TGIF

ANOTHER LIST OF APPRECIATED LIFE TREASURES

1. Dried fruit
2. Friday
3. Laughter
4. Bread
5. My "Autumn's Family Strands" watch
6. Anticipation
7. Trees
8. Art, music, poetry, literature (Hey, it's my list so I can pile these things up as I desire....)
9. A warm breeze
10. Autumn
11. Pretzels
12. Clementines

Hump Day

Wednesday is almost over and hump day will be no longer. I know Wednesday is called that because it's in the middle of the week, it's like the crest in the hill. An English language idiom for Wednesday is "hump day", a reference to making it through the middle of the work week as getting "over the hump". It is also unofficially (and with some irony) referred to as "the peak of the week".
Quakers traditionally refer to Wednesday as "Fourth Day", eschewing the "pagan" origin of the name "Wednesday". Most eastern languages also use a name with this meaning, for much the same reason. Faithful Orthodox Christians observe a vegetarian / fish-only fast on Wednesdays (and Fridays) in some countries.
The film Angel Heart includes a scene where Harry Angel refers to Wednesday as "Anything Can Happen Day," in reference to the original Mickey Mouse Club television program.

Tuesday's Wine Post

Wine is the perfect partner to cheese. Red fruity wines are often paired with cheeses but there are a lot more delicious combinations to discover.

The basic wine and cheese pairings are as follows:

Goats’ Cheeses - Sauvignon Blanc
Mild Cheeses - Gamay, Chenin
Medium Cheeses - Pinot Noir, Merlot Strong Cheeses - Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah (Shiraz), Grenache

A basic rule of thumb is to use wines that come from the same area as the cheese. For example, pairing Loire Valley wines with goats’ cheeses or Normandy cider with Camembert.

Here are some specific recommendations for wine and cheese pairings:

Beaufort: Chablis.
Bergerin: Graves
Bleu d’Auvergne: Sauternes, Maury or Rivesaltes
Brie: Beaujolais (Mâcon), Saint Julien, Bourgogne, Bordeaux or Côtes du Rhône
Camembert: Bordeaux, Saint Emilion, Saint Estèphe, Sancerre or why not try it with Cider
Edam: Côte du Rhône, Bordeaux, Bourgogne or strong beer.
Feta: Rosé
Fourme d’Ambert: Sauternes moelleux, Chenain white, Vouvray mellow
Goats’ cheese: Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay
Gorgonzola: Red wine in general
Reblochon: Vin de Savoie
Ricotta: Muscadet, Sauvignon Blanc
Roquefort: Sauternes, full-bodied wine from the Loire

Rejuvenated Running?

I have a new plan for rejuvenation of my exercise routine. I've found it difficult to fit in enough exercise throughout the day and when I can't seem to fit in an hour or so, I feel I can do none of it. So, my new plan is thus: I have a new goal to achieve 90 minutes of moderate to intense physical activity every day (maybe one day off, ok). In order to reach my goal, I intend to:

a. rise 1/2 hour earlier and either run outdoors for 1/2 hr in the morning or do 1/2 on the treadmill.
b. I will do strength training or aerobics at lunch for 1/2 hour
c. I will run on treadmill or outdoors in the evening for 1/2 hr.

Three 1/2 hr units, broken up into three parts of the day should be very easy to accomplish. I began this program today. This plan is very flexible but the goal is 90 minutes of pretty good quality exercise each and every day. The exercise could be broken up, I suppose into 9 units of 10 minutes each, any way which suits your day.

I started my new plan today. How did I do with it, you ask?

Today, I managed to fit in 20 minutes on the treadmill this morning, achieved none of the goal at lunch, but managed 70 minutes on the treadmill this evening. So, overall, I met 100% of my goal to reach 90 minutes of moderate - intense exercise. I'll report on my success rate at the end of tomorrow.

Risque jokes

It's Friday so a little spicy joking is in order. I know I am not very good at delivering punch lines, keeping the joke in order, timing the whole thing. But I will keep it simple and give it my best shot.

Did you hear about the man who couldn't spell?
Yea, he spent the night in a warehouse.
Did you hear about the flasher who decided to retire?
Yeah, but he changed his mind and decided to stick it out another year.

What do toilet paper and the starship Enterprise have in common?
They both circle Uranus looking for Klingons.

"Daddy, Daddy, why is everyone running away"?
"Shut up and reload".

First Woman: "This is very embarrassing, but every time I sneeze, I have an orgasm."
Second Woman: "You poor dear! Are you taking anytime for that"?
First Woman: "Pollen".

One spring day two men were out in the woods hunting. Feeling a sudden need to relieve himself, George went over to to a nearby clump of bushes, unzipped his fly, and started in when a poisonous snake lunged out of the greenery and bit him on his penis. Hearing George's howl of pain and fright, his friend Fred came running up and told him to lie still while he rushed into town for a doctor.
"There's only one way to save your friend's life", said the doctor gravely. "If you can an X over the bite and then suck all the poison out, he'll probably be okay, but otherwise there's not much hope."
Hearing Fred's footsteps, George rose weakly up on one elbow and cried out, "Fred, what'd he say? What did the doctor say?"
"George, old friend", said Fred sadly, "he said you're gonna die".

Coppelia - Thursday's post

My daughter, Chloe, is performing in the ballet, Coppelia, on Friday. She will perform the dance two or three times. Chloe is a great dancer for the tender age of 7. Tonight was the first dress rehearsal. Most of the little girls sat in the audience, waiting for their turn to practice. Chloe stayed on her feet the entire time, reenacting each dancer's role as the ballet unfolded. I am pleased that she enjoys ballet and dancing and hope she continues.

Not all of the ballets that are household words have to do with royalty, heroes, or magical creatures from a mystical netherworld. Just as famous are a few "comedy ballets."Comedy ballets, though they certainly have their humourous moments, are simply more lighthearted than your average classic. Like "Coppelia."

"Coppelia" was developed in 1870, at the height of the Franco-Prussian war. It was the last new ballet presented here, before the closure of the Opera in the siege of Paris. Hence, it was developed to reflect the rising tide of French nationalism. It was a ballet for the people, of the people. As such, it borrowed elements from popular entertainments of the day, such as the kind of pantomime being performed at La Comedie Francaise. So, for the first time, dancers were faced with the challenge of performing comedy.

Though dancers hadn't been using pantomime for comic effect before, they had been performing it for years. In fact, pantomime is as much a part of ballet as dancing. In another attempt to reflect the world of the common people, composer Leo Delibes, at the suggestion of librettists Charles Nuitter and choreographer Arthur St Leon, included a folk dance into the score. Shaken by Franz's sudden interest in Coppelia, Swanilda trusts an ear of wheat to tell her whether or not Franz still loves her. The wheat, the subject of a "he loves me - he loves me not" interrogation, suggests that Franz is in love with another. Franz protests and storms off angrily. Swanilda, triumphant over having prodded a display of affection out of Franz, leads her friends into a joyous folk dance But if "Coppelia" is popular with the public because of its pantomime and folk dancing, it's popular with ballet companies for a different reason: this is one full length ballet that's as light on the pocketbook as it is in tone.

This is also because "Coppelia" is full of youthful characters, exhibiting appropriately playful behaviour. But that doesn't mean that they're uncomplicated, particularly the role of the mischevious Swanhilda.But the best character in "Coppelia", and indeed in all of the comic ballets, is Dr Coppelius, the doddering old inventor. But though this character is decidedly buffoonish, many a dancer has found surprising depth in the role.
Part comedy, part metaphor for the eternal frustration of the artist, "Coppelia" is a delectable entertainment with surprising weight.

Nonsense

• If you were going to have a pie thrown in your face, what flavor would you choose?
• Would you prefer a fruit flavor such as cherry or strawberry, something richer like chocolate cream, lemon meringue, pecan?
• Is your favorite flavor more in tune with tastes like coffee, mocha, melon, creme brulee?
• My personal opinion is that a pie in the face shouldn't be distateful but neither does it require your favorite flavor.
• My personal opinion is that it should be easy to clean up, get off the face, hair and clothes.
• I am not allergic to eggs but if you are, it may be best to warn the pie thrower that the throwee could become violently ill.
• Particularly in the case of peanut butter pie since nearly everyone seems to have a peanut allergy these days.
• One might want to given consideration to the crust, certain crusts could be stiffer, lodging in the eye, maybe scratching a cornea. Pecans could do this.
• I wonder what a cobbler could be like.
• Pie is not really my favorite desert anyway. I made chocolate chip cookies this morning and they tasted pretty good, I ate 3 for dessert.
• Maybe throwing cookies at somebody could be fun.

Sideshow freaks and tiny pocket ponies, TUESDAY'S WINE POST TOO

I've tried to work this afternoon. A co-worker, desk and red shirt deposited across the hall has me in stitches. I'm concentrating on civil rules, standards of review, jury instructions. He won't let me be. His carnival clown sense of humor invades my thoughts. It's hard enough keeping my legal lecture on track these days without the continued barrage of jokes, flakes and hoax. At least my mood is better this afternoon.

While I was trying to read a case however, my co-worker insisted on delivering his stand up comedy routine about the expenses associated with serving summons upon a leper. "Okay, Jack", I said. He continued to tell me that the most expensive place on earth to serve a summons is a leper colony in Hawaii. "How do you know that"?, I inquired, trying to throw a few appeasing words at him while keeping the legal data fresh in my mind. "I, ah, I looked into it", he said.

Before I had an opportunity to regain my concentration, he was launching into tales of the world's smallest mule. It was owned by an acquaintence of his. The mule was a circus sideshow type attraction, traveling from rural festival to rural festival. "Yea", he said, "when it was a baby, it could fit in your pocket. They drove it all around the U.S., stopping at chicken festivals, jam and berry celebrations, fairs, carnivals, circuses. It rode in the backseat of a Ford Escort, sometimes they let it ride in the front seat, if the window was rolled down." I rolled my eyes. "They made a good living off it until they got it drunk in Florida and got arrested for coercing a mule into drunkenness. Nobody would have complained if the thing hadn't died and if they hadn't left it lying beside the gas pumps. At least they left flowers".

Why me?

Well, at least I can think about wine for a few minutes before jumping back to legalese.

Time for Tuesday's wine post.

Try 1999 Pozuelo which has layers of cherry and perhaps even strawberry flavours and a touch of spice. Smooth tannins and balanced acicity make it very easy to drink. Colour and palate texture could be described as bright and clear. ($12). For an informative wine blog, check out www.vinography.com.

A wonderfully exciting trend is the wine tasting business, restaurant or room. When I visit my sister in Illinois, we love to go to her favorite wine hangout, called VIV, I think. I once went to a similar place in Cleveland; www.jerrys-winecenter.com

Ten Things I am Thankful For

1. Raspberries
2. Lotion
3. Computer memory sticks
4. Pocket knives
5. Amber
6. Rocks
7. The purple cordurory jacket I am wearing right now
8. Neoprene socks
9. Norah Jones
10. Broccoli/cheddar soup

Monday madness

Can't believe it's only Monday, it should be Wednesday already. Went to a 15k race Saturday. Now that the race is over, time to jazz up the running again. I have a plan. I have decided to sink more energy into my physical fitness than the past few weeks; doing so may help me deal with strains and stress.

So my plan is to return to working out at lunch, or at end of workday before going home. I will do at least 1/2 hr of aerobics/strength training and then run at least 1/2 hr when I get home, either outside or on treadmill. This week is difficult because lots going on at work and my daughter is performing in the ballet Copelia at the Paramount Arts Center on Nov. 12.

Deep Thoughts by Batscout

I've pondered and considered various posts for this blog. Since I am --ahem-- over - um - 36, well, I've been thinking about my life's course. I've done some reading and some research and some investigation. I thought maybe a blog post about one's life path would be worthwhile. Naturally, if you've read any of this blog you know I am thinking about this because of my age, my mid life status.

How far should duties, obligations to others push you? When should you live your life by your intuition, your timeclock, your internal sense of right, your internal truth, your heart? Musician Ben Lee has been quoted as saying that ..." you can get cancer if you fight what your heart's telling you to do. I used to be fighting the world, trying to prove something to someone (though I can't for the life of me remember what I had to prove, and to whom). But all of that has faded. [I have] joy now, and I'm looking for a different experience."

An Australian MBA graduate wrote that: Anything is one of a million paths. Therefore you must always keep in mind that a path is only a path. Look at every path closely and deliberately. Then ask yourself and yourself alone, one question. This question is one that only a very old man asks. Does this path have a heart? If it does, the path is good; if it doesn't it is of no use. Both paths lead nowhere; but one has a heart, the other doesn't. One makes for a joyful journey; as long as you follow it, you are one with it. The other will make you curse your life. One makes you strong; the other weakens you.

In Martha Beck's book, "Finding Your Own North Star", the author tells us that the human body's gut feelings and emotions can help guide a wayward soul back to his or her "essential self." Explore your heart's desires and the vast social webs that keep such desires in check. The goal is not to entirely forsake the "social self" and indulge every emotional impulse of the "essential self" but to harmonize these typically divergent voices. Beck admits that repairing a damaged emotional compass and setting out on such a vital journey--which often involves painful realizations and changes--can be painful. But the payoff, she concludes, is a love affair with life.

Beck teaches that each individual has a core personality that encompasses one's desires, emotions and preferences, which is sometimes blocked by a social self that responds to external influences and cultivates survival skills. Perhaps her most facinating advice evolves around learning how to read warnings from the essential self: low energy, lapses into illness, forgetfulness, addictions, Freudian slips and mood swings.

You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something - your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. Steven Jobs, founder of Apple and Pixar, wrote that "this approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life".

In a speech delivered to new graduates, Jobs talked at length about life's paths and the changes that come. "You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle." You can begin to feel more alive every day when you start accessing yout true self and discover the path that fascinates, excites and delights you.

Look in the mirror every morning and asked yourself:

“If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?”

Whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, you know you need to change something.

Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool Steven Jobs believes you can use to help make the big choices in life. Because almost everything - all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life

Don’t be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people’s thinking

Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice

And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want.

Tuesday's Wine Post

HAPPY TUESDAY - this post is barely meeting the deadline.

This weekend I drank a 2001 Mondavi Stag's Leap District Cabernet Sauvignon. Very nice wine indeed. Drinking it with wonderful people in a wonderful place made it taste twice as nice. Bright, saturated ruby-red. Highly nuanced nose offers roasted currant, espresso, meat, mocha and underbrush. Dense, sweet and complex; a real essence of Stags Leap earth. Finishes long and juicy, with very suave, thoroughly ripe tannins. Rated 92 pts