Joys of Christmas

Even with Christmas being spent in a city that I'm learning to call home, I really enjoyed my day. It had been planned that we would have to a family get together at mine & Jerry's place. A total of five people which would have been cramped quarters in our tiny apartment, but still possible. My sister and I had planned to make a traditional family dinner of spaghetti & meatballs that is generally associated with Christmas Eve, but that we moved to Christmas Day due to an exam of that my sister had.

For me, the day began with a trip to our morning market to buy tomatoes and green onions for dinner preparations. When I went back home, I began chopping 1/2 a yellow onion, 1 large green onion (Chinese scallion) and garlic into fine pieces. Once chopped, I tossed all the ingredients into my pot with 3 tablespoons of olive oil and began sautéing until the onions had become a little translucent. I added a cup of dry red wine from my collection of wine that I don't drink and only use for cooking. I then added a total of 6 large tomatoes that I had cut into large cubes as well as a 1-1/2 tablespoons of Italian Seasoning spice blend by Tone's. I allowed the mixture to simmer for the day, letting the tomatoes break down as they cooked. Oh my, the apartment smelled wonderful!

Later, I turned off the stove and headed to my local grocery market to acquire meat for making meatballs. I met my sister there and she helped me get 1 kilo of ground beef and 1/2 kilo of ground pork from the butcher. Back at my place, we mixed the meat with two eggs and 3/4 cup of crushed Pepperidge Farms stuffing. Then we formed it into meatballs and baked at 350˚ F for 20 minutes.

We had also made garlic bread rolls using the Buttery Sourdough Buns recipe from King Arthur, using olive oil, Italian Seasoning, and garlic powder instead of the butter and paprika topping recommended in their recipe.

What a wonderful feast!

Dihydrogen Monoxide and other dangerous chemicals

*Please note, this is a sarcastic piece of writing and does not mean to encourage FUD (Fear, Uncertainty & Doubt). I'm writing to encourage people to think and take what is found online with a grain of salt.

I have the pleasure of working in an industry where I get to work with small business owners as well as home crafters. I have heard a variety of questions over the years and while some make me laugh and some make me think, there are the questions that make me want to bite my tongue instead of being rude and asking about if they ever studied chemistry.

The one question that gets on my nerves the fastest is "But I don't want to use chemicals, do you have alternatives?" Well, last time I checked, I was enjoying a cup of Dihydrogen Monoxide while talking to you. Oh wait, yes, I'm talking about the stuff that killed an estimated 388,000 people in 2004. It is also 3rd on the list of accidental causes of death by WHO (World Health Organization) If you don't want to use chemicals, then I would recommend that Dihydrogen Monoxide is the first you stop using.

Don't forget the deadly chemicals in the air that we breathe! Everytime you breathe out, you release more carbonic anhydride which is also a deadly chemical, but you breathe in a mixture of 20%-ish diatomic oxygen gas, 78%-ish nitrogen (with the remaining being made up by other dangerous chemicals).

Save the world! Stop using dangerous chemicals!

*In the meantime, join me for a cup of tea?

Sensitive Ears

It has been ruled that my ears are sensitive enough to notice when someone is scratching a wound or irritated patch of skin. I have to laugh when I'm told this as I didn't think I had very sensitive ears in comparison to my own mom.

When I was a teen, mom would arrive home from work and instantly say "Turn off that shit!" What she was referring to was the music that either myself or my sister had been listening to that day. It couldn't be turned down, she could still hear it. When riding in the vehicle with mom, we could either listen to the radio or power it off.

Mind you, this isn't wasn't as hilarious as when, after a ridiculous visit to an ENT, mom was told to stop listening to loud music as it was making her ears produce excess ear wax. As a family, we had to laugh, mom is the only one in the family who listens to music only on low volume!

While I may not have mom's ears, I apparently still have sensitive ears. Snork!

Music = Me

I grew up listening to music. My childhood was filled with quite a diverse collection of music.

When with my mom, I listened to music on the Disney Channel radio station based in Salt Lake City. Sometimes we would try to call in and win prizes from the radio station. I remember winning a prize of a bag of Hershey Kisses. That was a fun prize even if the cost of the gas to the station and back home was more than the bag. Some of our favorite songs included "The Ballad of Lucy Lum" (unknown artist) and "Fish Heads" (Barnes & Barnes).

When I was with my dad, I listened to music on the Alternative Rock or Rock radio stations. From dad, I learned appreciation for R.E.M., Styx, Violent Femmes, David Bowie, Barenaked Ladies, Beck, and The Cure.

With my grandparents (there was a total of 9 regularly visited grandparents, including great-grandparents), I listened to various music types. Oldies, New Age, Classical, Pop and even some Jazz.

This is where the grounding of my own musical tastes began. As a young teen, I received the "White Album" and "Magical Mystery Tour" on CD. I believe that must have been for Christmas 2001 or my birthday 2002. I know I also received my first speaker set during the same time frame. They were wonderful speakers that had such a delicious sub-woofer. Combine speakers that could be adjusted to varying distances, a sub-woofer and The Beatles. That was the beginning of my love for bass in music.

I can pinpoint the changes in my musical tastes to one event. The theatrical (and subsequent soundtrack) release of Spiderman in 2002. I briefly found Toby Maguire to be one of the most fascinating and handsome actors that I had even seen. The soundtrack though, was the the music that really influenced my musical tastes. Thanks to songs by Aerosmith, Chad Kroeger, Theory of a Deadman, and Black Lab, I began looking for more music that really sounded good coming through my speakers. I was also introduced to the movie "XXX" and between the Vin Diesel and the soundtrack, I found myself addicted to action movies with rock music. The opening scene featuring Rammstein was addicting. I found that soundtracks contained the rock music that made the speakers pulse were the best music for me and my craving for more bass. Between "Music from and Inspired by Spider-Man" "XXX" and "Miss Congeniality", I found peace in playing music and boosting the bass.

In 2005, Fantastic Four hit the screens. My dad purchased "Fantastic 4: The Album" and I added another musical album to my collection of songs that sounded great with boosted bass. At this time, I had the ability to mix my playlists on my first iPod. I think I nearly drove my mom crazy with my loud and bass heavy music.

By this time, my parents knew when I had a bad day or was really stressed because the music was louder and the bass heavier. While my sister found peace and tranquility in Classical music, the sounds of composure for me were Rock, Metal and Industrial Rock.

Even today, my musical tastes vary and include almost every genre. While my trusty speakers bit the dust a few years ago, I still am fond of bass and one day I will be finding new speakers that allow for that bit of bass.

New Reading to Begin Understanding China

Jerry was such a sweetheart and got me a new book.

Actually since there are so many pages in the book, it was bound into four volumes. I'm going to start reading "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" (三國演義;sānguó yǎnyì) attributed to Luo Guanzhong and translated by Moss Roberts. I have an edition from the 15th printing released in 2011 by Foreign Languages Press, Beijing, China. ©1995. There are two lines on the print details page that make me laugh. "Printed in the People's Republic of china / Not for sale in North America"

I'm excited to start reading this book and I'll have to admit, I'm a little overwhelmed by the total of 2339 pages of this four volume set. I'm planning on starting the first volume tomorrow. Instead of my typical speed reading, I'll try to read it carefully to understand more about China and its people.

Here is to a new book!