Rosewind

Haaa thanks! Ya, it is! It's a really great bowl. It's even got a little rubber ring on the bottom so the bowl doesn't slide around!

This next pic should make you hungry. I spent hours cooking this meal after working all night and day, literally. It's a reflection of my dauntless fortitude to come home and cook a gourmet feast in the face of extreme fatigue:

So I discovered AJR -- I really like them! Listen to this and this and this and this. It's like if Fall Out Boy and Owl City had a baby that was a rebel.

So here's the ramen spread I did last night. It was a big success! After dinner we watched Made in Abyss!

I had a Professor hit and run my car when I was in college. Yeah, seriously. A student in the parking lot saw her and caught her on her phone camera. The campus police called the real police and they found me in class. I was in the process of making wine-infused caramel corn for an event and I'm like...do I need to move my car? And they were like no, your car was hit 'n run, but we know who did it. So they went to her house and nailed her with several tickets. She was forced to call me with her insurance info. She said the "damage didn't look like much" and I'm like...are you serious? Is there some kinda damage quota before you report damage you caused to the owner? Her insurance paid me out like a grand and I kept the money -- I needed to pay some dental bills at the time, and I figured some scrape damage meant less than my teeth (which are in excellent condition today!). Unfortunately the caramel corn burned and I got chewed out by my professor, but hey...it worked out!

You have me beat, it's only -12 today. I've started taking a slug of apple cider first thing after I wake up because it's good for you or something, followed by coffee. This is a horrible idea and it'll make you feel exactly how it sounds, but I'm doing it anyway. Gonna have a few friends over tonight! Making build-your-own-ramen with two types of broth, one spicy and one pedestrian, pork char siu, veggies, two kinds of noodles, and other garnishes. My evil plan is to have them build their own bowls, then pour the hot seasoned broth over everything. Should be yummy!

It's so easy to get lost in Terraria. Once my power went out for 3 days and I ended up playing it a bunch on my phone.

Happy New Year! I celebrated it at work. I did take a break from baking to gaze outside to see Rocky's fireworks. There's usually a town across the field where someone shoots off stuff during holidays. I wasn't disappointed. I did jump up at the stroke of midnight; this caused me to accidentally knock a basket of bread off a table. The significance for the new year for me is that I survived to see another year on this moist dirt rock careening around a giant ball of gas eternally exploding inward on itself. It's a time of reflection; of triumph and defeat, of unexpected windfalls and losses, of a promise to make this year better than the last one. It got colder outside than it was in my freezer. Then it dropped to -10 when it approached morning. I went home, showered, slept for four hours, and it's still -10.

Oh yeah, just to clarify...they're meatballs made with Swedish. Duh.

I have Swedish meatballs, you have Stardew Valley, and you have fireworks. Let's just...put them all together to create "Swedish Fireworks Meatball Valley." Happy new year, everyone! Party hard and make this year a good one! It'll certainly be an interesting year for me.

That was a bit heavy. So uh, I'm making Swedish meatballs right now.

You once asked if we were just friends because you happened to be available upstairs. I remember that question caught me off guard. I didn't know how to answer it. I always looked up to you, and your brazen heart-on-your-sleeve policy for literally everything in life. You were real, and for the years we spent together, you taught me how to be real with myself too. It would take longer for me to have my true awakening, but you helped shape me into the person I am today. I am proud of who I am, and more importantly, I am proud of you. I was honored to call you my friend -- not out of convenience, but because you meant something to me. Thank you for all of your lessons and fun times. I remember them all, and carry them deep in my heart. The last time we saw each other, you came downstairs to get your cat back. I was moving to Chicago to start a new life. I remember we had a brief hug, and you were gone. Just like that. In those last few years, we grew more distant as our lives started following different paths. I knew you were struggling inside, too. I wish I could have thanked you for everything. My deepest regret is we never had a chance to catch up, before you took your own life seven years ago. I hope one day when we see each other again, we can talk about our adventures while I cook for you. We will listen to music while we spend the night watching the owls in the park return to the big oak tree that grew right across from us. I'd tell you that we were friends; not out of fate or convenience, but because we just were. You would tell me you knew all along. I miss you, my old friend.

The Spiderman Homecoming sequel already came out. I'll just post it here. (It's got a bad ending tho!) I agree about the forgiving thing, btw!

Thanks Rocky! Yeah, I have a lot of experience with this. Too much. It's definitely an art form communicating something directly while still covering your rear. I've left horrible jobs, and when the next job inevitably asked me why I left/how was the last job, I always told them it was a great place to work, and I gained a lot of experience from it. I've started keeping notes on stuff I've learned., It totally comes off like it was plucked from a motivational poster, but this is stuff I'd tell past-Rose if I were able to send her a letter:

I would highly advise against saying "Don't hire this guy" if they ask you. It's incredible how quickly something like that will backfire on you. If this scenario does play out and they approach you, just say you've shared an amicable working relationship at the last job and leave it right there. Your brevity will tell them everything they need to hear without you actually having to say it. There are dozens and dozens of reasons that I think this is the better plan, the best of which is that you're showing your employer your integrity as an individual working there -- not as someone who negatively speaks of old coworkers, even if they deserve it. If your old coworker joins up and he's as bad as you say, he'll sort himself without your help. When people move jobs, you'd be surprised how a lot of behaviors/negativity can be caused from an old workplace. It's a fresh start, so treat it like one for both of you if this situation comes to pass. I've been in a similar situation and I can tell ya from experience: leave the negativity at the door and take the professional high road. It's tough, but trust me...it's worth it down the line.

Yeeeeah that sucks. But you dunno what's happening yet, eh? Stay positive. There are plenty of people I've worked with that I would never want to work with again, but I've also found it's a small world and you'd be surprised how often you'll bump into old friends or coworkers whenever you move on to somewhere new. Good luck with that.

I knnnnow! I thought they were going to write her off at first, but she had a lot of face time. I didn't pick up any CG (like they did with that evil lanky death star general guy, I forget his name.) It was a great send off film for Carrie Fisher.

Yesssss! All the games! What did you get?! I liked Last Jedi too. I really like how it's doing its own thing, and gave the finger to a lot of crap the first movie introduced so it could do its own thing. I'm also enjoying all of the strong female leads (and Rose is adorable). I wonder how they're going to handle Leia in the third film?

You know what else you should watch? If you said "Made in Abyss," you would be absolutely correct.

Oh yeah, I really enjoyed that! A lot of it felt like needless exposition, but the characters really came together for a pretty awesome finale imo. Welcome back Symph, hope you had a good holiday! Whenever I have a day off I'm like "I'm going to get so much done!" then I get like nothing done. I did get new gloves. I have smallish hands, which also means they freeze pretty fast since it's like...0 out. Been watching Magi and the Adventures of Sinbad peppered with Bojack Horseman episodes. Good stuff!

I like how there's dirt on it. It's missing side mirrors tho!

Sounds uh, interesting! I had a great xmas haul. I can be a nicely-scented anime schoolgirl that grinds pepper while listening to music.

Telemonster? It's super duper Korean, so I'm sure there are other factors at play as far as character design goes. I told a local RL friend he should be a dragoness. He responded with this several hours later:

Have some Christmas Telemonster! http://www.ondemandkorea.com/telemonster-e29.html

That's a shame, they're brilliant. I can't sing enough praise for Made in Abyss. It immediately took a slot in my top 5 anime, period. Seven Deadly Sins is also in that top slot if you haven't seen that yet -- season 2 is coming up early next month. I've been working on Yooka-Laylee between my small patches of consciousness, work, and watching Bojack Horseman. The last few nights have been insane, and tonight is the biggest bake of the year, no question.