Never Enough Birthdays Department

Joy--I turned 33 this morning! And it has been a pretty good birthday all in all. I started celebrating Wednesday night, inviting friends to have Ethiopian food with me. Ah, how tasty it all is--spicy, but in a different way than most cultures' idea of "spicy." I enjoyed my favorite Ethiopian dish, kitfo, which is like steak tartare only that the beef is mixed with a butter sauce laden with cardamom, ginger, and chili powder. Everyone else had this sampler platter which had a bottom layer of injera (sour crepe-like bread) with a bit of everything on top--wat (spicy stews of different kinds of meat), tibs (not so spicy sauteed meat chunks), lentils, gomen (collards), homemade cottage cheese, with generous servings of injera on the side from which we tore pieces, laid them upon each morsel, pinched up the morsel and the injera together, and then savored the combination. Thea, who had never had Ethiopian food before, didn't care for the kitfo so much, but otherwise said that she'd be open to Ethiopian food any time I wanted. Many others were having their first experience there as well and enjoyed it thoroughly. We also shared a bottle of Ethiopian honey wine, which is different from mead in that it is brewed with hops and has a slight amount of bubbles, giving it a drier taste that met with much approval. I still have left-overs from the restaurant, by the way, mostly injera sopped in the juices from the platter. I've found that scrambled eggs go well with those leftovers. Mmmmmmmmmm...!

Yesterday Thea and I went to the mall, where I got my ears pierced for the first time. It hurt far less than I expected, although I didn't like it when the plastic bracket holding the left stud didn't release at first. I wasn't aware that they actually have piercing studs to simplify the process and make it much more convenient and safe. As is there's no pain at all, only a faint awareness of the new weight on my ears. By the first day of Spring I will be able to swap these studs out (14K white gold) for a pair even better suited to me, which I'll have to wear for the next six months until the holes heal permanently open. But that's OK, as I'm really happy to have my first body mod. Next--a tattoo of my sigil!

Afterwards I joined Thea as she was finishing her Aqua Massage. It really helps her with her endo, and it simply feels divine. If we were rich, we'd own a unit. At any rate, afterwards we went to Marie Callender's for lunch, followed by a trip to Silver Platters, which has to be one of the best CD stores in the Seattle area. They are one of the few with a consistently good, eclectic selection--including and especially metal but including lots of classical and bluegrass, two of Thea's favorites. I found a copy of Arcturus' The Sham Mirrors, which I probably should've bought a year ago except I've been trying not to go gaga over CDs while unemployed. I didn't bother looking further; I knew that, if I found that Arcturus CD there, I'd find much more that I craved, and I didn't want to whine over what I could've got. As is, I'm very happy to have this CD. Thea bought the Bitch And Animal CD Eternally Hard, which she had been wanting for months. Bitch And Animal are a duet of lesbian genderfucking musicians who throw a lot of diverse elements together--hip-hop, punk, folk, etc.--to make a very catchy, raunchy mix. Despite myself, I think they're a lot of fun, and I'm glad Thea got that CD.

Today? Today I've been chatting with some of my former co-workers, washing dishes, and settling into being thirty-three. No plans, no presents, just a bit of peace, quiet, and domestic tranquility. Hope things go at least as well for those reading!