I give you ... the Hasselhoff :
first, an astonishing video
then, a haunting visual image
Anyone else have a favorite Hasselhoff link?

Mmm mmm good.
Ingredients
3-4 large pieces of chicken, cooked and shredded
4-5 cups of chicken broth (or use bouillion)
1 regular can of diced tomatoes
1/2 small can of diced green chiles
1 medium onion, chopped/diced
1-2 stalks of celery, chopped
1 tsp. ground coriander
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper
1 tsp. cilantro
4 tortillas
olive oil
Tools
1 large stock pot
1 saute pan
spoons
Steps
Saute onion and celery (or any other veggies that tickle your fancy); set aside.
Start to heat the chicken stock.
Saute chicken in olive oil (you can use the same pan as the veggies - just don't do the chicken before the veggies).
Add the diced tomatoes and chiles to the broth.
Bring to boil.
Reduce to simmer.
Once the chicken has cooled a bit, shred or chop into little bits.
Add the veggies and chicken to the broth.
Cover and simmer for about 20 minutes.
Add the spices, simmer for about 10-15 more minutes.
This will give you time to make the crunchy tortillas.
Slice the tortillas into strips - about 1/2 inch by 2 inches.
Rinse out the saute pan and pat dry. Add about a 1/4 c. of olive oil.
Put on medium heat - watch for splattering!
Add the sliced tortillas and cook until crispy. Be careful, or they scorch and get too brittle.
Serve the soup with some tortillas on top. Grated cheese can be used too, but this meal was hearty enough without it!

As I drove into work this morning, lamenting the fact that all morning radio show hosts sound so horribly, inexorably uninformed, I started thinking about what my own education lacks.
Math would be the obvious one, but since I did well in advanced math classes from 7th to 11th grade, that's not entirely appropriate.
Science is another possibility, but I made it to, and through, AP Chemistry in 12th grade, and I wasn't completely bad at it.
Mechanical skills would be a strong contender, but now I have an able tutor (J) who walks me through the basics of car fixin', construction, electrical stuff, and the like.
So I settled on my inability to speak or to write fluently in another language. I took three years of French in high school, as most public schools demand, and that wasn't nearly enough. I dabbled in German for a semester, but the instructor was too awful to even consider another semester. The only thing I got out of another 2 years of college-level Spanish was the ability to count to 100 en espanol. I can't even trill my r's.
Now, it's back to French. I'm great at guessing the English/Latin cognates, which makes reading a lot easier. I'm starting by reading through the Radio-Canada.ca site each morning; other suggestions for sites would be appreciated!

Contrast this article by Ron Kovic (author of Born on the Fourth of July ) with the "patriots" featured over at Operation Yellow Elephant .
I'm well aware that joining the military in any capacity is an intensely personal decision. I also believe strongly that any pundit, politician, member of the 101st Fighting Keyboardists , and citizen - and their children who are over 18 - should have been the first ones on the planes over to Iraq to "bring them democracy."

This past weekend, we started to look for a place from which to order a wedding cake. The actual wedding is not for awhile, but I'm a planner, and we're planning ahead. Besides, it was a chance to eat cake, something that I don't believe I have ever refused.
Some advice: don't tell the bakery staff that the cake is for a wedding. An event? Sure. A celebration? Of course. But the minute the words "wedding" or "bride" get introduced, the price skyrockets and options become incredibly inflexible. I was disappointed. How hard is it to bake 4 square cakes, of a normal, average height, with white frosting, simple light purple piping on the edges, with lots of space for fresh flowers on the top (supplied by me)? Apparently, this bakery "doesn't do that," although they clearly had the pans by which to do them.
I have a very simple idea for the cake that does not involve tiers, excessive architecture, or complicated frosting. If I wasn't worried about doing other things that day, like getting married, I'd be content with baking and decorating this dessert on my own.
Aside from figuring out who to invite and how to print my invitations, the only other thing on my mind for this "event" is finding a sparkly pair of shoes in some shade of silver or purple.