the mermaid cafe

The wedding went really well - the bride was beautiful, the groom was handsome, my nephew officiated and won praise for the job he did (he was "ordained" or at least got some kind of credential allowing him to perform a wedding ceremony from the internet, which is kind of scary if you think about it - he was like, "I didn't even have to take a test! They should probably regulate that better!"), and it was fantastic to see many people I hadn't seen in a really long time.

The food was amazing, and I spent most of the night on the dance floor (my knees are not happy with me, but I don't care). I also got some tips about trimming my split ends on my own from my cousin (who also offered to do it for me if wanted her to - she has amazingly beautiful long hair - she is about 5'10" and her hair is so long it almost hits her knees when it's down, and it's been like that forever [by which I mean, as long as I've been alive]), so since we're talking 1/2" at most, I might try it. We'll see if I get the nerve up. Anything to avoid sitting in a salon chair for several hours at this point. *wry*

I also enjoyed two gin and tonics (after many years of not being able to stomach gin after one of the worst drinking nights of my life back in...uh 1996) and I did two shots (one Jack Daniels, 1 Fireball - neither of which I'd have chosen if it had been my call) with the niblings, which was fun.

On that note, my youngest niece apparently told my sister that she was excited to see me because I'm fun and my sister was like, "What am I?" so that was hilarious and charming. (They like me! They really like me!) They all liked their gifts, and the strawberry cake too.

The one thing about the wedding that wasn't great was that because the ceremony didn't start until 7:15 pm, the main course of the dinner wasn't served until after 11 pm, and the cake/dessert wasn't until after midnight, which is too late. I might have frontloaded the food and lengthened the gap between dinner and dessert. The other thing that made me a little frowny-faced was how little time the bride got to spend on the dance floor. She was always being hustled off to take more pictures, which seemed like they should have happened in the many hours before the ceremony or during the cocktail hour. And I know everyone says the bride and groom generally don't get to spend much time with the guests (which is kind of missing the whole point, imo), but I did say something to my sister, who was like, "I know. They should have had all these pictures done earlier but for some reason they didn't." So I wasn't wrong, either. *g*

But those are minor complaints. It was a great night and I'm so happy she got the wedding day she waiting so long for.

*

I'm glad I decided to stay home today because yesterday I got my period (well, enough that it has to count but not enough that I was worried about wearing khakis) and it's always annoying to have to deal with that at other people's houses or in public restrooms.

I did go see Spider-Man: Far From Home yesterday and I have some thoughts. Outside the cut I will note that 1. I enjoyed it (though the 3D was utterly pointless and I don't recommend that), and 2. the mid-credits and post-credits scenes are absolutely worth staying for if you can.

( spoilers )

After the movie, I met up with L and got really drunk, which I am paying for this morning with a terrible headache. Caffeine and food seem to have ameliorated it somewhat, but ugh, I am too old to be doing that! L has created a hashtag for me, though, since I basically consider everything that happens this month part of my birthday celebration: #birthdaymonthfun

Speaking of birthdays, it is Steve Rogers's 101st! I did not write a new story this year but here are links to my previous 4th of July stories for his birthday, plus one that is about his birthday but was published on Chris Evans's (and Kat Dennings's) birthday instead:

Our Carnival Life (@ AO3)
Avengers (2012); Steve/Bucky; pg; 1,880 words
Bucky is the best gift he's ever gotten, every time.

we are thunder wrapped in cellophane (@ AO3)
Avengers (2012); Steve/Bucky; pg; 2120 words
This year, he's got Bucky back, which means that no matter what they do, it's going to be the best birthday Steve's ever had.

I want to take a breath that's true (at AO3)
Captain America; Steve/Bucky; g; 2,225 words
In which Steve and Bucky have breakfast in Central Park and hash out some stuff.

The reoccurring kind (@ AO3)
Captain America; Steve/Bucky; adult; 1,101 words
Steve loves it when Bucky's rough with him, when the finger-shaped bruises on his hips don't fade in minutes and he can still feel every inch of Bucky inside him for hours.

stop clicking your red heels and wishing for home (@ AO3)
Captain America; Steve, Bucky (Sam, Natasha); g; 1,755 words
Four times Steve wished he could go home and one time he realized he was already there.

but with the dawn, rejoicing (@ AO3)
Captain America; Steve/Bucky; g; 705 words
Every night, Steve holds on tight and prays that Bucky's still there in the morning.

Baby, You're a Firework (@ AO3)
Avengers (2012); Steve/Darcy; g; 1,730 words
Darcy's never been too excited about being born on the Fourth of July.

Now I'm going to watch season 3 of Stranger Things.

*

Yesterday, I got to work by 7:45 and didn't leave until 6:30, but today we finally got the board packet out so boss3 was like, go home early! So I left at 4:30 and now I am sitting on my couch drinking pink wine (Notorious Pink, to be exact) from a pink wine glass! To be clear, the glass is a red wine glass that is pink. Not a glass intended for pink wine. (I have also had a lot of caffeine. It makes me talk even faster than usual.)

Sadly, one of the glasses broke in the dishwasher (though they are allegedly dishwasher safe) so I only have three now. Sigh.

Anyway!

I am now five work days from being off for 12 days in a row (including weekends and holidays), with only Tuesday's board meeting really hanging over me as an important thing to do before vacation. I am so tired, guys.

Season 2 of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel came out yesterday, so maybe I will start watching that over the weekend. Though I have to say, seeing Joel's face on a big ad in the subway made me go WTF? I am not watching the show for him, I tell you what.

***

As I mentioned on Thursday, I went out to Mattituck on the North Fork of Long Island with my sister, brother-in-law, and some of their friends, to the Cedar House on Sound bed and breakfast. My sister and her husband are friends with the couple who run the place, and every year, they buy out the place for the first weekend in May and then have a lounging and relaxing weekend in what is basically the country (the North Fork is full of farms and vineyards, so it's applicable). This year, they invited me! Since I was able to get the time off, I was happy to go. (My sister said they also take the place over for New Year's Eve if I want to go, so I might do that, depending on the financial situation at the time I need to make the decision.)

Of course, on Thursday night when I looked at the train schedule, I would have had to leave my apartment for the 9:55 am train to Jamaica, but then the connecting train wouldn't arrive at Jamaica until 10:40 am, which seemed like a waste of time to me, so I decided to just take a car to the Jamaica station, since it's only a ten or fifteen minute drive. Well. I almost missed my train because my cab was stuck behind a student driver and we piddled along as a very slow pace as I got more and more anxious about making the train. Finally I got to the station and of course, I entered at Track 1 and the Ronkonkoma train was at Track 8, so I had to hustle across the station and then up all those fucking stairs with my duffel bag, huffing and puffing and hoping I hadn't missed the train!

Spoiler: I did not miss the train! It pulled in about thirty seconds after I got up to the platform, so whew. that saved me a lot of trouble, because the next train wasn't until 11:40 and that's the time I was supposed to be arriving in Ronkonkoma, so my sister would have killed me.

Of course, she would have had her revenge because on Thursday, she asked me what I wanted from Panera since Anthony would be picking up lunch for us, and I said the chicken salad sandwich. So we get out to the vineyard and sit down in the outdoor area by the pond with my flight of white and rose wines, and my sister digs into the shopping bag and comes up with the lemon poppyseed salad. And she's like, "that's not what you ordered is it." And I was like, no, no it was not! I said I was avoiding salads because of the romaine recall! and she said she was pretty sure the salad was locally grown and she apologized for telling Anthony to get the wrong thing. "Next time, just text him directly," she said. Which is what I will do, because four glasses of wine on nothing but a salad was not the best idea I ever had. It was definitely tipsy afterwards.

Everyone else arrived later and we hung out all evening - they all bring food with them for the Friday night dinner - prosciutto bread and sausage bread and a variety of cheeses and crackers etc. - plus a bunch of wine and beer and a very large bottle of Jack Daniels Tennessee Fire, of which we did numerous shots over the course of the weekend while sitting around the fire pit. I am not in general a Jack drinker, but this stuff was really good and it went down exceptionally smoothly when chilled.

On Saturday morning, the guy who runs the place and does all the cooking, made really excellent French toast in a mixed berry reduction, along with a side of scrambled eggs and breakfast sausage. Then we went to In the Attic Too, a little antiques/vintage/reclaimed furniture store, where I picked up three candles they make there ($15 each), as well as a set of four green demitasse cups ($2 each). While we were standing outside waiting for one of the other folks to come out, I noticed a greenish yellow vase in the window and was like, "that would go with my living room!" so we went back in and the lady behind the counter was like, "That's been in the window forever!" and I was like, "It was waiting for me! How much?" and she and the other lady who work there (the sister and daughter of the guy who makes some of the stuff they sell) were like, "Uh, $10?" So I said, "Great!" I didn't even need to use the discount coupon the wife of the guy who runs the b&b gave us! You can see pictures here.

After that, my sister wasn't up to visiting other vineyards as planned, so I ended up going on a long drive with one of the other couples, first through Greenport and then out to Orient Point. It was beautiful, and like a whole different world. I expected it to be beachier, but my brother-in-law said that the beaches on the North Fork are mostly gravel rather than sand, so it's never been that kind of tourist destination (unlike the South Fork, which is where the Hamptons and Montauk etc. are) and it's only the past 15 or 20 years that the vineyards have taken off and the farms have started reviving the area.

When we got back, we watched the Kentucky Derby (we bet on it, but via drawing numbers out of a hat, so I had the 20 horse, with 70-1 odds, so I never had a chance) and wore big hats.

Usually, they don't make dinner for guests - it's a breakfast only operation - but for my sister, they roll out the red carpet and do a fancy Saturday night dinner. So last night, we had porterhouse steak; baby back ribs; shrimp in pesto, garlic and butter; roasted asparagus, and mac and cheese (which would have been better without the cauliflower and fresh peas, but was still pretty amazing even with added vegetables). The steak and ribs were AMAZING.

And then later, one of the couples had brought apple pie and chocolate crumb cake for dessert, which was also delicious.

This morning, we had egg cups wrapped in bacon along with fried potatoes and a really refreshing fruit cup, and then we packed up and headed home.

Since the Ronkonkoma line was running buses to Hicksville and I wanted no part of that, my niece drove me to Islip station, which is about ten minutes from her apartment (she was dog-sitting at my sister's all weekend), so I didn't have to Uber to Huntington to take a direct train, which was my original plan. I got on the 12:54 and was home by 2:10.

It was a really nice weekend. And I took tomorrow off so I could do laundry and grocery shop and do the things I normally do on a weekend but did not really have time or energy to do today.

PS: This song is about Steve and Bucky, Y/Y?

***

Work is hectic, and I have a two hour training this afternoon, but I'm now scheduled to do a final inspection of the floors/walls on Saturday morning (and pay the balance of what I owe the contractor + whatever they spent on paint), and I've officially put in for next week off and then another five days off through 2/7, so hopefully this whole moving circus can get done! Woo! I am so excited to see what it all looks like, and I will for sure have pictures!

I also have a picture of the most excellent drink I had last night, but since I came home and crawled right into bed, I didn't upload it, so I can't share it right now. But it was the Fountain of Youth, which contains vodka, St. Germain, lemon, mint, and prosecco. It was tart and refreshing and I liked it a lot. We went to Tali, which apparently is all gluten-free? but I would never have guessed because the pasta was excellent, as were the mozzarella sticks and the key lime pie. So I can recommend it for the GF among you, and also for everyone else, as it was a fantastic dinner. And also an excellent cocktail, which since it was happy hour, was basically half-price.

In other news, The AV Club did a Random Roles with Samuel L Jackson, and it's pretty fantastic. I think this is my favorite bit, though:

That particular block was kind of blown out. There were a lot of crack dealers in that block. So, Spike's bodyguard force went in there and cleaned out the neighborhood. So, as far as we could tell, they were still hanging around and threatening them. "Y'all was gonna be interfering with business." I was kind of like, "You do know that I just act for a living. I'm still a regular motherfucker, I'll whip your ass."

Is that not the MOST Samuel L Jackson quote you've ever heard? Hee!

***

I was completely useless last night after several hours of day drinking. it was a lot of fun, but oy the headache that hit around 7 pm! Even though we definitely hydrated.

Now I have version 3 of some sort of bug bite balm cooling on the counter - it uses coconut oil, which I don't really like the smell of, so hopefully the tea tree oil, peppermint, lemongrass, and lavender essential oils will cover that up. Though I would bear the smell if it meant the itching stopped.

I know I said I was done with trying to make anti-itch cream - hot water, ice, and rubbing alcohol in conjunction with benadryl and zyrtec seem to work best, tbh - but I figured third time's the charm? And I had all the ingredients so...I guess we'll see. Or maybe I am just super itchy, since i am super allergic to bites and swell up and get all welty.

I guess that's all the exciting news from here.

***

For day 14 of the January talking meme, d_generate_girl asked me to talk about Your favorite bars in NYC, as many as you'd like to talk about.

Sadly, my favorite bars are all gone (or I have aged out of them, i.e., Automatic Slim's, unless it's closed now too).

My favorite bar in college and my early twenties was the Stoned Crow down in the West Village. It was not my college bar - that was the Coliseum, on 58th & 8th, which still exists though it is no longer a place where you stick to the floor or find roaches in the toilet paper. Which it was in the early 90s. Ahem.

I just really liked the mellow vibe of the Stoned Crow - we usually went there after most of the raucousness of the evening was done, so it was a kind of a wind-down/after-party place, where you could have your last pint and a glass of water, and relax before going home.

Automatic Slim's, otoh, was the site of many a drunkfest in the early days - one of my good friends was good friends with one of the bartenders back then, and so we drank off the register (he was also friends with the bartender of the Brother Jimmy's on 92nd & 3rd? 93rd & 2nd? I forget, but that's where we used to have those fishbowl races, and I'm experiencing brainfreeze just thinking about it now). I spent many a Friday or Saturday night dancing on the bar at Slim's after super large shots of Wild Turkey (a beverage I do not recommend to anyone!), usually when either "Mr. Big Stuff" or "Don't Leave Me This Way" came on. I imagine they don't allow dancing on the bar anymore. I don't know. We stopped going there because suddenly there seemed to be a lot of fights breaking out and they got a bouncer and it just wasn't the same, so we moved mostly to Brother Jimmy's at that point, iirc, though for after work/happy hour stuff, we would go to Scruffy Duffy's in midtown (west) or O'Neill's on 3rd between 45th and 46th (I worked in the building next door to it for a couple of years).

If the Stoned Crow played mostly rock and grunge and alternative music, which it did, iirc (there was also for a time a poster of Kurt Cobain taped to the ceiling, so when I was drunk and unable to remember the name, I would say "Let's go to the Kurt Cobain on the ceiling bar!"), Automatic Slim's played - and still plays, as far as I know - 70s R&B.

When I first moved into this neighborhood, the bar around the corner was called Ship of Fools and it was a decent sports bar with comfy booths and excellent chicken quesadillas, though it also had the worst beer menu I ever saw.

When it closed, we discovered Swig, which became my favorite bar in my neighborhood. L and I went there often enough that they knew us and our drink orders, and it was a good place to go for happy hour or for afternoon drinking on the weekend or what have you. Unfortunately, it closed two years ago, and none of the bars that have replaced it, or any of the other places I've been since, have really captured that same neighborhood feel. We've got a lot of annoying and expensive gastropubs now, with $14 artisanal cocktails and no room to sit at the bar or move at all, and all I want is a pint of Blue Moon or a vodka tonic, and maybe the occasional lemon drop shot, and a decent burger or nachos plate. I'm not an artisanal cocktail drinker. I guess the closest is the Stumble Inn, which has good happy hour beer specials.

I also can't not mention the Hi Life, which I also loved, and which closed last summer, at least the UES location where L & I used to get happy hour cosmos and a steak dinner about once a month. The UWS location isn't quite the same. And also I can't walk home from it, so five $5 cosmos is right out. But it is more of a restaurant than a bar to me - at least, we never sat at the bar, always in the dining room, so it's a different experience.

I also like Phebe's down on the Bowery, for excellent food and good service, though again, you have to time it right so it's not completely packed. I am too old to be standing around with a drink in my hand anymore. I want to be at a table or at the bar, and hopefully the place isn't too loud to hear myself think. *hands*

***

So I had this really nice riesling* at our annual Christmas Eve dinner and since then, I've been to every liquor store within a five block radius of my apartment (which might not sound very thorough, but that's, like, SEVEN liquor stores) and none of them have had it, nor have any of them been helpful enough to recommend something similar (what is it about trying to buy wine that makes people treat you like you're an idiot? [I mean, I know what it is to some degree, but ugh, so annoying]), so I ended up on wine.com last night, ordering a couple of bottles to be shipped to me.

I feel like that might be the adultiest thing I've ever done. What a time to be alive. Now I just have to wait for FedEx to email me that it's been delivered and I can go pick it up.

*I'm not much of a wine connoisseur, I just know what I like. It was a Willamette Valley riesling. Super delicious.

***

Arrow: Beacon of Hope
I spent a good portion of this episode in the bathroom, so I missed a lot, but it seemed fun. Bees. My god. I mean, bee puns + Curtis Holt = entertaining. That stinger, tho. (pun totally intended.)

Star Wars Rebels: Twilight of the Apprentice
I feel like I have a lot to say about this one, so buckle up, cats and kittens. ( spoilers )

In other tv news, Steven Universe has been renewed for two more seasons (or 52 more episodes, I guess?), though apparently there's no solid date for when it's coming back from hiatus. June, is what I've read, and again with the Steven bombs instead of as a weekly show. Which would be fine if they followed a set schedule! But just randomly having a week of episodes and then nothing for months is super annoying.

***

March 2016 recs update:

unfitforsociety has been updated for March 2016 with 24 recs in 6 fandoms:

* 7 Star Wars
* 5 Avengers and 3 Daredevil
* 5 Check, Please!
* 3 Harry Potter and 1 The Raven Cycle

***

I decided to go home rather than the movies after work last night, which was a good decision on one hand because I didn't spend money on a movie and also I stopped off at the grocery store to pick something up and discovered they were stocking the grapefruit beer I've fallen in love with, so that was a win, but I did end up getting soaked twice. We had some truly apocalyptic rain last night, and I was on a bus for the worst of it.

And then I got to the bar and didn't see my friends so I went to the upstairs bar to wait, and wait, and wait some more, until finally I went back downstairs and there they all were. And I was like, "But I emailed you to say I was here!" and they were like, "Who checks that?" (which... okay! Clearly in some ways we have drifted apart!)

but aside from that, it was a lot of fun (though I could have done without the shot of Jäger. I mean what? Even when I was in college it was shots of Rumpleminze (or occasionally, Wild Turkey), never Jäger. At least not for me and D.). The bar is shockingly upscale now, and so clean! And there's toilet paper in the bathrooms and soap and no visible bug life, and it was just weird!

But I was home by 11:45 and in bed shortly thereafter, and I felt fine this morning. I'm supposed to meet up with D. and her kids for dinner this evening, because I'm the godmother to her daughter and I haven't seen her in...a really long time. Which I feel terrible about, but they live in London!

So while I'd hoped to have the accidental baby acquisition/pretending to be married story done tonight or tomorrow for Steve's birthday, that might not happen. Otoh, the weather tomorrow is supposed to be rainy, so I'm planning to stay home, so writing could happen. Along with an Enlisted marathon, maybe. Who knows?

***

July 2013 writing roundup

we are thunder wrapped in cellophane (@ AO3)
Avengers (2012); Steve/Bucky; pg; 2120 words
This year, he's got Bucky back, which means that no matter what they do, it's going to be the best birthday Steve's ever had.

The Wake Up Call (@ AO3)
Push; Nick/Cassie; adult; 2,375 words
Nick knows he needs Cassie--loves her--more than anything or anyone else in the world. But it's not until this moment that he recognizes that he wants her.

not gonna get too sentimental (at AO3)
Teen Wolf; Allison/Lydia; adult; 1,615 words
When Allison gives Lydia some self-defense training, she learns a few things too.

three fandoms! f/f, m/m, and m/f! I feel like this is very representative of me as a writer, for all that it's only three small stories. Someday I will finish other things again. Sigh. Part of my difficulty is that I can't sustain my own excitement without other people's encouragement and nobody else cares. So I have to wait until I can get self-motivated, which doesn't always happen when I can just read or watch tv or look at tumblr instead of writing. I used to be better at it. I don't know.

*

Top 5 Songs - July 2013

5. Can't Steal Your Heart Away - Empires

4. Bobby Jean - Bruce Springsteen

3. Teenage Rebellion - Gaslight Anthem

2. Kansas - Vienna Teng

1. Jealous of Your Cigarette - Hawksley Workman

*

In one of the comments on this post about single servings of sangria (say that five times fast!), someone mentioned 10 second sangria:

Tinto de Verano (10 second sangria):

Ingredients:

Yellow Tail Shiraz (or similar inexpensive red wine)
Lemon-lime soda or Sparkling Lemonade
Fill a glass with ice. Add equal parts wine and soda or lemonade. Serve.

I went with a $10 bottle of pinot grigio instead of shiraz, because I prefer white wine and will drink it on its own if this didn't work, and I also froze some grapes to go along with my ice cubes, and it is very tasty. Will drink again.

In the course of writing this post, I have refilled my glass. *g*

I also made a no-bake Kahlua cream pie (pic). L. cancelled our dinner party that was scheduled for tomorrow, but I was so curious about this recipe that I decided to make it anyway. I used Oreos for the crust instead of chocolate wafers, and like an idiot, I forgot to spray the pie plate, so it is a little difficult to get out of the pan, but that's really a small complaint that can be fixed next time. It is somewhat more bowl intensive than I realized, and I misread and used the smaller bowl for the chocolate and the larger bowl for the whipped cream, so I ended up folding the chocolate into the whipped cream instead of v.v., but I think it turned out fine. It's very sweet, though. I might have to convince L. to meet me over the weekend so I can foist some off on her.

If you are looking for an easy no-bake summer pie (and don't need it to be vegetarian - this has gelatine in it), you probably can't go wrong with this one.

*

That interview meme was going around and ignipes asked me some questions:

1. What's your favorite alcoholic beverage?

At this stage of my life, probably sangria. Though I do love a good sauvignon blanc. Mostly what I actually drink at the bar though is pints of Blue Moon.

For a long time, my answer was a Bombay Sapphire gin and tonic, because gin and tonic is clearly the best drink, so crisp and refreshing! But for a long time I was unable to tolerate even the smell of gin, and even all these years later, I'm still afraid that I'll order one and be unable to drink it and that would make me sad.

The newest thing I've discovered is sweet tea vodka + cranberry juice (+ seltzer and a slice of lime) – it's a delicious twist on a Cape Cod (which I'm also fond of, and I will always order a Sea Breeze if they're offered on the brunch menu).

2. If you could force the creator(s) of one of your favorite on-going canons to make one change for you, what would it be?

I would make DC Comics toss out the reboot and bring back all the things I loved – Dick's FINGER STRIPES, Oracle, Stephanie Brown and Cassandra Cain, Renee Montoya, Clark and Lois's marriage, Wonder Woman's origins, Donna Troy's existence, Starfire's characterization, Wally West as the Flash, all of the Jaime Reyes Blue Beetle's actual charm, Tim and Kon's relationship, etc. And while I'm at it, I would make them uncancel both Tiny Titans and the Superman Family Adventures and the YJ cartoon, and bring back Lian Harper. #DC LOOK AT YOUR LIFE LOOK AT YOUR CHOICES.

3. What is your favorite baked good to make for yourself? (Or to share, I guess, but I'm not going to make you share.)

Right now? It's biscuit cinnamon rolls, though I'm also very fond of Smitten Kitchen's raspberry buttermilk cake. Om nom nom. SO TASTY. And so easy.

If we include 'ice cream' in this (and though it's technically not a baked good, why wouldn't we?), I would say mocha chip, Nutella, or lemon sour cream ice cream, all of which I make semi-regularly because they are my favorites.

4. What fictional place (or time; alternate histories count) would you most like to visit as a tourist?

The Shire. Food! Beer! Dancing! Fireworks! More food and beer! I am very attached to my creature comforts so I don't want to visit any place where I don't have some semblance of them.

5. What's a surefire way for a novel to pull you into the story right from the start?

Action! Beginning in medias res is always good – but not the kind where you then flashback 36 hours or whatever. Tired trope is tired.

Or snappy conversation. I don't need to know the characters to enjoy banter, and through it you can convey a lot of information (what types of sense of humor they have, how they relate to each other, what they're interested in, what obscure types of knowledge they have etc.) while not droning on with exposition.

I tend to give books a good 50-100 pages to engage me (depending how long they are), so I don't need it to be slam-bang right off the mark, but it's preferable for me. I distract easily.

An infodump at the beginning is going to be useless to me as a reader – I'm going to skim it until I hit dialogue or action. (I often have to page back to reread descriptions because I skim them until they become important because ugh, I find it tedious to read about physical descriptions or room layouts or what have you.) So unless you've got something exciting happening, or some snappy dialogue going on, I'm already going to be distracted.

(as a corollary, for fanfic, please do not ever begin with descriptions of the characters and their full names and titles and functions. I KNOW WHO THEY ARE. YOU ARE BORING ME. And 99% of the time, people who do this have atrocious prose.)

*

Here's a fun meme:

Tell me about stories you think I should write. I mean, if you could sit me down for a day or whatever and say, "Vic, I want you to write this story for me," what would that story be?

I'm not actually promising to *write* any of these, mind you, but it's fun anyway. And who knows if I'll be inspired!

*

It's the quenchiest! It'll quench ya.

so I got my hair done. The new place is very cute and the hairdresser was happy to see me, and she covered my gray and put in partial highlights on the crown, cut a bunch of hair off (I said 3-4 inches and she maybe took 2.5" off) and it took forever, but it was worth it. Also, while I like that the dye she used doesn't have that awful, awful smell, I feel like she also uses way too much product so now I have to wash my hair again tonight, which kind of annoys me, since I generally only wash it twice a week these days, and I was hoping to have yesterday's wash count. Sigh.

Then I met up with fleurdeleo at the Crooked Tree Creperie for a lovely dinner with the pear nectar and mint sangria, and it turns out to be across the street from the building she lived in when she first moved to NYC fifteen years ago, so she was all nostalgic, and when we left the creperie, she said, "We should go to the Continental on Astor Place, where I used to go for drinks occasionally. It's a real hole in the wall dive, nobody was ever in there. I don't even know if it still exists."

Spoilers: not only does it still exist, it was packed at 10 pm on a Saturday night, not least because 1. the Yankees are in the playoffs and 2. they offer 5 shots for $10. Cash only, no buybacks. So we had beer and shots - I had two Coronas - and this is the kind of place where they don't put a lime in your Corona but you probably don't want any fruit that was unwrapped in the place (the sleeve of my jacket stuck to the bar) - three lemon drops (which were more like three shots of Absolut Citron, because there was no lemon wedge or sugar involved) and one shot of Blackhaus, which they didn't bother to chill so it was not optimal. But, at $2 a shot, I shouldn't complain.

So that was a lot of fun, even if it's more than I've had to drink in a long time.

Then today I met up with innie_darling and dotfic for brunch and a 12:55 pm showing of Argo, which was excellent. Highly recommended. I mean, yes, I wish they'd cast someone Latino as Tony Mendez, but everything else about the movie is so good - even Kyle Chandler's brief appearances. John Goodman and Alan Arkin are fantastic. And Affleck knows how to make a tense movie. And even though the unfortunate 70s hair is unfortunate, he makes the beard work, especially with the little bit of gray he's got in it. So that was well worth the $14, I thought.

Then I came home and did some grocery shopping so I could make something for lunch for the week, and now I'm watching the Giants game.

Oh, also, I don't know how it was released - if it was a leak or it popped up on iTunes or what before it was pulled - but I watched the pulled episode of Young Justice this morning on youtube (google is your friend; I do not have the links handy). ( spoilers )

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I have had four pints and four (I think? maybe it was only 3? but it definitely seems like four - 2 before K. showed up and then two after? or three after?) lemon drops and while lemon drops are weaksauce despite their tasty sugary lemony goodness, three (or four) is definitely enough to leach the feeling from my face, which is how I judge drunkenness. I can still feel my lips, but my face is a little iffy at this point.

I needed a night of celebration though. Work has been busy in preparation of things next week and while one thing went off without a hitch, boss2 was kind of a pain despite being off on vacation..

apparently here is the post I started to make earlier and got distracted from by work (as opposed to now, when I'm distracted by being tipsy):

Woo! I am covered in glory! And wite-out (sic)! But mostly glory.

Board packets: sent!

Committee packets: sent!
(well, except for one attachment that apparently nobody here has and the consultants haven't sent it to me yet, so that is going out under separate cover on Monday. whatever!)

Phone calls: made!

Reservation for gelato-making class: made!

Drinks: will soon be had!

I guess we can change that to Drinks: Have been had! Yay! and it will all be all right.

It is K's birthday tomorrow, so we even got one round of shots on the house! Birthday shots all round!

Now i will just try to sober p a little before going to bed, otherwise i'll just be awake at 4 am, doing the dying fish.

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Last night, I stopped off at the grocery store because I really wanted some Entenmann's chocolate doughnuts and the whole Entenmann's display was empty. Note to self: Thursday evening is best. Everything is gone by Friday evening. So this morning on my way for coffee I went to CVS to see if they could fulfill my craving, and they didn't have any Entenmann's products, so I just ended up with those Hostess mini powdered doughnuts, which are great and all, but sometimes I just want waxy chocolate coating over not-quite-stale yellow cake, okay? And I am being denied.

After that stop in at the supermarket, I met up with fleurdeleo for dinner at the bar, and somehow we ended up doing shots, and there was a moment - just after the second lemon drop - when the night could have gone on a lot longer and involved a lot more shots, but we decided to call it a night, instead. You know that moment - when you're twenty, you order the next round of shots and then another after that and end up not getting home until 3 am. When you're forty, you think about how you don't want to spend your Saturday miserable, and you go home in time for your show. *snerk* The shots were good, though. Also, the second round was free. Embrace the buy back. Plus the sugared lemon is always great.

I only had two beers and two shots and I was home in time for Fringe, though I was definitely tipsy enough that I think I missed bits. Anyway. ( spoilers )

So that was a good solid episode that advanced some character stuff. Next week looks like it will be fun.

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