Well, it appears that Spring has finally arrived. This past week I have cut the grass, helped (minimally) in the planting of some flowers, and been nearly knocked over by the powerful aroma of the trees around my house flowering. We grilled, and played Rock Band, and rode the scooter, and played with the hose. In short: hooray!
I have also been playign a lot with the Mandelbrot set this week, and I am not sure what exactly planted the idea in my head that I would like to polish up on good ol’ Z -> Z2 + C, but there we are.
Friday! Rock!
E
I have liberated my song neurons temporarily by recalling to mind the words to my old college songs. I do not necessarily think this better, just different.
Shout out in unison,
E
I have had Genesis’s Land of Confusion stuck in my head for days.
Hell.
E
Friday evening, we visited Vegiterranean, Chrissie Hynde’s vegan restaurant here in Akron, OH. It was pricey, but delicious and the presentation was terrific. I still think if I had to blow a wad of cash on a meal, I would still go to dragonfly, but this will serve when I don’t feel like the drive on top of the bill. We had grilled artichoke to start, along with some foccacia and hummus, and then I had a Steak Scallopini au poivre, which was delicious and made with Gardein. I pondered whether Gardein were available in commercial forms, which was answered a few nights later when I was preparing fajitas and noticed the “made with Gardein” label on the back of my Morningstar Farms strips. Evidently, I’ve been eating it all along.
At any rate, it was a good experience and we’ll undoubtedly be going back sometime.
Saturday, the parents showed up and we went to Roots Candle in Medina before going to an enjoyable dinner at the Saffron Patch, during which mother had a wee bit to drink and proceeded to Get Silly. A good time, all around.
After I went for a bit fo a scooter ride, we ended up doing some yard work this weeken. I cleaned out the house and garage gutters, which were filled with amazing amounts of nutrient-rich black goop. The garden better appreciate the treat.
The upstairs shower door had been giving up trouble, and Sunday I went up to put some Liquid Plumber down the drain. I must’ve used inappropriate force or applied it poorly, but two of the three panels came loose, their rails bent and impractical to fix. So we dismantled the upstairs shower and after much scraping and cleaning, and after I ran to Target to get a good tension rod + shower liner + curtain, we have an entirely new looking shower! Yey!
As reward for all our hard work (and breaking things and then more work) we treated ourselves to a fire in the chiminea last night, and just sat around burning sticks for a few hours before retiring for the night.
Back to work!
E
So yesterday, it was a brisk 35°F in the morning, but knowing that it would be pleasant in the afternoon, I rode the Vespa to work anyhow. When I finally got home, I gathered up some twigs and sticks from lawn cleaning over the previous Autumn, grabbed two small rolls of lint from the laundry bin downstairs, and started a fire.
The weekend prior we purchased a cast iron chiminea, at least partly because our fireplace is a gas one and we have no good method for making a lot of smoke and disposing of stick simultaneously.
Having never owned one before, I was uncertain what to expect, but it was an overall pleasant experience, being able to capture that smell of campfire, and then simply going back into the house and being comfortable and eating good food and watching the Simpsons and playing videogames. And sleeping in a real bed, not a sleeping bag on the ground.
So yes, I am now a member of the pro-chiminea faction. My position against cement geese, however, does not waver.
E