bought a real journal a couple weeks ago. the first in a few years, since before posman's on university place went out of business and became yet another posh village bodega. thick, handmade paper from nepal. thought about writing this in there instead of on here; still not really warm to the notion of posting my thoughts on the internet. much happier posting recipes. sleeping. cooking. reading. doing those, in that order, more than anything else lately. well, unless being worried counts.

been sleeping entirely too much. more and more thinking i should actually go after whatever degree and certifications will allow me to teach history. don't really know where to begin.

watched the last samurai last night. it's too bad tom cruise was the face of the movie; i would have seen it a lot sooner had it been someone else. they should have given ken wantanabe a much more prominent place in the ad campaign. him, and that little boy. it's a much more intelligent film than i expected, although a soundtrack by hans zimmer could probably make just about any movie seem that way. for the most part, it might as well have been called "dances with tigers," but i'm a sucker for that movie, too, so it doesn't really matter. i wept just as much, and as much out of anger as out of sadness. more, actually. romanticized fiction tapping right into the emotions that belong most properly to the actual history. what can i say, i'm a child of spielberg and sci-fi.

today, washed all the dishes that the sink has been patiently holding onto over the weekend, because i hate using a dishwasher anymore (noisy, wasteful of water and electricity and smells funky), unless there's been a lot of people over, but it's gotten difficult to do that. made a pot of brown rice (still don't understand why people use rice cookers; it's so easy to do on a stove, even an electric one). sauteed some garlic, onion, mushrooms and spinach in olive oil and a little chicken broth, with sea salt, pepper and a dash of nutmeg. mixed it with the rice, then grated parmesean all over it and mixed that through. i'll add a drizzle of mom's homemade pesto (from homegrown basil) before we eat it with s & l tonight or some evening soon.

on a day like this, it should be perfect. it's the first real grey, rainy, almost cool day there's been since the last time i mentioned what a wonderful dreary day it was. been feeling a lot like autumn despite the heat: big bold clouds slung low all across the sky, ravishing electric sunsets. dreamed of wearing all my autumn clothes the other night; woke up wanting to put on all my sweaters at once and drink tea. there's a new game on orisinal that made me decide to act on at least the latter half of that desire.

drinking tea now. no sweater, though. poured some boiling water over an earl grey teabag and promptly forgot about it. remembered just a bit ago, annoyed that it would probably be undrinkably strong by now. this is what michael t. drank every day after school; how much it had to do with a certain captain of the enterprise, i'm not sure. i warmed to it over time, but usually drank irish breakfast instead (perfect for the middle of the afternoon). for some reason, i spent many years thinking oil of bergamot (and miso; don't ask me why) were both derived from fish, and avoided them (i also spent most of my childhood becoming nervous and confused whenever we drove brazely past a sign that clearly said "no passing"). learned better. love them now.

michael and i both agreed that black tea was best underbrewed--he would usually pull his bag (and half the water in his cup) out three dunks after pouring water over it. i gave mine about a minute. today, it had enough time that the water had gone from boiling to lukewarm before i remembered it. so i pulled the bag without squeezing out what was surely the bitterest water left inside, added a spoonful of sugar (the organic stuff eric left behind after his rhubarb custard pies were made) and several gulps of milk, rewarmed it in the microwave, and am happy with the results.

also, i love this mug. i have two mugs that i love. one was commissioned from em by carissa; it's mostly blueish and has a handle. the other is this one, which i bought from a bargain basket at mayfair for just a few dollars. it's the color of buttercream poured over spicecake, with just aa few hints of blueberries and blackberries. and milked tea looks perfect inside. there's no handle, just a perfect cup shape, a little fuller at the bottom and at the lip, to snuggle inside my hands.

i have the theatre to myself for most of this week. i might even go in, just because.

also, thanks to ally for introducing me to www.iloveegg.com

and if you don't already know about them, discover www.pacificyurts.com