The girls' third birthday has come and gone. I'm so proud of my wife and myself for getting to this point, but there is credit due the little ladies, too. I'm amazed that I haven't bitten off my arm or something, but I'm even more amazed at just how wonderful they have turned out. They've made it through three years with two very different adults and have adjusted really well to two days a week in a creative arts school. I'm just really happy that I'm surrounded by these three wonderful women, even if it does feel like a bit of a hen house around here every now and then.
Work is feeling better every day. We just got back from the Park Tool Summit, which was really cool, except for the trip there and back (man, there's just something about being in a car for 8 hours at a time that makes me want to get naked and jump in an icy pool).
The Shimano and Fox workshops were the best/most valuable, though there were some cool points to nearly all of them. For example, did you know that Campagnolo tested their new electronic shifting system completely submerged? Yes, it's waterproof to 1m. As I told our new part-timer today, I'm less concerned with people riding this stuff in pouring rain than I am with how it will resist the caustic, sweaty onslaught of those riders that don't drink enough and never clean their machines (full disclo-zha...as Guy would say...I used to be one of those riders). On the same note, the Shimano stuff seemed really cool, but I couldn't help think of Robot Chicken or Frankenstein when the instructor was covering how one can remotely operate the individual derailleurs via a computer and an interface; the severed hand continuing to crawl forward.
Speaking of severing, I'm reading a book titled "Seasick," right now, and am reminded of something interesting presented in the book. It has to do with how an organism will isolate and shut down all but the most necessary of systems/functions when faced with diminishing environmental requirements per apoptosis. She borrows the analogy to apply it to the sea as a form of superorganism, but I have been playing with how it applies to our political health. Much of the rhetoric flying around seems to indicate a category of people espousing an ideology that reminds me of cancer cells.
As for video stuff, I would be a jerk if I didn't share this with those that have not seen it.
Garrett sent this little gem, too. The commentary, alone, is worth the view.
Photographs are as follows:
A Giant Spine-Headed Bug, Acanthacephalus declivis on the screened door. This would be an example of a "true" bug (as opposed to all things exoskeleton that most lump into a big pot of "spray it, stomp it, or swat it"). This guy is relatively harmless unless handled, in which case you may receive a pretty serious bite (they do, after all, have piercing/sucking mouthparts for the plants they nourish upon). The most interesting thing I can say about it is that is very aromatic, when need be, and it can scare the piss out of 3 year olds when you trap it in a holding jar for their observation and it attempts to fly.
Next, is the other member of Hexapoda that I stumbled into, recently. This is from one of my favorite families of beetles; Buprestidae. Having studied forest insects in graduate school, I ran into my share of these bejeweled beasties. Many (if not most) of them have such reflective sculpturing to their elytra (first pair of wings) that creates intense colors. It is physical iridescence and not pigment, which is why I find this family so enchanting. All those colors are out there, bouncing around our world, making things more beautiful. We forget that there is a nearly infinite range of shades between red and violet, and it is refreshing that there are such organisms that concentrate these things and shoot them into our retinae...if only we care to notice them. I happened upon this fellow or female when breaking off a couple of old shoots from my struggling, but still alive, fig tree (thanks, Adam), though they can live in the dead and dying tissues of many species, I read. Wow, that was probably too many commas for one paragraph.
Then, we have what results from a complete lack of bicycle rider attention. This is an axle from a bicycle that had a front wheel that was ridden without any bearing ball support for far too long. This is not why the bicycle was dropped off, by the way. It was kind of a shame that they didn't quite get to the point of breaking it into three pieces, though, I must admit. Maybe that would've been enough to make them think something was wrong?
Finally, we have the girls at a water wheel at Oconee State Park. It is depressing that, though the water still runs, this wonderfully simple and powerful tool is not operational. After all, our cabin DID have electricity and running water. Surely something could be run by the enormous spill of water from the pond above this wheel (at least the night lighting for the parking lot and roads, right?). I'd love to suggest the idea to them, but I suspect they've considered it more than once. Unfortunately, though, it comes down to what the citizenry will bear to share, and most politicians in this state can't plan for the weekend, let alone the next generation. Of course, I could get into how annoying it is that the base for those politicians just couldn't stay their hands from defacing a harmless fence around such a point of interest, but the scribbles are just no match for those faces.
Lastly, I thought I'd throw in a couple of sauce recipes, since it's something I'm not sure I've mentioned in any entries previous. Coming from a vegan/vegetarian background, I can recommend the following for improving just about any tofu or meat-substitute-based meal that also involves some rice or noodles.
Moosewood Restaurant's "Spicy Broccoli Soba Saute" Sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 t sugar
2 t dark sesame oil
1 T cornstarch
1 T lemon juice
I use this one with baked tofu and sauteed carrots, bell peppers, and broccoli, mostly, but it works on lots of stuff. Just mix the stuff up and add it to whatever you're making. It's kind of like a teriyaki sauce, I think. You can add 1/2 cup sake when you're steaming/sauteeing the carrots, broccoli, etc., but don't cook it for too long. Use water to get things mostly done.
The second sauce is from the New Farm cookbook of old. It is what I use for my gluten roast, but it works equally well with other meat substitutes that you want to assume a savory aspect.
1/2 cup oil
3 T soy sauce
1 t salt
1/4 cup peanut butter (or almond butter or tahini)
1 cup water (warmed for 1 1/2 min in microwave)
1 t garlic powder
1 t onion powder
1/4 t black pepper
Hope you enjoy those, and I'll be back after the big race in Florida...yes...it's 12 Hours of Santos time.
B
