When I was in high school I had this idea that basically, screw college! I was going to write swords-and-sorcery novels and/or RPG material. I might never be the next Stephen King or (as Dad put it) "write the great American novel"; but I'd heard repeatedly "do what you love and the money will follow", and genre fiction and RPGs were what I loved. Looking back, I realize that was adorably naive of me; very few writers (e.g. Raymond Feist) surface successfully from diving in with neither life experience nor... (...more)

Remember that Bryan Adams song, (everywhere I go,) Kids Wanna Rock? Me either. I mean, I remember that little bit of the breakdown, but the rest of the song is eminently forgettable. It appeared on the 1984 album "Reckless", and on a B-side (not "the" B-side) of "Summer of 69" - arguably the most entertaining part of which was the coda where the song is being padded out to radio time, and one of the last things you hear out of his mouth is "...me an' my baby in '69" Whereupon the popular imagination nat... (...more)

1/2 cup TrūRoots dry quinoa, in the green resealable bag, to 1 cup water and 1 rounded tsp Maggi chicken boullion. Bring to a boil, cover and let cook on low 15m. One 12-oz bag is 7 servings. 1/4 cup is 1 serving. So, the half-cup-dry recipe makes 2 servings. 1 serving provides 170 kcal, 16%DV fiber, 5g protein, a little calcium and 15%DV iron. Quinoa husks contain a natural insect repellent compound called saponin. I described the Pereg "Alla' Italian" mix as carroty - not in a bad way, just no... (...more)

Cold or hay fever or w/e that was is pretty much gone, except for some fluid swishing in my right inner ear. Coming up on 2 weeks since I last stepped in the gym, but the dumbbells have been good for daily hammer curls and wrist curls at least. Started reading in earnest the George Carlin 3-in-1 collection D.- gave me for... wow, math... my 41st bday? So that's at the head of a lineup of 4 books, plus a stack of other books I've either read or won't plunge into in the foreseeable future but can't bear p... (...more)

Success boil-in-bag whole grain brown rice The larger package size measures out at ~1.25 cups dry per bag, or 2.5 cups prepared. Mixed with a can of beans, this usually works out as 2 meals. Serving size as prepared is 1 cup, so the bag as prepared is also 2.5 servings for purposes of base nutrition reporting. 1 cup is 150 kcal, 7%DV fiber and 4g protein. So at a sitting, half a bag provides 188 kcal, 9%DV fiber, and 5g protein. Goya's website fails at actually providing any nutrition info for anything... (...more)