(no subject)

Ahahaha, fate has told me it's time to stop cleaning. :D

I got the rest of the kitchen ship-shape and made some burgers and marinated chicken for grilling this afternoon, then squared away the CDs and books that I'd piled on the coffee table and put them on my (freshly tidied!) bookshelf. Found all my insurance information too, which is good, 'cause I hadn't been sure where that was. Then I decided to do a load of towels -- dishtowels mainly, but also the huge pile of towels R had left in the hallway. Normally I don't do his laundry, but it tidies the hall and in addition it'll be nice for him when he gets back from Philly tomorrow. Plus it was a waste to just wash three dishtowels. :D

Anyway, under the towels was a quilt that I thought I might as well take out back, shake, and then fold for storage. It was pretty dusty so I didn't hold it too closely as I walked out the back door and down the stairs from our porch...

...and stepped on a corner and fell down the stairs.

GO ME.

I'm okay, nothing broken; one elbow's a bit dinged up and I'm sure the bruise on my knee will be awesome but in all it could have been worse. The quilt broke my fall. :D

So, I'm going to spend the rest of the day on the couch prepping a photo post, because man, I have a lot of photographs to share.

Plus two recipes :D

( Marinated Chicken, Teriyaki Burgers )

(no subject)

HEY LOOK A PHOTO POST.

A lot of photos. From at least four different states. Booya.

This is our fridge. You will never see it this full again.

Clean living room is clean! You can see our fireplace, R's guitar and his electric keyboard, the sofa (where I always sit) and his chair (that's not a mess, that's the way he LIKES his chair). Plus two, count 'em, two amps.

This is what they did to my shower when mold started growing on the ceiling (it still is, actually). That's insulation, ALL OVER MY BATHTUB.

This is my cast, a few minutes after they cut it off my arm (the first cast; I had another for four more weeks). I don't think you can actually read what's written on the wrist, but it reads "Who has a broken wrist?" because whenever I sat down I had to hold my arm up in the air. Here's a close up of the ideogram for healing that I drew on the upper arm.

A sculpture of the Chicago Skyline. Complete with onion plants there in the middle. Chicago means "The Fragrant Onion". If by "fragrant" you mean "stinking". :D

Downtown Chicago on Michigan Avenue -- this is from last fall I think, actually, but they regularly have artists and landscapers do installations. Right now there's a bunch of kinetic scuptures in amongst the flowers. This is very recent (high-quality considering I took it with the iPhone), as is this bed of flowers outside of Lookingglass.

In Pioneer Plaza, where I often eat lunch, there is normally a sculpture of a moose done in metal. They've moved the moose aside for a temporary installation of the most terrifying statue in all of downtown. That's King Lear, and believe it or not he's a foamcarving, reinforced with rubberised paint.

The Tribune building, all along its walls, has relics from other architectural monuments like temples and palaces. And it's adding new ones all the time, like this twisted metal strap from the World Trade Center.

The Nike Store on Michigan Avenue has a bunch of placards like this one on the front of the building.

This is my street, in winter.

At first I was bummed that this image of a Vincent Shadow didn't come out, but then I got to looking at it and I kind of love the photograph as a whole.

A few months ago I went to St Louis, and took this photograph from the train.

The St. Louis Zoo has the most awesome drinking fountain ever (closeup here). It also has a cool black giraffe. Why is it giraffes always look like they're giving you the stinkeye?

This is an orangutan. Possibly getting ready to go to his monday night D&D game.

OH HAI THERE WILDEBEEST.

I also went to the Botanical Garden, which has Chihuly's tribute to tentacle porn hanging in the foyer. Don't get me wrong, I think his art is beautiful, but sometimes you wonder.

It has a bell tree! Which looks like it should be the lynchpin image of a fantasy movie, and I love it.

Teeny tiny star flowers. Don't worry, the THORN PLANT OF DOOM will protect you!

The founder of the garden, whose name escapes me, but whose mausoleum statue is awesome.

This statue was cool....and then got cooler when I saw that she was standing on demons!

You shall travel many roads, my child...and the gourds shall be your guide.

The hedge maze is undergoing renovation, alas.

There's a bridge over the koi pond where you can get some koi food and feed the fishes. FEED THE FISHES. FEED THE FISHES!

George Washington Carver said this, and it's true.

I swear to god we stopped here when I went camping last weekend. It's on the Missouri-Kansas border. And they do indeed have army surplus gear, plus a "deli" of sorts, though I wouldn't really trust the food there. We did not inquire about the freight salvage.

It also had this in the washroom. What gets me most is that they felt compelled to inform the consumer that it was non-alcoholic.

R and I came across this truck driving down to pick up Sugar one time. We were deeply creeped out by the legend, "If thou wilt but call...the Gateman will come." FEAR THE GATEMAN. FEAR HIMMMM.

I. Yeah. This is a placemat. I have no words. Perhaps you could use it when you sit down to eat your bad and wrong Mickey Burgers (Now with 10% more Mickey!) or your manly Chapagetti. Or even some matzah made by The Dancing Matzahman.

I got this in the mail. It's a paper "prayer mat" and one of those optical illusion things where if you look at the eyes long enough DEAD JESUS HEAD LOOKS BACK. I don't know if it works in the photo, but trust me, it's fucking creepy as a concept.

I was forced to look at these posters, right next to each other, in the El station every day for like a month. Way to go, whichever ad guys picked the slogans.

This is an ad about "Electronic Mail" from a mid-eighties National Geographic. I love the look of sheer bewildered terror on the guy's face.

I'm giving all my friends cancer for Christmas!

(no subject)

AHAHAHA.

Just an FYI, on that marinated chicken recipe -- the curry powder was a new addition, and it turned the chicken green.