Lets Play Catch-Up

Watching: We've been watching a lot of funny movies lately: Extract, Butter, Bridesmaids, and Horrible Bosses; I recommend each one of those. We also watched Thunder Point, which was entertaining primarily because it has Kyle MacLachlan of Twin Peaks in it, but it's a very low quality film otherwise. As far as TV shows go, at a friend's recommendation we watched the pilot of The Following and although I'm intrigued, I haven't watched any more than that. We've been catching up on the show Community every chance we get though; it's hilarious! Our friend Rory got us a 3-month subscription to Hulu for Christmas and we have been enjoying it thoroughly. I think we'll keep it going after it expires; there are so many great shows on there that Netflix just doesn't have.

Listening: I've been listening to my iTunes for the first time in over a year (I'm getting tired of Pandora's repeat stations); I made a playlist a while back called "good schtuff" and it is indeed all good stuff. I had stopped listening to my music because I got tired of everything, but it's nice to come back to it with fresh ears now.

Reading: I'm working my way through The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo; it's a biography/history book about the life of novelist Alexandre Dumas' father, General Alex Dumas, the person he based most of his literary heroes off of. The book itself is extremely dense though, filled to the brim with historical facts- which I love, surprisingly. (I'm learning so much about French history!) But it's taking me forever to get through, so I've been doing some shorter reading on the side. I just finished Nick Hornby's More Baths, Less Talking; he shares his books-bought and books-read list and reviews the books he has read. I can't wait to read some of them! I will share my own books-read list very soon.

Offline: Work has slowed down quite a bit, but we'll pick back up this weekend with Easter and Passover - lots of fun egg/bunny-themed pastries and chocolate! However, life outside of work has been a little emotional these days... I try not to bring much negativity onto the blog, but sometimes it's inevitable. We've been taking care of my parents' two 15-year old cats for the last year, and they've remained in good health and spirits up until recently. Our one cat, Bamboo, seems to have fallen ill with what can only be attributed to old age or quite possibly cancer (which, lets face it, is a facet of old age); he wasn't eating for a few days and lost a dramatic amount of weight. The veterinarian checked him out and couldn't find anything to be the root of the problem, other than nausea. He was given some vitamins and pills to boost his appetite and help the nausea subside, and he's been back to some-what 'normal' since the vet visit, but he's clearly very tired and weaker than I've ever seen him. It's incredibly disheartening to see this cat that has always been so strong and sturdy, lose all of that vitality. The only comforting part is that he doesn't seem to be in any pain, but now every day I have to wonder what state he'll be in when I get home from work. This isn't the first pet we've lost, by any means, but it's the first one that seems to really pull on my heart-strings. I've known this cat since I was 10! I really love the little guy. Anyway, this is getting long now and I'd rather focus on positive things.

Here are some photos from the last few weeks:

I made some irish soda bread & green cream cheese brownies for a St. Patrick's Day party I went to.



Add-ons to two of my collections!



This one may have deserved its own post... these are the various beers I've tried since January.
In particular I really enjoyed: the Goose Island Beer Co.'s belgian-style ales, the Kilian's Irish Red, and the Pranqster. What can I say? I am truly a fan of Belgian-style brews!


Well, that's life lately.