the stupid shoes don't fit either!

argh. the beginning of the semester is always so exciting and bustling and fucking annoying. i still don't have my schedule totally nailed down yet. there is one class that i reeeeeeeeeeeeally want to add (and have actually attended for the last two days). i talked to the prof, and he is willing to work with me, but i don't want it to look like i'm gaming the system too much. and there's another class that i may do pass/fail instead of for a grade. it's already super complex and only day two, so i'm freaking out a little. but i've already written in the textbook, so no going back now, at least not completely. and i have all my grades but one--nevermind that they were due LAST FRIDAY and that the profs got their preliminary grades back yesterday (they grade anonymously, turn those in, then the records office puts names to the numbers and sends them back to the prof for bump up or down purposes). so i'm still sweating last semester grade-wise, and now this semester schedule-wise. oh yeah, did i mention i am still looking for a job? gah.

w and i went to the store on my afternoon break and put together what will hopefully be a yummy soup--kind of a thai chicken curry coconut soup. it's a mel & w original!

i got a whole chicken and removed the guts (eeeeeeeeeeeew!) and put it in the pot with boiling water. added several cloves of garlic chopped rough, two large carrots cut into quarter inch thick pennies, a whole sweet onion roughly chopped, a leek chopped, a bunch of fresh cilantro, a bunch of fresh basil (both chopped), 2 handfuls of thinly sliced kale, a one inch piece of fresh ginger chopped, a healthy amount of yellow (muchi) curry powder, a generous shaka-shaka of crushed red pepper, and a three inch stalk of fresh lemongrass whole. boil for a while till the chicken's done, occasionally skimming the surface for fat. pull the chicken out of the soup after it's been boiling for 30-45 minutes (this bit is sketchy--i didn't use a timer or a thermometer. it just kept boiling long enough for w to drop me back off at school, stopping at the organic market on the way, and returning home). i think next we'll just see what we think, adding the can of lite coconut milk and pulling the chicken off the bone in chunks to put in the soup. we also got some angel hair rice noodles that we will put in as we eat the soup--get it simmering on the stove, drop in the noodles and the whole thing should be yummy and ready to go in about three to five minutes (the noodles cook fast). the good thing about this one is that you can leave it boiling for as long as you like, and it just makes a quick stock (so you don't have to buy any). i'll tell you if it's good.