A Geek Weekend Out

This weekend my friends Carrie, Kate and I went to a hotel in town to, basically, enjoy a big-girl slumber party. I would say an "adult slumber party", but that would make you think we had sex, and that's not what happened: we spent from Friday night to Sunday noon holed up in our hotel room indulging in series and movies of our guilty pleasures :-D.

The idea came by the end of last year, but I can't tell you exactly how. We have spent quite some time together and have gone of one-day trips to places where you can go swimming (it's not a wellness place, but like a family, entertainment center), where all we did was watch series and movies on an iPad and talk about fanfics. Believe it or not, it was amazing, and we enjoyed ourselves very much. The idea somehow had stuck, that we should do this again, but staying a larger period of time, so we could actually watch more series and more movies. We have already talked about doing a trip to Salem sometime in the future (when we can afford it), but then we actually wanted to do something sooner, while the girls still had their vacation. Thus, in a somewhat unorganized way, we ended up booking a room for the three of us at a hotel close by with this sole purpose in mind: watch movies and series.

We considered going to the beach, but really, was it worth driving all the way to the beach (I don't mind driving, I love driving!) only to end up holed in the room watching series? Because in that case, why would we even waste time on the road, when we could be already watching a movie? There was no actual program or plan as to what we wanted to watch - get on track with Supernatural, maybe, and then some Hannibal, some Sleepy Hollow - and somehow, a passion of theirs, old passion of mine, also got into the mix. The yaoi.

Carrie packed up the old hits we loved watching back when we met, and then they showed me new shows of which I have never heard, which were nice, sweet, and even disturbing. For instance, there's this series about guys - some "Binan" something - that's like a Sailor Moon with guys... only terribly corny and girly. And somehow, even some parts just make you look away for it's too corny to endure, I think I like it.

Am I going back to animé and yaoi? No, I don't think so, and if so, I'll make sure to stop before I get as sucked up by this world as I once was. However, it's nice to indulge, nice to be silly a little, unplug from the normal world, and spend some time with your best friends being plain silly, happy, carefree, all day laying in bed and eating snacks, drinking sweet beverages and cocktails and laughing out loud with your friends. Come up with funny tasks, like each of us has to find and review a fanfic from a fandom that's not Teen Wolf (Carrie and I are slightly obsessed with Sterek fics, but then again, it's not our fault Kate had developed a distaste for this fandom, and rather indulge in Star Trek, which is her only fandom since... a couple of years now), or make plans to start watching more and more series, like... yeah, I'm not into it again that much, so I won't even attempt at going on with the Japanese names.

Whatever your life is, whatever your circumstances, truth is that you do need a little time out with your friends, a break to simply be silly, be carefree. It charges you up and makes you feel... amazing. ^_^

A Bad Movie, an Ok Movie and a Good Haircut

I completed actually three of the tasks of my Complementary List: I found a hairdresser and got my hair trimmed. Then again, I'm not sure about going to that same hairdresser again, not only because it was freaking expensive and they did a face when I didn't tip them (sorry, but though I liked my haircut, I wasn't blown off my feet, and the price was quite steep... and had to be paid in cash), but maybe it had to do something with the hairdresser telling me that he is or was a world champion in hairdressing. Yeah, that might mean nothing, but I want something else from my hairdresser, so I'll probably keep looking... unless I go back to my usual hairdresser. We shall see.

I also had my weekly cocktail, though with a twist: this one was alcoholfree. (Rules don't say it must be alcoholic!) Yeah, well, it happens that sometimes you are not feeling 100% physically and so alcohol might not be the best for your condition, or a good idea to mix with the painkiller combo you've just downed. In any case, the cocktail (some Catalina something) was AMAZING! Wonder what the alcoholic version tastes like.

Then I watched two movies. It's Wednesday, and that means reduced prices, which makes it more livable if the movie is bad. Well, the first movie was HORRENDOUS! I would be crying for the money even if I would have seen it for free. There's no plot, no sense, no story, no character definition, no nothing. It's a pretentious crap full of stiff acting, crappy directing and phony lines, where a mediocre attempt at presenting a reloaded American Psycho-like story goes down the toilet miserably. The only possible goal this poor excuse for a movie could have is to show that Mr. Pattinson can fall even lower than Twilight, and show that he can do even worse acting. I didn't expect it, though, from Ms. Binoche. I wanted to get out of the movie since the first five minutes, but I only stayed because I was way up and it was too dark to find the door by myself. I did consider asking the guys at projection to please turn on the lights for a moment while I get out.

It was really, really bad. A disgusting trip to some sort of fantasy stuck in the 80's minus the big hair and the shoulderpads, with constant delving into senseless monologues that try to be artistic and probably are for the many ignorant assholes whose literacy is formed by the news on Facebook and the MSN.

The other movie was the one I expected less of, and yet the one that got me smiling. The title is "Last Night", or something of the sort (I saw it dubbed), and it got me thinking and remembering. The thoughts from it would most definitively hit the blog, or my journal, if they get too personal.

Finally, coming out of the second movie, I walked past this hairdressing salon. I thought about it for a while, considered, and then decided that what the hell, I need to trim my hair. I didn't like that they didn't take card - that would have made my life easier - but yet I've got into the chair, got my hair washed and my ends trimmed. I wanted a bit of change, and so the hairdresser put my hair to the side and reduced the ends on the longer side. It isn't bangs or a fringe of any sort, but the hair now falls in my face. It's quite pretty, but we shall see how my hair behaves once the hairderssing products are out of it.

Tomorrow I'm going to Mezőkövesd visiting. Hopefully the time on the train will be spent quietly, with reading and maybe even some writing, who knows? I've a letter to finish still, and I could use some time without interruptions to get going with it. Then I've letters to read as well, as today I just received letter from two of my penpals. :-D Life is awesome with penpals, and with a trimmed, healthy, nice hair is even more!

Hard to Get Black

The "List of 13" already made my day. It's really awesome to have something like this, like a box  containing 13 adventures to complete before June. I planned to get the first task done - had even checked out some pieces I wanted to try out on the Internet - but it happens that getting black clothes is far harder than you'd imagine. Yes, buying black clothes is a veritable nightmare.

Today I checked out a Marks&Spencer, a Tatuum, an Esprit and an MNG, looked at hundreds of clothes, tried out at least 15 dresses and bought a Grand Total of none. Yes, four stores and 17 dresses later I've bought none. It was already hard to fund Summer-fitting black clothes based on cut and fabric, but then, as I tried the selected ones on, non of them fitted me well or were well cut. For once, I discovered that I'm not a 12 (US sizes) as I thought (or a 14, as I originally thought), but an 8 (which is weird, because I actually gained weight), and yet the clothes didn't fit me. Smaller clothes were too tight on the wrong places, and bigger ones drowned me, while those that were supposed to be good weren't flattering at all, with odd angles, with tight and loose spots at the wrong parts.

In this quest I realized one sad thing: prints and colors are often used to disguise the imperfection of the clothes made. Also, the simplest cuts and shapes can reveal the biggest flaws and shortcomings, and today I seem to have found them all. However not everything was lost, as I managed to complete the second task: get myself (at least) a pair of black jeans. This one was a very happy, very joyful experience. Without thinking I went to a Levi's store, where I simply said to the sales guy that I wanted a black pair of straight cut jeans. Without searching all over the place, he went for the perfect cut, and pegged me for a pair three sizes smaller. The sweetheart, he didn't know I always get a pair one size bigger since I like my pants just a tad big (I hate to wrestle myself into my pants, or even the feel of clothes being snug, and prefer that soft, slight looseness of clothes a bit stretched out. I know jeans normally stretch, so you are supposed to buy a pair that's very tight, but I still prefer them already bigger).

Slipping into the perfect pair, at the perfect size was like a dream. Legs sliding around my legs, waist line somewhat bigger than my waist, but that's nothing a little fitting can't fix, and hips just perfect. Why can't everything be this simple?

To finish the day, I tried to complete my first movie of the week, but I couldn't bring myself to watch either Battleship nor 21 Jump Street, so I went to my favorite café restaurant, and ordered a delicious Raffles Singapore Sling and some washi rolls. Both of them were to die for. So I checked also the cocktail of the week.

I'll give the first task another try tomorrow at a different commercial center, and also try to slide in one of the movies of the week. If things go well, I'll also try and get two things I'll need to prepare for two more of the tasks, but that will be a secret until tomorrow. ^_^

I've been thinking about making this List of 13 something constant in my life, or at least for a while. I've already been thinking about new tasks to add, new little adventures and tasks to include. 13 is a magical number for all the ideas and thoughts it provoke, so that's why I'd like to keep on that the number of tasks and adventures I'll set for myself. I haven't decided to the period I'll give to each List of 13, maybe 4 weeks for each, so that in a year I get 13 lists as well... from Full Moon to Full Moon, or Waxing Moon to Waxing Moon, New Moon to New Moon... who knows. The ideas are good, the projects and lists are fun. I'll decide when I make up my mind about it... and maybe by the time I make my next list.

A Day of Small Adventures

Perhaps today is going to be yet another one of those days - like Tuesday - that I won't be sure I've lived. Damned, I need to get serious with TV shows so that I can set a day tracker in my life. Today I just kept forgetting that it was Friday, and though you may ask why do I need to know which day am I in when I'm not working, well, because others do and businesses keep different hours and Wednesdays, as I recently discovered, the movies can be seen at a reduced rate.

There was no "level 2" and nothing particular to nag at my nerves today, but as my boyfriend prepared to go out to work, I though about yesterday, and how I wanted to go to the movies (after having gone on Wednesday after Level 2), but I didn't go for I was too lazy and otherwise occupied with being lazy, watching some TV, reading some political/financial magazines and busying about the Internet; I though that maybe today would be a good day to make it up for what I left undone. As an after thought, I smiled thinking how on Wednesday - for Level 2 - I acually dressed according with the color of the day suggested by Llewellyn's Witches Datebook, without knowing. I wore brown head to toe and was looking SMASHING in it.

I had gone for the beads, as you know, but haven't bought all I needed to string up a decent set, so I thought that today was just perfect to go over there and hit the glasses and little compartments with beads and make magic. After having taken a look at my book on jewelry, it was easy to go there with a purpose, so I came out of there with a hefty bounty of many, many colored beads of different sizes and shapes, loose, packed in small bags and little tubes. The owner of the tiny place was nice to me and gave me a 10% discount considering me already a "regular". The place was buzzing with ladies so at home around beads and jewelry supplies, talking about the techniques they were most versed in, and referring to bead and supply details I have never heard before. To my amazement, I was quickly included in the conversations and was part of sharing the experiences of how we love to make jewelry, but end up with more pieces than what we can wear in a lifetime. I believe my friend Dragonfly-cr can perfectly relate to that.

From there I rushed to the movies at a close-by commercial center - just like I did in Wednesday. My mission was simple: The Raven followed by The Avengers. I thought I was going to see one good movie followed by one bad movie - but I wanted to see the bad movie to get the jokes on Internet about it. As it happens, I saw a lame movie followed by a comic-comic movie. Thor was handsome, and so was Captain America, and Scarlet Johanson's sidekick, and IronMan was the heart of the movie... though I had to keep myself in check so I wouldn't shout "Go Sherlock!".

These are my third and forth movies of the week, as on Wednesday I saw the terrible "The Woman in Black" followed by "Dark Shadows"... which was just as disappointing. It was like I went to see - and paid! - a really bad episode of Supernatural, with no plot at all, and lacking the two handsome Winchester brothers and their slash, and then went to see a washed down version of "The Monster Family meets Beetlejuice". Oh well, at least today I saw The Avengers and there were handsome guys in it.

Haven't hit the movies so hard in ages, but then again, if I don't do it now that I've the time, when else would I do it? Only, just for insurance, next time I'll hit another movie complex, so that I don't get to be the regular-regular who watches two movies in a row... like I do.

People really don't come to the movies much in Hungary. The Raven was deserted, and the premier was yesterday. Well, The Avengers was full, and the premier of it was weeks ago. Wonder how will it be for the premier of Brave.

In between the movies, I went to have some light, late lunch at one of my favorite restaurants: Leroy. Though this was the one where I can ask for gyozas - and they prepare them superbly - I wanted something new. I asked for a Miso soup - which was particularly horrendous, tasting too much of vinagre - and completed the order with a Tennessee Highball (Jack Daniels, giner ale, lime) and an order of hamachi sashimi. Believe it or not, that was my first order of sashimi of my hole life. I wanted something light, something wholesome, and what could be more wholesome, more healthy, more light than fresh, raw fish slices?

Well, I didn't regret my decision. The order contained three thick slices of hamachi  - which I understand is white tuna - fresh and juicy, served with the mandatory ginger shaves, some wasabi and a siding of cucumber. The pieces were simply exquisite, and each nearly melted in my mouth as I took a bite from them. Perhaps it's not the cheapest thing one can order, but it was amazing and absolutely worth it. Then of course, maybe a Tennessee Highball wasn't the proper drink for it, but it was all amazing and got me out of the fiasco mood after The Raven and ready for the Avengers, even if I had to deal with Ms. Johanson's annoying acting. There goes another actress falling off the wagon, forgeting the requierements of her craft in the name of a fame gained on their physical atributes... Pitiful.

At least the sashimi was good.

So, adding it up, I tried new things and I hit also the old ones, and from all of them I reaped fabulous experiences and a great chance to relax, lay back and enjoy life, because that's what it has been given to us.

No Words

Yesterday... after some fucking good party.

Bitch, it's good to have good friends around you can count on with and laugh a little, smile a little, breakfast a little and watch "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" with. I have the best and hottest friends in town. Envy me, bitches.

Today...


... I guess some general meetings are not so bad, after all, now do they? (I shall remember to stand straight when my picture is taken. In any case, that's him. And we had lunch today, we talked and I've got soaken wet runing cross-"Sabana" back to the office under full rain storm... but it worth it... He kissed my cheek and hugged me!)

-- Shit, I sound like a love struck schoolgirl...

Electric Cucumber

Yep, I was right there where you are. O_O Fuck, so now they did a cucumber shaped dildo? Funny thing is, this is an entry generated after reading an ARTICLE in a NEWSPAPER. So yes, I was a bit... surprised to see this in my daily Le Figaro. I thought: "Well, I guess the Euro is just fine, if they can spend their time mixing ten year-old killed kids with 220 W cucumbers." I still believe that the Euro is just fine, as fine is my Europe, regardless of what all her detractors try so hard to say. I love and believe in my Europe and anyone who has a problem with that can go elsewere. (My Eurocentrism might be in the same level as my Narcissism. Then again, I have loads of reasons to be proud... on both accounts.) Anyway, so I clicked onto the cucumber thing to see what was that about. Hurray, an article hat has nothing to do with charity, economics, telecommunications, politics, welfare, war, currency... and all the usual stuff I normally click on and read. It didn't go better then I read the first line of the article saying that no, it was not about legumes. Hell yeah, it was "that kind" of cucumber! Dude, the way people is, and why does it even get to the papers? It was like this one time I misread a headline in a paper in Costa Rica which said "Moscoso Amenaza Estados Unidos" (Moscoso [the then Panamaian President] Threats U.S.) and instead I read "Mocoso Amenaza Estados Unidos" (Brat(or any really bad derrogative for child) Threats U.S.). Hyne, I remember staring at the headline and asking myself, "why don't they call him child or kid? Why brat?". Well, to your relief, I didn't misread the headlines (I hardly misread in French, since I'm not fluent enough in it...), and it really was about an electric cucumber, only it was not a dildo or a massage thing, but something faaaaaaar better.

The reporter said they went to know the electric cucumber, tried it and loved it! Well, It does sound like something I would love too. It's a cocktail. Basically you need:

- 1 part of cucumber syrup (where the hell do you get that???)
- 2 parts of green lemon juice
- 1 part of curaçao
- 6 parts of vodka

Oh, I can see your eyes, you drunkies! Yeah, anything with 6 parts of vodka is my friend or a friend of a friend, and any friend of my friends is a friend of mine. (Save people I dislike.) I doubt this fine cocktail is available here, but I will soon start scouting the bars for it. Definitivelly will go trying to score some cucumber syrup, or try and make it myself, and then try with the cocktail at home. I already have all the other ingredients! Besides, it's a green cocktail, and everything green I love... except people I hate and a certain neoliberal political party of Costa Rica, which I resent for using my favorite color as their signature color.

So, at the end, it happened that this electric cucumber do was something designed to give ya pleasure.

Now, slowly I gara go, since I have a lunch appointment and then a large task to tackle. Pfuj, I'm so good!