Waves of Water and Wheat...

2011 in Repose

2012-01-03T23:03:00.001-08:00

Much has happened since my last venture into the blogsphere. I have decided to do a year in review to catch us all up. Lets start with School, I took an enormous class load (18 hours) It was rough going, especially the last 1½ months, but I powered through and gathered the amenable scores of A, A-, A-, A-, B, C. Not too shabby, especially since I worked quite a bit.

As the semester came to a close, I made a trip to San Antonio to see Miss Kelly and Noland (Godson). We had a terrific time, Kelly Graduated from Kelly that Saturday after finals (WOOHOO!) and we spent lots of quality time with Her sisters and Aunt Stevie. We did get a day to spoil Noland a little we took him to the Alamo (he loves it), walked up and down the riverwalk, went to “Ripley’s ‘Believe it or Not’ odditorium and the 4-D Interactive Movie. Finished by a trip to an authentic German Deli and finished with a stop to the Mercádo. After Returning from Texas, I worked a ton and did Christmas (Family, Family, Family!) and survived New Years (drinks, drinks, drinks).

In other news there have been some changes on the home front, My dear sweet Cousin and Roommate Janna has moved in with her man, leaving me in the house alone, its taken some getting used to, but so far I think I am going to really enjoy this. Its been a few days of tough work but I think I’ve gotten the house all put together, at least the pieces visible to the world I have some touches to do to the office, and the Dining room, and I want to do some minor changes to the kitchen, then get the back porches cleaned and tools put back where they belong.

I do have a new project in mind concerning the kitchen, but have not gotten to it yet, though it seems inevitable. I have had some issues with the patching of the walls from the patching of the holes from the previous wall hangings. I painted the wrong green in the living room- which was easily fixable, as I just got out the other can of paint and re-did it. But when fixing the dining room I realized I used the paint from my bedroom, but had forgotten I mixed the dining room from leftovers and was out, so I have some discolored spots. Not sure what the next step will be, but we shall just see.

With only two more semesters of school left, I am finishing up this part of my life, next is it a Masters Degree? Or a Job? We will just see. 2012 here we come!

You Say Tomato, I Say Tomato!

2011-07-19T22:22:00.001-07:00

FINALLY ! the most amazing part of the summer has arrived, I like to think of it as “the Sweet Spot of Summer”. For those of you foodies and gardeners out their I am sure you know what I am talking about, the 6-8 weeks of the summer when Heirloom Tomatoes show up on shelves and markets across the Midwest! I did not plant any Tomatoes this year, I have yet been able to grow a decent Tomato and gave up years ago, so I rely heavily on my local Farmers Market to provide for me the tastiest of treats!

Even my work, the dreaded Tuscan Slave Market, is celebrating the season with our annual Heirloom Tomato Caprese Salad! Our chef has a great relationship with Kurlbaum farms, a local Organic, Heirloom Tomato Farm. Last year, the chef and I really bonded over these sweet treats, he apparently is almost as obsessed with them as I am. I will now be spending the new few weeks, concocting, vinaigrettes, and reductions to drizzle over these most heavenly of fruits and looking for new and better ways to serve them up as accompaniments to every meal I create.

A little background on this odd little fruit, yes it is botanically a fruit (however for cooking purposes only it is often classified as a veggie), is likely in order for us to fully appreciate them for what they are. Tomatoes originated in South America and were spread throughout the natives of these lands to as far away as Florida and Arizona, after Cortes arrived the tomato was quickly spread and propagated by Spanish colonizers and is now grown across the world. Tomatoes come in all sorts of sizes, shapes and flavors, and the most sought after these days are the precious Heirloom Varietals. The definition of an heirloom tomato is vague, but unlike commercial hybrids, all are self-pollinators who have bred true for 40 years or more.

I recently listened to a radio program that described the cultivation methods of the many farms in places like Florida that bring us those tasteless red things for most of the year, and let me tell you you are deffinately better off finding a local farmer and eating what he is growing, they taste amazing and have many times the nutrients of the standard tomato. * The More You Know *

As for me I will be in a Tomato Coma by the end of next month, come join me!

Lucky Bamboo

2011-03-31T20:39:00.000-07:00

Many years ago I was given two different “lucky bamboo” plants. One came from my dear cousin Gundy when I moved into a loft in downtown KC, the other one I think I got at the Vietnamese Grocer in the River Market of KC several years ago also. When I moved to Hawaii I left my plants in the care of my mom, and considering that some of them were her plants to begin with, I think she was happy to get them. Over the five years I was away, the two plants grew and a few stalks died and eventually they ended up in one pot, filled with rocks and sand, it looked amazing.

When I moved to my new home here in Waldo my plant had begun looking Wan, leaves turning yellow, roots looking brown, so I decided it was time to propagate these suckers. I got help from a You tube video, and split the plant into three different vases. I found two great vases at Big lots, clear glass, and found the filler at Target. The process is relatively easy, you cut the outgrowth off, strip some leaves from the stalk, and place in water. To get the Alpha stalk to grow, you chop off the top, right below the outgrowth and seal that end with wax. The process is relatively simple, and already the stocks and leaves are looking healthier.

A tale of woe-ful incompetance

2011-02-18T20:12:00.000-08:00

I have a tale of a company that has completely lost understanding of the term customer service. I will begin my tale with tonight’s happenings. I have a Samsung Blu Ray model BD-C6500. A few days ago when logging into my Netflix app I had to re-activate my device on the Netflix homepage. I shrugged and thought ‘no biggie’. Unfortunately I have had to do this every time I opened the app for the last few days. So I tried resetting the device then took the plunge and contacted Customer Care—via chat.

Now I have had a run-in with Samsung and their moderately incapable staff a few times already- I just got my BRP back from them a few months ago after the main control board fried (while there is a story to this, the gist is the unit was defective from day 1 and it took 7 months to convince them of this). U.S. Customer Service for Samsung has unfortunately been outsourced to a different outfit somewhere else in the world, they only seem to have the barest understanding of the product, and are probably getting their answer via an index of FAQ, I say this due to the kind of responses I receive and the way they always tell you to do the same thing first. Reset the device. Now I have been resetting this device for almost a year, so the first thing I do is rest the device, which coincidentally is one of the most arduous tasks requiring a full two hours worth of pressing ok, and accept, and restart, and restart, and restart, then downloading the entire application suite, and resetting All of the settings. That is the only answer they ever can give, they don’t even ask if you had already tried this, they just tell you to reset the device and give you instructions.

The best however was the actual discussion. I have provided a transcipt for your reading pleasure, I have to admit I got kind of nasty at the end, but it felt kinda good, and I figure this was chat at least I did not say this to his face? Right?

Please wait for a Samsung Agent to respond.
All Samsung Agents are currently assisting others. Thanks for your patience. A Samsung Agent will be with you shortly.
You are now chatting with 'Stanford'
Stanford: Hi, thanks for reaching out to Samsung tech support. How can I help you today?
Aaron: is the netflix app on my blu ray considered a samsung app or a third party app? I am having login refresh issues.
Stanford: Could you give me the model number of the unit?
Aaron: bd 6500
Aaron: bd C6500
Stanford: The Netflix is a list of recommended apps.
Aaron: corrct it downloads automatically
Stanford: It is considered as a Samsung apps.
Aaron: any idea why everytime i login to the app i have to go to netflix and reauthorize the device?
Stanford: Yes, the netflix app will be downloaded automatically.
Aaron: i know it will be downloaded automatically. I just told you that, I will repeat my question for a third time
Aaron: I am having to login to netflix and reauthorize the device each time i log into the app
Stanford: There is no need to reauthorize the device each and every time you turn ON.
Aaron: i know that, but I am having to do exactly that, this started a few days ago
Aaron: can i talk to someone else, you dont seem to understand what i am saying
Stanford: I recommend you reset the unit and check the issue.
Stanford: To reset your 2010 BD player, with the power one and with no disc in the player, press and hold the STOP button on the front panel for five seconds. The initial setup screen is displayed, follow the prompts to setup your Blu-ray player.
Aaron: you have got to be kidding me, of course I have done that, that was the first thing I did to fix the issue. I have had this player for 1 year and have reset the unit more times than i can count.
Aaron: thanks for nothing Stanford you are a real credit to our race.

Oatmeal

2011-02-10T22:35:00.000-08:00

Oatmeal. It’s warm, gooey, tasty, and delightfully healthy. I remember waking up in the mornings for school when I was a little boy, and there was always oatmeal. The oatmeal was not required, but my parents loved it so it was always ready. I often declined the oatmeal and went for a sugary cereal like Cocoa Pebbles, or Frosted Flakes. A few weeks ago I decided that oatmeal was going to be the key to my new years resolution. You see my resolution is multi faceted, it is also simple, it’s the same ever year, and its one I attain. Every year I resolve to better myself in many was such as Intellectualy and emotionally. To better my health, to better my soul, to better my sense of peace, and to feel accomplishment in as many days as possible. I have done big things like moving to and from Hawaii, gone back to school, paid off debts, been more involved with my nieces even moved into a new place, all to follow this annual pact to better myself. So how does oatmeal help?

Every morning I wake up and make myself a bowl of oatmeal, I have done, blueberries, strawberries, dried apricots, cinnamon, raisins, apple, maple syrup, and honey! Of course I don’t put all that in one bowl, today it was blue berries and honey, yesterday was raisins and brown sugar, tomorrow is going to be dried apricots and either white sugar or honey. The meal is filling, healthy (oatmeal is great for heart and cholesterol), and all the good memories I have had over oatmeal come to mind and it brings me calmness, peace and focus for the day. I do eat other things for breakfast sometimes, waffles, cereal, but since I’ve been on the oatmeal kick I just feel, harmonized. It’s a wonder full feeling. I am not stressed out (yet) I try to do my homework early, make a healthy dinner or lunch instead of going out to eat, I get to bed early, do a little house work every day, and even try to give myself time to simply do nothing. I am looking for more ideas for oatmeal, feel free to send me ideas, I have been thinking granola on top, or using an egg somehow…

Return to Blogsphere

2011-01-10T22:04:00.000-08:00

It has been sometime since I have taken the time to update my life on the World Wide Blogsphere. In an effort to boil down everything that has happened since my last update I think I will go for a Whitman-esque list.

August- Moved to e new house in Waldo. New Roomie is my Sweet Cousin Janna. The house belongs to my awesome cousin Jesse who lives in Cali. Janna is Jesse’s baby sister. My baby brother lived here for several years, but he went away to college. I am working on things like painting on my days off. Fall Semester began.

Skip forward in time- Classes are hard, took an English Lit Class, History of Urban Planning and Design, Spanish 1, and Geology Lab. Worked real hard all semester, until finals weeks when I realized I did not need to have an A+ in every class. Still got 2 A’s and 2 B+’s ☺

Christmas was beautiful! Tree and decorations and food and family. Figured out my spring class schedule and was released form Academic probation carrying a 2.9 GPA huge achievement considering it was like .5 when I first went back to school.

Lots of moves watched, lots of books read, tons of meals cooked and and meals in restaurants. Had lots of friends visit, Heather, Kelly, Joe & Phil, Angie, Summer all made appearances at one time or another, and spent several afternoons/evenings in Lawrence with Dear friends Meryl and Blaine and their soon to be born Pea-Pod (he got the most excellent Little Giraffe Blanket from his “Uncle Aaron”

The nieces are growing up fast, so fast I can hardly believe it, my godson is also growing at an exponential rate- cant barely believe how big he is, we are still best buds, but he has a new buddy named Bobby who he totally adores and who loves him and his momma a bunch. I had a great time getting to know him and hope he sticks around for a bit.

What else---This semester started with a bang! First day of classes was today and there was like 7” of snow on the ground, resulting in school closing for the first time in forever. So on Wednesday we will try again! This semester is a full one, 14 hours of classes but not working as much.

SO there is the last few months in review, Soon I hope to be back on a regular blogging schedule. *Fingers crossed *.

Small Culinary Delights

2010-07-20T13:11:00.000-07:00

I had the good fortune to find myself at home alone most of yesterday and today. This past weekend I spent in Milwaukee visiting family I had not seen in +2yers, and while we were away my good friend, from North Carolina, Heather came and house-sat the dogs. Since Heather had been so great to do this for us, I decided she deserved a great meal. So for Dinner last night I made a spread worthy of Kings.

Our salad was a simple tomato, mozzarella salad. I found some Locally grown (Kurlbaum Farms) Heirloom Tomatoes at the area Hen House. Unfortunately this has been a slow year for good tomatoes, several local bloggers and my friend Meryl www.mybitofearth.net just recently posted that they are taking forever to ripen, and looking pretty poor. I used some excellent Buffalo Mozzarella, and fresh Basil from the garden. I made a Rosemary Balsamic reduction (Shallots, Garlic, Balsamic Vinegar, and Fresh Rosemary reduced to 1/4) and drizzled it with olive oil, cracked pepper and sea salt.

For Dinner I grilled Asparagus with a little minced Garlic and lemon, the smoker uses wood pellets that give a divine flavor to the asparagus. I marinated some chicken in Champagne Vinegar, Olive Oil, Sea Salt, Cracked Pepper, Garlic, Thyme, Basil and Oregano. I also did Strip Steak in a similar marinade, but switched Rosemary for the Basil and Thyme. Lastly I did something completely new. I took Radicchio, Belgian Endives, Portobello Mushrooms, and Garlic and wrapped it all in a proscuitto lined foil packet and grilled it all together.

Dinner was a complete success, Heather even said it may have been the best dinner she has had in Years! For breakfast I chopped up a neat litlle Sprite Melon (so Sweet!) and Strawberries, and tossed them together for a fresh and light treat, and served with a Kona Pea Berry Coffee. Tonight, I believe I will be doing salad and a pasta with a lemon-Veloute sauce, with chicken, asparagus, tomato, garlic, and feta cheese. Unfortunately We were so hungry that I did not think to take a picture till after we were done!

Death of a Seeker

2010-05-23T21:06:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I made mention of a TV Series known as “Legend of the Seeker.” This television series was produced by ABC studios as a syndicated broadcast and carried by several networks, but mostly by Tribune Station Groups (think CW). Earlier this spring Tribune dropped the series due to poor ratings which has propped the show to end, unless some miracle occurs.

While I learned to like the show, at first I was entirely detested by the show. Its blatant disregard for cannon, disruption of events and misinterpretation of the original literature was barely balanced by an ability to make the show watch able, and the characters believable and true to form (mostly) . I mourn to see its passing in some ways, but in others am glad its over, as I won’t be forced to re-examine every episode and convince myself to like it, and now the book series can re take my imagination.

Now there is a small group of people who think they can get the show back if they cry enough. I wish they could make this happen because a part of me would like to see more, but they need to understand media. The cost to produce and air a television show is more than all of there annual incomes added together. There is billions and billions of dollars in every show TV show when all is said and done, and especially a show like this that I seriously doubt made much if any profit. People- let us remember this is America home of the money grubbers, not America the place where TV gets made because its good stuff. Any network will make a ton more money off of a low cost reality show than a show with elaborate special effects, costumes, and well paid actors, so keep trying but don’t get your hopes up. Its over.

QUAPLA’! Success!

2010-05-12T17:14:00.000-07:00

Semester grades were turned into the registrar Tuesday, and we have been given our grades! I have some great news to report to all my lovely readers the number of which has now gone from 3 readers to 4-thanks to my awesome cousin Rachel (who I happen to know is secretly obsessed with my blog) I have achieved the goal of goals a wonderful 4.0! I would bore you with details but instead I will just practice my klingon and say “Quapla’! (success!)

Now I have already signed up for classes, but am having some small hiccups with residency and cost, so as this works out I will keep you updated, needless to say at this point Summer and Fall classes combined are going to cost me over $10,000, some of which can be paid with student loans (around ½) and that’s not including books, parking, and the fact that I wont hardly be able to work, so I have some kinks to work out, and there is an issue with UMKC possibly cutting off my financial Aid, they say I have borrowed too much for my grade, which makes no sense as before this semester my average student loan was like maybe $1000 since I was still considered a dependent of my parents. All this goes to show that the government needs to step in and regulate these costs or give more subsidies to people going to school, I am not sure why all my tax dollars are being spent on useless $9 Billion wars, when I can’t even get enough funding for school to make more money for the government to tax. They are totally selling themselves short!

Semester Ending!

2010-04-25T23:16:00.000-07:00

Three days left. Or 3 hrs, 45 min. Either way you look at it, time is getting close on this semesters classes and I could not be happier. Today I finished one class, it was a 2nd 8 week class that was held only on three weekends. It went from 8:30 AM- 4:00 PM Sat & Sun. However we only stayed till 4:00 once, and today we were out by noon. The class was relatively useless, it was called career and life studies, and was supposed to help us figure out how to be successful, or something. I really got nothing form the class, but it fulfilled a random requirement, which is fine with me.

This week I have two more classes of my Urban Studies course, which I enjoy greatly but makes me want to punch a few of my fellow classmates square in the head. I have the final for that class on Monday the 3rd. Then I have 2 blissful months of no school, but unfortunately will need to work a ton during those weeks, and in July 2 more classes, one history, and one Philosophy and at this point it looks like three classes this fall, unless my situation changes with in state/ out of state tuition crap.

Going back to school has been fun, I think I can be done in 2 years, maybe less, time will only tell. I did spend this week getting my ass handed to me, I had a paper due on Monday, one on Wednesday, and the final section of my portfolio this weekend, I have let all things non school related fall behind, such as keeping up with my friends lives, a blooming relationship left dead and all working out stopped as well.

However I hope to reverse all that this week, I have just a few more classes and have a few weeks before I begin my next round of classes, and until then I just need to find a job that is a little more exciting and pays more. Good luck to me!

Easy Steak Salad

2010-04-14T15:48:00.000-07:00

Today for lunch I made a wonderfully easy steak salad I thought would be nice to share for everyone.

I wanted to keep it simple and since I am really picky about my salads this was relatively easy. I used Romaine Lettuce, Sliced Red Onion, Freshly picked Cilantro, Feta cheese, a Parmesan Ranch dressing and a delicious steak. My dad grilled the steak last night, it was a filet, wrapped in bacon and he cooked it to medium rare which worked fine for the salad, I did warm the steak (cheated and micro waved). The dressing was very simple, Parmesan/Reggiano cheese, Chives, Cilantro and ranch dressing, mixed together and tasted fantastic.

In addition to the simple salad I wanted to include some add on’s that while I find them not as appealing would work wonderfully for the salad, Grape tomatoes, radishes, mushrooms (sliced cremini would be best), and some red cabbage. I would also suggest adding some nuts, I would have used toasted pine nuts, but candied pecans would probably be amazing. I also understand my proclivity for Feta cheese is not always appreciated so any number of cheeses could be easily substituted based on your own tastes such as Bleu Cheese or Goat Cheese. Even some fine cheddar such as Vermont would be a tasty addition.

Enjoy!

Fresh herbs and Pasta! Tres Bonne!

2010-04-12T23:42:00.001-07:00

Fresh herbs. What a wonderful and delicious thing! My little tiny green friends are coming along fairly well with only a few hiccups along the way. My Basil took a shock at the beginning of the week, it got very cold overnight, and I did not even think about the poor buggers, and the next morning I was looking at 6 little shriveled green guys, so I did the only thing I could think of. Nothing. I thought, hey they are in shock and likely anything I do will probably make it worse, so I gave them a few days, no watering or anything and they came back a little worse for the wear, but I think they will be ok. All the other guys are doing very nicely, the cilantro was cranky at first but is now coming along even better than I could have imagined, and while the others are not exactly taking off, I think in another week or so I am going to have to start pinching them back.

So after a rather droll class today I thought to myself I should make something with some of these tasty treats and came up with this delicious pasta .

I used a tri-color rotini pasta ( tomato, spinach and egg) and leftover pulled rotisserie chicken ( slightly smoky, but no skin and white meat only!) A lemon herbed veloute sauce, and Feta cheese.

To better explain the sauce I did a twisted Veloute/Bercy. For those of you who are unfamiliar with these sauces, volute is one of the “five mother sauces” used in French cooking. They are the base sauces that all other sauces are built upon. They are Bechamel (milk and roux), Espagnole sauce (roughly a very dark roux with veal stock and meat and bone) AKA Brown sauce, Hollandaise (egg yolk, butter and lemon juice) this is the amazing sauce served on eggs benedict, Tomato sauce (need I say more), and Veloute (light roux with one of many kinds of stock added to it). Bercy is simply Veloute with the addition of Shallots and white wine (basically)
SOOOO… I made my roux (equal parts butter and flour cooked till straw colored, then added chicken stock and lemon juice (2T butter/Flour; 1cup of broth, and +2T of lemon juice) let it simmer for 20 minutes then added my basil (the poor damaged leaves) minced garlic, and Oregano and gave it another 5-10 minutes or so to release the flavors. Then I tossed the pasta in the sauce and chicken and added Feta (lots) to the top with some more julienne basil and oregano.

The result was fabulous! And I was so hungry I forgot to take a picture, but I think you all get the picture. Now you will have to take note, when I am cooking I often do much by feel, smell, and taste so my times are not exact and often my measures are not as exact, however, one does not mess wit the proportions of roux, or veloute. Not without some terrifying results anyway, so consider yourself warned.

So I got to make a pasta dish I have been toying with and use my fresh herbs, as well as pinch back some of my tiny friends, all a great night for yummy foods! As Julia says “Bonne Appetite!”

Spring Break

2010-03-31T00:05:00.000-07:00

All hail that fabulous time of year known as SPRING BREAK! WOOO! Now it has been several years since Spring Break meant anything to me, even in my past college experience it was pretty lame, and this year it was looking pretty droll, I took no time off from work and had few plans, but as the week has gone on I have managed to get rid of a few shifts, and have made some spectacular fun days! On Monday I helped clean out the garage (lots more to do) and few small errands, then today (A beautiful day) I Spent some quality time reading in the sunshine, and then I took my nieces to the park (what fun can be had on jungle gym equipment!)

To finish the night, I made a fantastic dinner for the family. It went better than I could have imagined. Their was grilled chicken, grilled asparagus, wheat rolls, and salad! The asparagus was simple, blanched then a little olive oil, lemon juice, minced garlic, cilantro, and pepper. I let it sit for just about 10 minutes then plopped it onto the grill for about 7 minutes, maybe more, just till they were warm and looking a little crispy.

The chicken marinated for several hours, I used the leftovers of a sauvignon Blanc from the night before, (Pomelo-this SB has the flavors of the pomelo fruit which is a large citrus fruit that is the ancestor to a grapefruit.) olive oil, lemon juice, minced garlic, onion (white) and just some simple Italian herbs (namely basil, and rosemary). And Voila a moist and delicious chicken! After I pulled the chicken off the grill I did place a dollop of Pesto on each breast and a slice of Fresh Mozzarella and broiled them just long enough to melt and slightly brown the cheese. This is my favorite way to zing up boring old chicken breast.

The salad was more of a salad bar, I put everything for salads in small bowls on the table namely because I don’t like any of it in my own salad but the family does. The rolls were actually straight form our local Hy-Vee so just plain old dinner rolls, but were perfect with dinner! After dinner it was time for a quick walk/run. More walk than run on my part.

SO my plans for this week are simple, its supposed to be about 80 degrees tomorrow, so after coffee and breakfast I think I will try to get some yard work done, then off to see Alice in Wonderland 3D during the afternoon, then maybe some simple hoagie sandwiches for dinner, or perhaps panninis, I was thinking Fresh mozz, leftover pulled chicken, tomatoes and pesto!

As for the rest of the week, who knows, but I am definitely going to enjoy it!

Legend of The Seeker TV Review

2010-03-28T23:51:00.000-07:00

I think its time for me to come out…about my obsession with SciFi/Fantasy. (Got yeah!) Most of my friends and family are already aware of this, but I am totally obsessed with all things SciFi and Fantasy. I mean books, movies, TV shows, games, on and on and on. One of my biggest obsessions was with Terry Goodkind and his Sword of Truth Series. I loved this series so much that I wanted to be in a Richard and Kahlan sandwich (sandwich only because I know Richard would only have me if I dealt with Kahlan). The Characters, the relationships, the story, it was a wonderful tribute to writing, even if the end was a little weak-sauce. Be aware if you are planning on watching the series this post has spoilers that may either deter you or encourage you to watch the show.

A few months ago my dear little brother and I were in Lawrence having dinner with our friends Meryl and Blaine and we all discussed the series and the TV Show that has evolved around it. I had seen parts of episode 1 and was disgusted by its lack of any sort of closeness to the book other than some of the basics. However, Little brother has been hounding me to give it a go again, and with my Birthday gifts (Blu-Ray with Netflix and a 9 month Net-Flix subscription) I had no more excuses.

I am trying really hard to like the series, and I mean really hard, I have given up all preconceptions that it will be anything like the books and look at it as a new series with the characters I love. But after the second episode I don’t know if I ever will make it. I mean I can’t believe how different it is! There is no previous relationship with Zedd and Richard, so there is no deep feelings of friendship and concern that is so important to Richards Character. I believe Richards feelings are the most important part of his character, not to mention his powers as both seeker and later as a wizard. And speaking of Power, I have to say the Sword of Truth may have some extraordinary magic, but where is the consequence? Where is the balance? Magic in the sword of truth series often has a relationship to science in the real world, one big similarly is to Newtons Third Law: To every action there is always an opposite and equal reaction. The magic in the sword of truth is embedded in this principal! It is a magic of duality, of Life and Death, of Anger and Love, of giving and taking! It will give you the power to smite any enemy but it takes its price in pain, and without the ample supply of anger that price will kill you, and your first kill is both test and an action of bonding, bonding the magic of the sword with its twin in the Seeker. But Richards first kill does nada! AHHH!

Kahlan and Richards relationship is jacked up too, they are making a mistake showing her power so soon and having Zedd warn Richard so soon. There is no time for their friendship to evolve and them to fall in love.

And lastly what’s up with the Caribbean Addie! And Zedd and her lacked a whole series of important discussions involving sex and growing back her foot.

Well I will keep trying but I am not expecting to fall as in love with this series as I did with the books, but only time will tell.

Moveie Review/ Quotable Quote

2010-03-28T22:31:00.000-07:00

I just watched “Did You Hear About the Morgans.” While the movie has two of my favorite stars (Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker) The movie itself was…terrible. It had a few laughs but the whole plot was well not much of a plot! Lol! I do have to mention a few great things, some of that feel good family crap you know, but for me was SJP quoting the most quotable master of verse. Master Shakespeare. She used Sonnet 116 as her wedding vow, now this sonnet is widely known, but I have decided to leave it here for all of those people who devour my blogs ☺
Sonnet 116
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose Worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom:
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.[1]
–William Shakespeare

"Greens, Greens, Nothing but Greens!"

2010-03-26T21:27:00.000-07:00

I am beyond excited that spring has begun! The grass gets greener everyday, we have had several days of semi-warm weather, and plants are beginning to bud! The best has been seeing my flowers planted last fall come to bud, and I have gotten my herb garden started.

Our neighborhood has an unfortunate amount of rabbits. I mean wow! So in an effort to keep my wonderful herbs from succumbing to their gnawing little teeth I have gone the route of a potted garden. There are several advantages to a potted garden, you can easily move your herbs indoors during the winter for an extended season, you don’t end up with “runaway herbs” (My brother has mint running amuck in his backyard, some of which I will be going to take off his hands, if anyone needs mint, see me and you are welcome to some) and it looks brilliant!

I planted Garlic Chives & Onion Chives in one larger planter. I placed Italian Oregano & Thyme in a second planter, and Sweet Basil in the third large planter. I also planted Cilantro in a medium pot, and Rosemary in a smaller pot. Basil and Cilantro are used by my entire family all year in a ton of cooking, and with fresh herbs coming out all year I think their will be pesto’s and sauces galore this summer.

I procured all of these wonderful starters from a local nursery by the name of Family Tree Nursery. I did quite a bit of research on local nurseries trying to decide which one to go with and Family Tree guaranteed locally grown starters, all of which came from A town in Missouri (Clever or Cleveland or something) and the lady in the Nursery said they don’t use pesticides or growth accelerators and the herbs all came from Organic Seeds, which was a huge plus for me!

So only a few more spring projects left, I need to fix up the compost bin, and reseed some grass in the backyard, and possibly some other small things, I really want to do some Veggies, so I am considering a sort of elevated planter to keep the lettuce and tomatoes from the rabbits, but I am not sure this will really work, so I will have to do some research on how to accomplish this.

All of this is being done in an effort to become more sustainable, and to join a small group of people that my good friend, and fellow blogger, Meryl calls Urban Homesteading, while I don’t see myself ever going to the impressive lengths she has (Chickens! I think my dog would eat them!) I feel she has the some great ideas concerning ways to make ourselves healthy and richer (in spirit and money) by doing all we can to make ourselves sustainable. Thanks Mers for the great ideas!

Challengeing my Preconceptions of Socialis,

2010-03-26T00:21:00.000-07:00

Be aware this a total rant blog, I mean I go at it hard!

As a young man raised in a small community in a semi-rural town in America I was raised with some basic rules of thumb.

1. America is the best place to live

2. Capitalism makes the world work, and other forms of socio/economic fundamentals are wrong.

. Christianity is the only religion worth believing in, as you go to hell if you are not a Christian.

These were not things that my parents taught me, or were forced upon me by anyone person, it’s the general feeling you get when you live in a city of “Good ol boy” types, good Christians who work hard, and the richest people in the town really aren’t that rich. A very Midwestern middle class city, and lucky enough to come from a home that was blessed to not have suffered any big financial issues, and a neighborhood that was filled with homes of very similar people.

So as I entered High School and began to go down a path of “free thinking” (or as my favorite eccentric English teacher would call it “THINKING” ) Some things became clearer to me. If you are not Christian, you don’t go to hell. Sorry to the bible beaters, but I cannot believe that more than 70% of the worlds population will go to hell because they believe different from you, especially since Christianity is so young compared to many other faiths (Judaism, Buddhism, Confucianism, etc). I also went through a change in what I considered social normality’s as I found that I was a homosexual. But lets keep moving.

I began to see lots of strife in America as I went to college, and then left college to experience ‘real life’. I could see people being treated wrong, persecuted for their beliefs, their race, their sexuality. I could see a disparity between the rich and the poor. I began to see that America was great, but not the greatest country in the world. I moved to Hawaii thinking maybe the distance would help, but it was still America. Here is where I began to really want to see a change in American policies and attitudes. I wanted America to be this great country we thought we lived in, one where we truly are treated as equals, where we the people make decisions in a democratic and united way. One where hate and bigotry were obsolete. I could see Americans take a step forward and then one back, and wondered how this would all end up.

Then tragedy ensued, the financial crisis of 2008. I endured this as many Americans did, however, the chaos of the crisis had me moving back home, and instead of continuing on in my profession (which had lost all its glory in the face of –you guessed it- capitalism) and I returned to college. Now was a critical time for America, we elected a black man president, a man who promised us many things, financial reform, free rights for all people, healthcare reform. I thought great things were coming to America, maybe the things I hoped for would come true. So far we have seen some steps in what I believe are the right direction. #1 being the biggest reform to healthcare seen in the US in years. We have seen some big moves by the US people to hold the banking system accountable (although I think the changes were not enough) And at this time I began to get really in to my Urban Planning Major. Here Socialism began to rear its ugly head at me again. We had discussed Socialism in High School in our American Government Class. In HS Socialism was taught to us as a failed system of socio/economic planning that leads to a downward spiral towards communism and chaos. However my time in the world had taught me to discount this theory. Even in Hawaii, where we were still part of the US, a small piece of socialism had crept in. Anyone employed had to carry healthcare. Surprisingly, the healthcare was good, and affordable, mainly because more people were forced to carry this important insurance.

I find that as I get older, and things like school, and healthcare, and even social welfare programs mean more to me. I find that I believe this country formed our Government to help ourselves. I would like to think that man is placed here to help one another, that we all belong to one vast system of life, and our actions to help others in this life is what will decide our fate in the life after. I believe it is our duty to work together to better ourselves, and to learn from one another and that this learning will help us become a great people, one capable of mighty deeds, one able to offer freedom to all people, one that will end poverty and strife, but the thing that I see standing in our way is very powerful and has already sunk its teeth very deeply into the hearts and minds and souls of many people. Not just Americans, but many people of many countries. I see that evil manifested often in capitalism and the drive to “own”. We have become slaves to the all-mighty dollar, and have forgotten that there is more to ourselves than what we own. How can we compete with something as powerful as this? I see socialism as the possible end to this. I think I see many young people starting to think this way as well. We have become more conscious of our Earth and we seem determined to save it, to stop causing damage and begin to repair this damage. I think this love for the planet can be expanded to a love of people as well, and as we age and begin to take our places in society and our governments I hope we will be able to effect these changes.

In Star Wars Episode 3 Padme says to Anakin, “What if the democracy we thought we were serving no longer exists, and the Republic has become the very evil we have been fighting to destroy?” I often wonder if this has not happened in America. After WWII We helped many countries to build just democratic states that are oddly socialist, and yet we never seemed to go that direction, in fact I believe that capitalism thrived on the downfall of these countries and grew like a virus during the time we should have been continuing to look inward and restructuring ourselves to some of these ideas.

So I will continue to learn and watch and hope that we as a country will continue to work on ourselves and become more than we are.

Spring Awakenings

2010-03-21T22:49:00.000-07:00

This Fall upon returning to KC My mother asked me to use my long dormant green thumb to spruce up some small areas around the lawn. Now it has been quite some years since I really applied any effort to gardening, not for any big reason other than after High school I have not really lived anywhere where gardening would be practical or even easy. As many of you know that if it is not practical or easy then I am more than likely not going to participate!

Back to the story, I went to the local plant store (aka Home Depot and picked up a variety of bulbs for some easy spring planting, Tulips, Irises, and 2 others I have some how forgotten what they were! Well the other day, when taking baby niece for a little walk around the block in the wagon, I noticed that my little plants were starting to bud! I recognized the Tulips and the Irises right off the bat! Now when I went to plant these suckers I had a hell of a time, the planter is conveniently located under a Japanese Maple Tree, which has some terribly shallow roots. In conjunction with the shallow roots, I was also competing with some of that tarpy crap that keeps weeds from growing that my parents put down when they built the planter. The last issue was the soil. Here in Lenexa we are blessed with some fantastic clay like soil that is a b**ch to dig up. I was very worried when planting that I would not be able to get the bulbs down far enough, and then I decided to place more bulbs than recommended in the trench I had so painstakingly cut out of the earth.

Then we had a huge snow storm to cause me anxiety, but my dear friend and fellow blogger Meryl assured me they would be just fine. In fact last year her daffodils were bloomed and got encased in ice and still did well, so this pesky snow should be nothing but an annoyance.

So The next Project? Well we have an area to use as a compost heap, and I really think I will be building an herb garden! Some well placed Basil, Cilantro, Chives, Oregano, and maybe thyme seem like some wonderful choices, I just need some free time away from School and work to get this next project going! I plan to place the herbs into planters, and I really want to do tomatoes, lettuce, asparagus and green beans but we will have to see. I am definitely feeling the crunch of time with school speeding up and project after project due, but that’s for another blog.

School has started!

2010-01-24T23:27:00.001-08:00

After a short Hiatus I have returned to the blog world. Much has happened over the last two months, number 1 is my return to school. I am enrolled at UMKC (University of Missouri at Kansas City) and am working towards a degree in Urban Planning and Development. I plan to use this degree (or one similar) to someday work with cities, and corporations on developing green practices. While my current degree is not geared 100% to this kind of action, I believe it is a close shot to furthering my career goals.

So far school is going well, I enjoy my class (only one this semester) and am learning lots about Urban development—the field is very…theoretical. There are lots of different ideas in the world that have been used to describe how we have developed from hunter/gatherer’s into more specialized occupations and every 20 years or so another idea seems to surface utilizing economic and political thoughts to assist in the formulation of these ideas. The next step in our world will be convincing the governments and economies that if we want to continue to grow as a world wide community needs to be done in an environmentally positive way. This is very hard as it takes cooperation from countries across the world.

I am sure that with the mind set of many corporations and countries as well as people this next step in our urban evolution will be an exciting field to be a part of. I am hoping by next semester to have a better idea of which degree in Urban planning will be the best fit, as well as a possible internship lined up. If not I have a few more semesters to go and am confident this will be no problem for me. I will keep you posted on this exciting new course of action my life will be taking! Until then, remember to reduce your carbon footprints, recycle what you can and reuse anything you can to help keep our trash down. Also turn off the lights in parts of your house you are not in.

The End of the Great Move!

2009-12-13T23:13:00.000-08:00

As you my or may not know, when I decided to move home, my wonderful parents decided to do some heavy remodeling turn our once junk filled basement into a new living area with a bedroom, bathroom, play area (for the kids), tv area (for the adults) and a nice little sitting area. There is also a workshop for my dad, an office for him, and a small storage and laundry area as well (though those are not finished).

Up until this point my possessions have been in boxes in the garage and in storage, and I have been living with clothes spread from here to there and without any of my pretty things. Well we finally finished the remodel last week, and I spent Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday moving furniture and unpacking and sorting all my wordy possessions. I am surprised that most of my belongings have fit into a small room, without making it feel over crowded. Now I have twice gone through what I call purge cycles to remove all the crap that tends to collect around me over time, the first “great purge” happened before moving to Hawaii, I sold stuff, gave stuff away and put lots of stuff in storage in the ‘Basement of crap.’ The latest purge was when I moved to KC from Hawaii, Here I mostly sold furniture in an effort to drop my shipping to under 1000 pounds, a tough thing to do when you are obsessed with books like me.

The basement is still a mess, as “wonderful parents” decide where there things are going to go and how they want to store various items, but a huge dent has been made! I myself reduced my (approx) 20 boxes of stuff into a room, and about 8 boxes. I still have quite a bit of stuff to store, all of my various kitchen items, old school books, lots of linens and who knows what else to find homes for as well as place back into storage!

I am most proud of my library! I have merged two different “lives of books into one giant library that requires two large bookcases containing 210 books! A few are doubles (a hardback and paperback or double copies of a few other books that have had to be replaced due to over reading. I have not included my Music books, school books, Annuals, Journals, and a few books that I am saving for my nieces (and hopefully nephews someday) such as my little house on the prairie and Hardy boy collections.

So my “move” such as it has been, is coming to a close. I will soon be hanging Art work and getting more comfortable in my new surroundings. That is until I get antsy and move again, I am thinking this time I will be headed somewhere far, but not Hawaii far, but you never know ☺

Twilight Saga: New Moon Review

2009-11-24T21:46:00.001-08:00

The adaptation from book to film was well done, no major changes (that I remember) were really made, (unlike the HPHBP) and the director did a good job filtering down the excessive Adrenaline Junkie moments and also the depressing 75 years Bella spent being a comatose worm after Edward leaves. In fact I think the director should be applauded for his imagining of the wolf/human transformation, as well as how Edward appears when speaking to Bella’s mind.

Some of the tings that really bothered me though, really bothered me. The scene of Bella in the water was like a bad trip, I was thinking ‘WTF? WHAT A WASTE FO TIME!” Way over done, and mostly just annoying. The females, namely Victoria, Alice, and Rosalie, also miffed me. Their former actors played all three, but all three had undergone huge look changes. Victoria’s hair and entire fashion sense, Alice’s Hair and personality and Rosalie looked like she got bad plastic surgery.

Edward remained fine as always and Taylor has really gotten a fantastic body, loved the numerous shirtless scenes, in fact he can be shirtless around me as much as he wants. Dakota Fanning was beautiful as Jane (although she looks 5 to me)

Nothing really made the movie for me, and I am becoming increasingly irritated by the writers ability to ignore like 3000 years of vampire/werewolf lore. I mean good for you, you can distort the entire cannon of myth and still sleep well at night. Me I will stick to vampires who die in sun rather than sparkle, but to each his own.

Is Chili Soup? The Results are in!

2009-11-14T21:12:00.001-08:00

Earlier this week I was listening to a local NPR show called “The Walt Bodeen Show” (famous in KC) and they brought up an interesting question, “Is Chili Soup?” They dithered on this point one host claiming chili is its own category and another saying it is just a kind of soup.

So I began to ponder this question myself, and to see what my fellow foody friends thought I asked the same question on Twitter and face book. The response was quite large. I saw heated comments and discussions and lots of great answers. However no one offered proof, just opinion. So I did some research. Now if you type is chili soup into google, you may be shocked at the amount of results you get to this seemingly innocuous question. I saw Blogs, and Polls, and definitions and ‘Yahoo answers’ galore, but all of them differed!

So here is what we learned. By dictionary definition, a soup, stew, and chili are all the same thing. The wording is all very similar, but the components are identical: A DISH MADE OF MEAT, FISH OR OTHER INGREDIENTS THAT IS ‘STEWED/BOILED/COOKED’ esp. meat and vegetables. So the answer I have for you is simple Technically Chili is soup, but due to its huge following and cultural importance, it is often thought of as a dish all of its own. This should make everyone happy!

Now I also learned that Chili, comes in many styles some are almost so thick they appear to be meat and seasoning and some come very liquidy with lots of broth. In some places when chili becomes liquidy they start to call it a stew, but in other places, an extremely thick chili is never even seen, so what is real chili? They both are! The definition of chili for each person changes not only by region but also often by family heritage, how did your mom makes chili, or how did the diner down the road make chili. Personally I like both soupy and chunky chili, I prefer it to be thick when used in Nachos or a Coney but stewy when made by mom or dad in the old crock-pot!

How do you make your chili? Did you learn your recipe from a family member or friends, or did you get it from the media?

Two Movie Reviews: The Guly Truth/ My Life in Ruins

2009-11-10T23:30:00.000-08:00

I just watched two very different yet surprisingly similar movies and felt I should give my hand at some small reviews.

First I watched My Life in Ruins AKA ”My Big Fat Greek Holiday’. A surprisingly great movie about a super controlled control freak of a woman who ends up giving tours in Greece, then on the verge of returning to America falls in love and finds she can relax and let love come to her. The Cinematography was fantastic and the costume designers did a really good job of making a super Hot Alexis Georgoulis look creepy and hairy and a formerly heavy Nia Varadlos look super sexy! Alexis’ does a fantastic transformation towards the end of the movie showing off his assets (abs of washboard style) and getting a shave and a haircut, Nia gets stuck wearing a nasty blue blazer for the first half and also has a transformation showing off her new body in flowing high waisted cocktail dresses. As you can see the clothing and actors were good. The Best actor was by far Richard Dreyfus who plays a recently widowed (Widower-ed?) man who uses his humor to break down the walls of his fellow tour goers, while using his amazing powers of observation and wisdom to help transform not only the leading characters but the supporting characters as well. I really enjoyed him posing as the oracle of Delphi to help allay the fears of a couple thinking of starting a family and to put the actions of a couple into prospective to help them better understand their unsmiling and morose teenage daughter. While the movie lacked a lot of meat it is packed with powerful observations about life and love and how to capture some of the wisdom of ancient Greece in out modern lives. Plus after the movie was finished I immediately plugged in to see the cost of a trip to Greece (expensive!) P.s. This movie has nothing to do with big fat Greek wedding but read online their was confusion about this, apparently Nia is only allowed to play her breakout role in movies, and in Italy they re-titled the movie My Big Fat Greek Holiday, no idea why, seeing as this movie has nothing to do with the other ☺

After that I out on a lighthearted romantic comedy called the Ugly Truth Starring two of my favorite actors Kathryn Heigel and Gerard Butler. In this movie Kat plays a neurotic high-strung control freak (see an odd resemblance?) However this girl is way out their she has talking points printed out before going on a blind internet date with a guy she has done a background check on (WHOA!) she produces an early morning talk show that is slowly loosing ground as anything anyone would want on TV and is forced to work with the uber sexy Gerard who is hired to give the Ugly Truth about Men, Women and relationships. His Character is crass and demeaning at first but he offers a hand in friendship to Kat and helps her win her ‘Dream guy.’ Both actors undergo a tremendous amount of change, Kat by listening to Gerard becomes the perfect ‘Naughty schoolteacher’ while ultimately learning to be less concerned with her checklist for a perfect guy and to see love in front of her, and Gerard learns to man up and let his true feelings show and be less of a douche. The movie is typical of Hollywood Romantic Comedies and is humorous and just moving enough to make you feel a small bit of something for the characters, but not enough to be truly involved.

I would recommend both movies for a night of lighthearted romantic comedy but not if you are looking for anything with much depth or life changing attributes. Of course I liked them enough to add them to my collection of movies for later watching (I hope the FBI is not reading this).

Playing in Leaves

2009-11-04T14:06:00.001-08:00

Early last week on a beautiful Autumn day I got to play in the leaves with my nieces! It was beyond fun! We piled all the leaves into a giant pile and let them throw themselves willy-nilly into the pile! Kennedy made leaf Angels, Kessler let Grampy bury her like she was in piles of sand at the beach and Dylan even walked through the pile, of course she spent more time holding onto Grammy than walking by herself. I got to play the part of “Leaf Monster” switching from chasing the girls around the yard, throwing leaves on them, throwing them into the pile, and using the leaf blower to create cyclones of wind and leaves!

As I played with my wonderful nieces I thought to myself “This is the good life! This is why I left Hawai’i and returned to the land of wheat and wind.”
I miss the carefree days of playing in the leaves, building ‘leaf houses’ and coming in for Hot chocolate after hours playing in the cold, Games that are better suited to the younger generation.

I have also missed the wonderful colors of the fall and NPR reported that this may be the most colorful fall we have had in many years, Something to due with the high levels of rain we had leading up to the end of the summer, and the lack of blistering hot days we had during the summer. I find myself missing shorts, and fiip flops, as well as days spent lazing on the beach soaking in the sun and tasting the salty ocean but I am happy to be back amongst seasons and family.

Hallows or Horcruxes?

2009-11-04T11:36:00.000-08:00

Although many of you may not understand the title of this entry, many in the world will be drawn to this entry by mention of both items. The Deathly Hallows are a legendary group of magical items given by Death to The three Perivell Brothers in the Harry Potter world. Horocruxes are items of a dark and sinister magic whereby a wizard can split his soul and place part of it into an item, so if his physical body is destroyed, his soul will live on to be reborn again.

In the final book of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series Harry is faced with a decision, hunt the hallows and hope they have enough magic to defeat Voldemort, or continue to hunt and destroy Voldemorts Horocruxes, hoping this will defeat him. MY conundrum was much easier. DO I carve a traditional Jack O Lantern, or one of more esoteric means?

IN THE END I carved the symbol for the Deathly Hallows, the triangle with an inset circle and a vertical line down its center. These represented the three items given to the brothers, an un-fallible invisibility cloak, a stone of resurrection, and the wand that could not be beaten (know as the elder wand, the deathstick, and other names throughout history. My brothers both got it, and one of my nieces cousins, but other answers I heard were: A Pagan symbol, some kind of Gay Pride Symbol, and something Hawaiian.

I was pretty proud of my ingenuity, I had to just peel the skin off the pumpkin to get the circle and lines to light up correctly, and next time I will not cut out the entire insides but cut through and leave a small portion of skin.

Happy Halloween!

New Look and Maybe a Move

2009-11-04T00:52:00.000-08:00

I have decided to go with a new look for the Blog page, all the useless links were driving me bonkers before! So I found something simple and easy. I believe I will be moving to another Blog service at the beginning of the new year, so another new look will be fast approaching. I have added a few widgets that seemed fun to me, the daily coffee, the daily Harry Potter, and the daily HP Spell!

As this is my first blogspot, I am hoping my practice here will prepare me for the new blog(s) that I will endeavor towards in the new year. I have been studying a Quamut 'how-to' guide on blogging and it has inspired me to try some new things. I ask now for feedback, Does anyone out their use Type Pad, Wordpress, or Live journal? I would love to use wordpress, but will need to learn how to build a web page it looks like. Any quick reference guides out there?

#www.Quamut.com

Book Review: The Gathering Storm

2009-11-03T21:30:00.000-08:00

Where to begin? I have been obsessed with Robert Jordan and his Wheel of Time Epic since the first time I picked up Eye of The World somewhere around 15 years ago.

The most recent installment of this Epic fantasy was co-authored by a gentleman named Brandon Sanderson. His very heartfelt blog on RJ’s death lead Harriet (RJ’s Wife and editor) to select him to complete this series and all I have to say is Kudos! In an effort to understand Sanderson I read Elantris and then most of the Mistborn trilogy (I stopped reading the last book as soon as TGS came out with only 100 pages to go, which I begin again tomorrow) I feel Brandon has done an exemplarily job of writing in RJ’s place.

I feel, as an avid reader of WOT (have read the series every year since 1994); Tat Brandon manages to capture the essence of RJ very well. There are some very noticeable differences between both authors but the inert material remains on the whole just fantastic.

I want to first applaud Brandon on his ability to captivate a few of our characters. The sections about Egwene and the white tower were just about perfect. I had a hard time during these sections remembering this was not RJ! In addition the portrayal and turn of events in the rebel camp and the Aes Sedai (especially Siuan) was well played. Brandon also does an exemplarily job with Rand and making him seem more dark and dangerous. I think it is exactly what RJ was thinking when he first took Rand down this path during the battle between him and the Seanchan around Ebou Dar. Tuon is another character that was treated very well by Brandon. He captured her perfectly, and her change to Fortuna was just as I imagined it. The last Characters I really felt were well portrayed were Silvania, whom I always thought might have a larger role once Egwene regained the tower. And Verin. Verin was just freakin awesome! When she first lies I sat up straight and said, “I knew it!” I had an inkling of her allegiance to the dark lord for sometime, but was never able to say why, nor was I aware of the nature of that affiliation, but it makes much sense (where is the Horn of Valere I wonder? She was aware of its presence of it in the White Tower; did a forsaken have her remove it I wonder??

Nynaeve’s character took an unfortunate step back in this edition, not too terrible of a step but she was finally becoming more Aes Sedai and here her old temper flares again. While this works in some ways, especially in regards to Rand and her playing the role of Wisdom again, it really killed what I thought would be a great development for Nynaeve (I always saw her and Moiraine becoming some sort of friends or at least working together to fix Rand).

Perrin and Faile were both pretty much the same, but nothing special happened to their characters. Brandon did no harm to these characters but between the minimal time they had on ‘screen’ and the time they do have is pretty flat and useless. There is also mention of Rand seeing them in his Taverene swirl talking to Galad, and we never do find out what that was about, I was like WTF?

Aviendha is another character who seemed to pander, but after some useless screen time (and Labor) she makes a big move in development, which was great to see, but I could not seem to believe she would be so close to Rand and just ignore him as she does, especially after bonding him, and he has to know some of what she feels.

Unfortunately there are a few characters that did not develop well with the change of authors, Cadsuane was never one of my favorite characters, but Brandon lost sight of her in this book. She became very useless, her ‘teaching Rand and the Asha Man something they needed to know, she actually had nothing to do with it! Rand had a moment of self-realization, and Cadsuane had little to do with it. I was also disappointed with her character becoming less up front and in charge, she seemed to loose some of her Bitchyness.

Min is another character I am confused about. She was always blatant about pushing herself into Rands every moment, and even before her unfortunate run in with Semirage she seemed more withdrawn and less spit-fiery. I honestly believe, all the women have become less than their former selves, RJ created women who were larger than life, and it seems most of the women have come down a notch.

The worst Character is Matt. I read on another Blog, that maybe the biggest change in Matt was his level of vulgarity. The other Blogger thought that maybe Brandon just is not used to writing in such a foul manner (indeed, he uses little profanity in Mistborn and Elantris). It also the return of Matt being less in charge and worried and more of a Fop. This is very hard for me as Matt has always been my favorite; his use of expletives at the right time reminds me of myself. (I.e. Mothers Milk in a cup Joline, you can bloody well be in charge, we can just turn around and walk up to the bloody seanchan and see what happens to you, light –blinded, daughter of the sands!) Also I was looking forward to Matt’s journey to Genii and instead I was rewarded with another useless section on proving to me the Dark One is stirring. Did not need some half dead villagers to know that.

In fact Matt leads right into my biggest beef with this book. I am ready for Moiranie to come back; she has been and always will be my favorite character. I BAWLED like a small child when she was killed, and when Min said she had never been wrong but once with Moiraine and how Rand could not win without her, I knew she would be coming back. Then the letter to Thom in the last book and I am just about at my wits end waiting for her return! I always thought Matt would bring her back and her and Nynaeve would be able to convince Rand to become human again I thought Cadsuane would be their as wel and be proven black and Rand would have to pick to kill Cadsuane and save Moiraine in an effort to save himself, and he would realize killing women is OK as long as its justified. I don’t know, but I want Moiraine back!

I did wish we had some resolution with Taim and the emissaries sent from both factions of Aes Sedai to the Black Tower. I also wished for one more forsaken chapter in the end of the book. I also would have like to see a little of Elayne and maybe a glimpse of Padan Fain. But the book was already very full. Only Two left till the end I wonder what will happen next.

Urging you to be more Green!

2009-10-25T17:41:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week, or maybe it was last week, there was a call to the world to blog about climate change. Of course I chose at the time to write a blog, but then promptly forgot! oops! I am personally devoted to the idea of Helping the Environment in any way, we recycle as much as we can, and I am working on convincing my parents to begin composting and instead of using chemicals on the lawn, using compost tea. I even plan on continuing my education in an area of study that will hopefully help companies and cities become more 'Green". I Urge everyone out in the blog world to start thinking about our world and what we can do to save it.

I am currrently looking at ways to reduce my own carbon footprint, for me it will be a matter of driving less, using less water and the less artificial temperature control, as well as continuing to recycle, and reduce the amount of trash I am generating (I can recycle cans, but that cost's a lot of energy, increasing my carbon footprint, maybe I should stop drinking so much soda..)

The toughest part about making changes in our lives to reduce our waste impact and also to be more "green" is to think about all the things you do in a day, and thinking what you can do different to make an impact, for many of us, it is small things we will do on a daily basis that will create the biggest changes. We cannot force renewable energy on our electric companies, but we can write a letter letting them know you support a move to build wind turbines, or even nuclear energy and would like to see the reduction in coal power plants. Write a senator or congressman, and tell them to push legislation that urges America to reduce carbon foot prints, or allows money to be appropriated and go towards discovering renewable energy sources.

its the little moves that when we come together as a community and ask in a solid voice that will make the most impact in the long run. Don't give up hope, and keep recycling!

A Review, of a book and its author

2009-10-13T23:32:00.000-07:00

I have just recently finished Elantris by Brandon Sanderson. I am an avid Fantasy reader and have been looking to branch into a few new authors, and With Brandon’s upcoming work with WOT (Wheel of Time) I decided it may be good for me to read a bit of his work to acclimate myself to his style of writing. You see with the death of Robert Jordan in 2007, I (and several thousand of his fans) have been extremely apprehensive about the future of the WOT series. With the announcement later that year that Brandon Sanderson would complete the novel, I decided I would give the young guy a try. It has taken about two years, but with the release date for A Gathering Storm rapidly approaching I took the plunge!

I was pleasantly surprised by the novel Sanderson put forth. Elantris was well planned and with a good story, but with echos of a ‘Lost city of Atlantis’ theme. A civilization with enormous powers and godlike abilities, destroyed by a mysterious event somehow linked to an earthquake. I am also reminded a little of the Myst books, with the destruction of D’NI, (just a similar feel to the writing). I was also a little let down with the simple nature of the mysteries involved, I saw through lots of the hidden stuff very easily. On the positive side, character development was good, a nice ratio of dialogue and description exists, and the story moves at a good pace and is extremely engaging.

I have to say I think Brandon might do a pretty good job with WOT, his prolgue was released earier this month and it was pretty good, I guess we will have to just wait a few more weeks to find out.!

Reflections of Classic Art at the Nelson

2009-10-08T18:50:00.000-07:00

Today after work, I decided I would take advantage of the dreary afternoon and take myself on a journey to the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art. If you are not from Kansas City you may not know a lot about the Nelson so here is a short synopsis of the museum. this comes directly from their website:

“The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art is internationally recognized for its outstanding collection of more than 33,500 objects. From ancient times to modern day, this encyclopedic museum is one of the best in the country, offering visitors the opportunity to explore civilization through the eyes of painters, sculptors, craftsmen, and many other artists.”

My first visit to the Nelson was sometime during Middle/High School with the gifted education program. I remember being awed by the beauty of the building, and its collection. Over the years I have returned often, with School and by myself in the later years. During my time in Hawaii I was always upset that their was no selection of museums. Their is the Bishop Museum in Honolulu, but the majority of the museum is dedicated to culture of the Pacific Rim.

Todays visit was one of the best I have ever had. I had about two hours to kill between shifts, and I am glad I chose to visit today. My favorite Exhibit is the art of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, and Roman, essentially a collection of all art leading up to the Gothic Period of Art. Unfortunately (or maybe not so much) the exhibit is undergoing a massive renovation and will be returning in August of 2010. So instead I visited the remainder of the first floor art which includes art from Gothic up until The Victorian Age. Here is what I wrote after leaving the museum.

The Museum was very quiet, interrupted only by the clicking of the shoes of the Docents on the varied Marble and Parquet floors. I was immediately embraced by the uncanny feelings of coldness brought to my by the giant black marble pillars in the main hall of the museum, and warmth from the excitement of once again traversing these halls of art and enlightenment. I could here the tinkling of the fountain from inside the Rozelle Court. I was immediately embraced by the memories of my first trip to the museum, walking with First Best Soul Friend (Meryl your first appearance!) and various other Good Gifted Friends (Jai Hoyer, and Seth Tomassi, and Johnatahn Switzer stand out in my mind) And being over awed by the immensity of the building.

Not long after arriving a group of school children arrived, they appeared to be around 2nd grade ish (not sure) and they were so amazing to watch, all holding hands in twos, and walking in a line, hushing one another if it got too loud, but their faces were full of excitement and wonder. I was filled with awe thinking that once that may have been me. They seemed to have a preternatural instinct for the solemn reverence due to such a wonderful place.

Taking a moment to gaze a Monet’s Water lilies, i was filled with the impression of faerie mists arising from a cool pond in the french countryside, the illusion of of bird song, and the smells of nature seemed to almost overwhelm me.

I traversed halls lined with paintings, sculptures, and furniture from ancient days, feeling the weight of their age upon my mind. I overheard a Grandfather telling his grandson about standing in the Piazza del Popolo, which was in the painting before them, remembering what the day was like and where he had his lunch and the beautiful girl he watched serving coffee to the patrons.

I kept feeling time washing over me, back and forth, like a river. It was as if the past, present and future existed all at once but in their own places all at once. Rich thoughts of my life ran through me, coming to the Nelson as a Child, then teenager, then a young man and now as an adult, being all these ages all at once, yet not. I remembered the dreams of someday traveling to France or Italy and become an expatriate like Hemingway, T.S. Elliot, Stein, or Fitzgerald sitting at a cafe on the banks of the Seine and writing the most profound works of my generation cultivating an acute remembrance for things lost and things happening, and things yet to come.

funniest video ever!

2009-10-07T16:16:00.000-07:00

check this video out on facebook. I laughed so hard, I almost pee'd myself!

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=137027561958

Trying to make Stupid people Smart

2009-10-07T14:50:00.000-07:00

Conspiracy Theory- The idea that many important political events or economic and social trends are the products of secret plots that are largely unknown to the general public.

I just want to take a moment to say I cannot believe a secret sect of Jews caused the Holocaust, nor can I believe that the government it actually using the H1-N1 virus as an opportunity to curb world population trends. And I do not believe the government has secrete camps all of the US, and the world where they inject terrible diseases on the population to see the effects that take place.

I recently had a friend post some disturbing thoughts about the H1N1 vaccine and also a video shown on Scarborough Country, a show on MSNBC featuring an extremely right wing conservative who makes some very wild claims, that talks about Bayer (a pharmaceutical giant) giving out a drug for hemophiliacs in the early 1980's that infected people with HIV/AIDS. This friend suggested we visit a site called www.educate-yourself.org.

My curiosity was peaked, but the website is almost laughable in its voracious attempts to make people believe the theories it places on its website. Espouting words such as Illuminati, and New World Order in an effort to get your attention. Hoping that by using terms that are prevalent in pop and counter cultures we will easily accept the theories they are suggesting.

Some of the theories about faith healing seem to hearken to 'noetic sciences' as featured in Dan Browns newest novel, and some of them even make it seem that all disease is brought to you by the ghosts of Andrew Carnegie, JP Morgan and John D. Rockefeller, not to mention the letters A, H,Z and the number 3.

However the video was the worst.( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wg-52mHIjhs)
It turns out that Bayer may not have known that the drug was infected when they released it. As far as I can discover the drug was released in 1979/1980 (hard to tell with both sides blocking reports and evidence) this was before we knew anything about AIDS (check out this website for an AIDS timeline http://www.avert.org/aids-history-86.htm) There was a thought it may be a cancer, or even a form of Pneumonia up until 1981. As soon as connections were made that the drug was giving AIDS to patients (since AIDS dies when not in live blood, this may not even be true) and that AIDS was a virus, that was transmitted through Blood, Bayer pulled the drug from the market. HOWEVER, some countries such as a few in Latin America and China and a few others had already purchased large quantities of the drug and continued disbursing it against the advice of Bayer and the CDC. Of course these countries may not have even believed AIDS was real at the time either.

All of this comes to a head with concerns many have over the H1-N1 Vaccine. Stories are floating around about how in the 1970's a 'Swine Flu' epidemic hit the US and the Vaccine used caused some serious damage to people (500 infected with Guillain-Barre syndrome and 25 deaths--out of 40% of the US population that received the drug) this all stems from the concerns that the spanish flu of 1918 had similar components to Swine flu, however all 3 influenza virus' while sharing similar effects are very different when looking at the structure of the virus. True the Vaccine given in the 1976 flu pandemic (which turned out to be erroneous) was flawed, it has been 23 years, science has improved, our knowledge of viruses and how they work has increased, and we have learned from our mistakes. Flu Vaccines are administered annually to somewhere between 35% and 44% of all Americans, with only 5% (down from 10% in the 90's) having any side effect at all (generally a swollen area around shot site and mild flu like symptoms lasting a few days) I think I would say you are safe to take the H1N1 Vaccine.

The moral of this story is simple C.S. Lewis once wrote "The trouble about trying to make yourself stupider than you really are is you often succeed." DO yourselves and the rest of a world a favor and don't listen to everything you see on TV or rad on the internet. Try to be smart and think things through. And last of all make sure you have some hard facts before repeating the babble to the rest f the stupid people, it will make life easier for everyone.

Being on the other side.

2009-10-05T21:46:00.000-07:00

As I have told you before, My career has taken a new turn and I have gone from Restaurant Manager Extraordinaire, master of Training, safety and being the #1 Favorite Manager and returned to my roots. I am back in the role of server! And while this has been extremely gratifying in many ways (lack of responsibility, ability to request time off, and to give up my shifts if I don't feel like working) I have found the change slightly aggravating on some levels.

I find myself wanting to fall into my old role when talking to guests and other employee's. I use my 'critical eye' to see all the work not being done around me and it takes effort to not tell others what to do. But the worst by far is being second guessed by a member of the management team. I had a guest wait 7 minutes for a glass of wine, The bartender had to leave the bar for a moment to get something, and the next thing you know I have a guy waving me down wondering where his drink is. I found a manager and mentioned he may want to do a table touch since the wait was so long and his response was "7 minutes is not that long" and how did I respond? "Have you ever waited 7 minutes for a drink? you should try it seems like an eternity." Not my most beautiful moment, but seriously come on! I think I will have some more work to do on this "Lack of Responsibility" fore front before I am totally able to disengage from my previous life.

So the challenges continue, if in another form, and I am ready to take them on, Now if only I could find a restaurant to manage where all I had to work was 8 hours a day and have all the amenities of an hourly employee with the salary of a manager, life would be perfect!

Sunday Cookouts

2009-10-04T13:49:00.000-07:00

Today was a beautiful fall day here in KC. A crisp cool air, smelling of 'Autumn' in all its glory. So we decided it was the perfect day for an early fall cookout, something of a much missed family tradition, we will cookout even in the falling snow if necessary. Pops fired up the smoker, Big Brother made hamburger patties mixed with onion, mushroom, black olives, and seasoning, and I made Guacamole (not normally a 'fall' dish, but delicious all the same).

We had Hamburgers, Bratwurst, and Hot dogs with chips and guacamole. A little later we shall be indulging in Fudge covered brownies and a caramel apple walnut pie, both unfortunately purchased instead of homemade, but they should be good. I took Cute Twins (3 year old twin nieces) outside and we played on the swing set and sweet sister in law took them into the fort. (Yes Meryl I am stealing the idea of Blog names!)

Sadly the family football team, lets call them the griefs, played horribly and lost big time. So now I am watching a documentary on our National Parks. The rest of the day will be spent relaxing, maybe going grocery shopping (one of my chores) and watching some tv, spending more time with Cute Twins and Beautiful Baby Girl (my 11 month and 3 week old niece!) Maybe even sipping Hot Cocoa in front of the fire.

The Story

2009-10-03T22:40:00.000-07:00

I thought I would begin this Blog by simply writing an overview of my life over the last few years, in an effort to let everyone know something about me. I could spend a long time going in depth to some of what i will share, but have decided to attempt to keep this Blog sized.

I think it is best to begin at the beginning. I was born in Pittsburg Kansas and was raised their spending a few weeks a year in Kansas City, the closest Metropolitan area to my home town. I always have had a love of Kansas City, the sprawling city seemingly interrupted by miles of nothing, all connected by an endless amount of highway, that moves from treacherously icy in the winter, to hot enough to fry an egg during the summer.

As My Senior year in High school was coming to a close I found myself drawn to a decision to study vocal music performance I spent my freshman year of College at the University in Pittsburg, studying with a wonderful woman named Dr. Simms. I enjoyed my choice in degree, but found it increasingly difficult to deal with performance anxiety. I could get on a stage and act with no feelings but the thrill of being LIVE. But as soon as I opened my mouth to sing, my throat would swell, my breathe come shallow, and my vision tunnel. I knew I was going to have to either find a way to live with these feeling s or pursue another path.

As the school year ended I decided I would leave school and move to KC. I took the plunge, quit my job and away I went. I spent the first few months working with my uncle at his Audio Visual company and then I spent some time as an Assistant Store Manager for Structure, and by the spring I had gone back to restaurants, working at Macaroni Grill. Lets fast forward now to 2005. during the years we skipped I continued to go to school, never settling on a degree, and working in restaurants. I Was a server, a bartender, and a trainer at a few different stores, and in school I tried a degree in Business, English, and Liberal Arts.

In March of 2005 I was trying to decide my next move, when a phone call came from a 'second cousin' of mine and she invited me to take a new chance and move to Hawaii. So I took a leap of faith, sold or gave away as much stuff as I could and packed two bags and moved to Hawaii.

I lived on the Big Island in Kailua Kona for a little over 2 years. I spent my days going to beaches, and taking hikes, camping with friends, and found a part of myself I had left behind when I moved to KC. I became more in touch with myself, found the beauty of life in mother earth, and let my spirit begin to heal. I worked for a restaurant called Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. I found myself attracted to the restaurant industry in a new way. This company really seemed to know what they were doing, and everyone had fun while we worked. I was finally finding something I loved and was good at! I was offered a chance to move to the Island of Oahu and become a manager at the Honolulu store. I left for Honolulu in June of 2007 and began the next step.

I loved working at BGSC and was really good at what I was doing, but my home life was in trouble. I was living with my best friend from college and things were not good. He was having some severe drug related problems and becoming increasingly unstable, staying up for days on end, screaming at me, throwing and breaking my things, and abusing me emotionally and verbally. I had to get out. As soon as our lease was up I moved out. I went and stayed with Melissa, my Hag, best friend, confidant, and head-dweller.

Things were looking up, We moved into a beautiful apartment right outside of Waikiki, and lived a quiet life, as my job responsibilities grew, I found myself with less and less time to do much of anything but I was still relatively happy. I sometimes struggled with homesickness, being 3896 miles from family was becoming increasingly more difficult. I had three nieces I was only able to see once a year, two brothers and a sister in law I thought of often, not to mention my parents. I delved deeper into work. Then something amazing happened in the fall of 2008. I met with the GM for a new restaurant opening in Waikiki. I was offered a job where I was to make more money, but work less! I was told there would be 8-9 hour days instead of my usual 11 hour day, a set schedule, and opportunities to move up in the company.

So in December of 2008 I went to Las Vegas for training, and was set up work for this amazing new venue working for non other than Jimmy Buffett. Things went well for about a month, then it all went down hill. Employees laid off, including management, meant the return of 11 hour days, and even more screwed up scheduling. In July of 2009, I was forced out of my job after several attempts to have me fired by an unsaid employee. I was accused of multiple unfounded violations of policies, in what could only be said was a flagrant attempt to find a way to either get me to quit or have me fired.

So the next step became evident. I have moved back to KC. Here I plan to go back to school, studying environmental engineering working in Urban development, in short I want to help cities and business become more green! I have taken a new job waiting tables at a restaurant on the plaza called Brio Tuscan Grill and so far love my job. I am enjoying being home with my family and spending time with my nieces and my beautiful dig Westinghouse.

Stay tuned for more blogging.

A great poem, makes me smile.

2009-10-01T23:09:00.000-07:00

i carry your heart with me
i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)
ee cummings

My First Time

2009-10-01T22:16:00.000-07:00

Hello one and all, and welcome, welcome, welcome to my blog! I have spent several hours learning how this works, and I think I have some work to do before I am completely satisfied with my layout, but keep coming back and checking me out.

I am hoping this blogspot will be a place for me to discuss movies, books, work, friends, and who knows what else. I truly look forward to the travels we will have together.