thinkingheart's Journal
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Thursday, February 28, 2008
Well, Cowboy is sitting his last exam for this year tomorrow. (and I have just superstitiously deleted a glowing paragraph about his progress so far!) He won't be getting the usual long vacation though, as he's opted to do some more catch-up subjects. Still, hopefully this marks the half-way point through his degree!
His sister and the new baby are still doing fine, and I'm impressed that C has managed to drag himself away from the bedside to do any studying: he's been in full-on auntie mode for weeks.
As a result of living the boring life I've managed to scrape together the money for a computer desk, which means that having my main machine functioning again has moved a notch closer - once I find a desk that I like, that is. I've had a poke around a couple of nearby stores, but they all seem intent on flogging me these steel-and-glass contraptions.
Quite apart from wanting to minimise the breakable things in my bedroom (mornings and me just don't go together that well), I don't want to buy cold, fashionable space-age stuff that will look horribly dated in a couple of years time. And anyway, I prefer wood. So I guess I'm going to have to look at the stores a little further out of town.
Friday, October 12, 2007
Now I know what C means by VIP - not only air-con, but seats big enough that even a big clumsy farang can be comfortable, with footrests and a movie. I'd been resigned to a couple of hours knee-cramp afterwards, but I was fine.
Sightseeing-wise we haven't done anything much in Chang Mai yet, apart from refuse about a million offers of white-water rafting tours. Since the maintenance and safety contracotrs for the tube went bust, as far as I'm concerned being jammed in a small vehicle with strangers and emerging soaked and terrified is called commuting to work.
C has been saying for some time that he wants a motorbike again. After taking the bus out to his family, which was an hour and something each way (and I don't doubt that it's even longer for the "school" bus, since it will be picking up and dropping off students as well) I can see his point. I can still vividly remember getting the message that he'd been in a crash, but I've been telling myself that I'm his boyfriend, not his Mum, and he can't live his life ruled by my fear. But if he gets himself killed, he'd better not come running to me. :o\
Now all we have to do is find the money...
Well, off to have a look at the other side of town and a bit of the ummm... medieval wall? From the photos in the guidebook it looks bloody old anyway. I might have a walk round the temple grounds too, but won't be able to go in, since I forgot to change into long pants before leaving the hotel.
Current mood:  anxious
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
I wish I had longer for a proper update, but this is just squeezed in while we're waiting for the taxi to the bus station. C and I are off to Chiang Mai today. I'd really wanted to go by train, but there's no railway beyond Chiang Mai anyway, so coach it is.
I'd expected to be travelling on a local, noisy bus: fans whirring overhead and Thai pop blasting out of the speakers, but C booked the tickets, so we're travelling "VIP", whatever that means.
Of course C has already arranged for us to meet up with a couple of friends on our first evening in the city, and I think he mumbled something last night about going dancing too. I'm looking forward to seeing E again, whom I met on my last visit here. I'm not sure how E persuaded his husband that visiting Chiang Mai right now would be a really good idea (he lives in Pattaya) - I suspect the wives' network has been involved!
It's been pelting with rain here over the last couple of days, which, with our room having a tin roof, has been rather an ear-numbing experience for me. C finds the sound of the rain soothing and it helps him sleep, he says. Which is just as well - he's been kept awake by the sound of the fan in our room which develops a modulated growling sound every half hour or so. I haven't slept much but that's fine - I have the whole rest of the year to sleep when I'm not holding my beloved in the night.
Current mood:  excited
Sunday, October 7, 2007
It's the second proper day of my visit to Cowboy's home town. Yesterday we had a big family party, and they formally welcomed me.
I'd been told he'd been planning a party (and had been dreading the thought of a big, formal do), but I wasn't expecting C, moments after we arrived, to say to me "I'll go and get the beer, you stay and talk to my aunts, ok?" Since I have about eight words of Thai we were soon reduced to broad smiles and pantomime. I'll get him for that.
The family had invited a local wise man ("not monk" was the clearest explanation I could get from C) who recited sutras over us while we held a dish piled with fruit, rice, bananas and tasty snacks as offerings to the spirits. Long strands of yarn connected the food dish to a flower arrangement with candles and little packets rice and herbs, and another dish with C's and my possessions intermingled. Afterwards the family took turns tying a piece of white woolen yarn about each of our wrists while they murmured another prayer. I'm still wearing the woolen wristlets now.
Throughout the service I was startled by the way the others just let the !monk get on with the religion, while everyone else did other stuff. Oh sure, some people were watching, but in the background I could hear (since I don't speak the language, I was guessing from the tone of the exchanges) "Have you peeled the vegetables?" "Peck is coming over later, right?" "Nonono - over there!" and so on.
After the ceremony, C's Mum started bringing out the food - different stir-fried vegetables, and fish (tilapia) with a spicy dipping sauce, and meat (probably beef) in a hot and sour sauce that I guess had tamarinds in it. We sat around for the rest of the afternoon drinking beer and whiskey (though I stuck to beer since I found that spirits really hammer me over here, and I had no desire to be remembered as a drunk). Groups of C's friends - neighbours, relations, and people studying the same course as him - dropped in throughout the afternoon and we sat around on the floor, listening to the rain hammering on the roof and singing along to the karaoke.
The karaoke sounded better as the evening progressed, and I had fun doing hand-dancing with one of C's aunts. I've no idea of her name yet, but that's nothing to do with (not) speaking Thai; I'm always too nervous to remember names whenever I meet anyone for the first couple of times.
I'm sure that my intention of remaining resonably sober worked, since C's house has a built-in sobriety test: the loo is on the far side of a drainage ditch spanned by two wobbly planks. I found it a bit tricky in daylight (though I noticed C's grandma hopping nimbly across several times) but at night, in borrowed flip-flops... ah well. Laughter is a gift.
Current mood:  tired
Monday, October 1, 2007
Off to see Cowboy on Thursday! I spent the weekend packing.
The sitting room is a mess: stacks of clothes divided into "won't fit", "don't like" and "jeez, why did I buy that??" , but the suitcase is pretty much packed now. I just need to go out this lunch time and buy sun-slap, film and batteries.
I've had the suitcase sitting on the sofa for most of the previous week, and I'd noticed that it had a very distinctive "rubbery" smell - or so I thought. This morning I fished my camera bag out from its hiding place in the alcove behind the sofa only to find the squishy remains of a dead mouse plastered along one side. I've scrubbed the lino floor and the camera bag, but it may be beyond rescuing, especially as I'm going to spend 10 hours or so with it in the recycled atmosphere of a sealed plane. I'm still feeling the urge to wash my hands every ten minutes or so.
I know I should be more excited, but frankly I'm dreading the journey out there. Nothing to do with the recent tendency of pilots to try and land the plane simultaneously on several different runways =o\ but because I have a horrendous transfer. I have three hours to do immigration, baggage reclaim, customs and then taxi across town to catch the domestic flight. If I miss it, then I'll have to re-book and maybe stay overnight in the city. I wish I could just settle to the idea that it'll all just work itself out, but my doomed fatalism keeps being unseated by hope.
Current mood: hopeful
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
11:07AM
Couldn't resist the nerd test:
Oh, what my score would be if I liked superhero comics!
Thursday, August 9, 2007
12:23PM
I walked through that alleyway again - the one in Chinatown with the open-air bun stalls. Of course I weakened and bought a pork bun. The stuffing wasn't what I was expecting (I think the technical term is "red-cooked pork" - what I think of as chinese BBQ) but this was very finely minced lean pork with spring onionnnsss and er, a little bit of spice or something.
I went back and tested again...
The dumpling dough was incredibly light, slightly sweet, and boingy (who cares if it's chock-full of borax?).
Thank heavens I don't pass that way every day! I'd be elephantine in a month!
Friday, August 3, 2007
3:33PM
As far as I'm concerned, LJ is now merely a chat site. I will not be posting any fic to LJ regardless of content (not that I've posted much in the last couple of years, RL having been a bit grim).
The journal entries that I care about, the WIPs (private locked until finished) and the couple of fics I did post have all been transferred elsewhere and deleted from LJ.
I think that last is important. We create the content that brings people to LJ in the first place and I think it's important that we move this revenue-creating resource beyond 6A's reach before they somehow decide that they're morally entitled to keep all the "good" bits.
Fuck 'em and their shallow learning curve.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
10:41AM
My savings account has *finally* topped the magic number so I can go see my beloved. **Dances round the room**
Needless to say plane tickets have already been booked, and hotels are being scrutinized.
Okay it's not until October, but I can now look forward to seeing him on a definite date rather than merely 'sometime'. I did want us to go down to the sunny south, but C is worried about the religious loons who are currently waving guns down there, so we're sticking to the chilly north. A good excuse to stay in bed and cuddle up.
Mind you, a certain flabby somebody is going to have to make a bit more of an effort if he's not going to end up sleeping alone - the view in my ex-bedroom mirror is not encouraging.
Still no news about my Dad's account, the bank is taking its own sweet time in closing it. I've a feeling that the second demand from the pension company is probably sitting in my bag right now - I grabbed the post on the way out to work but haven't been motivated to open it yet.
Saturday, June 2, 2007
1:58PM
Aha. So LJ is "going public" i.e. going to become a publicly traded company. So much for "But we're a nice company.
See here for a review of the mess. Better check to make sure you have backups of all your stories and artwork, and prepare to move house. We're not wanted. We might scare potential investors.
Edit: an expanded entry on GreatestJournal with links, references and extra sarcasm.
Current mood: distressed
Thursday, May 31, 2007
12:54PM
Well, thanks to the whole "strikethrough" mess, I got to have bad dreams all night about fundies hunting me down. The fact that this came in the form of me being pursued through a Merchant Ivory tea party by a vicar on a wobbly bicycle (FadeUp Benny Hill music) makes me suspect that my subconscious isn't taking me seriously.
How can I get it banned?
Current mood: tired
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
1:52PM
They're marching again, you know. Those who believe that they best know how to run your life; that the freedom to say and do what you choose is too dangerous a thing for you to handle, poor weak foolish creature that you are.
Doesn't it make you feel safe, knowing that these people have volunteered themselves for doing your thinking for you? And of course, it's all done in the name of protecting children. Assaults on freedom are always done in the name of protecting the children, because it makes it so much harder to criticize the zealots.
And so the pack is in full cry: the anti-pornography crusaders, hate-mongers and the best of the bigoted howling round livejournal which is hastily culling accounts based on based on the presence of a few trigger words.
And you know what's really depressing? That the only reliable evidence we have tells us that a society with pornography is far safer than the straitly-corseted, strapped-down, hyped-on-denial prison that these fools wish to create. It does make a sensible person wonder how much of this hooraw really is about "protecting children" when the motor mouths wilfully ignore the results of careful investigation, and cling blindly to what they wish to believe.
But hey. Witch-hunts are such fun, aren't they?
Current mood:  angry
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
1:33PM
A white T shirt, a tomato sandwich - can you guess how the story continues? Argh! I now have a huge stain down the front of my shirt - cold water doesn't seem to have shifted it much - and I'm due on the public desk later. Curses! I've turned it round so that the stain is at the back and I'll just have to hope it doesn't look too odd.
Still, the day started nicely - I bumped into an old friend on the way to work. I'd moved house and he'd changed his phone number, so we were out of touch. I texted him earlier, so that now he has my phone number as well, and once my paypacket has hit the bank we'll go out for a convivial snifter together. Alas my socializing is a bit curcumscribed just now as I spent more than I'd hoped at the opticians.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
2:54PM
Cowboy has just texted to say he must buy a sports uniform now that he's back in college. He was in the basketball and volleyball teams at school, so I reckon he's going to have a great time!
**Perverted pr0ny thoughts of my beloved in his new uniform**
10:05AM
A bit groggy at work this morning. Late to bed - well, late to sleep anyway - because my upstairs neighbours were doing DIY until 11pm. Sounds like they were taking up wooden flooring - hammering on something wooden anyway. Still, it could be worse - they could be sharing their music.
Of course this meant that instead of doing my nemobbics this morning, I was just waving limbs vaguely in time to the video. But at least I made it through to the end despite a desperate desire to go back to bed.
Took some time off yesterday to buy some gift tokens for someone who's leaving at work, and had a jolly good wander round the furniture departments. Unfortunately it looks like embroidery and applique are going to be the new fashion, which is a pest because I need some new bed linen and don't want to be fiddling about with stuff that's difficult to wash (not to mention sequins blocking the washing machine etc.) Plain and simple, that's me. (*Re-reads last sentence and invites subconscious to kindly butt-out.*)
I bought some star anise when I went to the supermarket, but I must try to remember to buy an airtight container for it. The kitchen smelled rather nice this morning, but if I can smell it now it means all those fragrant volatiles are going to waste. They also had some nice half price pork joints and I so wanted to do some nice bbq pork, but the budget just wouldn't stretch to it. Maybe over the week-end.
Only 6h 40mins until home time. Bleagh.
Monday, May 21, 2007
Since I came back from the market with a huge bag of mushrooms, I thought I'd make my favourite dish with them - stewed with black eyed beans. I had a lot of stuff to do on Saturday, so I just threw it all in the slow cooker, and it came out beyooootiful.
So I just wanted to share:
Soak a half-pint coffee mugful of black eyed beans/ peas in water for a couple of hours.
Once they're soaked, drain and dump them in the slow cooker, and add:
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
A good double handful of fresh mushrooms, sliced
2 tins of tomatoes, including the juice (smush them down a bit with a wooden spoon)
3 medium sized onions, chopped
1 inch piece of cinammon stick (ground cinammon is okay if that's all you've got - approx 1 mean teaspoonful, I guess)
2 teaspoons of ground coriander
1 teaspoon of ground cumin
1 teaspoon of whole cumin seeds
half a teaspoon of ground turmeric
quarter of a teaspoon of cayenne pepper*
1 dessert spoonful of sunflour oil
salt and pepper to taste
chopped coriander or parsley to garnish if you've got it (I hadn't)
Add enough boiling water so that the liquid level covers the beans.
Cook on 'high' for about 3 hours (or, exactly the time it takes you to slog out to the store and back.)
* if you leave the cayenne/chilli out, then you really can taste the sweetness of the beans - lovely.
with the chilli added, the dish tastes much sharper and more refreshing. I like it both ways.
If you're doing this "properly" you're supposed to heat the oil in a saucepan, fry the cumin seeds, then the garlic and onions, fry until the onions just begin to brown and then add the mushrooms. Once the mushrooms have wilted, add the rest of the ingredients, bring to the boil and simmer for 30-40 mins.
Had this with cucumber raita and chapattis. Other four portions fridged and freezered.
Current mood:  hungry
Friday, May 18, 2007
10:24AM
Yesterday's nemobbics were interrupted by a wardrobe malfunction. Those shorts have been permanently demoted to paint-rag status (I ripped one seam open so I wouldn't forget.) Thank heavens I still have the front windows papered over!
I've been to see the optician - good news, my prescription hasn't changed; I only need new glasses because these lenses have got so scratched. I'm looking forward to having proper prescription sunglasses again - I hate using these lousy clip-ons that flap about every time I look down. The only downside is that of course I can't now spend the $550 on blinds, so that project has been delayed again (and is likely to get further delayed if my craving for a proper pc doesn't wear off soon: I can feel myself weakening.)
After the appointment I walked back to the station through the market. They had the loveliest, freshest pak choi, and I stood there drooling, already tasting them stir-fried with garlic and oyster sauce. They also had cheap mushrooms and some lovely avocados. So to cut a long story short, I staggered home laden with carrier bags and fixed myself some nice garlicky greens, and used the last of the rubber chicken (because it stretches over so many meals, you know) in the fried rice. Lovely.
I was woken up in the night by my new upstairs neighbour arriving home rather the worse for wear, so up late this morning. Still managed exercises, but just had to grab something out of the fridge. So I've just finished eating brown fried rice for breakfast. Is Kittybaby using a mind-control ray?
** Dah dah doo dah dee dah**
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
6:04PM
I've booked tomorrow (Thursday) off so that I can go to the opticians. My current specs are so massively scratched that I'm permanently seeing the world in soft focus. I just hope they have some decent, boring, cheap frames and don't try to palm me off with the current horrible fashions which all remind me of those cardboard 3D specs re-done in heavy clunky plastic. I want lenses bigger than Jackie O! *Looks in the mirror* Hm. Make that Dame Edna.
A little bit sub-optimal this morning. I stayed up late last night so that I could phone Cowboy early in the morning (y'know, that timezone thing) before he went off to College on his first day. He was really excited. He's been bubbling with happiness about how nice his college is, and how good his teachers are, and it sounds like he's made some new friends already.
Not that I'm surprised. Okay, I know I'm biased, but C is very open and engaging, and he's got a wicked, impish smile. How could anyone not want to be friends? He says there are only two other guys in his class - all the rest are women, so it's going to be kaffeeklatch and bonding over hair-dos.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the transport works okay for him. Heaven knows I'd be fit for nothing if I had to get up at 4.30 every morning - the college bus calls at his village at 5.30. C says he's taking his breakfast with him to eat at morning break, as lessons start at 8.30 (still too early for me! I tried to avoid lectures that started before 11am.) I'm going to try putting aside a little bit in case he finds he does need to rent in the city, so that I can give a hand at least with the deposit, but don't want to make any promises because I have a boiler and washing machine both teetering on the edge of collapse.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
I was going to choose recipes, shop for the ingredients and prepare light, tasty and nutritious meals in the evening. The reality this morning was me stumbling round the kitchen half awake chopping random veggies and throwing them in the crockpot - or at least in that general direction. I should be coming home to some sort of warming chickpea and veg curry. I just hope this recipe doesn't include chopped dressing gown cord and electric flex. I really wasn't with it at all.
Guess I should be glad I can still count up to ten.
**Swigs more coffee**
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