Parties and figs

So I just got back from a fantastic party and now I'm not feeling sleepy one bit. I've only just really started drinking alcohol regularly {edited to add: like, um, at the most, maybe one drink once a week} (and very moderately for anyone concerned reading this!) and I'm not sure if it winds me up or makes me sleepy. Right now, I'm casually browsing Mr. Boston while I brush my teeth to get an idea of what drinks I might like to try and just to try and wrap my head around what is in the commonest drinks.

I'm also in the middle of revamping my blog design. Sometimes there's a moment when you just realize "This has to change. Now."

After the party I came home and made some cranberry jelly (random, I know) and was glancing though the recipe descriptions in Joy of Cooking and I discovered that the deliciousness of  Northern Africa figs was Cato's clinching argument for invasion. Who knew that the cookbook could also be full of history lessons?

I also read tonight about spiders legs and how they avoid sticking to their own web.

I'm also still finding it fascinating that the amazing Jen of Conversion Diary started following me on Pinterest. I've been lurking on her blog for years so it makes the web seem all of a sudden a little smaller. And I'm feeling guilty that I've never commented on her blog before. I've just never figured out much of a groove for commenting on people's blogs unless I know them. Or maybe I'll stew on the post for a couple of days on a post and then come up with a comment but by then it feels too late...

The weather's just been freezing here. Our garden looks beautiful because the grass is still all green and our flowers are late, but man, would it just stop raining?! I know we are averaging about 10 degrees cooler than normal and I was talking to a friend in Sacramento and it sounds like they are about 15 degrees cooler. Crazy. Yesterday, I even spotted on lone rhododendron flower. They were supposed to be done flowering 6 weeks ago.

I realized today that I'm over 1/5 of the way done listening to War & Peace. I have a hard time listening to the average book on tape as it seems so inefficient, but War & Peace is so big to begin with, and I'm listening to it while I'm doing vision therapy, so it's all okay. I know I would be butchering the names in my head if I read it normally.