again, I must apologize to myself for not writing more often. such a vicious cycle. but enough self-deprecation, I will attempt to move onto something with a bit more substance.
I posted a blog a few months ago about a friend who was in a terrible accident on his motorcycle and was in a coma. Here is the update: I was sitting at my desk yesterday doing whatever it is that I do at my desk, when my phone rang. I was scared when said friend's name appeared on the ID, afraid that it may be bad news. I certainly did not expect to hear his voice.
apparently, in the time that has elapsed since my last news of him, he has almost fully recovered. he is home from the hospital, progressing well with his physical therapy, and is, so far, mentally sound. The biggest relief was that he sounded like himself. He paused more between words, but for the massive amount of head trauma, I am surprised that he can even talk.
he remembers nothing of the accident, and his only worry is over what caused the crash. he has a sort of guilt complex, and wants to know if it was his fault. my advice was simple: he is better off not knowing. he does not need to feel guilty over it, nor does he need the anger and resentment over knowing that someone else put him through so much.
right now, he is off of all medication, and is only taking blood thinners for a clot that is forming in his leg. he has a few mending bones and ribs, but overall, he is fine, and i am relieved. it felt so good to hear his voice. such a difference from second hand information. it is terrible to think that someone so young and with so much more life to live may have either died or live in a persistent vegetative state.
he is going back to college tomorrow. that shocks me more than anything else. he insists that, while stressful, the mental exercise will help him recover more quickly.
in other news, football is in full swing. (American football, just so there is no confusion. i love soccer, too, but football season means only one thing: football)
I'll keep this brief: i am proud of my team. The ravens have played well so far, in spite of the massive problems that have plagued the team (injuries, two incapacitated quarterbacks, and having a rookie starting QB.) If they continue to play as well as they have been playing, I have no doubt that they will be a major contender for the post season. notice I say "post season." any person saying the actual name of the big game this early in the season is an idiot, and should be ashamed.
Last Saturday night was my high school reunion. five years has gone by rather quickly, and I now feel quite old. I was not popular in high school, mostly owing to the fact that I split my high school years between two schools, and at that age, two years is not long enough to make friends and move out of the "new kid" status. The good news is that this reunion gave me the chance to speak to some people that I never would have spoken to in school. I am always amazed at the changes that a person goes through between the ages of 16 and 25. in high school, everyone believes that they have life figured out, and yet most people have no true concept of self at that age.
in other news, have I mentioned that I broke my toe recently? I feel terrible complaining of pain in my little toe, but it actually hurts. If someone had complained to me about a similar pain a month ago, I would have laughed, but the truth is that this little bone fracture is causing me more pain that I expected. and shoes? forget it! its fine to walk on, but once I step into a shoe, the pain flares up and the swelling begins. it has been almost two weeks, and I hope the pain subsides soon.
I believe that is all of the news I have for now. stay tuned for either a posting of some artwork, or opinionated commentary on the economic status of America, depending on my mood.
as a (comical) side note, the last time I was shopping in New York, I found myself eating fantastic Swiss chocolate truffles from a place near the plaza hotel on 5th ave. I plan to visit New York again within the next month or two, perhaps I will have to treat myself again. Swiss chocolate is not my favorite, but I cannot resist that smooth, flawless texture that only Swiss chocolate has.
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Sunday, September 28, 2008
chocolate facts
some things i recently found out about chocolate. and we all know I love chocolate!!!
1. It is a known fact that chocolate has caffeine in it. But did you know that you would have to eat more then a dozen chocolate bars to get the same amount of caffeine from a cup of coffee? There are about 5 to 10 mg's of caffeine in one ounce of bitter chocolate, 5 mgs in milk chocolate, and 10mgs in a six-ounce cup of cocoa.
2. Chocolate is actually a valuable energy source. A single chocolate chip can provide enough energy for an adult human to walk 150 ft.
3. Chocolate has great health benefits. It helps with depression, high blood pressure, Tumors and Pre-menstrual syndromes.
4. Chocolate does not cause or aggravate acne, this is a myth.
5. One ounce of baking chocolate or cocoa contains 10% of the daily recommended intake of iron.
6. Chocolate can be deadly for dogs. Chocolate contains an ingredient called "Theobromine" which can be toxic to a dogs central nervous system and cardiac muscles.
7. People spend more than $7 billion dollars a year on chocolate.
8. The per capita consumption of chocolate indicates that each person consumes 12 pounds of chocolate each year.
9. Milk Chocolate is the most preferred type of chocolate, however dark chocolate is especially popular among men.
10. In Alfred Hitchcock's movie "Psycho" chocolate syrup was used to indicate blood in the famous shower scene.
source: http://www.infobarrel.com/10_Facts_about_Chocolate
3. Chocolate has great health benefits. It helps with depression, high blood pressure, Tumors and Pre-menstrual syndromes.
4. Chocolate does not cause or aggravate acne, this is a myth.
5. One ounce of baking chocolate or cocoa contains 10% of the daily recommended intake of iron.
6. Chocolate can be deadly for dogs. Chocolate contains an ingredient called "Theobromine" which can be toxic to a dogs central nervous system and cardiac muscles.
7. People spend more than $7 billion dollars a year on chocolate.
8. The per capita consumption of chocolate indicates that each person consumes 12 pounds of chocolate each year.
9. Milk Chocolate is the most preferred type of chocolate, however dark chocolate is especially popular among men.
10. In Alfred Hitchcock's movie "Psycho" chocolate syrup was used to indicate blood in the famous shower scene.
source: http://www.infobarrel.com/10_Facts_about_Chocolate
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Pasta, of all things
I have been developing a deep disgust for my fellow humans. Perhaps "countrymen" would fit better than "humans" as I am sure that the people for whom I feel the most disdain are primarily Americans.
Americans love to eat. But we dont just eat the way other people from other countries do: we eat in excess! we cant just order one meal and be happy, we have to get as much as we possibly can for our dollar. How dare we stereotype other nationalities and call them cheap or swindlers when we try to cram as much in our wallets and mouths as we possibly can.
a direct representation of this is the "Never Ending Pasta Bowl" at the Olive Garden. disgusting. for $8.95, a single person can get endless pasta, bread, and choice of endless soup or salad. thats fine, especially since the price is so low, but it just is not enough for the Americans.
Endless pasta: people literally sit and eat bowl after bowl after bowl of pasta. I am surprised that people dont regularly die of carb-shock! and as if bowl after bowl of penne, or linguine, or angelhair is not enough, add the sauce: alfredo, meat sauce, five cheese marinara! did you know that eating one portion of Olive Garden alfredo sauce is like drinking a pint of heavy cream? its true. but dont tell the corporate office I told you.
so we have the endless pasta. that should be plenty to fill up any person. It is endless.
but, that obviously isnt enough, so first they have to cram themselves with endless soup or salad. So many people ask me: "the never ending pasta comes with endless salad, right?" as if, if the salad was not included, they would not order the pasta. is it that important to have endless salad with endless pasta? and god forbid the garlic bread does not come out constantly.
how do these people eat so much?
and then complain about McDonalds having such calorie loaded food!!!
You can probably eat five Big Macs for the caloric intake of the five cheese ziti at Olive Garden. I'm serious.
so my new complex is this: I cannot watch people eat without feeling queasy. It is fine if i am sitting down in the resturant and eating and am able to ignore the people around me, but as a server, watching the guests mindlessly stuff themeselves into a food-induced coma disgusts me.
Have you ever seen Casper, the one with Christina Ricci? the scene where the three ghosts are eating breakfast and all of the food is just falling on the floor...thats what i imagine when i am at work and serve people their food. it literally makes me sick.
and the bicker over the smallest price change. the Never Ending Pasta Bowl, like i said, costs 8.95. that is almost $1 more than a lunch portion of pasta. yet people complain that it is expensive! how, i ask you, is endless amounts of pasta, 75 bowls of pasta, if you wish, expensive at $9? how can people take themselves that seriously?
and then there is the lack of manners. We consider ourselves advanced, ahead of other countries, yet we have no table manners. NONE. we shout at the table, answer cell phones in the middle of dinner, allow our children to literally throw food in resturants, much less run around the resturant and then get upset when the server trips on the little brat and spills hot food on them.
and we chew with our mouth open, stuff our mouths till food is over flowing down our chin. then we speak to the server (who we treat like a dog and snap our fingers at) with full mouths. heres a news flash, america: most servers are college students, or college graduates trying to get a new job. I.E. they probably have a higher degree than you do and are usually smarter than you. dont treat them like infants.
i need to get out of the resturant industry. hopefully I'll get a call back from one of my applications soon. the food service industry depresses me.
Americans love to eat. But we dont just eat the way other people from other countries do: we eat in excess! we cant just order one meal and be happy, we have to get as much as we possibly can for our dollar. How dare we stereotype other nationalities and call them cheap or swindlers when we try to cram as much in our wallets and mouths as we possibly can.
a direct representation of this is the "Never Ending Pasta Bowl" at the Olive Garden. disgusting. for $8.95, a single person can get endless pasta, bread, and choice of endless soup or salad. thats fine, especially since the price is so low, but it just is not enough for the Americans.
Endless pasta: people literally sit and eat bowl after bowl after bowl of pasta. I am surprised that people dont regularly die of carb-shock! and as if bowl after bowl of penne, or linguine, or angelhair is not enough, add the sauce: alfredo, meat sauce, five cheese marinara! did you know that eating one portion of Olive Garden alfredo sauce is like drinking a pint of heavy cream? its true. but dont tell the corporate office I told you.
so we have the endless pasta. that should be plenty to fill up any person. It is endless.
but, that obviously isnt enough, so first they have to cram themselves with endless soup or salad. So many people ask me: "the never ending pasta comes with endless salad, right?" as if, if the salad was not included, they would not order the pasta. is it that important to have endless salad with endless pasta? and god forbid the garlic bread does not come out constantly.
how do these people eat so much?
and then complain about McDonalds having such calorie loaded food!!!
You can probably eat five Big Macs for the caloric intake of the five cheese ziti at Olive Garden. I'm serious.
so my new complex is this: I cannot watch people eat without feeling queasy. It is fine if i am sitting down in the resturant and eating and am able to ignore the people around me, but as a server, watching the guests mindlessly stuff themeselves into a food-induced coma disgusts me.
Have you ever seen Casper, the one with Christina Ricci? the scene where the three ghosts are eating breakfast and all of the food is just falling on the floor...thats what i imagine when i am at work and serve people their food. it literally makes me sick.
and the bicker over the smallest price change. the Never Ending Pasta Bowl, like i said, costs 8.95. that is almost $1 more than a lunch portion of pasta. yet people complain that it is expensive! how, i ask you, is endless amounts of pasta, 75 bowls of pasta, if you wish, expensive at $9? how can people take themselves that seriously?
and then there is the lack of manners. We consider ourselves advanced, ahead of other countries, yet we have no table manners. NONE. we shout at the table, answer cell phones in the middle of dinner, allow our children to literally throw food in resturants, much less run around the resturant and then get upset when the server trips on the little brat and spills hot food on them.
and we chew with our mouth open, stuff our mouths till food is over flowing down our chin. then we speak to the server (who we treat like a dog and snap our fingers at) with full mouths. heres a news flash, america: most servers are college students, or college graduates trying to get a new job. I.E. they probably have a higher degree than you do and are usually smarter than you. dont treat them like infants.
i need to get out of the resturant industry. hopefully I'll get a call back from one of my applications soon. the food service industry depresses me.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
this is it.
the day has arrived. i am sitting on troy's couch waiting for him to shower. we're leaving for dulles in a little bit. im going to drop him off and return home alone.
as was expected, the day for this scary trip (my first ever driving by myself in, over, around, near, through dc) has turned out to be quite the fun, warm, pleasant, sunny, peachy day.
and by that, i mean i just spent a good hour scraping a layer of ice from all sides and surfaces of my car. and i was soaked. it wouldnt be bad if the temperature would rise. but the ice will turn to rain and the rain will turn to snow while i am on my way home.
thrills.
troy doesnt seem worried that the weather will be too bad for me to drive in, so i guess i shouldnt worry.
but then again, my car stalls out and starts smoking in deep puddles.
i need a new car. first item of business after graduation and new job.
in the mean time, i had a fight with my mother over sheets this morning. i had a fit because the sheets I bought (for over 50$) were given to my brother to use. my mother said i shouldnt take my problems with troy leaving out on her. i think she missed the point.
she doiesnt understand that i basically confine everything i own to one room. i buy all of my own things. the only public domain items in my house that i use are water, electricity, and food. i buy and wash my own sheets, towels, clothes. i use very few dishes, and wash them when i finish.
i swear, i was not made to share a house with five other people.
but graduation is around the corner. i cant wait.
so i got a little sidetracked.
the point is that i will be stuck with her for three weeks telling me any time i am angry that i should go yell at troy or that i shouldnt take my anger or frustration at his leaving out on her. she loves to rub this sort of stuff in.
i finally gave troy the big project. i hope he doesnt think it is dumb. i hope he appreciates it and likes it for what it is. i hope the whole thing wasnt a waste of my month and a half.
i skipped school yesterday. my department head/faculty adviser said i made the correct decision. i feel a little less guilty now.
im hungry. i took troy's word that he was going to make us breakfast. somehow i think our plans have changed.
as was expected, the day for this scary trip (my first ever driving by myself in, over, around, near, through dc) has turned out to be quite the fun, warm, pleasant, sunny, peachy day.
and by that, i mean i just spent a good hour scraping a layer of ice from all sides and surfaces of my car. and i was soaked. it wouldnt be bad if the temperature would rise. but the ice will turn to rain and the rain will turn to snow while i am on my way home.
thrills.
troy doesnt seem worried that the weather will be too bad for me to drive in, so i guess i shouldnt worry.
but then again, my car stalls out and starts smoking in deep puddles.
i need a new car. first item of business after graduation and new job.
in the mean time, i had a fight with my mother over sheets this morning. i had a fit because the sheets I bought (for over 50$) were given to my brother to use. my mother said i shouldnt take my problems with troy leaving out on her. i think she missed the point.
she doiesnt understand that i basically confine everything i own to one room. i buy all of my own things. the only public domain items in my house that i use are water, electricity, and food. i buy and wash my own sheets, towels, clothes. i use very few dishes, and wash them when i finish.
i swear, i was not made to share a house with five other people.
but graduation is around the corner. i cant wait.
so i got a little sidetracked.
the point is that i will be stuck with her for three weeks telling me any time i am angry that i should go yell at troy or that i shouldnt take my anger or frustration at his leaving out on her. she loves to rub this sort of stuff in.
i finally gave troy the big project. i hope he doesnt think it is dumb. i hope he appreciates it and likes it for what it is. i hope the whole thing wasnt a waste of my month and a half.
i skipped school yesterday. my department head/faculty adviser said i made the correct decision. i feel a little less guilty now.
im hungry. i took troy's word that he was going to make us breakfast. somehow i think our plans have changed.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
yeast
I baked bread today. I made four loaves, and within an hour, there was only half a loaf left. I got the recipe from my Memoir professor last semester, and have wanted to try it for quite some time. So, today I skipped church and spent a relaxing two and a half hours in the kitchen baking bread.
now that I know I can do it, I want to make different kinds of bread. Aaron suggested tomato Basil like the bread at Panera. I'd imagine I could just add tomato paste and basil to the dough. We shall see.
stay tuned next week for Jollie Green Smoothies, an idea I got from FatFreeVegan.com, one of my new favorite blogs.
I enjoy baking and cooking. I think I'll do it more often. If my bread was a hit and my Hummus was a hit, I'm sure my other ideas will go over well too.
now that I know I can do it, I want to make different kinds of bread. Aaron suggested tomato Basil like the bread at Panera. I'd imagine I could just add tomato paste and basil to the dough. We shall see.
stay tuned next week for Jollie Green Smoothies, an idea I got from FatFreeVegan.com, one of my new favorite blogs.
I enjoy baking and cooking. I think I'll do it more often. If my bread was a hit and my Hummus was a hit, I'm sure my other ideas will go over well too.
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