Nerd Cocktail

I am kind of nerdtastic.  In high school I was in sciencey activities and band, dabbled in Bollywood watching and more pertinently to this post, anime.  My brother was really in to Japanese culture – studying the language, did a short study abroad program there, the works, so there was always a steady influx of anime in our house (later dorama as well).  Leo acted as a filter for me.  He would watch the bulk of the shows and then pass on whatever he thought I’d like.  I did the same for him with fantasy novels, so we were good.

One of the shows he passed on to me was a kid’s show about a detective school, because I am a huge fan of mysteries and the detective novel.  And so my equally nerdtastic friend Victoria and I started in on Tantei Gakuen Q or Detective Academy Q.

Kyu with his skunk patch.

We will eat what we will, THANK you.

A few months ago, freshly graduated and unemployed, I spent several days laying around waiting for my friends to get back in town or someone to please please please call me back for an interview to some menial job or another.  Needless to say, I ended up watching a lot of TV, especially since it was pouring down rain the entire time.  Eventually, I ran out of good TV to watch and began flipping through the On Demand menu and fell to a low I never thought I’d reach: multiple episodes of MTV’s 16 and Pregnant.

During this onslaught of mind-numbing programming it suddenly occurred to me that every single one of my good friends had managed to escape this fate – we were all baby-free college graduates.  And suddenly my heart swelled with pride.  As invitations for weddings and baby showers began to clog my mailbox, I started to think.  Shouldn’t we also be celebrating our own, non-marketed brand of good fortune?  I needed a party to cleanse my palate of congratulatory Hallmark cards.

Thus: the Thank GOD I’m Not Pregnant Party.

It's hard to find favor boxes for a party like this. Dutch mints and condoms go well together, though.

Lavender loveliness lies in my liquor

This past summer I went to the Annual Lavender Festival in Sequim, Washington.  We toured farms, ate overpriced fair food, smelled soaps and soups of lavender, and sometimes just frolicked.

So beautiful, so fragrant...so tasty?

Being me, I bought a giant bag of culinary lavender and instantly started dreaming up various ways to use it.  When I got home, I realized I had bought probably way more than I could use (a full mason jar), but instead of giving into despair, I threw myself recklessly into the challenge.