SIX POUNDS

no, that's not how much weight I lost (that's only 2 pounds in spite of a month of severe prescription weight loss drug use that my metabolism is like so? screw you.)

I pulled six pounds of tomatoes out of my garden yesterday. most of them went into gatzpacho. I still have tomatoes left...time to buy some more fresh mozzarella and make more caprese salad.

I still dont' feel good so I've been lounging around. As i was grading tests there came a knock on my door followed by a very loud MEOW. Roy wanted me to know i had failed to go out and feed him.

today's horoscope from beliefnet On one level, Mars in your sign is buzzing your life while the irritation of the recent changes bugs you like a mosquito that won't go away. You know that something serious is coming, but you would rather not wait any longer. Still, patience is required, even if you are ready for the action now well that just sums it up doesn't it

books and writing and manga/anime

Here's two long book reviews I did.

book review the first

book review the second


Fell 200 words short on Red Skies so backed it down again word count wise for this week. Summer's just too busy.

558 / 1,000 (55.8%)

now been thinking about this in part for an rpg i'm futzing with, looking at strong female characters. We have the Buffy crew covered, but I was thinking about those kinds of characters, especially in manga/anime. There really aren't that many strong ones out there. I'm thinking on the manga I have here.
1. Fullmetal Alchemist - this is why i love this one so much, several strong women, Riza, Winry, Izumi and Olivia, heck they're even scary
2. Saiyuki - eh, male oriented to be sure, Yaone started strong then fizzled out
3. Bleach - Rukia started strong then became a simpering girl waiting to be rescued which has really annoyed me. I guess Yoruichi is strong but sh's minor
4. Rurouni Kenshin - Kaoru and Misao are somewhat strong but always get left behind in a more tradition woman role sense of things
5. Her Majesty's Dog - Amane again is only semi-strong and highly dependent on Hyoue
6. Black Cat - now this one has some stronger females, Rinslet the thief and Eve, i think that might be why i like it so much
7. godchild/cain's saga - the only girl here is really a girl, a young one but she's relatively brave

well i've got more back there but you get the idea. So tell me, who is your favorite strong manga girl (or tv girl for that matter)

ETA - I keep forgetting to ask, anyone out there know a good way to dry out tomato seeds so they can be put away for germination this winter?