Faking It

I've been playing with the idea of becoming a vegetarian for years. This year it's taken on a life of it's own. I bought a vegan cupcake recipe book and for the most part, it's all been delicious. Tonight, I have cooked with tofu. I like tofu. I've had it before. I usually get some whenever I eat sushi and it's not as traumatic an experience as you would think. A few weeks ago when I was staying with my sister, she gave me free reign of her fridge and I found a tofu stir fry that she had made. Not wanting to eat a lot, or dirty a dish, I just grabbed a forkful and tried it and then ate the rest out of the tupperware like it was the first time I'd eaten since getting out of prison... So I bought some tofu to give it a whirl. It's good and it's good for you. And while I'm not going vegetarian just yet, I'll see what introducing it into my diet does for me. So I made what I make best, literally the only dish I make that resembles AND tastes like...

Eat cake, be merry! Our first official picture together! I like that you care enough about me to be in the scrubs, but not when the other two were born. Just me :) You say you were working all night. I say you look like the picture of the pumpkin I drew. You've helped me graduate a million times. And we're not done yet!! At least you don't have to help me with math anymore :) You're my Doctor Who enabler, and I love that we can geek out together aka sending the new trailers by email to make sure everyone's in the loop. You're my favorite guy. Clearly, we all love you! And this I just threw in because it's an Erin photo bomb and she won't like it, but I found and thought it was awesome! I'm a jerk and forgot this year, but I'll never forget how much I love you and how glad I am you're my Dad, Du, Dad Man, Dad Man-Du. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

And eventually it will be about my class, but as the crisis is ongoing (and it is a crisis, one that has left me with legitimate PTSD), I'll refrain from saying anything until it's over. That is... if it's ever over. But, to business. I didn't blog because I was busy teaching said course. And now I'm back. I've done two posts in two days and here's the third. It's been in the news recently that there's a new movement to ban children from certain things and places like airplanes, movie theaters, restaurants, etc. And I want to talk about it because I just read a really interesting article which you can read if you follow this link . My opinion may or may not shock some of you and hopefully I'll do a good job of explaining myself, but maybe I won't and I look forward to your letters. Now. As much as Auntie Megs really does love and adore the growing population of "nieces" (literally, I think it's majority girls at this point; if I...

I saw Hershey's made a new candy called "Air Delights" so I bought a bag of the kisses. I love Hershey's kisses, I just do. But these... I was expecting these to be really special because they remind me of one of my favorite candies... ... Aero bars. I bought one (among four or five others) when I was at Niagara Falls last summer and crossed into Canada and it was so amazing. I love candy from Canada, I grew up eating it, and I'm not sure if Aero bars are exclusively Canadian but they don't sell them this far into the States. And I miss them sometimes. Sad but it's true. So when I saw these I got really excited! And for some reason forgot myself and thought they'd taste like an Aero bar. And they didn't. They taste like Hershey's kisses, but lighter. They're good. But they're not the same.

I've resumed my search for a church in El Paso. And I started with the church I see in commercials. The one that has the most bumper stickers in this city. I knew what I was in for, but I figured what the heck. I was raised in a giant church, the first one we went to for a long time in Phoenix was actually a megachurch, but I don't remember it being extremely lavish. This, however, was a megachurch. An actual megachurch. It was ca-razy! But I learned a lot this morning. Mostly about myself, but still. I learned that it's difficult for me to take a church seriously and get past the initial thought that it's just about money when as soon as you walk in there's a full bookstore (think Borders airport style--like a proper size bookstore!), full coffee bar and movie theater, all in the lobby. I've never seen anything like that in a church. Anywhere. But the worship was great, really. Full band and choir, leader who sang harmony which I didn't understand. You'...

... I will be amazed. Warning to my non-religious readers: Christian stuff is about to be discussed, but at the end I include a list of things I'll be sorry won't happen should tomorrow not be a normal day. That could be funny. In case you are unaware aka you haven't read the paper, turned on the t.v., used the internet, been outside lately, the world's supposed to end tomorrow says Harold Camping. He used math to figure it out. He also used math to predict the world's end in September 1994. That obviously didn't happen and I have his statement about why he was wrong...oh wait, he never addressed it. But we're supposed to believe him this time. No thanks. My Dad put it well when we were talking earlier; he said he can't understand why people think God's playing this huge cosmic joke on us saying only He knows the date and time but is letting one guy figure it out with math or random clues tossed in everywhere when the rest of the Bible is fairly expl...

...with Big Red!" I've been next in line in my family to get a new car for a few years. Contrary to public opinion, graduate students don't actually make money and my parents are wonderful and generous and offered to help me buy a new car. And when it got closer to that time, we started talking about it and I expected it to happen in a year or two. Then my sister Kelly totaled her car. And got a new one. Then I was first in line. Then my Mom was almost killed in an accident that totaled her truck and broke the worst bone in your body to break, her calcaneus which is the heel bone. She had to have surgery and couldn't walk for months and it threw off the entire alignment of her body and had to have rehab to learn to walk again. But we were glad she was still with us for Christmas and the rest of forever. But she got surgery, and a new car. Then I was first in line. Then my sister Erin's Hyundai Accent crapped out and she got a new car, but it was a good enough deal ...