Fat Tuesday

okay, it's Mardi Gras (trans. from French - "Fat Tuesday").
For those not in the know, this is a VERY catholic celebration. This wednesday is 'Ash Wednesday' which marks the beginning of Lent. To honor the 40 days Jesus spent in the desert (on a vision quest) catholics spend this time of the year, for the next 40 days, denying themselves treats, desserts, or other luxuries until about Easter. This has it's roots in the Northern European medieval issue of having no crops available during the winter and needing to survive for the last few weeks of winter on thin rations.

I say MG is "very catholic" because, as man developed more consistent food supplies, and there was no need to ration food during lent, the necessity of lent, became the burden of ritual. So, with larders full, good Catholics who were about to deprive themselves for over a month developed a celebration as one last hurrah before the unnecessary ritual began. This last whoop was held, as per traditional habit, the day before the holiness begins. In this case, tuesday. And the longer the depravation, the bigger the celebration, so the normal saturday hoopla became the year's decadence festival.

So enjoy, unlike Christmas, this one actually WAS invented by The Church, and unlike xmas, they don't mind sharing. :)

Can you smell Garlic?

Here's an impromptu poll question. Can you smell garlic? Naturally anyone can smell garlic if it's sliced under their nose, but somme people claim to be able to tell if people have eaten garlic by their smell. also, a lot of people seem to be able to smell it in pasta sauces and such. So, if you're reading this, please answer yes or no, plus your blood type if you know it.

Fitness is In!

Okay, here in LA, spring is just around the corner. Now, for those completely detached from the fitness industry, spring is the time of the year when people naturally lose weight. So, the fitness folks take advantage of this to really push their products. For the next 2-4 months, we'll be seeing a lot more weight loss commercials and billboards, and a lot less sleep aides. *sigh* Just long enough to let the phrase "purple pill" leave your vocabulary.

Lately I've been on a new diet. Well, not really new, just a formalized version of the one I've been kinda developing on my own, I guess. Ya see, I've been proceeding under the position that we should eat what we crave. If you're body wants it, chances are you need it. Well, this diet is like that, but more premeditative. It's all about selecting the right foods for your blood type (and doubtlessly removing some fats and sugars). Ultimately, it was not much of a switch to get on this diet, apparently, the foods we crave are generally the ones best suited for our blood type.

Most of my eating habits are okay, just little tweaks here and there. Some things were a little hard to find. I'm still looking for Soba noodles, and it was really hard to track down Ezekial bread. and I've switched from italian to chinese in my cooking habits. Apparently just about everything in my spaghetti is bad for me (except the garlic). On the other hand, everything in Kung Pao chicken is okay. Cool. Plus, it's suggested that I have a glass of wine and a cup of coffee each day. Darn. Well, if I gotta... :)

Just a couple of weeks on this plan and I'm seeing results. I have a noticeable boost in energy, and, well, I'll take it. The weird part is all of my body scents are changing. I barely recognize myself. So, now I cruise for a while and see where this takes me. Maybe I'll be all trim and lean for Bman this year.

"Hidden" Costs

so, I buy a $375 car, and you'd expet it to be a bit...worn.
Yeah, that's the case.

But, to register the car, I had to preve that I was buying it, and wasn't in cahoots with the previous owner. why? She bounced a check to the DMV and the expired registration was never valid.

So, last nigt, I go to drop off som packages, and there's a boot on my car. Turns out, she had a few tickets too. What a shock. Now i have to waste an afternoon to get the paperwork to attend a hearing to get my boot removed, then I have to go downtown (all without a car mind you) and attend the hearing to get them to concider taking my boot off. *sigh*

Total time off work: about 14 hours so far. Expect by the end of this scene, about 20, or roughly $600 lost in time alone.

And behind door #2...

A NEW CAR!!!!!
Too bad you already selected the 12 year old beater behind door #1... :P

Seriously, though, I'm on the road. I actually bought this last Saturday, but it took a couple of days to get it all legal and on the road and such. It's a 95 saturn and conciderably more beat up than the one pictured. But it runs good, it's legal until Sept 07 and it's pretty easy on gas. And the best thing, since it cost less than $400 it didn't kill my budget for the planned diesel Mercedes with the BioD conversion. Meanwhile, it's still a saturn and very cool.

Hillary is IN!

Wow, I don't know how I feel about this. But Hilary is in. That's right, he ex first lady is running for president.
Pros;
based on the previous Clinton administration, I'm impressed with the prospects
First woman president, already trained for the job, interesting....
Not a replublican (we think)
Cons
Been cuddling up to Newt Gingritch
Definitely not Bill
Has shown some strange edges in her policies.
Prediction.
Will lose to Obama in the primaries making way for the first non-white president instead. If she's smart, she'll run as Obama's VP

Patches and pockets

So, I'm doing patches again for the LAFC, because that seemed to be very popular in previous years.

But I'm also doing private give-away patches in support of a basic principal of NAFAA, the order of protection for spotters: Audience, Venue, Performer. Coincidentally, it looks quite a bit like the alien vs predator logo. :) And I may not just give out patches, but some special surprises as well. Let me know if you want in on this....

Also, I want to plug my patch maker Bellz, he's good, fast and in need of more work. Join the AVP project, or come up with something for you or your group. partches are really popular and make people really happy for reasons I'll never understand. Call bellz at (323) 868-5969.