Malaysia Made D-Listed!

Mention of Malaysia at my favorite guilty pleasure website D-Listed. Not the kind of publicity you want, but is usually isn't anyway on D-Listed ;)

Coolest Gymnast @ Beijing

Oksana Chusovitina! At 33 years old, she's competing in her fifth Olympics. Her first was the '92 Barcelona games - that's the year the youngest gymnasts competing at these Olympics were born! It's truly admirable that she has been able to remain competitive for so many years, and in the face of adversity no less. Check out her full bio at Wikipedia.

This year she's competing for Germany (previously for the former Soviet Union and Uzbekistan). She's a vault specialist and qualified for the vault event finals this Sunday. Looking forward to seeing her perform. Go Oksana!

Masam At The Olympics

So I stayed up to watch live feed (courtesy of nbcolympics.com - fabulous coverage!) of the Malaysian women competing in the badminton doubles last night. They lost to Korea, and the vibe I got from them the entire match was just so ... *masam. Dirty looks, lack of encouraging words between each other. Maybe I'm reading this wrong because I don't watch badminton usually? Just seemed like a complete lack of camaraderie between the two. Am I completely off on this?

*sour

S4E10 Revelations

I seriously thought that was it. Season over. And the whole postponing of the remaining episodes until next year? Just a trick like with Starbuck dying. Totally had me! Until I remembered all the loose ends. At that point they were panning across the disappointed faces on earth. To end there, now that would have been too cruel.

I'd always wondered how they would reconcile the whole finally being on earth thing. Never once crossed my mind that they would get there before everything was said and done.

That said, I liked it. Things moved fast as they have all season but this time it actually made sense, and I think it had a lot to do with pacing. The best episode of the season I feel. Makes me all the more miffed that I'm going to have to wait close to a year. Again. I can has Razor Pt 2 pls?

My prediction for the final cylon this week: I really dunno anymore.

Works On My Machine

It really did. But it didn't work where it counted so I was the recipient of the following: http://www.buildsonmymachine.com/.

I love her friends.

Cupcake Adventures 1

My first cupcake attempt today - Strawberry Thyme Cupcakes from http://coconutlime.blogspot.com as suggested by PpFt. Love the idea of steeping the thyme in the milk although I really didn't taste it much when the cupcake was done. Used the buttercream frosting recipe instead of the recommended one and added the juice of half a lemon - delicious!

Oh, and you absolutely have to cut the strawberry garnish in the shape of a heart, otherwise it doesn't taste the same. Srsly.

S4E8 Sine Qua Non

Erm ... what? That was a complete setting-the-tone-of-things-to-come episode. And setting the tone quick, like now! Just about every major plot turn and revelation was handled abruptly, having the effect of making the whole Romo Lampkin thing a bit ... indulgent? Maybe the episode would have made more sense if I hadn't had to wait 2 weeks in between. Kind of 'potong stim' by the time tonight's episode rolled around.

My prediction for the final cylon this week: Romo Lampkin's cat. Wait ... oh snap.

Heard On The Train

End of a rainy Friday, on the way home from work. The train driver wishes everyone a good weekend over the speaker and issues a friendly reminder not to forget your umbrella. Thought that was pretty nice of him. Bet he saved a lot of umbrellas from accidental desertion today :)

I Want A Wallaby!

Wallaby yogurt is the BEST yogurt ever. It has a super smooth and creamy texture and tastes really delicious. Comes in a variety of flavors from the traditional such as strawberry and raspberry, to the more exotic such as passion fruit and strawberry guava. It's USDA certified organic and relatively low in sugar, unlike a lot of other yogurts that pack about as much sugar as a can of coke. Also gives you your 25% DRV of calcium. I've bought them at Jewel Osco and Whole Foods, usually on sale for $1 or under each.

Buy it, eat it, love it: http://www.wallabyyogurt.com/

Chicago Cares

So, I had my first volunteer gig with Chicago Cares today. Chicago Cares is a volunteer organization that provides individuals and businesses with the opportunity to volunteer and improve the community. I saw an ad for them a while ago while riding the bus and finally decided to try it out.

When you first sign up at their website (http://www.chicagocares.org), you go through a short online orientation. After that you have access to their calendar which details the projects available. The issue areas are wide ranging, from adult education, to environment and rehab, to hunger and so on. You pick the project you want to work on and contact the project leader who will let you know if they still need people for their team.

I volunteered for one of the "Just For Starters" projects, which are for newbies. In this case, the Senior Breakfast Club. It was from 9 to 12 this morning and involved cooking and serving breakfast to seniors at a Chicago Housing Authority assisted living building. After cooking, serving and cleaning up, we ran a couple of bingo games with prizes.

All in all, it was fun, and something I'd definitely like to do again. I'd like to try some other issue areas as well. I know there are several gardening opportunities in the environment issue area and I'm sure my family would get a big kick out of the idea of me gardening :)

Baladoche's Coffee Deal

Baladoche at 2905 N Clark Street has a great deal on coffee - 12 ounce cup of delicious illy coffee for exactly $1. Last I checked, Lattes and Cappucinos were going for $1.84 Mondays through Thursdays. Don't quote me on that one though ;) They also have waffles if you're into that.

http://www.baladoche.com/

S4E5 The Road Less Travelled

Leoben's back with Starbuck! Now there's one onscreen pairing that's so wrong yet so deliciously right :D

Great to see the storyline moving along with Starbuck and not dithering on the less interesting sub plots (ie Lee Adama's political career *snore*). I'm hoping the Baltar subplot adds up to something wicked in the end cause that's kinda dragging along too. Season still doesn't feel 'tight' but hey, there's still 15 more episodes to go.

Love Baltar's 'God loves you just as you are' spiel because I'm 99% convinced it's an ad lib and a reference to the 'Mark Darcy loves Bridget just as she is' line in Bridget Jones's Diary, which James Callis was also in.

My prediction for the final cylon this week: Tom Zarek.

Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins

Zucchini in a muffin. Who would have guessed? Delicious! Double the chocolate chips when you try it. Recipe at http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Zucchini-Chocolate-Chip-Muffins/Detail.aspx.

La Patisserie P

Euro Asian bakery on Argyle street tempts me every morning. Serves up delicious buns, pastries and sweets.

Clockwise from top: sesame ball with red bean filling, chicken puff, egg custard tart, curry chicken bun and corned beef bun. Great value and oh-so-tasty. Official website: http://www.lapatisseriep.com/.

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Currently sesat* in Chicago, Illinois, USA.

* Lost