Concert tonight. Wow. If you haven't heard Chanticleer, you should. It's an all-male ensemble...and some of them can hit higher notes than I can. Seriously awesome. Awesome music. Awesome voices. Awesome awesome awesome. Mildly heavy on religiously themed music, but it was all beautifully arranged religious music, and mostly in foreign languages (which they pronounced flawlessly, I might add).
Incidentally, it seems that Pocatello's new Concert Hall (er, Stephen's Performing Art Center, iirc) is gaining quite a reputation among musical performers. It seems likely that this will garner us more and higher quality performers in future. Before I start to ramble aimlessly, I'll stop.
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Between the air purifier and the pseudo-ephedrine*, I've been functioning much better. Especially considering that today the pollen levels were in the "high" range (link). We've also, finally, had a few warm days...set to end Wednesday, which is okay as I'm stuck inside for 90% of Wednesday. But I've started work on my little garden plot, digging buckets of dandelions and mallow and pulling out some nasty grass roots when I find them. What I needed to do was cover it in black plastic before the winter set in, but that should have been done, say, October, which was when I got sick for the first time that school term.
I think my digging of dandelions in that area last year made quite a difference. I haven't found nearly as many with deep, two foot tap roots. Actually, I haven't found any. FYI, dandelions are perennials. I did not realize this until I started trying to decrease their numbers in my yard. Also, I'm pleased to note that I have none in my front yard, while my neighbors to the north have some actually blooming already. Last year, I was quick with the shovel whenever I saw any in the front yard. It seems to have been effective.
Oh, and my hollyhocks are coming back. The two biennials are definitely going to make it. The perennial seems to be slower, but I think I saw a new leaf this week, so it might make it.
I don't think I mentioned it, but my garage door got stuck this winter, on a day when I wasn't up to dealing with it...and it didn't get dealt with until last Saturday, as a matter of fact. It is now closed. And if I can figure out what I did with the other opener cable, I think I can fix it without calling in any repair peoplings. The only issue is how, exactly, the cables fit into the grooves on the reel. If I get them in right, then I should be able to click "open" on the opener and it will wind itself back up properly. For anyone else with a low-clearance garage door that gets stuck: Unhook the cables from either side of the door. That will allow it to close. You can then detangle the cables at your leisure...so long as you haven't misplaced one of them.
Hmmm... One more. My last sets of in class tests are now graded. I have a few more homeworks to check-off and/or grade, and then nothing but final exams. I've even got the spreadsheets ready so that grades will be calculated automatically as soon as all the scores are entered.
*I've also tried the newer phenylephrine. Basically, it will clear out the nose but not the sinuses, at least for me. So if I've got a sinus headache, the phenylephrine doesn't do a thing for it but the pseudoephedrine takes it out almost instantly. *shrugs*
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I found a rather nice art print at Bed, Bath, and Beyond today. Better yet, it was on clearance. When I went looking for an image to post, though, I discovered that there was a companion piece. I have the one on the right, but foreshortened into a rectangle (or else this one has been stretched into a square *shrugs*). I think I like the one on the right better, mainly because the fish in the left painting looks lonely. Note also that the pictures themselves link back to a dealer in art prints who sells these as prints. Only problem is that I'd need to find a rectangular version of the companion piece for mine to match up! ^/^
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I haven't made it to a philosophy club meeting for more than half the semester due to scheduling conflict, but tonight was an end of the semester get-together after the conflict. I planned to show up, mingle for a bit, and wander out. I didn't expect to stay for three hours nor to enjoy myself. Parties usually aren't my thing.
First off, there was food I could eat. Fruit, veggies, cheese and nuts, to be precise. There were also various breads and crackers and dips which, of necessity, I avoided. Possibly the dips were safe before people started dipping poisonous items in them. Possibly not.
There were also lots of people there whose company I enjoy, and I'm somewhat picky about that. Only one other person showed up from the math department, and he didn't stay for all that long. Plenty of people from the philosophy department were there, including most of the people I've seen/met at philosophy club. Also, Travis came, and he hasn't been around much this semester. He had a bit of a breakdown at the end of last semester, both health and mental as far as I've been able to tell, and has been recuperating. He has helped out with the taiji class in the past, and occasionally come to the Saturday morning class. Jen was more qualified to give him a pep talk than I was, and she recommended a book with an interesting title. The Noonday Demon.
Of course, my favorite moment of the evening was when meanings came up. I announced, "If everything weren't meaningless, nothing would have any meaning." When asked to elaborate, I waved. *grins*
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On the assumption that the problem was allergies, I went out and bought an air purifier for my bedroom yesterday. The result is that, despite having trouble getting to sleep and feeling like I tossed and turned a lot, I woke up feeling much better, and actually rested. It does make some noise, but it's worth it to be able to breathe freely. I think I had trouble sleeping because my body had gotten so used to not being able to breathe properly that it didn't know what to do now that it could. I had this weird dream about not being able to sleep unless I came up with the right sort of quadratics... somehow, I don't think that was really the case, though. `/^
The filter is similar to this one. Same brand, next size up. Amazon doesn't seem to have the exact model I got. It does have the filters, but they're only $5 less than in town, which would probably be made up for by the shipping. Hmmm... Here's a site that has them for $19.75. That actually makes me very suspicious... Might be legit. *shrugs*
On to Math 123, where we shall simulate the Monty Hall switch/no switch dilemma.
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I've been unusually tired this week, and I'm not sure why. I think it might be either a minor cold or middling allergies. So while I'm working on waking up, I'll maunder a bit about my week.
Tuesday I fell asleep in the afternoon. I often take an hour nap on T/Th. When the timer went off, I was in some deep stage of sleep, and knew that waking up all the way would be near impossible, so I reset the alarm for 40 more minutes. Then when it went off again, I made some Yerba Maté tea, which kept me awake through my evening class.
Wednesday I woke up to an odd dream. I don't remember details now, but Tip from SkinHorse was the POV character, having issues with a talking lion (and there was a talking lion in the comic a month or two back). So far as I know, this is the first time I've dreamt about a web-comic or its characters.
Then last night was the last Symphony concert of the season. Also the last guest conductor. When Dr. George walked out, they didn't have time to find a permanent replacement, so they've been playing musical-conductors (no pun intended) this season, but it looks like they've got someone lined up for next season. He's got a good reputation, and the preview of the schedule looked pretty good. Also, they've moved the Symphonies to Friday night instead of Wednesday. On the one hand, I'll never have an evening class on Fridays to interfere. On the other, I always get up early on Saturdays to make it to my taiji class in IF. Ah well.
Anyway, I need some more calories if I'm going to make it to my first class and give them their last in class test.
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I finally got around to trying Chili's. It opened...around Christmas, I think. It's one of the few national chains to be responsible about food allergies. The current menu has allergen information for all of the most common food allergies. Bear in mind that they update this quite frequently. I have no idea if the same link will take you to the updated version after 30 April or not. The updates are necessary because they may change suppliers, or suppliers may change ingredients.
I had the Guilt-Free salmon, and it's probably the best salmon in town right now. Sizzler's is extraordinarily dry and always tastes old. Red Lobser's ... is just bland, especially since the spices that they DO use contain gluten and I have no choice but to order it plain. My mom had the Guilt-Free Chicken and I tried a small bite. Not as good as the salmon, largely due to an excess of black pepper so far as I could tell, but not too bad.
The one dessert listed as gluten-free was described as a chocolate shake, and I was hungry enough to try it. It would be more accurately described as chocolate soft-serve ice cream than as a shake. Quite tasty, though.
The only thing I really didn't like about the place was that the music was about a notch and a half too loud. It wasn't quite loud enough that I wanted to blow up the speakers, but it was loud enough to be more than background. Still, it's nice to have another reasonably* safe restaurant to go to.
*There is always a risk of contamination at a restaurant that is not completely gluten-free. The simpler the dish, and the fewer ingredients in it, the less chance it has for contamination.
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I played a game of Freecell for the first time in quite a while today, and then I remembered an old roommate telling me that every Freecell game was winnable. I wondered about this, and found that the claim is quite common, but not quite true. This site has the best summary of those I looked at.
First off, it is not the case that every possible deal of Freecell is winnable (first illustration at the link). However, it turns out that the game "only" produces about 32,000 deals (far less than the total number actually possible via random chance). Of those 32,000 deals, all but one is winnable: Game 11982. So every other deal that comes up on the Windows Freecell game is winnable.
Now I'm curious as to how many of the total possible deals are actually winnable... ^/^
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The songs are all referring to Expelled, the bore-fest of a movie now facing litigation on at least two fronts.
Rhapsody in Lies:
I’ve got a little animation of a cell,
When in haste, copy paste, yes indeed that was the plan, though-
Copyright infringement lawsuit noose is tightening on me
Imagine B.S.:
Imagine there’s no science
So many people do
Nothing to study or wonder
The end of seeking truth
Imagine all the country
Dumber than a post…
via
PharyngulaNot quite in the same vein, I notice that P.Z.'s
reaction to the pope's visit was rather similar to mine. All I could feel was mild disgust when I saw how much news coverage it was getting, and note that, yes, this pope looks an awful lot like the emperor from Star Wars. I particularly liked this part of P.Z.'s post.
I am often told that religion is a source of morality. I've read the Bible myself; I can see that there were moral philosophers at work behind that book, that we have a tradition of law in the Old Testament, with a fellow named Jesus adding social justice and concern for the poor and weak in the New that are actually rather commendable. I also see a lot of myth and error and misplaced obsession with the supernatural that rational people are willing to set aside to focus on the core humanitarian message … or at least they do so in the best of circumstances.
Yet what I also see in modern religion is a re-prioritizing: the secular concerns that should matter, the egalitarian word of a religious tradition that valued the cohesion of the social fabric and demanded equal treatment for even the least of society is ignored, given a little lip service perhaps, but made subservient to the intangible theological nonsense of prayer, of an invisible god, of submission to dogma and hope in an unevidenced afterlife.
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I'll expand this at some point, but the primary reason I'm writing is a reaction to a cereal that was shelved with Fred Meyer's specifically gluten free products. The specific product was Health Valley's "Corn Crunch 'Ems" cereal, essentially like corn Chex, but with no suspicious ingredients, and no warning that it had been processed on equipment that also processed items containing wheat, which is probably the source of the reaction.
So for now the list is very short. Avoid any Health Valley cereals, whether they're shelved with the gluten-free items or not. The only possible exception is if you find one actually labeled as gluten-free, but make bloody sure that it says "gluten free" NOT "made with gluten free ingredients."
I'll also put in a few of the less obvious ingredients to avoid, so that I have a list of more than one item.
- Caramel Color
- Dextrin (if unlabelled as to source)
- Dextrose (if unlabelled as to source)
- Health Valley: Corn Crunch 'Ems cereal
- Malt
- Mono and Di-Glycerides
- MSG (Monosodium Glutamate)
- Starch (if unlabelled as to source)
- Vegetable (*) (if unlabelled as to source)
Gluten Free Tips IndexIncidentally, this cereal is almost certainly the reason I was feeling so lousy on Tuesday. The trash truck carried away what was left of it this morning.
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Amazingly, next week is the last "real" week of classes, then dead week, then finals' week. This semester has been a bit odd. Being sick for a full month has turned the beginning into a rather unpleasant blur in my mind. A very long unpleasant blur. Comparatively, everything else has gone quickly.
My entire Math123 class did very well on their last test. The lowest score was a 70%. However, my Math143 class did horribly on their logarithm test. I wound up curving it so that the average score was a 70% instead of being right around 60%. Last fall's class also did very poorly on that test, but they had the excuse that the test was the week after Thanksgiving Break. I'm wondering if it's connected to logs being taken out of the Math 108 curriculum so that they're brand new to nearly everyone in 143. As for stats, we're on hypothesis testing and confidence intervals.
Yeah, I'm rambling. Yesterday I got cold chills in the afternoon and started feeling very tired. This morning I felt wretched. After getting a decent lunch and an hour nap, I made it through my last class okay, and I feel semi-okay right now. Hopefully that was the worst of it and tomorrow I'll wake up feeling better. Which means I should head to bed.
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I have to recommend Greta Christina's article complaining about the phrase "Everything happens for a reason." I have a somewhat different take on it, but I definitely see where she's coming from. My version would be "Everything that happens has meaning." I prefer this because it does not have the same implication of a grand design. It also need not apply to everyone in the same way. And an event that has meaning to one person may be meaningless to another.
Perhaps more importantly, it avoids the passivity of "Everything happens for a reason." The meaning of an event may not be obvious. It's up to you to find it. It's all the more crucial because failing to find it means that you may miss something further down the line. Looked at this way, "Everything has meaning" is a prescription for paying attention to the things that happen to you. Are some bad events your own fault? There's a lesson in them. Are they unavoidable? Then learn from your own reaction to them. Is a good event because of something you did? Figure out what it was you did!
With this attitude in mind, it could also be phrased "It is possible to learn from everything that happens." Maybe not from the event itself, particularly if it's an event we have no control over, but from our reactions to it and from the way people around us deal with it. It's also important to acknowledge that the event happened. We can't learn from an event if we're in denial about it. As Greta Christina points out, however, we can't learn from it if we assume we never have any control over it, either.
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YAY! Hiking! Warm! Snow! As in, it's now warm, but Mink Creek hadn't melted off. yet. More than half the trail was still covered in snow. Squishy snow, so it wasn't very slick, but there was the potential to sink down in it. Several times I sank down to my ankle. Once I sank clear to my knee. In most places, there were dry patches you could walk on to avoid sinking in the snow, but not in all of them. As I got there at 17:00, I didn't make it very far. I got to the bridge over the water and turned around. I think that might be a half-mile up the trail. Possibly three-quarters of a mile. Anyway, there are a few pictures below the fold.
Here's a nice view of the creek itself. Don't be fooled by the snow. It was quite warm up there except in one shadowed spot. I was wearing a very light jacket at first and quickly removed it.
This is the view back down the trail from where I turned around. It kinda looks like someone ought to do some work on the bridge this summer. Certainly by next summer it'll need it.
And this, this, is me! Or my shadow, at least. `/^
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I watched the first season finale of Dexter today. Wow. Impressive. And while I had figured out that the ice truck killer had some connection to Dexter's past, the actual connection hadn't occurred to me. It now seems quite obvious, but it certainly didn't occur to me before the reveal. No, I'm not going to spoil it here. I'm sure that someone else has posted it if you really want to know without watching.
I love seasonal plot arcs, where each episode still has a mostly self-contained plot, but there's an arc linking the season together. In this case, the link is the ice truck killer. I can't think of an episode without at least one minor detail connected to him. Most had more than one. Dexter is absolutely fascinated with the killer's work; it's beautiful to him. The killer seems equally fascinated with Dexter, as he keeps leaving him gifts and hints. At the end, killers collide in a battle for, er, well, that would be spoiling it, now, wouldn't it... `/^
Overall, I loved the series. Main edits for network television: language, minor violence cuts, and some nudity. The nudity is worst in eps 5 through 8, makes a minor repeat appearance in 11, and that's mostly it. Some of it was plot-relevant. About half of it was clearly, "Hey! We're Showtime! We get to show naked people!" And now... Now I have to wait for the second season to come out on DVD. Apparently it's possible to download for $1.99 an ep, but lacking a DVD burner, I'd just as soon wait. But for anyone with a morbid sense of fun, this is a good series to check out.
Okay, one minor spoiler, or preview, as it pertains to the second season and I haven't actually seen it yet. Apparently Dexter's body cache will be found, and he'll have a heckuva time keeping one step ahead of his own department. Now that sounds entertaining.
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darkness returns
once driven away
by too bright light
embrace darkness
balance out light
let freedom ring
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As I seem to have figured out what was causing the chills/swings. I have severe sensitivities to artificial fibers and materials in my clothing. It seems to have gotten worse recently. The sweater itself was cashmere, but the zipper was plastic with metal bits. This was enough to cause me problems. I don't blame anyone for scoffing; if it hadn't happened to me several times already, I'd scoff too. *shrugs*
First incident: I was sitting and reading before heading off to teach and started feeling... odd. Not sick, exactly, but sort of on the verge of being sick. It occurred to me that the shirt I was wearing was polyester, and that Don had mentioned that some taiji practitioners wound up having trouble with artificial fibers. I took the polyester off and instantly felt better. Okay, I got rid of all my more than 50% polyester clothing and went on with life.
Next incident was worse. I was wearing a 100% cotton T-shirt, or so I thought, and started feeling feverish with horrible nausea. This cotton T-shirt had a plastic design going all the way around in places. I was feeling utterly and completely miserable, on the floor in the bathroom, wondering if I needed to go to an emergency room. I took off the shirt. Five minutes later, I was fine. So I got rid of any shirts with plastic designs covering significant portions of them, or stopped wearing them if they had sentimental value, and went on with life.
It's gotten progressively worse, unfortunately. I can't wear metal jewelry either and don't like plastic jewelry. A leather cord with something wooden on it seems to be okay, but it's hard to find pretty examples of that. This is the first time that something on an external piece of clothing, worn over other clothes, has caused a major problem. I'm not particularly happy about it, but at least I know how to avoid a repeat now. Question is...can I remove the zipper without ruining the sweater... I like cashmere.
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What arrogance to presume knowledge, most especially knowledge about something often described as unknowable. Such desperate, fearful, clinging arrogance. It's a front, of course. The more desperately we cling to something the more terrified we are that it is going to go away, be revealed as a fraud. The more desperately we cling to something, the less faith we have in it, and the more we fear that it is not worthy of such faith. What good is an intricately constructed house built upon a foundation ready to crumble?
If there is such a thing as a conscious, willful, creator god, then the entire universe should in itself be revelation. At every term, every event must reveal such a god's handiwork. What arrogance, then, to place the works of humans above the works of such a creator-god. What arrogance to presume that one's own interpretation of this work of humans is the only valid one. What arrogance to place such limitations on this creator-god.
But the arrogance doesn't stop there. It only gets worse. When the creator-god's handiwork doesn't live up to believer expectations, rather than see this as reflecting the creator-god itself, it's transferred onto humans. Assume the conclusion; distort any thought-process, any evidence, any god, to make the conclusion fit. Is it not the most supreme form of arrogance to shape god rather than try to discover it? A creator-god requires a bigger box than the vanity of human presumption. Let it out of the book, already. Haven't you done enough damage?
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Most annoying, I'm not sure why. I've been having cold chills and mood swings which seem to be connected. Not particularly severe mood swings, as they're the kind I can step back from and watch without much difficulty, but still annoying. That's the reason for the bevy of quizzes: distraction. I don't know if it's a cold, a response to my first large quantity of chocolate in several weeks, off-kilter hormonal fluctuations, a reaction to phenylephrine (most recent replacement of pseudoephedrine; only tried it this week), or something else entirely. It seems to have lifted somewhat at the moment.
However, I will say that Dexter is a good antidote to intermittent minor depression. I found the entire first season at Wal-Mart (yes--wal-mart--on a Sunday--don't ask--ICK). I'd already missed a few eps, as I tend to forget that there's actually something to watch on Sunday nights, so it's been handy to catch up. And I was half-wrong about the editing for tv. Yes, they edited out language. Not really any nudity thusfar, which is surprising given that it's a Showtime series. They did edit the scenes with Dexter carving up his victims, and cut out some of the in-station subplots that didn't directly involve Dexter. The last was most likely an issue of timing rather than rating.
I think, though, that the episode that aired tonight has to be my favorite so far. Several high-profile women who committed suicide in the same way had the same therapist...so Dexter goes to therapy! He finds it surprisingly helpful, to the point that he almost regrets killing the guy. Almost. Favorite line: "I can't kill him tonight; I need another therapy session."
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Can be puzzled, but can't complain. `/^ Honestly, I figured I'd match up as Willow.
 |
Which Buffy Character Are You*?
created with QuizFarm.com |
| You scored as Spike Congratulations, you are Spike- the Vampire.
Spike |
| 75% | Daniel (Oz) Osbourne |
| 67% | Buffy Summers |
| 50% | Angel |
| 42% | Rupert Giles |
| 33% | Willow Rosenberg |
| 25% | Tara Maclay |
| 25% | Xander Harris |
| 8% |
|
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Note: Spelling errors are theirs. Also, I haven't quite figured out why "lightning" is supposed to have lots of friends...
|
What is YOUR Element?
created with QuizFarm.com |
| You scored as Lightning You are lightening! Similiar to fire, you are sometimes random, can be bad, but in other ways, can be very useful! You are extremely unstable when angry, but it takes a lot to get you angry, and when you are, you destroy swiftly. But as with lightening, your anger appears and dissappears, and you never tend to hold a grudge. People interest you, and people are interested by YOU, causing you to have a lot of friends.
Lightning |
| 96% | Wind |
| 83% | Water |
| 46% | Earth |
| 42% | Fire |
| 29% |
|
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I've had a few solo taiji lessons lately, where Melissa's been out of town and Mark's either overslept or not been feeling well, so Don took the time to try and improve my push hands, among other things. It seems to have been time well spent, as about halfway through our usual push-hands time slot Mark stopped, bowed out, and said "You push with Teacher a while." It could have meant many things, but judging by the tone of voice, I think he was frustrated with me... i.e. I wasn't giving him as many openings as he was used to. ^/^ That's not to say that he didn't push me out a few times, but I think it was more (mental) work than he was used to.
One of many interesting things about good sensing-hands is the amount of mental concentration it takes, though concentrations really isn't the right word. It's awareness. Pure awareness. No thought. This state of mind is both difficult to attain and difficult to maintain. It's similar to the state of hyper-awareness that can come with an emergency, except that it's calm; there's no urgency. My current weakness is surfacing from that calm when I have something and putting more effort into a push than is actually necessary, but it's much improved from a few months ago.
Another interesting thing is that there is always progress to be made. Always further to go. Always more to learn. Even the great masters report that they still have more to learn, and that is as it should be. A path that comes to an end serves no purpose; it is a dead branch. A path that continues to grow and shift and change, now, that is something worthwhile.
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It's finally starting to feel like spring 'round these parts. Time for me to get back in shape. I know that a big part of the reason I've been having more problems with my asthma is simple lack of walking. Walking a fair distance opens something up in my lungs that nothing else seems to, and vastly improves my breathing...if I do it on a regular basis. I'd also like to get back up to a decent walking speed, even with Buster in tow. Not so long ago, I could make it from my dad's house to Chubbuck Road and back in just under an hour (roughly 4 miles). Today I made it from my dad's house to the interstate and back in maybe 80 minutes (roughly 3 miles). Admittedly, that included time to stop and play with Buster, and to give him a chance to romp, but I'd like to do better. If I can get that down to an hour, then I'll try tacking on the extra distance to Chubbuck Road.
And no ducks today, sad to say. The canal was dry where Buster and I were walking. He was quite well behaved on the way out, and got more unruly as we headed for home. I think he was trying to conserve energy on the way out, and figured he had plenty to spare once we'd turned around. Ah well. He's still vastly improved from last spring when I first started walking him.
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Apparently "gods-bedamned" doesn't count as cussing. ^/^
(Found this at Apostate's Chapel)
As for today... nothing much of interest happened. Rigid motions in 123, quadratic formula with applications in 108, quantifiers in logic and Heidegger in Phil/Lit. When I think it won't give me a headache, I'll post an excerpt from Heidegger. He can be quite unintentionally amusing. Yes, he's trying to describe stuff for which no adequate words exist, but still...
??? Er, I think the meter's broken. Matt's blog also scored 0%, which is...somewhat inaccurate. *shrugs* Seems to be working now; Matt's still only scored 33.5%, though.
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Mom's water heater went ker-splash today. Well, more like, ker-glug-glug-glug. Better than ker-boom, I suppose. We discovered that the basement slopes to the northeast, which is a spare bedroom that is currently storing tons and tons of cardboard boxes...many of which were sitting directly on the now-soaked carpet. We sort of suspect it had been leaking since Saturday, when I went over and smelled something that, at the time, reminded me of rotten peas; I think it was just a touch of the damp, mildewy smell that was horribly obvious tonight.
So she's got a new water heater now, and I helped her carry some loose rugs outside to dry (or freeze; whichever happens first). On the plus side, that one bedroom was the only one that was strongly effected. More than likely, she'll need to replace that carpet, but it was a recycled one anyway. When Grandma first moved into that house, that carpet was in either the downstairs or upstairs living room, and got swapped into that bedroom when she replaced stuff. Pretty blah, imo, but it was better than the patchwork mosaic that was peeling off of the floor when she moved in.
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First up, anyone here looking for gluten free info should just go to my gluten free tips index. I won't list out the relevant search terms as that would only divert traffic to this post. As for the rest of the search terms that led here... Read on:
flower printouts: surprisingly popular search term. It took me a while to figure out why it might lead to my blog... It was from Mom's birthday three years ago, when I printed out flowers and stuck them all over her wall. She actually left most of them up until she switched rooms.
sporadic hair loss: Better than consistent, I suppose... If it were me, I'd look for a correlation between foods and/or medications.
"overconsumption of tea": Can't say for anyone else, but, in large quantities, anything from the tea plant (camellia sinensis, iirc) makes me ill. Dizziness and nausea mainly. Basically, one or two cups a week is about all I can handle any more.
"what happens in a brothel": Ummm... You mean you don't know? Do your parents know what you're searching for? `/^
accidental dyeing clothes: Three options, (1) Live with the new color (most often my choice); (2) Re-wash it, putting bleach in the machine if there's no change; (3) Look next to the fabric dyes in a store; there's often a color-ridder product there (as I've never tried it, I can't say how well it works). Btw, if it's already been run through the dryer, you're probably stuck with (1)
ancient creatures: Much older than recent creatures.
chicken and leak stew: I suggest you buy a new stewpot...unless you meant the vegetable, leek.
dogs sporadic breathing: Unless your dog is undead, I'd suggest taking him to a vet.
explain the mathematics behind searchlights: ??? Er, the mathematics of the searchlight pattern, of the way the device works, or what?
om carved rock: Well, I have one... but I picked it up at a store in Boise. The closest I found online is this, which is nearly 8 times more expensive than the one I got.
origami paper with philosophical sayings: I've never seen it, but it sounds awesome!
ricinoleate rash: Next to gluten, ricinoleate is my biggest pet peeve as far as being put in products. It comes from the castor bean, whence ricin, a deadly poison, also derives. If you think normal processing can get out all the ricin and leave only the...whatever ricinoleate is...behind, you're dreaming.
squirrel flingers: ??? All that comes to mind is a bizarre anecdote that Hawkeye told on M*A*S*H. Found here
so this happened during my first year of medical school and i was in the middle of a test in my anatomy class, and it was really tough! It asked me questions like "how many bones are there in the human hand?" and I kept asking myself "how many bones are there in the human hand?" and out of nowhere i heard this little voice that said, "24!" and i looked around the classroom and there sitting on the windowsill was this little grey squirrel, with a very intelligent face, and it pointed at its hand and said "24" so i wrote it down. and right afterwards i ran to the library to check. And would you belive it, that stupid squirrel was off by 4 bones! So i ran all around the school campus trying to find him, i wanted to kill him! And i finally found him, he was sitting on a bench, next to the psych department. "You were wrong!" I screamed at him! "theres 28 bones in the human hand." and he said, "Oh! I thought you meant a squirrels hand."
the bacchae color theme: There was a color theme? My pages were in black and white...
use of purple in the living room: Just pair it off with good contrasting colors. Just like any other room in the house.
what it means to dream of bugs under your skin: It's a sign of a guilty conscience imploring you to make amends or it will make you suffer and squirm endlessly. That or it could just be that a limb was getting numb and tingly while you slept...
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