewhat dodgy muffin tray.

The stuffed meatballs were also good, but led me to problems tracking down some of the ingredients. The meatball mix was pretty basic - pork mince, breadcrumbs soaked in wine, pepper, garum and myrtle berries, stuffed with pine nuts. However, you are supposed to wrap the meatballs in pork caul to cook them, and they are cooked in a wine product called caroenum. I have been looking for pork caul all over for about 2 weeks now, and I could find only one butcher who even knew exactly what it was, and he didn't have any. Apparently it's removed from the carcass before the butcher gets it. So we used eggs to bind the meatball mix.

It was on Wednesday night I realised that caroenum is basically vino cotto, a sauce made from reduced sweet wine. I was able to get some this morning... $47 for a 250mL bottle. GAH. It was, however, utterly delicious. Australian cooking guru Maggie Beer says vino cotto can be used as a sauce on icecream, and I'd agree with that, provided it was really, really good icecream. Maggie also sells vino cotto for half the price, but the shop I went to had sold out of hers.

The meatballs turned out well as well, only next time we are going to use more pine nuts, and replace the myrtle berries with currants, because they overpowered the dish (OK, we used juniper berries, but they are pretty similar). And we are thinking that prune juice would be an acceptable substitute for vino cotto, because even Maggie Beer's vino cotto would make for a coronary-inducing feast cost.

However, I've killed my coffee grinder. I was going for a Turkish grind, and blew the motor. Oh well, I've been thinking of getting a new one for a while. It really didn't grind all that well if you wanted fine. And also, I can't find my Sweets cookbook. There's a recipe in there for pine nut candy I'd like to make.

Pine nuts are YUM. So is vino cotto. Juniper berries, not so much.

I was going to post something much longer, but after cooking lots tonight and then cleaning up, all of a sudden I'm very, tired and should go to bed.

So, just a quick update. My health has gotten to the point where the GP has referred me to a rheumatologist for confirmation of the fibromyalgia diagnosis, and also for treatment. I see him on March 23. I'm also working reduced hours, because working a full 40-hour week is too much for me.

So there you go, very brief update like I said. And the Worshipful Company of Broiderers wanted to know how the Seecrut Project (with Badgers) is going - I'll have to update tomorrow. But now, bed.

Actually, first, another attempt to get the smell of chilli paste, beef, sesame oil, fish sauce, garlic and everything else off my hands.

You may all recall I have been expressing masochistic thoughts recently; namely, a desire to read Twilight just to see what it's like, but not wishing to spend any money to do so, not even the reservation fee at the local library. Incidentally, the fee has gone up to $1.10 now. It was only $1 when I read Eragon (and I couldn't get my dollar back either).

As it turns out, Magdalena, a fellow SCAdian, is starting her Master's in English Literature, and her thesis is examining vampires in popular culture. This means, she has large numbers of vampire novels and movies in her library. Including all four Twilight books.

So I borrowed them. Despite all the warnings, including Magdalena's ("they're so emo!").

It's... bad.

So bad, in fact, I'm not even sure I'll be able to finish Twilight, and a book has to be really, really bad for me not to finish it.

I really need to stop doing these things to myself.

I've missed blogging about the last 2 Oscars. The year before last, I was doing a turtle impression, and last year, I was still being a turtle, and suffering serious pain. This year, the turtle thing's receding, even if the pain isn't, and I am DETERMINED to blog about Oscar fashions.

There seem to be trends each year with fashions. Last year, for instance, was The Year of the Pastel Smudges, because just about everyone seemed to be wearing pastels. Unfortunately, this trend has continued this year. Along with the strapless dresses, which seem to me to be worn without enough in the way of accessories. Too many bare chests and dull ears; with an expanse of flesh, you need something to break it up. Especially if you aren't well endowed in the bust department, as most Hollywood women aren't. Some dresses tried to compensate with some pleating and bodice detail, and the results were somewhat hit and miss, I think.

( (In no particular order) )

I'm happy.

In fact, I'm really, REALLY HAPPY.

I've paid off over half the mortgage!!!

Granted, I'm just $13 under half way, but still.

I hope this post has been a refreshing change from "I'm tired."