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[Graphite]

Hannah! You can always give people you don't wanna see (like your mom and whoever) on a list and just make the sad bits the only ones they can't see, basically. I have two lists "Cussin" and "No cussin" and normally i have everything to all friends but if there's something where i am being especially political and don't want my conservative family members or the fuckin' 8 year old cousin commenting on/seeing, i set it to "only cussin'"

(oh hey speaking of cox and johnson)
ps blog thread today my kitten got his first cat-boner. guess who's getting neutered this month!

I do this also! I don't think anyone notices it much.

[Wasteroo]

Now: Carcassonne with girlfriend and bestfriend and bestfriend's adorable Swedish girlfriend

Later: How to Train Your Dragon and Clone High and drinking

it's gonna be a good night

[jmrz]

It's low allergenic. It's only for a few weeks, then I can start introducing things to see if they trigger my symptoms. Still, looking at my diet plan makes me want to cry a little. It involves a lot of soy and nuts and grainy stuff. I hate soy and nuts and grainy stuff.
I can also drink! One standard drink. Vodka or gin only. With soda water or lemonade.

Lunchy, the best part about this, aside from figuring out what is wrong is that when you eat something delicious after so long it is the MOST AMAZING THING EVER.

[Barmymoo]

Guys I really need to shower but there are two men outside painting the walls (why did they not do this during the FOUR MONTH VACATION?) and my pyjama top is kinda... revealing. As in, sometimes it slips and there are nipples.

[Jimmy the Squid]

Blog Thread, I just went to the dietician.

She can't figure out what's wrong with me to make me so sick, so I'm going to be on a total strict 'This is exactly what you must eat for this meal' diet for the next two weeks. No dairy. No gluten. No preservatives. No refined sugars. No fruit.

NO BEER. NO PASTA. NO CHOCOLATE. NO DEEP-FRYING. NO CHEESE. NO ICECREAM. NO RED WINE.
Not sure how I am going to live.

On the other hand, if it makes me better I'm all for it.

Does this mean we can't go to the indian restaurant for my birthday? Is your food allergy going to ruin my birthday? Is that what you're telling me?

[Lunchbox]

Yes Jimmy. Yes it will.

She said I can break the diet for a meal or two if I'm symptom free. Indian and friends is too good to pass up.

[Papersatan]

So I was just informed I didn't get the job I applied for.  I took a year off between university and graduate school to save money.  So far that year off is neatly half gone and I have 1/5 the minimum money I need (and 1/10 what I projected).  I have applied to every sort of job from low paying manual labor jobs to paralegal positions to this job in a call center.  Nobody wants me.  I'm far over-qualified for most of the jobs I am applying for and I think that is hurting me, but the jobs I am qualified for I am not getting calls back for. 
I am so depressed right now.  I don't feel like I will ever find a job. With the other jobs I didn't get I at least comforted myself that there were dozens of people applying for one position, but this one I know they had 60 openings and were looking for more people to apply.  They just straight didn't think I could handle the stress of a call center.   
The more time goes by the harder it gets to lie to potential employers about how long I plan to be there.  I know no-one will hire me if I say I am leaving in summer.  But the crappy jobs need a reason why the person with the university education is willing to work retail, and it is hard to come up with one other than "it is temporary."  The nicer jobs I feel bad pretending I see myself in a career with them in 5 years, but what am I supposed to do?  I've applied for several seasonal retail jobs, as least I don't have to lie to them, but I am not confident I can get any of them.  The economy is such shit there will be lots of people looking for seasonal work.  This is all made more depressing because I was offered an Americorp position in July and I turned it down because it was only going to make me $5,000 and I thought I could do better.  At this point I don't think I can do better monetarily and I'm sure I can't do better as far as looking good on my resume. 

[jhocking]

I think you can safely discount his opinion on this matter. Don't you have any other shirts you could put on?

[Jimmy the Squid]

So today I had a job interview. I can't say who it was with but if you read my previous posts you can probably figure it out. It was pretty wanky. Not bad wanky, just really silly wanky. That's ok. They said that I would be called back later tonight if I got selected for a second interview and that I'd get an email if not. The interview finished at 7pm it is now 11:40 and I haven't gotten either of those two things. Starting to think I didn't get it.

Upside: my artist is sending me the sketches for my sleeves tomorrow. Yay.

[Allybee]

job things

don't give up! I know this is little comfort but I'm very sure it has little to do with you. a lot of my friends are recent graduates and they're in the same position. they're smart and driven (and sending out 30 resumes a day) but the market is just flooded right now.

also, lunchy, what CAN you eat?

I'm trying to decide whether or not I want to be an architect. ahh

[Wasteroo]

do it! my friend's brother is studying to be one right now, and he just got sent to study in Paris, and as far as I can tell his life is pretty awesome

[Lines]

Architecture is totally awesome. (Be prepared to be surrounded by pompous douchebags, though. Some are totally cool, but a lot are not.) But seriously, I have friends who did architecture/interior design and they got to go to some really awesome places and work with super fantastic firms. One of them is currently working for Disney creating not only hotel interiors, but some of the things for rides, gift shops, etc that are all fun and fantastical.

[Barmymoo]

In the end I cunningly piled the clothes I was going to wear after the shower and held them to my chest. Simples!

I just got back from the freshers fair, which was quite eventful. I saw a load of people I knew, including a girl I've known since I was seven, only ever seen in the north of England during the summer, and who last time I saw her was living in a religious community on a tiny island off the coast of Scotland. Turns out she's here finishing her ordination as a priest and doing a year's placement at one of the college chapels.

And my college daughter has just been round to buy some books and chat; she's already doing far more work than I ever did, and I haven't even started working thist term... that's tonight's plan, after I've cleared my desk.

[Zingoleb]

If you're an especially awesome architect, you might go on to form Pink Floyd.

[Coward]

I spent a week in Geneva last year and I enjoyed it immensely. The leisurely pace of life, good public transport, and the scenery round the lake and by the uni campus I found to be spot on. Perhaps if you have a lot of time on your hands in the evening you could take in a bit of the city, or the towns along the lake's edge?

 

[Coward]

No harm, no foul bud. Hope you find something that pleasantly winds away the hours.

[Barmymoo]

Perhaps stop texting hospital girl back, at least while you're in Geneva? Tell her it's too expensive and stop replying, and she might even stop texting you as much even when you're back.

I have not done any work today. I have tidied my desk though! I'm now able to sit at it with the laptop at a sensible height, rather than crouching over it on an armchair.

Also I cooked pasta with a tomato and vegetable sauce and it was really tasty! It's the first time I've made a tasty from-scratch sauce.

[Slick]

So what's going on? I've got two pots on the stove, soon to be a third, and a bunch of dishes in the sink. Sounds like my life.
If you haven't figured out yet, I like to cook. A lot.

It's like, goddamn, eating is so rewarding. It is a way to take knowledge, skill, and choice ingredients you have harvested or prepared, and combine them to make this impressive satisfying monument to what people can do, you know? Maybe I am going too much into it, but goddamn I love food.

So right now there's a pan of meatballs in gravy and a pot of meatballs in spaghetti sauce. I made up a batch of balls and there were too many for just spaghetti so the greasy drip-drips got reinforced with some butter then made a roux, then got support from my beef stock and some chicken broth and loads of peppercorn and made an amazing gravy. So good, in fact, that I am reconsidering if I even want spaghetti for supper anymore. I could whip up some rice and just pound back meatballs and gravy. Hom nom nom.

Life has been pretty good since starting in the kitchen at school. We have made some breads, some danishes, and some classical puff-pastry articles so far, and tomorrow is brioche & savarins (plus using up the puff-pastry dough leftover from today) and after that we hit choux paste (helloooo, eclairs!). Life is pretty exciting.
On the second day of danish dough, though, I was not on top form because I was suffering with the after-effects of this relationship falling apart. Worried the chef instructor now thinks I'm a bit nervy but I mentioned that was what was going on and that was why I was so frustrated about my second dough not working out (I mean, I have made danish and croissant before, I am pretty darn good at it, and while I was wooing this girl I made the best fuckin' chocolate croissant and now here I was finally in pastry school and the dough was not working out I mean it doesn't take an arm-chair psychiatrist to see what's a-happening there).
Still, puff-pastry this week was solid. Mine rose like anything, it was pretty great. Didn't have enough cooling racks to cover the baking trays with (this is the only time that 15 people will be baking bouches and vol-au-vonts at the same time) so my bouches turned into slinkies on account of their unchecked vertical expansions. Pillows were ace, one vol-au-vont was a little sloppy, napolean sheet was ace (he used it as the demo of 'what a good napolean sheet looks like').
Also we made a bajillion fucking apple bands. I am going to make some of those this weekend, because, like, I've got thirteen pounds of apple I need to eat.

Yeah, fuck it, I'm eating meatballs and gravy and croissant. This is my life right now. I have so many croissant I have to use them up sopping up gravy.

Life is pretty rad?

[Barmymoo]

Hmm. The plan of doing some work tonight did not go well because I haven't got any of the books on the reading lists for any of the supervisions yet. The subject which is due Monday and I thought I had the right books for, specifies a different set of books for this week. Gah. I am into my overdraft, my loan has not come in and I need to spend at least £100 on books.

It has spurred me into itemising and invoicing all the money I'm owed by theatre though. One show owes me £771.71, and the other owes me about £300 (just going to go invoice that one now). Basically I am not short of money, I just don't have any of it right now and I should have the loan already, where is my student loan?! It was due today!

[Gemmwah]

3-4 days post-registration, and sometimes you can't use it the day it comes in because banks are shit. yay.

[Barmymoo]

But on my payment schedule it said it would be paid today! Dammit I have literally no money, I have minus £40 moneys!

[squawk]

This past weekend hosted possibly my favorite twelve hours of existence ever and it was just great, I already mentioned that.  Being around cerebral and hilarious smart kids (and just great friends) is always something I crave.  Unfortunately my roommate and her friends and I don't really connect on such a level.  They are super friendly and all and I can get along with them when they're around, but I just can't fucking talk to them.  They are kind of just dumbasses.  Having to listen to them do English homework for the past two days was nearly brutal and forced me outside for like five cigarettes. 

I hate to complain about this because it makes me feel like a superior asshole but right now I'm just in that weird position where I don't have any new real friends yet, though I know I'll find some eventually (provided i stop being so antisocial, and i'm not!).  And I much prefer being the dumbest person in a group of people so I can just sit around and listen and learn and go "huh!" to myself. 

and i started writing this because my roommate was like "i didn't know australia had a lot of droughts."
me: "uh. A really large part of it is just a giant desert."
"but there's all that water around it!"

and then they didn't know during which years world war two occurred

[Lunchbox]

also, lunchy, what CAN you eat?

Fresh meat cooked with garlic, rice, rice crackers (plain), potato chips (plain), roast potato, iceberg lettuce, green beans, rye bread, soy yoghurt, soy cream cheese, soy custard, cashew nuts, tinned pears. That's it.

I figure I will just cook big bunches of meat and eat a lot of sandwiches.

[Zingoleb]

Are they fuzzy on the boundaries of when it occurred, or are they more like my ex, who assumed the American Civil War occurred in the 1920's?

[squawk]

Kinda like that.
She also just asked "what's a 'tonnes'", pronouncing it 'toe-nez'

face

palm

[Ladybug]

The chocolate here is pretty good, though. I don't usually like chocolate that much, but god damn.

I found myself missing Norwegian chocolate a lot when I was in Switzerland a few (or, well, 7-ish?) years back. Sure, there was a lot of chocolate there, but I didn't find a single type I liked better than Freia Melkesjokolade. Toblerone is pretty tasty, I guess, but not very exciting.

Does anyone else find that the two hours between midnight and 2AM go by so quickly? It drives me little bit nuts. I'll see the clock pass midnight, think to myself "I should probably sleep now", and then it's suddenly 2AM.

I got my first blood test done today! My brother and I signed up to give blood, and obviously we have to have our blood tested first (won't actually give blood for at least 2-3 months, apparently, if we're good to go). The lady looked quite shocked when she saw that I was born in 87 and had never had a blood test done. It was kinda fascinating to watch how quickly those four little tubes were filled up, couldn't even feel it.

[jhocking]

Kinda like that.
She also just asked "what's a 'tonnes'", pronouncing it 'toe-nez'

face

palm

Be creative, questions like that are a license to fuck with them.

[Slick]

Fresh meat cooked with garlic, rice, rice crackers (plain), potato chips (plain), roast potato, iceberg lettuce, green beans, rye bread, soy yoghurt, soy cream cheese, soy custard, cashew nuts, tinned pears. That's it.

Rye bread and potato chips made it on there, this is good news! I am thinking roast beef & potato chip sandwiches, yes?
If you can get it down under Tofutti 'better-than-cream-cheese^®' spread is pretty solid as far as vegan things go. I've never had a good experience with vegan yogurt (except that time my housemate made vegan shawarma and the non-vegan recipe called for yogurt so he used vegan yogurt but the only vegan yogurt we could get had fruit in it so it was shawarma with a hint of raspberry which wasn't actually a good dish but it was certainly a good experience at that potluck).

[Lunchbox]

Oh and eggs! I can have eggs.

I have got a brand of soy cream cheese (Kingland) that my dietician recommended that I will check out, but I'm gonna scope out the big health food store near my house and see what I can find. I love cream cheese so hopefully I can find something that's not awful.

Also I am going to have to learn to roast meat. I have never done that by myself before. I guess it can't be hard.

[Zingoleb]

So I've been frying sweet potatoes, drizzling them with honey. Good stuff.

But that doesn't matter. I just smashed my foot into the wall because, uh, I missed walking through empty space. The pain was pretty bad for about 30 seconds, and now my toe is swollen, completely numb, and the tip is purple.

Should I ice this or not? It looks like a blood blister but I was told somewhere not to ice those.

Note: The only thing I have in my freezer is ice cream and shrimp, so if I am icing my toe I will have to wrap a shrimp around it.

Five minutes later, I'm starting to get feeling back. It feels like pain.

[Scandanavian War Machine]

Ice everything forever.

That is what the gymnast inside me is telling me to tell you. Never heard about not icing bloodblisters before...why not?

[Zingoleb]

I don't know, something I heard once somewhere.

Here's a bad cell phone picture of a shrimp around my toe:

[jhocking]

While looking up some information today I saw this article and thought it was a nice example of how people are ridiculous and have always been ridiculous:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effigy_mound#Mythology

To paraphrase-

"The first theories were the most accurate, but these logical assumptions were boring so crazy theories became popular."

[nobo]

Also I am going to have to learn to roast meat. I have never done that by myself before. I guess it can't be hard.

Sear both sides in frying pan, then stick into oven at 300 degrees for .5 to 3 hours until meat thermometer says its done.

[KvP]

This past weekend hosted possibly my favorite twelve hours of existence ever and it was just great, I already mentioned that.  Being around cerebral and hilarious smart kids (and just great friends) is always something I crave.  Unfortunately my roommate and her friends and I don't really connect on such a level.  They are super friendly and all and I can get along with them when they're around, but I just can't fucking talk to them.  They are kind of just dumbasses.  Having to listen to them do English homework for the past two days was nearly brutal and forced me outside for like five cigarettes. 

I hate to complain about this because it makes me feel like a superior asshole but right now I'm just in that weird position where I don't have any new real friends yet, though I know I'll find some eventually (provided i stop being so antisocial, and i'm not!).  And I much prefer being the dumbest person in a group of people so I can just sit around and listen and learn and go "huh!" to myself. 

and i started writing this because my roommate was like "i didn't know australia had a lot of droughts."
me: "uh. A really large part of it is just a giant desert."
"but there's all that water around it!"

and then they didn't know during which years world war two occurred

You talk to me and I say "Hey you should go check out the campus radio station" but no, you don't listen to little ol me.

[nobo]

and then they didn't know during which years world war two occurred

Doesn't the start date depend on who you ask? It started in 1939 for Europe, 1933(?) in Asia, 1941 for the U.S.

[BrittanyMarie]

i agree with the radio station advice! ours is half the college/ half a community station but there are a heck of a lot of people there who are brilliant. also once you get into your higher level classes it's not so bad. i had the opportunity to take a 300 level sociology class when i was a bb freshman and that was great.

[Rizzo]

Oh and eggs! I can have eggs.

I have got a brand of soy cream cheese (Kingland) that my dietician recommended that I will check out, but I'm gonna scope out the big health food store near my house and see what I can find. I love cream cheese so hopefully I can find something that's not awful.

Also I am going to have to learn to roast meat. I have never done that by myself before. I guess it can't be hard.

KINGLAND RULES. Their berry yoghurt is SO GOOD. Also, roasting is easy - chuck meat in over on 180C and leave it there for a while. Bam, roast.

[look out! Ninjas!]

Also I am going to have to learn to roast meat. I have never done that by myself before. I guess it can't be hard.

Sear both sides in frying pan, then stick into oven at 300 degrees for .5 to 3 hours until meat thermometer says its done.

Score the meat, rub a mix of olive oil (can you have that), crushed garlic, and a bit of whatever flavouring you can eat (I like ground cumin and lemon rind), then cook it at 110 C for ten-eleven hours. Baste occasionally with whatever drips into the pan.

[Lunchbox]

The only flavouring I can have is garlic! And maybe salt and pepper. And the only oil I can use is canola which is a shame because I just bought a nice bottle of extra virgin olive.
I sort of did a lite trial of my diet today (I still had a cup of tea, and I had sushi for lunch) and MAN am I bored already.

[Jace]

James, can I just have you come to my place and cook for a week or something?
Apparently my housemate loves to cook, but so far he's only cooked maybe four times since moving in in July.

Shield update: got blue foam on the front.
Sword update: Got the foam stuck together and reinforced with some tape. Possibly turning it into a mace. Will keep you posted.
Outfit update: Have a belt, my grandfather made it many years ago and gifted it to my uncle, he gifted it to me because "its never gonna fit around [his] waist again." It will work perfectly for a medieval belt though. Have some boots, but they are just construction boots, they will work for now, but I am seriously thinking about getting some engineer boots because leather+buckles is pretty much a 100% pass on garb checks. Using my Kung Fu pants to fight in and slowly working on making a tunic.
My girlfriend wanted me to skip practice to go get a pumpkin with her. I told her I really look forward to practice each week and she said "well maybe we can go sunday instead" She is the best girlfriend ever.

I'm like $200 behind in bills until I get paid. Apparently I forgot to pay the internet bill last month, oops.
Also I'm buying a car. Its a VW beetle.

[Inlander]

The only flavouring I can have is garlic! And maybe salt and pepper. And the only oil I can use is canola which is a shame because I just bought a nice bottle of extra virgin olive.
I sort of did a lite trial of my diet today (I still had a cup of tea, and I had sushi for lunch) and MAN am I bored already.

Wait, so, like - what are you going to eat when we hang out for lunch on Saturday? Because the only places I know are places that cater to my diet, i.e., pretty much everything.

[Lunchbox]

I'm not starting the diet fur realz till Monday. I'm not gonna miss out on the gastronomical delights Melbs has to offer.

[jodizzle]

Lunchables my best friend is mega allergic to gluten and lactose.  It is the worst!  The lactose one just popped up this year!  It's crazy!

[öde]

I have broken my nose and chipped my front teeth! Hooray, I'm a wizard!

[Barmymoo]

I had a massive panic about money last night, because my student loan hasn't come in and I still haven't been paid back for expenses over the summer (my fault - I haven't submitted the receipts yet - but it might take a while) which is about £1,100 and then the loan almost exactly covers my college bill. Basically once I've paid the bill I will have that £1,100 to live on until mid-January, and I am meant to be going to Finland which will cost £600 or so, and Norway which will cost the cost of flights at least one way.

On the upside I've got this tutoring job which pays £18.40 a week in hand (20% cut to the agency) and also a couple of bar shifts which should be about £20 each. Also a book grant, some sponsorship from a law firm and a college bursary. I will be alright, but I've never been in a position where I've needed to calculate whether I can afford something before, which might be why I'm in this situation actually...

[jodizzle]

Dan what HOW?

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?

This wasn't drunk cycling again was it?  I thought we talked about that!

[jhocking]

Yes Jimmy. Yes it will.

She said I can break the diet for a meal or two if I'm symptom free. Indian and friends is too good to pass up.

I dunno, "breaking the diet" generally means small stuff like an occasional ice cream cone after dinner. A dinner of Indian food is basically a tactical nuclear strike on your stomach. I too have to avoid foods that aggravate my stomach, and while I can be less vigilant about most things, Indian food is a pretty ironclad "Sorry, I have to pass."

(I love Indian food so much but it hurts me so much.)

Also I am going to have to learn to roast meat. I have never done that by myself before. I guess it can't be hard.

Sear both sides in frying pan, then stick into oven at 300 degrees for .5 to 3 hours until meat thermometer says its done.

Score the meat, rub a mix of olive oil (can you have that), crushed garlic, and a bit of whatever flavouring you can eat (I like ground cumin and lemon rind), then cook it at 110 C for ten-eleven hours. Baste occasionally with whatever drips into the pan.

a) Guys, cooking directions depend very much on what exactly you're cooking.

Which brings up...

b) 10 hours? What the hell are you cooking?

Like, 5 hours makes sense for a roast ham or turkey or something, but roasting some pork chops just takes like 30 minutes.

[Papersatan]

It's low allergenic. It's only for a few weeks, then I can start introducing things to see if they trigger my symptoms. Still, looking at my diet plan makes me want to cry a little. It involves a lot of soy and nuts and grainy stuff. I hate soy and nuts and grainy stuff.

I'm surprised you're allowed to have soy and eggs, they are both pretty common allergens.  Have they been ruled out some other way?  Not that I want you to have a more restricted diet.  I understand the frustration.  I am allergic to sulphites and to figure this out I had to go on a rotating food diet.  I was allowed to eat anything I wanted, but only once every 5 days and I had to try to limit the number of things a day.  So if I had something with egg in it I couldn't have anything with egg for 5 days.  The thing that got me was hidden ingredients.  The sulphites make me allergic to dried fruit, wine, and processed corn, this means corn starch and corn syrup.  I figured out I was allergic to the corn things first because I wasn't getting any better on the rotating diet, and upon closer inspection I was still eating a corn product every day.  On oats day I had Cheerios, which have corn starch in them.  On rice day I had Rice Crispies which have corn syrup in them. After I eliminated corn from my diet it was easier to notice the other things that triggered my symptoms and then to connect the dots: what they all had in common was sulphites. 

The thing I want to say to you though is that it is worth it.  I don't know what your symptoms are, mine are hives, heartburn, headaches and general "fogginess," but it is worth it when they go away and you have some sort of validation that something was wrong.  My hives were terrible, and clearly visible to everyone, but I still felt like people thought I was being over dramatic, and my doctors mostly treated it like "well hives happen, deal with it" and it was nice to have an answer as to why and to have control over it.  Also once you figure out what it is you may find you can still eat it on occasion.  They way my allergist explained it (my doctors love metaphors) was that your body is like a leaky bucket and you can dump your allergen in only as fast at the bucket leaks, if you eat more that the bucket can hold then it over flows and you have a reactions.  What this means for me is that as long as I am good most days I can still eat birthday cake at a friend's birthday, or suspicious looking appetizers at a restaurant and that makes me feel like less of a freak.  Good luck, and I hope it turns out to be something not too commonly used. 

[Jimmy the Squid]

Yes Jimmy. Yes it will.

She said I can break the diet for a meal or two if I'm symptom free. Indian and friends is too good to pass up.

I dunno, "breaking the diet" generally means small stuff like an occasional ice cream cone after dinner. A dinner of Indian food is basically a tactical nuclear strike on your stomach. I too have to avoid foods that aggravate my stomach, and while I can be less vigilant about most things, Indian food is a pretty ironclad "Sorry, I have to pass."

(I love Indian food so much but it hurts me so much.)

Stop ruining my birthday, Joe!