Mantises, Chocolate, and Screen Savers

I have to admit to being a bit of a Buffy fan. That being said, I've found Buffy on Hulu, and I've been watching episodes chronologically because there's a lot I missed when I used to watch Buffy on TV -- I had never even seen the very first episode (and I call myself a fan). Anyway, you may remember my previous post wherein I spoke of praying mantises, particularly a nightmare involving a giant mantis. Well, Season 1 Episode 4 of Buffy has just such a mantis as a villain, and I just watched that episode tonight. If reading about normal-sized ones gives me nightmares, I can only imagine what watching that is going to do to me. Wish me luck.

On a totally unconnected note, I made my own chocolate syrup tonight based on Alton Brown's recipe. It's still too hot to bottle, but I've been tasting it occasionally, and I think it's turned out to be pretty tasty. I used a lot less salt than Alton recommends because, when I tried his recipe for hot chocolate mix, I used the full amount he called for, and it is way too salty. I recommend cutting the salt at least in half and also cutting back on the cayenne. I'm looking forward to many yummy glasses of chocolate milk.

I work at a bookstore, and, when I came in the other day, the screen saver on the computer read:
Welcome to the _________ Bookstore :)
I thought the smiley face was funny, so I changed the screen saver to read:
Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter Here :)


~N.B.