Girl with the Tattoo

I saw dandelions! I swear, out walking the dogs in the bit of sunshine we had I definitely saw dandelions and was not hallucinating. Must mean spring is here! Sweet!

Based on some items I had in my freezer, cupboard and fridge I decided yesterday to make beef stew, and do so with a new recipe. I like taking a recipe and using it as a base, a standard by which to change things and make them my own. For me to follow a recipe to the T doesn't happen, but it's important to me when it comes to how long to cook things, what temperature etc. Also, what to put together to get a good flavour. So, new beef stew recipe. Although I was definitely amused when I looked at the details. I always sorta glance at the 'cooking time' that they state, but I've never paid much attention to the 'preparation time'. BAHA now I know why. Apparently that beef stew was supposed to take 15mins to prepare. Well, I don't know who is chopping up all their vegetables for the big pot but honestly! Maybe it's the slapchop guy with his gadget, or some asian chefs with fancy sharp knives. Ya, my kitchen knives suck and I need new ones but that doesn't change the fact that whoever wrote that was full of crap. 15 mins my ass... lol.. ok maybe it was close to 15 mins but it seemed a whole lot longer!

Today, thursday, I have to undergo an unfortunate errand. You see, when I was in a different time and place I had a tattoo done on my right hip. Now, the unfortunate part of having a friend who is an accomplished tattoo artist is if he says something to you like 'do you mind if I try out this new ink technique I've never used before', as a friend you feel inclined to go 'sure, no problem'. My advice to you is, don't. I have put this day off now for what seems like ever. I just don't want to go through it. I'm too happy to punish myself with pain! But it's inevitable, it needs to be fixed. I figure there is no time like the present, and I may as well suck it up. I am a bit whiney because I don't want to but I figure since I already got this far I may as well have it finished properly. I will let you know how it goes, although I'm feeling slightly weak about it.

Finally, I've learned that a book series I'm very fond of has become a movie! The downside is that because we live in the boonies, ahem, excuse me I mean rural newfoundland, we will not get this movie here. No one famous is in it. This doesn't bother me, it just means I will have to wait til dvd. Any of you people in a city, you might wanna check out The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo when it comes to theatres this friday. The book series is amazing, by Stieg Larsson. Honestly, such amazing reading material, I can't speak highly enough of it (but if I remember correctly the first chapter or two hurt a bit). LOVE IT!