Brooklyn Flea has some new vendors

Yeah, I'm waiting a few more weeks to see if the crowds thin out a little before I go there.

ooohhh... Brooklyn Flea looks great. Too bad I'm too far away.

I had my spa week cheap massage today. It was supposed to be a hot stone massage, but the stones never got hot so I got an invite to come back and let them have a do-over.

I t heart spa week.

Typo Boy, if you have a can of diced tomatoes, some celery, and some wine, you could make a quick-and-dirty Manhattan chowder. I usually do it as follows:

1 15oz. can chopped tomatoes
about 1/2 bottle white wine (you can use red instead, or even just equivalent amount of chicken stock)
onions and celery, chopped up
something fishlike (I have used salmon, canned clams, whitefish, and shellfish
oregano, salt, pepper, and lemon juice for spices
potatoes if you have them

Basically, all in the pot, in the order you might expect, and simmer 20-30 minutes or till everything is done. It is a very winter-homey soup, but really easy, and I don't know any other fish soup recipes.

I spent a bit over an hour at the Arboretum. Mostly daffodils and poppies and the smaller magnolias. Can't wait for the azaleas and dogwoods. And tiger lilies!

Have erranded and bought 4 shirts at Target. Will shortly hit Home Despot for flowers. I'll probably do the actual gardening tomorrow.

They get bankrolled by people with money to get back in the game, essentially making only a percentage of what they win. It's a big, underground economy in Vegas.

My impression from Phil was basically that other gamblers are your Savings & Loan. It was a big deal for him to get backed by other players for a high stakes (quarter mil) game.

Kat, do you have a recommendation for a good spa place?

That's great news on Scola's date and Kat's job. Well done, universe.

We won our games last night (in a walk) and today (nailbiter). Our team is now 6-1. Emmett had a big RBI that made the difference in today's game.

I had my normal therapuetic massage just now. She wants me to start taking cleansing stuff, which I'm so not wanting to do. But she has a very holistic viewpoint about my migraines, so I feel kind of ungrateful turning down her concerned suggestion.

In the meanwhile as long as she continues doing the nice gentle sacral-cranial stuff, as well as working on my stupid calf edemas, we're good.

I think I have enough energy to venture back out into the world. This would make the first weekend in very many that I've been out twice. Twice in the two days--never mind just one. But I am going to keep it slow and gentle...yesterday's ER trip resulted in a new "personal best" of dilaudid and I don't want to waste it.

Speaking of s dilaudid, I caught another episode of Criminal Minds (they showed a scene in AA or somesuch where the geek reveals he had a dilaudid addiction), and it seems on the surface of it something I quite like--they're crisp purists when it comes to profiling (hence the title, duh), but the resolution to some very horrific violence was oddly low key--they just text messaged the girl and told her to leave the guy on the shooting spree, and she basically did, with pretty low conflict.

I guess that means I need to watch another episode to get a proper opinion.

I bought tongs the other day! For frying. And I used them already yesterday. They were very handy. But they're all metal so I'm using them gingerly in the non-stick pans. I really need a non-non-stick skillet. America's Test Kitchen just did an evaluation and highly recommended a $70 pan (the better one was ~$120, but it was better only because it had an extra handle) but I'm wavering on buying it. This migraine diet, if nothing else, can serve as a push for me to cook more often, which would be good for both my nutrition and my wallet. So I should buy it! It's totally obvious!

Nah, still wavering.

Anyway. Off to supermarket.

Oh, and in "ick" news:

Jack Bauer had many friends at Guantánamo Bay, Beaver said, "he gave people lots of ideas." She believed the series contributed to an environment in which those at Guantánamo were encouraged to see themselves as being on the frontline - and to go further than they otherwise might.

The hell? Gitmo inspired by Jack? I know the man behind the show's a raging right winger, and all that, but actual torturers look to TV for violent influence? I wonder what that says to people that Grand Theft Auto has no effect on their thirteen year old kids.

Now, I love Jack when he stabs someone in the leg, or whatever, but there's a big banner of :FICTION: flying over that whole thing. I'm soured on the show by the thought of such a link to reality.

I am always boggled that you manage to catch the bad (less strong?) Criminal Minds eps. Not that the last one was bad, but the resolution bit was weak. I clicked back twice and turned off my auto commercial skip because I was certain I'd missed an entire scene somehow.

I'm soured on the show by the thought of such a link to reality.