What I would very much like to do right now is to get off this train and personally strangle everyone, who is chugging on their fags on the platform, to a bloody, airless, suffocating and gruesome death... and finish off by stomping on their cancer sticks.

The cigarette smoke is seeping through the insulation of the windows on the train and making me think of those precise adjectives.

Why doesn't the train move and leave these nutcases behind already??

The station reminds me of this completely delusional storyline in that crazy series, "Spooks" (known here as MI-5) where everyone (who didn't get themselves fried in a kitchen fryer) and their aunt spent most of the season dropping references to something called "Albany". I think I never got to know what it actually was, probably because the plot was so convoluted, it made no sense... and of course I was watching in 15 minutes per weekend sections.

I give up on anything that gives me a logic nightmare when watched in 15 min sections every weekend (or sometimes fortnight). Either that or it should meld gracefully into whatever other 15 minute-section-of-something I am watching.

I have the Nexus One. Which is nice. But its camera speed is from the paleolithic ages. Well, I think things might actually have been faster back then since they always had to outrun some wild beast or other; forget standing there and trying to shoot a honey badger with a Nexus one.

It takes such an E.T.E.R.N.I.T.Y for the camera to fuss through and get ready to finally take shot. Fast moving targets are a complete impossibility.

For instance, I just saw the creepiest life-size nativity scene right in the middle of nowhere somewhere in the middle of NY state, intentionally placed (I am sure) to appeal to the Godless heathen who take the train.

Well, this Godless heathen was unable to take a shot and share the creepinessl! No thanks to slow slow slow camera technology from Nexus One.

Arrrrgh.

Sweet!*

---

\*only for peeps without a friend with a wifi ;-)

Google voice transcriptions are pure entertainment. This is a confirmation message from the dentist.

Day. Hi this is. Montali a calling from Prudential New York. New office of Dr. Benjamin shores. I'm calling to confirm the upcoming appointment with that please you know that you have any questions about the upcoming appointment is very important that you call our office immediately at (212) 213-6622 Please note that when your address is 220 Madison Avenue, Suite be between 306-1030 7th Street, please stand in line for your appointment details, yeah appointments for Georgie, yawn, hey Monday. Yeah. Remember 28 at 12 PM. Yeah, we look forward to seeing Georgie, yawn, hey Monday. Yeah. Remember 28 at 12 PM. Yank you, and have a great day.

I made something close to perfection after a million unintentional stews. Not that I hate stews. I love stews and soups but still the lack of moisture control in my recent cooking was starting to annoy me.


Savoy Cabbage
Yellow peppers
Jalapeños and HOT chillies - a very generous gift from (e:Terry)'s wonderful chillie plants
Roasted caramelized tomatoes
Caramelized onions
Ginger
My own spice mix with a cardamom shot. (I need to figure out how I made this batch, it's so good and I have no idea what I put in because I made it in a very distracted way over a week).
Red peppers
Zucchini
Turmeric powder

All stir-fried in a tsp extra virgin olive oil - (e:Paul), that oil rocks. I am tempted to buy that bottle off you!!

Things have reached a rather bad state when these three documents are your only regular fortnightly anticipated reads.

1. Walgreens Chocolate mania.


2. Random Pricerite ogling.


3. Coop Bulk Food craziness.

{The coop is 20 minutes away, which is also a bit of dealbreaker for me. Grocery shopping is a time-eater on days I am struggling to find extra time.}

I wish Guercio's were not a complete 2.1 miles away. I know that's not much when you drive or even bike but it takes me 30 minutes to get there. Once I do, it's hard not to linger and buy a ton of awesome things and carrying or carting all of it back takes more than 40 minutes. That's a good 2-4 hours down the drain. I just cannot afford the time.

TODO 1
(e:heidi)'s comments on the powerlessness of individuals in changing their diet always makes me think about my wages (slightly above minimum, almost the lowest bin in terms of taxation), dependents (none) and quality of diet (I want to believe, fairly good).

I think that people can change their diets if
a) they have the will power
b) the motivation
c) proper guidance for the switch
d) options to aid a gentle and gradual but complete switch
e) some level of daring
f) a shop like pricerite within a mile of where they live.

I want to do a couple posts on this after I am done "dissertating".

TODO 2
A personal debate on BMI and obesity and what are the right tools of measurement. This is a complicated issue. Arguments can be made on every single side and indecision reigns supreme. Emotions come into play depending what kind of personal brushes you have had with the medical community, your current and past health and issues you have had or are still having with weight loss/control/gain. In addition, there is the dry statistical debate. Mixing all of this leads to arguments sounding slightly biased and unconvincing. So I want to tackle each in context but in independent posts.

TODO 3.
The unending Coop Vs. pricerite opinion

TODO 4.
The unending "is organic farming really worth it?" and "is eating organic really worth it" current evidence post.

On secondthoughts, this is a completely worthless debate. Coop activists need to wake up and smell their snobbery and bias against the poor. Organic farming is only relevant for animal products not plants or fat-free produce. It's not logical to argue that organic produce is somehow better because really, there is ZERO evidence or even likelihood of any "inorganic" chemicals being anything other than fat soluble. Thus, no arguments that include such points as chemical residue in washed produce is accurate. The "it just tastes better to me" is so lame as to not merit any mind space.

The thing is all of these require a ton of research and review. In fact, I could take my research on these and turn it into journal articles and submit them for peer review. Which is probably what I should do, since this will eat into my time.

OR

Just ignore all these TODOs. Hold on to what I believe and keep encouraging people that healthy eating is not about political beliefs, snobbery, or even activism. Its about eating what makes your body not die inside and rejuvenates your organ systems instead of overloading them with toxins and other tough to process components.

I am re-discovering all of Bach magnificent Cantatas once more and BWV140 is one of my all-time favourites.



I love the absolutely perfect build up of the vocal ornamentations to the crescendo of the choir from 4:26. Hearing the cantatas is almost equivalent to getting a virtual pair of wings if you close your eyes.



Did you know that Bach wrote a brand new cantata every single week for the Sunday worship service, and that there are nearly 260 of them? Prolific was a gross understatement when it came to Bach.

Evince has djvu file support but just not in Fedora, at least by default.

You need the evince-djvu module to make Evince launch djvu files:

sudo yum install evince-djvu

The Waltz is my most favourite kind of classical music after sonorous abstract cello recitals and baroque orchestral works. Wait till you reach around 3:20, when they give the dance a modern interpretation. :)