Living In the World, Not on It

You won't believe me... it makes me think of Chef. He told me that these things are called Amusez la bouche - it translates into "amuse the mouth" and I see the apprentices do it all the time. This is not the best image, but it looks just like any of the little one or two-bite teasers that our kitchen produces for fine dining events. They are really amazing, and I do take images when I can. I'll have to fish around for a better one. This one was on the meme here. I know I drive the Chef a little nuts... but I love learning, and this is how to do it - by asking. I have to say that when I get him at the right time (as in not during the dinner rush - he seems to enjoy teaching as much as I enjoy learning. I'll never be a cook, but maybe that makes it all the more enjoyable for him - I'm learning just for the sheer joy of it and not for some culinary gain. That has to be appealing. Shockingly, I can pronounce a lot of the below listed terms: Kitchen brigade Chef ...

Monday Curious As a Cat: Week Number 137 1) What is the single most important ingredient for a spiritual life? Belief. Everything else is gravy. 2) Who is the person you know with the freest spirit? Nancy. 3) How does it make you feel when you hear people argue? Well... it depends on the people and the kind of arguing. Some people just do it in a funny way that underneath still has the love. But serious, real arguments make me uncomfortable - I don't need to hear that! 4) What one thing would you give to each of your ex-lovers? Hope for a good future. Grace for our past, all the good parts. 5) Show and Tell. What comes to mind first when you see this picture? Or, tell a story if it reminds you of one. You won't believe me... it makes me think of Chef. He told me that these things are called Amusez la bouche - it translates into "amuse the mouth" and I see the apprentices do it all the time. This is not the best image, but it looks just like any of the little one or ...

Would you believe Tropical Storm Laura? Oh, the irony. I wonder how far she will go? She's forming way out in the Atlantic Ocean and seems to be far enough north not to be a potential threat to us. I don't think she will come here. But there is a tiny chance. It is a teeny possibility. Ike certainly did a number on Kentucky. The others have hit other areas, ones more prone to this kind of damage - Houston, Florida, New Orleans. Amazing. I wonder what makes people want to live there - any of those theres, although I get the feeling that Houston is not as bad as New Orleans and almost any part of Florida. Strangely, the Carolinas have not been hit in a long time, and that is good. They are a popular landing site for really terrible hurricanes. I suppose all locations have their natural Achilles heel, so to speak, but I cannot think why you would pick a location with, say, more than one, or one that happens often enough that your chances are that much more probably of experiencing...

I received this comment right after the kitchen image went up: "Anonymous has left a new comment on your post " A Fun Photo! ": I am wondering.. what happened to your real blog?? Whats with all the quizzes, etc?" I was positive the culprit was Greg. Not that it wasn't a well-made point. I definitely have been getting nuts with the memes and quizzes. Maybe I should combine the memes into a once a week thing... then the quizzes once a week in a different post. I do like them, though. However, the real meat, the more intense cogitating - well, I've missed it, too. So I wrote to Greg and explained it: "As if I don't know who left that comment! It's there but I will be getting back to real blogging, wiriting about ongoing things. Time has not been my friend of late. I should be writing more later. My mother is getting worse but wants to come home. Ray is better but alone and worried about my mother. Harry (my biological father) just lost one...

This probably falls under the heading of "what not to do"... I read the indgredients of the sherbet that I just ate. (And how pissed am I at Luis? He probably inadvertantly did me a favour by ensuring that I could not stuff myself, but he ate all of the raspberry, most of the lemon and left mostly - like 97% - orange. My least favourite flavour. But he shouldn't have been eating it at all! And the only saving grace to this is that he did not eat it all. Then I'd have to kill him.) So here is the fun of ingredients: water, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, cane sugar syrup, whey, cream, raspberry puree, orange puree (concentrated orange juice, citrus pulp, orange oil), lemon puree (concentrated lemon juice, citrus pulp, lemon oil), citric acid, guar gum, xanthan gum, annatto, (colour), locust bean gum and artificial colour (blue #1, red #3, red #40, yellow #5). Contains: Milk. Uh... and we wonder why so many people end up with Type II Diabetes (adult onset diabetes...

...do I live under? It seems that of late I have had too much drama of the bad kind in my life. (I wonder if that is proper English usage... is all drama inherently bad or is it just serious, but can be good? I don't know. Stuff like this prays on my mind.) Anyhoo... too much bad drama. It isn't necessarily my own drama, it is a lot of things: 1. One parent has had a second hip replacement (ultimately a good thing, but still worrying and stressful while in progress) 2. One parent has had multiple strokes and is in the acute-care facility still (and not happy about it) 3. One parent has had to put one of his two cats to sleep and is wrecked by it (keep in mind I've two fathers) 4. I had to put my second cat to sleep exactly three and a half months after putting the first one to sleep 5. I'm a little on the broke side 6. Now I've been sick (I will live; something I've ingested pissed off my stomach enough that I have vomited and the diarrhea has been appalling. I...

For the last few months, since around the time that Ariel died, I had also discovered the strange but unique world of Memes and Questionnaires. Both are features that I enjoy, but the real need to blog has always been cogitating on paper (well, so to speak). Lately my head is so overloaded with home issues and my emotions are in such a crazy state, that a real post has not happened in quite some time. I'm certainly well overdue. A friend of mine, though, was the one who pointed it out. So here is a real post, life as it is right now. The hardest thing for me personally is dealing with the death of Chelsea, my cat. Ariel died in June and that was torturously hard, but there was still Chelsea waiting for me to come home. Now my house is echoingly empty. Chelsea, like Ariel, was 18 years old, so I am sure old age had a role. They both lived a really long time and were with me just under half my life. Chelsea was diagnosed four or so years ago as having kidney degeneration, but there w...

It will be wet anyway! What is a little more wetness?

How would you describe your weight? Somewhat slender Very slender Average A little overweight Very overweight Do you like to be around people? Not really Sometimes Yes, definitely How would you describe your personal politics? Very conservative Somewhat conservative Independent Somewhat liberal Very liberal Do you like snow? You like it sometimes You love it You hate it How often do you go to Starbucks? A few times a week Every day A few times a month A few times a year Rarely Never How important is religion in your life? Very important Extremely important Important Somewhat important Not important You Should Live in Michigan If you don't want to live in Michigan, you might also consider: Missouri New Hampshire (I love New Hampshire! Maybe I will...) Vermont Washington Alabama

Hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, landslides... they all make news from time to time. Some see them as the payoff for offending their God. That especially applies to some televangelists here in the US, who pronounce such a verdict after each catastrophe. What a vengeful God they must subscribe to! Others see these events as evidence of nature's wrath, but lawyer and orator Robert Green Ingersoll put it best when he said, "In nature there are neither rewards nor punishments; there are consequences." We may mess with an ecosystem and then we have to face the consequences. What a pity that often those who make a mess stay far behind, in space and time, to face the consequence. This week we'll see five terms to describe earth's features, many of which you can use metaphorically. archipelago PRONUNCIATION: (ahr-kuh-PEL-uh-go) MEANING: noun: A large group of islands. ETYMOLOGY:From Italian arcipelago (the Aegean Sea), from Latin Egeopelagus, from arkhi- (chief) + pelag...

From left to right: Pedro, Gabe, Cesar, Greg, Vladimir, Bill All the best people!

Check all that apply to you or that you agree with. You've done it outdoors. You will openly discuss your fantasies with your partner. You enjoy sex a lot. You've had more than one partner. You think there is too much sex on TV. You don't think there is anything wrong with sex before marriage. You'd call your sex life somewhat exciting, but not very exciting. You are currently sexually involved with someone. When it comes to sex, you're more likely to say you're traditional than adventurous. Over time, your sex life has gotten better not worse. You consider yourself to be good at sex. You are honest about the number of people you've been with. You can't remember the first and last name of every person you've been with. You had sex before you were 18. You have done it in a car. You like being bitten. You use birth control. You prefer the lights off to the lights on. Kissing is your top turn on. You have gotten it on with a co-worker. You Are 75% Norma...

(I decided to go mindless this week...go with it!) 1. What is your favorite non-alcholic drink? Why? My favourite non-alcoholic drink is hot apple cider. I love it. It's a very autumny drink, too. The other favourite is a mango shake kind of drink that is common in Hindi restaurants. It is incredibly delicious! 2. Do you drink? If so, what's your favorite alcoholic drink? I don't drink - very infrequently, anyway. I like Fuzzy Navels, but minus the Vodka, so it is just orange juice and peach schnaps. I guess you could say it is watered down. 3. What liquids do you drink most often? Flavoured water.

How do you like your bagel? Toasted Untoasted Do you try to eat healthy foods? Yes Sometimes No What's the best bagel spread? Butter Hummus Cream cheese Peanut butter Jelly Lox Avocado Nutella What goes best with a bagel? Coffee Tea Orange Juice You Are an Onion Bagel You are spontaneous, savvy, and multi-talented. You enjoy taking risks, and you're not the kind of person who makes long term plans. Of all the types, you're the most likely to eat something new for kicks. You tend to have something unusual for breakfast... if you even have breakfast at all.

1. Would you rather join the Ghostbusters to hunt ghosts or join the Sesame Street bunch? Why? I would join the Ghostbusters, absolutely. Hunting ghosts sounds like fun and they made it look good! I hate kiddie stuff, so the option of joining Sesame Street isn't one. And the Ghostbusters themselves were fun. 2. What is the most you are willing to do to get out of a police officer giving you a ticket? I once put my blue light permit in with my auto paperwork when I was pulled over in Connecticut for doing 84 on route 84 (the officer did not appreciate the irony). It worked - I got a $37 failure to wear seatbelt ticket with no points instead of a $400+ ticket with four points attached. I was quite greatful. And just for the record I was wearing my seatbelt. 3. What popular movies do you find to be overrated? Almost all of them. 4. What is in (and/or on) your bedside table? A small reading lamp. Usually a book or three. Sometimes my glasses are on it. 5. Have you ever had or fantasize...

1. What is the strangest thing you have ever inserted or seen inserted (in a sexual manner) in person? You know, I don't think anyone wants to know. Seriously. 2. Have you ever had sex anyone whose name started with a J? Um, let me think... I think so, but the brain just isn't working right now. 3. Have you ever been outside completely naked? Yes. I'd hate to think anyone hasn't. 4. Do you prefer music, tv, or other noise in the background when you have sex? It depends on the moment. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. 5. Have you ever used ice for sexual purposes? Sure. Who hasn't? It can be interesting... Bonus: Have you ever been propositioned for group sex? Come to think of it, I don't think I have. Which is okay; I don't hold strange or unusual sexual habits against others but this is not something I would go for. I just haven't any interest in group sex.

You Are: - Very courageous - Always alert - Considered valuable - A unique person

1) What has been the most insincere expression of faith you have ever witnessed? We had an emergency call about four weeks ago on Saturday evening, in St. Peter's Church on Baldwin Road and Route 46 West. An older patron was complaining of chest pain. We rolled in with the stretcher and equipment and the preacher was going on, full blast, over a sound system. We were working up the patient and still he went on, never giving any indication that we were there or that a paritioner was in distress of any kind. It was amazing. He was saying something about giving thanks to the lord. I wondered what he was thanking the lord for if he could not find a moment to spare for the paritioner in medical distress. He did not even stop the organist from pulling all the stops on the instrument and playing, which did not help us at all, as we were trying to get a blood pressure. Without some modicum of silence, we can't get one. So there you have the caring and love that is the Catholic church...

1) If you had to exchange souls with someone you know for one day, who would you pick? Wow. What a hell of a question. Hmmm. I have to think about that one. Someone I'd want to exchange souls with... Hmmm. I just don't know. Maybe someone who is 99 years old - just to experience what they have. 2) When were you happiest to come home? Anytime I've been to the hospital. 3) What is your favorite part of the yesterday? Huh? If you mean "What was my favourite part of yesterday?" it was seeing all the others from the other squads at the Parsippany Fall Festival. 4) What has been your greatest accomplishment in life so far? Being happy. 5) Show and Tell. What comes to mind first when you see this picture? Or, tell a story if it reminds you of one. It reminds me of an episode of Sex and the City where Carrie got a job writing for the fashion magazine Vogue and the editor, brutally played by Candice Bergman, ripped it to shreds. The other guy (I can't remember who it...

Imagine you're walking down a tree lined street on a fall day. What color leaves stand out to you the most? The orange leaves The red leaves The yellow leaves The green leaves The brown leaves Which fall holiday do you like better? Thanksgiving Halloween Do you like it to snow in the fall? Yes Only a dusting No What's the perfect fall food? Hot cider Pumpkin pie Roasted autumn vegetables Candied apples Butternut squash soup What's your favorite type of autumn weather? Sunny cool days Rainy days Breezy days Foggy days What's your favorite time of fall? The middle The beginning The last part Your Autumn Test Results You are a dynamic, vibrant person. You aren't afraid to pursue your passions. When you're happiest, you are outgoing and expressive . You love celebrations, and you enjoy showing off a little.You prefer change to come slowly. You need a long transition period when your life changes. You find solitude to be the most comforting thing in the world. Being ...

"If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people together to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea." These timeless words of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, the French author and aviator, sum up what it means to lead. How tight a ship do you run? Are you the mainstay for your organization or just a figurehead? This week we'll feature five words that have their origins in nautical terminology. mainstay PRONUNCIATION: (MAYN-stay) MEANING: noun: A chief support or main part. ETYMOLOGY: On a sailing ship, the mainstay is a strong rope that secures the mainmast. The noun stay (a heavy rope) is from Old English. figurehead PRONUNCIATION: (FIG-yuhr-hed, FIG-uhr-hed) MEANING: noun: A person who is head of a group in name only, having no authority or responsibility. ETYMOLOGY: The term is derived from the figurative use of the term figurehead which is an ornamental carving, usually of a human figur...

I recently joined a brand new bible study group for men at my church, and the second week’s topic inspired this week’s question. I won’t go into the subject matter in detail in this post, but it’s about learning patience. One of the discussion questions asks the reader to consider how successfully he’d be able to remain patient in a given set of scenarios. Here is the list, which you’ll use to answer this week’s question: Getting trapped behind a slow driver on the interstate Waiting in a long line at the bank Waiting at a store behind another customer who needs a price check Waiting for your best friend to show up at the surprise party you are throwing for him/her Building (or purchasing) a home Waiting for a promised raise or promotion at work Waiting for test results from a doctor Waiting for the arrival of a new baby in the family Teaching a teenager how to drive a car Waiting for a much-anticipated love interest to call for a second date Those are the ten situations that you have ...

Miles hiked this section: 89 Days hiked: 5 Total miles hiked: @ 1,250 Miles still to go: 530 Hi from Eugene, OR! I made it into and out of Canada. There was no one at the border except birds and squirrels. No Mounties or U.S. soldiers patrolling the woods (one rumor passed south by a few hikers). I heard that "illegally" crossing the US/Canada border is technically a felony, but that Canada doesn't enforce any kind of punishment. This was lucky news for at least 50% of the hikers because only a few of them had actually bothered to apply for the recommended "Entry Into Canada" permit letter. I only heard about it possibly needing the permit letter once I was already on the trail, but I figured that as long as I had my passport, they'd have to let me back into my home country -- and I was right. The border guard just looked at our passports, asked us a few generic questions about how we knew each other, what we'd been doing in Canada, how long we'd be...

1. Do you think that capital punishment — as the system now operates — is a deterrent to crime on any level? No, clearly not. The prisons are full to overflowing with deathrow clients. What part of this seems like a deterent? And in Texas, where they do happily execute the deathrow inmates, there are still too many of them. Doesn't seem to scare them at all. 2. With changes and/or improvements to the justice system designed to better enforce capital punishment, do you think it could be a better deterrent to crime? That is a tough question. I don't know that such a thing can happen. It is in the human genome to be violent, take what isn't one's own, getting ahead through violence, etc. 3. Should the punishment a man who kills a pregnant woman be worse than the punishment a man who kills a non-pregnant woman faces? No. Why? Isn't that discriminatory? 4. Take the quiz: What Felony Are You? In school, you were most likely to get in trouble for: Vandalism Making fun of s...