Mishaps and other haps

So I thought I went a little overboard with the chocolate liquor in the brownies I made for work today, but people keep saying that they like them, so maybe it was just the right amount.

That’s Tomorrow, people.

Today is Mardi Gras! Go for ice cream! Dance on the streets until people stare at you!

Gaming yesterday: I am kind of liking this cleric business. I have played characters before that I have been really frustrated with because it seemed like they were totally useless at times.

Not so with the cleric (or the druid, for that matter)! They heal (magically and naturally), they fight, they buff, they cast offensive AND defensive spells. And clerics turn. Three times a day, every day, whether there are undead or not! Well, Spruce turns three times per day, anyway. I can’t really speak for other clerics.

The only problem comes if you are a dead cleric and I am working hard on that issue right now. Spruce took Diehard as his third-level feat, so if he does die, he won’t bleed to death slowly and unconsciously– he will just hit -10 and explode.

After we get all of the treasure divided from the mod we tore apart, I think Spruce will be sending a hefty sum back home. If the church is paid for soon, he will start working on a community center for orc and half-orc children. I’ll bet lots of those half-orc kids get abandoned, so maybe this community center will include an orphanage. Many orcs from Spruce’s tribe* would jump at the opportunity for local volunteer work.

* note for those not in our Sunday game: Spruce is not an orc, but deep down he sort of wishes he was.

Oh, this cheese bread smells so good and I really want to eat it all up right now, but I have to save it for gaming tomorrow so I can share it with people. Oh, it’s gonna be so hard!

More evidence today that I am an easy creature to tease. I really wonder what it is about me that makes even complete strangers think I am a good person to subject to the teasing. I guess I am very obviously ridiculous from top to bottom. Any attempt to behave seriously probably makes me look sillier. So I am just going to give up on having my feelings hurt by it and accept it and tease back when possible.

I just want to take a moment to document that I have thoroughly enjoyed living on this planet for 29 years now and I plan to continue making it my home, possibly until my body functions cease at some undetermined point in the future.

If I choose to live elsewhere, I will still try to update my blog now and then– if my new planet includes internet access. If it does not include internet access, the level of other amenities will certainly have to be high.

But I do like it here and I want to stay for the present.

However, this means abiding by my own rules and counsel, which are not necessarily the same as those set forth by the governing body on the piece of land I inhabit.

So I hope that people will understand that I am a free entity and keep this in mind if I don’t do things according to certain guidelines set forth by the governing body.

I will try to continue bribing it with the usual funds if I can stand it. I know it does some things that are intended to make people’s lives easier, but also it errs a lot. So I might ignore it mostly.

I hope this will be OK.

Well, I have been told this morning that it is a great day for our Nation.

This morning, a couple of groundhogs will be interviewed about their position on the duration of Winter.

Later in the day, another rodent will make a speech.

In the interval, I expect there will be a penguin ice-skating competition.

At least I will know which program to save the rotten eggs for.

Me and my cheap shots

Yay! I was an eligible donor this afternoon!

If you are able, but have never donated blood, I would recommend giving it a try. It is not hard, there is minimal pain or discomfort, and it only takes about an hour– even on a busy donation day. It is very helpful to other people and sometimes saves lives. My mom had to have blood when my sister was born, so that is part of the reason I decided to give in the first place.

Each time you donate, you have to re-read the donation booklet, answer some questions about your own health, and submit to a mini-exam (finger prick to test iron, blood pressure and temperature check). Those things take the longest. The actual donation probably takes about 10 minutes on average. Then you can eat the cookies or muffins and juice.

Today my iron was right on the borderline for donating. It was 38, exactly what you need to donate. The nurse had to spin it to get the exact number because the droplet she tested initially wanted to float. So she was trying to figure out why: Was I menstruating? Was I a vegetarian? Ah-ha! A vegetarian! She noted that vegetarians “always have trouble.” I was thinking “So do a lot of other people who don’t pay attention to how much iron they’re getting in their diet.”

But mine was high enough. I donated. I donated prolifically. I could have filled TWO 500 ml bags. I was pumped (partly by the vegetarian comment). The woman beside me started her donation first, but I was a “speed demon” (as one nurse said) and finished well ahead of her– the blood was so eager to escape its confinement within my vascular system that I was done in like 5 minutes. Maybe 3. Well, it was awfully fast. (Remarkably, my blood pressure was like 108/52 when I arrived at the donation camp. This is on the low side of normal, people. Maybe I should consider a career as an assassin.)

Then I gloated about the vegetarian thing and had cookies. And watched the other woman named Lisa recover (I knew before she made it to the chair that she was going to have trouble– she was scared).

A whole-wheat pita filled with hummus and couscous is a really messy thing to have for breakfast.

For the people back home, picture grits & a smear of butter wrapped in a pancake. Couscous is pretty clearly the wheat equivalent of grits in texture and taste.

Maybe I should have cut the pita open and used the little pockets.

Oh, well.

**I just clarified my information. Technically, couscous is pasta. Very small pasta. Semolina. Wheat particles. It is tasty with other things, but does not have a lot of taste by itself.**

So, grits. I don’t know why I’m on about grits today. I don’t think I had any the last time I visited people. I’m sure I could find some in Madison, but I’ll bet they would be inadequate. Nothing quite as bad as inadequate grits, especially cold, congealed, inadequate grits.