Kinda fun

Ok, on my friend Brad's blog I saw an interesting thing. He took the challenge to go to the 6th folder in his picture file and post the 6th picture in that folder on his blog. Just like Brad, I decided to just take a peek and check out the picture for kicks. Then, just like Brad, I decided to post it. It's kind of a fun picture that I haven't seen in a looong time:


That is a picture of some of the hair that was cut off of my head in the summer of '06 after letting my white-boy fro grow out for a long, long time. It is also a picture of a fairly impressive farmer tan and a slightly skinnier version of me. What more could you want?

Supah Hero!

It's me, Hero-ized!


You can check out the website if you'd like super powers...

Here's the menu for the multi-course meal I made (with some help from my sous-chef) for Mike and Kaela on Kaela's birthday:

Le Menu

Apéritif
Chile-Rubbed Shrimp with Avocado Corn Cocktail

Entrée
Crostini with Roasted Garlic, Goat Cheese and Apple Chutney

Plat Principal
Pan-Roasted Sirloin with Corn Relish
Roasted-Garlic Soufflé

Un Petit Dessert
Pomegranate Panna Cotta

Birthday Pizza

Last night I made my Mom pizza on her brand-new pizza stone. It was marvelous!


Basically I made the dough and while it sat I chopped veggies (Red Onion, Zucchini, Portabello Mushrooms, Green Bell Peppers and Cherry Tomatoes). I put the veggies in a casserole and tossed them in olive oil, salt and pepper. Meanwhile, I mixed some softened butter with green onions, minced garlic, and basil leaves. I put the veggies in the oven for 10 minutes at 425, and then put the crust in with the veggies for another 10 minutes (the pizza stone had been in during the preheat process). I removed the crust, spread it with the herb butter, added some mozzarella cheese, piled it high with roasted veggies, sprinkled it generously with parmesan and baked it until browned and bubbly. And thus, Roasted Vegetable Bianca Pizza was born!

It really was tasty. The crust turned out marvelous, a sturdy medium-thickness crust that didn't bend under the significant weight of lovely vegetables but wasn't overly dense. Hurrah for pizza stones! The veggies were soft but still had some texture to them, providing satisfying resistance. The butter precluded any need for sauce and compensated for my relatively light use of cheese. I would have liked to put some asiago, romano or fontina cheese, but Wal-Mart doesn't have the greatest selection...

Anyhow, good pizza!

GREAT word

Check this out:

Omphiloskepsis - The act of contemplating one's navel

Follow-up

A friend of mine discovered this, and I wanted to pass it on as a follow-up to my previous blog. This is an ad printed in the New York Times concerning the backlash against the LDS church over Prop 8:

http://www.nomobveto.org/images/nytad_lg.png

Quite frankly, I'm very impressed. I'm glad that responsible citizens (who don't profess to be mormon or gay) are willing to speak out against the ridiculous response to LDS members (and others) who supported Prop 8.

Well done, sirs.

In the wake of Prop 8

I wasn't a big participator in the Prop 8 argument. I'm not firmly decided in any particular way, it seems MUCH more complicated that most want it to be. Believe it or not, the argument over Prop 8 is not between lunatic, godless, twisted sex demons bent on fiery, burning apocalypse and the complete destruction of America's moral system versus wild-eyed Christian fanatics bent on conquest through Bible-violence, forcing their opinions on innocent bystanders like bloody crusaders of years past carving a swath through heathen "Mohamadens".

It's all much more human than that. These people on both sides are people, people.

However, what does get me in a bit of a fit (Besides retarded Mormons with no idea how to ethically consider people that have different beliefs and lifestyles) is the post-prop 8 backlash. Many of the homosexual-rights groups have gone well past the line. I'm not talking about civil rights or political platitudes. I'm talking about blatant disregard of life, liberty and property. Why do we even HAVE a constitution if these people can trample on the rights of those that disagree?

Check out this article, it echoes many of my sentiments in a fairly level-headed way:
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=YTU5MjZmMDIyMDU3NjRiMjBlNjcxYTlmOGQ2ODA5NjA=

Why do we stand for it? Why are the protesters climbing over the wall of the LA temple not thrown in prison? Why are many of the vocal anti-religious groups not branded as the bigoted idiots that they present themselves as? Why isn't America pissed about this?

I am.