VampAmber’s Clutter

As some of you know by now, I’m a sucker for good food. I love the wonderful tastes that a good meal can provide. Well, I’m especially a sucker for seafood. Shrimp, crab, lobster, I drool just thinking about them right now. Well, apparently I’m not the only person out there having a love affair with seafood. GreatAmericanSeafoodCookOff.com has pretty much the same ideas as I do.

There’s currently a contest going on, both for the chefs who created the recipes, and the people voting for which one will win. I absolutely adore cook offs on Food Network and such, so this is right up my alley. Only this time, instead of watching the judges vote, I get to do it myself. Fun, no?

And as I said, you who vote are part of a contest, too. The winning voter gets a trip for two to New Orleans. That would be so much fun! That’s why you guys should go vote for your favorite recipe in the cook off. Go, now. No, wait! Finish my post, then go vote.

Anyway, not to sway your judgment in any way, shape or form (because that wouldn’t be fair to the chefs competing), but my favorite recipe has to be the Texas Gulf Shrimp by chef Mark Holley. Makes me want to go to Texas (where he’s from, coincidentally, heh heh) and try it. It looks so utterly delicious. Doesn’t hurt that it’s positively covered in big shrimp. I really am curious about those hominy cakes that it’s piled on top of. I really like me some hominy, so I can’t help but wonder what hominy cakes would taste like. I almost wonder if I could figure out my own recipe for it (because I highly doubt I can make ‘em anywhere near as good as the Mark guy).

The best part is, this whole thing is to encourage people to use domestic seafood (at least, I’m pretty sure that’s why). Domestic seafood is the best, because it’s fresh, so you don’t hafta worry about it. And supporting those local fisherman is always a good thing. Sometimes, it even tastes better, because they don’t have to freeze it as deeply for shipping (or if you’re lucky and live near the ocean, they don’t need to freeze it at all).

So go vote, do your shrimp-riotic duty. And don’t forget entering for that New Orleans trip. If you win, you could give it to me in thanks, even. ^_^

Every time I read Fight Club, I always get attached to a different quote. That’s the latest reading’s quote. And it’s true for me. Complete is a lie; content is fleeting; and perfect doesn’t exist. I want to bask in my wickedness and disease. I am human waste, and damn proud of it. Because everybody is exactly like I am. Thank you, Chuck, for writing such a kickass book.

In other news, I’m starting to wonder if prison is really as bad as it seems. Because John should not be allowed to breath. Seriously. All he EVER does is yell at me. The latest bitch-fest was because I needed to go see the psychiatrist. I’ve been lacking Prozac for almost a week now, and boy is it kicking in. But Joooooohn says that DB T group is worthless, then he threw in some absolute bullshit about how I should quit for Jim’s sake. What the fucking fuck? In what twisted world does that make sense in? Stop getting medical help for my boyfriend’s sake? Yeah, maybe he should stop seeing his doctors for mom’s sake. See how he likes that.

Thank the gods I’m going to Jim’s tomorrow, for almost a week. I cannot stand being in this house whenever assfuck John is here. I will never understand my mother’s stupidity in marrying him.

It seems like anything I adore that’s fan-based is over before it ends. *weeps* A few years ago, Rich got me reading this doujinshi online, but I stopped reading it. Well, I started reading it again, but… but… It hasn’t updated since 2006! *weeps furiously* Damn you, Bleedman, for making the Powerpuff Girl Doujinshi so addictive! Then you had to go and stop updating! *keeps on weeping at the unfairness of life*

Seriously, though, don’t laugh. It may be the Powerpuff Girls, but it’s really good. He uses all kinds of characters from both Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon. The storyline rocks, the drawings are extra-awesomeness, and I love the whole damn thing. It just hasn’t been updated in two years. That’s my only complaint. *weeps still*

I’ll just hafta make a ton of icons for Vertigo-use only for myself from it, I guess.

Any more, I like to go off the beaten path of the internet and try to find things you might not find otherwise. My latest find is RankNoodle.com, a new man-powered search engine. Now, I know exactly what you guys are thinking: why use that when there are more popular search engine tools at my disposal? Well, sometimes, I think it’s good to try those lesser-known sites. It’s kind of like those little Mom & Pop stores that were around when I was younger. I used to frequent a lot of them. But they’re not around any more, because major corporations made them go out of business. I say, support the little guy. If you’re going to do a search online, maybe you should try other sites. After all, every big company had to start out small.

Gyah! I was being a bad girl, and reading yet another webcomic (since I finished the archives of PVP already), even though I have a ton of library books I need to finish. Well, I was just punished for being a bad girl, apparently. I decided to try No Pink Ponies, and I got really into it. It’s so cute! But it hasn’t been updated since February ‘08! FEBRUARY! Nuuuuuu!

Can you tell I’ve gotten way too deep into webcomics lately? It seems like all I ever do online lately is Vertigo and webcomics. -_-; Oh well, at least I’m enjoying myself. By the way, you should seriously look into all the webcomics I put in my blogroll thingie, they all rock.

I dood it agin. I stayed up til almost 6am, reading webcomics. This time, though, instead of Friendly HOSTILITY, I was up way too late reading PVP. Damn you, overly-addictive webcomics! You’re too good, so I can’t stop reading!

Oh, yeah, I’ve also been finding new music like crazy. Jim introduced me to this great site, called Pandora Radio, which has been showing me such great music. Basically, you put in a band or singer you like, and they give you music that’s kinda like it. I’ve put in Basement Jaxx, They Might Be Giants, and Barenaked Ladies so far. So much <3! Turns out the band Cake is pretty freaking awesome, as is Better Than Ezra, and Arctic Monkeys. *squee!*

The bad part about reading so many webcomics, though (you know, not including the eye strain, the back hurting from sitting bad for such a long period, and the lack of sleep because I keep clicking the “next comic” button without thinking of the time), is how much I miss reading real books. I still need to finish House Of Leaves, and re-reading Fight Club. Plus, I have a few hundred of my own books I need to get to. -_-; I just hope, after all this comic-obsession, I can read without pictures again. ^_^

You know, it’s kinda sad. I still have yet to buy new blinds for my window in my bedroom yet. Bindi keeps getting tangled into them, and they were the cheaply-made ones in the first place, so they’re getting pretty ragged. That, and they’re beige, so they let allllllllllllll the light in when I’m trying to sleep. Very of the not fun.

So, I’ve been looking around for good-quality window blinds, and found BlindSaver.com. Pretty nice site, really. The prices are nice, too. And if I know you guys at all, that’s the first thought in your head when I mention blinds. That’s probably the reason I haven’t gotten around to getting mine yet.

I’ve been wandering through the site, and can’t help but notice how pretty some of these sets are. Ooooooh, shiny. Especially the Hunter Douglas ones. I mean seriously, they’re such high quality. It would take Bindi a long time, and a lot of effort, to be able to destroy those (and try she would, if I know her at all). But just because those are my favorites, doesn’t mean you can’t look around the rest of the site. They’re all great, and I’m sure they’d have what you were looking for. They even have a comparison on the front page, showing their prices, and their competitors. It’s almost like one of those car insurance commercials. It’s great. Don’t hurt that they’re the cheapest ones, either.

I just went job-hunting again. Worst mistake I’ve made in a long time. Half the places I went aren’t even hiring any more, and the other half took my name and will “call you if we’re interested.” Gods, I feel miserable now. I’m never going to get hired, am I? I mean, gods, even McDonald’s won’t hire me! I feel so low right now.

What if I never get hired? I’ll never get out of this hellhole, never get to move in with Jim, never have a real life…. *cries*

Why the hell can’t somebody just hire me already?!?!?!

I was just watching snippets from Tiny Toon Adventures on YouTube. Heh heh heh. I used to ADORE that show. I’m half tempted to get the DVDs. Oh, and Animaniacs, too. And as many other cartoons I loved as a child as I can. I miss seeing reruns of this stuff on channels like The WB and such. Cartoon Network needs to buy the rights to some of them, shows kids what cartoons used to be like (before they started sucking). I know a lot of the people my age would be happy. Nostalgia rocks sometimes.

In other news, I’m trying to get back into webcomics again. I think what did it in for me last time (other than the depression giving me a lack of interest in everything) was that I was trying to keep up with too many at once. So this time, it’s just six (seven when I finally get around to re-reading the Sluggy Freelance archives). Something Positive, of course. It was one of my absolute favorite ones, back when I was still into webcomics. Then there’s Sparkling Generation Valkyrie Yuuki. I just lovelove that one, it’s so hilarious. It’s one of the two manga-style webcomics I’m reading at the moment. The other one is Red String, which I just started reading today. I found it by clicking on a link on the s*p page. It’s actually pretty cute (if you like shoujo). I’m also getting back into DMFA. I just love the storylines in that one. Doesn’t help that the Amber that writes it is my kinda crazy. w00t! Oh, yes, and we can’t forget XKCD. It’s one of Jim’s favorites, and he got me hooked on it. I don’t understand every single strip, but what few leave me clueless, Jim explains to me and I giggle. And last but not least, is a webcomic called F@NBOY$, which my friend Aaron introduced to me. It’s the typical gamer comic (if gamer comics can ever be “typical”), but it’s not a cookie-cutter one like some I’ve seen. So very yays there. If you’re ever curious about them, I put up a new link section, called (surprisingly enough) webcomics. ^_^

I think something’s wrong with my keyboard again. Some of the keys, when I press them, it pretends that I also pressed the key next to it. Gyarg. I hope I don’t hafta blow what little money I have left on a new keyboard. -_-;

Seems like this summer, everybody’s traveling. One of my friends went to New York, and another one went to Hawaii. I think my niece, Brittanie, went to Hawaii awhile back, too. Gods, I would love to travel to somewhere exotic, or at least somewhere really interesting. I would love to hit up Ireland, or Australia, or England. Even California would be neat. Thankfully, finding cheap flights online is a pretty painless experience. Cfares.com makes traveling so much easier. And the best part is, not only do they offer inexpensive airfare, but they have a section for cheap hotels, too. Makes the whole vacation fun, easy, and cheap. ^_^

My big travel-related dream right now is to travel to Ireland, and see all the pretty sites and sounds. Maybe even kiss the Blarney Stone, while I’m at it. I mean, seriously, have you seen the beauty and splendor that is the Irish countryside? I fell in love with Ireland long ago, but it was when I was watching The Matchmaker that I really wanted to go visit it so desperately.

Besides, I’ve never even been on a plane before. The stationary planes on display at the Air Force Museum don’t count, because they’re basically big props. I want to fly somewhere someday, see something that’s far away. I sound like a kid when I say that, but it’s completely true.

Wish me luck on flying somewhere, someday.