I know the meaning of life. I know why we are here. I know what it’s all about. That’s been the point of the whole shebang. I’m not going to unveil it now. That would be a waste. It’s too soon. This is just the teaser. The trailer to say, that there is more coming. More to say, more to do. “More to me than there is to me” as Leo Bloom would say. A lot of people will answer 42, because they heard it once in that one movie… WELL! If you actually read the books… you’d know that 42 is the ultimate answer. The ultimate answer to life, the universe, and everything. But the people who asked for the answer to the ultimate question did not understand the ultimate question in itself. Later on in the story, a new machine was built to produce the ultimate question, so that we could understand the ultimate answer. This machine malfunctioned, and produced the question “What is Six by Nine?” well, as we all know six multiplied by nine is 54, not 42…. So the people that built these machines decided to come up with their own question. That question was ‘How many roads must a man walk down?’. This makes more sense with the answer 42, and is something that will make you think. Well, I have news. The meaning of life, why we are all here, it is not 42. Though that was a good, humorous, jaunt into philosophy; Douglas Adams was not quite on point. I will say, however, that the meaning of life is very simple. It is something, nay, three things… that all living things have in common. Everything that lives will strive for these same three goals in their lives. Even plants. It is why we are here. It makes scientific sense, and it is not the prophetic, ideological, or philosophical answer you were looking for. But it is true….
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Perfection is a fool’s errand
Tonight I was at the bar. The manager walked up next to one of the servers. He told her how to do her job. She’s been there for a while. I know because I’ve seen her there before. When he was done he said ‘We strive for perfection here’. I immediately thought how stupid that was to say. As a manager myself, sure, you want people to be the best they can be. Perfection, however, is impossible. To be truly perfect you’d have to somehow embody everyone’s image of perfection simultaneously. That is not possible for any human being; from a realist standpoint. I don’t want my employees to strive for perfection. I want them to strive to be the best they can be. I want them to feel fulfilled, not pressured. So I say, strive for your own image of perfection. Try, every day, to be a better person than you were the day before. Challenge yourself, and be the best you can be. Throw everything else out the window.
Radiohead
I come off as a creep. I know I do. Or maybe it’s all in my mind. I like that song. It’s one of my favorite songs, but it makes me cry. Every time. I know that I come off as a creep. I don’t mean to. I just do. If I could not, I would not. I feel like that’s just me though. It’s because I have a hard time talking to people. Whether you’re male, female, a dog, I don’t care. I can’t talk to new people. I’ve been betrayed by people, people that I’ve let in as close friends. So I have a hard time talking to new people. I have a hard time opening up to anyone that I don’t know. I keep things short, I keep things down to only what needs to be said. All the while though, I’m curious. I have ADHD. So I’m constantly looking around; constantly watching everything that happens around me. I appear like a weirdo, someone that just watches everyone and never talks to them.
Nate’s World Famous (I Wish) Cheese-cup-cakes
Many people have tasted my cheesecake, and many people say it’s awesome. This is the recipe I use. The recipe for the crust is very much estimated. You may end up with extra crust mix… I do, however, know the right proportions. I know the recipe below is not quite a normal recipe. It takes a bit of learning to make these just right, and I use some of my own terminology. So… here it is.. published online for all to see and use and make and enjoy. My Cheese-cup-cakes.
There’s a golden ratio to all of this recipe. For all of it you will want to follow these rules:
Filling: 1 8oz block of cream cheese = 1/4 cup sugar = 1 egg + splash of vanilla ( I honestly don’t know how much vanilla I use… it’s like an eighth of a teaspoon or something like that)
Crust: 1 cup graham cracker crumbs = 1/2 cup sugar = 1 tsp cinnamon = 5 Tbsp butter
Crust:
- 3 cups Graham Cracker Crumbs
- 1 1/2 Cups Sugar
- 3 Tsp Cinnamon
- 15 Tbsp Butter
Mix the graham cracker crumbs, cinnamon, and sugar in a bowl. Make sure they are well mixed. Melt the butter and pour it into the bowl with the cinnamon, crumbs and sugar. Mix well until the crust clumps together. Take two cupcake pans, the kind that make 12 cakes per pan, and line them with papers. Put a heaping Tbsp of the crust mixture into each liner and press it down with your fingers. Set aside.
Filling:
- 4 8oz blocks of Cream Cheese (Philadelphia brand is all I ever use, generic brand will get all clumpy and weird..)
- 1 cup sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
Soften the cream cheese first, that will make it easier to blend. In a large mixing bowl put all of the cream cheese and all 4 eggs, then mix with a hand mixer on medium speed until well blended. Lower the hand mixer to low speed and while mixing on low, slowly pour in the sugar. It is important that the mixer is on low, and that you add the sugar slowly, about a quarter of a cup at a time. Once the sugar is blended in you can increase the mixer speed to high speed. Continue mixing until the mixture folds over like silk. It’s hard to say in words what this should look like, but you should know it when you see it. The cheese mixture should be free of lumps. (This is why I use Philadelphia brand cream cheese… every other brand I’ve tried always ends up lumpy)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Take the cupcake pans and spoon about 2 Tbsp of the cheese filling mixture into each of the cupcakes. Don’t worry about spreading them smooth, if you made the filling right it will settle as they cook. Place the pans in the oven and cook for 8 – 12 minutes. As they cook you will see the filling bubble up, when it looks like it is a bubble about ready to burst, they are ready. Pull them out of the oven and let them cool on the stove-top for 15 – 20 minutes. Transfer them to a flat cookie sheet and put them in the refrigerator to cool for another 2+ hours.
bored
I haven’t written in a while, so I feel obliged to write. Well, here it is. I wrote something.
$@#%
This is a rant. I’m very upset. I was at the bar. All I wanted to do was enjoy a few beers and some pretzels. This particular bar has awesome soft pretzel sticks, that are served with sriracha ranch and queso… but that’s not what this post is about. Though those pretzels are awesome….. But still. even though I was able to enjoy my beer and pretzels I was pissed off. There were these douches.. at the bar. Sexist, old creepy weirdo assh’les chillin there at the bar, drinking and doing creepy weird things to the women bartenders. I could tell that the bartenders were put off by it, but they also put up with it. These guys were obviously regulars. The girls behind the bar just dealt with their creepy advances probably because they tipped well. I sat there politely minding my own business, enjoying my beer and pretzels; watching the winter olympics on tv. I noticed that two new bartenders came in and they started changing drawers and it looked like a shift change. I made sure to close out before the shift change so that the bartenders who took care of me could get the tip before they leave. I’ve worked in a restaurant, I know the drill. Generally I did not have to ask for another beer when I wanted one, Instead I was asked if I would like one. I had a good experience with my servers and so I tipped well (well over 18%). I did not need them to put up with me being a douche bag pervert assh’le to leave a good tip. The behavior I witnessed made me ashamed to be a man. It made me ashamed to know that men get away with treating women that way. It was offensive and irritating to see that happen. I was thinking about it as I went home. How if I were one of those women my job would mean less than my dignity. I’d punch those creepy old dudes right in the face and knock them on their ass. f’ck those dudes. then I realized something else. Maybe I feel that way because I’ve been raised as a man. I’ve never had to really deal with that kind of treatment in a public forum. I don’t know what it’s like to be a woman. Maybe it’s not the fact that they need the job that prevents them from punching an assh’le in the face. maybe it’s the fact that they’re used to it. they deal with it every day, all the time….. F’ck…. what a load of crap… what a big heaping steaming pile of f’cked up bullsh’t….. it made me even more ashamed to be a man. It’s time that men stood up for the rights of women. We need more men that are feminists. #heforshe
Red Chile Sauce
I recently moved from New Mexico to Texas. Since moving out here I’ve been really missing real Mexican food. Well not real Mexican food, but New Mexican food; I understand that there’s a difference. I’ve been fortunate enough to find places locally to buy red and green chile. It took me a while to make a red chile sauce that reminds me of my favorite places to eat in New Mexico, but I think I’ve done it. So here it is, my take on an authentic New Mexican Red Chile sauce.
- 6 dried Guajillo peppers
- 6 dried red New Mexico red chile peppers.
- 5 dried Chile de Arbol peppers. (These add to the spiciness, so use more or less according to your taste)
- 2 cloves garlic (Chopped)
- 1 medium white onion (Chopped)
- 1/2 tbsp of salt
- 1/2 tbsp of pepper
- 1/2 tbsp celery flakes
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 8 cups of Water
- 3/4 cup of cold water
- 2 tbsp corn starch
Remove the stems from all of the peppers, slice them open and remove the seeds. Tear the peppers into smaller pieces and add them to a large pot. Add in the peppers, half of the garlic, half of the onion, salt, pepper, celery flakes, and cumin. Put the 8 cups of water in a large pot and heat it up until it boils then lower it to a simmer. Let this simmer on the stove until it reduces to about half of where you started (About 1-1.5 hours), stirring occasionally. When everything has reduced, pour everything into a blender, then add in the other half of the garlic and onion. Be very careful of this next step. The heat and steam produced from the mix will want to pop the top off of your blender. So blend it slowly, increasing speed gradually hold the top down tight. A blender with a locking lid would be preferred. Leave the blender on low-medium speed for about 5 – 10 minutes. Once you’ve reached the desired speed you should be able to leave it alone while you wait.
Pour the chile mixture back into the pot heating it on medium. In another small mixing bowl, mix the cold water and corn starch until the corn starch is well blended and chunk free. Pour this in with the chile mixture and stir well. Heat the chile on at a very low simmer stirring frequently. Let this reduce until it reaches your desired thickness. Then it’s done.
Yield: 4 – 5 cups.
PS: To pick the best peppers look for ones that are not too dry. They should be leathery without any dust or mold on them and should not crack when you bend them.
Happy February
This post is about my appreciation, my admiration, and my love for black people and their culture. I want to make this very clear to the beginning. If you disagree with this in any way, you can go straight to hell and eat a bag full of d’cks. I will not tolerate negative comments or feedback on this post. If I get it, I will immediately assume you are a bigot and a racist. For clarifications sake right now; I am white. My heritage is Scottish, German, and English… mostly…. I am white as white can be, but boy can I hold some liquor… that’s a story for another day.
First off, I want to say Happy February. As we all know it is Black History Month. This is a time to celebrate black people, and the wonderful things that they have done for humanity. I also want to say that I know I cannot understand. There is no way for me to fathom what it is like to be a black person in America. I’ve grown up with white privilege and don’t have any way of knowing the hardships you go through. I appreciate that the people of color I have encountered in my life have all be friendly, supportive, and kind despite it all.
I don’t want this to sound like a typical wipipo post about black history month. I don’t want it to sound like I’m unsympathetic to the plight of blacks in America. I am hoping that everyone who reads this understands that I love all of humanity, regardless of the color of their skin. My hope is that we can all learn to work together, to love one another, to achieve true unity. But that hope may be lost in the semantics.
New Year’s Resolutions
Sorry, not sorry…. but if you don’t have at least a 1080p monitor, I don’t really f’cking care about your resolution.
Random thoughts of spontaniety
I’m like Johnny Five. I crave Input. IO…. man… IO.