Lovers of Pop Culture

I watched about 30 minutes of Gilmore Girls last night, followed by 15 minutes of Veronica Mars on the recommendations of Tsjaz and Dirk. Please tell me, Lovers of Pop Culture, what you love about these girly shows so much? I *am* girly, and I don't get it. Perhaps I can't see beyond my own stereotypes.

Ugly Betty

Ugly Betty is the cutest show. I really REALLY wish it was on tonight.

To Richard Marx

Richard - Thanks for your comment, but I can't write you back, because your profile won't tell me what your blog is. How do I find you?

Composting

I just spent some quality time with my compost piles. It's the first time I actually got my hands in the dirt instead of just stirring it around with my big stick. It was really fun and it's a beautiful day to be on my balcony playing with dirt!

I have four compost "buckets." One is twice as tall as the other three, but only half full so I can move the dirt around more easily. It amazes me how quickly food items disappear. The salsa I put in a few weeks ago was completely gone as is most every other vegetable I ever thought to dump in there. (And I have dumped a lot in there over the last few months.) It just blows my mind how this is just mostly dirt.

Some interesting things I found - I had put a bunch of old spaghetti pasta in there and it turned into very stiff, almost bark-like pieces that are fuzzy white with decay. I had to break them up by hand because the stick just wasn't cutting it. That's what got me playing in the dirt in the first place. There were a few other clumps in there to break up, but mostly just pasta clumps. Seeds stick it out the longest. I have several avocado pits - after a bit they split into halves - some peach pits and some pistachio shells. Also some unpopped corn kernels are still loitering.

The bugs aren't bad at all. I just see tiny little gnat-like bugs, an occasional centipede and today I saw some tiny thing I'd never seen before. But it's really not very buggy. I guess it was buggier when it was hotter and I had fresher food in there. I guess they ate everything good and took off. I just put in some carrot tops, and a teeny serving of wasabe and pickled ginger (from the packaged sushi I bought myself today). Maybe they'll like that. Also, it doesn't smell - which it shouldn't. If your compost pile smells, then you're not doing it right.

So I thought this composting thing would be more complicated - but just an occasional stir and some water seems to do the trick quite nicely. I had wondered what bugs would make it to a seventh story balcony, and not many do make it up - but obviously it's enough. Someday I'll have worms and everything. Actually, my compost pile seems to have everything already!

Spam of the Day

Question: How did junk email get named after lunchmeat?


Moving on... I just got this in my spambox:

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When distrust enters in at the foregate, love goes out at the postern
***************************

My questions:

Why would anyone want a "very hard penis during all process?" I think this would seriously get in the way of normal living.

They imply that bigger penises are "stronger" and "shoot" more "volume." I really doubt this. As far as I know, semen creation happens independently of the penis. Anyone know? (I don't expect answer, I just had to make this into a question.)

What is the "foregate" and what is the "postern?"

I wonder how many purchases come of emails like these.

Clean House

I am at Dirk's house and he cleaned it in response to my really insisting that it was important to me. He did a good job and you know what? I am going to be a much better guest because of it. Normally, I cause trouble as Dirk's guest, which I insist is a direct result of the condition of the environment. I believe this to be true, and now I believe it even more because I am happier here today.

We are reading a book about how couples fight and we have learned that we are both prone to defensiveness, and some criticism, but not contempt or stonewalling. Maybe you have to date longer than 8 months for contempt and stonewalling to become prevalent. It also appears that we are a "validating" couple as opposed to an "avoidant" or "volatile" couple. According to this book, all three types have successful relationships, so it's okay to be avoidant or volatile as long as you're not being defensive, contemptuous, critical or a stonewaller. Not that anyone is perfect, you just have to have five positive interactions for every bad interaction. Also, it's good to learn to complain, rather than criticize. Yes, there's a subtle difference: complaints address specific behaviors, criticisms address the character of the person.

That is your relationship lesson for the day.

Dirk went to the grocery store and bought chocolate soy milk and canned peaches. (The peaches were my random idea.) Now he is cooking my favorite dinner that I always beg for when I come to his house: chick peas, coconut milk, stewed tomatos, yellow curry powder and a generous squirt of liquid aminos. It is served over quinoa, which I really like. You can also eat it over fried potatos or rice, but quinoa is perfect.

This meal tastes best when accompanied by chocolate soy milk.

I'm hoping we'll watch some more of Scrubs, Season 2, which we haven't watched in two months or so because we've been busy watching LOST, Season 2. But we are caught up now and LOST, Season 3 has started on Wednesdays.

Next Wednesday we go to Chicago, where I will stay with my sister and her new baby and her husband. Dirk will give a talk at Western Michigan University and then come back to Chicago to hang with my family for a few days. I am curious to meet this kid because I hear he can poop like a champ. I need to see this for myself.

Dirk is sitting next to me and we are both typing away. We both type very fast. I think that's another sign of compatibility. Seriously. OK, not seriously. But we do both type real damn fast.

Richard posted a comment the other day and that made blog life slightly more interesting because maybe someone else besides Dirk and Tsjaz reads my blog.

I ate some old chocolate today and I got a little sick to the stomach. It kept me from walking to Target to look for some boxes Dirk wants. We have to go tomorrow now.

Tamra sent some cute pictures from their trip here in Boston.

Jessica and I went for a two-hour walk this morning and we had a great time. We gossiped about everything. We were very happy.