Really trivial stuff that amuses you...

[Trebuchet]

Ah yes. One of those rare occasions on which a John Lennon lyric made less-than-perfect sense. It's said he regreted it for the rest of his life.

Grant Hutchison

Goo, Goo, Gajooo! Or however that goes.

[The Backroad Astronomer]

Doing a little cleaning today and found a mail box key that a misplaced a long time ago. Do I admit in finding it we already got replacements,

[BigDon]

Same here. My mother couldn't rest until she'd boiled all the vitamins out of vegetables - you don't grow up in Scotland in the 60s without being on the thin edge of scurvy most of the time. I always liked them. I think the story of kids hating brussels sprouts is like the story of kids always asking "Are we there yet?" on car journeys - there's a lot of confirmation bias involved.Grant Hutchison

Are you sure it's not the strong, acrid, metallic, awful flavor? 'Cause I'd go with that one myself. (And I can eat and enjoy: Kale, okra, collards, mustard greens and broccoli!)

And a few related internet memes that floated by recently stated:

"Studies have shown that adding a half a cup of coconut oil to kale at the end of cooking makes it easier to scrap into the garbage."

"They get along like children and blue cheese dressing..."

[grant hutchison]

Gad, I loved blue cheese when I was a kid. Still do.
It was one of a small number of exotic-seeming things my father would sometimes mysteriously come home with: "I just fancied a bit of this."

Then there were the days he'd came home carrying a tin bucket clattering gently with live partans (the name for common crabs, hereabouts). That was a treat, too. Especially since it was the origin of my mother's famous line: "I don't let your father go to Anstruther (a local fishing village) too often - he always comes home with crabs."

Grant Hutchison

[KaiYeves]

For once, I share a food opinion with Grant-- blue cheese is tasty.

[grant hutchison]

For once, I share a food opinion with Grant ...

Have we disagreed? I don't remember.
Did I say something harsh about cakes? Or did I express enthusiasm for offal? Those are usually the things that get me into trouble.

Grant Hutchison

[Trebuchet]

Gad, I loved blue cheese when I was a kid. Still do.
Grant Hutchison

I'm pretty sure I never had blue cheese as a kid. Lots of grilled cheese sandwiches with Velveeta, however. I'd wager even Scotland doesn't have anything as nasty as Velveeta. Unless they have Velveeta. "Pasteurized Process American Cheese Food". The last word is somewhat debatable.

But just today I pigged out on a lovely burger with bacon and gorgonzola. Heavenly. It was six hours ago and I'm still stuffed.

[Jeff Root]

Just before this current discussion of foodlike substances began,
I ate at a Chinese buffet, and there was a big pile of bright red
crayfish. So I took one. I wasn't sure where I would find meat,
except probably in the tail. I managed to find just enough to get a
taste -- not one bit more than a taste -- but it was enough to make
me laugh out loud. Because I was finally able to say it, and I did
say it, out loud: "Tastes a lot like chicken."

-- Jeff, in Minneapolis

[Solfe]

Ah... bleu cheese, Frank's hot sauce, melted butter and chicken fingers, on a fresh baked roll garnished with tomato and lettuce. Best thing ever.

I swore off such stuff a while ago, but dang, it sounds good.

[KaiYeves]

Have we disagreed? I don't remember.
Did I say something harsh about cakes? Or did I express enthusiasm for offal? Those are usually the things that get me into trouble.

Grant Hutchison

You just said a few posts ago that you liked brussels sprouts, whereas I don't.

[Solfe]

When my son was about 3 years old, I took him to a D&D game shop. The owner/cashier didn't seem to know what to do with a toddler so he pretty much ignored him. My son, being aggressively friendly kept trying to engage:

"Hi! I'm Nathan!" The guy nodded. My son said it again. He nodded again. Finally, my son grabbed the edge of the counter and pulled himself up, yelling "Hey! I'm down here! Can't you see me? I'm Nathan!" Nothing... no reaction at all.

My son turned to me and said: "Is there something wrong with him?"

I answered, "No, he's shy."

[grant hutchison]

You just said a few posts ago that you liked brussels sprouts, whereas I don't.

Yeah. But your "For once, I share a food opinion ..." seems to imply some previous recurring history of disagreement.

Grant Hutchison

[Gillianren]

Did I say something harsh about cakes?

Simon's not a fan of cake. He does, however, seem to be a fan of asking me to make him one for his birthday that he then won't eat. This year, he's getting a giant chocolate chip cookie.

[grant hutchison]

Simon's not a fan of cake. He does, however, seem to be a fan of asking me to make him one for his birthday that he then won't eat.

It's the way cake tries to function on two levels - as a food and as a decoration. How can something that looks so interesting taste so boring?

Grant Hutchison

[Trebuchet]

Simon's not a fan of cake. He does, however, seem to be a fan of asking me to make him one for his birthday that he then won't eat. This year, he's getting a giant chocolate chip cookie.

It's the way cake tries to function on two levels - as a food and as a decoration. How can something that looks so interesting taste so boring?

Grant Hutchison

Frosting. Lots and lots of frosting*. Just let him eat that and leave the cake for me.

*Please, not the kind that consists just of crisco, sugar, and chemical colors.

Oh, and do visit CakeWrecks. They sometimes have actual proof of one of Gillian's sig lines.

[Jeff Root]

Frosting. Lots and lots of frosting*. Just let him eat that and
leave the cake for me.

*Please, not the kind that consists just of crisco, sugar, and
chemical colors.

It wasn't until I considered replying to this that I realized I should
have birthday cake. I stll have 16 minutes... Maybe birthday pizza?

-- Jeff, in Minneapolis

[Jeff Root]

Popcorn. But by the time I found it, absconded with it, and popped
it, the day was gone. 12:01 AM.

-- Jeff, in Minneapolis

[Jim]

Now and then, my wife and I will go to a particular locally owned restaurant for dinner. It's in Seabrook, on NASA 1, and you go downhill into the driveway. It sits at lake level. The owner has marked the high water level from the hurricanes... about five feet up the wall.

They have liver and onions, which I love and my wife does not. So I treat myself when we go there. The last time, as we were eating, a strange man came up to the table and looked at our plates. "Oh, liver and onions! That's my favorite." (Oh, great. This will be awkward.) "That's why I put it on the menu."

Oh.

[Trebuchet]

Today's XKCD. I saw the title and immediately thought "Wait, the Navy stopped using those after WWII."

[Gillianren]

It's the way cake tries to function on two levels - as a food and as a decoration. How can something that looks so interesting taste so boring?

I'm more interested in the taste than the appearance, since I'm lousy at decorating. (On the vanishingly rare occasions where the cake gets decorated, it's usually "something written on it with icing" and often Graham's job.) My cakes taste good. Simon just isn't interested.

[grant hutchison]

I'm more interested in the taste than the appearance, since I'm lousy at decorating. (On the vanishingly rare occasions where the cake gets decorated, it's usually "something written on it with icing" and often Graham's job.) My cakes taste good. Simon just isn't interested.

But something about the concept of "birthday cake" seems to appeal to him, at least prospectively.

Grant Hutchison

[grant hutchison]

I was just about to add that I don't think I've ever had a birthday cake on my birthday, when I realized that I have, in a way.
Once when I was pulling a 56-hour weekend shift on emergency cover, a colleague found out it was my birthday. About two o'clock in the morning, in a lull between cases, she presented me with a Mr Kipling French Fancy with a birthday candle on top. I have no idea how she did that.

Grant Hutchison

[Jim]

Many years ago, as my b'day was approaching, my stepmother asked me what kind of cake I wanted. Being in a silly mood, I said, "Strawberry short."

Which is exactly what she made.

[Solfe]

I read a horrible story about cats in free fall, I hope it's not real but it made me laugh so hard. A skydiver decided to see if cats could land on their feet from any height. He found some strays and brought them up in an airplane in a pillowcase. He jumped out and released the cats. He figured landing would be their problem.

Wrong.

The cats attached themselves to his body. He tried to free himself, but ran out of time and had to pull the chute with all four cats clinging with their claws. The cats slipped down, but didn't let go until the skydiver landed. They walked away. He did not.

Ah... cats.

[Gillianren]

But something about the concept of "birthday cake" seems to appeal to him, at least prospectively.

Oh, yes, and he's asked for specific ones two years running now only to not eat any.

[Trebuchet]

Oh, yes, and he's asked for specific ones two years running now only to not eat any.

He knows you can't have your cake and eat it too. Smart kid.

[Trebuchet]

I had a visit to the old community today for multiple errands, including a visit to the storage unit I'm trying to empty out. After shifting multiple boxes of books and paper into the car, I once again realized that books and paper are, after all, fundamentally wood. My back hurts.

[DonM435]

I had a visit to the old community today for multiple errands, including a visit to the storage unit I'm trying to empty out. After shifting multiple boxes of books and paper into the car, I once again realized that books and paper are, after all, fundamentally wood. My back hurts.

I have a theory that "books" is the heaviest substance in the world. Not gold, lead, platinum, osmium ... it's books.

[Jim]

Oh, yes, and he's asked for specific ones two years running now only to not eat any.

He knows you can't have your cake and eat it too. Smart kid.

Soooo, why not just put icing on a Styrofoam shape? If he never eats it, he'll never know. And you could get real creative with the shape and decoration.

[Jim]

I have a theory that "books" is the heaviest substance in the world. Not gold, lead, platinum, osmium ... it's books.

Of course. Surely you've heard people talking about all the heavy reading they've been doing, on weighty subjects.