Happy 2009. I get to start the new year with the greens unhung. At the moment, blowing them up sounds appealing, but I'll settle for these explosions instead:
Pity about the music (and the commentators towards the end), but the fireworks are beautiful. Incidentally, this is Part II. Part I can be found here.
Now imagine these same circuits become hyperactive as sometimes happens when you have seizures originating in the temporal lobes (TLE or temporal lobe epilepsy). The result would be an intense heightening of the patient's sensory appreciation of the world and intense empathy for all beings to the extent of seeing no barriers between himself and the cosmos—the basis of religious and mystical experiences....
During such epiphanies I have seen eternity in a moment and divinity in all things. And, indeed, felt one with the Cosmos. There is nothing "true "or "false" about such experiences—they are what they are; simply another way of looking at reality.
Well, the reality is that meditation requires practice and dedication. It is not an easy fix. And some of the best-researched meditation techniques, such as mindfulness meditation, are very intensive. You need a trained facilitator. You need to stick to the practice.
I figured out that joy can also find its way into the adult life. It can be very dim at the beginning, but it’s up to you to follow it, and make it the guide of your life. That’s the only way to wisdom; the wisdom to live a satisfactory, meaningful life. Why else would you need wisdom anyway?
Truism Number 1: The world is all that is the case (Wittgenstein, Tractatus). All that is the case is the physical world.Corollary: If something is found that is not physical, it becomes part of the proper domain of physics.
Queue:
links,
philosophy,
science
This recipe is very similar to the way I modified the box recipe, with the primary difference being that it lists out a specific GF flour mixture. As I was hoping to try it for New Year's, I made a small test batch today, one quarter of the full recipe, or about 4 muffins' worth. Oh, the reason that I went looking for a different recipe is that on Saturday, rice did not agree with me at all. I suspect it's connected to the antibiotic I've been taking, but I wanted to find a recipe that didn't use rice flour. This one gives the option of using rice or sorghum, and I can verify that it works well with sorghum flour. The quartered recipe is below, or go to the link for the full recipe.One Quarter version of Carol Fenster's Gluten Free Corn Bread
1/4 c + 1 T cornmeal
2 T sorghum flour
1 T potato starch
1 T tapioca flour
1/4 t + 1/8 t xanthan gum
4 t sugar
1/2 t baking powder
1/2 egg*
1/4 c milk
4 t vegetable oil
*I used 1 1/2 t of dried egg white + 1 T water instead of trying to divide up an actual egg.
This is actually ideal for me to just make a batch for myself. I wound up with four corn muffins out of it, ate two for lunch and I have two left over for another meal. For New Year's dinner, though, I'll need to make the full recipe.
GF Tips Index
Queue:
baking,
GF,
GF recipes
Here's the wreath all covered in snow. Pity that it's now about 40 degrees and everything is starting to melt. On the plus side, that should generate plenty of business for Spencer.
Below are some of the boxes I made this Christmas.
This was my third attempt at covering an empty candy box with paper such that it would be potentially reusable. On the first two attempts, I used tape. Bad idea. The tape just gets in the way. On this one, I used a stick of glue. I also didn't try to wrap the paper around the edges of the box-top. Instead, I covered any bare spots with the green ribbon, also put on with a stick of glue.
This is an old box that I found in my dad's basement this year and figured it was in good enough shape to reuse. The problem with this style of box is that it does not hold together very well. So when I use it for gifts, I cheat a little: the ribbon wrapped around the body of the box is to keep the two halves from separating.
This was a box that I put together in an unconventional fashion. I wanted to emphasize the fancier paper, but de-emphasize the plainest paper. The nice thing was that the colors of the middling paper blended in nicely with the plain paper, so the asymmetry of the joining isn't as obvious. Below is the bottom of the same box, just because I like the way the two papers look together. I tend to save the not-quite-as-nice paper for the bottom of the box, but these would have worked well as a top, also:
And this one was made by joining the pieces of the lid pinwheel style. There are four pieces to each lid. To make the pinwheel, you put the "square" edge of each piece into the "angled" edge of each adjacent piece.
Yesterday marked two full years of keeping up my daily practice. I've stopped caring so much about the number (and found when I went to check that my count must have gotten off somewhere along the way), but it now stands at 731 days of practicing breathing exercises, yoga, chanting and taiji. So what have I learned through 2 years of practice?
It took getting through the first year to get over my obsession with "How many days have I made now?" For a while, part of my motivation was sheer desire to see the number build. If I missed a day, it would start over at zero, and I didn't want that. Now... I still don't want to miss a day, but the numbers don't really enter into it. Thinking about missing a day is a bit like trying to imagine going through the day without breathing. There were times early on when I hadn't managed to practice by 11:00 pm or so, and I groaned when I realized it. When that's happened more recently, there was no groaning. It was more matter of fact. I needed to practice, and this was the time I had.
The other thing that motivated me early on was trying to overcome my depression. After practicing, I always felt better. It seemed logical to think that a regular practice might help me climb out of it. It did. It's actually a bit strange now to feel that weight gone. Every so often, a tiny bit of it reappears, but it's a bit like being hit by a rock after having a mountain sit on you for a year. The rock isn't pleasant, but it's almost laughable.
What I've noticed most is how differently I experience time now. I can remember when it went by quickly, and I wondered where it had all gone. Now... Most days seem to be two or three days long. The semester seemed to last a year or more. I'm actually aware of time as it passes. There's a lot more of it than people realize. I suspect that people don't know how to deal with all the time, and so they subconsciously find mental ways of making it go away. Then they wonder where it all went. I used to do that, too, but at some point over the past year, time just started opening up for me.
I've also found that the time I most want to practice goes in cycles. For a while, it will be steady in the mornings, then it will gradually shift over to evenings. Occasionally, other commitments dictate the time, but usually a morning or evening time just feels right for that day. Part of me would like to get something going both in the morning and in the evening, but I know full well that there would be days when that would be nearly impossible. So for the moment, I'm just keeping the commitment steady.
Sometime this year I'll pass the 1000 day mark. Supposedly, some of the breathing exercises I do have cumulative effects that show up past the 1000 and 10,000 day marks. I'll be curious to see if I notice anything unusual.
Queue:
eastern,
meditation,
taiji
I wanted to post a picture of the snow on my wreath from yesterday. There was enough blowing to plaster bits of snow 8 or more feet up on the house. On every side. On the plus side, this made the wreath very pretty... but I've once again left the camera at my mom's house. So I'll share APOD's pic from Christmas instead:
Those are some nice holiday lights!
... Records fall at Pocatello and Challis airports
today... correction...
0.62 inches of water equivalent fell yesterday... Christmas
day... at the Pocatello Airport and exceeds the previous record of
0.59 set in 1988.
A record snowfall amount of 5.9 inches fell
yesterday... Christmas day... at the Pocatello Airport and beats the
previous record of 1.1 inches set in 1988.
The Challis Airport also reported a record water equivalency of
0.29 inches yesterday... Christmas day... and beats the previous
record 0.17 inches set in 1959.
Shamelessly stolen from Exploring Our Matrix:
Merry Christmas!*
* This Christmas greeting is offered in accordance with the articles of Christmas previously posted. Some restrictions apply. If the merriness resulting from this greeting lasts for more than 8 hours, please consult your physician.
Let's remind ourselves that life is worth living, and that the cold and dark won't be here forever. Let's remind ourselves that we care about each other, and remind ourselves of why.
Queue:
deviltry,
happy happy joy joy,
holidays,
links
From 511.idaho.gov, this is the current status of the roads in Idaho. Pretty much, if you weren't there by Christmas Eve, you weren't getting there. I can't remember seeing this much snow all at once since I was a kid. I can remember the snow being up to my waist at least once when I was old enough to attempt to help out using a shovel (probably 6 or 7). It's beautiful, so long as you're not planning on going anywhere soon. It's made more beautiful by my mom's generous neighbor, who took his snowblower to her walks and driveway. She tried to give him some Christmas goodies in return, but he refused.
I'd call it 10-12 inches on the ground at both her place and mine, though some of that could have blown off of rooftops. I haven't seen an official measure yet. Anyway, leaving town anywhere in Idaho is not recommended at the moment. Leaving the house may be problematic... So long as there's no traffic, I can get out of my driveway just fine, but if I have to stop right at the edge... Tomorrow will be plenty of time for shoveling out.
kitten tracks
in the snow
lead the way
It's amazing how much easier it is to get stuff done when you can actually breathe. I got the drifts shoveled out at my mom's place this afternoon, and thusfar they have not reappeared. I've also been finishing up Christmas presents. Not buying things so much as adding on things that I can make. Buying things is a bit scary at the moment, actually. I took one look at Fred Meyer's parking lot and decided not to go in...then it took me ten minutes to get out of Fred Meyer's parking lot. As we still need veggies and coconut milk for Christmas, I'm planning to go in early tomorrow. Hopefully most of the lunatics will be sleeping in.
I've got some pictures of the snow, but they're on my camera and I'm in need of sleep, so I guess they'll keep.
We've gotten about 10 inches in the past 36 hours. Normally I look forward to shoveling, but the last time I went out and shoveled, I had a severe asthma attack. This time I took the precaution of using the inhaler before going out. Between that and the prednisone, I actually got the sidewalk, most of the driveway, and a path to the door and back yard cleared. I had halfway expected to get the sidewalk done and give up. It's nice to be feeling well enough to get stuff done again. The real question is whether the effects of the prednisone will last after I stop taking it. *sighs* The effects of the antibiotic, at least, should last.
I also went over to check on my mom's house, and someone had gone up and down her street, shoveling the walks, even the walk up to Mom's stairs and her driveway. He/She/They didn't do the actual stairs, so I wonder if it was someone with a blade on an ATV. Some more had fallen or blown in when I got there, so that everything was roughly four inches deep ... except the stairs, which were about 10 inches deep. So I took care of the stairs and re-shoveled the walk. Four inches was nothing compared to what I'd done at my place. I left the driveway alone, as it was easily navigable and I was already worn out. However, my mom just called to let me know that more had blown in in the interim. Spots were 10 inches deep again, and she didn't have the energy to shovel it all out. So I guess I know how I'll be spending tomorrow morning. ^/^
As they say, "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!"
Subject and object from the start
Are no different,
The myriad things nothing
But images in the mirror.
Bright and resplendent,
Transcending both guest and host,
Complete and realized,
All is permeated by the absolute.~Zhitong (d.1124) 2008.12.21 Daily Zen
A single form encompasses
The multitude of dharmas,
All of which are interconnected
Within the net of Indra.
Layer after layer there is no
Point at which it all ends,
Whether in motion or still,
All is fully interpenetrating.
34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
41"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'
44"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'
45"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'
46"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."
Queue:
deviltry,
eastern,
links,
philosophy,
tao
... and breathing better. Okay, a steroid: prednisone. I woke up with a fever this morning, so I elected not to go to taiji and pass it on to everyone else. Instead, I went to Portneuf's Urgent Care Center, as this felt like a repeat of the last cold I'd had less than two weeks ago, which possibly started with some ear pain in August. So I got some antibiotics for that, but I also complained about how much trouble I'd been having with my asthma lately.
First thing the doctor tried was a sort of steam/oxygen/albuterol semi-darth-vader breathing apparatus. It gives a higher dose of the albuterol, but in a more dispersive fashion, presumably to help it be absorbed better. It made me jittery, restless, and cold, but didn't fix the tight spot in my chest which was what was interfering with the breathing. So he decided to give me prednisone, which is really scary stuff if you stay on it for long. One of my mom's friends at choir had an idiot doctor who let him take the stuff constantly for nigh twenty years ... at which point his kidneys gave out. He was lucky, though: they found a matching donor in under a year. I'm supposed to be on the stuff for a total of 8 days, and the last four are step-down doses so that my body doesn't go litig when it stops getting the prednisone.
Today I can't be sure that the difference isn't due to the steam/oxygen/albuterol treatment, but my breathing is better and the tightness in my chest does seem to be a bit better. We'll see if this continues through the treatment. Incidentally, one of the common side effects of prednisone is increased appetite. If anything, I had less of an appetite today...except for fresh vegetables. Any vegetable that I thought of sounded good, especially cauliflower. I didn't have many fresh veggies on hand, though.
REXBURG - Rexburg police are searching for whoever broke into Pizza Hut overnight Wednesday.
The criminals got in to the building through the roof where they pried the hinge off a door leading to the attic.
Once inside the attic, they worked their way into the restaurant where they stole a first aid kit but nothing else.
At Thanksgiving, I had more pumpkin than I needed for the pies, so I froze quite a bit of it. Today, I decided it was time to do something with it and went hunting for cookie recipes. I used to love the pumpkin-chocolate-chip-cookies that they had in the stores, and I've never seen them pre-made and gluten-free. Of the recipes I scanned, I liked this one the best. It has a bit less fat than the others, probably because it adds eggs into the mix.
Mostly I stuck to the recipe, but I did add a quarter teaspoon of xanthan gum, extra vanilla, and varying amounts of the spices. Also, I used twice as much pumpkin as the recipe called for, mainly because that was how much was in the package I thawed out. They turned out quite well, and I'd recommend the recipe. Here's the link again.
Gluten Free Tips Index
I have several criteria for what I consider to be a good pancake mix. Flavor, of course, and texture, but the mix also has to be amenable to my preferred method of mixing up the batter. If a mix requires everything be measured out and leveled exactly, I'm not going to like it. However, the Bob's Red Mill mix works just the way I like it to, plus has good flavor and texture.
The way I make pancake batter is first to whisk the egg thoroughly in a large measuring cup, then dump some batter in (probably 1-1.5 c), mix, then add some milk until I get it to the right consistency. One warning: you'll probably want this batter to look thinner than you would on a regular (whe*t) pancake mix. It tends to thicken both as it cooks and as it stands. That's one reason for mixing it in a measuring cup: it makes it easier to pour a narrow stream of batter into the pan, so you can get the pancake thinner more easily. If you happen to like extra thick pancakes, you can try it without this, but I prefer them relatively thin. Another trick to get them thinner is to pour them with a hole inside; i.e. trace out a donut shape with the batter as you pour it into the pan. With the pan at the correct temperature, it should take about 2 minutes on the first side, then one minute on the other. If you opt for thicker pancakes, it may take a bit more.
As for toppings... I gave up looking for a commercial "maple syrup product" several years back, so it's possible that there is a GF one available now. However, now I'm used to using jelly and/or pure maple syrup on pancakes. Chocolate chips are also pleasant, just don't buy an off-brand. Some companies still dust their pans with whe*t flour, and that isn't required to be listed as an "ingredient" because it isn't put into the product itself. Idiotic, but there it is. Thankfully, labeling has gotten better over the past several years.
Gluten Free Tips Index
Queue:
GF
Once again, an atheist holiday display has been stolen. No wonder people are so desperate to post the Ten Commandments in public places: they can't remember that one of them is "thou shalt not steal." However, the sign will be replaced and have a "thou shalt not steal" reminder with it. Let us once again peruse the sign:
At this season of the winter solstice may reason prevail. There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world. Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds.
This is probably my favorite Christmas song/melody. Instrumental or sung, electric guitar or organ or even bells, I have rarely found a version that I didn't like. Admittedly, it's a touch ironic to have the Carol of the Bells done a capella. For the non-musically-literate, that means "voices only; no instruments." And this version is awesome.
(Found via this link from James McGrath)
AM UPDATE: Fixed broken link (somehow two links got interpolated, so blogger decided to just make it link back to my blog). Oh, and I thought of one version of Carol of the Bells that I didn't care for. Showed up in a holiday commercial, which may or may not still be used this season. I can't even remember what it was an ad for... possibly one of those navigation devices for the car. But it was just irritating.
A few weeks ago, Jilly discovered the heating pad. Today, she kept meowing at me. I'd been leaning against the heating pad both for the extra warmth and to work on a sore spot in my back. I pulled the heating pad out and set it where she could get to it. She immediately went over and laid on it. She'd been begging for the heating pad! And now she looks absolutely content. *shakes head*
***
Thanks to Fibonacci, I wandered down the basement of the SUB to check out the most recent art exhibit. I liked about 95% of it. A few pieces I found blah, and one I just didn't like. But most of them are quite nicely done. My favorite is the one at the top here, and there are more beneath the fold.
This was my next favorite. I love the tones of the wood, and the contrast with the copper.
This one is a broad view of one entire section. Part of the experience is the relation of the separate pieces to one another, and seeing them all from different angles. The most frustrating thing was that the flash on my camera washed out all the colors, but not using the flash made it difficult to keep the camera in focus. All of these were done sans flash, and they're decently focused.
I love how Jilly is looking all wide-eyed and innocent in this one, while behind her, her sister tries to burrow into the chair. Princess likes to burrow into anything, particularly blankets and bags. The mostly asleep one at the front is Pouncer.
On the first day of Christmas
the snow gods sent to me:
a book on philosophy
On the second day of Christmas,
the snow gods sent to me:
two wool ponchos
and a book on philosophy...
On the third day of Christmas,
the snow gods sent to me:
three taiji hours,
two wool ponchos
and a book on philosophy
On the fourth day of Christmas,
the snow gods sent to me:
four calling cats,
three taiji hours,
two wool ponchos
and a book on philosophy
On the fifth day of Christmas,
the snow gods sent to me:
...five jack-knifed semis,
four calling cats,
three taiji hours,
two wool ponchos
and a book on philosophy
On the sixth day of Christmas,
the snow gods sent to me:
six songs a playing,
...five jack-knifed semis,
four calling cats,
three taiji hours,
two wool ponchos
and a book on philosophy
On the seventh day of Christmas,
the snow gods sent to me:
seven drivers speeding,
six songs a playing,
...five jack-knifed semis,
four calling cats,
three taiji hours,
two wool ponchos
and a book on philosophy
On the eighth day of Christmas,
the snow gods sent to me:
eight icy red-lights,
seven drivers speeding,
six songs a playing,
...five jack-knifed semis,
four calling cats,
three taiji hours,
two wool ponchos
and a book on philosophy
On the ninth day of Christmas,
the snow gods sent to me:
nine slippery exits,
eight icy red-lights,
seven drivers speeding,
six songs a playing,
...five jack-knifed semis,
four calling cats,
three taiji hours,
two wool ponchos
and a book on philosophy
On the tenth day of Christmas,
the snow gods sent to me:
ten cars that slid off,
nine slippery exits,
eight icy red-lights,
seven drivers speeding,
six songs a playing,
...five jack-knifed semis,
four calling cats,
three taiji hours,
two wool ponchos
and a book on philosophy
On the eleventh day of Christmas,
the snow gods sent to me:
eleven lights a flashing,
ten cars that slid off,
nine slippery exits,
eight icy red-lights,
seven drivers speeding,
six songs a playing,
...five jack-knifed semis,
four calling cats,
three taiji hours,
two wool ponchos
and a book on philosophy
On the twelfth day of Christmas,
the snow gods sent to me:
twelve degree windchill,
eleven lights a flashing,
ten cars that slid off,
nine slippery exits,
eight icy red-lights,
seven drivers speeding,
six songs a playing,
...five jack-knifed semis,
four calling cats,
three taiji hours,
two wool ponchos
and a book on philosophy
And that was my day. Shorter version: first big snow storm of the season hit last night. The road to Idaho Falls was bad, but by the time we got to a place we could turn around, the road was getting better, and it seemed more sensible to go on rather than go back over the nastier bit. There were at least 10 slide-offs, possibly eleven if a car ensconced in the median with three police cars was a slide-off and not a pull-over. There was only one jack-knifed semi, thankfully, but it was the most severe angle I've ever seen between a semi and its trailer. Still, we made it there for taiji and back, and the roads were much better on the way back.
After I got home, I let the cats play outside for a bit, but they didn't seem to like the snow very well. At 2:00, I went with my mom to choir practice, as she needed a page-turner. Decent songs, good melodies, but the more I look at the actual lyrics of the more overtly religious carols, the more I find myself inordinately puzzled. But that's for another post.
EDIT: Forgot to explain the "book" or the ponchos. Melissa needed to stop at Barnes and Noble to take care of some books she'd ordered that had been damaged in transit, and I found a book describing various approaches to the "meaning of life". Then this afternoon I discovered a beautiful little shop in the mall, ensconced in the corner where a jeweler used to be, carrying a ton of alpaca coats and sweaters and ponchos. I bought one coat, and my mom decided to buy me a poncho as a Christmas present (as she has no idea what kind of clothing to buy for me without input). She bought it with me there because there were only two on the rack, and we both figured they'd be gone if she waited. So I know one of my Christmas presents.
~Folk Etymology (Google Books)
This morning, for half a second, I thought there were two suns in the sky. There is a genuine astronomical phenomenon where there appears to be more than one sun, but, alas, that wasn't it. Instead, the sun was at exactly the same height on the horizon as a row of windows on a building, and I was seeing the reflection.
The astronomical version is referred to as "sun dogs" or, more formally, as "parhelia". It has the same cause as solar and lunar halos: ice crystals high up in the sky that refract the light. From Wikipedia:Sundogs typically, but not exclusively, appear when the sun is low, e.g. at sunrise and sunset, and the atmosphere is filled with ice crystal forming cirrus clouds, but diamond dust and ice fog can also produce them. They are often bright white patches of light looking much like the sun or a comet, and occasionally are confused with those phenomena. Sometimes they exhibit a spectrum of colours, ranging from red closest to the sun to a pale bluish tail stretching away from the sun.[1] White sundogs are caused by light reflected off of atmospheric ice crystals, while coloured sundogs are caused by light refracted through them. White sundogs are also thought to be caused by the light from the sun reflecting off of water on the ground and focusing the reflected light on the clouds above.
Here is a more concise discussion of the physics involved; and here is one with a few more diagrams and examples. If the ice crystals are randomly distributed, you wind up with a halo, but if they are all "oriented with their flat faces horizontal", then you wind up with sun dogs instead. Wikipedia mentions that the size of the ice crystals may also influence the end result.
I first read about these in sixth grade when I was on an extreme astronomy kick, and I found it a very strange idea. Synchronistically, that year I actually saw some sun dogs. It was the last year that Mom and I took the train out to Colorado. I was wandering through a car with glass walls and ceiling (probably the dining car, but I can't remember for sure), and looked up at the sky as we were going through the mountains in Colorado. There seemed to be 3 suns in the sky. I might have been very confused if I hadn't gone on an astronomy reading spree the summer before!
One point is confusing me, though. The books I read said that 2 extra suns was the norm, but that there could potentially be 4 or 8, while everything I'm finding on the web only mentions 2 ... except Wikipedia's discussion of sun dogs on other planets. Okay, some of the pictures (page down) show a third sun at the peak of the halo, and there would likely be one at the bottom as well, but that part of the halo is below the horizon. So... if there were eight, either they'd have to be at the midpoints in between, or possibly on a second halo. And as double halos are possible, that seems plausible. Incidentally, that photo came from a site full of awesome pictures.
ADDENDUM: I got curious as to the origin of the phrase "sun dog" and went hunting. There doesn't seem to be a clear consensus, but this explanation seems plausible:Sun-dog, the phenomena of false suns which sometimes attend or dog the true when seen through a mist (parheliong). In Norfolk a sun-dog is a light spot near the sun, and water- dogs are light watery clouds ; dog here is no doubt the same word as dag, dew or mist, as "a little dag of rain " (PUlolog. Soc. Trans. 1865, p. 80). Cf. Icel. "';/, Dan. and Swed. ilug, = Eng. "dew." In Cornwall the fragment of a rainbow formed on a rain- cloud just above the horizon is called a weather-dog (K. Hunt, Romances and Drulls of West of England, vol. ii. p. 242).
My first encounter with a Kinnikinnick product was not one that I particularly enjoyed. It was a package of gluten free cookies, mock-oatmeal chocolate chip, I think, and I barely made it through the package. There was a strong aftertaste, likely due to the pea flour that was used. So I wasn't inclined to be thrilled when many of the GF products at Wealth of Health in Idaho Falls were Kinnikinnick.
However, I got two of them anyway, and I can recommend both of them. The first was a box of chocolate dipped donuts*. Six in a package, package to be kept frozen. These are cinnamony cake donuts with a coating of chocolate frosting, and the package is labelled: "gluten free - wheat free - dairy free - soy free". Since they are kept frozen, you have to heat them up to eat them. The package says 20-30 seconds in the microwave. I found that 20 seconds dry, then 30 more seconds with a small dish of water in the microwave with it, produced better results (times will vary by microwave). Things tend to dry out in the freezer, and a small dish of water in the microwave can help replenish the lost moisture. One caveat: while I did like these, I much prefer raised donuts; the richness of these donuts is such that I'm unlikely to get another box for quite a while, and it took me nearly a month to get through the one box.
The other Kinnikinnick product that I tried is labelled "K-Toos" or "KinniToos", available here. Essentially, these are gluten free "Oreo" cookies. Based on my vague memory of "real" Oreos, the flavor wasn't quite as good but the texture was better for Kinnikinnick's GF version. Unfortunately, these do contain soy lecithin**, but they are labelled as "gluten free - wheat free - dairy/casein free - egg free - trans fat free". Compared to most packages of gluten free cookies, you get a fair number of cookies in a package. Hmmm... the linked page says a package is 7 oz, but my package is labelled 8 oz. In the 8 oz package, there was a plastic tray with four rows of either 8 or 10 cookies (I've recycled the tray, so I'm guesstimating), so either 32 or 40 cookies. If the packages have since shrunk, there may be fewer now.
*Link also includes other varieties.
**WHY??????
Quick Addition: Kinnikinnick also has a blog, with a post describing their procedures for ensuring their products really are gluten free.
GF Tips Index
Queue:
GF
Well, I didn't do too badly on it:
You answered 32 out of 33 correctly — 96.97 %
Average score for this quiz during December: 74.9%
Average score: 74.9%
I found the quiz through Daylight Atheism. Take it here and see if you know more than your political representatives do. I should admit that, on a few of them, I was able to determine the answer by knowing what it wasn't and eliminating the ones I was certain were incorrect.
The one question I did miss is below the fold:
7) What was the source of the following phrase: “Government of the people, by the people, for the people”?
A. the speech “I Have a Dream”
B. Declaration of Independence
C. U.S. Constitution
D. Gettysburg Address
I wasn't sure. But once I saw the answer, I thought, "Yeah, that sounds right."
Mainly because not much happened today. First, one of me (sort of):
The dark shape holding the camera in the side mirror is me. This turned out surprisingly well for being taken at twilight and from my mom's car while it was going 75 mph. Next is of Princess, and her first experience with a regular size Christmas tree. Last year, all I had time or energy for was Grandma Fern's ceramic 2-footer, so it's nice to have a "real" one up this year. "Real" as in "large and decorable".
I just love this story:
The state Capitol [Seattle] hosts a Nativity scene and a 25-foot "holiday tree." The nearby atheists' sign that sparked a nationwide furor was back in place Friday after being stolen and then dropped off at a country-music radio station.
And joining those displays soon could be a 5-foot aluminum pole in celebration of "Festivus for the Rest of Us." Not to mention a protest, a balloon display and even more signs, this time supporting religion.
At this season of the Winter Solstice, may reason prevail.
There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell.
There is only our natural world.
The U.S. Supreme Court has been consistent and clear that, under the Constitution's First Amendment, once government admits one religious display or viewpoint onto public property, it may not discriminate against the content of other displays, including the viewpoints of nonbelievers.
This is from today's Narbonic (I'll fix the permalink when I have access to Firefox {fixed}). Dana sounds a lot like me when I've had lots of chocolate (or Thai iced tea) ... only I usually don't build the random things that I ramble on about. ^/^
I suspect that it's more suspicious to proclaim, "My sanity is intact!" than to proclaim, "I'm not crazy!"
In more ways than one. On Tuesday, I was feeling okay...right up until I got done teaching and headed over to say hello to my mom. She wasn't back from practicing organ at her church yet, and by the time she did get there, I was more or less dead on my feet. I didn't want to move. We checked, and I had a slight fever. I gave in and took some ibuprofen when I got home. That helped.
Unfortunately, I had a Philosophy of Knowledge paper to write, and I'd barely started on it. I got a decent amount written on Monday. Any time after that when I felt coherent enough, I needed to work on that rather than attempting to keep this blog going. However, I got it finished up and turned in this morning (either nine hours early or 44 hours late, depending on which of his due dates you believe). So all that's left in that class now is the final, which will be a take-home to be turned in during our technical final exam slot.
I've been gradually getting to feel better over the week. I'm just glad that the flat tire wasn't on the same night I felt the worst. No, that was last night. When I came in to teach my evening classes yesterday and got out of the car, I noticed that the front left tire was down a bit. Of course, it was still down when I got back to the car after teaching. I crossed my fingers and hoped there was enough air in the tire to get me home. There wasn't. About a block and a half later, I pulled over...then I realized I was on a block with no streetlights, and decided to pull another block up and park under a streetlight. This turned out to be a good choice, as a gentleman across the street noticed me struggling to see what I was doing and provided both a flashlight and a bit of help. So, thanks to the nameless stranger, even though it's doubtful he reads this blog. He did most of the work with the jack, once I got it lined up, and I did most of the work on the lug-nuts.
Which means that this afternoon, or morning if the 108 lab isn't too busy, I get to go over to Les Schwab... and while I'm at it, I may as well have them put my snow tires on. There hasn't been much snow yet, but maybe putting my snow tires on will result in snow. Or at least I can make the fallacious post hoc ergo propter hoc conclusion that it did, if snow actually follows.
At any rate, now that the paper's done and the fever's abating, I might be able to get back to a regular posting schedule.
