A Memorial Day Saturday 9

Memorial Day weekend and the unofficial start of the summer season is finally upon us!

In preparation for the holiday, I decided to visit Crazy Sam’s Saturday 9 blog and answer another round of questions.

1) This recording was made live at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, during Sen. Robert Kennedy’s funeral. While both of Bobby’s older brothers were decorated war heroes, he served too — enlisting in the Navy in 1943. Are you a veteran? Are there veterans in your family? (We are grateful and want to hear about it.)

I have never served in the military.  My grandfather served in World War II, while my father was in the Army reserves but never saw active duty.

2) Memorial Day also kicks off the summer season. What’s your favorite picnic food?

I have always been a huge fan of deviled eggs.  If they are offered to me, I’ll typically enjoy two or three of them.

Delicious! (Photo source: Flickr)

3) Name a scent that reminds you of someone special in your life.

Unless the smell is particularly unpleasant, I don’t often associate scents with people.

4) When was the last time you had your hair cut or trimmed?

I had my hair cut last Tuesday.  I’ve had better haircuts, but that’s the way things have gone lately.  2013 has not been a good hair year for me.

5) Crazy Sam runs on Dunkin’. Are you loyal to a particular brand of coffee?

I don’t drink coffee.  This makes me the office weirdo wherever I work.  (Well, that amongst other things)

6) If money was no object, what home improvement would you like to make this summer?

We would fix the drainage in our backyard.  When it rains, the right side of our yard becomes a huge pool of water.  And unfortunately, it has been raining a lot lately.

7) What was the last thing you bought purely for your own enjoyment?

I am assuming that food doesn’t count. (Though I did enjoy that last bag of M&Ms I had)  I bought myself a new pair of Nike sneakers.  I still don’t have them completely broken in yet.  I need to remember to bring them with me to the gym.

8) When was the last time you rode a bike?

Two weeks ago, I took a bike ride around my neighborhood.  I realized that my bike really needs some fine tuning, as the gear shift is off, and the seat won’t stay in place.  Aside from those problems, it was a pleasant experience.

These fellows were likely more intense about their bike riding than I was. (Photo source: Flickr)

9) Sam worries that many of her song selections reflect her decidedly Baby Boomer sensibilities. Is there a song or a performer that you’d like to see featured in a Saturday 9 this summer?

Guns N’ Roses would be a real treat!

Hope you all enjoy the long weekend and be sure to have a very happy Memorial Day!

Brevity

My goal was to write a short post.

My posts tend to be on the longer side, and while there’s nothing necessarily wrong with lengthier posts, I realized that it might be limiting my potential audience.

When I talk to my friends, I may ask them if they’ve checked out my latest post.  Sometimes I’ll get replies like, “I haven’t had time to read it yet,” or “I got busy so I wasn’t able to read it all.”

I interpret these comments to mean either:

• “I have no interest in what you wrote.”
• “I like your blog, but I don’t like it enough to make the time commitment necessary to read a thousand words about G.I.Joe or Laser Tag.”

As captivating as my writing must be, I suppose that not everyone always wants to hunker down to read a long post.  Some people want their blogs to be like their Easy Mac: Quick and easy to consume.

It’s easy! It’s mac! It’s Easy Mac! (Photo source: Flickr)

So while this blog will always contain its share of lengthier posts, I decided to make an effort to include more shorter, easy-to-read posts as well.

My target was 500 words.  That didn’t seem so tough.  Surely I’d be able to effectively make a point in 500 words.  As a bonus, I’d be able to enter it into this week’s Yeah Write grid. (Which I did!)

I picked a topic that I thought I could cover in under 500 words and began pounding away at the keyboard.  (Pounding is a very accurate way to describe my typing style.  Multiple co-workers have asked me if I was angry at my keyboard.)

I started getting into it.  The words kept coming and coming, and when I finally came up for air, I checked my word count.  I had already typed 565 words!

How did this happen?  This was supposed to be a short post!  Apparently, I either have too much to say (possible), or I need to learn to be more concise with my writing. (likely)

I suspect that my lack of formal writing training is the main cause of my wordiness.  Aside from some college classes and an online course on creative writing, I haven’t had any real education when it comes to writing.

I could also use an editor.  It would be nice to have someone offer suggestions like, “You’re being redundant,” or “This sentence is unnecessary.”

Since I overshot my goal so badly, I pushed that entry aside for the time being.  In its place, I wrote this post which discusses my attempt to write a different post.  I know, it’s all very meta.

One thing I’ve discovered: Some of the people who don’t have the attention span necessary to read my longer posts do enjoy skipping ahead to watch a video at the end.

So to all you short attention spanners out there, this teaser trailer of Anchorman 2 is for you!

An Interview with Spider-Man

Today’s Daily Prompt was to interview a fictional character.

That sounded easy. After all, the world of fiction is filled with countless interesting characters who would undoubtedly be captivating interview subjects. The difficult part was deciding which character I should talk to.

Searching for inspiration, I took a glance at my lunch box…

This is my lunchbox. Yes, you should be jealous.

And so joining me today will be everyone’s favorite superhero: The Amazing Spider-Man!

Cutter: Thanks for talking with me, Spidey.

Spidey: No problem. It’s been a slow day in the crime world.

Cutter: No supervillains out on the rampage?

Spidey: None that I can see. Besides, I’m sure the Avengers can handle them if they do show up.

Cutter: Am I detecting some bitterness about the Avengers? Are you upset that you weren’t in that movie?

Spidey: Bitterness? No. Obviously it was a big hit, and it’s hard to deny the appeal of being involved in something that huge. But really, Spider-Man has never been a part of the classic Avengers lineup, so it really wouldn’t have been right for me to have been in the movie.

Cutter: So you’re saying that if Marvel had found a way to regain your movie rights, you would have turned down a role in the Avengers?

Spidey: It’s hard to say. I’d have to think about whether or not the Avengers was really the best place to show off my talents. As the biggest star, they would have had to focus a lot of the movie’s attention on me, and that just wouldn’t be fair to the others. I think in the end it was best that I was in my own solo movie.

Cutter: And yet that movie, was…how can I put this delicately…not that good.

Spidey: You didn’t like it?

Cutter: It wasn’t bad, but it just felt so…unnecessary. Did we really need another origin story? I think America pretty much knows how you got your powers by now. Were the producers worried that people would get upset if they didn’t see Andrew Garfield get bitten by a spider?

I think they could have shown a five minute flashback scene of that, and just gotten on with the real story.

Spidey: I agree with you there. As fun as it may seem, I’m not all that keen on constantly re-living my uncle getting shot.

Cutter: Honestly, that whole scene seemed like an item on the checklist that they felt needed to be checked off.

Spidey: And they didn’t even let me catch the guy who shot him! How lame was that?

Cutter: In the next movie, I see you’ll be fighting Electro. How do you feel about that?

Spidey: I’m not too concerned.

Cutter: Really? Isn’t he kind of powerful?

Spidey: I’ve been kicking that guy’s ass for so many years now, I can’t even take him seriously anymore. Then again, it’s pretty hard to take someone seriously at all when he dresses the way he does.

Electro’s costume is not especially subtle (Photo source: Wikipedia)

Cutter: Even though Electro was white in the comics, he’ll be played by Jamie Foxx. You think the fanboys will have a fit about that?

Spidey: No, I’m sure that the comic book fans will react calmly and rationally, just like they do whenever a movie changes something from the comics.

Of course they’re going to freak out! The message boards are gonna be all like, “They ruined Electro!”

Ruined Electro? What the heck has Electro ever done that he could ever be ruined. Jamie Foxx is the greatest thing that could have ever happened to Electro. If anything, Foxx should be embarrassed that he’s playing Electro. Once again, take a look at how the guy dresses.

Fans have to realize that the only reason these characters are white is because I don’t think Stan Lee ever met a minority in his life.

Cutter: We’re almost out of time, and I’m sure you’ve got to get back to stopping crime.

Spidey: Sure. Chances are there’s a robbery going on somewhere that the police will be unable to stop. You’d be surprised how many armed robberies there are in New York. It seems like there’s at least one a week. I guess they don’t realize that just about every other person in New York has super powers.

Cutter: Thank you for your time.

Spidey: No problem, it’s been fun!

Disappointments

I have written about my sense of optimism and how it often leaves me feeling disappointed.  While many of the disappointments have revolved around sports, I have also suffered some letdowns outside of the sporting world.

Here are a few examples:

Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back

It’s not fair to say that Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back is the most disappointing movie I’ve seen.  I had insanely high expectations for Star Wars: Episode I and The Matrix Reloaded, and neither of those movies came close to living up to them.

But I share my disappointment in those movies with most of America.  I think I may be alone in the way I felt after seeing Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.

I used to be a big fan of Kevin Smith.  I really liked Clerks and Mallrats, and while his other movies were sometimes uneven, (The second half of Chasing Amy is almost painful to watch) I generally enjoyed his work.

One of the thngs I liked about Smith’s movies was that they took place in a collective universe. There was a continuity between movies (Characters would reference events and characters from other movies) and the characters Jay and Silent Bob appeared in all of them.

When I first heard about Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, I became excited.  Reportedly, this movie would feature characters from multiple Smith movies, and it would tie his whole fictional universe together.

(Interestingly, this was also one of the reasons I was looking forward to, and ultimately disappointed by, the conclusion of Stephen King’s Dark Tower saga.)

Photo source: Wikipedia

While there were indeed many cameo appearances from previous Smith characters (If you’ve ever wanted to see Jason Lee play multiple characters in one movie, this is your big chance!) it was mostly a let down.

There were two main problems with the movie:

1. Jay and Silent Bob are great in small doses, but you don’t want them carrying an entire movie.  To Smith’s credit, there are jokes about this in the movie.  Then again, unless you’re going to go super meta, maybe that was a sign that the movie was a bad idea.
2. The movie was really one big inside joke about Hollywood.  I’m sure that Smith and his indie-director buddies thought this was hilarious, but I’m not sure how well it went over with the rest of the country.

I really have only myself to blame for feeling so let down by this movie.  There was no reason for me to have had such high expectations, and yet, I can’t recall ever feeling quite so disappointed when leaving a theater.

Then again, maybe I should have been disappointed, because I absolutely loved Clerks II.  I rate it as the best of Smith’s movies, and more in line of what I expected from JASBSB.

YoCrunch Waffle Mix-ins

Mrs. Cutter and I were in the yogurt aisle at the supermarket when she pointed out an item, and said, “I’m surprised you haven’t had that before.”

When I saw the item she was pointing to, my response was, “That’s only because I am just now learning of its existence.”

The item in question was YoCrunch’s Waffle Bites mix-in yogurt.

Longtime readers will know that I am a fan of waffles (and waffle-themed cereal) as well as dairy products that utilize the wonders of mix-ins.

Seeing that YoCrunch had combined the two concepts caused me to hope that snack utopia had finally been discovered.  Had YoCrunch created the ultimate snack against which all future snack foods would be judged (and likely found wanting)?

The next day, I brought one of the cups in for breakfast.  I excitedly ripped off the top, sprinkled in the waffle bits, stirred the mixture around, and prepared myself for the wonderfulness that was surely about to ensue.

I was expecting brilliance.  I was expecting my taste buds to be overwhelmed by pleasure.  Instead, I was kind of grossed out.

The problem was that the yogurt itself was not very good.  If you’re dealing with a subpar base yogurt, then even the greatest of mix-ins isn’t going to save it.

Over the next few days, I finished the four-pack.  Every time I opened a new cup, I carried hope that maybe this time it would meet my expectations.  (There’s that damned optimism again!)  Sadly, the other cups were just as bad.

Mac and Chicken

It was July 3rd, 2004.  A few friends were in town for the holiday weekend.  We were hanging out at my friend’s house, drinking beers, getting buzzed, and having a very good time.

As day turned into night, the group decided to head to a nearby restaurant for some dinner.  Our restaurant of choice was Rock Bottom.

Photo source: Flickr

As I scanned the menu, I realized just how hungry I was.  I thought I would have a difficult time making a choice because everything on the menu sounded delicious.  Then I saw one particular menu item, and I realized that I didn’t have a choice at all.

Mac and Chicken: Baked chicken mixed in with macaroni and cheese.  It sounded like the meal of kings.  It sounded like a meal so great that I might never want to eat anything else ever again.

After placing my order, my thoughts became consumed with the Mac and Chicken.  I can’t remember even anticipating a meal as much as I was looking forward to that one, and it felt like an eternity had passed before the waiter finally brought out our meals.

Finally, the wait was over.  The bowl was set in front of me, and with no further delay, I eagerly dug in.

And…meh.  This wasn’t the king of meals.  It wasn’t even that good!

One problem is that it was surprisingly spicy.  Due to my strong sense of taste, I do not like spicy food, but I could have dealt with that if it tasted good.  Sadly, the chicken was bland, and the macaroni was kind of mushy.

I’m not going to say that the meal ruined my holiday or anything.  But it turned what could have been one of the best days ever into just a good day.  Such wasted potential.

Maybe this is all my own fault.  Maybe I just build things up in my head to the point where nothing could have possibly lived up to my high expectations.

Does anyone out there have any similar stories of building things up in your head and then being left with a sense of disappointment?  If so, please feel free to share.

I Am Rebecca Martinson

By now, most of you have read the viral email sent by Rebecca Martinson to her sorority, and seen some of the internet’s hilarious reactions to it.

Side note: I wasn’t surprised at all when I found out she was a Delta Gamma.  I know Delta Gammas, and those girls are CRAZY.

Insane. All of them. (Photo source: Wikipedia)

In the aftermath of the event, Martinson has resigned from her chapter.  Her resignation doesn’t surprise me in the least, as I’m sure she was under a great deal of pressure to do so from both the national sorority as well as her chapter.

I can’t help but sympathize with her.  The reason for my sympathy is because under different circumstances, I could have been Rebecca Martinson.

Back in my college days, I would often exchange emails with my fraternity brothers.  To put it mildly, some of the emails were not especially politically correct.

I never really thought about it, but I always assumed that any emails sent to my brothers were private.  I assumed that they would only be read by the intended recipients, and that those recipients knew me and my “unusual” personality rather well.

Ms. Martinson likely made a similar assumption.  Unfortunately for her, an email that was probably laughed off by most of her sisters as “Rebecca being Rebecca” was seen by the outside world.  All of a sudden, she’s being condemned as everything that’s wrong with America.

I recall one instance when one of my brothers sent out a particularly off-color email, and then realized that he had accidentally included the chapter advisor on the recipient list.  Upon realizing what he had done, he actually made a desperate dive at the phone cord (Yes, back then we were all using dial-up connections to the internet) in an attempt to prevent the email from sending.  That brother received a stern talking to from the advisor, but that was the extent of the damage.

But even if the email had spread further, it probably wouldn’t have become a phenomenon like Ms. Martinson’s did.  Keep in mind that the internet hadn’t yet hit its stride in those days.  If there were gossip/news sites like Gawker, they certainly weren’t at their current levels of popularity.  The worst case scenario might have been that the email would be featured on the front page of the school newspaper, not the front page of Yahoo!

I’m also probably giving myself too much credit to think that anything I wrote in college would have captured the attention of the nation.  While I would occasionally come up with some good material, I didn’t come close to the level of brilliance that Ms. Martinson has achieved.

While many are focusing on the unfortunate language and homophobic slurs, I think the real reason it has become such a sensation is due to how well written it was.  She does an excellent job of combining dark humor and sarcasm with bitter frustration.

In hindsight, maybe my chapter wouldn’t have underacheived as much if I told them all how much they sucked and had mixed in some threats of physical violence.  Then again, I was kind of fat back then, so the threats probably wouldn’t have been taken too seriously.

While Ms. Martinson is obviously not blameless for the negative publicity, if her sisters really want to be mad at someone, they should direct their ire at the person who shared the email with the outside world.

Why did she share it?  Was she offended by what was written?  If so, she should have taken the matter up directly with Ms. Martinson.  It is more likely that the email was shared by someone who thought that others would find the over-the-top insanity to be amusing.

Or maybe the rest of the sorority REALLY doesn’t like Ms. Martinson.  Based on the email, that doesn’t seem like too much of a stretch.

Whatever the motivation, whoever shared the email has brought a lot of negative attention upon her sorority.  If I was one of her sisters, I’d be quite upset with her.

It just goes to show how mindful we need to be about our electronic communications, even when we think what we’re sending is private.  Believe it or not, I am actually careful to filter myself when writing this blog.  When emailing my friends, I am not always that careful.  I’m just fortunate that it has never cost me.

As for Ms. Martinson, I have one piece of advice: Own the letter.

Don’t try to hide from the publicity, because that’s pretty much impossible right now.  For at least a little while, you’re going to be known as the “email girl” or the “c**t punt girl,” and there’s not much you can do about it.

So own up to it.  Express regret for the offensive slurs used, but take full responsibility for writing it, and take advantage of your newfound fame.  You’ve got some writing talent, so why not use your notoriety to get a writing job somewhere?  I’m sure there are many websites or magazines who would love to have you write for them.

Also, if possible you should probably try to copyright the term “c**t punt”.  Put it on some T-shirts, get them into the Dewey Beach shops by Memorial Day and you’ve got yourself a gold mine!

In honor of Ms. Martinson’s email, I shall conclude with this montage of women getting kicked in the crotch.  Enjoy!

Laser Tag!

This past Saturday afternoon, I attended a bachelor party.  Bachelor parties are often associated with strip clubs and other debauchery, but we bypassed those activities in favor of a different kind of mayhem.  We headed to the Ultrazone Family Amusement Center where we’d be playing everyone’s favorite pseudo-sport from the 80′s: Laser tag!

Who remembers these commercials?

Apparently, laser tag is still around, and based on the crowd at Ultrazone, it is quite popular with children.  Upon entering the facility, it was clear that the members of my group were BY FAR the oldest people there who weren’t accompanying children of their own.  I’d say there was at least a twenty year gap between the youngest member of our group and the next oldest non-parent.  This meant that our competition would consist of either children or chaperones just trying to get through the experience unscathed.

Before we could enter the “laser arena” we had to watch an instructional video that explained the rules of the game.  This video alone might have been worth the price of admission, as the “actors” appear to be either Ultrazone employees or random people they hired off the street.

In another example of how awesome the internet is, I was actually able to find the video online!

Once the video was complete, we headed into the “vesting” room where we picked up our sensor vests and phasers.  Each phaser had a code name so that you could identify your score after the game.  Some phasers had cool names like “Tron” or “Kang”.  I kept getting lame names like “Kinder” and “Rick.”

Everyone cowered in fear of phaser “Rick.”

If you got hit in the shoulder sensors, you’d be “stunned” and would be unable to fire your phaser for five seconds.  If it was a direct hit on the front or back, you would be “killed” and couldn’t fire for ten seconds.

Players were divided into three teams, and the goal was supposedly to capture the opposing teams’ bases by shooting a special sensor.  Most people ignored the bases in favor of just shooting each other.  Many times they didn’t even worry about what team someone was on.  Teammate or not, everyone was fair game.

In one of the games, we were competing against a childrens birthday party that seemed to consist of about thirty ten-year-olds.  I don’t think I even knew thirty people when I was that age, so he must have been one popular kid.  Or maybe his parents were rich.  They certainly couldn’t have been poor if they were paying for thirty kids to play laser tag.

The problem with facing large groups of children is that they tended to travel in packs.  You’d be able to take out two or three of them, before being overwhelmed.  Of course, this just meant that you could stand nearby, wait the ten seconds for your phaser to reactivate and then start shooting them again.

I was surprised by how sweaty I got.  It was hot in the arena, but I was also exerting myself a lot more than I expected.  Running away from a pack of children takes a decent amount of energy.

One of the competitors shows just how sweaty things can get

We had some time to kill in between games, and fortunately, the Ultrazone has an arcade complete with air hockey table.  I don’t know if the table simply wasn’t designed to handle grown men, (or at least a close facsimile) but we had some difficulty keeping the puck on the table.  The thing seemed to fly off every ten seconds.

Considering how many children were milling about, it was a miracle that nobody lost an eye.  We actually lost one puck when it went soaring away, and got caught inside the facade of the nearby Fruit Ninja game.

That’s right, they had a Fruit Ninja game!  If you love playing it for free on your smart phone, you’ll love paying to play it on a larger screen!

Photo source: Flickr

We were given a replacement puck, and remarkably, this one was even livelier.  We all soon agreed to stop playing due to fear of maiming someone.

After four games of laser tag, we decided that was about all we could handle.  While it might be surprisingly therapeutic to shoot children with lasers, there is a limit to how much trance music and blinking lights a person can endure.

For those who just can’t get enough laser tag, Ultrazone allows you to rent the facility for an all-night party.  From 10 PM to 6 AM you can play unlimited games.  While this might have seemed like the greatest idea ever during my college years, I don’t know if I could handle doing something like that these days.

For one afternoon, it was a lot of fun.  Now I can’t wait until the Cutlet is old enough to have a party there.  I might have to reluctantly volunteer myself as a chaperone!

Saturday 9: I Don’t Want to Talk About it

A few weeks ago, I answered some questions from the Saturday 9 blog.  It was fun, and since I’ve got nothing better to do with my time this Friday afternoon, I figured I’d do it again!

This week’s theme is I Don’t Want to Talk About it.  Apparently, this is the title of a Rod Stewart song that I did not know existed.  That isn’t especially surprising since I’m not a huge Rod Stewart fan.  I believe my mother likes him though.  Maybe I’ll ask her about it when I see her tomorrow.

1) Crazy Sam is beyond sick of all things Kardashian! What’s a topic you’re just tired of and don’t want to talk about anymore?

As I’ve mentioned before, I could also do without hearing any more about the Kardashian family.

2) Rod Stewart has been recording for more than 40 years. Do you have any of his music on your iPod/mp3 player?

I have some random songs on my iPod, but nothing by Rod Stewart.  I’m sure that if I did have any Rod Stewart songs on the iPod, I would hear them constantly, because my iPod is kind of an ass.

3) Rod Stewart is known for his coif. How much time do you spend on your hair each morning?

I splash some water on it and spend about 30 seconds trying to make it look halfway presentable.  But that only happens on the days when I care how it looks.  On some days, I just leave it as is and let the world decide how to handle it.

4) Rod’s first child, a daughter, will turn 50 this year. His most recent child, also a daughter, is 2. How close in age are your children? If you don’t have any children, how close in age are you and your siblings? If you don’t have children OR siblings, well, tell us what’s immediately to your left as you respond to this meme. If you don’t have anything to your left … Oh, hell, I give up!

I only have one child thus far, so the first part doesn’t apply to me.  I have one sister and she’s just about five years older than me…chronologically.  Mentally, the age gap is MUCH wider.

5) Which do you prefer — french toast or pancakes?

This is a tough question, as I love both breakfast foods.  If I REALLY had to decide, I’d probably go with french toast, especially if it’s made with raisin bread.

6) When was the last time you lost your cool?

Unfortunately, my daughter’s resistance to bedtime caused me to lose my patience earlier this week.  She’s only two and already knows how to push my buttons like a pro.

7) Crazy Sam once had a pet hamster she named Bart. Have you ever cared for a hamster or a gerbil?

I’ve had a variety of pets over the years, but never a hamster or gerbil.  I’ve suggested to Mrs. Cutter that we get a rabbit, but she has been oddly resistant to this idea.

8) Are you ticklish?

If someone gets me in the right spot, I have been known to let out a giggle or two.

9) Ouch! You have a headache! What’s your go-to remedy?

Ibuprofen typically does the trick for me.

Appropriately enough, I have a headache right now.  I looked in the office kitchen to see if there was an Advil, but in preparation for our office’s move, it had been packed up.  So I’ve just had to suffer through.

That’s all for this week.  Have a pleasant weekend!

The Cleanse

In the spirit of healthier eating, one of Mrs. Cutter’s co-workers convinced her to go on a two-week “cleanse” diet.

What does this diet consist of?  I’m not entirely sure, but the gist of it seems to be: No meat, dairy, grains, or any sort of processed food.  I don’t know how effective the diet will be, but it is clear that Whole Foods is going to be a big winner.

We might as well just forward our paychecks to Whole Foods (Image source: Flickr)

She asked if I wanted to do the cleanse along with her.  I gave that question a little bit of thought and came up with a decent compromise: I would eat whatever dinner she chose to make, but the rest of the day, she was on her own.

I try to be supportive and all, but a man has his limits.  I like meat.  And dairy.  And food that isn’t limited to just fruit and vegetables.

Monday night’s dinner wasn’t too bad.  We had tofu and bean tacos served on corn tortillas.  It was decent enough, although I certainly don’t envision myself ordering it at a restaurant anytime soon.

Last night’s dinner didn’t go quite as well.  The main course was vegetarian falafel.  Heading into the meal, I assumed that I had eaten falafel before.  It just seemed like the type of food that would have crossed my path somewhere along the line.

But after tasting it last night, I am fairly sure that I was wrong in that assumption.  I can’t imagine ever forgetting that taste.  (Then again, it’s possible that I had tried it while drunk.  That would explain why I didn’t remember the taste)

Regardless, I think it’s safe to say that last night was the last time I will ever try falafel.

Oh, so THIS is falafel? It’s awful! (Photo source: Flickr)

I thought that maybe this particular falafel was bad, but Mrs. Cutter said that the taste was fairly representative.

I managed to swallow down the piece that was in my mouth, and moved the rest of my portion to Mrs. Cutter’s plate.

I went into the pantry and fixed myself a bowl of Special K cereal with strawberries.  I could have used the alternative almond milk for my cereal, but I instead opted for regular cow milk.

I regret nothing about that decision.

While I have not been dedicated, I am proud of Mrs. Cutter for sticking with the cleanse.  It looks like it may be working, because on Tuesday, the diet caused her to be irritable and unhappy.  Based on past experience, when it comes to diets, unhappiness = effectiveness.

I’ll do my best to encourage her to stick with it, but I think we’re both looking forward to the cleanse being over so we can go back to having normal dinners again.

My Top Three are….Um, Give Me a Minute…

Today’s Daily Prompt:

Press it – Give some love to three blog posts you’ve read and loved in the past week, and tell us why they’re worth reading.

My first thought was, “Only three?”

I follow a decent number of blogs, which means that I’ve read a lot of posts this week.  I assumed that I would have to spend a lot of time picking through all of my favorites just to narrow it down to three standouts.

I set about making my list…and I blanked.

I know that I hit the Like button for more than a few posts this week.  I know that I LOLed at least a couple of times.  So why could I not recall even a single post that I felt was worthy of such an honor?

Think, damn it! (Photo source:Flickr)

To those who are more familiar with WordPress than I am: Is there a way to track what posts you’ve liked or commented on?  If not, it would be a VERY nice addition.

Then I got to wondering: Do I follow too many blogs?  Have I gotten to the point where I read so many blog entries that they all blend together into one giant bloggy mess?

Or does my memory just suck?

Eventually, after doing a little bit of searching, I was able to recall three posts that I greatly enjoyed:

1. Mom on the Range – Panic! in the Bathroom – A fable about parenting and technology in the modern age.

2. Close Families – The Thoughts of a New Runner - An inspirational tale of perseverance.

3. My Gay Mom – The Dangers of Sleeping Naked - One of the funniest blog posts I’ve read in a while.

For anyone who wrote something good that I overlooked, I apologize.  If I ever get another chance to honor standout blog posts, I’ll try to take notes!

Geese Can Be Troublesome

A flock of geese lives near my office building.

I know this because I have seen them flying nearby and heard their loud, honking cries.  Also, the parking lot is sometimes a minefield of goose feces.

Aside from the occasional need to watch my step, the geese haven’t really impacted my life.  At least, they hadn’t until today.

Wanting to take advantage of the pleasant weather this morning, I decided to take a walk outside.  I was only about ten feet away from the building when I saw this in my path.

I assumed that this wasn’t going to be a major impediment to my walk.  I figured that the goose would soon continue on to wherever it was that geese went, and it would soon be out of my way.

Apparently, this particular goose didn’t have a very busy morning planned.  It seemed perfectly content to stay where it was.

Since most animals tend to retreat when they see a human walking towards them, I figured that if I just kept walking, the goose would warily head in the opposite direction.

I was wrong.  Instead of running away, the goose began to walk towards me and make a threatening hissing sound.

I hadn’t realized that geese were capable of hissing.  I would have taken video, but I was starting to become concerned that the goose was going to attack.  Not wanting to turn my back nor make a full retreat, I began to slowly creep backwards towards the building.

And then I stopped.  I realized that for the sake of my species, I had to take a stand.   I’m a human being!  The top of the food chain!  That goose should be cowering in fear of my awesome glory!

I halted my retreat, leaned forward, and extended my arms in a “Come at me, bro!” gesture.

The goose was unimpressed.

Realizing that I was about to physically confront a wild animal, I stepped off the path, and circled around the goose.  It kept hissing at me as if to call me a coward, but ultimately, I think I made the right move.

Could any good really come from fighting a goose?  What’s the best case scenario in this situation?  I kill the goose and serve him for dinner?  That seems like an awfully messy process.  Plus, I’d always be worried that the other geese were going to come after me seeking revenge.

Sadly, I’ll just have to go through life not knowing what it feels like to punch a goose in the face.

UPDATE: Thanks to Sweaty for sharing this video.  Next time I encounter a goose, I’ll be sure to use my lightsaber:

Note: I decided to submit this post to Yeah Write as part of their anniversary celebration.  Click on the link to read some other good entries!