my mother would be so proud

i recently became aware of a website that has possibly changed my life (or at least has increased my salivary production of late). the website is tastespotting (thanks kristiane) and it is pretty much food heaven. i'm not going to try to explain it; you'll just have to see for yourself. but seriously, amazing, right? at any rate, it has made me increasingly anxious to start cooking more. not that i don't cook now; i actually do cook quite a lot (i'm a frickin' chef compared to my current roommates), but it's always the same set of things that i've been making for the past few years. shell pasta with spinach and sun-dried tomatoes, spaghetti with fresh sautéed vegetables, or homemade california rolls (obviously my cooking skills are not quite as limited as this, but you get the point). and cookbooks are either too time-consuming to flip through, too expensive, or devoid of pictures. how am i supposed to know if i want to make something if i don't know what it looks like? this website is so amazing because that's all it is: pictures. if you think you might like what's in the picture, then you can explore further. it's so easy to discover new and tasty recipes. it almost makes me want to be a housewife just so i can legitimately spend my days cooking. almost. (i know, scary.) 

unrelatedly, i'm still getting over this goddamn cold/flu/whatever-the-fuck-it-is sickness that i got from ben. i no longer have body aches or chest pain, but i'm still pretty congested and hacking shit out of my lungs. i hate being sick so much. i hate not being able to run (or, what's worse, running anyway and feeling miserable the entire time). i hate having to take time out of my schedule in order to sit around and feel awful. it goes without saying, i know. i just wanted to bitch for a second. 

speaking of bitching, my downstairs neighbors have recently found a new reason to make my head want to explode. one of the guys apparently just bought new turntables and has been pretty keen on practicing his dj-ing "skills." only it sounds like a fucking 5 year old got ahold of a set of drums. he just keeps making really loud, really shitty sounds. the loudness wouldn't even be half as bad (okay, yes it would) if it weren't for the fact that he is seemingly aspiring to be a goddamn techno dj, which is the worst kind. although i do quite like a variety of electronica-type music, and in general i totally dig dj-ing, i think that straight-up techno is just utter shit. seriously. it literally all sounds the same. and it sucks. and it makes me want to shoot myself in the head. in all fairness, these guys have come to be pretty understanding about my need for relative quiet when i'm working at home, and they almost always turn their music down when i ask. but they pretty much assume that if i'm not pounding on the floor for them to shut the fuck up, i'm either not home or not working. so it's basically always loud, but not usually loud and head-splittingly obnoxious. now it's both. all the time.    

edit: it just occurred to me that i am totally going to turn into one of those bitchy old women who spend all their time complaining about the neighbors. oh well.