Tidbits From The Gumbo Pot

Another day of rest, supposedly, so I thought I’d take the opportunity to ease off the pedal and partake of some randomization. About time, I suppose. There seems to be a rash of that on this marvelous Interwebs of ours. So, let’s randomize, shall we?

ASIAN CHEESE
I have oftened wondered why, given the vast size of Asia and the existence of so many different types of cattle there, that cheese never gained the prominence in Asian cuisines that it has in European (and by extension, American) cuisines. I know that fermented bean curd could be seen as an ‘analog’ of cheese, but I have to believe that someone somewhere in say, China, must have noticed the phenomenon of curdled milk on its way to becoming cheese. Somehow the “meme” for cheese-making never took off in Asia the same way it did elsewhere. I have heard cheese described as “milk so rotten it turned solid”, which could explain it.

SOME FLUTTER IS GOOD
Through the wise and all-seeing direction of Vodka Mom, I had my wandering attention span directed to the blog of the lovely Flutter. She has some very interesting things on her mind, and some amazing photographs that you should see. As an added bonus, she recently posted a video for the song ‘Typical’ that reminded me to purchase the new album from one of my new favorite bands, Mutemath*. The song works on a number of different levels, the simplest of which is, it is a damn good tune. So herewith, for you audio/visual pleasure, MUTEMATH:

IN MY MIND, I’M A FREAKIN’ DECATHLETE!
Exercise. I know I should be getting it. But I just don’t. There is an elliptical trainer in my basement, which I used to use every single day during the week, and walking for exercise on the weekends, but something happened and I fell out of the habit. The weather here has been cold, windy and gray a lot, which doesn’t help with the outdoor activity. I likes my walks around the lake and the fresh air. The trainer is good, but boring. Maybe if I tied some wolves to the back of it that would give more incentive to work fast. Great cardio, I suspect. For now, I’ll content myself with exercise in the form watching my daughter run around in circles in the house. That’s a full time job in itself. Quite vigorous, too. My eyeballs are BUFF!

TAGGED: IT AIN”T JUST GRAFFITI ANYMORE
Well, it finally happened. I got tagged. The luscious Teri at Cold Lemonade (and a tall drink she is, mmm...) ambushed me with the “25 Random Things About Me” meme. Ordinarily, I have been avoiding tagging because I don’t want to make a busy schedule even busier for me or someone else, but in this case I made an exception.**

25 Things Floating In The Gumbo Pot:
1) My first name, Kevin, is derived from a Celtic language, and supposedly means “the beautiful offspring” or “pleasant, comely” or “noble, kind and friendly man”.
2) I love music, can’t carry a tune in a bucket.
3) At various times in my life, I have wanted to be a rock star, a monk and a research chemist with a concentration in brewing/fermentation.
4) A good song can make me cry from joy, sorrow or nostalgia.
5) The first dog I can remember having was a beagle named ‘Lucy’.
6) Somedays, all I want out of life is a bologna sandwich and a beer.
7) Speaking of sandwiches, my Mom makes the best grilled peanut butter sandwich in the Universe. I still miss those sandwiches. All hail the Moms!
8) I began blogging on October 5th, 2008, and have been fortunate to have not missed a single day of posting.
9) I used to have, and wear, a pair of black denim pants festooned with zippers all over, including the knees. I bought them in England.
10) I do not recommend sliding across the dance floor while wearing pants with zippers on the knees. It hurts. A lot.
11) I used to have a blond streak in my hair, on the right. I did it on purpose.
12) I once pierced my own ear with a short pin. After I finished bleeding and screaming, I installed a small gold cross earring.
13) Three weeks later, I had to take the cross out because league rules forbid playing soccer while wearing piercings or certain kinds of jewelry. That sucked.
14) Clip on ties used to be a part of my wardrobe. I am shamed.
15) My favorite malt beverage of the beer type is Guinness Stout draft, no contest.
16) Some days my eyes look blue, some days they greenish or grayish. I have not verified if that corresponds to moods.
17) Most people who know me would say I am moody.
18) The ‘Moody Blues’ would not show up on my list of favorite bands.
19) If I could form my own band, it would probably play some kind of Celtic funk-rock. Bagpipes would be involved, and possibly tubas.
20) I find tubas to be funny. Trumpets, not so much.
21) I used to be able to play the opening chords to Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water” on guitar AND harmonica.
22) I wanted to be an architect starting in 7th grade, because I wanted to draw houses for a living. I was very naive.
23) Writing is what I really want to do, I just didn’t know until now.
24) The amount of things I know is miniscule compared to the amount of things I don’t know. This vexes me greatly.
25) Soccer (“footie”) is my favorite sport, hands down. I am still an American.

So there you have it, 25 random things about the mystery that is me. I’ll forgo the tagging of others. Just for shits and giggles, though, scroll through my blog roll and randomly pick some to visit, drop some comment love.

I think that about does it. Happy Sunday morning to all, I’m going to watch some cartoons with my Wee Lass, and see if I can rustle up a bologna sandwich.

*And a special thanks to my friend Wesley S. for layin’ the band on me in the first place. Dude, that dvd RAWKS!

**I admit that in this case, it did give me the opportunity to add to my post, ‘cause I’m tired and feeling a bit shagged out. But also, Teri is a force of nature, in a good way. And don’t mess with Mother Nature! I am terrible at following rules, though.