To quote a fellow tequila snob, "Friends don't let friends drink Patron! Drink better tequila."
Admittedly it IS 100% Agave, which is what you want to drink in tequila. So it is already soooo much better than mixto tequilas like Cuervo Gold (which should only be used to remove paint from houses, scuffs on your floor tile, etc), but it is very much at the bottom end of 100% agave tequilas. It was a little funny it mentioned compared to Corazon, which is a far superior tequila. Although generally speaking you do get what you pay for in terms of quality, there are certain tequilas that cashed in on the 100% Blue Agave craze that went around several years ago, and are actually pretty mediocre tequilas. Porfidio and Patron would be 2 of these -- hell, Pueblo Viejo is a much better tequila for half the price!
Sorry to get a bit pedantic! It's a subject that I'm passionate about. I have visited 17 tequila distilleries, met the owners of 26 brands, and have a collection exceeding 240 bottles of high quality 100% agave tequilas. I kinda like tequila...
...and if you see my liver hitch-hiking along the interstate, please tell it to come home.
If you like a lighter texture (fluffier) in in your omelet, the other thing you can do is separate the eggs. I blend the milk and yolks until completely combined and whip the whites in a separate bowl until soft peaks form. Then gently combine the two until just mixed (this keeps a lot of the whipped air in the mix). From there follow your favorite omelet recipe. I like to use monterey jack, fine dice canadian bacon and chanterelles, and fold in half. Yumm!
the witch trials had little to do with religion and a whole lot to do with politics
Not trying to nitpick you here, QD, as much as throw in a minor note of clarification here. The witch trials in North America and Europe from approximately 1450 to 1750 were mostly the result of fear and ignorance and not politics (except perhaps in a vigilante sense). There has been some interesting research done on the witch trials that ties most of it back to unusually wet summers causing outbreaks of ergot poisoning. Ergot is a fungal infestation on rye that contains several very powerful alkaloid poisons, some that have psychotropic effects. In fact it was the study of ergot's compounds that introduced the world to LSD. Ergot poisoning causes the body to writhe and contort in ways that would be impossible under voluntary muscluar efforts (from whence the term St. Vitus' Dance). Diaries and ship's logs from the time indicate that people were killed by the masses because they were superstitiously afraid that the healthy folk (who hadn't eaten contaminated rye bread) must be practicing dark magic. I remember reading a bunch about it a year ago; I'll see if I can dig up the links.
Almost anything in life is bearable if there is love to strengthen your soul and give you the desire to rise above. Existence would be extremely bleak without it.
"Piers Anthony was raised in a Quaker family. Quakerism is clearly the religious denomination that had the most influence on him and he appears to have had a sense of identity as a Quaker while growing up. As an adult, Anthony had a strong affinity for Quakerism, "
anyhow, in that book "And Eternity" people go to hell to atone and suffer equal to what they did in life. After you were all done you went to heaven, IF you didnt get stuck on a partiular one.
Whole series of those books was a fun read, god/satan/heaven/purgatory/death...time/fate/war, touches on alot of stuff
Reflex, if you liked the Incarnations of Immortality series I suggest you try the Tarot series (3 books) also by Piers Anthony and in a similar vein. Excellent stuff.
Personally, I think the qualities that make for good, loving parents have next-to-nothing to do with sexual orientation.
Exactly the same way I don't think sexual orientation is one of the variables that factors into whether or not someone is a good person.
I would agree 100%. I raised a child by myself in San Francisco, and as you might guess from the reputation my city has, I saw the gamut of family setups during her school years. I can honestly say that the quality of life and the nurturing those other kids received had nothing to do, as near as I could tell, with the makeup of the family. I wouldn't claim that my experience was all-encompassing, but I did spend a lot of time with other families and their kids. The troubled children all came from homes with a lot of problems -- but sexual orientation of the parents didn't seem to be a common thread.
Sometimes, I've wondered if some of the change in attitudes might be due to the proliferation of the 'OWNED!' meme.
Indeed I think that's a valid point. Although I'd guess that's more of an overall manifestation of social change. When online gaming started up, I think folks were generally more supportive and friendlier because we were all stumbling through it together, much of what I think QuakeDuke was talking about. It was still a fairly new concept in '98. Most of the multiplayer games prior had been more social; board games, TV console games like pong, and later lan parties for Doom (which were tricky to set up -- damned WAD file loader!). More direct interaction and more socialization; you rarely did these things with people other than your friends. You might frag it up in a 4 player Doom LAN party (Chainsaw fights! Yes!) and things would get intense but everyone would chill with a beer afterward and talk about the evening's fun. IMO that cooperativeness spilled over into the early days of Quake and Quake II. However, since those LAN party days of Doom, there has been an explosion of online gaming. And while I wouldn't want to say that people treat it like it is passe, many folks nowadays seem to be jaded or desensitized to the commeraderie. Online gaming is so commonplace that it no longer seems remarkable, and the lack of personal interaction has made everything more faceless. I'm not saying you had to be an old school player to appreciate that as much as I am that I think it's harder to maintain perspective when (in a sense, not literally) online gaming is all you ever known.
To me, there is nothing I've ever done that was more challenging, demanding and life changing as being a parent. I've tried to be as good a one as mine were. Hopefully, I came close. There are powers and emotions associated with having and raising children of your own that you'll never know otherwise, and I believe this IS the secret of life... I'm sure not everyone is cut out for it though. Unfortunately, there is no way to know without starting the process.
Oh one more thing ... Being a parent is something that NEVER passes.
I totally agree, Art!
My daughter is 20 and finished her second year of college, yet I still find myself in "Dad-mode" from time to time. Being a teenager is hard; they need to push the edges of the box and start the move toward independence. But it's also hard to be the parent of a teeenager, because you realize how much they don't know and try to protect them from hurting themselves -- all while allowing them more and more freedom to make decisions and deal with the consequences. You also have to ride them occasionally to help them form good habits,which they see as nagging because they lack the patience to see that building good habits requires a lot of hard work. I'd agree some people don't make good parents, but the large majority try their best and wind up doing a pretty good job.
Hang in there, Alice! Sounds to me like your parents really do love you even if things are contentious from time to time. At the risk of sounding trite, you have a roof over your head, are fed and clothed, and have many things provided for you. Right now it's free (and I'm not attaching a guilt trip to that -- all of those things are a parent's responsibility -- I'm just pointing out that's a real benefit not to ignore), but it won't be in a few years, take the opportunity to start making some plans for your future. There are a lot think about and that time will come faster than you think. Along the way I'll bet you and your parents will both survive and you will continue to love each other.
No offense, but I suspect Black History Month doesn't resound as strongly with the folks who aren't from the US. There is particular emphasis on it here, Bigwig, because of the horrible treatment of the slaves and the way African Americans have been treated as second-class citizens all the way down to modern times. And I'm not saying you aren't aware of that, but culture outside the US hasn't been steeped in it like here at home. No doubt there are some of my countrymen who feel as you do, but in your case I'm guessing it's because Canada (IMHO) is much more civilized about the whole thing.
I find it's easier to write poetry when there is some kind of negative energy going on -- stressed, sad, pissed, depressed, etc -- but it's pretty hard (at least for me; your mileage may vary) to write decent poems when I'm relaxed or happy.
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