So it looks like my evil plan is coming to fruition. The Berkeley CDOP program has approved my application to take cooking classes from the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco. I had been wanting to take these forever, but could not bring myself or my mother to pay the $625 fee. I am so excited. Ha! I make Berkeley pay through the nose! Well not really, but I am so excited I'm getting something for free and fun out of them before I leave forever! mu ha ha!

For those who are interested these are the five classes I am taking:

T H E “ E S S E N T I A L S ” S E R I E S
The “Essentials” Series spans the techniques and methods that provide a solid
base for your culinary adventures. Ideal for the new chef or the competent chef,
these classes will provide you with the confidence and skills necessary to make
every dish a fabulous success! (Also offered as individual classes).

ESSENTIALS: CLASSIC SAUCES—Sauces can make or break a dish.
Learn the correct way to make: Béarnaise, Béchamel, Beurre Blanc,
Hollandaise, Demi-Glace, Tomato, and Pesto. Having these sauces in your
repertoire will allow you to make classic dishes, as well as variations.
[ Offered: 04/05/03; 05/10/03; 06/14/03 ]

ESSENTIALS: KITCHEN SKILLS—Learn essential cooking techniques
such as searing, sautéing, poaching, and grilling. Work with different
proteins (e.g., fish, meat, poultry) to create perfectly prepared masterpieces.
The menu may include: Poached Salmon with a Miso Crust,
Grilled Beef Tenderloin Medallions in a Red Wine Sauce and more!
[ Offered: 04/12/03; 05/17/03; 06/21/03 ]

ESSENTIALS: KNIFE SKILLS—The importance of knife skills and
cutting techniques should not be underestimated. Our chef instructor will
teach you how to: identify various knives, handle knives safely, sharpen
knives properly, and make different types of cuts. Use your newly honed
skills to then prepare several dishes in class.
[ Offered: 04/19/03; 05/24/03, 06/28/03 ]

ESSENTIALS: SOUPS & STOCKS—Making fresh, flavorful stock is a
critical step in preparing your homemade soup. Learn to make stocks with
different bases (e.g., fish, beef, vegetable), then use them to create
wonderful soups with a great depth of flavor and body.
[ Offered: 04/26/03; 05/31/03 ]

ESSENTIALS: SWEET & SAVORY SOUFFLÉS—James Beard said:
“The only thing that will make a soufflé fall is if it knows you are afraid of
it.” Overcome your fear and learn to make savory soufflés, such as Goat
Cheese & Walnut, and sweet soufflés, such as Bittersweet Chocolate.
[ Offered: 05/03/03; 06/07/03 ]

So I don't know if anyone noticed, but I added a link under "other friends" for Long-Hai. That's right he's got a webpage but no comment features I'm sorry to say. It has some of his paintings, drawings, etc for you all to view. Per Long-Hai it's a prelimary website and very incomplete, but I thought I would point you in its direction in case you were interested, I know I was.

I wish I could draw. sigh.

I just found out that a friend of mine shipped out to Iraq 3 days ago. He probably won't be on the front lines as he is in the Reserves, but still I worry. My feelings on the war are very jumbled. I don't think that there is a good reason for it, I think that the US should have respected the international community and gone on with the weapons expections longer, I think we are ailenating ouselves from our allies and looking like power hungry bullies, and I do not think war is the answer, and yet now that the war has started I don't think there is any stopping it until it comes to its own end.

My heart goes out the Iraqi people and I hope that out of the destruction, chaos, and death something good can happen. It doesn't seem possible and yet perhaps the removal of Saddam will be a small victory. I don't know. I don't really feel like I can trust the mass media and yet things that I have read and heard is that the Iraqis live under a militaristic state with little freedom and that many of them do want a democratic state. Saddam has used chemical weapons both on his enemies on his own people in the 1980s with or without US knowledge/support and Saddam has according to a biographer Aburish, who interviewed the Iraqi dictator many times, said he will spare no effort to reach his goals, and "if that means eliminating 50 percent of the population of Iraq, he is willing to do it." I don't think that this at all justifies the war that is going on, and bombing the Iraqi people is not the way to grant them democracy or make them feel any warm happy feelings for it or their "liberators" and yet I cannot join the protestors. For myself it just doesn't seem to do any good.

I do want to help so I am going to try and do what I can, small things to help those that are TRULY effected by this war, the soldiers and the Iraqi people. I myself am going to contribute money to Knightbridge International , per Jade's suggestion. I also found out through Wil Wheaton's page that you can send books to soldiers to help occupy their down time, and as my friend who has left for the war loves to read it would almost be like sending him a book. If I find any other things to contribute to I will let the rest of you know.

Thanks to Sumit for pointing me in the direction of this.

Go propaganda go! Run from that Fire!

So I got my wisdom teeth out on Thursday and while it has been a pretty painless experience on the whole, no swelling or brusing, (yea me!), I've come to realize that I could never make it as a drug addict. I have no patience for the whole mess and I hate the way I feel on any type of narcotic, legal or otherwise. (not that I know about the non legal kind, but I imagine my reaction would be the same)

Not that I minded being knocked out for the duration of time where they pulled out my teeth. Thank god I was out for that, but afterwards when they woke me up all I wanted was to have a clear head, so I tried to sleep it off. Once the lack of teeth started to hurt I took one of the pain medications they had perscribed for me and immediately had my typical perscribed medication experience, which involves beginning to feel even more nauseous and later throwing up anything in my stomach.

My whole point her is that any type of drug that I have ever been perscribed has either made me horribly sick or want to go to sleep. I don't feel that it is a good trend. Since my lack of teeth haven't troubled me too much I've stuck to Advil and steered clear of the vomit inducing pill. Mainly I find this whole thing funny because when I dropped my perscription off at the Pharmacy Michele was trying to convince me I should have made them give me something stronger (she seemed to have decided what I had just wouldn't cut it) and all I was thinking was "I'm probably going to puke this up, something stronger would probably give me a heart attack." While Michele is thinking, "Coedine....lovely Coedine GIVE IT TO ME." Or at least that's what I imagined her thinking.

But at least now I can cross drug addict off my list of possible career goals. I'm narrowing down the field.

P.S. I kept my teeth and one they managed to keep intact. It's so friggin weird looking, not at all how I imagined. Wisdom teeth are weird.

I found this through Wil Wheaton's blog. It seems someone is doing a survey on why people blog and what they do with their blogs, etc. It's for a someone's thesis so why don't you go ahead and contribute to their data.

I'm telling you there is a campaign (or should I say conspiracy? hmmmm) against the French going on. I mean why are they harping on the French? Germany is standing against the US as well, the French aren't the lone protestor here. It's like they think the French are easy targets while attacking Germany might bring trouble. Either way this is just the stupidest thing I've ever heard. My favorite is the comment from the French Embassy, saying that French Fries actually come from Belgium. You're dissing no one morons and are wasting tax payers money in the most absurd manner I've every seen.

A friend at work emailed this to me and I had no idea what to say to it except, "wow" and then as an afterthough, "Jesus does that kid get beat up all the time?". I just wish I had been able to play it louder and actually laugh without being fearful of attracting attention to myself. Stupid work.

Sent to me by my sister:

Letter to the London Observer, from Terry Jones (Monty Python)
by Terry Jones • Sunday February 23, 2003 at 03:06 PM

Monty Python's Terry Jone's letter re: the war in Iraq

Sunday January 26, 2003

I'm really excited by George Bush's latest reason for bombing Iraq: he's running out of patience. And so am I!

For some time now I've been really pissed off with Mr Johnson, who lives a couple of doors down the street. Well, him and Mr Patel, who runs the health food shop. They both give me queer looks, and I'm sure Mr Johnson is planning something nasty for me, but so far I haven't been able to discover what.
I've been round to his place a few times to see what he's up to, but he's got everything well hidden. That's how devious he is. As for Mr Patel, don't ask me how I know, I just know - from very good sources - that he is, in reality, a Mass Murderer. I have leafleted the street telling them that if we don't act first, he'll pick us off one by one.

Some of my neighbours say, if I've got proof, why don't I go to the police? But that's simply ridiculous. The police will say that they need evidence of a crime with which to charge my neighbours. They'll come up with endless red tape and quibbling about the rights and wrongs of a pre-emptive strike and all the while Mr Johnson will be finalising his plans to do terrible things to me, while Mr Patel will be secretly murdering people. Since I'm the only one in the street with a decent range of automatic firearms, I reckon it's up to me to keep the peace. But until recently that's been a little difficult.

Now, however, George W. Bush has made it clear that all I need to do is run out of patience, and then I can wade in and do whatever I want! And let's face it, Mr Bush's carefully thought-out policy towards Iraq is the only way to bring about international peace and security. The one certain way to stop Muslim fundamentalist suicide bombers targeting the US or the UK is to bomb a few Muslim countries that have never threatened us. That's why I want to blow up Mr Johnson's garage and kill his wife and children.

Strike first! That'll teach him a lesson. Then he'll leave us in peace and stop peering at me in that totally unacceptable way.

Mr Bush makes it clear that all he needs to know before bombing Iraq is that Saddam is a really nasty man and that he has weapons of mass destruction - even if no one can find them. I'm certain I've just as much justification for killing Mr Johnson's wife and children as Mr Bush has for bombing Iraq. Mr Bush's long-term aim is to make the world a safer place by eliminating 'rogue states' and 'terrorism'. It's such a clever long-term aim because how can you ever know when you've achieved it? How will Mr Bush know when he's wiped out all terrorists? When every single terrorist is dead? But then a terrorist is only a terrorist once he's committed an act of terror.

What about would-be terrorists? These are the ones you really want to eliminate, since most of the known terrorists, being suicide bombers, have already eliminated themselves. Perhaps Mr Bush needs to wipe out everyone who could possibly be a future terrorist?

Maybe he can't be sure he's achieved his objective until every Muslim fundamentalist is dead? But then some moderate Muslims might convert to fundamentalism. Maybe the only really safe thing to do would be for Mr Bush to eliminate all Muslims? It's the same in my street. Mr Johnson and Mr Patel are just the tip of the iceberg. There are dozens of other people in the street who I don't like and who - quite frankly - look at me in odd ways. No one will be really safe until I've wiped them all out. My wife says I might be going too far but I tell her I'm simply using the same logic as the President of the United States. That shuts her up. Like Mr Bush, I've run out of patience, and if that's a good enough reason for the President, it's good enough for me. I'm going to give the whole street two weeks - no, 10 days - to come out in the open and hand over all aliens and interplanetary hijackers, galactic outlaws and interstellar terrorist masterminds, and if they don't hand them over nicely and say 'Thank you', I'm going to bomb the entire street to kingdom come. It's just as sane as what George W. Bush is proposing - and, in contrast to what he's intending, my policy will destroy only one street.

Terry Jones

To see comments posted by those responding to the letter, click here. (Some were quite outraged by what Terry had to say)

...I was rejected from Berkeley. Not that it's a big suprise. I expected it, what with Erica getting an interview and an acceptance letter (Yea Erica!), but it's a little disheartening since I'm still waiting to hear from Santa Barbara. It's also made me feel like a big loser since I feel like if everyone I knew applied to Berkeley I would be the only one who wouldn't get in and considering that everyone I know who actually has applied to Berkeley has got in, it's a pretty good assumption. sigh.

Not that I wanted to get into Berkeley. I really didn't think I was going to go there, but it would have been nice to have been accepted and have the option. And be able to reject them. That is the main point. I wanted to reject them. When I got the letter yesterday I thought it was from Santa Barbara. I had to take deep breaths and look at the return address and realize it was from Berkeley to calm down. And with one rejection under my belt, I'm now even more terrified about getting the letter from Santa Barbara.

I hate this. And I hate feeling like a reject. But you know what....SCREW BERKELEY! Yea. That's it. I should mess something up before I leave. Yea. Or I'll make them pay for my cooking classes and then quit. (That I actually am going to do) Ha! I make them pay through the nose! Ha! Bastards. Too bad I still don't feel better.

Stupid getting into schools crap...grumble grumble.

It's amazing what you can think about on the drive too and from work if you're stuck in traffic and on the verge of falling asleep. Case in point, yesterday as I'm driving over the Benicia bridge I get behind a guy that has a license plate that reads: VRGCARL. Now my mind begins to immediately whirr much like Jason's Microwavo-Galaxy-Future3000Tron, silent and somewhat effective, except when popping popcorn, and I come up with the following interpretations for the license plate while silently giggling to myself:

Virgin Carl
Viagra Carl (this one could be thrown out as it's VGR and not VRG but I liked it)
Very Good (in bed) Carl (this one needs the fortune cookie interpretation)
Very Round Guy Carl
Venezuala Reared Gnome Carl

After the above my tired brain gave out as I was almost home. Now I'm sure that he did not mean the above interpretations, but how could he not see that others would not come up them and not his own meaning? And what if he DID actually mean one of them? And what could his meaning possibly be? I think personal license plates should be clear and to the point, like FOXY or MINE, or they should have a bumper sticker explanation for those who spend minutes trying to decipher their cryptic messages which they insist on putting on their cars.

This is what I contemplated as I got off the freeway yesterday heading for home. Aren't you happy to have been able to glimpse the inside of my mind? Yes I'm sure you are.