Mattie is Productive

I slept in a bit today, and while I probably needed it, I have to admit I felt a little discombobulated; I like to get up early and get things done, as there is then more time the rest of the day to do Matt things.  Anyways, a good workout, Aldi, Marc's, the bank (gotta start paying the HELOC down again), my sister's, the library, and Bakery 57 (I got a gift card for Christmas, and I deserved a treat after my travel ordeal).  I was thinking of doing some culinary adventuring, but I think I will wait til I feel better and it is a little less cold.  

Also, I have been trying to go through the pantry and freezer.  Ate some turkey soup last weekend, and today I made the box of Rice-a-Roni (Lord knows how it got here) that was in the cupboard.  Never had much luck cooking rice, but this was...surprisingly easy?  Put the rice in the pot, add the spice and butter (I would use less if I did it again), then the water.  It did cook down, and it was...pretty good?  Bit salty.  I think I can get three meals out of it, which is nice -- I need to lose weight, and economy is good.  I have been going through my bag of potatoes in the fridge, and half a baked potato is a good lunch portion.  This will not last, for many reasons, but for now...it's fine.  

Watched film 858 today, the 83-second "Dog and the Tramp," a silent short just added to the NFR.  It was...fine?  Cute?  Tramp steals pie, dog attacks tramp, mess ensues.  Not exactly sure if it is NFR-worthy, but it is cute, and I suspect it is fairly difficult to look at all the old footage (that we somehow saved) and deciding what is really better than something else.  More to the point, I feel like watching films -- both on the NFR and from the various other places I have saved -- and striking while the iron is hot is the way to go.

I am about halfway through my next book, Keeping the Faith, which is about the Monkey Trial (should have read it last year).  The author is taking her time to get there -- biographical sketches about Bryan and Darrow (interesting), cultural history (largely interesting if a bit digressive), and theological debates (a smattering).  The author is clearly on one side of the debate, which is not surprising, but then you have to wonder how objective she will be.  I picked up three large tomes at the library today, so I should probably find a way to turn the pages a bit more rapidly...