Heh

The weird guy in the cubicle across from me just told someone on the phone, “It's wide, but it's short.” Proud of my self for not laughing out loud.

Breaking the Chains

Images of Star Trek Online continue to trickle out. With all the drama around Perpetual then Cryptic I remain unconvinced it will ever see the light of day. And actually, I sorta hope it doesn't. EverQuest and World of Warcraft claim an inordinate chunk of my life. It was difficult to avoid Star Wars, the comic Heroes things, and Conan but I did. If I can manage to stay out of a Star Trek MMORPG then I can truly make WoW my last. We shall see.

Ready to Restart

Andrew texted me about doing some clubbing then turned out to be busy Friday night. Then I didn't feel like going out Saturday night. Still, a nice weekend despite sobriety. *snicker* The hilite outside of the gaming world was muffins.

I love bran muffins though I detest things with baked fruit in them. Every bakery in existence is hell-bent on throwing in raisins or dates in so I have to make my own. Last week I did find a premade mix yet there was the unmistakable fruity aftertaste—cherry I think. So I found a decent recipe and picked up everything I was missing on Saturday night.

Classic Bran Muffins

• 1½ cups wheat bran
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup raisins

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Grease muffin cups or line with paper muffin liners.
2. Mix together wheat bran and buttermilk; let stand for 10 minutes.
3. Beat together oil, egg, sugar and vanilla and add to buttermilk/bran mixture. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Stir flour mixture into buttermilk mixture, until just blended. Fold in raisins and spoon batter into prepared muffin tins.
4. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool and enjoy!

Got around to making them tonight and they turned out rather well. I was worried that most recipes depend on the fruit to keep things moist so I went a little over on the oil and buttermilk. Have to admit it was also fun baking again. Need to get some bread going. Just have to be cautious. With no one else around to eat this stuff I'll have to take them into work.

Many Years Ago

My Duncan Sheik ticket arrived in the mail last night. I really don't like General Admission shows but I've never seen him live. Plus $20 was nothing after pissing away $300 on tickets for Britney. Well, after facility charge, convenience charge, conversion charge, and order processing it was $32. Heh.

His self-titled album was incredible, setting the bar for me. Somehow I'd missed the release of Humming so I bought it along with Phantom Moon in 2002—much to my dismay. While his vocal timbre was still consistently enthralling, I found his later ballads roaming and pedantic. Couldn't avoid hearing the Gabriel & Dresden remix of “On a High” at the club, yet I never thought to listen to Daylight. Haven't heard anything from White Limousine.

Listening to the three new tracks stream from his website it seems nothing has changed. There's even an air of empty pretense to the composition. Yet I still like his voice. And that Holly Brook chick harmonizes with him very well. So it's worth checking out live. Plus he's still attractive despite all the facial hair. Not sure if I'll bother with the album though.

This Moment

Listening to NPR's coverage of the inauguration and I'm embarrassed for my country. One interviewer observed that about 98% of the visible crowd is African American. They also mentioned that all of the statues in the Mall are of white men except for MLK which took a special act to have placed. All these happy observations are making me crazy. I'm sure the rest of the modern world is like, “Finally catching up, eh?” I wonder what the defining moments were that took America away from the diversity it was purportedly founded upon.

Fickle

This morning the snow was coming down pretty fiercely then by Noon the sun was out, melting some of the roads clear. Now it's snowing again. Going to be deadly out there. Wish it would make up its mind.

Kahn Gone

Just read that Ricardo Mantalban died yesterday morning. *sigh* All of these Star Trek celebrities departing really make me feel the mortality. Even fantasy characters are not immune.

A Weapon of Massive Consumption

This new Lily Allen song won't leave me alone. Why am I such a sucker for the mainstream? *ugh* Oh well. Will have to pick up the album next month. Or maybe look for a torrent of the advance.

Working from Home

In the last hour the temperature has gone from -18°F (-28°C) to -14°F (-26°C). I gave up trying to chip the ice out of wheel well as my ears were burning with cold. The two people on my team that actually did make it into work are wishing they hadn't bothered now. *snicker*

Today is definitely a Two Martini Lunch Day.

Must Have!

I need this shirt and it's completely out of stock. Bastard consumers!