Food Geek #1

I'm listening to the Geek A Week podcast with Adam Savage of Mythbusters while trying to come up with something to write here.  (Mum was in town so missed a day or so)  He mentions that he's so happy to be able to show how enthusiastic he is about his various Mythbuster's projects.  Thinking about things that I am enthusiastic about I come up with food.  Ohhh yeah food.  I'm going to share some of my geeky food moments... *Woah he just mentioned making a killer omelet on the podcast... weird* 

Green Curry & Coconut Milk Mashed Potatoes
 - I decided to give these a shot since I've had buttermilk in potatoes before so coconut milk should work as well.  Previous forays into marinating with green curry and coconut milk were extremely successful so I knew it was possible to take that mix further.  I personally prefer chunkier potatoes so I knew I wanted to add green onions to them.  Then thought... cilantro works with the curry and milk so it should work here!  And again success.  My sister has since told me that it's probably her favourite thing I've ever made her.  And I've made her a lot of impressive food stuffs.

Sandwiches
 - I make kick-ass sandwiches.  I know I do.  I've been told many times.  Combine that with sandwich making duties in previous jobs I am awesome at the logistics of building them.  For example I just finished one with shrimp, avocado and tomato.  Nom Nom  Breakfast sandwiches are also on my list of accomplished creations.  Four or five years later an old roomie's booty call still comments that he wants one for the next days hangover.  And surprise surprise I am incredibly anal about the construction of these things.  There's a certain way they should be built and I employ strict rules for myself.

Short Ribs
 - Love love love ribs... of any sort.  I know I make some great slow cooked pork ribs in the oven but I'm definitely impressed with the success of my Asiany short ribs in a crock pot.  Essential "sauce" ingredients include: garlic, ponzu sauce, rice vinegar, Maui ribs sauce.  Leave them in there for as long as possible while attempting to take the fat (mmmm flavour but oh so.. fat) off the top and booyah!  Meaty, saucy goodness.

Salads
 - I think that good salad making goes hand in hand with sandwich making.  Both can contain a wide range of ingredients, a particular method of construction and the knack of knowing what tastes well together.  As with the sandwiches I love using avocado and shrimp.  Every salad of mine should have tomatoes as well.  I unfortunately tend to use store bought dressings since I don't use enough yogurt or sour cream to have it around for creamier dressings.  I should really start making my own as I know I can make great dressings/marinades/dips.

Ok well I've gone through three Geek A Week podcasts over the last couple hours and hearing just how awesome some of my favourite geeks are has made me giddy!  Time to get out and enjoy some sunshine.

God Bless America?

In my search for nerd series to watch I decided to check out Warehouse 13 and while I do like the idea and it has grown on me there's something that still bothers me.  I think the series could be much better if the agents weren't a part of the US Secret Service... Yes I know it's an American channel and actors and blah blah blah.  And I am an American citizen so it's not a hate thing.  So why does this bother me?

I don't have a problem with the agents coming from an American organization but the Secret Service?  The characters are supposed to be these amazing agents and I'm just not sure if the SS (gonna abbreviate now) is the place to find them.  The definition I found here doesn't mention that those agents protect the general public or the world at large.  The only reference to the show's premise is that they protect against forgeries and counterfeiters... of American securities...

If you haven't seen the show it revolves around the aforementioned agents finding these "artifacts" that have different properties, supernatural of course.  Some of the ideas are pretty damn cool and I have no doubt that a portion of it has some historical accuracy (obviously not much - it is TV after all).  And then they put said "artifact" into this giant top secret warehouse.  A rag tag team of characters and mysterious happenings internally.  I do enjoy it... except for that blasted US SS aspect.

Dunno - perhaps it's the over proliferation of the American government agencies.  We will always need to have some sort of a government agency to make these types of shows work.  But does it have to be the people who are protecting the president?  America - you are simply not that important.  I would really hope that if anything in that show every becomes reality that it's not the president's bodyguards protecting us. 

More can most definitely equal less

Considering that the focus of this blog is that I am constantly thinking about things, this post may seem a bit counter-productive as I've been thinking about the drawbacks of over analyzing.

I've read a couple books recently that talk about gut reactions and instinct and they mention that too much information can actually be a bad thing.  Our brains have been designed to absorb the stimuli around us and make a decision based on either instinct or experience (which includes knowledge, education etc).  However problems can and do arise when we have too much information.  Our brains become muddled with all the information swirling around and what should be a simple instinct based decision suddenly turns into an overwhelming myriad of options.  And what usually happens is that we stray so far from the initial thoughts that the information becomes virtually pointless.

Our gut instinct is there for a reason.  It's there for you to react in a way that is (mostly) productive, safe and reasonable. *note that this is not taking into account purely emotional reactions*  Quite often we'll dismiss that initial reaction looking for more information.  The whole concept of "girls over think things way too much".  Which is soooo true it's annoying.  Can we really benefit from analyzing something to the point where the initial concept is gone completely?  Too much information will more often than not end up hurting us.

The idea of having too much info to sort through can play into the idea of acceptance.  So many females (myself included) go over and over and over and over and over the same question, looking for different answers.  Different answers does not necessarily equal the right answer nor does it equal AN answer.... just more questions.  More questions to analyze, more answers to question.  And around we go!   We need to learn how to be content with things to avoid analyzing something to the point where it no longer has any relevance. 

#1

I've got a bunch of stuff on my mind today but not enough to put into a full discussion so I think I'll just leave you with the point form.

 - I don't like Rihanna... I don't think she's that talented as a singer.  Yeah she's hot but that hot?
- I get sucked into stupid reality shows that offer nothing to a person's "soul".  In fact they probably start to suck you dry after awhile.  Does anyone really care about the lives of a bunch of fucking twits?
 - It really really sucks when you take the risk to trust someone and they let you down... completely.  Especially when trust is already hard to achieve.
 - Why are people so freakin clueless about their own destructive/abusive behaviour?
- Hearing the Dr. Who theme or seeing clips of the show results in a physical reaction right now.
 - I really hope Nathan Fillion saw my clever remark on Twitter.
 - Will the drama with Ms. Jr. High ever be over?  Do I need to be the one who does something or should things just be left alone and hope it blows over.
 - Does the above statement mean that I have anything to do with the situation or have any influence on it?
 - I think I'm starting to get sensitive teeth.
 - I really want a bike.  A simple mountain bike not a full on beach cruiser.
 - I want to live in England... badly.  I've been thinking about it a lot.
 - Is it too late to relearn study habits and get an education in something sciency?  I'm guessing I'd have to retake some high school level courses... rats.
 - My annoyance level is directly related to my mental exhaustion of the day.
 - I am most definitely addicted to the internet.

Ok I think that's enough for today.  There will undoubtedly be another addition which may or may not contain the same thoughts.  Until next time...

Is this bad karma?

I would like to start this one off by stating: I do not take pleasure from someone else's pain.

That being said... I'm finding myself increasingly frustrated listening to the job offers, free tickets, and general fun/job things that are happening to some people in my life.  My current state is one where I'm not even sure how I'm going to afford food for the following week let alone rent.  Hearing how someone is being handed interviews or receiving free tickets to something I would love to go to is starting to really get to me.  I know that it shouldn't, that I should be happy for the things happening to my friends I'm just finding it more and more difficult as my situation drags on.

When I hear someone complain because they spent too much money on clothes the weekend before and now they are "broke" I cringe.  No you're not "broke" you just spent a bit too much.  I on the other hand am broke and hearing about your financial "crisis" just reinforces my sorry state of affairs.

I feel awful that these thoughts and feelings pop into my head.  I know I should be happy for people, that those bad feelings will ALWAYS do more harm than good.  I just can't shake the feeling that there are people I speak to who really have no concept of how bad it is. 

One of the hardest things is listening to someone tell you how someone else is making money doing A, B or C... do you think I haven't been trying?  Not too mention that it's VERY difficult to get the motivation to pound the pavement is search of a minimum wage, part-time and temporary job when there's so much energy spent scouring the web and applying for a career position.  Another hard thing to listen to is someone who is "understanding" of the situation when they really have no idea.  I know someone who constantly and I mean constantly complains about being broke.  This is a person who has an account with a good deal of money saved.  Yes the cash has been put aside for something more important than spending on every day things but there's is no way you can fully empathize with me, you just have no concept on what my situation is.  Same person also has parents that can afford to help, even though they haven't much - they can and will do it should you need it.

So please people - while I understand that you are trying to be supportive, empathetic, understanding and also have your own great things happening... I just can't listen to them right now.  I hope you "understand".