Yep. Brandon’s back on the world of EverQuest. In honor of EQ2, here’s a little linkage to remember the good ol’ days of original EQ.
And yes, there was a point in time when I actually spent hours and hours making the Calendar.
On that note, here is a proof that EQ2’s Barbarian woman exists in real life.
Pictures for the previous post.
Lauren and Serena in her punk gitup.
Lauren’s kitten, Mela, checking out the camera.
Mela in her favorite spot at our apartment.
To occupy Mela, we tried to tangle the CatCharmer to her somehow so she could go around the apartment playing with it by herself.
Brandon, his friend from work Eric, and myself went over to the Shoreline Vilage’s Island Sunfish Grill to watch their friend Tom played. Tom is a part of the Steve Desmond Duo which consists of Steve and Tom alternating on guitar, bass, and a drum beat machine.
They have the Trojans game on. Score 1 point. (BTW - Go TROJANS! Nice job pulling through in the Fog Bowl.)
They have the duo playing, and those two rocked the house. Score 10 points.
They have on tap Bud, Bud Light, their own pale ale, and bottled Heineken and Corona. Take away 5 points. Yeah. Nothing to drink really. No premium liquor either. So the place, alcohol wise, sucks.
But man, the music was AWESOME.
And now, we’re back at our place. Local IHOP closes at 11 p.m. Blasphemy! So I’m here yapping away while waiting for the pancake to cook…
Cucina Picarelli. A stone throw from my office. We eat here once every two week, or whenever we can’t really take a full lunch break. Nice, cozy joint. It’s about time somebody writes about them!
I can vouch for the fudge brownie…warm and a la mode. Depends on the level of chocolate depency versus craving for all things creamy, it’s a split between the brownie and the tiramisu.
What Al here doesn’t talk about is the lunch specials. Picarelli has a lunch menu of all sorts of sandwiches and frenchbread pizza. Combo of sandwich…huge, fries, and a drink is no more than $7.
This is where we will be having my birthday dinner this year as well.
Email forward of the day. (Sorry, Amy. Sister, I think I’m more of a liberal republican than moderate democrat since I’m sitting here giggling at this. Heh.)
Election Day History Lesson
Division of the human family into 2 distinct political groups began some 12,000 years ago.Humans existed as members of small bands of nomadic hunter/gatherers. They lived on deer in the mountains in the summer, and would go to the beach and live on fish and lobster in winter.
The 2 most important events in all of history were the invention of beer and the invention of the wheel. The wheel was invented to get man to the beer. These were the foundation of modern civilization, and together were the catalyst for the splitting of humanity into 2 distinct subgroups: Liberals and Conservatives.
Once beer was discovered, it required grain and that was the beginning of agriculture. Neither the glass bottle nor aluminum can were invented yet, so while our early human ancestors were sitting around waiting for them to be invented, they just stayed close to the brewery. That’s how villages were formed.<
Some men spent their days tracking and killing animals to B-B-Q at night while they were drinking beer. This was the beginning of what is known as "the Conservative movement". Other men who were weaker and less skilled at hunting learned to live off the conservatives by showing up for the nightly B-B-Q's and doing the sewing, fetching, and hair dressing. This was the beginning of the Liberal movement.
Some of these liberal men eventually evolved into women. The rest became known as 'girleymen'.
Some noteworthy liberal achievements include the domestication of cats, the trade union, the invention of group therapy and group hugs and the concept of Democratic voting to decide how to divide the meat and beer that conservatives provided.
Over the years conservatives came to be symbolized by the largest, most powerful land animal on earth, the elephant. Liberals are symbolized by the jackass.
Modern liberals like imported beer (with lime added), but most prefer white wine or imported bottled water. They eat raw fish but like their beef well done. Sushi, tofu, and French food are standard liberal fare. Another interesting revolutionary side note: most of their women have higher testosterone levels than their men. Most social workers, personal injury attorneys, journalists, dreamers in Hollywood and group therapists are liberals. Liberals invented the designated hitter rule because it wasn't "fair" to make the pitcher also bat.
Conservatives drink domestic beer. They eat red meat and still provide for their women. Conservatives are big-game hunters, rodeo cowboys, lumberjacks, construction workers, medical doctors, police officers, corporate executives, soldiers, athletes and generally anyone who works productively outside government.
Conservatives who own companies hire other conservatives who want to work for a living. Liberals produce little or nothing. They like to "govern" the producers and decide what to do with the production.<
Liberals believe Europeans are more enlightened than Americans. That is why most of the liberals remained in Europe when conservatives were coming to America. They crept in after the Wild West was tame and created a business of trying to get more for nothing.
Here ends today's lesson in world history.
In today’s LA Times’ Food section, Maya Angelou is talking about her newest publication, a cookbook.
This combined my 2 interests: Maya Angelou’s poetry, and cooking.
I can’t wait to whip this up! Perhaps I could serve this at my house after the birthday dinner out on the 13th? Hmm…
Maya Angelou’s Caramel cake
Note: Adapted from “Hallelujah! The Welcome Table,” by Maya Angelou
Caramel syrup
1 cup sugar
1 cup boiling water
1. Heat the sugar in a heavy skillet over low heat. Stir constantly until it is melted to a brown liquid. When it bubbles over its entire surface, about 20 minutes, remove from the heat.
2. Slowly add the boiling water, stirring constantly. Pour into a container and cool. Use one-fourth cup for the cake; save the rest for another use.
Caramel frosting
1/2 cup (1 stick) plus 1 tablespoon butter
3 cups powdered sugar
6 tablespoons heavy cream
1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
1. Brown the butter in a heavy pot over medium heat — be vigilant or it will burn. Allow the butter to cool.
2. Pour the cooled butter into a large mixing bowl. Add the powdered sugar, cream, vanilla and salt and beat until smooth. If the frosting is too stiff, add a tablespoon of half-and-half or cream.
Cake and assembly
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 1/4 cups sugar, divided
1/4 cup caramel syrup
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
2 large eggs
1 recipe caramel frosting
1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Line the bottoms of two 8-inch layer cake pans with greased wax paper.
2. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and gradually add 1 cup sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Beat in the syrup.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and salt together. Add the sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture, alternating with the milk.
4. In a separate medium mixing bowl, beat the eggs about 3 minutes, until foamy. Add the remaining sugar and beat until mixture resembles a fine spongy foam, another 3 minutes. Stir it into cake batter until blended.
5. Divide the batter between the cake pans. Bake for about 25 minutes. Check by gently pressing the center of a cake; it should spring back. If it doesn’t, bake for 10 more minutes. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then on a rack before frosting with caramel frosting. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Nutrional information left out on purpose. Feh. Calories schamalories.
I’m in the middle of the 2 parties. Husband and a group of friends are republicans and another bunch of friends are democrats. So I got an earful about politics from each side for the few days. Hell, make it a few months.
As I mentioned earlier, all in all, I’m probably a highly liberal republican. Or something like that. But why should I care at this point. I’m a green card holder and therefore I cannot vote.
Then again, my views on things are probably different than you Americans because I too left my country in search of that elusive “freedom”. Freedom that my democratic friends say I’m losing because of Bush. Freedom that my republican friends say I have because of Bush.
Let me just say this. This ain’t Thailand. I can enjoy being myself without hitting the “you can’t do that because you’re a girl” or “you can’t do that do people older than you”. I don’t have to be prim and proper all the time. I can play “manly” sports like soccer and martial arts. I can hug my guy friend. I can even hug a priest! (As a female, you cannot have any contact with a monk. We have to put an item down first before the monk could pick it up.) I can dress sexy and flirt with boys without being branded sluts. I can be direct, assertive, and speak my mind freely without being looked down upon.
Girls have so many rules back home. It was stiffling for me growing up since I’m an opinionated, tomboyish, outgoing type.
As long as I can be who I am, and live my life without getting shunned by social standards, everything else I could fight for later. Freedom to be myself on that level is most important to me, and I have it by just arriving in this country. Whoever is running this country, until there is a coup a la The Handmaid’s Tale, my basic liberty needs are met.
After that, then I would like to have other things too. Perhaps you guys can tell me what I am exactly on the political scale.
Freedom for fellow human beings to marry who they choose. Hell, back in the days, I wouldn’t have been able to marry Brandon because of our different races.
Freedom for women to make their own choices about abortion.
Freedom to express our feelings and opinions, even if that opinion is one quick exposure of a female breast.
I would like the government to keep the church and their religious belief out of the country’s business. How is the separation of church and state working for the country if stem cell research, abortion, and gay marriages are not acceptable due to “moral” causes. Frickin’ eh!
Freedom of religion my ass if you mean freedom to practice the kind of Christianity that is not Catholic. And now that religion is going to forced upon the citizens of the country despite their believes. Then again, every government in the world does that. You Americans actually have a lot more freedom than many parts of the rest of the world.
Welfare schmelfare. I understand the need to take care of your own people, but how American welfare is working, it seems there are a lot of folks getitng a free ride as well. Here is one thing I do like about Thailand. Everyone works. Even those who can’t i.e. handicapped of some kind, they beg. Yes we have slums, sweatshops, prostitutions, and unfair labor practices. May it be $1 a day, a cup of rice, and a 10 sq. ft. room built out of tin roofing over decaying runoff water. They EARN their living. No free ride here if you’re breathing.
I do believe something has to be done on war of terror. I’m all about peace on earth and good will toward men, but there is a point in time when @sses need to be kicked. I’m not proud of how the Thai government treated the muslim rebels in the South in the past year, especially the most recently, but somebody has got to take care of business. If 9/11 didn’t happen, I wouldn’t be jazzed about US troops stomping into the Middle East. As for Iraq, WMD or no WMD, Saddam needs to be taken cared of once and for all. As for the aftermath, I want the troops home safe and sound, and no more American lives should be lost. Now that we nabbed that hole dwelling bastard, let’s get the troops home.
But before you do that, next stop: North Korea!
I believe in America being the world police. Who else could have done it better? You guys have been doing great jobs through all the World War. In time of crisis, who else could we turn to but you. In war of terror, no one else could have led the fight like you can. You’re a world leader. If you step down, who else is going to take over? Sure, it used to be the Brits, but that didn’t fair well after the WWII. I fear the day America steps down. The world will be thrown into chaos. I know, why do you have to send your native sons and daughters out while the world look on and bitch? Because you’re it. The buck stops here. You have the technologies, the intellegence and reconnaissance, the military, and, of course, the ability to blow $hit up.
I believe the Native Americans deserve to have their casinos. After all this country has done to them, at least they deserve a chance to succeed. The whole sovereignty thing is a little gray to me too. Think President’s brilliant speech on sovereignty. I think they should pay as much as the local businesses would. Not more. Not less. Not because state government forces them to do it, but because they want to do it as a sovereign entity.
So, I may be contradicting myself all over the place. And I don’t care. This is, after all, a post about what I believe in. I don’t think anyone belief is completely black or white either.
And thank god for this country that allow me to even contradict myself as I freely express my opinions.
God bless America, whichever president she may have steering her purple mountains and fruited plains.
And god bless New Castle Brown Ale too even though it’s a product of England.
Who here knows where I could get good chili in the vicinity of Long Beach? Like “in a bread bowl made with hunks of meat” kind of chili, not the “goo-like goodness on your burger” chili.
Okay, even Lakewood, Los Alamitos, or Seal Beach? Huntington Beach?
South bay?
Help?
In the meantime, at the suggestion of ‘Mazing Amy, I’m going over to Vons to get one of their Signature Soups. Wait a sec…THEY HAVE STOMPIN’ STEAKHOUSE CHILI!!!!!!
Thank you Buddha, Jesus, and Vishnu! Woot!
*UPDATE* Damn good chili. Perhaps my search for chili in the area may have ended there at Vons. BUT…we’re still searching.
I’m pro choice, pro gay marriage, pro stem cell research, pre free speech, and believe in seperation of state and religion.
But if I could vote, I would’ve voted for Bush.
Because I do so believe the US wouldn’t get our @ss kicked if Bush is in office. That Kerry guy, I don’t trust him to keep me save.
I have been at my current work for 2 full years and a week now. One more person takes a stroll out of the office on Thursday evening. I believe it’s time I update the Revolving Door Report.
The latest departure marks the 16th person to have left my company since late October 2002. Presenting to you here in reverse chronological order.
Contact : oakmonster at gmail dot com
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