I got the bleu cheese because I went with some vegan friends to a restaurant up in Rockville for lunch, and we figured that, since we were there anyway, we'd go to Pangea, which is a vegan store near the restaurant. They sell all kinds of specialty items and imported stuff, so we all just bought various things that we'd never tried before. The bleu cheese is from Scotland. I also got some candy from England, and cheddar cheese from an American company that's supposed to be incredible but they aren't selling it retail yet. I usually don't use the fake cheeses too often, but this place had a bunch of brands that I'd heard were really good and that you can't get anywhere else around here, so I figured I'd give them a shot.

A friend of mine got some vegan feta for a dinner we had a while back--they didn't have plain, at the store, so he got two flavored kinds (i think sundried tomato and garlic, maybe?). But they were both pretty good. Not quite feta-y...they were too dry...but still good. We suggested cutting them up in strips and using them in a wrap with the quinoa and bean main dish that it had been planned to be sprinkled on, which had leftovers.

I have found good vegan bleu cheese, and good vegan mayo

What brands? I have a vegan friend I like to cook for.

The bleu cheese is Sheese, which is a Scottish brand which is pretty hard to find in the US. The mayo is Veganaise, which is available at pretty much every Whole Foods and health food store, and sometimes even regular supermarkets. (It's in the refrigerated section.) If you want a cheese that'll melt, go with the Follow Your Heart Vegan Gourmet, available wherever the Veganaise is, since they're from the same company. But don't use that one as the centerpiece of a dish -- it works fine for something that you think, "This would be even better if it had some melted cheese on it," but it's too bland to make a cheese-centered dish interesting.

(I actually never really liked mayo before I was vegan, but I love Veganaise. It's not as greasy as mayo with egg.)

ack. It has started. Last week my first HS sent out 20 year reunion party invites. Now college is. I dunno why, but reunions have little appeal to me.

I dunno why, but reunions have little appeal to me.

Because you're sane?

I'm at this part of my writing where I'm quite frustrated I don't understand mathematics better. I need someone in my life to explain it to me better.

Also, I'm starting to be stressed about not having a job yet. I got interviews ahead of me, but getting a good job is in the way of keeping my education on the top of the priorities.

And now, dishes, followed by more brilliant-paper-writing.

Job~ma to you, Shir.

Good luck Shir.

I've always had the impression that the people I'd most like to catch up with at a reunion would be the people most likely to not go to a reunion.

I'm back! Hugs interwebs Still no internet, cable or phone at home. They're saying that the outage has been fixed. NOT BLOODY LIKELY!!! They said "there's no power to the modem, unplug it and plug it back in" When I pointed out that it has a battery backup, they were confused. I further pointed out that I have another TV that is not connected to the modem (connected directly to the wall), and it doesn't work either. Then they couldn't give me an evening appointment until Thursday. I said "My understanding is that not having phone service makes this a priority outage, why do I have to wait until Thursday?" I have escalated to supervisor, who has to call me back because "I can't transfer you to a supervisor who isn't there". Oh, we will have words.

Today's xkcd is for anyone who ends up as family tech support. (And don't forget to read the alt-text.)