:::Nobody Does it Better:::

My parents are old people, older than your parents (or the same age, if you're older than I am), so I grew up watching old people tv. I thank them for this greatly.

Now that I have a television again, I'm able to catch one of our all-time family favorites -- Masterpiece|Mystery! -- without having to resort to less than, ahem, kosher means. Did you watch Mystery! when you were little? Watch this now, and wax nostalgic.





I just finished watching this evening's presentation of Miss Marple: The Blue Geranium*, and who should I see?

Havers!

and

Miss Glasson adultering with The Count Orsino!!!!!!!!!

Here are some things that I love about British tv:

1. They cast regular looking people. Real live, regular looking people that you would see walking down a normal street in a normal town.
2. And, for the most part, these actors can act. Imagine that.
2. The British love them a mystery, and they do them so well. I love mysteries.
3. After you've seen a couple shows, you'll recognize at least three faces in every new show you watch. At this point I feel like I'm bff with Joanna David and Selina Cadell.

Ooh, another Marple** just came on with Jackie Collins in a supporting role. Suh-weet.


I realize this is one of those things that no one is going to care about, but there you go.

If this short discussion on the topic of British television didn't excite you, here's something else -- I made yogurt cheese today!


Mmm. I love magical food transformations.



*Anyone playing Miss Marple besides Joan Hickson is a blasphemy, but Julia McKenzie is a breath of fresh air after the dark, dark days of Geraldine McEwan's reign.
**A remake of 'They Do It With Mirrors.' I'm glad there's still enough interest in the material for people to remake the old movies, but the new ones just aren't quite right, are they?

:::A True Test:::

I have mastered
scrambled eggs
in
a stainless steel
pan.

Boo
Ya.

:::Ka-Boom:::

The upside to sharing each inch of your personal space with people is that you get to eavesdrop on so many entertaining conversations.

Today, I present you with 'Threat Level Midnight,' a conversation in one part.


An office elevator, somewhere near Metro Center.

Lady: $#@%! I forgot my lunch!

Man: Huh?

Lady: I forgot my lunch.

Man: On the metro?

Lady: Yes.

Man: Oh well, they'll just blow it up.


Scene.

:::Dammit! I Want To Move To Texas!!!:::

I want to move to Texas, but I have no idea how I'm going to make it work.

I would have to:

1. Buy a car (which I really don't want to do)
2. Scrounge together a down payment for a car (Grrr...)
3. Start paying for car insurance (*#%@$!!!)
4. Get rid of half of my crap (I'm actually looking forward to this)
5. Drive to Texas (fun)
6. Pay for motels, gas and food between here and Texas (Not fun! &@*$#!!!)
7. Save enough money to cover bills until I get some kind of job


If I stay, I need to:

1. Find a place to live for the end of August (In an area where I won't get shot/harassed/assaulted)
2. If I get my own place, I kind of need a new job so that I won't be so strapped every month
3. So, I need to get a new job (Yeah, that's not stressful)
4. Pay tons of money for a security deposit
5. Pay tons of money for first month's rent, and every month thereafter
6. Somehow pay to buy bare bones furnishings for an empty apartment
7. Put off my goals for another 2-3 years...

Or, hey, I could just move into a run-of-the-mill shared apartment with other Mormon girls (and want to die every day).


The difficulty is that each option is going to cost inordinate amounts of money.

Honestly, I just don't want to stay. I certainly won't be sad if I have to. I like DC, I have friends here, I love my ward (hopefully I can stay in my ward), and there are a lot of opportunities here. But I still want to move to Texas at some point.

However, if I had to stay, saving more money for a move at a later date wouldn't really be a possibility because I'll be on such a tight budget until I make a big career step to a higher salary level (P.S. -- That's not going to happen anytime soon).



I've been fasting and praying since December, I've been researching like a fiend, I've looked at apartments here, I've talked with my Bishop, I've received blessings, I've asked everyone I know for advice, sigh...I'm at a loss. Never in my life have I not had some idea of what my next step in life would be. This time, I've got absolutely nothing. Niente.

???


??


???


?


????













?

:::You Go, Girl!:::

I like to imagine that she has a closet full of mint condition LA Gears and BK Knights.

:::Crack Cocaine:::

For the first time in more than two years, I have a tv.

With cable.


In my bedroom.



I'm calling this the 'Summer of TV'.

Because all I'm going to do is watch tv.



And there is so much tv to watch...

So many wedding gowns to buy...

So much to learn about New Jersey...

So many a$$es to be danced off...



Mmm, brain feels sleepy...

:::Lunch at the W:::

On Friday, I went out to lunch with one of my coworkers, Fred, and our old coworker Lindsay. She was also my sister's roommate for years, and she recommended me for my job when I moved out here.

We went to POV at the W, which is in the old Hotel Washington building. The last time I was there it was still the Hotel Washington, I was 20 years old, living in Foggy Bottom, and interning on K Street. Man.



The decor was nothing less than you'd expect from the W...plus a little bit more.


The view is still one of the best in the city. You can see the White House, the Washington Monument, the Jefferson, the WWII, the Lincoln, and all of the Mall from one rooftop deck.


Lindsay.


Fred.

Yeah, you wish you were cool enough to rock a pair of spider cuff links. Only Fred could pull them off with such panache. This is a man who wears exquisite and colorful silk ties and custom made shirts every day, and is currently having a pair of eyeglasses hand crafted in Italy. Seriously, I wish I was that cool.

The lady was wearing a combination of Le Maison de Lane Bryant and Tar-jay, if you care to know.




Pistachio ice cream on top of a rhubarb cobbler. Two of my favorite flavors in one dessert.




I doubt I would ever decorate my house this way, but I still loved the fun decor. I'm pretty hip, though, so that doesn't surprise me.

:::Let It Be Known -- I Moved:::

Last weekend I moved off the Hill and moved in with my RS Prez down in the Waterfront area of DC.
Life is pretty sweet down here.


The only catch is that her regular roommate is coming back on August 30th. So, gots to make a plan for the end of summer, cuz I'm about to be without home...

::I Really Am Writing About Vomiting:::

I throw up many mornings. It's true. It's a special little thing I do, and nobody knows why. Been happening for years.

Tossing cookies on a thoroughly empty stomach is hard graft that includes a lot of cramping and
s t r a i n i n g and prolonged periods of arrested breathing while in the middle of long, desperate heaves.

But, I shouldn't call it a 'thoroughly empty stomach,' because there's always bile.

Oh, the sour, sour bile.


But enough about vomit, because that's not the point of this post.



The point of this post is that yesterday I was gripped by a heave so mighty that I pulled muscles in my neck and shoulder, and busted a bunch of capillaries on the right side of my face.


Ok, now that's just awesome. How many times have you heard of anyone sustaining an injury due to the shear effort of throwing up? I'm like a champion or something.

And the weirdest thing is that while I was being wracked by this colossal heave, I thought to myself, 'I think I'm going to bust a bunch of capillaries in my face.'

I call that instincts, baby.


Anyhow, sorry about the vomit details. I just had to give you some history so that you wouldn't focus on the fact that I was vomiting (normal), but on my vomiting-related injuries (an anomaly).


Now let's see if we can get this story published.

:::Guernsey Literary and...(snore...)...What?!:::

I'm currently reading The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, and I'm having the hardest time engaging with the plot and characters. In general, I'm...bored. Reading it feels like a chore.

But, I don't dare go against the New York Time Best Seller list, or the always prominent New Releases tables at Barnes and Noble from which most of us find our reading material (admit it). I will persist.

Boo.

Well, maybe I'll just take it back to the library and give it a go some other time when I'm more in the mood. It would be a shame to ruin a potentially positive reading experience.


Edit: Things just picked up. Good thing, I really want to like this book.