End of an Era

Tonight I finished the last of the Farscape DVDs from the 4 seasons. I'd already seen the miniseries that wraps everything up, so as of now, I've seen all of the episodes. Man, I am super bummed that Sci-Fi channel decided not to have another season of Farscape way back when, choosing instead to show innumerable, crappy, made for TV D grade movies. At least I can now see what all the fuss was about when people complained. I also decided to bite the bullet and just rewatch the mini-series finale. It should arrive on Wednesday.

Now I am at a loss. I signed up for Netflix just so I could watch Farscape. Now sure, I've gotten probably 44 DVDs from them, and since I've paid much less than the $220 or so that would have cost me to get them at Blockbuster, it is a good deal. Now I'll just have to try and find other things of interest in their 50,000 DVD library. Suggestions?

I do have some fun news for today. My Senate Contact and I went to finally complete my ski purchase. I got boots, bindings, and poles! I was stunned by how expensive they are. It really surprised me. I did manage to get a pretty good deal, though. I got $400 boots for $100, and my bindings were around $80. This means that all told, I spent about $300 for over $1,000 worth of equipment. I'm pretty happy with it. I'm REALLY glad to be getting it now, too, since for my birthday, my Senate Contact and I are going to Maine to go skiing. I've actually never been to Maine (such a shameful confession, I know), and I've never been skiing with him (not as surprising, since I always used his skis). It's gonna be really fun, and I'm super excited. For those who've "forgotten", my birthday is the second Friday of February. This year that happens to be the 10th. So terribly soon.

On the topic of Birthdays, today is Good Uncle H's birthday. He postulated that "psychological time goes as 1/n". I have noticed that things pass much quicker now. I can only imagine what things will be like when I too am just a little older...

Rebate Mania

Just a quick post today, since I am currently trying to get even more work done (one of my projects has become a nightmare of work, bringing the total number of those to two. ugh). I know, it's a little scary for me too, kids. But I did want to quick put out a plug for the website SlickDeals.net. I found this place during one of my many daily perusings of Money.com and money.msn.com, and it seems to be nice and legit. I write because today I decided to give it a whirl.

A while ago, I looked at Restaurants.com, a website that sells coupons for $25 or more of food at various local restaurants for around $10 each. This site has gotten really good reviews, so I figured I'd give it a try. Today, SlickDeals had a coupon for 60% off your order. This seemed too good to pass up, so I got $75 worth of coupons to restaurants which I've actually gone to before (and enjoyed, thankfully), for ... $12. This seems like a pretty good deal. Even better? Since I have a Citibank Dividends Reward Card, I get an additional 10% back from purchases at Restaurants.com. Score one for the "saving more money" team. Well, that is, assuming I use it.

Painted Potter & Pie!

Yesterday I hung out with E.Q. and E.B. at the infamous 1369 Coffee House in Central Sq. This is a frequent haunt of the notorious J.N.K.F., and sure enough, he was there with his friend Cotton Gin. Now, I was elated to meet said appliance, since there was a bit of history between him and *name withheld to protect "innocence"*. He was quite nice, but I was there to see the E's, not him.

After sharing a bit of a cookie, we went to Bob Slate, my favorite store in Harvard Square. I've been trying to learn how to cook more things (cf my new year's resolutions), and I thought that it might be nice to have a little book of the recipies that I like best. I got a Clairefontaine quadrille notebook, since I really like the feel of them. E.Q. called me a nerd for getting this rather than an actual recipie book, but, well, I gotta get what I'll use.

Checking this errand off my mental list reminded me that I needed to pick up my pottery. I took the Number 1 bus to Naked Clay, the paint your own pottery studio mentioned before. I collected my tea pot and A.J.'s flower pot. They look quite nice, if I do say so myself!

Clearly, I got this all uploaded. I should also probably continue, explaining the title. My Senate Contact returned today from DC (he'd gone to visit some friends). One of the few things that I know how to cook is a chess pie, and since I know that he enjoys it, I made one for him yesterday. I don't think this one is as good, and I'm not entirely sure why (maybe the eggs were old?), but it still tasted really delicious. But then again, I am just tooting my own horn here.

On the tax front, I have not received a single W-2 form. I am quite disappointed. I'm also missing at least 2 1099-INT forms, 2 1099-B forms, and a 1098-T. Without these things, I can't complete my taxes! January is almost over, and I am adrift!!

Reading Rainbow

So I've kept to at least one of my resolutions: reading more. The working every day is a close second, since I have been going in a bit. I was slightly derailed of late, simply because my mom came to visit the past few days! It was really great to have her here, and we just pretty much sat around and caught up. It was a nice time for both of us, I think.

Here is what I have read so far this year:

1. Memories of Ice
   This is the third book in a very lengthy series of fantasy books. I very much enjoyed the first two, and this one was no exception.
2. The Wrong Side of Paris I was astounded by how this Balzac novel moved me. It is a very pretty tale that cuts right into my heart.
3. Looking for Jake I've loved this author's longer fiction, so I wanted to try his short stories. They were quite entertaining, but nothing compared to the first two.

I've also been thinking of reviving my long dormant / quondam bookclub. Any comments about whether this should be done?

Return to Blogtopia

And so I'm back. From `blogging space...

I've gotten a number of comments from people about how my `blog has been void of posts for a while. Well, tough! Actually, I've decided to try and post at least once a week this year. Clearly, I'm off to a good start, but I'm going to hopefully pick up speed with this.

My friends A.J. and A.L. came to visit me. He came for a conference, so I saw much less of him, but she came pretty much to see people around here (including me!). We went to paint pottery, and they told me, "Call after Monday, and we'll be able to tell you when we'll be firing your stuff". What service. I was really excited about their visit, since it gets kinda lonely around here without any of my MIT friends.

I also made some New Year's Resolutions! They are all quite exciting, of course, and here goes:

Work Related

1. Work every work day.
2. Be on time.
3. Use my calendar.

Financial Stuff

1. Waste less food.
2. Save more $$ each month.
3. Donate more $$ and things.
4. Cook once per week or more.
5. Bring lunch more.

Personal Ones

1. Write more often to friends.
2. Try one new thing each week.
3. `Blog & journal once per week.
4. Read 1 book a week, and 1 foreign language book a month.
5. Keep apartment clean.
6. Take piano lessons.
7. Gain 10 pounds.

See? Not that much that I want to do. Just a few, little things that might make my life a little better. If all goes well, it'll make me a better person too!