First, stuff. Today I went to get a wedding present, and ended up buying lunch and eating my delicious fresh mozzarella, tomato, and basil sandwich and mini fruit tart by myself in a cafe full of happy people. I enjoyed watching the people that looked like they were on dates, the moms herding their children and trying to get them to eat, and the families that looked like tourists. One little boy even snuggled up to my leg in line, thinking I was his mom. His mom was really embarrassed and blushed as she apologized to me, but I thought it was cute.

I found a fantastic orange striped umbrella in the children's section of the store across the street from the cafe, complete with a crocheted edge and ruffly button on top. I also thought about llama_guy and LeonMorado's affection for cherries and bought a bag of wild cherry hard candies...which are deeeelicious! Thanks for the inspiration, guys! I also bought some cute little "Happy Camper" buttons, which have corny sayings like "Foxy" with a picture of a fox on it.

All right, now for Dattebayo. They're releasing a new fakesub! Oh no! I don't know anything else about it, and their website wasn't any help in knowing what it was. I did take their poll, however. It's the least I can do, since I've been able to enjoy new Bleach episodes because of them.

That's all I've got tonight. ^_^ Many thanks to AnotherAnimeFan and lstinwonderland for providing topics to write about. I appreciated the help.

Edit: Livin' on the edge! I'm including dattebayo's name since llama_guy says it's all right. If you don't hear from me again, you know what happened.

After LeonMorado (whose opinions are law to one in the Purple Cult) said that Cowboy Bebop is his all-time favorite anime, I had to check it out. So, over the past month-and-a-half my husband and I have been watching the dubbed version slowly, savoring each individual episode whenever my husband and I felt in the mood. I haven't seen that many anime up to this point--I think including Bebop I've completed 4 series and I'm currently watching 2--but Cowboy Bebop completely blew the others out of the water. It's in a glorious class of its own, in my mind. The soundtrack, animation, character development, and storyline are all so masterfully orchestrated that it was bittersweet today to watch the last episode.

I would go through and tell you about all of the episodes, but there are people who are much more observant and inclined to write about such things, so I'll spare you all. I should say that if you haven't watched the series yet that it starts out with Spike and Jet, two bounty hunters aboard a spaceship named Bebop. Each episode sends them on new journeys that eventually bring them interesting, complex companions as well as glimpses and resolutions of their past lives. I wanted to laugh hysterically and cry in sympathy at various points throughout the whole series, and I can't wait to go through and rewatch every episode to experience the thrilling ride once again.

The soundtrack for Cowboy Bebop is probably the best soundtrack to any show I've ever seen, featuring the genius of Yoko Kanno's composition and performed by The Seatbelts. If you want proof, here's Tank, the opening theme. Best anime opening song...ever.

Have you seen CowboyBebop? How did you like it? If you haven't seen it, do you plan on seeing it?

Edit: my husband dared me to title this blog what it's titled, just in case you're wondering and have no clue what it means. I don't back down from dares...at least from him. ^_^

Yesterday I got a Costco membership. You have no idea how old this fact makes me feel...there's something about paying to become a member of a big-box club to save money on "stuff" that just screams middle age.

I'm tempted to have shopping cart races down the aisle and eat a bunch of samples just to prove that I'm not old enough to belong there. Anybody up to join me?

What makes you feel older?

I've been at a family reunion in rural Utah the past couple of days, and one of the highlights was this demolition derby that took place last night.

Demolition derbies have some serious appeal for me. Cars crashing, dirt flying, the crowd sooo disappointed that car 043 didn't keep its motor running...and then ecstatic that car 08 completely avoided being hit by the three cars chasing it, flipped around, and chased one of them down to smash it marvelously. I've never seen such a packed stadium! People around this little town love their annual derby with as much fervor possible.

Demolition derbies have a lot of ingredients to keep my short attention span from wandering too far. I can easily overlook the idiocy of the idea when I'm at an event, simply because it's so novel and entertaining. I would love to be a driver at a derby someday...

We sat through 4 glorious heats of smashing and crashing, but I wanted to start getting home before night fell because there was an unfamiliar canyon to be driven through and hopefully fireworks to be seen from the freeway. My husband and I snuck out before the finals heat took place, sneaking through the guard rail and climbing down the bleachers.

On my way out, I saw a llama . The sight of that fuzzy fellow was the perfect ending.

There's a special place in my heart (and in my stomach!) for cookies. Growing up, my mom would make cookies during the school year almost every week so she would have a little treat to put in our lunches. Chocolate chip were the usual, but she also made killer gingersnaps, oatmeal raisin, banana cookies, slices of spice, and sugar cookies, too. This past week, I made a bunch of chocolate chocolate chip cookies...which turned out to be a little dry once they cooled, but man! I probably ate half a dozen just while making them. (You have to check to see if they're turning out all right, you know?!) This week I'm planning on baking some peanut butter cookies, with Reese's miniatures stashed inside. Maybe the week after I'll make some oatmeal chocolate chip, or oatmeal raisin... I love it when cookies are soft, but still firm, and fresh tasting. Grocery store cookies usually don't cut it for me, unless they've got gunk added--and I'm against preservatives.

Anyway, having been in a cookie-making mood lately, it got me wondering if everybody else is as obsessed with good cookies. What kind do you like? How do you like your cookies when you eat them, and do you have to have a glass of milk on the side?

Out of curiosity, boredom, and genuine desire to avoid doing anything too productive with my time, I've been researching porcupines online today and thought I'd share a few things I've learned.

A group of porcupines is known as a prickle.

There are "old world" porcupines and "new world" porcupines. A few differences are that old world porcupines have clumps of attatched quills rather than individually attatched quills, like the new world porcupines; new world porcupines tend to be smaller than old world porcupines; old world porcupines spend most of their time on the ground whereas many new world porcupines like to climb trees in their spare time.

"Porcupine" is derived from the Middle French "porc d'epine", which roughly translates to spiny/thorned/quill pig, which explains one of their nicknames, "quill pig." (somewhat related: Happy Bastille Day!)

Here are a couple of links for you if you want more:

Brian Fellows and porcupines

Wikipedia article (I'm too lazy for "real" research)

Porcupines vs. lion cubs

Okay, time to go and attempt adding something worthwhile. >_> Stop laughing! I really am going to do stuff.

I've been all sorts of moody and lonely today, even though I have my cute tail-wagging doggy around, I'm back in Utah where most of my friends and family are, and I have fantastic online friends who are constant sources of delight, entertainment, and reflection...

It puzzled me, this loneliness. I couldn't figure it out. Why was I in such a funk? I visited my family today, and when that didn't help I started blaming it on all sorts of things. People not posting on the forums, crappy filler, being back home instead of in LA, hormones, not getting emails, the hot weather...and finally it hits me.

I've just enjoyed an almost week-long trip with my darling husband. We're best friends! We met at work and would literally spend almost 24 hours a day together when we dated. He's my very favorite person, ever. Of course I'm going through withdrawal, with him having to be back at work 9+ hours a day and me back at home, puttering around doing things like laundry and stalking people via the internet.

This sucks. There's no easy cure for this loneliness. It's either get used to it or become a computer programmer, and the latter option I'm not willing to try! I'll deal, I was just fine before the trip...but it's fascinating to know that my cute husband still has this magnetic effect on me. It makes me even more excited for him to come home at night!

Who would you rather not live without?

It was great!! I'm so happy I convinced myself and my husband that ignoring our budget wasn't going to cause us any problems and that we should just go to AX in LA. The budget point wasn't true--we're stuck in a town in CA with a trashed transmission, and are stuck here until it gets fixed--but I am in serious love with cosplaying and conventions, as well as with meeting people I meet on the internet (although I'm pretty sure I lucked out with LeonMorado, he's a 100% awesome person. Plus, his friend SaccharineWrath is pretty much the cutest little fireball you'll ever meet, they were perfect people to be "convention deflowered" with.)

The actual convention was so much more fun than I ever imagined! There were so many cosplayers, most of them I didn't recognize the characters, but there was still a feeling of community I felt with the people there. "We are nerds," I kept thinking. "We fit in." People kept asking to take our pictures, and I got to take pictures of completely random people who were cosplaying people I liked. Where else is it okay to stop people and ask them if you can take their picture, and where else are people both flattered and annoyed that so many people like their costumes? The smorgasbord of merchandise was tantalizing, and there was plenty of good fanart to ogle. I even got to buy a Kirby plushie, so that my friend Matt doesn't have anything to get me for Christmas. Take that, Matt!

There are plenty of pictures to show anybody who wants to see, but I forgot my SD card reader and I'm at the local library, so...you'll have to wait until I get back to my house in a few days.

Edit: I uploaded a bunch of pictures onto myspace, but I'm too chicken to post them all here, too. PM me if you want my myspace url.

So this week I get to go on my first vacation out of Utah in years, especially if you don't count Idaho and Nevada (I really don't.) Woo!! I'm so stoked, even though it's just a mini trip to California. There's going to be good times: the beach, visiting friends and family, and dressing up like Yoruichi. I'm even planning on getting lost downtown, for some mad reason or another. Why wouldn't I be unexhaustably excited? Why? :D

Anyway, is anybody else traveling this summer, and where are you going? Where would you like to go if you're not getting out?

I'm going to a Shakespearean festival in a couple of weeks, and I need help deciding which play to go to. The plays aren't all Shakespeare. Have any of you seen any of these? Which one would you choose to go to, and why?

• Taming of the Shrew
• Cyrano de Bergerac
  
• The School for Wives
  
• The Two Gentlemen of Verona
  
• Fiddler on the Roof
  
• Othello