I could not stand how one main character provided commentary on how scattered of a memoir-writer he is. Equally annoying was the other main character’s propensity to analyze every situation and course of action as though it was part of a movie script. I gradually became used to these self-referential first-person perspectives, but it still made me feel stabby.

One main character goes on unnecessarily about his numerous sexual conquests, and another is involved in an awkward relationship with an untrustworthy woman who had tattooed a cipher grille onto her inner thigh:

“She stopped his mouth with her tongue and pressed [the] long-lost cipher grille against his groin.”

At which point I threw the book down and exclaimed to Steve that my book had become so ridiculous I couldn’t stand it.

Alison, another local MetaFilter member, and I met Jessamyn downtown on Friday night, which happened to be First Friday, the night of Kathy Griffith's comedy performance, and the eve of the Iditarod ceremonial start. In other words, downtown was packed to the gills and it was going to take two hours to get a seat at a restaurant. We moved to midtown and got a table at Spenard Roadhouse where they gave us free popcorn and half-off appetizers.

I didn't get any photos because my iPhone died a nasty death and I left all of my memory cards at home. But Jessamyn ate all of my tater tots, and that's all the proof I need.

I have driven a lot in the state of Alaska, many thousands of miles from this city to that. Over 200 miles from Homer to Anchorage, and over 350 miles from Anchorage to Fairbanks. Over and over and over again. I know where the cleaner porta-potties are and I know where the next passing zone will be.

I don't much like to stop on these trips unless someone's bladder is bursting because 1. I just passed a bunch of pokey cars and don't want to pass them again, and 2. Stopping makes the trip that much longer, especially when taking into account item #1, above.

But this trip I made a conscious decision to make the drive with an eye for photography, and as a result Olive and I stopped a number of times on the drive south. Olive doesn't like traveling long distances in the car, and I think the multiple stops helped her nerves.

It was a great drive and a great visit.

Olive didn't mind too much, what with all of the quality snuggling and nap time we were able to share. Until the end of the third day when she had had ENOUGH with this CRAP and we needed to PLAY right now BARK.

Then Friday at 11am, all of my symptoms just went away. Like magic. 10.30 I felt crappy and was making plans to leave work early; 11.00 I could think clearly and I had energy and felt happy to be alive. I finished out the day and carried my productivity home.

We had dinner with some friends this weekend at A Taste of Thai. I love Thai food, but usually follow a few standards that mainly keep me ordering the same food over and over: Pad Thai, cashew chicken, panang curry, masaman curry. A Thai rut of yumminess.

But this weekend I ordered something else, something I've never had before, something new. Sidewalk Noodle. I have no idea what this dish exactly is, because Sidewalk Noodles appears to be a category of Thai noodles that includes Pad Thai. It was not terribly memorable, but still good.

1/2 gallon whole milk
1c plain whole-milk yogurt
1/2c heavy cream
2tsp white vinegar
1tsp salt

Wander around the store for a while looking for plain whole-milk yogurt in a container smaller than your head. Be unsuccessful and mentally run though a list of possible recipes to use up a crapload because this recipe only calls for 1 cup and you hate eating yogurt.

Dump all of the ingredients into a pot and bring it to a boil. Boil it very, very gently until the milk is curdled, 1 or 2 minutes.

Line a strainer with a few layers of cheesecloth and set it over a deep bowl.

Pour the curdled milk into the strainer and drain for 15 minutes. Gather the cheesecloth and gently squeeze out the remaining liquid.

Declare to Steve that you are awesome and demand he taste it immediately. Dismiss his unimpressed reaction as not understanding the depths of your awesomeness.

Use it along with some Italian sausage and spinach to stuff some jumbo shells for dinner.

I texted Steve the best parts of her ranting, how seeing a swastika makes her feel angsty and how Alaska is basically a socialist state just like Montreal and how she has very specific preferences on which news magazines to read but she can't afford them so she just reads the headlines while in the grocery checkout line. And it just went on and on, hardly leaving any space for her early-40s male companion to ask quiet questions.

After about a half hour she said that she needed to get going to someplace or another and they left in opposite directions.

I looked up from my books and my soup and my furious texting to catch the eye of a guy wearing earphones and sitting behind a laptop. We exchanged a half smile and shook our heads, grateful that she had gone.

I would have teased her more about the memory slip, but considering that she has to keep track of birthdays and anniversaries for 5 other children and 3 grand children, not to mention gobs of extended family, I cut her some slack while pulling out some cold hard MATH to prove just how wrong she was.

Although 29 is just a number, I already anticipate this year is going to rock mightily. Let me back up that assertion with three words: Electric Blue Pumps. I KNOW, right?

The last two years I've set out some goals for the year. Similar to resolutions, but attainable goals that I won't forget about after four weeks. I've also been seeing this 30 Before 30 fad around a lot lately which, despite its fad-ness, appeals to the list-maker within me. Plus, it'll be free blogging material! Win-win!

It is hella hard to come up with a 30-item year to-do list. Like, seriously hard. Especially if you don't want to steal things from other lists or fill it with cliche stuff like "run a 5k" and "get married and have baybeez" and "lose 30 pounds OMG". But I managed and then realized I have three basic categories: photography related, things that scare me, and nice things for myself.

1. Start a business
2. Sell a photo online
3. Finish photographing 100 strangers
4. Take 2 photography workshops
5. Photograph 10 models
6. Curate/edit an Anchorage photo book
7. Show my work at a First Friday opening
8. Take a dance lesson
9. Go to the movie theater all alone
10. Ask for help
11. Find a new gynocologist
12. Update my makeup routine
13. Reconnect with a lost friend
14. Wander aimlessly
15. Have sex in public
16. Get a professional massage
17. Spend a day/afternoon on a ski slope
18. Host a dinner party
19. Read 15 books
20. Climb Flattop 5 times
21. Redesign/repurpose rhapsodic.org
22. Nap on a sandy beach
23. Complete an emergency fund
24. Have coffee/lunch dates with 15 friends
25. Get a facial
26. Spend less time online
27. Cook an elaborate new meal
28. Have a new experience every week
29. Throw a big 30th birthday party
30. Not complete the whole list

I'm looking forward to a few of these and am horrified that I left others on the list. Skiing? Seeing a movie all alone? I pretty much have a death wish, apparently.

Some fun today with the DianaF+ lens and adaptor I got for Christmas. It was a nice break from work, my first in 5 weeks.

And if I had recapped earlier, I would have missed out on the blue moon eclipse and mirage at 10am New Year's Eve, which I shot while freezing my bare legs off in a skirt and borrowed too-large mens' dress shoes standing on the roof of my office building. Totally worth it.

Instead of going over all the wonderful things I did in 2009 that kept me too busy to blog (doggie snorgles, San Francisco, Twitter, coordinating bake sales, taking naps, Twitter, meeting new people, Twitter, getting engaged), and instead of outlining my 2010 resolutions that I haven't made yet, let's talk about the personal goals I lined out for 2009 much like I did for 2008.

• Make some money from my photograph: This I did! And it was great! I should do some more of this!
• Get a photography logo: Well. I'm working on it. And I'm going to blame my brother.
• Another workout routine: I managed to maintain my weight through the entire year despite the absurd amount of baking I did.
• Try cooking a new dish each week: I did this for a few months and documented many of the new dishes on Flickr and the blog. Steve and I ate things we never would have before, and many of them became favorites.
• Upgrade my camera: Goodbye broken Digital Rebel XTi, hellooo sexy 50D.
• Save $300 a month: I set up an auto-transfer to put $360 into my savings account bimonthly. Not that I have $8640 more in my savings account than I did in January 2009.

So yeah, I pretty much kicked some butt. And I am tired.

Timberline Drive B&B was a great and very comfortable place to stay, tucked out of the way for complete privacy. The kitchen and bathroom were fully stocked, the owners' dog Koda was friendly, and the hot tub was bubbly.

The weather was wonderful in Girdwood, the trees just as white and crispy as those in Anchorage but lacking the overcast skies and the fog. We slept in, got pruny fingers from the hot tub, and leisurely read through some books. I would definitely recommend the B&B.

Saturday we took the tram to the top of Alyeska and had lunch at 7 Glaciers Restaurant. We watched members of the ski patrol training one of their new dogs to dig for avalanche survivors, which involved putting someone with a toy in a hole and covering them with snow. Each time the dog dug the person out but was more excited about getting the toy back than rescuing the person.

But before we could get to any of that, earlier in the week he one-upped my surprise with one of his own: a diamond ring and a proposal.

Things are going pretty good here.