Weekend Report

Here's how I spent my weekend:

1) Celebrating David's birthday on Saturday, which included watching several episodes of From the Earth to the Moon, going out for sushi (the twins were surprisingly cooperative), and enjoying tasty homemade chocolate souffles (made by me, thankyouverymuch).

2) Watching the much-touted weekend storm turn out to be not that interesting after all.

3) Doing freelance work! On the weekend! It just isn't right.

4) Playing World of Warcraft. (To make up for the freelance work.)

5) Watching about the first half-hour of the Oscars. Yawn. Seeing as I haven't watched a movie for about two years, the Oscars just aren't as interesting as they used to be.

6) Watching Battlestar Galactica. Oh, BSG, how I love thee.

How was your weekend?

One Hour Lost

I don't know why I keep up with Lost anymore, especially after last night's suck-fest. Jack loves Kate! No, he loves some hot Asian chick! No, he loves Juliet! Kate loves Jack! No, she loves Sawyer! Sawyer loves Kate! No, he doesn't! Yes, he does! Carl loves Alex and Alex loves Carl and they're both a starry-eyed and gooey! Cue the violin music! Is that Andrea Bocelli I hear over my uncontrollable gagging?

There are only two TV shows I keep up with these days, Lost and Battlestar Galactica. (Amazing Race, Gilmore Girls, Top Chef -- I miss you! Let's do lunch.) Maybe I'll be paring that down to one show.

What's the difference between a geek and a nerd?

According to this, I'm either a Nerd/Goth or a Stoner/Geek.

Reading List

I have a shelf next to my side of the bed that's devoted to books I plan to read. That shelf is overflowing. I don't know when I'm ever going to have time to read all of these books. And yet I keep buying more books! The madness of it all!

I don't know what happened to my reading list. There was a time when I read fiction exclusively. Science fiction, to be precise. Where did all these serious non-fiction books come from? Where are all the fun books? Sure, this stuff will be interesting. Edifying, most likely. But I'm ready for some fun books!

Here's a list of the overflowing pile of books that stares me down, day in and day out, mocking me. For now, I'm focusing my energies on The Language of God, recommended by Grandpa Paul. Has anyone read any of the rest of these books? Can you help me prioritize my list?

The Annotated Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
What We Believe But Cannot Prove edited by John Brockman
Twin Tracks by James Burke
Shadow Puppets by Orson Scott Card
The Language of God by Francis S. Collins
The Blind Watchmaker by Richard Dawkins
The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins
The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler
The Truth (with Jokes) by Al Franken
Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman
Letter to a Christian Nation by Sam Harris
Doubt by Jennifer Michael Hecht
The Areas of My Expertise by John Hodgman
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
Why I Am Not a Christian by Bertrand Russell
The Dragons of Eden by Carl Sagan
The Varieties of Scientific Experience by Carl Sagan
Perfect Circle by Sean Stewart

What's a girl to do with all this serious reading?

A Squash in Every Pot

Yesterday's dinner (as promised): butternut squash stew.

It would have been lovely with some warm, crusty bread. Wish I'd had some. Even without, it was quite tasty and good for a cold night. I altered the recipe a bit: As written, the recipe is really for a soup, not a stew. (Or a stoup, as Rachel Ray would say.) Right at the end, I whipped out my immersion blender and pureed just a bit of the stew, leaving lots of squash chunks but giving the stew a much thicker, stewier consistency. I recommend that modification. Also, I used Israeli couscous, which is bigger than regular couscous. Good stuff.

WWdN:iX

I think it's well established that I'm a big ol' geek. I love science, techno gadgets, Star Trek, and online gaming. For those of you who are wondering why I haven't been blogging much lately, here is the reason. (Well, there are a few reasons. Kids, freelance work, and napping have contributed to the scarcity of posts.) Much of my blogging time has been spent surfing my new favorite blog, wilwheaton.typepad.com. Fellow geeks, head on over and check it out. Non-geeks (that means everyone who just said, "Who is Wil Wheaton?"), don't you worry your pretty little head. That blog is probably not for you.

More posts soon, I promise. I've had lots of earth-shattering thoughts lately about politics and religion and the state of the planet, which means I'll most likely be posting a butternut squash stew recipe any day now.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Of Crab Cakes, Corn Dogs, and Cantaloupe

Today, I offered the girls a lovely, well-rounded lunch of turkey, whole-wheat bread, cheese, corn, clementines, milk, and some fruity Cheerios just to mix things up. Here's what the girls ate:

Cheese
Corn
Clementines
Cheerios

Am I sensing a pattern? Perhaps for dinner I'll offer them chorizo, chalupas, and calamari.

Happy Birthday, Digressions!

I realized belatedly that yesterday was this blog's one-year anniversary. One year ago yesterday, I thought to myself, "Hmm. A blog. That might not suck." So come on, sing along with me:

"Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me, happy birthday dear Digressions, happy birthday to me!"

Here's to at least one more year of not boring my readers to tears.

Two Things I'm Irritated About

1) The weather. Holy cow. It's 0 degrees Fahrenheit in Chicago right now. We've been having single-digit highs for a week. I can't stand much more of this! (Why isn't this extra body fat insulating me better?)

2) Orthopedic surgeons. I like to avoid making sweeping generalizations, but in this case it is true. And deserved. All orthopedic surgeons make their patients wait for ridiculous periods of time before spending 30 seconds in the exam room with them and then sending them on their way. Yesterday, I had my routine annual checkup with my doctor, a very talented and intelligent medical professional. I waited TWO HOURS in his office. TWO HOURS. And the sad thing is that this didn't surprise me a bit. Been there, done that. This doctor, other doctors, they're all the same.