On Passwords and Keeping Current & Warm

Creating usernames and passwords for everything is so annoying isn't it? I counted; I have 20 different accounts. Ug. I wish there was a work around. The worst is when I have to put in a password to read research articles-- jeez seriously please let ANYONE read research articles; don't we want a more educated, well-read world?

https://www.hanen.org/special-pages/login.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2fMyHanen%2fHome.aspx

In other news, I'm actually reading research articles! Go keeping current! What motivates me is the older ladies in my office who recommend "chewing" as a way to improve speech.**

**(Please note, chewing in no way helps you talk better).



A friend of mine and I took a walk to a waterfront bar, the FoxGlove, last week, for a "working lunch." We sat outside, ordered the yummiest nibbles, and even read and discussed research articles. It was sunny and amazing. Winters in Wellington are great for these type of days, and make me forget the Antarctic winds. The weather was so cold one night last weekend that there was a power cut due to overload at the power station.

The Tree of Life Sucks!!!!

Saw "The Tree of Life" at the Wellington Film Festival tonight. There wasn't much to like about it except for the female lead's gorgeous vintage "day" dresses. Other than that, it was pure crap.

• TOO LONG
• Hardly any story line.
• There were DINOSAURS in it. Dinosaurs that stepped on each other's heads and then decided not to eat each other.
• Little flames of God that talked, throughout the movie. Does that sound like a movie you want to see?
• When the mother prayed to God about why her son died (btw we have no idea the circumstances of his death), there is about 20 minutes of pictures of space, "evolution" like dinosaurs with fins crawling onto a beach, and volcanoes.
• the movie has no ending. It just ends.
• Sean Penn is in the movie and it's not quite clear why.

This 2.5 hour movie is not worth your time or money, it wasn't worth ours! I wish I could delete it from my brain. What a pretentious load of crap!

Penthouse Cinema Ginger Loaf

My friend Tash introduced me to the wonders of the ginger loaf at the Penthouse Cinema in Brooklyn. Pairing it with lemonade is divine! We are lucky enough to get their recipe from last week's newspaper; we're baking it tomorrow.

Penthouse Cinema Ginger Loaf
(makes 3 loaves)

Grease and line loaf tins. Preheat oven to 160C.
4 cups flour
2 cups brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
4 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp mixed spice (Do you know what this is??)
1 tsp ground nutmeg
2 tsp ground cinnamon
850g golden syrup
250g butter, roughly diced
4 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups milk

Bake 60 mins and cool in tins overnight.

Electric blankets

When Bryce and I moved here we learned about the wonders of what we called "bed warmers." Put both sides of the bed on maximum #3 about 45 minutes before bed --- heaven! Especially in that first month we lived in the poorly insulated little house in Christchurch-- 33 degrees F many days. It was over a year before we learned that these pads-- placed under mattress pads, were called "electric blankets," not "bed warmers." We've had them in our Normandale house, our Makara house, and most hotels we've stayed at-- but never in hostels.

We made a mistake on Sunday. Huge sale on electric blankets-- $14 instead of the usual $99. We forgot to pick it up. AAGH! Cold sheets! Night after night!