ruthi

ruthi @ 2009-11-26T00:39:00

2009-11-26T00:42:08Z

I have googlewave invites.
Comment with an email address, if you want one.

ETA: comments now screened.

***

http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/32115 URL expander thingie for firefox, I think. Hover over the shortened URLs in twitter and such, and the little yellow box will say what the URL is.

I bought myself a new pen.

2009-11-14T14:57:17Z

I'm really enjoying this pen, it has gel ink and the ink flows so nicely. I am enjoying using the pen on this particular flat cardboard surface, it's just - so smooth, but with just enough resistance and soaking in the ink - there's a word for that, I'm sure. absorption. Absorbency.
I like decorating this cardboard box. even though it's used and empty. I like that it's a firm surface to draw on. The table and the other table and the escritoire are too cluttered.

I like pausing from reading the internet and just drawing abstract designs. It makes me feel happy and peaceful and creative.

I like having a new pen that does different things than the pens I already have. I am very much a consumer. Which reminds me: I'm nearly out of specially-soft tissues. I shall soon go out and buy more.

Other tabs open in this browser include shopping things: ideas for presents and a useful thing I have wanted for a while, which I would not mind receiving as a present. I wouldn't mind remembering how to spell 'receive', either. It keeps getting the red underline of spelling-check under it, to remind me to transpose the i and the e.

ruthi @ 2009-11-13T00:37:00

2009-11-13T01:35:47Z

I got out of the flat twice today.

I looked up the post-office and how far it was, and decided to walk there and see if I could make it before it closed.
I got out at around five, and got out of the post-office by quarter past five or so. Yay. I have finally mailed out a book that had been requested from me via bookmooch er, more than six weeks ago, I think.
I had anticipated that getting out to post books would be a problem for me.

After the post-office,I bought myself a new umbrella, since my old one had broken a spoke (are they called spokes in umbrellas? I nearly wrote 'rib'). It is a folding umbrella, and it felt satisfyingly solid. It protected me from rain on the way home and it did not blow inside-out when there were strong gusts of wind. Those are good things. The closing button is plastic and looks easily-breakable. I hope it isn't.

I got out again - I met the beloved in central london, and we ate food
(Gabi's diner fed me vegetable soup, and the courgette in it was still firm, almost crunchy, not soggy and soft. It was salty enough for me, though, which might mean 'a bit too salty' for other people. I also had falafel, and the falafel balls were warm and recently fried and had the right temperature and texture and saltiness... but not quite the right flavour, I prefer them with more cumin and garlic. The tea, however, was perfect.)
, and then watched a film - Pixar's 'Up'.

Up was beautiful and moving and pretty and I was glad I had tissues with me. It was fun to watch. Maybe I'll have more thinky thoughts later.

ruthi @ 2009-11-11T23:54:00

2009-11-12T00:58:52Z

This evening, I watched Babylon5 with friends, as we had been doing about once a week since February of last year.
We watched the last episode of Season 5 tonight. That was the End.
It was good to have seen the series, it was fun to watch.

***

Other things done today: socks dug out from behind and around the laundry basket and put through the wash.
Bin emptied and new bin-bag put in.
Washed socks hanged out to dry. There are many. They took up almost all the drying-space.

Banana eaten, and tomato eaten, and a mince-pie eaten. (I got organic mince-pies from able and cole, and the Authentic Bread Company mince-pies they have are dairy-free. Tasty, too.)

Post delivered today: an discount card: BiTE. http://www.bitecard.co.uk/ All they take is one's name, address, email address, phone number, and a small bit of one's soul*. They give a 20% discount at some railway station food and drink chain shops. (Sadly, even though 'Paul' have a shop in Euston station, there's no discount for them.) This might be useful to people who travel in the UK by train.

Film seen recently: Starter for Ten starring James MacAvoy, via the BBC iPlayer. That was fun to watch, despite some cringe-worthy moments here and there. I thought the main character was established well, so that when he did stupid things, I was not screaming at him 'Why are you doing that?', I was mostly nodding sadly and thinking that it was exactly what he would do at that point. Also there was Dominic Cooper.

Also watched: a BBC thing, 'What Darwin Didn't Know'- and that was fascinating, the things that were known then -when Darwin wrote 'On The Origin of Species' - and the things that have been discovered since, the stuff that was general knowledge to me, or in science-classes when I was 14. I'm glad I had downloaded it and kept it to watch :)

ruthi @ 2009-11-10T13:01:00

2009-11-10T13:19:35Z

I've had a social couple of weeks.

Now I have a cold, a sore throat, very little voice.
I am out of honey and nice soft tissues.
On the other hand, I have plenty of self-pity.

I have been to a church-wedding and now have a step-mother-in-law.
I have danced with my new step-mother-in-law's son-in-law
(note: not her step-son-in-law)

I have been to a birthday party and a housewarming party:
There was mulled cider and a model of a standing stone circle made of gingerbread.

There were visits to the pub, and watching babylon5 (nearly at the end of season 5, now)

I have lemsip, I have tea. I have soup.
I will be okay.

ruthi @ 2009-10-26T00:05:00

2009-10-26T18:46:55Z

Today I was angry and disappointed and then I ate some food. OMG, food. Don't ever leave me.

~~~

Today the lounge looks awesome because the beloved has done a lot of tidying up.

~~~

I put the mop-head through the washing machine with some bleach and now it is clean. Yay clean cleaning-thing.

~ Then the beloved put his towel on the bathroom floor because he had nothing to wipe the floor with after his shower.
Took the mop-head out of the washing machine, put the towel in the washing machine.
Go me.

~~~

I have started reading Pride and Prejudice http://www.pemberley.com/janeinfo/pridprej.html online. There are hypertext annotations. Which is fun but distracting. I keep opening tabs in the background to see what the annotations say.

~~~

I updated the ubuntu to 9.10 . I like it, so far. And that's when suddenly I noticed. VLC and Movie Player had the 'hue' set to 0 instead of somewhere in the middle and all things played via either of them showed white people as cyan people with green lips. iPlayer showed white people looking pink, so I knew the computer was okay. I figured it out and solved it myself.

The twitter client I had been using, 'Gwibber', is broken. I can't sign in.

~~~

A person I knew said mean things about queers - baseless generalisations and misapprehensions and insinuations about a minority he is not part of - and it made me angry. I didn't know what to say - it was in someone else's livejournal, and I know the people so I couldn't just yell and and forget about it in an angry drive-by comment and ...stuff. I decided to go away and think about it, and I ended up not saying anything. Another person told them they were wrong, in much calmer tones.

ruthi @ 2009-10-23T20:14:00

2009-10-23T19:58:20Z

A one minute summary of last night's Question Time, courtesy of cassetteboy(youtube)

http://bookshop.livejournal.com/1005151.html Hot Fuzz slash on twitter by simon pegg and edgar wright

ruthi @ 2009-10-22T01:15:00

2009-10-22T17:33:32Z

On Monday I cooked twice:
once a meal of chickpeas (I wrote out how I made it) and rice, once a meal of leeks and romano cauliflower in a cheesesauce on pasta. I did a lot of washing dishes.

On Tuesday I cooked breakfast.
I went out and got Tamiflu anti-viral for the influenzed beloved.
I found an Italian Deli off Goodge Street, and there was chicken escalope - which I call schnitzel - and I had it in a sandwich, and it was *right*, and that made me happy.
Then I went to a recording of a comedy radio programme at the Drill Hall. There were ihavecake and apiphile and psych0naut who had got there first.

The radio thing was called 'It's Debateable', comedians Jon Richardson and Lloyd Langford, and they were funny and slashed themselves for my the audience's entertainment.

Also I got a comment that I was the only one who laughed at the right point when I burst out laughing before the whole rest of the audience. This pleased me. I laugh when I get the joke, which is sometimes at a different time to other people. Sometimes it is when I guess the punchline, before it is said.
(pause while I try to find a clip from QI series F the France episode where I laughed before everybody else and it is heard clearly. Fail, either youtube does not have it(BBC are allowed to ask to have clips removed) or I used the wrong searchwords.)

Today I combined garlic and mayonnaise. Now there is garlic mayonnaise.
I went to watch Babylon5 with friends, and it was fun. We watched the 15th and 16th episodes of the fifth season. Doom approaches, woes.
Watched an episode of a Russian children's animated series, 'Cheburashka', and it was cute and funny.

* * *

http://www.lrb.co.uk/v31/n18/maya01_.html A mail delivery person explains about the postal strike

http://damanique.livejournal.com/1178729.html?format=light Damanique wrote a web security alert

And I meant to link a couple of other things but I have too many tabs open.

Chickpeas, tomatoes, and spices

2009-10-19T15:21:39Z

How I curried some chickpeas today:

Chop one onion very small.
chop ginger (about a thumb-tip)
chop garlic (about 3 cloves. cloves are the small bits)

search in the spices and find brown mustard seeds, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, cayenne chili powder and garam masala.
you know where the salt is.

Heat olive-oil and a teaspoon or two of butter in a saucepan.

put in the onions, on a high heat, for a few minutes, stir occasionally.

add a bout a teaspoonful (or two) of mustard seeds, mix them around.

about a teaspoon of cumin seeds and a teaspoon of coriander seeds, grind them to powder. (or less fine, if you prefer)

add garlic, ginger, cumin and coriander, to the saucepan, and stir. you can turn down the heat a little.

add about a teaspoon of salt.
a sprinkle of cayenne chilli powder.

drain a 400gram (14 oz) tin of chickpeas. Rinse them to get the taste of tin out.

add chickpeas to saucepan, mix with the onion and spices.

open tin of chopped tomatoes, add to the saucepan, stir, add a little water.
bring to boil, turn down heat, leave for a couple of minutes, add a teaspoon of garam massala , stir it in, and leave for another 10-15 minutes.

Stir occasionally so it doesn't stick, if it looks dry, add a bit of water.

This would work with a bit of turmeric, I need to remember to buy some turmeric.

ruthi @ 2009-10-11T01:45:00

2009-10-11T02:18:44Z

I went out to look at the giant silver floating bunny-rabbit today. It has a silver carrot.

I also walked from Holborn underground station to Covent-Garden, and - didn't get lost, exactly, but wasn't sure I was heading in the right direction. But I was, and there were all the theatres, and the bunny, and all was well.

I looked at clothes in a shop and tried on things and bought a shrug (for wearing with sleeveless things, such as dresses) and considered buying a dress - http://www.monsoon.co.uk/invt/55020529# but it is short, and I am not sure it's right. Plus, it is expensive, and dry-clean only, and I hardly ever wear dresses. Hoom.
There's a wedding at the end of October that I am going to. I have to wear something. (Or several things).

I looked at things and I wandered around.

That was fun.

I got hungry and could not decide on food, so I fell back on a craving I had on Friday, falafel.

And that. eventually worked. Once I gave up trying to find just falafs, which I am sure I had walked past before, but it has done that thing that restaurants in Soho do and moved to a not-far but not visible-from-here location. Probably. Or I could have been hungry and tired and looking on the wrong street.

And I went in to Princi -- they had lots of delicious-looking baked things (breads, and cakes, and pizzas, and things) on counters under glass - and I wanted to order stuff and buy it but I couldn't figure out the queue and how to get the attention of a serving person and -- some of their tables had no chairs, just tall blocks to rest the food on -- and I gave up. I wanted to sit down.

I went into hummus bros and had a place to sit hummus and salad and wifi and they had ran out of falafel for the day.

Maoz on Old Compton Street had falafel and it was warm and crispy and tasty and just what I wanted. I got just the falafels, and that was good.

And then I went home. At Liverpool Street Station I caught a train that had two stops - the first of which was Walthamstow Central, just what I needed. And thus home.

I have photoos of silver bunny that should be uploaded.

ruthi @ 2009-10-10T17:27:00

2009-10-10T16:40:46Z

http://www.asofterworld.com/index.php?id=338
1. ouch
2. Mouseover of pointiness.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTVHL69-sZg Health Promotion video ads. Thai, I think. (via @bengoldacre on twitter)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlfKdbWwruY Where in the hell is Matt (2008)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-gAFg2--9A The Crispbread Dance, from 'Sweden's Got Talent'

ruthi @ 2009-10-02T00:30:00

2009-10-02T00:50:58Z

I made a quiche. Or at least a quiche-like thing. I cleaned up the milk and glass and the blood.

http://www.myhouseandgarden.com/recipes/leek_and_onion_quiche.htm

12oz ( 340g ) short crust pastry, homemade or frozen
4 -5 leeks
1 onion, finely chopped
4 large eggs
5 tablespoons of cream
5 tablespoons of milk
1 cup of freshly grated hard cheese, parmesan or cheddar
1 tblsp olive oil
salt and freshly ground pepper

preheat oven a : 200 c ( 400 f - gas 6 )

1. grease a flan dish 10 in ( 26 cm ) and dust with flour
2. roll out the pastry and line the flan dish
3. place in refrigerator and chill for 1/2 hour
4. Wash the leeks and cut into thin slices
5. fry the onion in a little oil, then add the leeks until they start to go soft and put aside
6. bake pastry blind ( line raw pastry with foil or greaseproof paper and fill with dried beans or cooking beads to prevent the pastry from rising ) for 7 minutes
7. bake for an other 7 minutes empty
8. mix eggs, cream, milk, some of the grated cheese and salt and pepper together
9. turn oven temperature to 150c ( 300F - gas 2
10. place leeks into pastry and pour the mixture over, adding the rest of cheese on top
11. bake in the middle of the oven for 40 minutes, until well risen and golden brown.

More or less. I skipped the pastry altogether and added cubed boiled potatoes.
I chopped leeks, put potatoes on to boil, then went online to look for a recipe. I found recipes (and addresses for a couple of kosher shawarma places in New York.)

I got back to the kitchen just as the potatoes had boiled dry, but before anything burnt.

I put olive-oil and butter in a frying pan and added paprika, then added chopped leeks and onion, and a couple of cubed boiled potatoes.

I put cheese in the food-processor to turn into small bits of cheese.

and I poured some milk into a bowl, and then the milk-bottle fell out of my hand, crashed on the floor, and a shard of glass bounced onto my slipper under my heel. There was glass and milk all over the kitchen floor, and shortly thereafter, blood, too. I found where the blood was coming from and lifted my foot, thus dripping blood more widely, then found paper towels to press against my foot, paper towels to mop up the blood and the glass and the milk.

I went and sat down and calmed down and ordered pizza.

The beloved is now claiming that quiche does not need a sacrifice. I am not sure I agree.

ruthi @ 2009-09-27T03:34:00

2009-09-27T02:44:54Z

Today I watched 'Saving Face', which was recommended to me by bravecows, and it is sweet and funny and has a happy ending.

I recommend it to you.

ruthi @ 2009-09-24T00:35:00

2009-09-24T02:14:21Z

Today I baked a cake! Another one from the 'world's easiest cake' recipe. This time I measured the unsalted butter more carefully (the recipe still says vegetable oil, but the vegetable oil I have is virgin olive oil and that does not work in cake).

Also, I used oranges for the fruit, used some zest for the cake, then peeled orange segments and stuck them on top of the cake. It works well, but filleting an orange is a lot of trouble to go to.

I also shucked and cooked two ears of sweetcorn. They were in the delivered organic box.
And I made a bolognaise sauce. A ragu. Or something.

I leveled up in Gemcraft chapter 0.

I watched some TED videos, via this handy google spreadsheet .

Two London(UK) tube maps: http://londonist.com/2009/09/the_ultimate_uncluttered_tube_map.php
and http://i538.photobucket.com/albums/ff347/neris_k/LUmapcopy.jpg

Look: http://origami.island-three.net/penguin.html origami penguins.

Today I finished listening to Quite Ugly One Morning by Christopher Brookmyre, read by David Tennant. I enjoyed it - I think having it read aloud made some funny bits funnier, and it made for a good experience.

But it was also sad, to me, because it talks of the selling off of a hospital in the centre of Edinburgh for real-estate. The review on Amazon.co.uk says it is a 'satire'. Also it is horrible and cruel and includes death, violence, body fluids (and solids), and fluffy animal death.

ruthi @ 2009-09-20T20:21:00

2009-09-20T19:49:12Z

I have baked a cake.
Recipe stolen from :
http://gottalittlespacetofill.blogspot.com/2009/09/easiest-cake-ever.html

Easiest Cake Ever
From Food Loves Writing who adapted it from everybody loves sandwiches
Makes 1 - 8 or 9 inch cake

1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups soft fruit
1 tablespoon sugar

Preheat oven to 350F (that's about 180 degrees Celsius). Butter and flour an 8 or 9 inch cake pan.

In a medium sized bowl, mix flour and baking powder. Add sugar, eggs, vanilla and oil; stir to combine.

Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and smooth with spatula. Arrange fruit however you'd like, press them into the batter. Sprinkle the sugar over top.

Bake for 50-60 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.

I didn't have vegetable oil, so I melted butter instead and used that. But as written, the cake is dairy-free. It does use eggs, though.

ruthi @ 2009-09-19T04:30:00

2009-09-19T04:19:05Z

ruthiwhy is it easier to feel bad about the things I have not done than to feel good about the things I have done?
supermousebecause you are not writing down the things you have done
ruthi Okay. I shall write down the things I have done.
supermouse there is, quite literally, an *infinite* amount of things you have not done. You have not climbed everest or repainted the kitchen, you have not adopted 27 cats, nor trained a budgerigar to say 'your flies are undone!'. You have not driven to Manchester, nor painted the Mona Lisa.
ruthi these are all true.
ruthi I have not painted a budgerigar, nor taught the mona lisa to speak
ruthi But! I have joined bookmooch! I have sent out books that were requested.
ruthi I have examined apples and carrots and thought 'these would be better in a stew', and then I made stew.
ruthi I put up an LJ-post about the unneeded comics singles and got requests and now I have given them away!
ruthi I got out to the pub and met friends and even remembered to buy people drinks
supermouse you did many good things!
ruthi ...I startled gmh and hobnobs by talking about moustache-bleach

So, things done:
I have joined bookmooch, and listed books (8 of them, so far). I have replied to requests for books, and mailed out 4 books - one of them to the US, even.

I looked at the comic-book singles that the beloved had cleared off the shelf and decided with him to get rid of a lot of them. Many of them, because we got the collected trades, which are a more durable format. (But we're keeping My Faith In Frankie, obvs.)
I posted about the comics in my livejournal , offered them out, and made arrangements for the comics to go away.

I took out the six issues that abigailb had asked for and put them in my bag, to remember to bring them to her.

I got to the pub on Tuesday, met people, played games. Lost at poker, learned something I had not known before.

I have bought some stationery that I had been meaning to buy for a while, to organise stuff.

I remembered the brand of crisps that the beloved mentioned missing, and when I saw them on a shelf in a shop I was in, bought some for him.

I went to the pub on Tuesday and out to the post-office on Wednesday.

I went to a pub I had never been to before - The Wenlock Arms - and I met friends, and took the comic-book-singles that the beloved had cleared off the bookshelf, so they are
1. out of the house and 2. on the way to kincaid

I went out today, to the batflat, and there were people and babylon5 and pizza

and I am realising I have been out most evenings this week, and meeting friends, and also I have cooked stew and not killed anyone. It has not been a bad week.

Originality isn't everything

2009-09-18T19:33:16Z

I am a terrible person.

Sinead's Hand

Permission

ruthi @ 2009-09-17T15:39:00

2009-09-17T15:19:19Z

Today I went out to the post-office and sent out four books that had been requested via bookmooch. Yay me.

Also I bought more padded envelopes for sending more books. I bravely resisted the lure of other shiny stationery.

* * *

I recieved the first two issues of Filament in the mail and I like them and they make me happy.

* * *

I went into the kitchen last night to make myself a quick meal and accidentally put on a stew.

ruthi @ 2009-09-15T17:14:00

2009-09-15T17:22:35Z

Hello.
My name is user name= "" and I am a flake.

I joined bookmooch on Sunday, I think. I fed it the ISBNs of some books I do not see myself re-reading.
I have some requests for books already. Yay.
I have even found a couple of padded envelopes to re-use.
The bit about writing out addresses and heading out and sending the things - that has eluded me, so far this week.

But hey. It's only Tuesday.

ruthi @ 2009-09-12T20:15:00

2009-09-12T19:18:23Z

My friend Del wrote a story and it is beautiful and I want you to read it:
In a far-off land (I cannot say exactly where, because the maps that show the way have long since been made into sandstone and memory), there once lived a man.

Grate Carrots!

2009-09-11T18:49:05Z

Carrot Burger recipes

carrot burger recipe

5-6 Carrots (peeled)

3-4 garlic cloves (cloves are the small parts. they're about the size of a finger-tip)

3 tablespoons flour

3 tablespoons breadcrumbs
(if you lack flour or breadcrumbs, you can double the amount of the other instead)
1 egg

salt

pepper

oil

---
Grate carrots on a grater (or with a food-processor)
crush the garlic cloves
beat the egg
mix, add flour, breadcrumbs, pepper, salt,

heat oil in frying-pan
form into flat round burgers and fry.

for sauce:

2 garlic cloves
a little oil
2 tablespoons tomato puree
cup of water
a dash of salt
a little black pepper

crush the garlic cloves, fry in a little oil
add tomato puree and water
add salt and pepper
bring to the boil
turn down the heat and cook two more minutes

to serve:
burgers can be eaten on their own
or with the sauce poured over them
burgers can be cooked in the sauce for a minute.

***

Unfried Carrot Burger Recipe:

1 kg carrots
2 large onions
2 eggs
1 cup breadcrumbs
salt, pepper, and cumin

for sauce:
1 chopped onion
1 spoon of oil
100 grams tomato puree
2 cups of water
salt, pepper, garlic

1. grate on the larger holes, or use the steel blade in a food processor, the carrots and onions. Add the eggs, breadcrumbs and spices, and form burgers.
2. bake the burgers in a on a baking tin oiled with oil spray for about a quarter of an hour. ((hi this recipe didn't mention a temperature. I'd go with 175-180 Celsius))
3. Meanwhile make sauce: in a medium saucepan fry the onion, add tomato puree, water and spices and bring to the boil.
Add the burgers to the pan and cook for about a quarter of an hour.

********

Yet Another Recipe

6 large carrots peeled, roughly grated

4 onions chopped fried to golden (half the onions are set aside for the sauce)

3 tablespoons flour

3 large eggs

salt
black pepper

mix it all together and if necessary, add more flour and more egg.

make plump wide burgers.

Fry the burgers in a little frying oil on both sides, and arrange in an oiled baking dish.

Sauce in a large bowl:
The set-aside fried onion
6 tablespoons tomato puree
1 tablespoon sweet chilli sauce (not essential)
1 tablespoon ketchup
salt and black pepper
a teaspoon of sugar
A cup and a half of b o i l i n g water

stir to a not-too-thin sauce, taste and correrct flavours.
Pour carefully among the burgers, to cover them almost to the top.
Bake in a pre-heated oven at 175 C, about 40 minutes. Pour the sauce over the burgers once in a while, so they don't burn.

***

I use 2-3 carrots per person,
more garlic cloves than is advised (I *like* garlic).
I add cumin powder, and sweet paprika.

I let the carrot mixture rest for a while after I mix it, I get to sit down a bit. I just cover it and put it in the fridge.

I believe three recipes are enough to get people started.

ruthi @ 2009-09-11T02:03:00

2009-09-11T13:44:18Z

Tuesday there was pub, and playing a wordgame called 'snatch', which was fun, and people, who are good company.

Wednesday there was babylon5, with a particularly bad episode of season 5. But it was fun to heckle :) Also I managed to bring ice-cream and a pizza-flier, and they were appreciated. Although possibly the penguin did not appreciate having a tub of ice-cream stuffed up its rear.

Thursday I went to see apiphile do stand-up comedy in Kentish Town.
Henry Ginsberg Was Also funny.
The Northern line pretends to be one line but is at least two.

youtube link, The Waldo Ultimatum

This morning I had a dream where
food I had been saving for breakfast went bad. Other people got delicious breakfast food but I didn't.
I was warned to change (into army uniform) for a meeting with an authority figure (a commander in the army - I think he was the base commander) and all I did was tie a turquoise head-band around my head. I had pink streaks in my hair and a colourful printed t-shirt and turquoise shorts (and a slimmer body to wear them on). I went in to meet him and had to apologise and explain (and flatter).
I think that may have been an anxiety-ish dream.

ruthi @ 2009-09-09T17:53:00

2009-09-09T16:58:21Z

http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/

Free Books at goodreads.com, an lottery thing. Many only available to people Great Britain and the US, some available in Canada, some more widely than that.

If you publish a review of the book you win, the terms and conditions say:

# By accepting an advance copy and posting a review, you grant Goodreads and the publisher an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, fully paid, worldwide license to use, copy, perform, display, and distribute your review.

But goodreads is a site where people put their reviews of books online anyway.

ruthi @ 2009-09-09T14:29:00

2009-09-09T16:41:58Z

ihavecake as a guest: A++, would host again.
She's found somewhere to move to, and went off On Saturday night. That took a shorter time than I expected: it was less than a week.

***

Today I cancelled my eMusic subscription. I signed up on Friday or Saturday - and the first 25 downloads are free. So I tried to download some songs. An EP, a collection of songs. I got a file with an .emx extension. And that was not music.
I tried to download other things. Single songs, not collected.

... where are the mp3s?

I searched around and found that there was an eMusic downloader. Well, three: one for windows. And one for Mac OS X. and one for Linux.
I use Linux Ubuntu. So I went to my trusty package manager, and searched for 'eMusic', and found the 'emusic remote'. Installed that. Opened it. Couldn't get to eMusic, couldn't get to the songs I had downloaded. trying to download the same again didn't do anything useful.

...So I tried the linux downloader from their site, which was a bit more faff.
I handed it over to my sysadmin at this point. ...
He ended up installing the Windows eMusic downloader under WINE.

So I could finally find the songs I had downloaded and there they were. In mp3 form.

And could I use this thing to connect to the eMusic store? No.
And was everything clear and easy and fun and accessible? No.

And was the windows thingy actually useable under wine? It was not.
Not only was it not clear and easy and fun and accessible, it wasn't even clear in its oh hi, FUCK YOU IF YOU USE LINUX.

so um. I know I am not a geek. I have been happily using Ubuntu because so far it has been a very user-friendly, not getting in the way experience. I want to watch youtube videos and read journals and blogs and play silly flash games and talk to my friends and I can do all that without the computer getting in the way.

The eMusic store didn't mention the downloader in the introduction, in the 'here is what you need to do'. It mentioned customising and telling the store the kind of music you are interested in. There's a video introduction thing, I watched it and that didn't mention the necessity of a downloader either.
And it doesn't work with Linux.

No, I don't care if it worked for you. I don't care for technical suggestions now. My best efforts and the best efforts of the technical expert did not make it easy. Or fun. Or useable.

I cancelled with 19 free downloads to go. I didn't want to risk forgetting to cancel and it flipping over to the paid subscription by accident.

I have Spotify here. I had spotify on the Mac OSX before, and on the ubuntu computer I have it via WINE. I installed it myself, the spotify website had instructions I could easily follow, and now it just works. I can open spotify and listen to music I choose. if people put up a spotify link, I have to copy-and-paste it instead of clicking. That is still easy and useable.

And I have Transmission, that's a bittorrent client that came with Ubuntu, and I have friends who sometimes upload music. And there are blogs that sometimes put up mp3s to listen to.

ruthi @ 2009-09-03T00:22:00

2009-09-03T01:04:54Z

Brought ihavecake to the Pembury and that seemed to go well. There was beer and food and games and the famous ferret http://twitpic.com/fw1z9
It was a good evening.

Today I failed to go to a television recording of The Big Food Fight, which is hosted by Sue Perkins. Is a food-themed quiz-comedy thing. And has Hugh Fearnly-Whittingstall as a team captain.

I have tickets for the television recording of Argumental on the 21st of September. Anyone interested?

Today I cooked mash and fried burgers and the food was ready late, but it was tasty.
remind me to post about carrot burgers at some point.