Fandom Lawyers

Lovely afternoon/evening with goddessgoddess, T., and S. (who turned out to be a cute longhaired fellow in a fetching paisley skirt). We went to Clay Pit for lunch (dodging all the burnt orange turnout on our way downtown); it turned out they have a lunch buffet on Saturdays as well as during the week. That turned out pretty well, they had saag paneer, lamb korma, and vegetable pakora. Stuffed!

After that goddessgoddess made her desire for warbat known, so we went to Sarah's. They're always fun to browse; T. got some rose syrup, goddessgoddess got eight warbat, and I caved and got a packet of honeydew shisha and a little vanilla sugar (which was really cheap!). The lady behind the counter was once more super friendly and chatty, joking about how I got goddessgoddess addicted to warbat and how I should eat more. If I hadn't been so massively stuffed I might have snagged a falafel or two, they're so good there!

Went back to T.'s for lazy-afternooning. There was checking of emails, Facebook, and the like, and it was learned that I cannot use a nipple mouse. There was sharing of warbat. There was cozy napping and the watching of TV, some current shows I didn't recognize, and the first three episodes of Coupling; I had forgotten how deeply I love that show. And how awesome Susan was in the beginning before she got all domesticated.

Eventually dinnertime rolled around. Dinner was chosen with remarkable ease, and we went to a Thai place. I had a Thai iced coffee, which I haven't had in years. S. had one too.Tasty, tasty drinks, those. My entree was a pork and noodle dish, peppery without being actually spicy, that I ate maybe a third of. Yay leftovers! There was also a dessert of some sort that I tried a bite of. Very sweet and sticky. After, Planet K was investigated, and another pipe shop, with discussion of further explorations, but I realized that I was dead on my feet and regretfully said my goodnights.

So now I am doing my night-time catching up, getting loved on by Molly, and discussing the awesomeness that is Discworld with waywardoctagon before collapsing into sleep. With a very full belly.

Am I supposed to change my filter, or rinse it off and put the old one in :/ ? It says to change it every 3-4 weeks, but as usual, internet advice is different.

Anyway, I got NEW PLANTS today, and spent some time planting them for the Gang. After the initial "OMG! ONOZ!" reaction, they started giving the plants little nips and zipping around curiously, so I take this to mean All Is Forgiven, Giant Hands.

I am happy, too, because they shall have more stuff to poke at.

So, here are my water test results:
pH: 7.6
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: .25ppm
Nitrate: 20ppm

I think I should keep an eye on that nitrate especially. I've been using this weekly water additive called EasyBalance that supposedly has "Nitrate Reduction Granules", but I think I'm supposed to have 0 of both nitrate and nitrite.

Platies: http://www.flickr.com/photos/21334371@N03/sets/72157622848521702/
Geese: http://www.flickr.com/photos/21334371@N03/sets/72157622848496918/ (from the Pittsburgh trip)

ETA: After I put that weekly stuff in, the test is now 0ppm nitrite/10 ppm nitrate. Yayyyy~

Little baby A'Tuins, you guys!

I just finished Unseen Academicals. I love Pepe so very hard.

I have lunch plans with goddessgoddess, T., and their friend S. This is probably a good thing, as my food intake the past few days has consisted of a can of not at all good soup. A meal I can chew would be nice.

Am wearing The Bra That Fits. At present there is only one. I have taken steps to remedy this. It is a front-hook. It kind of has to be. There are eight rows of hooks. Also wearing The Jeans That Fit, courtesy of hcolleen, and a not bad tshirt courtesy of some thrift shop somewhere. Smelly of the day as yet to be decided. I'm thinking Hungry Ghost Moon.

If anyone knows what the hell is up with KIBA, I would love to know. I stopped watching because

(a) I was pretty sure it was all going to end in tears (see also: Wolf's Rain)
(b) As each successive episode aired, it had me asking, "What the fuck is going on?!"
(c) It's kind of derivative, like that Avenger thing about Mars or something and then no one could have kids and WHAT WAS UP WITH THAT SHOW?

KIBA is about a kid named Zed who is kind of an asshat and then he is transported to a Magical World (TM) with magic, where he is still an asshat. He also has a super powerful spirit named Amil Gaoul who is awesome and kills things but mostly it's about Zed and his annoying uke brainwashed friend Noa, who is so incredibly annoying and brainwashed he spends a good deal of time contributing to a false sense of dramatic tension by murdering people because... um, someone told him to? It's kind of like Miaka and Yui, if Miaka was a power-hungry jerkoff with absolutely zero social skills.

But they are BEST FRIENDS AND YET ENEMIES.

It gets to a point where they're constantly introducing various half-explored characters and countries and then something happens and everything explodes, but then for some reason Zed (who goes through 51 episodes and is still, somehow, an asshat) merges with Amil Gaoul or something. I watched a full half of this series and I still have NO IDEA WHAT IS GOING ON, which I guess happens a lot when you mix together a bunch of things you liked from other cool anime shows but actually have no idea what you are doing.

Stop trying to blow my mind, Japan! It never works!

( Spammers, Christmas, procrastination. )

Thankfully I am not tempted by BPAL's Naughty or Nice Inquisition. There are a few scents that sound nice but most don't appeal.

It's rainy and I'm stiff and kind of queasy. more sleep is called for.

CATS FOR GOLD

Oh my god XD

Okay, I just saw a listing with a HUGE DARK STAIN on the hardwood in two of the pictures.

"Not a short sale or foreclosure"? I could believe that. It looks more like someone bled out all over the floor.

I don't even know if I WANT to buy a place. Up to $300,000?! That's like more money I've seen in my life! (And you should see some of the crazy shacks people want to sell for $250,000, let me tell you internets) Argh, housing is such a pain. The real estate agents, and the lost weekends, and the... ARGH.

So, to summarize, here are the reasons for and against moi buying a house/condo/townhouse:

For	Against
* More room for fish * I actually own something for all this money I'm paying * Decorating new place + more room for stuff	* Stuck in the same place for years * HUEG DEBT weighing me down like a millstone :DDD * A billion hours of stress, research, and negotiations

And wouldn't you know it, the thing I am most excited about is decorating and more fish. I don't really like the idea of owing people things. I don't think I've ever bought anything I couldn't pay for, but since housing is so monumentally expensive, it'll be 30 YEARS until I can pay it all off, and how do people take the pressure? Jeez.

On the other hand, I guess it's better than paying rent. I mean, either way you need to pay something monthly, but at least you own something at the end of it :/.

You know what would be hilarious, though? I would probably have to...

...get a roommate. LOLOL I hope the market's better than in New Haven.

Thanks to doombuggie's indispensable and much appreciated aid yesterday, I was able to get the paperwork I needed. Bright and early this AM I took my quivering self to the office, where the manager made copies of everything to take to the caseworker (she said she was going in this afternoon) and put a "recieved" stamp on all of the originals.

Nothing I can do now until December 18th. My hands continue to shake.

The cats have been doing their job, though. Last night there was some contention between Anya and Molly as to who would curl up on my chest. Being Boss Cat, Molly won of course, and Anya snuggled up at my side.

I have been documenting function outputs for six hours straight.

/wrist

( More whining )

Yesterday I went to my mall pet store, which inexplicably had much happier-looking fish than the last place. It also had super awesome fish, like a big silver arowana that glared disdainfully down at me and a sleepy lionfish. I'm not buying any fish atm, but I like looking at them.

So, the next step up from a 5 gallon tank would be... what? I'd like to get at least a 20 gallon, because I want morefish and more room for plants and hiding places. Still freshwater, although I think it would be awesome to eventually have a marine tank with coral and everything. Also, any suggestions for types of fish/plants/whatever?

And how come every single piece of fish advice on the internet is different >:(?

So apparently some people are in an uproar over President Obama bowing to Emperor Akihito of Japan. Even Miss Manners oh-so-smugly weighs in (not that she's usually relevant to today's world). I fail to see the grave offense; first of all, it is Japan. Everyone bows. Yes, the President isn't just anyone, but it's roughly equivalent to a handshake, and I for one feel that he shouldn't be below him to put forth polite gestures such as it. Second of all, he is the Emperor. Give me a break. Would such uproar take place were Obama to genuflect before the pope?

If one wants to criticise him, I suppose one could correct his form, which was rather awkward. But the simpering about how it either shows weakness or is just Not Done smacks of cultural imperialism, lingering insecurity, and stereotypical US-American arrogance.

FUCKING HACA>

Fucking bureaucracy. Fucking paperwork.

( In which I am mean to Norah Jones )

The lord is a very, very busy man.

Uh, so. If you like Japanese CG bio-armor cyberpunk, CASSHERN MAY BE THE MOVIE FOR YOU!

( Excuse me whilst I kill your internet connection )

I know I have no coherent reason here why you should possibly watch this goofy-ass movie. So, um. It's the campiest Darker and Edgier remake I've ever seen? And. There are pretty bishounen? And fighting? AND ROBOTS!

...why do my favorite characters always die :<? First Yakuza with Revolver in Versus, and now Katana Dude. SHENANIGANS. More photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/21334371@N03/sets/72157622695442491

Provolone is the best cheese!

Sorry about the radio silence, guys. Stressed all to hell. Sleeping whenever I can. Have had to be awake today. Feel like 'm going to be sick. Big, stressy meeting tomorrow. This is not good.

I'm trying to think of some things to buy myself for Christmas. This is part of my larger plan to not become like my relatives, for whom Christmas is a time to drive a couple hours to someone else's house so they can get an electronic foot massager they didn't want anyway. When, in fact, the best part of any Christmas is PRESENTS. SHINY SHINY PRESENTS.

( Also, I'm trying to figure out some animation problems: )