Back Again

Well, I'm back from my last bit of "tripping" with Tyler (pictures maybe) and the updating will start again (much unlike my friend Caitlin's blog, which seems to go on extreme hiatus over the summer) and I'll let you know about all the things I've been doing.

MSN Messenger Talk 3-Because I love Ginny

Ginny says:
Hi!
Brennan says:
Hi!
Brennan says:
Brennan is talking to four people right now, and may not respond to your messages unless you say something interesting
Brennan says:
This is an automatic message
Brennan says:
please do not be offended or alarmed.
Brennan says:
*Beep*
Ginny says:
I'll have to think up something good, then.
Ginny says:
I was just checking in to see if we are going to Brussels tomorrow.
Ginny says:
But we can talk about that later after you get done with, obviously, your much more important conversations.
Brennan says:
Oh, that was interesting
Brennan says:
Yes
Brennan says:
i have something to say about that
Brennan says:
*beep*

Paris, Puree

Hey there!

Well, we're back from Paris, and Tyler still isn't awake, so I guess we have some down time. =)

I thought I'd show you some pictures!

The first, and only important place we went, was Bistro D'Hubert! This is a place where you can spend A LOT OF MONEY, and I spent A LOT OF MONEY to eat here. YAY I FINALLY ATE FRENCH CUISINE! REALLY! YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYYAYAAYAYAY!!!!

This is how I acted during the entire meal with Tyler. He asked me if I was going to be ok.

THEN I SAID NO. NEVER AGAIN WILL I BE SOMEWHAT OK.

Then he asked me if I was going to take my medication. Or if I was going to start having seizures.

......

Well, I maybe seizured a little bit. But YOU WOULD TOO. YOU WOULD.

This is the Bistro. It's small and french and all wooden, and french. You can see the open kitchen in the background with the chefs doing their thing. You knew it was a REAL french restaurant, because the chefs slowly stopped working around 3ish, when the meals were over, and were only coming back when they had reservations, late in the evening. PARIS IS SO COOL. I MADE AN E-MAIL RESERVATION IN FRENCH AND ENGLISH. WEEEEE.

....

OK, maybe I am a little mentally disable.

Courtesy of the House

A cold cucumber soup. This was SO NICE. It was LOTS of flavour, very simple ingredients, and they served the right kind of bread with it as well. Terrific. 5/5.

We also had an aperitif ( I KNOW. ME??? DRINKING??? IN PARIS??? YES!!!!) which Tyler couldn't stand (LIGHTWEIGHT) but I thought it was really nice and kind of fruity. Tyler also learned that 'aperitif" is a kind of before dinner drink. I thought it was nice. Tyler thought it was crap. I'll give it a 3/5.

Tyler's entree

Tyler had a kind of sushi/crab cakes, but I don't know what it was filled with. All I can say is that it looked amazing. Tyler was surprised at the quality of the food. "The actual crab cakes were actually amazing," says Tyler, "really strong flavours." However, the smoked salmon wrapped up there, he said, "Was a little too strong. It had too strong of a fish taste to it. But, it wasn't bad. The smokey flavour was good, but the sour fish taste overpowered it." There were also, "White things on my plate, definitely fish of some sort, really good. There weren't any spice or sauce to it really, but everything was really fresh and lots of tastiness." Thanks Tyler. So, other than that stinky salmon, he really like it, so we'll give it a 4/5.

My entree

This was my entree, ISN'T IT BEAUTIFUL???? *SOB* I WANT IT BACK. I WANT TO EAT IT AGAIN AND AGAIN. *SOB*

...

As you can tell, I thought it was very, very, very, very-very-very-good. In fact, this was amazing. In fact, this may have been the best thing I have ever eaten in my life. This was a cous-cous pilaf thingy with a plate of mixed seafood of crevettes (small shrimp), swordfish (Which was amazing!) and calamari (which was the most intense calamari EVER...but it doesn't help that the only calamari I've eaten was deep-fried.). The flavours were really fresh, every bite you had the flavours were really strong, and they never stopped coming. It was an Energizer Bunny for my palatte. AMAZING. Each bite you could taste everything, nice accents. Whew. OK, this definitely gets top marks. Very, very impressed, especially since I did not think cous-cous could ever be high end food. 17/5.

Le Plat-Main course

Tyler and I both had cod, which was in a savoury green and red chili sauce, with various spices. I have to be honest, I've never tasted fish like this before. It literally melted in your mouth. I know I've heard people say that a million times about food, but it really did. It didn't even TASTE like fish, that's how well prepared this was, it took on other flavours perfectly. Tyler says: "Oh...it was good. I dunno [what to say about it] it was just good." If you like fish, you'd love this. I did. 5/5.

The side course?

Along with this, we also got a mini-plate of macaroni something or other with our food. It had plenty of flavour, but was a bit puzzling. Amongst the typical french food, suddenly I was eating comfort food, which didn't really pair very well with the fish itself. I had no idea how to eat it, since it was a separate little dish from the actual fish, and all I had was a fork and a fish knife. (This can be distressing when they always replace your forks and stuff.) The bread however, was a VERY nice light sourdough, and it looked like they cooked it at the restaurant, or locally, either way, EXCELLENT bread. No butter, though, although really, it didn't need any. =) The macaroni bit was definitely out of place. Tyler says, "The macaroni was good, but I don't know what it's purpose was *laughs*" Well put, Tyler, well put. Some day maybe you'll be a real friend of good food like Brennan is. Some day. 2/5.

Dessert and otherwise

This was Tyler's dessert. You can't really see how shiny it looked in the light, but it was very pretty. Tyler seemed to like it, he says it was "Very rich, but not overly sweet. Strong chocolate flavour, smooth texture." He seemed to like it quite a bit. 4/5

This was my dessert, THANKFULLY BETTER THAN A 4/5, sucker. I had something called 'cow's milk cheese' which I didn't really understand, but I wanted cheese of some kind for dessert so I took the cow, not the goat one. (Bit of a thing against goats and their cheese, really.) Anyways, I was surprised, since what I got was much better, and much stranger than I had planned. The main part was actually something like whipped cream, but with a cheese-y, fluffy flavour.

....

It was beautiful. It was the second time in the meal I wanted to cry with happiness.

....

I know. I'm stupid. But really. It was beautiful. The strawberries were clearly picked for ripeness, they were like candy, that's how sweet they were. Behind it, was a lemon sherbet infused with basil. I can't tell you how strange it is to eat spicy ice cream. I can't decide if I like it or didn't like it. But really, it was amazing. I would eat it again in an instant. 5/5

Service

The service here was sooooooooo Continental. You didn't pour your own water. They left the bottle on the table and refilled it when you drained your glass. They took everything away, and you didn't touch anything with your fingers. When I accidentally spilled a little macaroni on the table, the waitress cleaned it up in a very professional manner with a scraper thingy. It was a real meal experience, they were really friendly (and they took Mastercard! Yay!) so I was very, very happy. Tyler didn't mind it, even if it wasn't his scene, but he was a good person to bring along for the ride with this kind of thing. =D So, at 4/5, only because it wasn't instant, but really, it's as good as it gets, anywhere.

I really recommened you try this place if you ever go to Paris, make sure to reserve, they are great for serving English customers. =)

Anyways, more about Paris and otherwise later. =D Tyler would like to talk to all his friends on Facebook. (Honestly, TYLER, facebook is LAME. GET A REAL LIFE.)

Sorry, I'm really anti-Facebook.

Anyways, later friends!

AUGH

WHY AM I STILL AWAKE AND LOOKING FOR ADDRESSES AND REVIEWS OF FRENCH RESTARAUNTS AND PATASSIERIES???????


WHY??????????


*SOB*


WHY CAN'T I FIND A RESTAURANT THAT I COULD CHERISH???????

POURQUOI ? ? ? POURQUOI VOUS M'ALLECHEZ, MON BON PARIS D'AMI ? ? ?

POURQUOI ???

Parrrrrisssss

Well, I am going to Paris for the third time, and to be honest, I'm not sure how much fun I'll have. I'm just SO tired of going to Paris, I guess.


.....



That's a little stuck up, isn't it?

Hm.

Well, Tyler is off in Zottengem, training with a fight club, and I'm checking the last details of our trip here, and then I'll go have dinner later this eve with Ralph, and then we leave super early (10:45-we've been Sleeping Beauties here, Tyler especially, you can really tell neither he nor I have slept in weeks) for Paris, and I plan to sleep on the train. Although I'm sure I won't be able to, given that Tyler will be busy telling me how COOL people in Belgium are, especially in Zottengem. *Grin*

Geez

Well, Tyler's here.

Girls are already swooning and telling me how cute he is.


....


I think I may be ill.

It is FINISHED. REALLY. FOR REAL THIS TIME.

......


FINALLY.


I handed it in at 2:15 PM today.


Here are the results, which I feel is best done in photo form. =)

The research...not including about 10-15 more books and electronic sources, of which there were MANY. (And I don't want to tell you how many articles that ACTUALLY is in 10 font on my bed. Because it's a very, very large number.)

The result in electronic form, made fresh Thursday.

The finished product.

The smugness.

And, now, we wait.

Defence in less than 3 weeks.

The moving

This is all Patrick's and Montse's stuff...





This was how clean it was by Wednesday!!




But their rooms are empty. =( =( =(

Change is hard.

Thesis, thesis, thesis

.....


I just submitted my thesis to my promoter to see if he thinks it's defendable. The first REALLY complete draft is finished.

And by that, I mean the final draft. =)

Anyways, I don't know what he'll think, probably something devestating, but we'll see what happens. I can argue my way out of things as long as I didn't make any big mistakes again.

So.

Big deal, eh?

Back in Black

Hey there everyone, well, I just wanted to say I'm NOT dead, but I will update with pictures soon. I went to the UK for the week with Ralph, and we just got back yesterday, very late. Anyways, hope all is well with everyone out there, and I'll update tomorrow or the next day sometime.

What's wrong with MSN Live

If you want to be disgusted by windows Live Spaces, then go here: http://on10.net/Blogs/tina/windows-live-spaces/


Honestly, why anyone uses these things is beyond me. My computer nearly crashes IE trying to LOAD one of these stupid 'Spaces,' because they're so graphic intensive, and because so many of Micro's programs try and start when you load a SIMPLE WEB PAGE. If you look at Windows Live Writer, again, we can see the failure of products that should be simple and streamlined. Given this, along with MSN's new creepy robot Muse, it's enough to make anyone wish for the death of Windows Spaces.

My painting