To Have and Have Not

In the film "To Have and Have Not", script co-written by William Faulkner based on an Ernest Hemingway novel, the most famous lines were ad-libbed by the actors.

Ice Cream

I just made my third ice cream (well, second ice cream - one was a sorbet).

The first ice cream I made was a french vanilla. It came out great. I was so happy with the result that I figured I could do no wrong. Because I was riding high, I decided to go with a flavor that I felt could fail- my pride could take it. For my second try, I went with the beer sorbet (as found in the Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream & Dessert Book). The beer sorbet was...frozen sweet beer. The texture came out fine, I was happy there. I'd used my favorite beer, Guinness Stout.

A quick aside: I think there are three perspectives on beer. The first one doesn't like beer at all, the second likes the effect of beer but not the actual flavor. I probably fall into a third group, I actually like the taste of beer. I don't drink all that often but when I do, I like a nice flavorful stout or porter. I don't care about the actual alcohol content. I'm not getting drunk, I'm enjoying a tasty beverage.

At first, I didn't care too much for the beer sorbet. Frozen beer wasn't really doing it for me. However, on the second (or maybe the third) tasting, I suddenly loved it. This isn't the first time this has happened to me. Years ago, I tried Moxie. I was thirsty and had opened a Moxie cola. I hated the flavor, felt it was nasty- like cold medicine nasty. I don't know if it was a hot day or if I was too lazy to get a different drink or even if I just didn't want to waste it, but I kept drinking it. Sips at first, because that's easier, of course. By halfway down the bottle, I'd forgotten that I thought it was nasty. By the time I'd finished the bottle, I was ready for another soda. I had a large selection of drinks (thanks to a recent stop at Galco's) but I found myself reaching for another bottle of Moxie. Now, when I'm at Farmer's Market or somewhere that has Moxie, I'll choose it over other soft drinks.

I don't know when the first time something like this happened to me. It could have been coffee or broccoli or something. I doubt it'll be the last. My taste seems to evolve quickly, it's probably a good thing. Of course, if you are thinking that now that I like beer sorbet, I'll keep on making it all the time, you are wrong. I just made Kahlua-Amaretto ice cream. Life is too short to stick with one type of frozen dessert.

mixing my metaphors

I find that I've started mixing metaphors lately. It doesn't really worry me, due to the "mutts are usually healthier than pure breeds" thingie. I should probably throw in a mixed metaphor here for humor or something, but since I'm still working on my first cuppa coffee today, it would shoddy at best.

English is a living language

English is a living language. It coughs, farts and wheezes just like the rest of us. I've heard that its having troubles with stairs these days. The poor thing is getting old.

only joshing - apropos of nothing

As a child, when I said that I was "only joshing" I meant that I was only joking around. Of course, I didn't know anybody named Josh back then. Over the years, I've learned that it actually means "I'm being spiteful because of my own feeling of inadequacy".

I'm just a rambling man

What happened to day 2 of my foodalogue? Laziness. It's true. I ran out of steam.

I've decided that I want to be able to do the New York Times Crossword puzzles in a timely fashion - to that end, I picked up the Nintendo DS game with almost three years worth of the puzzles. I've never been a crosswordy kind of person, so I'm happy with the small victories of just completing monday puzzles without having to hit the "hint" button (which just gives you the letter you are on, I don't call giving you the answer a "hint" as much as a "you failed"). Unfortunately, the Nintendo DS game scores how well you did- I often get "D-" because it takes me almost an hour to knock out a monday puzzle out (though I did get a "C-" on a puzzle that had a "Happy Days" theme).

Dearly beloved scowled at my video game and told me that if I want to do the puzzles, I should just do the damned puzzles in the paper (or words to that effect). She may be right, but I like being able to hit "erase" - pencil lines don't come out as well.

Another DS game that I've picked up is their version of Wordjong - a game I've played on Pogo, but I really wanted a portable version of the game. There's probably an iPhone app. for it, but I'm good with the DS one.