Sneak Peek
They’re dooooooone! Here’s a little preview for you. My Fifth Annual Oscar Contest will launch in about 24 hours, so stay tuned!

International Nike+ Users
If any of you are using the Nike+ website from outside the States, I highly suggest you switch your country setting (that little flag down at the bottom) to the US version. Their version of the site has TONS more fun stuff than ours does, including “trash talking” on challenges, downloadable widgets to track your goals, and a new mapping feature that allows you to plot out your runs on a map, Gmaps Pedometer-style. (And yes, there are maps for Sydney.) I can’t see a single drawback to changing the country setting at all. Which makes me wonder – what gives, Nike? Why can’t the rest of the world have cool stuff too?

Bibimbap!
Thanks to Eva‘s excellent advice, today I finally found my way to the mythical hidden Asian grocery store behind Woolie’s Town Hall. (Take the first left past Platform 9 3/4, basically.) I was able to get both Korean ingredients that I’ve been having trouble finding: gochujang (spicy bean paste) and “kucho karu” (really hot chili flakes). With these, I was finally able to put together some bibimbap! It’s basically rice with a bunch of veggies and meat on top. For the veg, I had carrots, zucchini, spinach, and mung bean sprouts. Each one was blanched and then seasoned with garlic, sesame oil, and salt. The beef was thinly sliced sirloin that we wok fried with garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, and black pepper. I also got a fresh daikon and made some fresh daikon salad to go on the side. Then we mixed a bit of gochujang through, and YUMMO! Now I just need to get some stone bowls so we can do dolsot bibimbap and put a fried egg on top.

GASP! Amy has taken an absolutely gorgeous photo of our dear Puss Puss. (View the largest version; it’s breathtaking.)

Last night I happened to look over the Snook’s shoulder while he was playing World of Warcraft…

Me: What’s that big monster following you around?
Him: It’s a, uh, “felhound.”
Me: What’s this quest then?
Him: (slightly embarrassed) Well, the felhound ate this key… so I have to kill these big pig things, and then the felhound eats them… and then he craps and I have to sift through the crap to find the key.
Me: WHAT?!
Him: Yep. And after I look through the poop, my character gets hit with a “stanky” after effect.

And indeed, I watched as a funky green mist settled on his character.

Me: And this is what you do for FUN?!

Oh, right. You’re all off watching some football game right now, aren’t you? Yes, they are showing it live on television here. Of course it’s Monday morning, so everybody’s at work instead of sitting at home, eating nachos and mocking Kevin Federline. But for the record – GO COLTS!

It’s pronounced Tar-zhay…
Man, I’m going a little Target CRAZY here. They’ve finally taken down some of the scaffolding at the Broadway and you can see the new third floor where the shops are going to go. My only regret is that it won’t be open in time for the launch of the Stella McCartney line! Hmm, March 12 is only three days before my birthday. That trench coat is sounding like a nice way to easy into my thirties…

Eileen is going to LOVE this: “The important thing to remember about Boston is that it was founded by hysterics.” (Link courtesy of another Boston blogger.)

You are KIDDING ME. A knit-in at USC was forced to relocate to a “free speech zone”. Good grief.

Yesterday afternoon Lissa called me from the knitting shop to say that a customer wanted to exchange some knitting needles. Hmm. As you know, we don’t exchange on patterns or knitting needles. I’ve been known to bend the rules though, if the person has made a genuine mistake and doesn’t wait ages to let us know about it. “When did she buy them?” November. OY. So I shuffled out there. On my way, I basically decided that if the needles don’t look used and she wasn’t an obvious scammer, I’d let her do it. It was Friday afternoon, my leg was stiff, and my stomach was starting to hurt in a sadly familiar way. I wasn’t looking for a fight. “What seems to be the problem?” I said cheerily. The woman, who seemed friendly – AT FIRST – explained that she bought these 100cm bamboo circulars for a project in November, but then her friend pointed out that they were too long so she borrowed her friend’s needles instead. And then her friend told her she should bring them back, because “we’re really good about returns.” I started to nod. Usually in these cases, I go ahead and reiterate the store policy before telling them I’m making an exception, just so they know that I’m doing them a favour and they shouldn’t expect this in the future. “With yarn, we will absolutely do an exchange for you. But the store policy is not to exchange on pattern books or knitting needles, because they may have been used–” She cut me off by flinging the needles down on the counter. Yes, she FLUNG them. “But I haven’t used them! They’re perfectly saleable!” My hackles were up. She wasn’t playing to the script. “The problem is, we have no way of knowing if they were used. If we did needle returns, customers could use them to knit a whole garment and then try to return them.” (Translation: “I don’t know you from Adam and you want me to accept you at your word, when that’s exactly what a scammer would do, so you might try being a little nicer here, LADY.”) She was having none of it, and this is when she started to get seriously snotty. “But I didn’t use them,” she sneered. “And besides, she (meaning the shop assistant) gave them to me.” Ahh, blaming my staff. Now there’s a surefire way to get me on your side. Trust me, I know that none of my staff FORCED you to buy a meter-long circular needle you didn’t need. “It’s the store policy,” I said with a shrug. At this point, I decided she was a lost cause. Some customers are not worth the hassle of keeping. “I THINK THAT’S WRONG!” she announced. She turned her back. “I DON’T WANT THEM, AND I THINK THAT’S WRONG!” She stormed out of the store.

Whatever. I had gone out there with the fullest intentions of doing what she wanted, but because she was such a bitch from the absolute get-go, she got squat. Whiny customers of the world, TAKE NOTE.