He who has a strong enough why can bear almost any how.

^Friedrich Nietzsche. I have this toolbar in Firefox called StumbleUpon, and I dunno what I have chosen to have stumbled a page full of Nietzsche, but I like some of those quotes.

I got the three movies featuring Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter recently (Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal, and Red Dragon), and when I'm doing something quiet, I keep one of them on in the background. It makes me wish I was taking Abnormal Psychology now instead of later. The FBI agents from the "behavioral sciences" branch are practicing what's known now as forensic psychology. It's pretty cool, except for the part where one forensic psychologist said in an interview that he sometimes has to sit with probably dangerous criminals unattended to evaluate whether or not they're fit to stand trial. But it's cool, because Lecter was a psychiatrist, and former all-star forensic psychologist, and that's why people go to him in these movies when they need to track down a serial killer. It's revealed in the books (which I haven't read, but heard this interesting tidbit about) that unlike most psychopaths, Lecter had only one sign of psychological maladjustment-- animal cruelty (in childhood), one of many signs of Bad Things to Come. Otherwise he flew under the radar. He also didn't keep trophies of his victims (because he had eaten them). In Hannibal, Clarice tries to offer Lecter the FBI's psychological profile on him, which I would have been interested to hear more about, but he ignored the deal. A prequel DOES exist, but I heard it sucks.

I like Hannibal Lecter for reasons other than his complete badassery. I like that he's cultured. I like his handwriting (which is reportedly Copperplate font). I like how well and completely he uses symbols. I like that he made fun of Starling's shoes in Silence of the Lambs, and later bought her a great pair of heels in Hannibal. I like that he prefers to eat the rude. I like that he owned The Joy of Cooking.

Voting day was long and ball-breaking, but it's worth $115. I also found my wallet today, so I'll be able to deposit that check when I finally get it. This was my second co-chair vote, and my sixth overall election, so I put my name up for possible chairmanship in the future. $150 is worth the slightly extra amount of work.

I'm working on a few fine dinners to practice preparing keeping Ypsi in mind. I told Jon we'd be having Fine Dining nights, and I want to make it happen. So far I only have one course of one meal, but I've got time. It's an appetizer, a kind of Spanish tomato soup called gazpacho. I have to figure out what kind of main course to serve, and I definitely want a dessert in there, but I dunno what that'll be yet either. And wine. It sorta sounds like I'll try something safe at first, then play with some ideas later on. Who knows what'll happen?

Sleep has been completely off since Tuesday. I've napped a couple times, but now sleep comes whenever the hell it wants, instead of when I want it to. Not helpful, body.

Sean