Terrarium!

alien guy in the terrarium
Originally uploaded by mygothlaundry

I made a terrarium today, prompted by this metafilter post and I'm all thrilled with myself. I like terrariums; always have, but the last one I made I gave away and this one is just for me. Also, I feel magnanimous, since I have finally provided my little angel/alien warrior, my glowing frog and my tiny flamingo with a lovely leafy home. And, bonus, I feel dangerous and badass, since, okay, I confess: I stole some moss and a little vine-y ground cover thing from Bent Creek yesterday (not the fern though - I got that at Lowes, where I walked it through the aisles in one hand with a giant maul in the other, which was also kind of weirdly cool.) Yes, it is evil and wrong to steal plants from the forest but I think I get excused, since the Bent Creek people themselves are logging the hell out of where I snagged them and, hey, either they die there or I take them home for a new life.

For one thing to live another must die and I'm horrified to report that the Panini Press that young M got for his birthday and which we have all been using at least once a day since, just up and died this morning. I tried it in three different outlets and nothing - it's dead. "What the fuck, Hamilton Beach?" I said in disbelief and young M was equally upset. "Man, my friends are gonna be pissed off," he said in tones of sorrow. Now I know why the cheese has been disappearing so quickly - there are teenage boys making paninis in my kitchen every afternoon while I'm at work. I had suspected something of the kind: the plates in the garage were a dead giveaway - it's cold out there, but if you're 16, that is no obstacle to enjoying a giant grilled cheese and a game of air hockey. A came over this afternoon, naturally planning on a panini and was also stricken with sorrow - the panini maker, it turns out, has changed all of our lives.

Granted, I was starting to wonder whether my new panini diet, consisting as it did of pretty much nothing but melted cheese and beer, was perhaps the culprit in the fact that my jeans are a bit tighter than they were before we got it, but, damn, the sandwiches are so good it's worth it. It's still under warranty, thank the cheese gods - tomorrow I'm calling and demanding an immediate replacement. We're all addicted. We must have our panini or all hell will break loose!