dendritejungle

Eeee! Between LJ and Facebook, I swear I've had more birthday wishes by 8:30 in the morning than I ever had in the entire day before. *tears up, loves you all, loves the internet that makes it possible*

Okay, so I'm rushing off to work and have my birfday dinner tonight, and have been running around like a freakin' chicken with my head cut off with trip preparation and get-togethers and such. So this is just a drive-by post to say thanks so much for those of you who wrote lovely, thinky responses to the first post in my gutter!filter and/or are sending me birthday wishes! Comments and email responses are coming, if I'm lucky tonight or failing that I've set aside tomorrow evening.

*many enthusiastic hugs to you all*

I learned two things from my last post:

1) Y'all are a delightfully prurient lot, lining up for my upcoming filter  ;)  *loves you*

2) There is a woeful lack of knowledge about chocolatines among my lovely flisters. THIS CANNOT BE ALLOWED TO CONTINUE. I would be a poor friend indeed if I did not share my meagre knowledge with you and introduce you to the royalty of pastries, that divine delight, The Chocolatine. So, with no further ado...

A Chocolatine (capitalized in My Special World, at any rate) is the Quebecois name for a chocolate croissant, also known in France as a pain au chocolat.

HOWEVER. There is a WORLD OF DIFFERENCE between the pathetic confection that passes as a chocolate croissant in most of North America, and the irresistable pastry that has been raised to an art form in France and Quebec. In my attempt to enlighten you, I have sacrificed one of my own Chocolatines for the cause, and also procured one of their local meagre bretheren for the purposes of comparison. (And, uh, sorry they're a little squashed. :P) Observe:

This is a CHOCOLATINE. You will note its rich, flaky pastry, properly made with butter. You will also note the single (sometimes double) thick, solid line of dark chocolate that runs through its heart. It does not need a fancy exterior; this is a pastry secure in its quality. As I once said, "Heat these things up in the oven until the chocolate melts and...well, let's just say after eating one (or two, or three), I find myself practically wanting a cigarette and a little lie-down."

This is NOT A CHOCOLATINE. This is a TRAVESTY. You will note it is oily and, were you to taste it, you would find it sickly sweet, insipid, and forgettable. The chocolate itself is sad: it's milky and "chocolate" in the same way that Cheez Whiz is "cheese". The attempts to enhance the presentation by adding sugar and more "chocolate" to the top is just kind of embarassing.

Note: Image quality greatly reduced for the dialup folk: click on each image for a loving closeup.

If you're in the mood for a good laugh, you may also be amused to read about the infamous 5 Dozen Chocolatine Incident.

Thank you for your attention. I now return you to your regularly scheduled LJ reading.

So! *rubs hands* Have recovered from Pride and a lovely houseguest this week, trinity1986 (she of the Great Pride Parade Shoe Disaster), and so am finally updating. First up, the promised intro post for new folk, then out for a few hours :D, then coming back to catch up with all of YOU, and then a treehouse-and-transformer post. Then sleeeep. \o/

*surveys flist in astonishment* Good grief! Between random meetings, that friending meme a couple of weeks ago and Pride, I seem to have garnered over a dozen new friends. So, with no further ado, welcome *deep breath* amizada, aphrodite33, betgirl, crism79, dante_the_mouse, flawedamythyst, iamnotkris, kittyfauxpas, morphing_lanes, neeuqdrazil, onci_dium, petit_rhino, sacredwhimsy, shing, shippyflo, softgraysky, the_great_waka, trinity1986, yue_ix to the Jungle! I can't wait to get to know you all better. *gestures to a comfy seat, hands you a beverage of your choice*

Rather than boring you all with me talking about myself for an intro post, I prevailed upon themoderatrix who was my roommate for several years in university and dear, dear friend for...good grief, over a decade now...*feels old* to bring you all an insightful and amusing commentary on yours truly by way of introduction. She has done an outstanding job with no other instruction than the fact that "RUN! RUN WHILE YOU STILL CAN!" was already taken. :D

And yes, it's all true. Except for the gills. Obviously. *shifty eyes*

DendriteJungle had virtually no scarring from the surgery.

But she still misses her gills.

DendriteJungle is an enigma, wrapped in a mystery, wrapped in a vest. Okay, she took off the vest. One thing you can be pretty sure about Den is that she will remove all clothing the minute she gets the chance. Except for the undies, which stay on to keep the sofa clean.

DendriteJungle survived university by showering her various culinarily gifted roomies with outrageous compliments and offers of marriage. This is how she ate for four years. Her incredible powers of survival sensed that the most efficient way for her to eat was through flattery, and this became her mission through her entire undergraduate career.

DendriteJungle likes to fold small things into smaller things that are pretty neat. She likes to cram (in an orderly, catalogued kind of way) as much into her a) home b) mind c) life as she can get away with and then some. To visit Den's den is to spend hours just looking at all... the... cool... little... things... Same thing goes for her brain. And, natch, her life.

DendriteJungle will ditch her work and travel fourteen hours to be at your mom's funeral. Then she will have a lively discussion about dildos with your uncle at the wake.

DendriteJungle will collapse at your feet in gratitude if you bring her chocolatines from Montreal.

Den likes chocolate, paper, cats, treehouses, knots, bullwhips, dolls, wood, leather, books, garlic, cheese, writing, reading, fanfic, the web, TV, growing things, sleep and warmth.

DendriteJungle is the only person to whom I have given a voodoo doll of myself.

Nuff said.

Really, what more do you need to know? *beams, smishes her* ( And just because I love commenting, a few notes apropos of the doll, clothing, chocolatines, food symbiosis, and wake conversations about dildos )

ANYway, I'm always happy to blather on about myself, so if you have any questions, burning or otherwise, just let me know. And anything you want to share about yourselves (links are fine) I would love to know more about you too!