May 4, 2023

I'm not sure I'll every get used to calling Tomatoes - berries ..

😄

But since they are berries, and some get sooo big I wonder if they are the biggest berries. Unless there's some sub tropical, tropical berries in the USA or elsewhere.

May 3, 2023

Great Springsteen Quote...

starting to read an article by a super fan on Sprinsteen's live performances.

(Bold/Ital/* my emphasis)

"...It ain't no sin to be glad you're alive!". /Badlands

Interesting, bc having read Bruce's autobiography he does suffer off & on from depression.
I probably wouldn't exactly call myself often a happy person (too much anxiety at times). I do, thank goodness(!!!!!) often have minutes, hours, occasionally in the past even a few days at a time of joy, and great and deep joy.

It seems to me that when he's not in a depressive state he's very capable of feeling the joys, and pulse of life.
So I love this quote.

( Brooooooce! 😄 😉 )

April 19, 2023

Food Fun! Favorite Foods in these Catagories: Bland/Savory/Umani/Spicy/Salty/Tangy....

/Crunchy/Creamy

.As a very Picky Eater till I began to change slowlyish at first, then at a faster clip once I hit my late teens, early twenties: I drove my poor parents crazy.
I look back and go, "Wow. I really, really made changes."

Bland: Oh, I looove Cream of Rice hot cereal. 😄 I laugh because it is so bland.

Savory: Took me till my early 20"s to finally love Greek Lamb Sheesh kebob. The taste of lamb itself, which some people don't like (and that's not even mutton!), add in the combo of garlic, and oregano... Wow, one of the things I couldn't believe I didn't like earlier in my life!
Shrmp Tandoori. Oh, those tandoori herbs, spices with shrimp. Revalatory - because I only had it the first time last year. (more of a money issue compounded with shrimp is a much lighter meal than lamb, or chicken, so maybe nothing to take home for leftovers)

Umani: I'm still not sure I can parse this flavor out, though I've read examples.
I'm thinking maaaaybe blue cheese? And, oh my, blue cheese dressing?! Ahhh.
I really want to hear what you think umani is.

Spicy: I don't know how you folks do it! I manage some jalepeños. Although my mom at some point sarted sauteing onions in either cumin, or cayenne. I know there's a difference. I liked which ever one it was. I'm thinking maybe cayenne because of the color.

Salty: I started cutting back on salt in my 30's. I have some what more again.
Bacon - love it, but the salt's a bit much compared to when I ate it before my salt reduction.
Haven't had one in ages but I'm sure I'd still love the Hot Pretzels from the vendors with the big salt crystals. There's so much dough it balences out pretty much.

Tangy: In lower Manhattan west of West Broadway was a well known Cheese Shop, and for those in the know up 2 flights of a somewhat grungy staircase a wonderful, pretty brick walled cheese-centered meals restaurant.
From that shop I learned to eat extra sharp cheddar, and the same later with garlic. This area was my first time post college job.
Cilantro - I get the faintest soap taste The "greenness", and the tang outway it, luckily for me.
Limes - I often like lime better than lemon, though there are a few things that are "just so" with a proper dose of lemon, and I wouldn't substitute lime.

Crunchy/Crispy: Ha! Most things fried. My favorites those are onion rings, fried chicken, fried shrimp. Oh, yes, from India - Onion or Vegetable bhajis, bajias, or pakoras. These are fried in chick pea flower plus what ever seasoning. Yum!
Btw, who here has had fried Oreos? I haven't.


And, finally at the end of this culinary parade:

Creamy: I think the first creamy meal versus a dessert was Chicken Korma (later lamb korma). Oh, my! It either uses cream, or yogurt (some places coconut milk) but besides the herbs and spices what makes it unique is cashews made into a thick paste as part of the korna ensemble before cream, yogurt are added in.
Avocados. The taste? A bit like heaven. A food I wonder why I never liked it earlier in my life! 😄 I think the creaminess seriously adds to it. Just plain, scooped, or cut Though I love eating, and have made my own guacamole.


Please chime in with your favorites! 👍 Ty.

April 18, 2023

Food Question: What do you occasionally eat now that you couldn't, or barely

tolerated when you were a kid/tween/teen.

As a picky eater my parents were pretty good at not forcing many things on me.

But the one they did were raisins. I hated (well, not to the point of gagging [that was reserved for the rare time licorice crossed my lips 😄 ]) them! More often than not when I was playing in the park my mom will call me over shaking a Mini-box of Sunshine's Raisins usually the purple ones at me. Ugh! I mean, it's been like 60 years or so, and I remember! I did eat them.

Then at one point my mom an excellent cook decided to start making Ukrainian Easter Bread for my 1st generation Ukrainian-American dad. And what was the extra ingredient? Can you guess?
.
.
.
Raisins! Scattered about!
Whimper.
Yes, at times I picked them out early on. Since they were a traditional part I eventually ate them.

At least part of the time there were golden raisins as well. They were less obnoxious. Over the 20+ years or so she did this (and they were such pretty breads in different shaped containers) I got used to them. So when I was in rehab for a time Raisin Bran as part of breakfast didn't bother me. 😄

The one thing I sort of really like them in are these cute ? round pumpernickel rolls with walnuts and, ta da, raisins.
__________________________________

As for a totally different food: fennel, or anise.

So one day in kindergarten we had jelly beans as a snack.
Ok, good. Look at all those pretty colors!
That is untill...
I ate the black one. Gak! Spat out... immediately! What on Earth was that?!!!

I'm not sure I ever tried licorice. Would I have remembered to ask especially if the stick was black, and not red - "does this taste anything like black jelly beans?". 😄..
Or did I go through another very did tasteful experience.


So it dawned on me as I was eating sausage & peppers (& onions) last week... which I started eating once a year from a vendor in my late 20's freshly grilled at our wonder Ninth Ave Food Festival... Hmmm, that's fennel, isn't it?

And I looked it up. Abd, yes, it is, and what makes - it seems gives it it's districtive Italian sausage taste.
Oh, ok then. I'd say the mixture of some garlic, lots of black pepper balances out the fennel, or anise and makes it work well. Good, because it's quite yummy to me.

So what problematic food (s) have you made some kind of peace with?

April 11, 2023

To our serious History buffs, teachers/professors: is there any country that fought off ....

authoritarianism before it totally took hold?

I phrased this two different ways on Google but got no answer.

I know some History; so I know histories of it being eventually fought off after it was fully ensconched - but what about this other possibility.

Or at a State, Providence (other countries), or Local level.
Maybe I'm still so preoccupied with adjusting to a major life change (not medical, thank goodness) that I'm not remembering things properly.

I feel (not unlike some of you I'm guessing on occasion) a bit of a deer in the headlights, even if I'm here in blue NYC. Because who knows. (Go, Massachusetts! Listening to Rachel M)

(I feel a bit "duh", silly asking this.)
NO Rush! TIA.

Uh, der ... Just remembering Rachel's whole special on fighting off Hilterism/Nazism back in the 1940's.

Maybe bc I had 3 sets of sleep, and from each I woke up from a different kind of nightmare! Geeeeebz. 😑

April 5, 2023

My FB image/text for Arrestmas!

There are a few people who deserve serious Schadenfreude!!!!!

And drumphf is one of them.

April 1, 2023

Question for our current & former DU Lawyers. Excuse my ignorance on this matter...

So if I heard correctly the trial for drumphf in NYC won't start for about another year.

If (when) either indictment for GA, or J6 comes down will it be the same shedule?
Could it be faster? Or is it typical procedure anyway? Or the string of delaying tactics drumphf & Co will use.

This is one of the most Critical cases in US history (of course we all know that)! Should it, can it be sped up?!

TIA

March 31, 2023

To DeSatan: Article 4 US Constitution Clause 2

Heh!
So potentially DeSatan and others flapping their gums

Ty Brian Lerher, and former Legal Aid Society lawyer 👍

March 30, 2023

If you want to see a Fictional show that has a Humanistic Super AI vs one that isn't- I highly...

recommend streaming Person of Interest. It has been on HBO Max.

It's a mix of crime/police show with an interesting twist, and increasingly with the SAI component (as we get to the end if S1) over 4 seasons of 21 eps, and one last one of 13 eps. Every season it gets ratcheded up. They also "predicted" Edward Snowdend by months

A reclusive billionaire gets a social security number from the government servalance computer that he originally built. He and his assistant must first figure out; perpetrator, or potential victim. These numbers/person's are considered "irrelevant" by the government.

Meanwhile this same computer is giving our government
the relevant numbers of potential terrorists.

How did this SAI computer (one spoiler - and potential non humanistic rival) come about? Who is this billionaire? Who is his assistant? How do the cops get involved? Can a bad cop go straight? Why are The Feds after them? And who each week is the victim, or perpetrator?

A superb cast: Michael Emmerson, Taraji P Henson, Jim Caviezel, Kevin Chapman, Amy Acker, Enrico Colantoni, Sara Shahi, John Nolan, and Winston Duke. There are other great villians, heroes and everyday people in the show as well.

There are great twist, and turns, wonderful song selections, and original score. Humor, too, along with the drama.
NYC fans take note; it takes place mostly in NYC. 👍🧡

And unlike us original viewers you won't have to wait on the edge of your seat for the next season for 3 months! 😜

No, I don't get any residuals, but I sure wish I could have been in this one particular scene near the end of the series! 😁 It's just that superb a show!

February 20, 2023

Yay, my typical DU format look returned!