At Least I'll Get a New Set of Knives

Some people may say I’m “flakey”, and that I need to “grow up” and “settle down”.

Yea. They’re probably right.

Even after my massive European flame-out, I continue to find myself wandering, unable to decide what I want to be when I grow up. Currently, I’m working in the world of mental health, and I despise it. I just don’t possess the empathy or desire necessary to work in the field. Unfortunately, it’s the only job experience I have, so I've decided that I need to develop my skill set.

One of my early culinary influences.

Soooooooooooo….

I’m going to culinary school.

I can’t say that I've had a life-long desire to cook, it’s a fairly recent development. I have had a love-hate-obsessive relationship with food that I will delve into more as my culinary journey moves forward. But, as for now I’m headed to Johnson and Wales’ to see if I look good in chef whites. 

New student orientation is in two weeks! Yay!

I Was Kidnapped By Somali Pirates for My Gold...or something.

Sorry about all the dust and cobwebs.

But, I'm firing up the ol' girl and getting back to it! Woot! Woot!

Santorum makes little baby Jesus cry

So, Santorum (and to a lesser extent Romney) has decided that President Obama isn't Jesus-y enough:

The “president’s agenda” is “not about you,” he said. “It’s not about you. It’s not about your quality of life. It’s not about your job.“It’s about some phony ideal, some phony theology,” Santorum said to applause from the crowd. “Oh, not a theology based on the Bible, a different theology, but no less a theology.” [...]Although Santorum criticizes the president daily on the campaign trail, this is the first time he has used this rhetoric or said the president has a “different theology.”

Sigh. I am so over the extremists' claim that the President is attacking Christianity. I don't think these fools have ever read the second half of the Bible. You know, the part involving Jesus and his teachings about helping the sick and the poor.

I am so over the attack on women's autonomy and the fundies' desire to take the US back to the 19th century. Fuck 'em. 

What John Cole said: 

But from where I stand these days, the only thing I see religion doing in the public sector is gay bashing and telling women, mostly poor and desperate and in deplorable financial and personal situations, what to do with their bodies. I see busybodies deciding what drugs they can dispense to which customers, or deciding that they don’t have to issue a marriage license because of some petty deity that I don’t believe in told them to hate their fellow citizens and ignore the law. In a country in dire financial straits but still spending billions and billions of dollars on education, I see religious folks actively and openly working to make our schoolkids dumber. I see them shooting people who provided a medical procedure, and I see others rummaging through people’s personal lives to find out who hasn’t lived up the word of God. I see glassy-eyed fools running for President claiming that vaccines that save lives actually cause cancer, or that if you get raped and are pregnant, you should just lie back and think of Jeebus and make the best of a bad situation. In fact, everywhere you look these days, if Christianity or religion is getting a mention, it means something ugly is happening and someone somewhere is being victimized, marginalized, or otherwise abused. Go read some of the arguments against integration and you’ll see the same bible verses used today against homosexuals. Fifty years from now, they’ll be recycling them again to trash someone else they don’t like or who isn’t good enough for them.

If you've never visited Balloon Juice, you are totally missing out. It's probably my favorite blog. Good stuff!

Like trying to put toothpaste back in the tube

This is freaking hilarious. Ever since it became clear Obama would be the 2008 presidential nominee, the GOP, Fox News and the right wing blogosphere have tossed red meat to the racists and reactionaries (i.e. teabaggers) within the Republican party.  NOW they are scared to face the possibility that his frothyness, Ricky Santorum has a decent shot of becoming the Republican nominee.
Fuck you, GOP. You created this monster. You helped the crazies win congressional seats in 2010.
Now you can suck it and deal with an Obama victory in 2012.

Tonight's Musical Interlude: Bon Mardi Gras!!!

I totally spaced carnival this year, so I'm making up for my senility with some awesome New Orleans jazz.
If you're celebrating, have an awesome time!!! Get some beads for me!

Professor Longhair, "Go to Mardi Gras"

James Booker, "St. James Infirmary"

Sweet Emma, "I Ain't Gonna Give Nobody None of my Jellyroll" 

I love the smell of desperation in the morning

Talking Points Memo posted two graphs that help explain why the Republicans are making a massive shift to the extreme right by focusing on birth control, prenatal testing and transvaginal probes. I mean, there has to be an explanation for the increased obsession with a lady's va jay jay? Right?
Yeppers!!!

Of course, there is always 23 months of private sector job growth:

Tonight's Musical Interlude: 120 Minutes Edition

Once again, I am digging deep into the vault and bringing you three videos from "120 Minutes" and MTV's golden years. Even though I've never heard of these bands, I think they're pretty decent for the most part.
From: 27 April 1986
Host: J.J. Jackson

Latin Quarter, "Modern Times"

Meh. 

The Untouchables, "What's Gone Wrong"

Cactus World News, "Years Later"

I really like this song. I think I might have heard it before, but I'm old. I can't remember. 

Tonight's Musical Interlude: I sing because I'm happy, I sing because I'm free

I spent the evening watching Whitney Houston's funeral and now I'm totally emotionally drained.
I looooved her when she first broke out and I wore out my cassette of her eponymous album by playing "Saving All My Love" constantly. I saw her in concert when she came to Omaha in 1987 and she was wonderful!
When I was in high school my musical tastes changed and I no longer listened to Whitney's music, and I was even annoyed by her biggest hit, "I Will Always Love You". But, man, I gotta say, her death hit me hard.
Such a loss of amazing, unbelievable talent! But, she had begun to fade years ago due to her stupid self-destructive choices. That makes it even more maddening.
Anyways, I'm not a Christian. I don't know what I believe in. It's complicated, I guess.
But! I do love gospel music I love the energy and passion! I also admire the commitment to faith on display.
This is my favorite gospel song and Jennifer Holliday is just fantastic.
So I guess this is my song for Whitney.

Jennifer Holliday, "His Eye is on the Sparrow"

RIP Anthony Shadid

This story is just heartbreaking. Anthony Shadid's career was all about hanging out in some of the most dangerous places in the world and he dies from an asthma attack while on assignment in Syria.

So. Very. Sad.

Will someone please give Dan Savage the Nobel Prize?!?

If you are unfamiliar with Dan Savage and his contributions to humanity, you can go here for a little background.

Since Savage has pretty much destroyed him on the intertubes, you would think Santorum and his campaign staff would have the good sense to steer clear of any references to brown, liquidy substances.
Fortunately for us, this week Santorum displayed an unbelievable lack of self-awareness and offered us this little beauty:

"Romney firing his mud at Rick Santorum"

Tee-hee.

John Stewart is right, Santorum is joke "entrapment".