Today has been a Good Day. One of those days that's bright and shiny and makes you think, "Yeah, living. This is it." I am possibly also just giddy from spending the night being crazy instead of sleeping, but:

1. I got messed up academic stuff sorted out with my academic advisor. FOUR WEEKS OF STRESS FINALLY GONE.

2. Cleared with my supervisor (who is still beyond awesome) that I could leave before the 28th, 'cause with school staring three days later, the turnaround would be deadly. And being that he is awesome, any time next week is fine, I just need to let him know.

3. I got paid today.

4. The weather is beyond beautiful. Sunny and warm and it smells like spring and walking home from work was so delightful that I took the extra extra long way.

5. Went to Thyme and Again, this wonderful catering place down on Wellington, and got myself cake to celebrate it being such a good day. The cake is chocolate hazelnut mousse. The slice is big enough to be a meal. And it will be. Oh yes.

6. The video game store I stopped in, completely on a whim, had a copy of Okage: Shadow King. Brand-new. That the dude behind the counter looked at and just said, "Twenty bucks. Tax included." And I was all wheee! because this is one of the three I have been searching for for months.

And I'm happy and productive and I HAVE CAKE and even the sparrows still having sex outside my window (as they have been doing for the past week straight) cannot dampen this mood.

Heee~~~~~ ♥

So. How YOU doin'?

ETA: ALSO, harukami IS AWESOME AND ROCKS MY WORLD. WITH GEEKY SPAMMY GOODNESS. YES.

Let me tell you. Today? Today is a damn good day. Oh yes. Because I?

Have naganegi.

In my fridge.

Right now.

And it is only through a colossal expenditure of self restraint that the above declaration is not in caps, bold, and taking up most of the screen. And sparkling. I am that happy.

"But wait," you say. "Isn't naganegi just, you know, an onion?" And to that I reply, yes, it is indeed an onion. But it is not just any onion. Oh no. The naganegi, also called the Chinese leek or the Japanese bunching onion, has a sweet, mild flavour and delicate texture, reminiscent of the white tip of a young green onion. However, unlike green onions, which are tiny, the naganegi is as thick as a leek. And where a leek will have a few inches of tender, white root to its foot of leaves, the naganegi is clustered for nearly all of its considerable foot-and-a-half length. It does not fit in the crisper. It is too awesome to play with the other vegetables.

And I have two. Two, when I have had none for nearly five years.

Today rocks.

Have you ever looked at a swan's feet? I mean, really looked?

The skin is grey, sometimes black, and up close it is pattered with scales. Don't be distracted by the webbing -- look to the toes. See how each bone stands out in sharp relief, like wizened fingers. See how the end is tipped with talons. See how they walk, how the toes curl up, just a little, as they're raised from the ground.

I still can't look at a sparrow and think, 'dinosaur'. But show me a swan: I can believe.

I love this poem.

( Report on Human Beings )

So, turns out that shaking last night really was an earthquake. Magnitude of 4.5, epicentre about 50 km northeast of here.

Huh. Go figure.

MAHJONG.

BABY.

WHERE'VE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE?

( UNF )

harukami did it, and I am weak. Oh so weak.

Ask any of my current or former roleplay characters any question you would like them to answer. I will answer in character.

Come over for dinner, she says. Just the two of us, she says.

To sasuran: you seriously, seriously rock. This is the first birthday since childhood that I've been guest at and not hostess to, and it was such a treat just smile and kick back and chat and eat and laugh. 感動したよ。

To everyone else who was there: You guys made my week. Some of you, especially, I'd not seen in ages, and it was great to catch up. Thank you all for spending your Friday evening with me, as well as for any behind-the-scenes help and prep. Your company alone was the best gift I could have asked for.

So I just finished watching Advent Children.

To movie makers at large: that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you make a movie from a video game.

Since any other commentary I would make would fall into the realm of pointless squeeing, I will cut for all our sakes:

( Yea verily, the pointless squeeing commences )

Actual update on life to follow. Eventually.

All in all, today's been interesting.

( Long, rambling thing. Also, picture! )

Every so often, it's nice to spend a day not doing much of anything.

The past few weeks have been hectic; I'd forgotten how relaxing it can be to spend two hours more than is necessary in bed, just drowsing. Cool morning air, warm sheets, and the comfort of knowing that it's okay, I can stay here as long as I want.

Had enough leftovers stacked up that I didn't need to make anything to eat, either. Leftover pasta from Thursday night, and leftover curry, nan, and chocolate from yesterday's dinner-and-a-movie with Yui and Yuka. If you're in Ottawa's Byward Market and looking for Indian food, I really recommend the place at 308 Dalhouse. Also, if you go to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, do not let yourself bring sweets into the theatre. Not unless you're planning to eat through most of the movie, anyway. Because having a little and then stopping is a lot harder than not having any in the first place. Just, you know, FYI and all.

I've pretty much spent the rest of the day vegging and watching Naruto, which I love like a mad loving thing. Seriously, if you're into shounen anime and haven't seen it yet, set aside a week sometime and go for it. Really, it's good. Watch the first thirteen or so, and if you can stop after that, it's either not your thing or your will is far stronger than mine.

Wow. I haven't been out in rain like that since monsoon season back in Japan. Lucky for me, I still have my umbrella from that period, and it can hold its own in damn near any storm.

... unlucky for me, the umbrella was in my room, I was on my bike, and I am now very, very wet. But! I have groceries now, so things are good.

Things I have learned:
- Cloudy puddles can conceal potholes of great depth
- Potholes that have been in the sun for most of the day get very warm
- The combination of the above two can lead to stealth pools that are actually kinda pleasant, minus the "AUGH! That was... unseasonably warm?" wtf reaction
- Waterproof sunscreen is no match for warm puddle water

There's a thunderstorm outside; the rain is thick enough to see, and every few seconds the lot across the street is transformed from muted shades to sharp colours and black shadows. The temperature in the house has dropped at least five degrees. My CD burner has decided it's going to give one more crack at life, and is happliy burning off the rest of harukami's birthday present. My job remains wonderful; the work is interesting, I love my coworkers, and my supervisor keeps checking to make sure I know how to get a job with them permanently, if I want to.

And I'm sitting here with chopsticks in one hand, a bowl of rice in the other, and a platter full of fresh sukiyaki between them.

This is happiness.

It is hot and muggy and bleh and cold showers are the best thing in the world. Though shower caps? Also rock.

Sure. "It's Ottawa," they said. "Summers don't get that warm," they said. And according to Environment Canada's stats, they typically don't -- but the last years have seen a steady upward climb. Media somewhere is probably calling this a heatwave. Me? I remember the slow death of pleasant summers in London. This isn't a heat wave. This is the future.

Also, if anyone's looking for a good non-fiction read, I highly recommend "The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight", by Thom Hartmann. I'm only to the first third, and I know that this is a book I will never, ever be able to forget. It's a book about history, sociology, and ecology. It's best business practice and the worth of a tree. It's about tribes that lasted thousands of years, and the 'Great Empires' that barely managed hundreds. It was published in 1999, but there's not a single reference to the sate of the world now that's off the mark.

It's scarier than any horror book I've ever read, because it's not some character that's going to go down screaming -- it's us. And guys? We're already upstairs, we're already alone, and we picked up the phone.

That said, it's not a "doom" book. Nor is it a book that really swings the other way, to offer an eternal utopia. It's a book of facts and pragmatism, numbers and research, and about the relevance of the Epic of Gilgamesh to the fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico.

Read this book. The Waterloo Public Library has a copy, and I'll lend it to anyone who's interested come fall.

Too good not to share: The Unitarian Jihad.

You may henceforth refer to me as Sister Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism.
And you?

Also, there are small, moth-like bugs here that fit through the holes in my window screen, fly to the mini-chandelier in the ceiling, and then, stunned by the light bulbs, flutter and fall onto my head and shoulders. Like a slow, gentle fall of rain, if rain buzzed into your ears and tried madly to escape the space between your glasses and your eyes.

Hellsing has thoroughly rocked my world.

I would write more, but I feel compelled to go back and watch bits now.

So good. So very, very good.

One would think that knitting catalogs, online or not, would be a pretty tame thing to browse at work. After all, knitting is an old lady hobby these days, right?

Yeah, well, not so much. See this entry from the summer edition of 'Knitty'. Would that I had seen this pre-last Hallowe'en. A few of these would have made delightfully sinful party snacks. ^.^

So I finally got off my ass and downloaded the trailer for Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children.

If I ever needed proof that FFVII imprinted itself indelibly on my psyche, that trailer was it. I am a good little zombie, oh yes, and will most dutifully empty my wallet when this comes out, because Square has had me wrapped op so tight for so long that now I don't even want to be free. I was a lost cause before the first haunting chorus of veni, veni, venias, ne mori facias begun. And then it did begin, and if I'd had any objective resolve left it would have crumbled.

If.

Cloud. Tifa - I mean, I always figured that she'd move like that, but seeing it? The ruined husk if Midgar, Sector 7 still a twisted wound along its side. A church shattered but standing, yellow flowers still blooming...

Gah. Shivers. Shivers and all kinds of delightful questions that I will spend the next several months diligently trying NOT to answer, because this is one thing I want to sit down to expecting nothing but a good ride.

Make it good, Square. Make it half as good as it looks right now, and you will have more than done your job.

This little zombie's counting on you.

Meta-Efficient

If you have any interest in ecology, renewable resources, or you just want to see some extremely cool gadgets, go to this site. You won't be sorry.

So cool.