Today's Lunch: Package vs. Reality

Lean Cuisine Sweet & Spicy Ginger Chicken. It was quite good. I didn't taste any water chestnuts.

The package:

From Drop Box

Reality from roughly the same angle as the package:

From Drop Box

The reality from above:

From Drop Box

I like how these photos turned out. Used natural light.

Today's Lunch: Package vs. Reality

Today's Lunch: Central Market Pad Thai. Central Market is the HEB store brand of organic foods.

The package:

From Drop Box

Need to work on the glare on the package photos.

The reality:

From Drop Box

It's not you, the reality photo is a bit out of focus.

Bonus photo:

From Drop Box

This particular type Amy's Burrito is only available at HEB. Wal-Mart doesn't carry the yellow ones, just the red and green. Makes me wonder about grocery distribution agreements.

Today's Lunch: Package vs. Reality

Lunch for 1/12/2011: Healthy Choice Portabella Marsala Pasta

The package:

The reality photographed from the approximate angle of the package. I don't keep a bottle of olive oil on my desk.

The reality photographed from above.

The general layout is similar but the noodles are different. Not bad for a microwave meal.

Today's Lunch: Package vs. Reality

Today's Lunch: Healthy Choice Lobster Cheese Ravioli.

The product on the package:

The product in reality after cooking:

To be fair, I should have photographed from the same angle but then the picture would be mostly black plastic container.

It tasted pretty much how it looks, not nasty but bland. It was a source of carbohydrates, protein and fat. I kind of feel sorry for the lobsters that were killed for this.

I also ate some yogurt and a pineapple product from Dole.

Atlas Shrugged

I could not finish Atlas Shrugged.

To rabid fans of Ayn Rand: I'm willing to admit that I'm too stupid to understand her brilliant ideas. Fine, an obnoxious Objectivist or two might think I'm ignorant. I can live with that. I think of it as an intellectual equivalent of an obese person criticizing my relatively slow running pace.

This cartoon sums up some of my feelings quite nicely.

I loved this comment about the above mentioned cartoon:

"Rand never gets credit for her single greatest accomplishment... giving assholes an intellectual framework for being assholes."

Now, what to do with my copy of Atlas Shrugged, which I bought at a garage sale for 50 cents? I've thought about this a lot. I don't want to destroy the book because I don't believe ideas should be destroyed regardless of how bad. So burning, dunking, shooting, drawing and quartering are out.

A list of uses for Atlas Shrugged (that retains the readability of the copy)

1. Obvious: door stop and paper weight

2. Violent: blunt object that inflicts pain but no real damage

3. Liberal repellent

4. Yoga prop

5. Exercise equipment

6. When all you need is an extra 3 inches to reach something

7. Bug killer

8. Flower press

9. Furniture leveler

10. Lumbar support (paperback version)

11. Pot holder

12. Action figure scenery

13. Hot Wheels track support

14. Animation

Feel free to add others in the comments. I might get around to re-enacting some of these in photos and drawings.

Herb and Jamaal

Herb and Jamaal free online comic strip library at comics.com

There is nothing else going on here.

There is nothing else going on here.

There is nothing else going on here.

Just two grown men being friends. Nothing to see here. Move along.

The hopeless gardner

To read stories of successful efforts as self-sufficiency and sustainability visit http://bigmyrtle.blogspot.com/. I admire what Mark and Shelley have done.

My efforts on the other hand have yielded a single onion. It provided some nice flavor to my morning egg. There is still hope for a cantaloupe. Three of the plants grew real well until a rain followed by heat killed them. The dog killed two when he thought my little garden would make a great place to dig and wallow. The lone onion survived this assault. Walter placed some sticks in the bed to deter the dog. It worked and I had onion to show for it. One melon plant is still growing and blooming. I cheer it on every time I take Loki out for a walk.

Harvested a pound of Muscatine grapes but those weren't grown through my own efforts. We have a wild grape vine that partially encircles our backyard. When we moved in the previous owner said that the vine wouldn't produce because it was missing a component. Apparently the vine found the needed part. I snacked on the grapes for about a week after a good washing. Some of the grapes were located within Loki's firing range. I liked the tart flavor of the grapes. Looked up some recipes but these called for more grapes than I had.

Found that gardening is not something to do casually. Takes more time than I'm willing to commit at this point. I like the idea more than the actual project. That last statement sums up most of my life.

When pros fail

Glad to see that even a professional can screw something up. Give Joe Giella points for trying. Where does Mary hide all that hair? I thought she had an Ann Richards style hairdo.

History & Quotes - Classic Quotes by Robert A. Heinlein (1907-1988) US writer - ArcaMax Publishing

History & Quotes - Classic Quotes by Robert A. Heinlein (1907-1988) US writer - ArcaMax Publishing

What is supposed to happen in a democracy is that each sovereign citizen will always vote in the public interest for the safety and welfare of all. But what does happen is that he votes his own self-interest as he sees it... which for the majority translates as 'Bread and Circuses'.

An armed society is a polite society.

Men rarely (if ever) dream up a God superior to themselves. Most gods have the manners and morals of a spoiled child.

History does not record anywhere a religion that has any rational basis. Religion is a crutch for people not strong enough to stand up to the unknown without help. But, like dandruff, most people do have a religion and spend time and money on it and seem to derive considerable pleasure from fiddling with it.

Offensive speech, bad manners, and filthy toilets all seem to go together.

----------------------------------

I'll clean the bathrooms after I come home. At least scrub the toilets.

Photoshop boo boo

102 Series Leather Sectional Sofa | Modern Furniture Warehouse

It's 5:00 o'clock. I'm out of here. I'll finish removing the lamp tomorrow.

What?! You made it live!

How to recognize the signs of an imminent Mary Worth attack

How to recognize the signs of an imminent Mary Worth attack

Strange Brew

Strange Brew free online comic strip library at comics.com

Do they make salon hair dryers like that anymore?

Brevity, the soul of wit

Brevity free online comic strip library at comics.com

I tried to share this on Twitter but the Fail Whale kept appearing. All hail the Fail Whale!

Tiny Atlas Shrugged Production Finally Gets Started

Tiny Atlas Shrugged Production Finally Gets Started

Speech or no speech?

Momma free online comic strip library at comics.com

Momma free online comic strip library at comics.com

Momma tries her hand at political commentary. Time to place her in a home. She's wandering around and entering random people's homes.

I don't think I can do it.

I've completed 7 marathons, 5 half marathons and some shorter races but I cannot manage to finish reading "Atlas Shrugged"

I'm past the long John Galt speech. The only time I've yelled at a book character was while reading that speech. A guy blathers on for 3 hours and nobody thinks to cut the power.

I'm down to the last 300 or so pages. I've flipped ahead a few times. I know a bridge gets blown up, Cuffy Meigs and Dr. Statler die, Jim Taggart loses his mind, John Galt is tortured and rescued; and Hank, Francisco, Dagny, John, Ragnar and all the rest of the producers go to Galt's Gulch and live happily ever after doing their circle jerk while the rest of the world burns all around them blissfully unaware that unless they build a spaceship they too will get burned.

I could be mistaken about the above since I can only bring my self to skim at this point. Actually, I haven't picked up the book again since February, so my memory could be a bit sketchy.

In context of the BP oil gusher, I find my desire to finish decreasing ever more. I wonder in the context of this reality how any adult can take Objectivism seriously? Okay, Rand's dire vision is happening in North Korea but that is an aberration. Maybe Zimbabwe, too, with the white farmers.

Maybe I'm too old to read Atlas Shrugged. I tried to read The Fountainhead in high school but I couldn't stand it for very long. Enjoyed Anthem. Maybe "Objectivism/ Ayn Rand phase" should be incorporated into the American life cycle chart. An interesting question to study - why some people don't grow out of it?

I have a few of Rand's philosophical writings in my library. They are quaintly amusing. Stalinism sucked; thankfully no country has tried to fully implement Objectivism because that would suck just as hard. That won't happen because this world is populated by humans rather than the ideas with human-like characteristics that populate the world of Atlas Shrugged.

I should finish this book or at least get it off my nightstand. Maybe try composting it or using its pages to line the bird cage.

The idea for another project: documenting uses for a slightly worn copy of Atlas Shrugged.

Did learn that carrying a copy into a UU church will cause a greater reaction than carrying a Bible.

Clapping

Drew a cartoon today with the following dialogue:

"I must warn you that worship at this UU church is quite raucous. They start clapping before the last verse of the hymn."

Since I have limited experience with worship at other UU churches, I wonder if it's just my church that waits until the last verse to clap? This assumes that the hymn is suitable for clapping.

I've clapped by myself when appropriate but I don't clap very loudly because I end up clapping to the up beat rather than the down beat. Sometimes I clap to both.

Speaking of joyful noises, a woman ran, walked and danced on the treadmill next to mine yesterday. She clapped, too. My initial annoyance went away when I realized that exercise - even on a treadmill - should be fun. As long as she continues to make it fun for her, she will reach her fitness goals.

I bet she wouldn't be afraid to clap loudly in a UU church.

3D TV Health Risks: 7 People Warned Not To Watch 3D TV (PHOTOS)

Unless nearsightedness (I wear corrective lenses) is an eye problem, then I'm one of a few people who can actually watch 3D TV without problems. Brilliant! Manufacturing a product that can't be used safely by 75% of the US population. Maybe Samsung has given a few Americans an incentive to get in shape. Get fit so that I can sit around and watch TV in 3D!
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Auspicious start of my 41st year

First, gratuitous dog photo:



Loki running in the snow. He was running toward the door to get back inside after taking care of business. I guess he wanted to catch a few snowflakes on the way. Snow is a rare treat in these parts. Texas A&M will be delayed until 10:00 am tomorrow. This is assuming I even feel like going in at all. I celebrated my 41st on Sunday; in addition to some neat gifts, birthday greetings and hearing an excellent dharma talk, I got a cold.

I have plenty of sick leave and my work is not so terribly important that its worth infecting others.

Today, I felt like getting dressed and off the couch. Even stood on the porch to film the snow. Yesterday, it was bed or couch. The oddest thing about yesterday is that I channel surfed for hours and did not catch one bit of Law & Order, not even one little donk-donk. I made up for it today by watching part of an episode of Law & Order: SVU.

I tried to watch some Olympics because I've become rather fascinated by curling but all the NBC-Universal stations that my cable provider carries were acting up.

Would it kill NBC to have a commentator explain curling or at least provide a crawl with a definition of terms & how the scoring works? I suppose I could drag my laptop to the couch and look up this stuff while watching but I don't feel like doing that and what about the viewers without wireless networking?

I become fascinated by curling every four years because of the absurdity of the sport.

This blog got a shout-out from uuworld.org: the interdependent web.

Real life & online life intersects

We had a guest speaker at church today. I figured out who she is in the middle of her sermon. Oh wow, it's Lizard Eater! That wasn't the name she used for church. I introduced myself after the service and had to use my alternate name. Now we know each other's real names, not that I make much of an effort to hide mine, but I wonder if this is how spies feel after they retire and they can reveal themselves. The nature of the relationship really doesn't change with this new knowledge but more of a fleshing out of a person or they seem more real. I don't know.

If your church is looking for a guest speaker, I would recommend Lizard Eater. She is a very engaging speaker and you don't need a sound system. She drowned out a train. To be fair, it was one of the quieter trains but still didn't need to take a train pause. I did wish that she said 'love train' instead of 'love jar' while the train rolled by but that is a comedian thinking not a minister. I can get comedy anytime, ministry (in the broadest sense of the term) is a more precious commodity.

Some of the things she has described in her blog about seminary come through in her speaking style. She has a bit of pentecostal in her. We all need a little pentecostal.

This online - real life intersection was a neat experience.