Wascally · Wabbit · Wamblings

Target has costumes for pets. I was there this morning and picked up a tiny Frankenstein outfit for kitty. :D She LOVES it. She has an odd way of showing the she loves it, but I know she loves it none the less. I will try to get a picture... if she can contain her joy long enough to sit still for a photo.

I am making cookies for a bake sale & I keep *TASTING* them. My thighs are getting bigger before my eyes. Ah! But that reminds me:

http://www.boston.com/yourlife/health/fitness/articles/2005/08/13/fat_thighs_may_benefit_health_say_researchers/

I made a double batch of dough and doctored it up a bit... which meant more tasting. It started out as chocolate chip... then I added some oats and flax meal... then some chocolate that had been run through the food processor... then some candied ginger.

Perhaps I will just donate $20 to the bake sale.

Isn't there a (at least one) place in the bay area where used office equipment is put up for sale? Cheap?

I am looking for an IMB Selectric -- the ones with the correction tape.

Had I thought about it years ago, I would have just taken one from one of the companies I worked for... as most of them are no longer around anyway.

The free bird leaps
on the back of the wind
and floats downstream
till the current ends
and dips his wings
in the orange sun rays
and dares to claim the sky.

But a bird that stalks
down his narrow cage
can seldom see through
his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and
his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings
with fearful trill
of the things unknown
but longed for still
and is tune is heard
on the distant hillfor the caged bird
sings of freedom

The free bird thinks of another breeze
and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees
and the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright lawn
and he names the sky his own.

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams
his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing

The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.

-Maya Angelou

We, unaccustomed to courage
exiles from delight
live coiled in shells of loneliness
until love leaves its high holy temple
and comes into our sight
to liberate us into life.

Love arrives
and in its train come ecstasies
old memories of pleasure
ancient histories of pain.
Yet if we are bold,
love strikes away the chains of fear
from our souls.

We are weaned from our timidity
In the flush of love's light
we dare be brave
And suddenly we see
that love costs all we are
and will ever be.
Yet it is only love
which sets us free.

The Soul's Expression

With stammering lips and insufficient sound
I strive and struggle to deliver right
That music of my nature, day and night
With dream and thought and feeling interwound
And inly answering all the senses round
With octaves of a mystic depth and height
Which step out grandly to the infinite
From the dark edges of the sensual ground.
This song of soul I struggle to outbear
Through portals of the sense, sublime and whole,
And utter all myself into the air:
But if I did it,--as the thunder-roll
Breaks its own cloud, my flesh would perish there,
Before that dread apocalypse of soul.

We had company for dinner on Friday & I made the following... it's one worth making again.

Pavlova

INGREDIENTS:

6 egg whites (room temp)
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar

1 pint heavy cream, chilled
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons confectioners' sugar

fresh fruit (berries, kiwi, something like that)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C). Crinkle up parchment paper & wet it a bit w/water -- spread it out flat again & place it on a cookie sheet.

Beat egg whites, preferably in a glass or ceramic bowl (won't work in plastic), until stiff and glossy - about 5-6 minutes. Make sure egg whites have absolutely no contact with grease (fresh or residual), or even a speck of yolk. Combine cream of tartar, white sugar, and cornstarch; gradually beat in to the egg whites. Sprinkle vinegar over egg white mixture, then fold it in very gently.

Pile meringue onto prepared pan. Spread higher on sides leaving a slight depression in the center. Place in preheated oven. Close the oven door, and immediately turn oven down to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C). Bake for 75 to 90 minutes. Open oven door, but leave meringue in the oven for 15 more minutes. Remove meringue to a draft free spot. Very carefully remove meringue from pan, and place on serving platter.

Whip cream, vanilla extract, and confectioners' sugar until thick and firm. Gently spread over the meringue.

Sprinkle berries on top, over cream. If using kiwi, peel and slice the fruit; arrange slightly overlapping slices in a *pleasing design*. Serve quick, or chill.

*** I actually changed the recipe a bit. I forgot to use the cornstarch and cream of tarter, and I didn't *gently fold* in the vinegar. I used 5 egg whites, vinegar, sugar, and vanilla. Baked for an hour & didn't leave it for an additional 15 minutes. Still tasted great. I'll try making it their way next time. (I used a different recipe, but can't find it.) :D

There is a specific branch on a specific tree in our backyard on which squirrels like to urinate. (Do I make this stuff up? You give me too much credit.) Unfortunately, the branch is right outside our dining room window. Recently, we had company over for dinner & there was a water show... like white trash Bellagio. I will stop at nothing to impress dinner guests. We're not talking about small bladders either. Who knew. Who cared? Ignorance is swell -- especially when squirrel potty is the topic. They do it just to piss me off (pun intended). I see how they look at me. It's all because I stopped leaving out the chuck-a-nut.

Squirrels suck.