Ambitious Bachelor Fly

Hey folks. I apologize for the near-total lack of posts lately. I happen to have a bit of time at the moment, so I figured I'd tap out a few bits of news and do a little bit of good old fashioned ranting.

First off, and without noting any specifics: women are crazy.

A couple of weeks ago, I cooked. Yes, I know, astonishing. I cooked fettucine alfredo, which is to say that I boiled noodles and dumped in pre-made alfredo sauce. Well, it came to the point in the process where one would normally drain the exceptionally hot water from the pan. I was positive that I'd invested in a collander, but for the life of me, I couldn't find it. I searched and searched and searched; in every cupboard in fact. Eventually, I substituted the steaming tray from my Breville rice cooker, which worked sufficiently. I was cleaning up my kitchen on Saturday, and what would I find but that collander I was sure I'd purchased... Sitting right there, on the stove, in the very same place that it had been two weeks prior. Unbelievable.

Some of you have no excuse for ignoring my TDG. Others of you have no excuse for not forwarding the link to your friends, who would obviously enjoy submitting a response to it. Is it that I haven't put up a tangible prize? Should I pledge something as a "sweetener" of sorts?

I kid you not, I have at least two hundred links I want to post. Some of them are exceptionally dated, but I want to start posting them regularly at some point. Some of it's good stuff. I just came across this article about Algeria yesterday, and it's worth reading even though it was first published back in September. I also found this article yesterday, which explains one great way to save money, fight terrorism, and attack the energy crisis simultaneously: make sure your tires are properly inflated. As many of you know, I try to keep tabs on both Afghanistan and Iraq, and there have been a couple of interesting developments lately - many, in fact, although I've picked just two that could have long-lasting results. In Afghanistan, the recent rise in global food prices has actually led Afghan farmers to switch from growing poppies, which fund terrorism, to growing wheat, which they can both eat and sell for what is now a higher price than poppies. Meanwhile, the Iraqi government is attempting to pass a law preventing political parties with affiliated militias from running in parliamentary elections. Do you know who that excludes? Moqtada al Sadr and the Jaish al Mahdi Militia.

Part of the reason why I haven't been posting much on the blog lately is that I've been inspired to write two spy novels simultaneously. The sequel plot hit me a couple of weeks ago like a sack of bricks, and I've been trying to get elements of both of them down on paper/electrons while they're still fresh in my head. What I really need is one or two solid, uninterrupted days of writing bliss, but the last one of these I got was Saturday, and that was spent writing the conclusion of my "Big Oily Mess" revision. At least one semi-regular TSTF reader is giving me input - sporadically - which I find to be extremely helpful and encouraging.

So my big project for today, despite driving rain with thunder and lightning, was to start cleaning up my place. I'm not sure whether I'm staying here or moving when my lease is up in July. If I stay, I'm done living like a stereotypical bachelor; I'd rather start living like a semi-classy bachelor. The first task is getting the place cleaned up and organized better. I'm going to have to purchase some supplies, and maybe some equipment. Once I have things a bit cleaner, or maybe while that's in progress, I'm going to disassemble my futon, cart it out to the dumpster (possibly in portions), and get two new pieces of furniture: a papasan chair and ottoman from Pier 1, and a bentwood gamer chair and ottoman from Target. I also have a LoveSac and a coffee table that I inherited from the Crypto King back in November that has yet to be set up. For the record, I don't foresee ever buying a futon from Wal Mart ever again. I bought one back in October for the visit from Laud, and it's been falling apart for about four months now. Completely unacceptable. Also, if I do renew my lease, my place will be pre-arranged for my second year; if I move, I've theoretically dumped the crap that shouldn't have made it out of California while simultaneously equipping myself with furniture for the new place.

Mighty Mo, I know for a fact that you're laughing at me right now. Because you are my beloved adopted sister, I'll refrain from diggin in at one of your many recent foibles... For now.

Here's a hilarious video from one of my favorite YouTube channels, Runaway Box/Man in the Box Show:



For your satellite map of the day, here's the Ulster Museum where I met with Dr. Richard Warner in September of 2004 and - no joke - discussed one of my university research topics with him. He even let me photocopy his articles on the subject. Someday, I'm going to combine them with the articles I got the next day at the National Museum of Ireland - Archaeology and History to write a kickass research paper.

Life? Me? Apparently the answer to that question is "no," but maybe that'll change a bit once I get this place put together. Oh, and I want to pick up a little bit of the
Algerian Arabic. Joy.

Eek. I dreamed I was house-sitting for the Obama family. Awkward.