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So I made the baba gannoush--eh, it was a'ight.  I think next time I might add some spices to the eggplant and get that fucker nice and brown first--perhaps on the grill, not sure.

Also today I'm thinking of making red peppers stuffed with ground beef.  Recipe something like this:

4 red bell peppers
1/2 onion
garlic
salt
tomato paste
assorted spices (thinking chili powder, cumin and oregano)
ground boeuf

So, taking beef, will sautee with onions and add all other ingredients, then stuff peppers and bake.  Perhaps put cheese on top--yeah, cheese definitely on top.

Serving with salad and maybe potatoes of an unknown variety.

heh. I made vegetarian stuffed peppers last night. Didn't have any beef (or meat of any kind, except for a whole chicken in the freezer ), so I just made it up as I went along...came out surprising good!

1. Cook brown rice in veggie broth with a lil' salt and a pat of butter.
2. Dice onion, celery and mince garlic (I used 2 onions, ~4 stalks celery, and 2 cloves garlic)
3. Heat oil in a frying pan. Saute onions  and celery til softened, throw in garlic when that's almost done.
4. Cut up some tomatoes (I used whole canned, about 4 or 5). Throw them in the pan with the onion/celery/garlic...heat through. Add black pepper, basil, oregano, and parsley to taste.
5. Chop peppers in half lengthwise. Remove stems and seeds. Rinse in water if you like.
6. Stir onion mixture into brown rice.
7. Stuff pepper halves. Place in greased baking dish. Toss any leftover stuffing around peppers.
8. Top with grated parmesan cheese.
9. Bake at 350 F for ~25 minutes covered, then uncovered for another 10.
10. Eat!

I was thinking of making pecan pie....


but then I stumbled on foodporndaily.com, and all sorts of foodie visions are swirling through my head.

The whole point of the crock pot is to let shit cook for a really long time. But the meal is only as fatty as the fat you put in it. Same thing with flavor/blandness.

Things I would use a crock pot for are all things that I would make normally, that happen to take a long time to meld the flavors properly. Stews, chili, lentil or split pea soup, etc. A lot of those can be made in vegetarian versions, or have minimal meat. If you do opt for the fattier type of dish, you can often skim off the fat as it's cooking (it'll pool in nice big grease spots, which you can remove with a turkey baster or large spoon).

Really, a crock pot is just another method of cooking. It's just as messy, time consuming, and easy (or difficult) as any other way. And it takes a few tries to get everything just right. Maybe next time, try a vegetarian recipe instead of meat, and see if that makes a difference.

I think that with the exception of biological mental illness, we are all born with the ability to be rational beings. Almost all of us just choose not to be rational to some degree, whether actively or passively.

ETA: but a lifetime of choosing not to be rational does not mean that the decision to be more rational cannot be made.

Very true. Though for a long time, I believed I was incapable of being truly rational at any time. I assumed that was probably true for most other people too. I still tend to think that most people are not aware of how rational or irrational they are being at any given moment.

I've also observed that what a person thinks they believe, and what they actually do believe are frequently not the same. Logic and years of experience may lead a person to the conclusion that there is no god (for lack of proof), yet deep down they may still hold the belief that there is one, if they were raised within a theistic belief system.

Also, beliefs aren't always rational. Or even consciously chosen. I can choose to be rational, and still hold irrational beliefs. But if I do, I'll always be less rational than I think I am.

that old lady in the art store who asked me if I knew Jeeeezus...


she didn't really seem too rational.


see also: my sig quote

I'm not so sure about that...

"Why are we here?" has got to be the most inane and pointless question in the history of humanity. Shame that so much time and energy goes into coming up with imagined answers to a question that hardly makes sense in the first place.

Oh, I agree. People ask it all the same.

Still, I think if you have something happen to you that doesn't make sense and can't be explained in any ordinary fashion...what do you do? How do you explain it to yourself?
It seems like there would be two possibilities. 1) it was a hallucination, brought on by stress/nerves/lack of sleep/whatever, or 2) God did it.
If God is a more socially acceptable answer than hallucinating, you might go with door number two. Or if it was so real that you can't accept the experience as a hallucination, you might choose #2.

I choose #3: your monkey brain is limited and not fully able to understand all of the natural processes of the universe. accept your limitations and move on without resorting to superstition.

well we can't all be perfect.

Firstly:


Secondly:

I'm not sure what people are expecting to find when they ask "why are we here?". Maybe some are hoping that they'll discover a great universal secret. But I think most are just trying to fill a sort of emptiness inside. A lot of days, just going through the motions isn't enough. Some people give and give, volunteering their time and energy with churches and social service programs and animal rescues, and at the end of the day, feel just as disillusioned as before. Some people take and take, buying and consuming, amassing piles of stuff. Some people just sit on their couch and get high, whilst they ponder the meaning of life. I think they're all missing the point.

Which is not to say that I haven't spent my own time pondering the meaning of life...

When I was about 15, I was horribly depressed and began questioning the purpose of being here. I was obsessed with finding the answer to that question; trying to come up with a reason to either off myself or get un-depressed. One January night, I decided to sit out on the back steps of my parents' house, and ponder it. Out of this quasi-meditation came two things. One, I distinctly heard the words "to love, learn and grow" after asking "why are we here?" for the zillionth time. And two, I felt as if someone had wrapped their arms around me and given me a great big hug. Maybe I just answered my own question, and maybe I got so cold that I felt warm, but either way, I felt comforted and satisfied with that answer.

What I took the love, learn and grow thing to mean is that we're here to have relationships with ourselves and the people, animals, and things around us. We're supposed to learn from and through that...and ideally, we'll grow as human beings. Anything else is just details. 

But that's just my answer. It might not have any real meaning to someone else, and that's fine. "Why are we here?" is the sort of question that each individual has to figure out for themself, because it's not some mysterious universal secret that we're trying to discover. It's just the sort of question that gets asked when a person finds themself with too much time on their hands, or too little mental stimulation. Like mental solitaire, it keeps the wheels greased and helps the time pass.

Also wanted to say: Your answers in the other thread were spot on. I laughed, rather than taking offense, because what you said is so true. We're here because we're here. Things are the way they are because they're not some other way. You can assign any meaning you like to it, but starting from the position of accepting what is, is better than starting at the end and working backwards.

"Why are we here?" has got to be the most inane and pointless question in the history of humanity. Shame that so much time and energy goes into coming up with imagined answers to a question that hardly makes sense in the first place.

Oh, I agree. People ask it all the same.

Still, I think if you have something happen to you that doesn't make sense and can't be explained in any ordinary fashion...what do you do? How do you explain it to yourself?
It seems like there would be two possibilities. 1) it was a hallucination, brought on by stress/nerves/lack of sleep/whatever, or 2) God did it.
If God is a more socially acceptable answer than hallucinating, you might go with door number two. Or if it was so real that you can't accept the experience as a hallucination, you might choose #2.

I, THE RIGHT REVEREND CAINAD, SHALL NOW ANSWER THE QUESTIONS OF THE AGES

Q: "Why do we exist?"
A: Because if we didn't, we wouldn't.

Q: "Why are things the way they are?"
A: Because if things were different, things would be different. Then we'd still be asking why they were that way.

Q: "Why is there injustice in the world?"
A: Because our (very subjective) notions of justice happen to be at odds with things like bad luck, stupidity, and dickheads.

I admit, the need to have some sort of universal meaning/higher consciousness/personal essence/whatever is completely mystifying to me.

Isn't life amazing enough and interesting enough as it is?

The fact that life is really amazing and interesting doesn't explain how it got here, or why each of us is alive at this moment. Even if we just say 'because it is/we are'...even if we just go by the clinical/scientific/purely logical answers, we're still missing an explanation for some experiences and certain feelings (near-death experiences come to mind).

Also, as was mentioned by others, it's nearly impossible to discard the trappings of religion, if you grow up with it. Despite having stopped going to church 10 years ago, I can still walk into a Mass and follow along as if I'd never left.

Personally, I do believe in something beyond this life and in a personal essence, but I have a hard time defining what that is. I do have a sense of spirituality and reverence for Life, but no need to worship a specific diety. In my mind, there is a Force, a Oneness, a Source to all of this...and our physical reality is as small and narrow in terms of What Is, as the Earth is in relation to the universe. Likewise, these particular incarnations are just one tiny piece of all that we are, and just one short life out of many.

For the last 10 years, I've chosen not to vote...for many reasons.

1) I was uneducated or unconcerned about politics. I couldn't be bothered to educate myself or care enough who ran the country.

2) My vote didn't count, what with the millions of other people voting and the electoral college (in the case of the president).

3) I wasn't registered.

4) I refused to vote for the lesser of two evils, and they're all evil. Or, I couldn't decide who was worse.

There could be more, but those were the main ones. Then last year, I had to renew my driver's license, so I just checked the box while I was there. Yay, now I'm registered to vote! And all of a sudden, I feel like I should, whether my vote really counts or not. This time around, I'm checking out who's running, and learning about their platforms and voting record. Still having issues with the evil bit. McCain strikes me as evil in a more obvious way....Obama seems more evil in a more insidious way. I've got a congressman to vote for too, and I'm looking at an incumbant who hasn't done shit in his two years in office (with ties to the rich and successful musicians), versus a rabid reagan republican (with ties to the Marines, police and firefighters).

Oddly enough, the internal debates have little to do with the reasons I listed above for not voting. It's more like: "who am I to decide who gets to govern us?", "what do I know about politics that makes me qualified to make such a momentous decision?", "How am I supposed to know who's more qualified and capable of governing this country?" It doesn't really have a damn thing to do with whether my vote counts. It has to do with whether or not I count my vote.

And finally, I'm still undecided. I'm pretty sure I don't want to vote for McCain. It seems like he'll follow in Bush's footsteps, I'm not sure that he'll live through all 4 years, and I don't think Palin would make a good president. Obama looks really good, but I can see the slime under the shine. I sincerely doubt he intends to create any good changes, despite everything he's saying now. So who's left? Ron Paul? Ralph Nader? Mebbe I'll go Green, just for kicks.

The story doesn't have to end with her pining away, waiting for him to wake up. She might realize that all of what she has with him is not even close to how much she really wants in her life. She could decide that she actually deserves to be loved. To give, and receive in return. But the girl will have to discover on her own just how much she's worth. She needs to see her own value, and treat herself with the love she is giving away so freely.

Or not.

She could just pine away and waste years of her life waiting for him to love her.

[that bottled water that has extra ions added]

Weirdly, I only know this because I just had this conversation with one of my two best friends, who is a doctor of chemistry. We were actually discussing that bottled water that has extra ions added and LOLing ourselves sick over the pseudo-scientifical jargon all over the label.

Is that SmartWater?

I think that's the brand! Hilarious.

Kai, unless you are malnourished or drink too much water, you would be perfectly alright drinking distilled water, although honestly I think it tastes disgusting and no one should drink it.

Out of all the bottled waters, that's probably my favorite. It's the only one that doesn't leave an aftertaste, imo. But considering that it's "vapor distilled", I guess it needs the extra ions?

[that bottled water that has extra ions added]

Weirdly, I only know this because I just had this conversation with one of my two best friends, who is a doctor of chemistry. We were actually discussing that bottled water that has extra ions added and LOLing ourselves sick over the pseudo-scientifical jargon all over the label.

Is that SmartWater?

if you REALLY believe you want something, then the Universe will shape itself around your want.

Or put another way:
If you want something, and you really believe that you can get it, and really believe that you deserve to have it, then you'll attract it into your life. Your persistent thoughts and beliefs become your reality.
Oh, and the universe doesn't recognize your negative thoughts and beliefs as negative, only neutral. So if you're thinking and believing that you don't want something to happen, the exact opposite will happen instead.

I don't know if it's true or not. But for now, my persistent thoughts of being broke and in debt are matching my reality of being broke and in debt.