House of Much Random Banter and Haluesen's Various Wondrous Cookies #197

[DJ Yung Crunk]

What's wrong with you people?" said the man with a protein deficiency

I'll take a salad any day.

[CurlyKitGirl]

The boys are growing like weeds, and making me crazy. You know, the usual things boys do. It is only a real issue when I need to concentrate on school (like now) and they suddenly need 350% of my attention. (As opposed to the usual 200%).

Children are like that. How old must the youngest be now? And the eldest should be in . . . his first or second year of primary school? The memories are a little fuzzy. I do remember I spoke to him once though, and he was four(ish), so he should be six or seven right?
Either way, children are exhausting, but quite fun. As long as they're not pitching a fit. Good God I hate tantrums.

*joins Curly on the swings*

You're right, of course, I need to just relax. Granted, the amount of coffee I have ingested so far today make work against that. Unless I add more and come out the other side. I may need to do that. In fact, I may need to remove myself from the house entirely and go to the coffee shop to get some work done. And have some coffee...

As a non-coffee person, all I can suggest is perhaps decaf? Although the withdrawal could be painful. Or you could switch to good, proper tea.
But definitely relax a little bit. Take a few hours on the swing, have a walk or read a book, maybe play/talk with the boys (it might get them to calm down a little too) and then get back to work.
Is this graduate work now? I remember a while back you were doing some studies too, did you pass that and go on to the next level, or is this the same thing?
But if you do have coffee, have a nice dessert with it. Cheesecake maybe?
Here, have a cyber-lollypop.
*offers*

EDIT:
Steak or salad?
I'm not a big fan have beef unless it's in a stew, but the salad has to be good as they're so often so bland.
Give me a nice chicken salad over steak any day.

[Devmaar]

Hey, would you folks say you're salad people or steak people?

Undoubtedly steak. I rarely like salad in restaurants etc.

Steak, hands down, but I won't turn away a good salad either. I'll eat pretty much anything that tastes good.

ION: Robin's finally gotten around to mixing this stuff, and while it's not done yet, it's rather close. Now, to listen to all of these a few more times to nitpick...

Are going to get to hear this music?

[Amidus Drexel]

What's wrong with you people?" said the man with a protein deficiency

I'll take a salad any day.

Got nothing against a salad, but more people know how to make a good steak than do a good salad, and merely "okay" steak is still reasonably good, whereas "okay" salad tends to be horrible, unless it's made in a specific way.

Undoubtedly steak. I rarely like salad in restaurants etc.

Are going to get to hear this music?

Hey, I've had good salad in some restaurants! Actually, most of the times I've bothered to eat all of my salad was at a restaurant, excepting the times when I made it myself.

Yes, when it's done. It's close... but I shan't reveal anything less than a finished product. Shouldn't be more than a few days, I don't think.

[Devmaar]

Hey, I've had good salad in some restaurants! Actually, most of the times I've bothered to eat all of my salad was at a restaurant, excepting the times when I made it myself.

Yes, when it's done. It's close... but I shan't reveal anything less than a finished product. Shouldn't be more than a few days, I don't think.

I find it's usually either uninteresting or overdressed or both

Cool

[Taet]

Steak yesterday. I put the steak in soy sauce and garlic. Stew overnight. Lamb and lentils and peppercorn and parsley. Salad today. Tomato and cucumber and dill and oil and salt. They are all plain but deep. Tonight the steak and salad. The stew will be put in bags inside bowls and frozen in shapes. Later I will boil potatoes and serve those next to the stew. Also salt on the side. Never put salt in the stew. It does not work with the beans. Or vinegar.

[DJ Yung Crunk]

Oh, Amidus is doing music now? I'd love to do that, but I can't perform in front of people and I'm too much of a scatterbrain for learning an instrument.

[Haluesen]

What's wrong with you people?" said the man with a protein deficiency

I'll take a salad any day.

Salad's are good, oddly I am not a huge steak fan. I love chicken, or pork. Steak is good but I just don't hold it up to the same standard some do. I would prefer a well done salad over a steak. Then again, if you cut up little bits of steak and put it in the salad, then I would be happier.

Is everyone having a good day?

[DJ Yung Crunk]

Is everyone having a good day?

Actually yes, I'm staving off a violent bout of depression that caused by a lack of protein (somehow). But now that's sorted and I'm on top of the world again. I'm ready to go out and do things, I just need to correct my sleeping schedule.

[Teddy]

Because puns are the heart and sole of the thread? Because you can't resist shoehorning in on a pun session? We really should try to bring this impulse to heel. My pun skills are much better today!

To be honest, I find most pun storms to be forced and usually only pun intentionally when it's a rather spot-on pun, which is why I asked myself...

English is fairly French, only three words, aside from pronouns, are easy to guess if you know English.
And Dd'AN can be extrapolated from the usual acronyms running around here.

Yeah, all the important words tend to be possible to match up with a similar English word, so it's surprisingly easy to get along on nothing. Until you reach a fairly simple sentence, because then the Vikings had already ninja'd the Normands (it was the Normands who brought the French to England, right?)...

And yes, I actually plugged "in other news" into Google Translate just to confirm my suspicion.

I was very tired, headachey and thinking quickly to translate the French, so my brain was doing both at once.
You'd think that the first two things would make me think in English, but nope! French all the way.
Maybe it's easier to catch when you're going from your primary language (which isn't very widely spoken outside of Sweden) to another language? Or maybe you're just more attentive.

Well, it most oftenly tend to happen when I'm tired and have written something within quotes or a book/game/movie title, and I generally catch myself when trying to formulate something a bit more advanced. It doesn't happen all too often though, so it's hard to say exactly how attentive I've been or if I've just been lucky...

Hey, would you folks say you're salad people or steak people?

Hmm, depends on what type of salad you're talking about. As a side dish, it's indispensable, while the steak can be swapped out for one of many things, but if we're talking as a main dish, like pasta salad, then I'm not much of a fan, no...

[EmeraldRose]

Children are like that. How old must the youngest be now? And the eldest should be in . . . his first or second year of primary school? The memories are a little fuzzy. I do remember I spoke to him once though, and he was four(ish), so he should be six or seven right?
Either way, children are exhausting, but quite fun. As long as they're not pitching a fit. Good God I hate tantrums.

Heh. The youngest is 2.5, then there's 4.5, and my oldest is 10. He'll be in his 5th year of primary in the fall.

Which is a little scary, considering I started hanging out on here just before he was born...O.o

As a non-coffee person, all I can suggest is perhaps decaf? Although the withdrawal could be painful. Or you could switch to good, proper tea.
But definitely relax a little bit. Take a few hours on the swing, have a walk or read a book, maybe play/talk with the boys (it might get them to calm down a little too) and then get back to work.
Is this graduate work now? I remember a while back you were doing some studies too, did you pass that and go on to the next level, or is this the same thing?
But if you do have coffee, have a nice dessert with it. Cheesecake maybe?
Here, have a cyber-lollypop.
*offers*

EDIT:
Steak or salad?
I'm not a big fan have beef unless it's in a stew, but the salad has to be good as they're so often so bland.
Give me a nice chicken salad over steak any day.

Yeah, grad school for social work finally. It's been 6 years since I finished it up and got super-involved on here. I'm definitely a tea fan. It's what I generally drink in the evenings, when there is no wine.

Thanks for the lollypop. It will have to do until I can convince Andre to get some dark chocolate when he goes grocery shopping. Easy enough to do since I make the list...

Break time for now. Going to goof off for a few minutes and not work on the ppt.

[Coidzor]

Ever had a cat dig four sets of claws into your boobs?

The only cats that have done so are no longer living.

There a a few American style diners around. There's one in Exeter and there was one right by the guest house I stayed in in Hamburg.

My mind. It is blown. I don't even know how you'd go about having biscuits in Britain without heads exploding. I suppose they'd probably just not, really... Hmm...

Eh, the Chainsaw Massacre guy is more likely to pop out of the woods, anyway, given that the group is mostly composed of the fillies.

Combination of both? I'll very likely go, anyway.

What is so interesting about walking up and down hills? Don't tell me "you can see the naturey stuff", because I can do that online.

Oh, well, then you're obligated to go, aren't you, so you can be a chaperone and thus the first to bite it?

Good.

Well, there's the aforementioned fillies, but you're not interested in them anyway... Just a certain je ne sais quoi of psychic energy and the chance to end up being Leatherface yourself, I suppose.

Indeed. Single people are happy people.

*narrows eyes* Eh, you've mostly got sandstone to work with, right? I think I can live with that.

Up till they're miserable people, aye.

Steel. Bone. These are the things that speak to me when it comes to Amidus' place of rest.

Uhh, I think that's how your foot is supposed to look, at least from what I've heard...

Sure, my foot is supposed to look this way. Plenty of other people's feet aren't supposed to look that way.

Doing lumberjacking is all fun, but due to a complete lack of appetite, I haven't been able to supply myself with enough energy to do more than shorter bursts, clearing up a tree or at most two at a time before I need to rest. I really hope I'll manage to sort myself out soon...

...That's not a good sign. If you're working hard and still don't have an appetite, that's medical consultation time if you don't have a concrete reason pegged down for what's at play, such as side effects from meds.

Hey, would you folks say you're salad people or steak people?

Neither, unless I can get that steak in a sammich. Sometimes I get in a mood for a salad and I'll eat 'em, sure, but steaks... Steaks are so... uninspired. They taste good on their own so there's nothing creative done with them. They're just... steak. That's it. Boring. Boring. Boring.

I hate it. So inelegant and yet because it's expensive and choice cuts of meat, of course society and everyone else says "THIS IS FANCINESS INCARNATE." Just boring slab of bloody, undercooked meat festering with bacteria if the butcher or slaughterhouse didn't do their jobs right. If you're lucky there'll be the barest hint of salt. And that's class. That's sophistication. Says a lot about the flaws of human society right there, really, when we hold up food that's so primo you have to actively try to mess it up as the pinnacle of human gastronomic achievement.

Give me roasts, stews, grilled meats, smoked meats, so long as I can have some kind of marinade, some kind of side dish more interesting than a bored man's baked potato and green peas. Give me veal cutlet braised in a mixture of its mother's blood and red wine. Give me bacon crispy yet still flexible and melded with basil pesto-mayo, cucumber, tomato, and the lighter, crisper salad greens between two slabs of marbled rye bread lightly toasted. Give me real homemade fried chicken and seven different kinds of sauces to mix and match with the bird and thick-cut potato wedges. Steak? Boring, uninpsired, plain steak? No. Fajitas? Mongolian Beef? Yes. Hell, I'll even take the bare minimum of preparation and thought that's required by smoking the steak instead of tossing it over some hot coals.

Is everyone having a good day?

I had... weird dreams and I'm still trying to figure out what the heck went on in them. Should really just get into the habit of writing them down first thing and then getting rid of them.

Other than that, I spent about 5 minutes policing the front yard for dog **** and shoveling it into a bag for trash. Reminded me of Harry King from Discworld.

Heh. The youngest is 2.5, then there's 4.5, and my oldest is 10. He'll be in his 5th year of primary in the fall.

Which is a little scary, considering I started hanging out on here just before he was born...O.o

Time flies, aye.

[FinnLassie]

Sleeeeeeep.

Easy for you to say...

An all-nighter?

I can never sleep well the night before flying.

Hey, would you folks say you're salad people or steak people?

Steak with salad.

ION: Robin's finally gotten around to mixing this stuff, and while it's not done yet, it's rather close. Now, to listen to all of these a few more times to nitpick...

ION: I could kill our internet provider right now. We have a deal that first three months are just £10 but they've charged me the full price. AAARGH. AAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGHHHH. Need to phone them tomorrow and ask what the hell they've been thinking.

[CurlyKitGirl]

Heh. The youngest is 2.5, then there's 4.5, and my oldest is 10. He'll be in his 5th year of primary in the fall.

Which is a little scary, considering I started hanging out on here just before he was born...O.o

I must have spoke to your eldest then, and the youngest could only have been a few months old then at the time. Could have sworn he was four or five, maybe six. Oh wow. That's a long time since I was on MSN talking with Andre.
And I know what you mean about time. It's scary to think about how long you've been a member of an internet forum, and that a lot of your friends are people you've never met, even when you've known them for longer than some of your real life friends. My sister was still in Primary when I joined!

Yeah, grad school for social work finally. It's been 6 years since I finished it up and got super-involved on here. I'm definitely a tea fan. It's what I generally drink in the evenings, when there is no wine.

:smallgrimace: Must be a killer. Hope it all goes well. That said, how could you like wine? The only wine I can handle is a nice rose, tea is much more palatable. Still, to each her own, even if she's a coffee guzzling devotee who probably spends a lot of time hanging out with Trog.

Thanks for the lollypop. It will have to do until I can convince Andre to get some dark chocolate when he goes grocery shopping. Easy enough to do since I make the list...

Blech. Dark chocolate is yucky, put white chocolate on the list. Much lovelier.

Break time for now. Going to goof off for a few minutes and not work on the ppt.

Yay! It's good to take a break when working anyway. Give your brain and body a bit of a rest.

The only cats that have done so are no longer living.

Tempting at times, but I couldn't bare getting rid of the cat.

My mind. It is blown. I don't even know how you'd go about having biscuits in Britain without heads exploding. I suppose they'd probably just not, really... Hmm...

And I was so very confused by this. I had to scroll down to see which comment you were replying to, and then I remembered that American biscuits are eaten with gravy and are kind of like scones.
Or at least, something I'd roughly equate to them.
And no. We wouldn't have them because everyone would get confused all the time. Biscuits are sweet. Unless they're savoury, but then they're called cheese biscuits, savoury biscuits or crackers or something.

ION:
So yesterday I watched a show(and subsequently typed) partially in French. Now I'm watching 'The Mystery of Rome's X-Tombs'; said tombs were found in the catacombs under the Vatican in (surprise, surprise) the section known as 'X'. Said tombs contain two and a half thousand or so bodies.
Currently the hypothesis the show's running on is that a sizeable number of the deaths were due to the Antonine Plague.
So I'm learning about the most catastrophic pandemic ever recorded at the time.
And the methodology being used is quite fascinating, though arduous.
Why did I bring up the bilingual show first?
This one in is English, French, Italian and probably a few more (because mother dear knows exactly when to send me to the shop), though the foreign ones are subtitled.
Overall, the documentary's rather good, if at times a little generic or too simple - explaining carbon-dating for instance. I think I'd have to say it's rather like Time Team in tone, though a little more academic, though somehow a little more melodramatic. Also, very much lacking in Tony Robinson.

[LaZodiac]

ION: I could kill our internet provider right now. We have a deal that first three months are just £10 but they've charged me the full price. AAARGH. AAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGHHHH. Need to phone them tomorrow and ask what the hell they've been thinking.

Look on the bright side, at least your provider doesn't have a monopoly, and thus can charge ten dollars per gig over the monthly usage!

[Coidzor]

Tempting at times, but I couldn't bare getting rid of the cat.

And I was so very confused by this. I had to scroll down to see which comment you were replying to, and then I remembered that American biscuits are eaten with gravy and are kind of like scones.
Or at least, something I'd roughly equate to them.
And no. We wouldn't have them because everyone would get confused all the time. Biscuits are sweet. Unless they're savoury, but then they're called cheese biscuits, savoury biscuits or crackers or something.

Well, most of the cats I've had haven't been too good at living past 15, so there's been that factor too, I suppose. Also, they have a tendency to go off and die in a ditch somewhere. Kind of interesting how it's happened so often I don't really even care and just can state it flat out but I still feel sad when it actually happens. Monstrous, I know.

I suppose your response provides an object lesson there, aye. I do believe that American Biscuits are descended from scones in some convoluted fashion even though we still have scones. And I can't imagine Britishers being able to stomach cornbread, though I can't decide if they wouldn't bother to try to swallow and would just spit it out immediately upon contact with their tongue or if it'd get stuck in their throats and then spat up.

I recently rediscovered cheese cookies, actually. I need to make some soon, thank you for reminding me. Funnily enough we also have cheese biscuits here.

[FinnLassie]

Look on the bright side, at least your provider doesn't have a monopoly, and thus can charge ten dollars per gig over the monthly usage!

Ah, you have a monthly usage limit! That sucks. Ours is unlimited, but it's not the fastest around. It was the second cheapest available on our postal code area though heh.

[Teddy]

Sure, my foot is supposed to look this way. Plenty of other people's feet aren't supposed to look that way.

Heh, true.

...That's not a good sign. If you're working hard and still don't have an appetite, that's medical consultation time if you don't have a concrete reason pegged down for what's at play, such as side effects from meds.

Well, I'm not on meds, but I'm perfectly aware of the causes. I'll see if I can get in contact with a counselor when I get home, though, because I can't go about force-feeding myself forever. Especially since not

I can never sleep well the night before flying.

Tough. Are you nervous about the flight itself or is it just the stress around with packing and riddiculously mornings which keeps you up?

ION: I could kill our internet provider right now. We have a deal that first three months are just £10 but they've charged me the full price. AAARGH. AAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGHHHH. Need to phone them tomorrow and ask what the hell they've been thinking.

It's never fun when large companies screw up, but good luck! Hopefully you'll sort it out.

[CurlyKitGirl]

Well, most of the cats I've had haven't been too good at living past 15, so there's been that factor too, I suppose. Also, they have a tendency to go off and die in a ditch somewhere. Kind of interesting how it's happened so often I don't really even care and just can state it flat out but I still feel sad when it actually happens. Monstrous, I know.

Not really monstrous, it's just that you don't know for certain, so inside you can sort of lie to yourself about that ungrateful cat running off and finding a cosier home or something, so you sound callous, but deep inside you know that you told yourself a lie, and you feel sad.
Our Jess off and disappeared . . . six years ago now the old scrapper, and we still say he's cadging off someone else even though he likely isn't.
My Puddle Demon Cat turned fifteen a few months ago, the old thing, and I'm going to be heartbroken when she dies; she's got an arthritic hip, but also looser/tighter tendons (I forget which) that prevent her keeping a normal cat posture so she's always walking around with her hindquarters slightly crouched. She's old. The two youngest can't recall a time she wasn't here and LB only just remembers when I brought her home.
She's mine, and ours and mine. When she dies I'm going to have to drop all my avvies for fear of tears for months, if not permanently. I can't be CurlyKitGirl without a cat.

I suppose your response provides an object lesson there, aye. I do believe that American Biscuits are descended from scones in some convoluted fashion even though we still have scones. And I can't imagine Britishers being able to stomach cornbread, though I can't decide if they wouldn't bother to try to swallow and would just spit it out immediately upon contact with their tongue or if it'd get stuck in their throats and then spat up.

You have to admit it's a little confusing. I'm not entirely sure what cornbread is, but I imagine it's a heavy type of dough, baked into savoury biscuits? If we can handle hevva cake, we can handle most dense doughy things.
We'd probably try to avoid spitting it out though, unless we had a napkin of some sorts to hand, and even then we'd likely apologise.

I recently rediscovered cheese cookies, actually. I need to make some soon, thank you for reminding me. Funnily enough we also have cheese biscuits here.

Okay, those cheese biscuits are cheese scones. Though, cheese cookies. I know you can get savoury cookies, but I just can't shake my idea of cookies away from chocolate chips and similar.

[Thufir]

I must have spoke to your eldest then, and the youngest could only have been a few months old then at the time. Could have sworn he was four or five, maybe six. Oh wow. That's a long time since I was on MSN talking with Andre.
And I know what you mean about time. It's scary to think about how long you've been a member of an internet forum, and that a lot of your friends are people you've never met, even when you've known them for longer than some of your real life friends. My sister was still in Primary when I joined!

I find it disconcerting remembering that you were still in school when I first encountered you on here. Well, sixth form anyway.

cheese cookies

These words, they make no sense to me. They do not belong together.

My Puddle Demon Cat turned fifteen a few months ago, the old thing, and I'm going to be heartbroken when she dies; she's got an arthritic hip, but also looser/tighter tendons (I forget which) that prevent her keeping a normal cat posture so she's always walking around with her hindquarters slightly crouched. She's old. The two youngest can't recall a time she wasn't here and LB only just remembers when I brought her home.
She's mine, and ours and mine. When she dies I'm going to have to drop all my avvies for fear of tears for months, if not permanently. I can't be CurlyKitGirl without a cat.

Tbh, one of the reasons I'd be really tempted by the idea of visiting you at home if I could afford it would be just so I could actually meet the DemonCat.

[FinnLassie]

Tough. Are you nervous about the flight itself or is it just the stress around with packing and riddiculously mornings which keeps you up?

It's never fun when large companies screw up, but good luck! Hopefully you'll sort it out.

I honestly don't know. I like flying a lot and well since 2010 I've done, what... Let's calculate... Well, I've lost count after 20, so. Can't really count with how many roundtrips because some of them have been me derping around Europe. Hrm. Hmmh.

Yup. Sky (the provider) has been making me somewhat annoyed!

ION: I witnessed the most epic rain I have seen in my life today in Manchester.

[CurlyKitGirl]

I find it disconcerting remembering that you were still in school when I first encountered you on here. Well, sixth form anyway.

When did you join again? The year after me, okay, yes, I'd have been in my first year in college.
Whoa. Doesn't seem that long ago does it? I could have - but I went to my first meetup in 2010 didn't I? No, it must have been 2009 then.
The London one.
So many years, so many memories.

These words, they make no sense to me. They do not belong together.

Welcome to a mental disconnect. Enjoy your stay while you futilely try to link these things together in spite of cultural disparities.

Tbh, one of the reasons I'd be really tempted by the idea of visiting you at home if I could afford it would be just so I could actually meet the DemonCat.

She sleeps most of the time now. Sleeps and terrorises people. Often both at the same time. There's a reason I call her a puddle. Maybe I'll film her or something. I still need to take pictures of my library and post them; I've been saying I'd do that since . . . 2008 or so.

ION: I witnessed the most epic rain I have seen in my life today in Manchester.

We're going to be in for a week of that. I think I had that rain yesterday actually - thirty seconds of torrential rain that you can barely see through, then normal heavy rain, interspersed with drizzle every now and then, for about five minutes, followed by a torrent that soaked clean through a waterproof coat. And by that I don't mean a 'waterproof coat', I mean a 'waterproof coat from Millet's fit for hiking up mountains in March'.

[Rawhide]

Steak or salad?
I'm not a big fan have beef unless it's in a stew, but the salad has to be good as they're so often so bland.
Give me a nice chicken salad over steak any day.

What about a steak salad?

[FinnLassie]

We're going to be in for a week of that. I think I had that rain yesterday actually - thirty seconds of torrential rain that you can barely see through, then normal heavy rain, interspersed with drizzle every now and then, for about five minutes, followed by a torrent that soaked clean through a waterproof coat. And by that I don't mean a 'waterproof coat', I mean a 'waterproof coat from Millet's fit for hiking up mountains in March'.

According to my stalkings on Facebook Glasgow had some pretty cool thunderstorms not too long ago... I'm gutted that I missed it! I mean, honestly, we don't get rains like the UK does in Finland. It was amazing in Manchester to see how the streets got super flooded in like 10 seconds, and as Piccadilly has the glass roof or something, the sound of the rain was glorious as well. Gave a nice undertone to the music I was listening to.

I don't get why people bother with umbrellas here... I mean... Especially in Glasgow where it's always windy. Needs to be waterproofs, yup! Unfortunately, like in the situation you described... They're not immortal.

[CurlyKitGirl]

What about a steak salad?

I don't like beef as a cut of meat. It's almost always too tough or gamey or bland or stringy. I like steak if it's a bit of rump or skirt in a pasty or a stew. It's got to be slow-cooked. Minced beef is good too; put it in a lasagne, or a pie with a nice sauce/gravy and it's lovely.
Serve me roast beef, a cut of steak and the like cooked by professional chefs and I just don't like it.

EDIT:

According to my stalkings on Facebook Glasgow had some pretty cool thunderstorms not too long ago... I'm gutted that I missed it! I mean, honestly, we don't get rains like the UK does in Finland. It was amazing in Manchester to see how the streets got super flooded in like 10 seconds, and as Piccadilly has the glass roof or something, the sound of the rain was glorious as well. Gave a nice undertone to the music I was listening to.

I think we had two separate weather fronts come in, the Scottish one came in a few days earlier.
If you like the rain, ever tried rainymood.com? Very relaxing.

I don't get why people bother with umbrellas here... I mean... Especially in Glasgow where it's always windy. Needs to be waterproofs, yup! Unfortunately, like in the situation you described... They're not immortal.

Normally it's just a persistent annoying rain, I think every day it rains somewhere in the UK - the current heat wave aside - every day.
Normally the winds aren't too bad. If you're not living near the coast. Or if it's . . . well, it's usually not as windy in summer.
But mostly though, I think it's because the UK's consistently damp. And wearing coats means wearing hoods, and that is just awful when it's both humid and rainy.
That and brolly's are good all year round because it can and does rain every day of the year somewhere here, and with the gulf stream and whatnot it can rain any time at all. A nice brolly you can carry with you suits all weathers, and a coat usually makes you feel warm and sticky even when it rains in winter.

[Thufir]

When did you join again? The year after me, okay, yes, I'd have been in my first year in college.
Whoa. Doesn't seem that long ago does it? I could have - but I went to my first meetup in 2010 didn't I? No, it must have been 2009 then.
The London one.
So many years, so many memories.

I joined in 2008, and the London meetup was in fact in 2010.

She sleeps most of the time now. Sleeps and terrorises people. Often both at the same time. There's a reason I call her a puddle. Maybe I'll film her or something. I still need to take pictures of my library and post them; I've been saying I'd do that since . . . 2008 or so.

You could do that, although I feel like the terrorising would be an integral part of the experience, which couldn't really be conveyed through video.
You may not have posted pictures of your proper library, but I remember you did post pictures of your books in Oxford, because you were distressed by how few you'd been able to take with you.

[CurlyKitGirl]

I joined in 2008, and the London meetup was in fact in 2010.

Ah yes, official meetup in 2010, the one where I just met Bath was 2009 then. That was another hot couple of days in summer too. It was eerie - one in the morning and it still felt like a spring day.

You could do that, although I feel like the terrorising would be an integral part of the experience, which couldn't really be conveyed through video.

True; but I'm not taking her with me, she hates a ten minute car trip. Mostly because it takes ten minutes to get her in the bleddy box - and that's an adventure and a half let me tell you. There's a fine line between terrorising, torture and murder, and after hours on the train she would be at the Bring About the End of the World stage of fury.

You may not have posted pictures of your proper library, but I remember you did post pictures of your books in Oxford, because you were distressed by how few you'd been able to take with you.

And that was distressing! Only thirty books! Thirty! That's less than a tenth of my library! I have . . . roughly four floor-to-ceiling bookcases worth of books. Probably more actually as most of the books in the house actually belong to me and everyone else just thinks they belong to Dad.
We do have a camera now that doesn't tint everything blue, so maybe I'll show off the books.

[LaZodiac]

So, I'm watching the movie Para-Normen.

"SWEAR TO ME NORMAN! SWEAR TO ME YOU'LL STOP THE WITCH'S CURSE!"
"You...you mean like the f word?"
"NO, I MEAN PROMISE"

I love this movie.

[Rawhide]

I don't like beef as a cut of meat. It's almost always too tough or gamey or bland or stringy. I like steak if it's a bit of rump or skirt in a pasty or a stew. It's got to be slow-cooked. Minced beef is good too; put it in a lasagne, or a pie with a nice sauce/gravy and it's lovely.
Serve me roast beef, a cut of steak and the like cooked by professional chefs and I just don't like it.

What about small strips of steak, couple of centimeters long, highly tender, marinated, then mixed in salad?

[CurlyKitGirl]

What about small strips of steak, couple of centimeters long, highly tender, marinated, then mixed in salad?

Potentially. I've had enough bad experiences with steak/beef that I just avoid it now - awkward when Sunday roast turns out to be beef - but I'd give it a go, especially if the marinade was good.