Another cold day and I made kugel

Hey folks, how are all of you doing?  I’m doing fine, but just growing tired of this arctic chill encompassing Ohio.  I can’t wait until the warmer months return.  Anyway, I didn’t do much of anything because I was suffering from slight vertigo this morning and was more sever last night.  I think I exerted myself too much at the gym yesterday.  No pain no gain, right?

I have to make the best of a dismal situation, I guess.  Tomorrow should bring something blog-worthy.

Of course there’s the puzzle I am currently working on…and not getting a lot done.  There’s always tomorrow.

My big task is to work on my book some more.  I have just started my third draft and I hope that it will be a rousing success.  Man, so much stuff to add to it and some stuff to take out…a lot of arduous work, but worth it in the end.  If this does get published, I hope to sell a least twenty copies…praying to the Goddess as I speak.

I hope to do a lot more cooking.  I hope to test some new recipes from around the world.  If I wanted to, I could create a blog dedicated to such a topic…

Tonight, I made Kugle!  That’s right, Kugel.  It was my husband who suggested it to me.  He got a craving for it while he was soaking in the tub.  He requested it.  So I found a great recipe for this famous of all Jewish dishes.  To me, when I read the recipe for the first time, it seemed like a dessert.  But he wanted it for dinner, so I made it.

It turned out good.  I was impressed.  But I think I could have done without adding the orange extract.  How this happened was that I just barely had enough vanilla extract and decided to fill the void with the orange.  I wish that I didn’t because that slight addition of orange extract really muted the vanilla.  I am not saying that it wasn’t delicious with the orange extract, just wish that I would have left it out.

Another component that surprised me was the crushed corn flakes.  Now, correct me if I am wrong, I think that corn is a non-kosher food.  How I first heard of this was from my English Comp.  instructor.  She was a food prep instructor for a long while before becoming an English Comp. instructor.  She told us how there is Coke made with actual sugar to make it Kosher because corn is prohibited from the diet…man I can feel eyes watching me, giving me that stare of death.  If anyone know more on this, please inform me more on the subject.

But overall, the Kugel was great!  I would definitely make it again.  Now another recipe I want to try is a famous Greek dish called Moussaka, again learned about it from my Eng. Comp. teacher.  Hopefully my results will be on a future posting.

Wow!  I had a lot to say for such a cold and vapid day like today….I’ll try to stay warm.

A slight change of plans

Well folks I was just reviewing my last post called, “Cabin Fever” and I was thinking that I may not do all of the things I set out to do during my winter hiatus from the University.  Not a whole lot of these change in plans, just with a few.

For instance, repainting the kitchen, hallway, and bathroom.  I was thinking that it may not be such a good idea for now.  I say this for a few reasons.  One, the fumes would overwhelm me and I couldn’t possibly open the windows  and introduce frigid Ohio air into the house…I hate the cold.  Two, there is neither a set color palate nor any ideas with the overall design.  That will give me something to think about.

As for the puzzle, I have been real lax on the completion of it…ok I got lazy.  The cold tends to place a stasis on short-term goals.  Plus there is a slight possibility that I may have ADD, even though it has not been diagnosed yet.  I guess I’ve been spending too much time watching “Sanford and Son” dvds and eating downstairs to avoid the icebox upstairs in the office…if you could call it one.

As for my supposed book, I have been working diligently at it.  I just finished revising my second draft and will type it up and make the necessary corrections.  Then I will print it out, making this my third draft, and revise it again.

I haven’t even begun to finish it yet.  The short story that I wrote back in high school (the basis of my book) is about five pages long and in need of some overall revamping and repair to its grammar, possible spelling, punctuation, and structure.  The part I have now could in fact be the first chapter…well see how it goes?

As for the cooking, I haven’t done much of it lately.  Not as much as I would like.  I did make a basic pasta bake last night and a side salad with Thousand Island dressing.  For lunch yesterday I made some tilapia menuiere with some quinoa.  I even attempted to make a basic beurre blanc with the remnants in the pan used to pan fry the fish using lemon juice, water and butter.  I did a mediocre job with it, in fact it turned out too tangy for my taste.

Hmm, is there anything else that I may have missed…?

 

Cabin Fever…

With old man winter having a firm grip on the Northeastern part of Ohio, I am now suffering cabin fever.  For those of you who follow my “Life of an Adult College Student” blog will know that I finished my last final examination.  Now that my Winter/Christmas/New Year’s break has started I meditate on what to do next.

I desperately need some projects and/or hobbies to pass the time.  I do have a thousand-piece jigsaw puzzle to do, plus repaint the kitchen, bathroom, and any other miscellaneous tasks to complete.

I even want to venture into writing a short novel–Stephen King-type stuff, like I did when I was in High School.  Maybe I’ll revamp one of my short stories and make it fit into a novel or may start all over again with something new and fresh…

Keep on truckin’ you guys and gals!

Spam Comments

I have a quick question for all of the users here on WordPress.com. When you get comments, do they go to spam immediately or do they go straight to your approved category of the “Right Now” box? You can’t be too careful these days with all of the Trojans, worms, and viruses lurking out there in cyberspace…

Nothing much going on…

Hmm, nothing much going on right now. Ohio has finally received some of that snow to officially kick off December.
With December here I can now begin to pull out those decorations and the tree to symbolize the Holidays. I am going to put the tree up tomorrow, but not decorate it–not yet at least. I think that I will go with a different color scheme this year.
The last two years the scheme was of blue, white and silver. I am thinking of green, red and gold this year…
Merry Christmas!
Blessed Yule!
Season’s Greetings!
Happy Hanukkah! (Please don’t get upset if I misspelled the name of your religious holiday)

Topics better off not talking about…

There are three topics that I never want to discuss: politics, religion, and sex. I have my reasons for that.  The ignorance surrounding these topics frustrates me to no end.  There are more pressing things to worry about than knowing if a person votes democrat or republican, believes in God or not, or what gender a person is gravitated towards.

My first topic is politics.  With the recent mud-slinging in the state of Ohio for certain positions of power, fighting for the control of the House of Representatives (the Republicans taking the reigns), and with Sarah Palin’s callow prediction of defeating Obama in the 2012 presidential elections—that will never happen as far as I’m concerned.  We have had enough retards in the White House already, if you catch my drift.  Before I go on any further I will stop before I have an aneurism.

Separation of church and state has been an issue for sometime, since it’s inception in the Declaration of Independence.  I think our Forefathers would be turning in their graves if they knew of what’s been going on in our nation today.  Now ever since 9/11 people have been equating a whole creed of people along and their religion with terrorism, which is down-right asinine and should not be the case.

My second topic is religion.  I am a Pagan by choice.  I decided that twelve years ago after my Father’s passing.  I couldn’t be a more content person.  My soul has been healed as a result.  People fear what they cannot comprehend and they feel powerless which enrages them.  I have gotten some negative feedback about my religious choice, but I don’t sweat it because their own complacency shall seal their fate.

We have heard news stories about Catholic priests molesting the young altar boys, but yet they view homosexuality as an ultimate sin—double standard.  Then just recently Pope Benedict spoke about how it’s ok for male prostitutes to wear condoms to prevent the spread of the HIV virus.  As long as you’re whoring around, it’s fine. If you are trying to stop unwanted pregnancies and controlling the population then you’re just blaspheming against the Almighty.

Now please don’t take what I am saying the wrong way, I am just speaking of what I have seen in all of my years of existence.  If I have offended anyone by my words, then I apologize.  Freedom of Speech and Religion are some of our Amendments, are they not?  Love between two people, regardless of being straight or gay, is the strongest power that no person and no law can ever defeat.  Love is sacred.

Finally, my last topic of which I really don’t speak of is sex.  Now sex is a wonderful experience between two loving and committed people.  I happen to enjoy sex and it took me some years to figure that out.  While I am on the subject of sex, I will also disclose my dislike of ignorant people when it comes to homosexuality.  I am a gay man and I find myself no less than any other person on this spinning third rock from the sun.  I don’t represent the whole gay, lesbian, bi, and transgender race by any respect.  I am very proud of what I am and no one can or will ever change that—a little something called “free will”.  Nobody can ever tell me who I can and cannot involve myself with and love, that’s just ludicrous and not to mention a complete waste of anyone’s time and energy.  I am not asking for acceptance…just respect.

So whenever someone asks me about any other the three topics, I just either ignore them or try to dismiss the question altogether.  If the questioner asks me in a positive manner or is curious about what I think, I will let them know in a diplomatic way.  Anger, violence, and intimidation should never be used as a way to persuade someone.

 

What I’m thankful for

I was watching a television program the other day, it was Dr. Phil actually, and on the bottom left-hand corner was a question asking about what I was thankful for.  So I decided to actually blog about it.  Now there are many, many things that I am truly grateful for.

Now I could go on and on into infinitum about my family, friends and my health, which I will get to those things in a moment.  But first I must give thanks to all those brave men and women over seas for defending us and fighting for our God-given freedoms and rights that we possess here in the United States.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart!  May the road rise up to meet you and the wind be at your back!

So I guess the ultimate questions to me would be:  what am I thank for?

I am thankful for my family, even though we don’t really spend a whole lot of time together.  I remember sitting at the kitchen table together and having those childhood dinners of processed and out-of-the-box meals (we all had them at some point) which brought us together to create that cohesive unit.  I still love them even though they are obstinate and afraid of change.  I am not exuding my elitism at all.  I just wish that they would open their eyes and see the real world and learn to improve themselves for the greater good.

They have taught me to not take life for granted and to also enjoy the simple things.  It’s very easy for us to lose touch with the basics.  It’s easy for us to neglect the simple things and take them for granted.  There are those who endure without these basic necessities.  I believe that there is hope for my family.  The hope that, besides me, another member, or all of them, will eventually see the error of their ways and transform themselves into productive and prosperous individuals, without wallowing in their own self-pity, drama of their exes, and even threatening suicide over the lack of employment.

Along with my family, my friends, small in number, play an important role in my life.  I have to learn to be more social and also to let my defenses down every once in a while.  The friends I have made over the years have a place in my heart.  I guess I will, here and now, make an early New Year’s Resolution to become totally social while casting aside my phobias and paranoid nature (or at least try to control it) to make that happen.  I have to be more proactive.

I am grateful for my overall health.  I am blessed to have this one life and the free will to do with it as I choose.  I value my health and my life.  I have vowed some years ago to eat healthier and to exercise.  I have been working out for over two years now, thanks to my husband for giving me that kick in the ass that I needed.

I am truly thankful for my husband, without him I would be just another dead-beat down in Malvern, Ohio, living my apartment, and masturbating to online videos of men to whom I would never have a chance in Hell with.  I have so much going for me right now to fuck it all up.  I love him more than anything I could ever imagine.  He brings out the best in me and has guided me to the abilities that I have gathered in the past three, almost four, years that we have been together.  Sure we have our moments of disputes, what couple doesn’t?  We find ways to overcome them and move on to brighter and joyous times.  I don’t know where I would be without him…and that’s the truth!

I am truly thankful for all that I have!  I will never take those things for granted.  I shall hold onto and cherish them forever.  With Thanksgiving just around the corner I leave you all with this one question:  what are you truly thankful for?

 

 

Myspace is pretty much dead

I remember back in the year two double-ought five, while living at my apartment, I registered to join the social networking website called Myspace.  I would log on it and from there I would be blogging about my life.  I went on there religiously to check my messages, go cruising for single gay men, and check for any potential friend requests.  I found this to be fascinating.  I would even upload miscellaneous pictures from my life, including photos of myself of course, the various foods I made, and bottles of wine I have tasted.

I wasn’t until a few years ago that I discovered Facebook.  At first it was just another social networking hub, like Myspace.  The more I unlocked its mysteries, the more I eventually realized that Facebook is more than just a networking site.  In fact it was a portal into the past…my past.

Being this preverbal vortex between time and space—a continuum, I’ve found most of my high school mates that I haven’t laid eyes on in fifteen years.  It’s truly amazing and baffling at the time how these former classmates have managed to remember me instantly.  Those who I thought were my enemies actually matured (as I did) and befriended me.  They have also allowed me to keep in touch and glimpse into their personal lives, as they do mine.

With that being said, I can give one definite comment:  Myspace is pretty much a dying network.  A lot of us don’t even use it or even remember it anymore.  I know I don’t.

 

Some bad news…

Well I have some bad news to report. I wasn’t successful in ridding myself of the car. My friend decided that he wanted to wait until he got himself a better vehicle. Now I can see his point because it would have cost four-hundred dollars to repair the back fender and get rid of the rust underneath the paneling by the rear doors. So I guess I surrendered to wishful thinking.
For now the car is safely parked in the garage and the insurance dropped…
Maybe in the Spring I’ll dust it off and get it repaired and try it once again. I guess there’s not a big market for second-hand cars right now.

I am finally ridding myself of the car

I remember a few blogs back mentioning the fact that I was selling my ’96 Toyota Corolla.  Well it seems that the Gods have smiled upon me.  Not that I wanted this to result from a friend’s tragedy, but nevertheless I am glad.

My one friend totaled his truck the other night when a deer darted out in ran into him.  How do I know this?  My sister sent me a text message with the news and told me to give him a call, so I did.  I called him up and told him all what he needed to know and made arrangements to go to his house in the car I am selling to him…knock on wood.

Anyway he was excited whenever I told him about it so I am going to his place today for him to show the car and have him test drive it.  I did mention a few facts on the car such as the blue duct tape (due to a light fender-bender previously) holding the back fender to the body and the high mileage.  But the pros are that I didn’t drive it really much, except commuting to my old job for a few months.  I kept up on the oil changes and installed a new battery a few months back and made sure that the tires have good treads.

I am not only going there to potentially sell the car, which is my main goal, but also to visit with him and his husband.  I haven’t seen those two since their commitment ceremony.  I am trying to keep my new year’s resolution on keeping the friends that I have.

Well, after I get back home I have to work on my revision of my argumentative paper for my English Comp class and think upon Monday’s task of another essay on Reality TV.  I am confident that I will do a good job in both the revision and the new essay.

I am winding up this blog for now and I hope to come back at you with some more interesting news and/or events of my daily life…gotta be on top of these thing ya know?