Beethoven + 1
Overdue update #478311: I spent must of last weekend poking my LJ Idol story forward with a stick (longer story arcs and longer lengths always slow me down). On Saturday, I did some minor Christmas shopping but cannot remember what. I also got the outdoor lights out, but bogged down in raking leaves again until nightfall instead of putting lights up. Because rain was coming on Sunday again. De.Ja.Vu. *Ack* Sunday, I baked gift cookies. I got distracted by our son, and while mixing batter batch #2 thought, "What's that smell?" Crap-I forgot to set the timer! One pan overbaked, so my two-batch job went to three. Batter for the second batch was oddly fluffy, and spread all over the pan during baking. I then realized that I had no memory of putting more than one 1/4 cup of the final 3/4 cups of flour into the mix. Grrrr... Third batch came out perfect, but by then it was dark and the afternoon was gone. Biked in the garage instead of running.
Monday night, I tried a new chocolate biscotti recipe. Got distracted by the children again, forgot to account for the mysteries of what OUR oven's version of 350o might be. *sigh* Biscotti slightly overdone. Still tasted good, though, so I am giving them away as is! Also, I have 2-3 more treat projects still left, so I have to cut my time-losses somewhere.
I finished reading a Jack Reacher book, and also The Trapeze Artist. The latter hooked me with a main character who tears out the ceiling of his house to install a trapeze, but that was one of three stories progressing in parallel (different parts of his life), and while it finally moved forward, I didn't really like the ending. I started A Clubbable Woman Sunday, the first Pascoe and Dalziel mystery, and tore through it, finishing last night.
Our TV viewing includes our usual Tuesday intake of Major Crimes. Every week, we ask, Why haven't they killed off Rusty yet? I wonder if other viewers feel similarly? We usually also watch Legends the same night. Last week, I searched the Internet for a plot/character scorecard for that show. Too many timelines, and perhaps it's due to the episode they pulled (a good decision, IMO), but a character appeared last week whom I cannot even identify, and I also keep wondering if the two bald older men are the same person. Really, even with Martin at various ages, the casting isn't that great, so I keep asking myself, "Is this supposed to be young Martin? One of them?" It's more of a struggle than a pleasure at this point. :(
I have not wrapped a single present yet, so that's in my plans-of-soon. I hope to wind up some Lego work and free up that living room spot for a Christmas tree (no tree yet), do some more decorating, and I guess I might be putting up some outdoor lights in between bouts of rain? \o?
My vague hopes of writing Yuletide treats for some of the pinch-list requests has thus far been foiled by requests that I don't so much consider "fandoms" and which do not inspire me: video games, music videos, anime, sports RPF, etc. Some of them are so obscure that I wonder how they got nominated, though a minimum of three nominations is required. However, if the interest level is really low then it's awfully hard to find someone to write that for you, so I don't think "obscure" usually benefits anyone. IDK.
Final thought: someone on my commute has a Christmas pig as part of the lawn Xmas light decorations. \o?
Monday night, I tried a new chocolate biscotti recipe. Got distracted by the children again, forgot to account for the mysteries of what OUR oven's version of 350o might be. *sigh* Biscotti slightly overdone. Still tasted good, though, so I am giving them away as is! Also, I have 2-3 more treat projects still left, so I have to cut my time-losses somewhere.
I finished reading a Jack Reacher book, and also The Trapeze Artist. The latter hooked me with a main character who tears out the ceiling of his house to install a trapeze, but that was one of three stories progressing in parallel (different parts of his life), and while it finally moved forward, I didn't really like the ending. I started A Clubbable Woman Sunday, the first Pascoe and Dalziel mystery, and tore through it, finishing last night.
Our TV viewing includes our usual Tuesday intake of Major Crimes. Every week, we ask, Why haven't they killed off Rusty yet? I wonder if other viewers feel similarly? We usually also watch Legends the same night. Last week, I searched the Internet for a plot/character scorecard for that show. Too many timelines, and perhaps it's due to the episode they pulled (a good decision, IMO), but a character appeared last week whom I cannot even identify, and I also keep wondering if the two bald older men are the same person. Really, even with Martin at various ages, the casting isn't that great, so I keep asking myself, "Is this supposed to be young Martin? One of them?" It's more of a struggle than a pleasure at this point. :(
I have not wrapped a single present yet, so that's in my plans-of-soon. I hope to wind up some Lego work and free up that living room spot for a Christmas tree (no tree yet), do some more decorating, and I guess I might be putting up some outdoor lights in between bouts of rain? \o?
My vague hopes of writing Yuletide treats for some of the pinch-list requests has thus far been foiled by requests that I don't so much consider "fandoms" and which do not inspire me: video games, music videos, anime, sports RPF, etc. Some of them are so obscure that I wonder how they got nominated, though a minimum of three nominations is required. However, if the interest level is really low then it's awfully hard to find someone to write that for you, so I don't think "obscure" usually benefits anyone. IDK.
Final thought: someone on my commute has a Christmas pig as part of the lawn Xmas light decorations. \o?