A Blessing As Well As a Curse

I have often, in this very blog, bemoaned the way I often feel invisible. Ignored to the point where I feel I don't exist or that I'm just observing the world through a pane of glass. I see the world but I'm not able to touch it or take part in that selfsame world. However, I've recently had an epiphany that has made me realize that being, for all intents and purposes "invisible", can be a blessing as well as a curse.

For when people don't see you as worthy of notice, you notice them doing things they wouldn't normally want anyone too see. The invisibility becomes a sword. It can cut both ways.

I must speak in ambiguities on this matter though, because to speak more clearly and be specific with the details could open me up to retribution. For experience has taught me that the people who treat others as somehow less important and less worthy of respect and consideration hate nothing so much as to have their unjust and unfair behavior pointed out to them. They love to say "Life isn't fair" and then go out of their way to show you just how "unfair" they personally can make it for you.

So, I speak in vague and generalities, much like Nostradamus did with his prophecies written as poetry, and thus he did protect himself from the heretic hunters of the catholic church, and much like Nostradamus I am protected from the bullies who would cry foul and try taking me to court for "defaming" them.

Therefore, I hold to one of my motto's "Video et audio et taceo" which is Latin (and not very good Latin, but I do try) for "I see all, I hear all, I say nothing", and to paraphrase Quark from one of my favorite TV shows (Deep Space Nine) "When they smile at you be careful. For the bigger the smile, the sharper the knife".

Lies! Lies! Lies!

They looked me in the face and said it was nothing personal, that it wasn't me, it was them.

They lied!

I hate being lied to and being lied about!

I would throw the lie in their faces, but I still want to believe them and be involved with them.

So, I will remain silent. I will put on a smile and pretend to be content as "Third anonymous person on the left" of the ones they all look to and admire.

I will wear my red shirt and wait for the lighting to strike.

I will hide my tears and choke on the ashes of bitter disappointment.

But a little something of me has died inside, and my respect and regard for them has grown smaller.

They were killed by the lie.

Super Veggie Pie

A week or so ago, a friend of mine commented on some of the recipes that can be found here in my blog and to be quite honest, her comments were wonderful. Tameva, if you're reading this, thank you for all the kind words.

Anyway, there was one thing Ms. Tameva LeFay asked, and that was if I had any recipes for Thai eggplant. Sadly, I don't. I do however have a great recipe I've based on one found in my grandma's Bisquick cookbook. A nudge here, a tweak there, a dash of this and a dash of that, and I think I've come up with something truly wonderful.

Super Veggie Pie

• 1 package (10 oz) frozen chopped spinach
• 3 cups chopped zucchini
• 3 oz. chopped eggplant
• 1/2 of a large white onion, chopped (you can use the rest in another dish, just keep the other half in a sealed container so the onion doesn't give a little oniony taste to the other foods in your refrigerator)
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 1/4 cups milk
• 1 1/4 cup Bisquick baking mix
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• Salsa (optional)

1. Heat oven to 400*F
2. Grease a 10" baking dish with your favorite non-stick spray
3. Add the spinach, zucchini, onion and eggplant and sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese
4. Beat the remaining ingredients (IE the milk, eggs, Bisquick, salt, and pepper) together until smooth
5. Pour into baking dish over the vegetables and bake until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean (about 30 minutes)
6. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving

This recipe makes six, chock full of vegetable goodness, servings that you and you dinner companion(s) will simply adore, and remember, as always; "Eat and enjoy".

What is Evil?

What is Evil?

Evil sometimes wears a pleasant face,

Disguised as something good,

And not all devils where their horns.

What is Evil?

Evil is subtle and self-deluding.

Evil sees Evil everywhere and in everything.

Evil believes the lies it tells to be the God's Honest Truth.

Evil believes that that which It hates is True Evil,

And sees what is loves as Pure Good.

What is Evil?

Evil is just plain Evil.

A Penny Pinching State Employee

As some of you may have heard, the infamous "Furlough Fridays" are back. I, and every other non-exempt state worker have to take three unpaid days off per month till the California Assembly (and there is no mistake that the word "ASS" is the first part of their name) and Herr Gubenator can come to an agreement about California's state budget. This is the equivalent of a 15% pay cut. Yikes!

Neither side seems willing to give an inch. The republicans want to cut spending. The democrats want to raise taxes. It just doesn't seem to occur, or if it does they don't want to do it, that if you've got a $20billion deficit, why not cut spending $10billion and raise taxes $10billion. That way, neither side is happy.

So, until they can come to some sort of arrangement, I, and my fellow state workers, have to live with this 15% pay cut, and as you can guess, this kind of reduction makes it VERY hard to make ends meet.

I have, however, found a few ways to cut corners and stretch my money even more than I have been, and now I'm going to share some of those ways with all of you.

1. Toss 1/2 cup of dry oatmeal to a 12 oz can of water packed tuna, cover and refrigerate for 15 minutes. The oats soak up the water the tuna was packed in, and when you add your mayo and pickle relish, you'll have more tuna salad for sandwiches than you had before. It's like adding breadcrumbs to hamburger to make meatloaf, and the oats add extra fiber and nutrition.
2. If you're cooking something and the recipe says "cover with aluminum foil", don't. Instead, invert a cookie sheet over the item and save the foil for something else, or not even buy it anymore (or at least not as much).
3. A spool of thread and a needle can be your best friend. Sew up that whole in your sock, your shirt, your whatever can be sewn up and mended.
4. Give generic a chance. It really doesn't taste all that different, or clean that much more thoroughly (Even I draw the line however at generic toilette paper. It's Sharmin (r) or nothing).
5. Get up earlier so you don't have to rush through your morning routine and then drive at breakneck speed to get to work. Studies show that, on average, you save the equivalent of $0.10/mile for every mile below 65 MPH you drive. Oh, and don't forget to take your foot off the gas entirely when driving downhill. Let nature do the work and spare your gas for the rest of your trip.
6. During the heat of summer, at night open a window and run an electric fan, and keep your blinds closed during the heat of the day. It's a lot cheaper than running the air-conditioner and your electric bill will be a lot lower.
7. During the fall and winter months, open your blinds to let in all the free, warming sunlight you can. That and an extra blanket or sweater will help you to keep your thermostat at about 65*F.
8. Take part in a "Cable Club". Instead of getting Showtime, HBO, Cinemax, or whatever all on your cable bill, have one member each of your club get a different premium channel and just go to each other's homes to watch the programs you enjoy.

I know these things may seem extreme to some, and I'm sure a few of you are probably thinking I'm a penny pinching tightwad, but when it's a choice between paying my bills and not paying my bills, it's really no choice at all. Nothing means more to me than my reputation, and what would it do to my reputation if I didn't (or couldn't) pay my bills.

Well, that's all I have for now. If I think up any more ways to save money and help you stretch your dollars, I'll keep you informed.

It's Gonna Be a Long Time Till I Shop There Again.

After the vile Proposition 8 was passed back in 2008, I suggested that all LGBT people and those who support us boycott businesses that were opposed to our existence and actively trying to take away our rights. I even posted a link to the Human Rights Campaign's business directory that showed corporate rankings and asked everyone to only shop at companies rated GREEN, to encourage improvement in companies rated YELLOW, and avoid as though they were plague carrying rats companies that were rated RED.

A little side note, if you go to the new link, you'll see the formats been changed, but it's still very helpful in making informed shopping decisions.

One such yellow company was Target, and, well, I'll let the video speak for itself, but lets just say, I'm very disappointed.



Target Ain't People -- MoveOn ad @ Yahoo! Video

I'm Almost Ready to Forgive (Though I Will Never Forget)

It was over two yeard ago that I had declared war on a person I had named The Misanthrope. Well, I may be ready to forgive the person and put the past behind us. Please stress the "may be" part of that last sentence.

It was some time ago I made my "Declaration of War" for some hurtful comments made about my weight. Comments that were made because the person making them (read the post found by going to the link) chose to believe someone else when they told her I had purposely sabotaged her performance at the Celebration of Gospel show held at Club Paradise while I was working the DJ booth.

She told me that later, after she had gotten home and had had some time to cool down and think about it, that she realized I would never have done anything intentionally to sabotage her performance, and that when she looked more closely at her CD, she could see how it was so scratched up, it would have been a divine miracle of God for the CD to NOT skip.

I have made it quite clear, when I sent a FaceBook friend request to this person, that I would only forgive them, and accept their friendship once again (both in FaceBook and in reality), if she could explain why she believed that person in the first place. If she can do that, I can be forgiving, and remember, I said "If".

I Just Had the Most Amazing Dream

I remember most of my dreams, but don't find most of them blog worthy, but when I do, I do my damnedest to post them here on my blog.

One of the reasons I do this is because of the old-wives tales that says if you want the dream to come true, talk about it before you eat your breakfast. So, since it was such a wonderful dream, that's exactly what I'm going to do.

In the first part of my dream, I'm living in a new city with very tall buildings, possibly San Francisco, although I'm not sure.

I'm living in a nice house that belongs to me, and someone comes over to visit. He brings a
take-out box from some restaurant that we apparently met at, and when I open it, it's full of things like deep fried mushrooms and asparagus spears. This really cute guy starts to set up a very romantic scene; first he unrolls some sort of mat on the floor in front of a fireplace, he then covers the mat with a sand colored blanket over the mat before walking over to the stereo to put in a CD that begins to play "mood music". While he's doing this, I take out one of the asparagus spears and hold it in my mouth. He gets the hint, walks over and we proceed to eat the spear, sorta like that scene from the Disney classic "The Lady and The Tramp".

We get into some serious making-out, but then wouldn't you know it, I go and wake-up.

To quote a line from the last play I was in "God damn it all to Hell"!

Dieting Sucks Ass!

First, let me offer an apology to anyone who might be offended by my use of the word "Ass", but if it does offend you, what are you reading my blog for in the first place?

I got fed up waiting by the phone for this one guy to call, so decided to just say "F*ck-Him" (at least you know I do have some boundaries on the dirty language), and decided to do a little blogging instead.

I've been watching the movie "300" for most of the day. I had bought the DVD some time ago, but with one thing and another, never got around to watching it until today.

If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend the film, if for no other reason that the half-naked, sexy, sweaty Greek guys (though Gerard Butler who plays King Leonidas is from Scotland).

Anyway, as I said in the heading for this post, "Dieting Sucks Ass". In between meal snacking has always been the bane of my waistline. When I'm hungry, I want to eat, but once I start eating, I cannot seem to stop till I feel bloated like a stuffed pig.

I try to tell myself, repeating it like some sort of sacred mantra "If I'm hungry, I'm losing weight" over and over in my head, but my stomach yells much more loudly "FEED ME!"

Maybe I should get some rice cakes or something to nibble on. They don't have many calories and the rice expanding in your stomach makes you feel full again. Yeah, I'm going to got get me some rice cakes.

Shrimp Gazpacho

Oh my dear sweet Lord, has it been a hot summer or what? When the temperature climbs so high, with the Dog Days of August still to go, I thought what better recipe than something cool, lite, and full of flavor.

One of my grandmother's favorite foods was shrimp, and if you think Bubba from "Forrest Gump" could rattle off different ways of preparing this multi-tasking seafood, you never heard my grandma.

So, long story short (I know, "To Late"), for your epicurean delight, my grandma's recipe for -

SHRIMP GAZPACHO

• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (e.v.o.o.)
• 1 lb medium shrimp (not as much of an oxymoron as jumbo shrimp, but still . . )
• Coarse salt and fresh ground pepper
• 6 plum tomatoes chopped (about 3 cups)
• 1/2 small red onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/2 cucumber, peeled and chopped
• 1/2 cup finely chopped jarred roasted bell peppers (grandma liked using 1/4 cup red, and 1/4 cup yellow)
• 1 1/2 cups tomato juice
• 2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar

1. In a large, non-stick skillet, heat the oil over high heat, swirling to coat the bottom of the pan.
2. Season the shrimp with salt and pepper.
3. Add half the shrimp; cook until browned on both sides and opaque in the center (about 3 to 4 minutes total).
4. Transfer to a plate and repeat with the remaining shrimp (reduce the heat if they brown to quickly).
5. In a food processor, combine the tomatoes, onion, garlic, cucumber, and half the roasted peppers; process until combined.
6. Add the tomato juice and vinegar and process in the processor till smooth.
7. Season with a little salt and pepper.
8. To serve, chill the puree mixture for at least one hour, then divide among 4 bowls, top with the shrimp and the remaining roasted peppeprs.

As always, eat and enjoy.