Chocolate Mug Cake

I got this recipe as a forward, thought it might be worth sharing:

MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE

1 Coffee Mug
4 tablespoons flour(that's plain flour, not self-rising)
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons baking cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
Small splash of vanilla

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well . Add the egg and mix thoroughly.
Pour in the milk and oil and mix well.
Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla, and mix again.
Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts. The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed!
Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.
EAT! (this can serve 2 if you want to share!)

And why is this the most dangerous cake recipe in the world? Because now we are all only 5 minutes away from chocolate cake at any time of the day or night!

Sarcasm - it takes a smart person to get it

Thanks for the title, GC. :)

Story here

See link above for full story...I think this quote is so damn funny:

"The best part is that liberals often mindlessly mistake his genuine outrage for sarcasm and believe he's on their side while he's quite effectively evicerating them. Stephen Colbert... a true patriot in every sense."

He is so bitingly sarcastic that you have to be completely obtuse to miss it. I know Mr. W caught on to it at the 2006 White House Correspondent's Dinner just from watching his face in the video - and that's saying quite a lot for Mr. W. Typically I would put him in the "completely obtuse" category...

Well, Country Above Self, bravo for being dumber even than one of the stupidest presidents in the history of our great nation. Bravo!

Good day!

143 years ago today the slaves were freed (Happy Juneteenth!)
Today my SIL got the job she really wanted, congrats!

And Nephew was born! His name is Justin Andrew and he was born at 7:35 p.m., 7 pounds, 7 ounces and 19" long. Woo!

I'll post pics when I get them.

Happy day!

Gas guzzling protests

While discussing gas prices and "supply and demand" which is supposedly affecting the price (don't get me started on that-if it were true then how are the big 3 recording record profit?!) I started thinking about gas guzzlers. Just for the sake of argument, though, I'll suspend disbelief.

It's the attitude of "It's my RIGHT as an American to drive a truck and besides, I have to pay for the gas so STFU!" that is driving me nuts. Individually, no, 1 SUV or truck with 10-16 mpg will not drive up the price. However, the number of them on the road does nothing positive for the "supply and demand" argument. If A and B, then C, If C then D; If (A) you have a 10-16 mpg vehicle and (B) you commute in traffic then (C) you use a shit-ton of gas. If (C), then (D) the supply of gas goes DOWN and the demand for gas goes UP. Which drives the price up...

Anyway, for those of us who either have a good mpg vehicle or carpool, we should be rather pissed about the ones who are driving down supply and driving up price.

What would happen if we were to picket and yell at people who have gas guzzling vehicles that are NOT used for something like, perhaps, farm work as they were intended (great big trucks like F-250 which can haul a ton, literally, of whatever you want).

There are some people who are morally against abortion who will picket a clinic and tell the mothers that they are horrible people and going to hell and that they're killing babies...what would happen if we did the same to people who are wasting gas? How about I take out a billboard that shows a picture of a gas guzzler and a child starving to death because his/her parent can't afford the gas to work?

First, it wouldn't be well received because "It's my RIGHT as an American...." and that's infringing on my rights! "You can't tell me what to do with MY OWN LIFE!" Sorry, that kinda falls on deaf ears here since that's not a mother's right. And of course there's no profit motive to promote abortion...

Anyway, I don't really have anywhere else to go with this right now. Just wanted to put it out there!

Plimpie, this one's for you

So I've been reading an old friend's blog, which covers (so far, I started at the beginning) a lot about the war in Iraq. How we've been lied to, etc., since the beginning.

I can't help but think about 9/11 and what has happened since then. We as Americans have glibly-or fearfully, even-stood by and let our freedoms be taken away. Some of us, like me, are enraged but don't know what to do about it. Others, which seems like 90% of Americans (but I'm probably really wrong-that's my hope) to be honest here, seem to happily hand off freedom to be "safe." "Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." -Ben Franklin, or perhaps Richard Jackson as is theorized in this entry: http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin

THAT IS ABSURD!! How many years did we operate as a country, relatively free of terrorist successes, before we were told that we needed to be treated as enemies in our own country so that we can be "safe?" Heightened "security" in airports, wiretapping, search/seizure/arrest without a warrant-these are just the beginning. I don't read enough to know what all has been taken away. I do know that as a result of this posting I am likely to end up on a watch list. If I do something "terrorist"-like (such as talking to others about my discontent, perhaps?) my home can be searched, evidence removed without my consent or even my knowledge, and I could disappear from the face of the Earth. No trial by jury of my peers or any of those "minor" rights I enjoy as a citizen of The Greatest Nation On Earth. I would be erased, and that's about it. And, if my neighbors so happened to notice some odd occurrence (like my house is being searched), they are not allowed to say a single word.

I hate to be a conspiracy theorist or anything, but this is sounding eerily like 1984. Our 2 minutes Hate is watching the news, which seems to forever contain things like "The War on Terror" and "Another recall in China." True, we're not (yet) required to direct our hate at set intervals while being watched continuously through the television and observed for ANY sign of disagreement. We're not quite required to wear clothing chosen for us by the government, and we still have the lottery throughout most of society. Unfortunately, though, I think at some point our government just may have read 1984 and various blurbs from successful dictators and/or their advisors.

"Communism and fascism or nazism, although poles apart in their intellectual content, are similar in this, that both have emotional appeal to the type of personality that takes pleasure in being submerged in a mass movement and submitting to superior authority." James A. C. Brown (http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quotes_about/nazi)

Sounds a bit like the push for a Christian America, doesn't it? For a country that was founded-for the most part-based on religious freedom, I have trouble agreeing with this push. Besides that, we see what wonders a religion-based government has done for other countries. It's no good and I want no part of it.

"Not every item of news should be published. Rather must those who control news policies endeavor to make every item of news serve a certain purpose." Joseph Paul Goebbels, same site

Look up Blacklisted News. http://www.blacklistednews.com/

"The war made possible for us the solution of a whole series of problems that could never have been solved in normal times." Joseph Paul Goebbels, same site

Sounds familiar. How did we come to be in Iraq? A convenient 9/11 attack, as a knee-jerk reaction, although the current administration will deny to their graves that they used it as an excuse.

"Why of course the people don't want war. Why should some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece? Naturally the common people don't want war neither in Russia, nor in England, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country." Hermann Goering, same site

Wow, this was followed pretty much word for word. They improvised a bit too though because those of us who oppose the war also do not support our troops. On the contrary, it is my support of the troops which causes me to oppose the war. We're fighting a war without a clear focus (to the American public, anyway, terror is such a broad concept and who doesn't want us to rot at this point?!) and with no feasible end. There is no benefit to us and only hurt to others, so why should we send our most valuable commodity-true patriots willing to give Life for Country-to die as pawns in a twisted game of power? We've spread our troops to the winds such that we can't recruit enough people to protect the country (how many fronts are we fighting on at this point?), and who would want to join at this point anyhow! Let's stop spending so much damn money on a war we won't win and BRING OUR BOYS (and girls) HOME!

Anyway, I guess that's about all the ranting I have in me right now. My acid reflux/heartburn BS has gone away and I'm getting tired. I'll be back though, as I am still a disgruntled American with (so far) the freedom to air my grievances. Even if I haven't done all my research. :)

I hate Antibiotic

So, I got bitten by a dog last week. I have been on 2 different antibiotics since Monday, and one of them is horrible. I have to take it 4 times a day and it's so strong, or whatever, that you're not allowed to lie down or bend over or, apparently, lean forward the slightest bit, for 30 mins after taking it. If you do, it's the worst case of acid reflux/heartburn you've ever had. But rest assured, you can drink a little water which does absolutely nothing or heartburn meds which do absolutely nothing. Instead, you can sit around for about 20 mins praying for your life to end and eventually it will fade.

This is the second time now, and I've been pretty conscious about not bending over. It's 5:30 in the morning and I got up, on a holiday, to be tortured. I'm tired and I want to go to bed, my esophagus/chest burn (it's rather like the whole area from the neck to the top of my breasts is on fire), and I probably won't be able to sleep after I've been awake the obligatory 30 mins to avoid exactly what I am feeling now.

I'm just about ready to throw in the towel and do what I lecture others about - skip the rest of the pills. The bite is healing and WHY THE HELL do I have to torture myself by staying up late and getting up early to take a pill? This isn't fair.

I'll talk to Kyle before I make any decisions since this is a bad idea, but it really hurts. And chances are that since I went 2 days without it that I never had an infection anyway.

Trivia 4-23-08

OK, so I am bad about updates. Oh well.

There are more cars in Southern California than there are cows in India.

Eric Clapton did not play the very famous first riff on the song "Layla". That was Duane Allman. Clapton comes in later.

The two-foot long bird called a Kea that lives in New Zealand likes to eat the strips of rubber around car windows.

The province of Alberta, Canada is completely free of rats.

As you age, your eye color gets lighter.

The blue whale can produce sounds up to 188 decibels. This is the loudest sound produced by a living animal and has been detected as far away as 530 miles.

It takes approximately 12 hours for food to entirely digest.

I'm an ENTJ

These are my personality test results

Trivia 4-15-08

And we know this guy probably needed Biggest Loser...except that fat at that time probably was linked to wealth/prosperity and was therefore desirable:

Louis XIV (1638-1715), was recorded to eat "four soups, a pheasant, a partridge, a plate of salad, sliced mutton with garlic, two lumps of ham, a plate of pastries, fruits and preserves" at one sitting.

Biggest Loser: Couples, Season 5

OK, I am typically not one to watch "new" shows (I did have a brief stint where I did, and most of them have since been canceled*). So, it's not terribly surprising that it's taken 5 seasons for me to succumb to the wonders of Biggest Loser (or as my brother-in-law has named it, World's Fattest Asshole). I saw one challenge early in with the see-saw challenge, but I didn't really start watching it religiously until after Mark and Ali came back. I guess that means I watched it for 4 episodes or so?

Anyway, it's been really good. And the best part?

ALI WAS THE FIRST GIRL BIGGEST LOSER!! I was kinda rooting for Kelli, but I didn't think she'd beat Roger, and she didn't. But AWESOME ALI!!

I can relate to a lot of what Ali has said about her fat being a security blanket. And, losing weight IS difficult so it's a lot easier to stay fat and "safe." But, as she said, if it wasn't hard it wouldn't feel that good.

I've been there, I've lost weight, and I've looked really great. Right now I can't remember how much weight I lost...well, I can if I do the math. But it's not really important because that was the past and I've got a bigger goal now than I did then. I am currently the heaviest I've ever been. It's unhealthy and I think it's the same problem I've had with my debt. It's not like I put on 10 pounds a week or add $1000 a month to my debt bill. It comes in (relatively) small amounts and the attitude I've had is, "well it's only 2 pounds, I'll get rid of it later with the rest of it." Yes, now it's only 2 pounds...but then I look at a quick meal (Ramen, frozen pizza, etc.) and think, "Well, with this much (I'd like to lose about 100 at this point in time) to lose, what the hell difference will 2 pounds make?" But the problem is I do this day after day, week after week.

And eventually it's another 10 pounds and I'm more depressed and I'm even harder on myself...which makes me think "screw it, it's only another pound what the hell difference will it make..."

Well, it can make a lot of difference.

It's time to make a change, though. I have a new Gazelle and (sort of) space to use it. I know that when I exercise, I pay much closer attention to my diet - "Why am I eating an 8 point item now when I just worked my ass off for 45 mins to burn that shit off?"

I have no more good excuses. It takes a lot of time, yes. But it's healthier and more cost effective if I would eat the way I know I should.

In the past I have felt like Ali - if someone doesn't like me, it was because I was fat. If I'm not fat, then it's me they don't like...but if they like me skinny and reject me fat - THAT'S NOT COOL!! I don't want those people in my life anyway.

So, it's time to cast off my security blanket and get healthy. No more excuses.







*There are a few exceptions - so far Chuck is on the air and I have watched My Name is Earl since the beginning. I think I was a Season 1 watcher of Scrubs when they put it on the air as a hopeful replacement for Friends, but I believe that is all.

Trivia 4-13-08

Here are several tidbits since I missed a few days.

A baby is born without kneecaps. They appear between age 2 and 6.

The microwave oven was invented by mistake when an engineer testing a magnetron tube noticed that the radiation from it melted the chocolate bar he had in his pocket.

The Olympic flag's colors are always red, black, blue, green and yellow rings on a field of white. This is because at least one of those colors appears on the flag of every nation on the planet.

The arteries and veins surrounding the brain stem called the "circle of Willis" looks like a stick person with a large head.

23% of employees say they have had sex in the office.

Trivia 4-9-08

Homing pigeons use roads where possible to help find their way home. In fact, some pigeons followed roads so closely that they actually flew around traffic circles before choosing the exit that led them home.

Trivia tidbit

I found a great source of trivia. If I remember, I'm going to post something new every day that I'm on the computer.

Here's today:

Richard Versalle, a tenor performing at New York's Metropolitan Opera House, suffered a heart attack and fell 10 feet from a ladder to the stage just after singing the line "You can only live so long."

I speak dog!

So it's been raining, and it's a little wet outside...puddles and mud and such. We took our dog Gavin to the door and asked if he wanted to go out. We clipped on his tether, he walked out a step, turned around and came back. I am pretty sure that's dog for "fuck that."

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Lets101 Quizzes - Fun Quiz

Catch-22s and the people who are screwed by them

Hi. My name is Angie, and I'm a debtor.

(Hi Angie!)

So, we're in debt, like the other 85% of Americans our age. There's the "easy" temporarily-kill-your-credit solution of debt consolidation, or the not-so-easy snowball solution. For those who have equity in their homes, there's the HELOC (Home Equity Line of Credit). We don't own a house, so that's out. We would like to own one soon, though, so debt consolidation is kind of out (unless we settle on buying land/a house in 4-6 years). Snowballing is not quick or easy.

I've thought a lot about debt consolidation. It potentially lowers the monthly payment by locking interest rates and cutting other magical deals with the lenders. The unfortunate part is that for us, it's probably a 4-5 year fix. In that time we are allowed to have 1 open credit card for emergencies and we are not allowed to take out loans. I know this means small loans, and I wager it means big ones too like houses and/or land.

The rental house we are in is an utter piece of shit and moving into another rental feels like throwing money in a hole. I mean, sure, I don't have to worry about holes in the roof or water in the basement (4" of it, it sucked), but at the same time I could be building equity. The market is soft and it's a good time to buy, right? The problem is we're not technically able to commit to more than we're paying now in rent and that wouldn't cover a proper house with taxes and insurance.

So, in review: we're in debt, which makes it more difficult to get a loan. If we had a house, eventually we could get a HELOC to pay off high-interest debts, but it's difficult to get a house. Because of how much we're paying to credit cards, we can't afford a mortgage payment. And, to lower that quickly we could do debt consolidation...but then we couldn't get a house...

*sigh*

Do we commit to something that makes me supremely uncomfortable for as much as 5 years (no safety net of going to the bank and getting a small loan)? Do we put it off and try for a house anyway? Do we move into a different rental that can be more long term, but where we still can't do any mods and have to worry about what our pets might ruin? Do we try to get some land so we can build our dream house in cob?

I really don't know what to do. I wish I knew the answer.

If I sit too long, I risk lengthening the time we're in debt with "bad" debt (credit cards, not student loans). If I move too hastily, I could put us out of building equity for several years, and might miss the opportunity to buy in a soft market.

Then, if we did go for a house, there's the question of where. I want to move to Mount Vernon because that's where we want to move to build the cob. If we own a home, we can always rent it or sell it when we're done with the cob. It keeps us in a home, where we build equity and potentially stand to make money. If we're in Mount Vernon, it's easier to commit to building on the weekends to the exclusion of anything else (during optimal building season).

However, my friend tells me this evening that there are houses that her in-laws are renting out, brand new, that will be rent-to-buy. That would be nice - something that we could move into fairly quick, and that would essentially be ours. Plus, the rent is close to what we pay now, I'm just not sure how the insurance thing would work since we wouldn't actually own it. They're in Springfield, which is nice, but divorces us from the cob. We'd be committing to building 30 miles away and driving an awful lot.

Ideally I think I would like to buy something in Mount Vernon (or nearby) with an acre or two of land. That would give us space to experiment and ultimately it would be near our build site.

My husband is worried that buying a home would delay or cancel the cob, though, since we would have comfortable quarters. He may be right, but if we were building equity it would make the cob easier to manifest in the future. Once we had $40k in the house we could take it out, no questions asked, and buy our land and fund the project.

I like the last idea best, but I don't really know how to make it work out. I guess I could meditate. I have a hard time with it though, so perhaps I need to just get off my butt and read Chop Wood, Carry Water. It might help!

I suppose that's about it for now. More to come soon, I'm sure.

2008 candidates

I took this quiz and here's what it said...apparently I'm in agreement with the main democratic candidates and they seem to have a similar platform. I guess I "win" either way. *shrug*

	Hillary Clinton Score: 58	Agree Immigration Taxes Stem-Cell Research Health Care Abortion Social Security Line-Item Veto Energy Marriage Death Penalty	Disagree Iraq
	Barack Obama Score: 58	Agree Immigration Taxes Stem-Cell Research Health Care Abortion Social Security Line-Item Veto Energy Marriage Death Penalty	Disagree Iraq
-- Take the Quiz! --

I love this article!

California's Secession Letter to Bush

Awesome picture

Awesome