Chinese Prozac, Middlesex, & Breakfast

my sister had me try these little pellets that her Chinese acupuncturist "prescribed" for her. they are the bomb. who knows if it's just the placebo effect (and i'm perfectly ok with that), but if i'm feeling like total booty, i feel just a little better after i take this funny combination of herbs. ALL LEGAL, THANK YOU! i haven't learned how to get nitrous oxide in pellet form...
here are the ingredients (and likely spelling bee words):

white peony root
chinese angelica root
white atractylodes root
poria
ginger root
mint herb
honey fried licorice root
bupleurum root

i looked them all up and they all seem legit (i.e. not gonna kill me). i wish they could fit a higher dosage into each pellet, though...i have to take freakin' 12 of these things at a time! i'll let you know if things change!
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i finally finished Middlesex. i'm not much of a reader, but am enjoying a read before bedtime. this one took me FOREVER. it's crazy that Oprah put this book on her list...i feel the topic is less than mainstream. i guess that's the point, eh? good for O - she's awesome. i enjoyed the book, but i wouldn't say i loved it. they constant flash forwards & flashbacks were actually kinda fun, and i love the true first-person narration. i'd give it a B+.

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for those in Houston, K and i found the best breakfast ever...although this place has been around awhile (we're just late on the game). The Daily Grind on Washington has got great food and a totally cool, comfy ambiance. kristy declared it the best breakfast in town after she was able to build her own omelette! no more endless substitutions of spinach, mushrooms, and other veggies for her! so check it out.

Battlestar & Nitrous

I've been watching Battlestar Galactica (the new one, duh). Overall I have many complaints about it. I don't really feel a connection to most of the characters, some of the "filler" episodes are really dumb, and one of the main antagonists in the show is so super annoying i don't know if i can handle it.

of course they do that thing where you'll have a few crappy episodes and then have one super good one JUST to keep you watching. damn them!!! so i'm still watching. i'll give it til the end of Season 1 and re-evaluate.
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went to the dentist for 3 fillings yesterday. i have to say, and i'm not afraid to admit it, i love nitrous oxide. of the legal/non-legal drugs i've ever taken (i'm not telling you which!), it's the only one whose effects go away minutes after you stop taking it. that's nice...no hours and hours of wishing you could (a) go back in time and not take whatever you took or (b) throw up/kill yourself. plus it makes you not care about anything that's bothering you, while thinking funny things are SO funny! good thing it's not legal! also good thing my dentist loves to use it liberally! guess i'll have to not brush my teeth for a few months in order to go another round.

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KRISTY PASSED HER NATIONAL BOARD EXAMS!!! that girl is the bomb. now all she has to do is graduate and she's a DVM! you can't imagine what a relief it is.

what's new?

so it's been like 4 months or so since i last posted. bad me.

i think i've decided to do this in a different way. i want this to be more free-flowing and random, but will still concentrate my efforts on alerting you to what's good and bad in the way of products, restaurants, etc.

so here we go!

• i bought a Sony-3LCD HD Home Theater Projector-VPLAW15 from Best Buy 2 weeks ago. i also purchased a 92" widescreen pulldown screen from Mountsandmore.com. i love them both to death. they are the reason to live. i will never watch movies on anything else. i had picked up the Toshiba-XGA DMD DLP Projector-TDP-T45U and i cannot say i recommend it. it's loud and not as clear as the Sony. the Sony is not as bright as the Toshiba and costs more, but the brightness doesn't seem to matter when the clarity is so good and the cost was worth it! it quietly purrs like a kitten! the Sony projector and Da-Lite screen get a THUMBS UP!
• i tried the banana empanada recipe found online from Tyler Florence. it sucks...THUMBS DOWN. maybe someday i'll find a better one. his had too much masa harina in it, so they came out very heavy, starchy, and hard. boo.

more later!