A little while back, Jilli recommended this heat-pack/capelet item from Etsy. I've had terrible issues with neck and shoulder tension, and this thing is wonderful.

I thought I'd re-pimp it just in case anyone either forgot about it or was on the fence.

My god, Thailand is a violent place. Good thing they don't have guns, though.

Brenda, I love your story. I hope that means there is hope for me...but wait...I've given up...there's no hope for me. Yeah, that's right...

I am making veggie chili for my parents tonight. This should be interesting. First, I can't make it 1/10th as spicy as I like it, and secondly, my dad is very skeptical about the no meat thing. I had to pay $5 for a ginormous amount of cumin when I only need a little bit, but it was the only cumin they had at the grocery store.

Sue, do you use faux meat, or just no meat at all? Because I make mine with faux ground beef crumbles, and everyone who's ever given me the stinkeye about it being ewwwwwwwww!VEGETARIAN inevitably changes their tune when they actually eat it.

And, now that I've said that, it occurs to me that you shouldn't need faux meat to *also* create a chili that's tasty and awesome.

Finally, I am a spicy food wimp, and so my chili is not spicy at all, and I compromise by buying hot sauces that have things like "Diablo" and "Burning ASS" in the names, and people who want spicy chili can put hot sauce on it. It's not the same, of course, but since I want to eat my own chili, it's the best compromise.

Sue, do you use faux meat, or just no meat at all?

No meat at all. I eat meat, I just love my own veggie chilli. (I used to have vegetarian roomates, so I learned to cook a lot of meatless stuff.) I grate carrot to give it some texture and use lots of beans. The non-spicy thing, we'll have to see.

I'm sorry about the buffista car woes.

This morning I woke up for good at 4:30. I'd gone to bed around 11 and, as I'm not the parent of an infant, that was no where near enough sleep. Also, I was out of coffee. This combination of events drove me to Dunkin Donuts, where I got carb coated carbs cooked in fat, and the blessed coffee. By the time I'd gone back home, eaten, showered, and dressed the rest of the world caught up with me. So I hit Lowes for various and sundry goods including 4 bags of soil and a rake, came home, started turning a 10' X 6' patch of weedy dirt into a flower bed, realized I'd left the rake I bought at Lowes, went back for the rake and 6 more bags of soil, came home, spread the soil on top of the soaker hose and weed blocking paper, realized I need about 7 more bags of soil, said "fuck it" and came in for lunch.

Lord, I'm tired.

I'm meeting friends at a nearby museum in an hour and a half. After that I'll probably get the soil I need and finish the garden bed, because it's supposed to be thunderstorming all day tomorrow, and that's not gardening weather.

I'd damn well better sleep tonight.

My new project: a documentary about a Naked Mole Rat Irish folk band. Done entirely in robotic topiary and narrated by Martin Scorsese.

I would pay good folding money to see this.

The sad part is, I started shuffling through my mental roladex of Irish folk singers to make casting suggestions. It was working out pretty well before I got to the robotic topiary part, but I respect your vision Hec. And I'm sure Marty would love to oblige.

Speaking of oatmeal:

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28 days of oatmeal! I'm a little obsessed with trying some savory oatmeal. For breakfast. I love a savory breakfast!

I loved Ong Bak 1 after going along with a friend thinking I would hate it. It struck me later that after all the chop sockey and violence, the tragic reveal at the end took my breath away. I bawled like a baby even though I saw it coming.

Haven't seen the others. Should rectify that.