Weekend of March 14th, 2014

Pretty good weekend.

I felt like I had not created enough soups this winter, which is traditionally the season I do soups.  I took stock of what I had in the pantry and came up with "Dirty Rice Soup".  I'm a huge fan of Dirty Rice.  We never went out to eat for breakfast very much, but when we started going to Shoney's, I found this wonderful thing called Dirty Rice.  I always added a spoonful of stewed mushrooms to it also.  So my recipe for Dirty Rice Soup is not complicated; some people say my recipes are too complicated.  I use a "cheat" in this one because that's what I had on hand, and it turned out so well I'll probably always use this "cheat.  Uncle Ben's Microwaved Santa Fe Rice.

-1 can chicken stock
- 1 4oz can of Mushrooms
- 5 sausage links(diced)
- 1 packet Santa Fe Rice
- a few shakes of your favorite cajun seasoning
- a few shakes of onion powder

Saturday I watched Thor: The Dark World.  The whole reason I gave the new Marvel Universe a chance was because the first Thor was surprisingly watchable.  Until then, I figured Iron Man was just going to be a fluke because Robert Downey Jr was so good in it.  I am not a fan of the Avengers, I am an X-men fanatic.  Never liked Thor, never liked when they put "gods" into super hero story lines.  I always thought Captain America was either used to attack America by a very liberal writer, or haphazard propaganda by a right wing writer.  I thought Iron Man was a less fun Batman.  Well, the movies have been very good, and Captain America is probably the best done of all of them IMO.  It all started because I gave Thor a chance.  This 2nd movie was better.  If you liked the first Thor, this movie is everything like the first Thor, but more and better of it.  Like Hemdel?  He gets to talk and do stuff.  Like Asgard?  You get to see how the place functions.  Like Thor's band of elite soldiers?  They get lots of screen time.  Like Loki?  You'll love this movie.  Complaint?  They sort of plundered Star Wars for the sound effects.

Oh and Christ "9th Doctor" Eccelston is in it.

On Sunday I took my girlfriend on a trip to Michaels.  What a toy store that place is lol.  It reminded me of how little I"ve done on the arts and crafts side of things, and just how much I actually wouldn't mind learning to do.  I have a thing for wooden boxes and wire bending arts.  Soooo many wooden boxes.  I think what I want to do with the wooden boxes and learn the wood branding stuff.  There are a few bass and amp boutique makers that use it in their designs and I always seem to like it. Their wire department had tools I didn't know existed... I want to make hand bent "bird cage" candle lanterns. They have "flat" wire, and also aluminum wire.  I also saw a book on wire designs, it did not look a lot like what I typically think of doing, but they would be good skills to learn for decoration.  I'll get around to it, I have a few things I need to do
 first.