docoflove1974

Once more I say God...oops...Allah bless "The Onion!"

That's right...it takes more than smoke and mirrors and shape-changing tricks to sweep us off our feet. We want more! lol

Damn...well, that does it for me. Might as well say 'good night nurse'.

Same from me...happy birthday, hun! Enjoy it!

Can we have the same rules for some of our misbehaving athletes???

I would disagree, only in as much as if we're talking about anyone used to life on the road (soldier, trader, etc.), they would be used to such an arrangement, I would think. Now, a druid or member of the elite, perhaps not so much.

Aren't there many stories about the early leaders/kings of Rome, such that it's not a question of whether they existed, just in what capacity and whether or not the stories attributed to these men are true?

Don't do that...what has alcohol ever done to you???

Doc quickly goes into bartender mode (which is quite a comfortable one, btw), and concocts a quirky mixture of fermented rye juice and a touch of citrus (whatever's around), and hands it to AC. With a water back, naturally.

BRILLIANT!!! GO...one needs to not be so spaztastic (yes, that's a word...in my head). Besides, Viagrarum is not in existence (Pertinax?), so it must be something else that's making you feel like you need some, um, attention. I bet Nephele can find you a suitable companion!

*Gasp* The insinuation! How pathetic and horrific! Two Buck Chuck is an outstanding wine for cooking if one is not planning on drinking anything (use what you need, then toss the rest...it really only did cost $2.99) Doc claps her hands and motions to her wine steward. From the depths of the bodega comes the best Sangiovese possible for GO (and hopefully this will calm him!).

Thanks, hun! Glad to see you back! As for your kitchen...depending on what you need done, $40k-$60k is typical ball-park. But finding a good general contractor is better than an architect. At least, that's my experience.

Whoa...GO...which woodworks did you just emerge from? And not even AC and the Augusta try to take over so much 'round these parts! Um...hmmm....methinks GO needs more wine...he seems just a wee bit cranky.

HIDE THE BABIES!!!! lol

Glad to hear that you've made it. We'll be eager to hear reports!

That is so wrong on so many levels...*groan*

Eh, you can...as long as you do it kindly! Most don't like to be reminded that they make errors!

I've come to a realization in life. Well, more than one, but this is just the latest. I can multitask very well--indeed, I have all my life. Working in a kitchen, I can have 3 pots going at once and know what's going on. I can even carry on a coversation while doing it. I sing along to whatever music I have filling my domicile while I work in the kitchen or in the garden. In fact, even if there is no electronic device playing music, the music in my head is playing, and I'm singing along while I'm working. One thing I don't do well: eat and work at the same time. Oh, I can do it...and then usually end up making a mess. It never fails...this morning, I was checking email whilst munching on my Honey-Nut Cheerios and strawberries (which, btw, our local stawberries are outstanding this year!) and slurping the milk in the bowl...and proceed to knock over the spoon resting in the bowl...thus tossing little oat Os and milk on the table. No, nothing was ruined, or even mildly damaged, but once again I've proven to myself that eating and working don't mix. So I've decided to never do it again. I need to just sit back, enjoy whatever meal I have (even if it's just a bit of a sammie or a bowl of ice cream) and not worry about work. Or, I can think, perhaps jot down a memo...but no typing, no major reading/writing/editing. Besides, they say that eating and working is bad for digestion, that we eat too fast and too much if we're distracted. Enjoying our meal is supposed to be just that--joyful--which means talking is good, laughing is better, but working is not good. Procrastinator moi, that appeals to me quite nicely!

I don't know about those Italians still living in the boot, but many of the ones here in the States that I know of and have read about don't honestly make the connection. Like, they know that the Romans lived in Rome, and that they covered the peninsula, etc....but can't necessarily connect with their subculture (Italian) with the historical culture (Roman). And I find this odd, not only as an Italian-American, but as a history afficionada. There are just too many parallels, both linguistically and culturally, to ignore it, or to forget about it. I don't think you'd ever hear a Greek (particularly from near one of the great city-states) neglect to recall about the connection with their current culture and the one from the past. Maybe the answer has to do with the fact that the people now are so focused on the present, and maybe to a lesser extent the recent past, that anything more than a few hundred years ago is too far to connect with. And that may not necessarily be a bad thing, nor an abnormal thing. It could be that, unless it is ingrained in the person or culture from the get-go, humans don't necessarily make strong connections with the cultures of the distant past.

One Rx for the addiction: Go out and play with nature. Do it all day long, along with any other chores. Come nightfall, you'll be dead tired! No more gaming! hehe (She says this, as she can't get enough of hidden-object games herself...)

Oh yeah! The story goes that when my grandmother and her family moved from 'the sticks' (Watsonville, CA is a bit off the coast; near Monterey) to San Francisco, my great-grandmother was overjoyed that she could finally afford olive oil (this was 1925). She evidently did the same olive oil curing with certain meats. I have no idea what, though; probably dry sausage, but seeing as how my grandmother could cook, um, not so well, and didn't carry on anything her mother did, many of those recipes are lost. Her sister, my great-aunt, does do many of the same recipes, but olive oil curing is not one of them. Of course, all of these types of preservation one can still see with the various olives of the world--salt-cured, oil-cured, brined, heavy on the vinegar. It's taken me many years to be able to eat these lovelies, as many brines don't agree with me. But once I had ready access to all the other yum-yums, I figured out the wonders of the olive-eating world! (But give me extra-virgin, a little balsamico, cracked pepper, and fresh crusty bread...I'm in total heaven!)

That is awesome! The Mark Twain translation is the one I read just now, and that was hella cool. Funnily enough, there's a lengthy diatribe by the venerable Mr. Clemens regarding German:

That's the one! lol (Yes, Klingan, I'm sure it does, that the oil in the 'dressing' helps to restore the oils in the paints. I just find a fair amount of humor in the whole thing anyway!)

There are a few food jokes in there, I just know it...

I just had to peruse my dictionary (looking for certain neuter nouns...don't ask), and found this one interesting: muriaticum--'a pickled fish' So the Romans did preserve their fish, too, I guess! Just that drying it may not have been the way to go. Besides, I know that pickling is a long-practiced way of preserving various foodstuffs (I mostly think of vegetables and fruit, but brining meat is about the same thing), and with all the wine around, vinegar would be a common pantry staple. Right?