Deviant Dispatches

Hey look! Another mish-mash of recent happenings. I'll be expanding upon a few of these later in the week. I made eggplant parmesan for the first time last night. It was much easier and more fun than I thought it would be (both good signs, as I haven't been very into cooking lately). It was a simple matter of baking the breaded eggplant and making some sauce. Spousal Unit and I found a three-tier cat tree near a dumpster. It had been rained on, but we let it dry in the sun and gave it a thorough cleaning. The cats seem to like it so far, though Oberon is still more of a ground-based kitty. Last week at work, someone used "thru." In a professional report. I headdesked so bad. Another item in my work week: someone emailed saying that if the government shuts down, she'll have to send her report on Monday instead of Tuesday. That should not be a serious sentence. I feel like "If the government shuts down" should be the start of a joke, not a qualifi...

Over the weekend, I had to do relatively little, and it was wonderful. There was Star Trek to be watched (though not enough), a museum to visit, a devastating Packers game to watch, and a few errands to do. I got to read more than I have in quite a while, and when the TV was on, I managed to quell my desire to multitask - instead, I just sat and enjoyed. Unfortunately, at the end of yesterday night, I was thrown nearly into a panic and rushed around the house tidying like a cyclone in reverse. It was a feeling that if I woke up to a messy apartment, I would turn into a puddle of emotional goo; it was the proverbial straw ready to break my back (...okay, I guess I'm the camel in this metaphor. That's fun.). A clean apartment would keep me sane, and the cleaning process would calm my meltdown from Chernobyl levels to oh-crap-this-cheese-is-moldy levels. The thing is, the apartment wasn't even that messy, and at the end of it, I hadn't crossed off anything on my to-...

When I was little and we went to my grandparents', coffee time was both something I loved and something that bored me. I loved it because that was when the homemade cookies came out - Sally Ann, chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin. In the hot summers, sometimes there was ice cream or popsicles, or even fresh strawberry shortcake. In the cold winter, there was warm apple crisp. Before I had sisters old enough to play with, I got bored with coffee time because the adults would sit around and talk. And talk, and talk, and talk, like there was nothing better in the world and they had endless things to say. Now that I'm older, I share that feeling (and even have coffee, on occasion). But at the time, as a four- or five-year-old, I couldn't wait to be excused so I could run downstairs and play. My grandparents had (and still have) the best places in the world for a kid to play. They have an orchard on the hill behind the house, a delicious garden out front, a creek across the ...

There are approximately five million things I love about fall. But I especially love a couple of them. This is a new one for me: a plant finally blossoming for the first time, at the end of summer. At its peak, my African violet had 21 blossoms at once. I finally got to wear my colorful new pink Asian-style jacket. Remember when I bought it ? I also picked up two awesome fall shirts, a really comfy pair of pants, and silky pajama pants to replace my old ones. (They had holes at both hips. One was the size of my head.) Leaves are turning everywhere! The library parking lot (above) is especially resplendent right now, but I'm also impressed by the tree outside our window. It's almost chartreuse at sunset. This photo is not edited at all.  Wow. My least favorite color for a long time was yellow - and it was least favorite by a wide margin. Now, I may not wear yellow, but I appreciate it a lot more. I used to think yellow trees were boring, but that's not...

Two differing calls Dear NFL, Please stop being miserly jackasses and give the real refs what they want, so we can stop watching utter B.S. every week. I don't blame the replacement refs - I don't think anyone really does. They're doing the best they can with a crappy situation. They have no training for this level of football; it's like being thrown in the deep end and expected to swim. NFL, your replacement refs are drowning in the middle of the Astroturf. Throw them a frickin' life jacket. As a result of these ridiculous calls that have been made, we now have at least one game whose outcome was called incorrectly. Regardless of which team caught the ball, there should have been a pass interference penalty - which would have won it for the Packers instead of the Seahawks. I'm hereby ignoring the official ruling. NFL, I've had a long and tumultuous relationship with you in the past. At this point, I almost can't believe I ever loved you. Y...

The Packers kicked some serious butt last night. Clay Matthews' enormous arms are a bit terrifying, but I'm glad he uses them for a good purpose, like tearing the Bears apart. There was some amazing stuff in that game - mostly defense and special teams related - and I'm glad to leave the previous week's game behind. Hopefully we won't see offense that pathetic for the rest of the season. In news unrelated to that, I have two hilarious things to share with you: some reviews of a book called (and I'm not joking), What are These Strawberries Doing on My Nipples?...I Need Them for the Fruit Salad . Worst. Book. Ever. And if you thought that was hilarious, Bic made pens (yes, pens) for women . Because otherwise, women wouldn't use them. The reviews are to die for. Enjoy. I'll be in the Bat Cave, packing books.

This weekend, I get to have fun with a bizarre aspect of my life which, to most people, is a square peg in a star-shaped hole. But I love it and throw myself into it every year. This weekend is the fantasy football draft. I love the weird sense of community that develops between me and my friends - mostly guys, of course. The one other girl on my team always thrills at seeing how well we do overall, compared to the guys - and we've done pretty well every year. Here's hoping one of us wins it this time. I've been doing research on this stuff, because last year I was woefully unprepared to choose my team. I chose... poorly.  (Okay, I did just fine. But I wanted to use that line.) Still, when all is said and done, the English major in me can't resist having the most fun of all with the least important aspect of the game: developing a team name. The best one I've had so far was The Aluminum Falcons; I hope to top it this year. I spent a good hour putzing around ...

This is how the Super Bowl ended this year: not with a bang, but a buttcheek. It was one of the more ridiculous Super Bowls I've seen in a while. The Patriots dropped plays left and right...  I had to see Eli Manning's face way too often... (Seriously, with the expression he's got, he could just be yawning.) ...and there were plays like this one. I get the reasoning behind it. They wanted to let the clock wind down to avoid giving the Patriots another play and a chance to win. Butt ... When Ahmad Bradshaw lost his balance and fell ass-first into Super Bowl history, most of the team was focused on the fact that he didn't stop. Oh no, we scored and took the lead. This is terrible. What that says to me is they have no faith in their defense. Part of me is glad the Giants won. If the Packers had to fall out of the race this year, at least it was to the team that won the Super Bowl. But I still don't think the Giants really deserved it. I...

We're coming up on the one-year anniversary of my blog being in existence. Hurrah! To celebrate, I have a question for you, which you can answer in one little click. Meanwhile, I'll be here, pounding my head against the wall and pretending that my favorite football team didn't play like high schoolers last night. (And don't just start whistling and casually browse away from here. I'd love feedback from everyone!) What would you like to see more of on my blog in the coming year? If your answer is something completely unrelated, feel free to note your preferences in the comments.

Dear Green Bay Packers , Thank you for the best wedding present anyone could ever get: your incredible Super Bowl win . On December 26 last year, you started winning and didn't stop until you reached the ultimate goal: the Lombardi trophy. Spousal Unit and I got married on January 8, in the midst of your winning streak and the day before playoffs began. Now that's a great way to start a honeymoon. But we didn't have a chance to watch hardly any of your games with other Packer backers. Up until this May, we were living in New Mexico, where there certainly are Packer fans (we saw your leather jackets and license plates displayed). But they're not terribly prevalent, and we missed watching with our families and friends at home, who are also green and gold at heart. And so I propose the following. I'm guessing that, because you got us a wedding present, you plan to give us an anniversary present. I'm especially hopeful because we are back in the la...

Dear Green Bay Packers, Thank you for giving us the best wedding present ever. The day after our wedding was the day you decided not to lose for the rest of the football season. We were busy vacationing in beautiful Door County. But we still saw that glorious game. And each one after that (despite my having to work through the Bears-Packers game) leading up to The Super Bowl. Myself and Friend Adam Spousal Unit and I were very excited you were there. It was a terribly nerve-wracking game - our only complaint might be the number of pillows we threw at the TV during the game. (We were glad our favorite beer was on-hand in quantity.) Yes, this is our favorite. We're Midwesterners, after all. We want to thank you for the best wedding present we could have gotten from you: four playoff wins and the Lombardi Trophy, back in Titletown again. We love you. (For reals.) Allison and Spousal Unit (And GIR, our personal mascot) Another great wedding present, from Friend ...