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Mmm, Bird Saliva...

Last night was a great night, but I'm definitely paying for it today. Geez, I've been saying that way too much lately. Amy and I went to the Oriental Mart in East Lansing when I got out of work. If you've never been there it's a store about the size of a typical Kroger, maybe a little smaller. It's full of food and drinks you're never seen much less heard of before - like literally 95% of the things I've only ever seen there. Amy got a can of star fruit juice. It was pretty disgusting. What I got sounds disgusting, but actually tastes quite good. It's a drink made from "white fungus, birds nests, and rock sugar". It's made from the same type of birds nests that bird nest soup comes from. It's the nest of the Swiftlet Swallow - "They construct their nest with glutinous strands of starched like saliva produced by a pair of large, salivary glands under their tongue " It's quite a delicacy in China and a bowl of birds nest soup costs about $40 - $60. If you think that sounds really gross, consider that we eat honey which an insect swallows, regurgitates, chews on for about a half hour, then spits out.
So after that we took a lot of pictures (see below), drank a lot of Asti, got drunk, Darryl and Rob came over and we all sat in the hot tub. The end.

Ohh, how beautifully appropriate...

from Time Magazine

Spot Removal (post Addition)

one really drunk guy (Carter)
+ one slightly drunk but mischievous guy (Jeff D.)
+ one permanent marker (black Sharpie)
+ one dog (a pointer)
a dog with an extra spot

Even funnier was Dan Knaggs coming in and half laughing, half mad (if that's even possible) and saying "What the hell happened to my dog?" and "My parents are going to be pissed." Funny thing was, the spot actually looked pretty good and with a little blending by me almost matched, but later, a brillo pad and a little water removed most of it.

Ah, that was great, but another 2am night. I'm so tired. It's been like that all week except for Monday. Tues was open mic night then I went to Leitrim land for a while. Last night was wino Wednesday at Dan's. Tonight Amy's coming over. Friday there are two parties both of which should be really good. I still need to think of a stereotype to go as if I go to Rachels party. Hmmm, any suggestions?

A Weekend End

Hmm, it seems like I haven't had much to write about lately. Certainly not for a lack of things happening. In the last few days there has been Chris's show on Friday, a trip to Grand Rapids on Saturday, and food with friends on Sunday. I think it's more a matter of my creativity being directed elsewhere. I don't know...

Anyway, so Friday was Chris's show. That went pretty well overall. I was pretty happy with the reaction to the video I made for Orange Sky. Here is a link to it: Orange Sky. The first 2 minutes are just audio and no video. It's 27.5mb so it will probably take some time to load if you have a slow connection.

Saturday was a trip with the LCC photo club to the Photography Room in Grand Rapids. There was some cool stuff there. It gave me some great ideas and inspiration. One of those being buying a Holga camera - a $20.00 plastic (including the lens) medium format camera with one shutter speed and 2 f-stops. People have done some amazing things with them though. Should be interesting... It was nice to get to talk to Maia a bit too. At least more then usual. It's funny how we have so much in common but never really talk that much. I definitely hope that changes.

Sunday was another great food with friends. The biggest yet. Twenty people all packed into Ellen's small apartment. Small at least for 20 people. Actually that part of it got a bit annoying. Trying to cook with virtually no counter space, 2 other people trying to cook as well, and various other people wandering about. I made a raw soup. It was the first time I've ever made anything like that but it turned out pretty well. Basically it was 7 tomatos, half an avacado, 3/4 of a lime, 4 cloves of garlic, 2 jalapenos, some cilantro, 1/2 an onion, salt, and olive oil. Everything went into a blender and out came soup.

Container Induced Dressing Migration and Selection

I decided I wanted a salad for lunch today which is kind of an unusual thing for me, but it's something different and different is definitely good. Actually I was more craving vegetables then the lettuce part. So, I went to the Meijer salad bar and built a salad with a little lettuce and a lot of broccoli, mushrooms, green peppers, tomatos, etc... I put it all in a deep plastic bowl, and there's where I discovered a problem. You really need to match the container that your salad is in to the dressing you're using. If you're using a thinner more liquid dressing like a vinaigrette, you don't want a deep container. Otherwise, all the dressing just drains to the bottom and you end up using way more then you need. A plate is definitely a better choice. With a thicker dressing such as ranch or thousand island, a deep container is fine as most of the dressing will stick to the top of the salad. Although, I think a plate is better. French dressing can probably go both ways. Yeah, ok, I'm losing interest in this subject really fast so I think I'm done talking about it.

Chocolate

While I should have been working this morning, I came across some intersting infromation. Many people think chocolate contains caffeine. Apparently it doesn't. It contains a chemical very simalar called theobromine.



The effects are also a bit different and may explain why people go to chocolate as a comfort food rather then a can of Jolt. I think the site I got this info from may be a bit skewed toward chocolate, but interesting info none the less:

Theobromine                            Caffeine
gentle                                 intense
mild effect                            strong effect
very slow onset                        fast acting
long lasting                           rapid dissipation
50% in bloodstream after 6 to 10 hrs   50% in bloodstream after 2 to 5 hrs
increases feeling of well being        increases alertness
mild antidepressant                    increases emotional stress
gentle, smooth, sensual stimulation    jagged, nervous stimulation
stimulates cardiovascular system       stimulates cardiovascular system
stimulates muscular system             stimulates respiratory system
mild effect on central nervous system  strong effect on central nervous system
almost no one is allergic              many people allergic
not addictive                          physically addictive
no withdrawal symptoms                 many proven withdrawal symptoms
mild diuretic                          extreme diuretic stimulates the kidneys
                                         requires large intake of fluids to balance 
                                         the diuretic effect

"Death is a stripping away of all that is not you."
- Eckhart Tolle

3:14pm | Quality Dairy | Waverly and St. Joe

I'm kind of liking this random conversaion thing. So here's another one:

Loud Man: "I need a slurpie. I'm gonna have me a sluuurpie.
Cashier: "Lids are by the coffee..."
Loud Man: "A slllluuurpie..."
Cashier: "Artic Freeze. Slurpies are at Seven-Eleven."
Loud Man: "A slurpie and be like one of those hyper kids. MmmmHmmm."

Ok, and I think I'll write the next thing I hear coming from outside my office:
"Ohh, yup that was Gretchin... Got that deposit so we are comitted. Ugh, that's not going to be fun at all."

Stuff...

So I have several miscellaneous things to write about. None of them are that entertaining, but oh well. Sunday afternoon Chris and I found 2 robins eggs laying in the front yard. They're in the basement now incubating under a light. I doubt they will survive, but it's at least worth a try.

Last night was the biggest food with friend yet. I think there were 16 of us: Jeremy, Chris D., Chris S., Sam, Abby, Erin, Erin's Friend, Heather C., Heather D, Cathy, Dusty, Ellen, Jeff, Jeff's girlfriend, Carter, and myself. Yup, that's 16, so that was really cool. Definitely a lot of fun.

So it seems you can become an offical ordained clergy person at this site for free. I figured it was just a scam, but after researching it a bit, as best as I can tell it is legitimate. Seems that a lot of people have taken them up on it and are happy with the results. Maybe you'll be calling me Reverend Gabe soon...

I thought I might just start writing miscellaneous bits of overheard conversations, whatever they might be, interesting or not. This morning it was while I was sitting in Famous Taco on Waverly waiting for the french toast I ordered. I heard, "Fine! Fine! I want the snowmobile" and "have to fill out this paper on the tractor. I wanted it so I filled it out."

Ok, that's all. Seems like I had more, but that's all I can remember at the moment...

Villagers, go to sleep.

Last night was SO much fun, but I am so tired today. Chris and I went to the pot luck at Bower house. We ended up playing this crazy game with about 15 other people. Many were drunk so that made it all the more interesting. I don't even know how or where to begin to explain it and it probably won't sound like nearly as much fun as it really is. In fact, I don't really have time to try right now. Maybe later or maybe we'll play it at food w/ friends Sunday if there are enough people. Hmm, well that's all for the moment...

time

Things are so crazy lately. Maybe I should just take a week off work. It's getting kind of ridiculous, I can pretty much tell you what I'm going to be doing every minute of the day for the next 10+ days. Lets see:

Today 04/14
8am - 5pm Work
6pm - ? Teri is coming over and I might go to the Bower pot-luck after that

Fri 04/15
8am - 5pm Work
8pm - ? Maggie (Call for Hope) is playing at Magdalena's

Sat 04/16
9am - 11:30am Go to creative welding class
11:30am - 12:30pm Drive to Livonia for the Schoolcraft College for a fencing tournament.
6ish - get back and work with Chris on some stuff for his show, although I'm sure there will be some party or something else we will end up going to instead.

Sun 04/17
Morning / Early afternoon: Work with Chris on stuff for his show.
Afternoon / Evening: get food and cook, then food w/ friends

Mon 04/18
8am - 5pm Work
7pm - 10:50pm Fencing class

Tue 04/19
8am - 5pm Work
6pm - 6:30pm Go to part of piano class
6:30pm - 7:oopm Drive to Eaton Rapids for my fencing lesson
7:30-8 - Fencing Lesson
8:30pm Home to change, then to open mic at Espresso Royale

Wed 04/20
8am - 5pm Work
7:00pm Open mic at Magdalena's and Amy will be back so I'm sure I'll see her too

Thur 04/21
8am - 5pm Work
6pm - ? get any last minute things toegther for Chris's show

Fri 04/22
8am - 5pm Work
5:30pm Home to change, take my piano to Magdalena's for Chris's Show
8 - ? Chris's Show

Sat 04/23
Photo club trip to GR

Sun 04/24
? Wow, ok, so this is my first day with no definite plans. Any suggestions? : )

On top of all that stuff, there are so many other things I want to do. I'd like to clean out my garage and get my welding stuff set up in there since class is ending soon, I need to do some yard work, there are several people I'd really like to hang out with more - that's really the most important thing. I guess I get to do that on open mic nights and/or food w/ friends but that still doesn't feel like enough time. Grr...

Meet me somwhere, sometime, someday

Coincidences are strange. Sometimes so odd it seems as if probability has stepped out and put chance in charge. That was my Monday afternoon. I was downtown parked on Washington, just off of Michigan and across from the Michigania store. I was backing out when I saw a girl in a pink shirt with red hair. She looked really familiar. After a few moments of not being able to place her, I gave up and continued to back out. Then I see Chris. He's running to catch up with her. I honk at Chris, the girl looks at me, Chris yells 'Anna', I yell 'Chris' and there we all are. The girl ended up being Anna, Carters girlfriend. I knew she looked familiar. Then, within 30 seconds we run into two of Chris's friends. How odd for five people who know each other in one way or another to randomly find themselves in the same place at the same time...
Chris, Anna, and I went to eat at Schezuan Empire where Carter and Jarren joined us for a few minutes. They have the BEST broccoli and garlic sauce. I wish every day could be like that. Where at one moment I'm just on my way back to work to spend the last hour of the day in my office, and the next minute, I'm having dinner with friends.

Turkey today, Turkey tomorrow, Turkey in July.

Friday night I went shopping and bought some Oscar Mayer shaved turkey. That's Friday April 8th. The 'Sell by:' date on the package was JUL 4 2005. Doesn't that seem a bit wrong? According to healthlink.com "Turkey will keep 3-4 days in refrigerator." I know they have to at least add some preservatives with shipping time and everything, but should it really last nearly 3 months? Yum.

Alley Shots

I called Angela last night to see if she wanted to go take some night photos. We ended up going to this alley. I'm not going to say where it was because what fun would that be? You should guess. If you live in Lansing, you've probably driven past it, but never noticed it. What do you get if you guess correctly? Hmmm.... I'll have to think about that... So here are a few of the photos:

too tired to think of a good title

What a great and crazy weekend. Friday night Chris and I went to a party @ Bower house. The last one I went to there was a country theme. This one was a 'Dress to be Fucked' theme. Heh, yeah, a bit of a contrast to the country theme. I guess I missed the 'no pants' party a while back. Dam... Stayed there until 4am when it was just a small group of us. Saturday night was the variety show at Magdalena's then a formal 'bar stocking' party. It was kind of cool getting dressed up for a party. I haven't done that in a long time. There were SO many people there though, you could hardly move. I only stayed a couple hours though, I was still tired from the previous night.
Sunday was the usual food w/ friends. It turned out really well even though Jeremy, Sam, and Abby are gone to Florida. It was Chris, Britta, Murphy, Wade, Adam, Erin, Sara W, a friend of hers, and myself. Chris and I got a little creative before we started cooking: