bitchy_merlin | (no subject)

*slow stare around room*

*sheepishly brushes dust off of LJ*

… Wow, ok, hello thar, unintended hiatus. (Also hello, really fugly layout which I will eventually get around to fixing.)

Not that much has been happening daily since my last post, though, so at least I can spare everyone the mundane details of my life. Once you’ve heard about one weekday in my life, you’ve pretty much heard about them all. I mean there are only so many variations of my schedule to be made. Basically, I wake up at 6:20am to exercise before I go to work for 9. Work is something I am not allowed to talk about, interrupted by awkward lunchtimes with Brad, the other summer student. He does the sudoku with almost manic concentration. I read. (Currently reading: La Peau de Chagrin, ecrite par Honore de Balzac – I HAVE THOUGHTS ON THIS. MOSTLY IT IS RIDICULOUS.) I leave work whenever my boss dismisses me, go home, have dinner and then spend the rest of the night online (because the X-Men: First Class fandom has two kink memes, omg).

I just bored myself to tears writing that. 20 going on 55, I tell you.

Tl;dr, things are pretty quiet around here. Which is good! I like quiet and calm. It just doesn’t really lend itself to exciting LJ-worthy stories.

Although speaking of stories, I do have a few.

Last weekend, I was in Kingston, visiting Kim and co. It was… really lovely, actually, which is not something I thought I’d ever say about Kingston. I stayed with Kim and her family, and it was great. On Saturday, we slept in (til eleven, oh heaven of heavens!), then ventured out to the mall. A kitchen-ware store was having a closing sale, so I bought an apple corer (for, like, 10% of its original price) and a thermos for Fatima, whom I’m seeing this coming weekend. On the bus back from the mall, Kim spotted a sign outside a Loblaws advertising a free BBQ for “Customer Appreciation Day”. Well. Bus fare isn’t included in our tuition for nothing! We immediately hopped off the bus and raided the BBQ like a conquering army, our ravenous wrath descending upon hapless (but tasty) mini-burgers. Also, we got pictures taken with Elmo and Dora the Explorer. Because we’re cool like that, yo.

After the BBQ, we headed home and made Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart Bread (LINK). Holy crap, nommiest of noms! It kind of took us by surprise when it exploded in the oven, but tasted delicious nonetheless. We shared it with Kairo - another of Kim’s friends, who was visiting from Ottawa – while watching the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. I enjoyed the movie, probably because I haven’t read the graphic novel (yet! It’s on hold!). Also, Sean Connery in that movie fits the bill perfectly for my mental Halt from Ranger’s Apprentice, just sayin’.

We had originally planned to go swimming on Sunday, but alas, the cold weather prevented us from doing so (thanks, Kingston). So we visited Fort Henry instead – I’ve never been, and Frank was working, so he got us in for free and gave us a tour (tout en français, mais j’ai compris la plupart du commentaire). It was fun. Then Kim and I walked back to her place (long walk was loooong. Lovely and scenic, but long) and I packed up to return to Toronto. But not before she gave me not one but three gifts! What have I done to deserve friends like these?! I am still so grateful and ~whelmed, I can’t even! The gifts are my Christmas and birthday presents for while I’m away, she said. I just. I just. THESE PEOPLE, I LOVE THEM SO MUCH. <3 It truly boggles my mind. So I opened one: The Dark Side of the Sun, by Terry Pratchett. I’m about halfway through, and it’s pretty obvious that it’s one of his earlier works – the world-building is less expert, and it feels at times like he tried too hard with the sci-fi elements, so that I’m never quite sure whether TDOTS is a legitimate attempt at the sci-fi genre or a satire gone way overboard. Despite this, however, and similar to La Peau (one of Balzac’s earlier works), I can see the underlying character of the writing, which is so clearly Pratchettian.

So, that was my weekend. It was so relaxing to be away from the city, and I have no idea why, but there you go. This week is also going by quite quickly – it’s already Wednesday, and tomorrow I leave for Ottawa to stay with Fatima over the Canada Day weekend. We’re probably going to see (attempt to see) the Royals at Parliament Hill on Friday – so excited! :D

Tonight, I’m making dinner again: ginger and wasabi-baked salmon (recipe from The Globe and Mail). I’m pretty stoked. I’ve also been baking these past two days: buttermilk drop biscuits with fresh blueberries on Monday (I like raisins better; these were kind of plain, though still good with butter), and orange and dark chocolate biscuits yesterday (I made these ones with part whole-wheat flour, and I love how they turned out. The orange flavour is very much evident, and the chocolate is slightly but not overly bitter – a nice contrast). Tonight, depending on how much time I have, I might try putting dates and nuts in the biscuits instead. (I’ll post the recipe for the dough sometime; it’s incredibly versatile – I might even try making pizza with it!)

Today at work (where I am, right now, though I shouldn’t be writing this, but more on that another time), there is supposed to be a BBQ for the staff while the CEO launches a “Strategic Plan”. I do not know what constitutes a Strategic Plan, but I am interested in the free food aspect of the proceedings. I have Thinky Thoughts about work, which I want to write down before the end of summer. (Speaking of summer, is anyone else temporally confused? I’ve been writing 2010 instead of 2011 for about 2 weeks now…

Another thing I’m planning to do before the end of summer (in approximately two weeks, natch) is go for a run. I’m registered to do an 8km run along the Don Valley with my parents on July 17^th, which I think will present what I will just call an “interesting challenge”. I’ve never run an official race* before, and 8km is going to be… let’s just say intense. But! I’m sure it will be fun. At least after the fact.

*I use the term “race” very liberally. It may be a race for some people. My only goal is to get across the finish line in one piece.

And that basically summarizes my real life right now. X-Men: First Class is my fandom of the moment (to be overshadowed in a couple of weeks by HP7 part 2: MY BODY ISN’T READY FOR THIS). The fic ranges from the achingly hot (LINK) to the laughably OOC and ridiculous (no link, because I was laughing too hard at the characterization – did we see the same movie?). I’m also going to go ahead and pimp THIS because how is the idea of Erik and Charles expressing their mutual love and adoration through singing not the most hilarious thing ever? IDK personally about the writing style of the fill, but it’s there for the checking out and the original idea is still totally beautiful.

Signing off now, because BossBoss is coming over (how copperbadge is such a ninja at the posting-at-work thing, I have no idea). Hope everyone is having a great summer (how is it halfway over already? How?) so far.