This vegetarian says she'll pass on the test tube meat. I love that they are making strides in creating it, but I would just be super freaked to eat meat of any kind. It's all rotting flesh to me. Eww.

There are about 150 more pages of Stephen King's Under the Dome left, and I still lurv it. If you're contemplating a read, then I highly rec it.

I'm jumping on the bandwagon with ccangel42 and doing the 30 Day Meme.

Day 01 → Your favorite song
"Faded" by The Afghan Whigs. It's gorgeous and uplifting, yet real and dark. "That secret's gonna kill you in the end, baby. It's gonna kill you." You can hear a live version of it over here.

( days 2 to 30 blank and under the cut for your own use )

Since evidence of the evil!shingles appeared on my back, I've been feeling tired and run-down. I felt more like my normal self this morning, though I didn't get uninterrupted sleep last night. Jason and I went hiking in the forest. The hike is probably about two miles, and I'm so unused to the scenery after the leaves have completely fallen. I happened to remember my camera, so I took pictures for sharing.

( naked trees )

The weather was oddly nice--in the upper sixties with a slight breeze. There were quite a few people also out on the trails with their dogs. And the tree with the hollow base? Totally the home of David the Gnome. That theme song still makes me feel good. Oh, nostalgia. And the cave in the eighth picture is an abandoned coal mine with a sealed-up entrance.

A fan made a video for the demo of Greg Dulli's song Love. It's a gorgeous (yet extremely dark) song, and the video is beautifully made and compelling.

I found an old fic that I started in 2007 on my computer. And I'm mad at myself for never finishing it. There was such promise! It's a Dresden Files fic that features Karrin Murphy (because she's, like, the coolest) and Kincaid (probably because he sometimes reminds me of my favorite assassin--Edward). I initially started it after a passing comment was made in one of the novels about Karrin and Kincaid vacationing in Hawaii together. And I thought it would be fun to write a fic to fill in the gaps. I started it, but never finished. Boo to that.

I also found a neat ABVH-verse fic that featured Edward and an OFC of my making. It was an attempt to explore his character without pesky Anita getting in the way. And I'm doubly mad at myself for never finishing that one since it is already about 4,000 words. And it actually had a plot! It wasn't just fangirly drivel. Really.

And, Sam Trammell (Sam Merlotte from True Blood) went to my high school. No lie. Well, he attended ten years before me, but still. I saw it in the newspaper a few weeks ago. He was in town for a Halloween fest on the east end of town where I work. And even though I don't really like True Blood, I still have so much love for Sam Merlotte that it dwarfs my dislike of the sleaze-fest.

My rash? Shingles. After navigating the waters of the uninsured, I landed a doctor's appointment this morning. Despite my lack of pain, the doctor seems quite positive my rash is actually shingles that has taken up residence on my right side. There are only two small spots, and neither of them have blisters--just red bumps. Oh well. I'm taking twenty (yes, 2-0) capsules of acyclovir--four pills, five times a day. Sheesh. And to put icing on that cake, I got my period today. So, I'm eating Pamprin with that acyclovir. And I might even polish off an ice cream cone before bed just because I can.

I finally saw Star Trek, and it was better than I thought it would be. Yay for that. I have zero knowledge of the television series or any of the movies, so it was my gateway.

Not that the R&B world needs more base songs about sexin', but I love Lloyd so much that I dig anything he releases. And J. Holiday is on there, too. How can I not be in love?

( shh, be quiet )

Not to start this off with icky health-related issues, but... Two mornings ago I noticed a cluster of small red bumps just above the small of my back. They weren't itchy then, but they certainly are now. They are clustered together in somewhat of a rectangular pattern that is an inch by an inch and a half. The bumps themselves aren't huge and they are not painful, but they are not changing any either--no better or worse since Sunday morning. Allergic reaction, perhaps? I tried to do the self-diagnosis thing on the internet, but it just made me think I might be allergic to gluten. Which made me want to burst into tears because, well, BREAD and PASTA. My loves.

On a lark, I bought Stephen King's Under the Dome last week. I was jogging on the treadmill before work and saw him being interviewed on Good Morning America. I've been rationing it, but I've already consumed hundreds of pages. Luckily, it is over 1,000.

While knocking about the internet this evening, I found a gem of a Greg Dull song. It is a cover he recorded for a Doug Sahm tribute album. It's gorgeous and tragic and called "You Was for Real", and you must listen to it over here.

Meanwhile, my neighbor has been blasting REO Speedwagon, on and off, for the several days. He likes to go sit in his car and get his 30-years-too-late teenage angst on. I'd be annoyed if it weren't so perplexing and/or pathetic.

I've had this song stuck in my head for days. "You make me weep. I wanna die." Steve Perry, why do you have such a soulful voice?

I spent two hours at Women's Health (WV's version of Planned Parenthood) yesterday afternoon. They had the place locked down like Fort Knox with the gated parking lot and the three locked doors monitored by surveillance cameras. And that was just what you have to navigate to enter into the waiting room. Being newly uninsured and a first-timer to the clinic, I had to undergo a battery of tests which required blood and urine before I even had the (dis)pleasure of securing my feet into the stirrups of the exam table. Ugg. The super-conservatives would just die if they knew the clinic was handing out Plan B like candy on trick-or-treat. No lie. I just wanted a few months of birth control pills, and they sent me out the door with two "abortion pills" and a wad of condoms along with the four months of pills. Not that I mind, of course. Better safe than with child, I say.

Sunday night, I noticed a lump beneath the skin where my shoulder and neck connect. Being the neurotic freak I am, I immediately wonder if it is a monster tumor that is an indicator of cancer. And then I angst-ed over my lack of health insurance. I had the woman at the clinic feel my neck up, and she swears it is just a knot on my muscle. It certainly hurts like one should, so she's probably right. I iced it, and it has gone down in size. Sheesh.

Why is Glee so cute? I've watched all the episodes online in the past few days.

( bust a move )

It's nice to have weekends back. When wasn't working, the weekends were just like the weekdays. Now that Jason and I are working again, the weekends feel different--better. We went for a walk in the forest yesterday and saw this beside the road on our way.

( mr. deer )

Isn't he gorgeous? He had a rather impressive set of antlers, though they don't come through very well in the picture I snapped with my Blackberry. After walking, we decided on an Indian restaurant for dinner. I had aloo palak with nan, and it was very good. Jason and I both want to go back ASAP. And I want to learn how to cook Indian cuisine at home. Today, we had lunch at a sandwich shop by the river, and then walked along the river-side jogging trail for a couple miles. Along the way, we glanced over to the rocks that cover the bank down to the water and saw a neat (yet disturbing) statue.

( i'm drowning )

If the water had been up a bit higher, then it would have looked like a person drowning and reaching out for help. After our walk and my grandma's birthday party, we had the bean soup I've had simmering all day. Yum.

And thus ends my terribly boring journal entry. Off to work on my almost complete (maybe, hopefully) knitted shell.

I love how within two weeks of a television show premiere airing, there are multiple fansites, LJ communities, fanfiction, and icons about it. Fandom, you are so awesome (and industrious).

Work? It's actually going well. The annual budget is a pain in my ass, but it should be wrapped up by the end of the week. I had to return to the office this evening for the council meeting. I've been told it won't be a regular thing--just this once for the budget. I used the late meeting as an excuse to get take-away for dinner.

Reading? Slow going, really. I started Connie Willis' To Say Nothing of the Dog, which is most excellent. I'm just not in the right headspace to read anything at the moment.

Knitting? I'm actually making significant progress on a project for Christmas. It's a neat shirt with detachable sleeves I intended on giving to Jason's sister. I'm excited to see the finished project since it will be one of the most complicated knitting projects I've tackled. Originally, I planned on knitting a tank top for Jason's mom and a cardigan for his grandmother, but those are out of the question. I just won't have the time.

Music? Mew! I think this might be one of the neatest and oddest videos I've seen. Leave it up to the Danes, right? They also have an interesting video involving black blocks that shoot lasers.

Family? My brothers are quite possibly the laziest human beings on the planet, but that's not really a news flash. They are twenty-five, jobless, living with my parents, and video-gaming it all-day-every-day.

Working out? I'm doing it. I've been getting up at 6:30am (holy crap, early) and walking/jogging on the treadmill for 45 minutes before work. I have so much more energy.