tea

This morning I'm cooking pan bread and drinking An Ji Bai Cha.  It occurred to me that I drink tea like I eat food.  It must have variety.  I always have my favourites, like Earl Grey or ripe puerh, that sort of thing, but even though I've been in a darker tea mood as of late, this morning I opted for the lighter white-green with its gentle little leaves that open up and look perty in a glass tea pot.  Funny how that works.

Anywho, in other news, I finally caved and bought techietutorials.net.  The .com is still being hoarded by an advertising company of sorts and I still hate godaddy for being assholes about the whole situation two years ago, but bluehost has been very nice to me so far - nice site, great support, easier to navigate, etc.  So, it's all good.  And given the content, the .net makes more sense anyway.  Now people are getting used to the different domain names to an extent so no big deal, especially since there are such things as bookmarks and my websites are more for me than others anyway.

So... big whup.  I'll get over it.  I'm just happy to have my site back.

~w

IT memory

I was just sitting here at work doing some vmware stuff when I had a very sudden flashback to probably about eight years ago.  I was working remotely somewhere (Mom's?  Dale's?  My house?) and jumped through 4 or 5 machines to get to one I needed to work in.  I had some sort of virtual software open and edited or created a server, increased server space, something.  I'm not sure what I was doing.  I only remember thinking how cool it was that a) I could do it remotely and b) I was reconfiguring something virtually.  I am pretty sure this was relatively new to us at the time and that it was big.  But I must have been following a procedure of sorts because I wasn't that high on the food chain at the time.  I was probably a level 2 tech, in fact, nowhere near a sysadmin yet.

There was certainly a feeling of elation and power, though, whatever I was doing.  It is rather scary to think that I had such power in my hands at such an early point in my career, but, thankfully, I never blew up anything that someone else could not readily fix or that couldn't wait for me to fix.  LOL!

Anywho, virtual computing is still freakin' awesome to me.

~w

Pan Bread

My pan bread recipe... give or take a dash.

Pan Bread [sweet version]

1 cup flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp yeast

1 tsp cinnamon

dash nutmeg

dash ground clove

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 tsp anise seeds

1/2 to 3/4 cup warm water

Mix dry ingredients, then add water 'til you get a sticky but workable dough.  Add more flour to the bowl as needed until you can work it into a kneadable thingie.  Let it rest on fresh flour and powder the top of the thingie with more flour.  Let it sit there an hour or whatever.  The yeasticles will drink the water like alcohol, and burp and fart inside the sticky glutinous bonds.  This will stretch the bonds, making the thingie rise like a stinkbomb only to us it smells good.  When you're done letting the party happen, heat up a fry pan with some oil (olive oil works fine).  Get it good and hot but don't tell the yeasticles what you're up to.  Then knead the thingie a bit more and flatten it into the bottom of the fry pan.  Don't listen to the screams.  They'll get over it.  Fry about 5-10 minutes somewhere around just short of halfway on the heat, and flip when golden brown on bottom or it starts to burn, whichever you notice first.  Fry another 5-10 minutes, turning down heat a notch so it can cook through a bit more slowly without burning and setting off smoke detectors.

Voila!  Pan bread.  You can adjust the spices to taste or swap them with thyme, rosemary, cajun, chile, etc. depending on what you're in the mood for.  I'm sure it's awesome with powdered sugar and maple syrup on it, but, it's usually gone before such accoutrements escape their hiding places.

~w

Jewellery

I went to type "jewellery" in my last post and it kept getting highlighted as being incorrect.  I looked it up.  Figures, my version of the spelling, which I have been using since who knows when, is the "British" version.  What is it with me and British spellings??  Why couldn't Webster just have kept his dirty little fingers out of the damned dictionary?!  Then I would not be constantly battling dimwits and spellcheckers!!

"The word jewellery itself is derived from the word jewel, which was anglicized from the Old French "jouel",^[3] and beyond that, to the Latin word "jocale", meaning plaything. In British English, it is spelled jewellery, while the spelling is jewelry in American English.^[1][4]"

I just shut off spellchecker.  I'm tired of that crap.

~w

Stuff

Up until today, I have been aware of four categories of clothing:

1. Work clothes.  The stuff I find comfortable, non-clingy, easy to care for, dark, interchangeable, and work-worthy.  This gets crammed into a large plastic drawer in the bathroom for easy and regular access.  Overflow ends up in a second drawer beneath that one or in the two smaller drawers stashed beneath the hamper and waste basket.

2. Casual/Loungewear.  The stuff I find comfortable, non-clingy, easy to care for, and that I can wear to bed or around the house.  Many items I can also wear outside, just not to work.  This stuff gets crammed into the third, bottom drawer.

3. Fancy wear.  The "fancy" stuff I hold onto for special occasions, such as tea parties, interviews, deaths, weddings, renaissance faires, and the like.  This stuff doesn't necessarily have to be comfortable or easy-care, but I have to at least like it.  This stuff is mostly kept in two boxes at the top of a closet in a spare bedroom.  I also have a collection of scarves kept in my playpen, not far from all the cheap jewellery I never wear.

4. Overflow casual ware.  These are mostly t-shirts that I occasionally remember to rotate into my usual supply so they get used and not neglected.  They are often in a third box at the top of a closet.

Today I became aware of these categories:

5. Old outfits that don't fit but which I remember loving at some point long ago and secretly hope will fit again some day.  (I remember laughing when I heard people saying things like this.  I'm only chuckling now.)

6. Items I love the look of but never wear because they don't fall into the above categories.

7. Items I hang onto because... I have no idea why.

I am grateful I have the problem of having to figure out what I will keep and what I will donate or throw out.  But egads... I never considered myself a clothing-a-holic... when did this explosion occur in that closet?!

~w

POEM: Morning Prayer

Morning Prayer

20140413 - c2014 wlc

To my left is a man

Whose countenance is fair

I hear him there breathing

So I turn to stare

I watch for a while

As morning awakens

Sometimes my heart flutters

As if it were shaken

And I think:

Thank you for being the man of my dreams

And all the times when you understand

Thank you for sharing your passions with me

And for the gentle touch of your hand

Thank you for helping me up when I fall

And for the advice to help guide me through

But most of all, I just want you to know

I'm thankful you're just being you

I flip onto my back

And gaze at the stars

Their lights slowly fading

As the night travels far

I'm human, imperfect

On this road that I plod

Then I turn to my right

And look on the face of God

And I think:

Thank You for the house that's over my head

And for the guy that I love

Thank You for the sunrise each morning

And for the heavens above

Thank You for helping me up when I fall

And giving me Conscience to help Guide me through

But most of all, I just want You to know

I'm thankful You're just being You

I go to turn over

My eyes filled with mist

Feel a hand on each shoulder

Both cheeks gently kissed

I hear two sweet voices

As gentle as dew

And without a sound

They say, "I love you, too."

And I think:

It's morning!!  Dale!!  Look!!  There's DAYLIGHT out there!!  DAY light!!

And my mind starts its racing

And I jump out of bed

And I fly through the house

And the critters are fed

And I have a burst

'Til the chores are all done

Then I sit alone

With tea there in front

I look out the window

And what do I see?

The bursting of colour

The Love before me.