Unfortunately my Japanese isn’t good enough for me to know how to write “like a dagger to the heart” so you’ll have to settle for “blade and heart” even though I suspect that に would have been more appropriate than と considering the circumstances. God if none of that japanese displays it will just be another thing let me tell you.
So today my constantly wild hairs came up with the idea of taking a class or two at the local college this summer to try to better myself. I’ve taken classes before but it has been around 2 years since the last one. And time doesn’t stop. Unfortunately, I might have. I had to try and re-apply and I didn’t know that a lot of the information they were asking me for even existed so I wasn’t able to finish out. Then to top it all off I couldn’t find straight information about class schedules and fees. I think you need to sign in with an online account for that. *sigh…… they do at least still offer the class I was thinking about taking. I’m not sure now if this could be worth it. There is a reason I stopped taking classes you know? Anyway I’ll see what comes up.
Of course the side problem to that is the trip I mentioned. A summer class would be around the time I’d probably be able to get away. They do have a late starting version of the class but you know… on top of everything it would be a fucking morning class. I am not a morning person. Notice that this blog is called “The Sky BEFORE Dawn”. Well whatever I’ll keep it in mind and see how things work out.
The above was just a minor annoyance really, the day was fine till then. But I go to check my “official” email and what do I find there? A notice that a company I had previously applied for a job with was hiring again. Oh how nice right? Wrong. God I hate corporations, I only applied there because I was desperate. Do you have any idea how humiliating and infuriating it is to do something that goes against all your principles only to be given a quick brush off? Well I suppose that was just what you’d expect in that situation and it was probably better in the long run that I didn’t get it. Hell I might not have applied if I’d thought I had a real chance. The problem was that it’s apparantly corporate policy to lead you on and they made me think that I WOULD get it only to suddenly dismiss me. I was so sore at the time I bought a big bottle of vodka (I think it was a .750 liter bottle) and almost got arrested because of some stupid technicality. I’m not really a drinker and actually I ended out only drinking a fraction of the bottle before dumping the rest down the sink and I haven’t had a drop since. Ah I wish that the important things in life wouldn’t be such a massive pain to learn. Although of course if they weren’t you would forget about them the next day.
Anyway after the trouble checking out the class stuff that just was not what I needed.
On a more positive note I experimented with something today that did not turn out badly. I’m a semi-vegetarian for mostly health reasons (yeah what else gets people to stop eating meat?) and for most of my life now I’ve prepared the majority of my own meals/food. It varies you know like if I wanted a sandwhiche I’d just buy bread at a bakery and meat at a deal and such rather than baking and roasting my own respectively. Well right now I’m trying to get into the “whole foods” thing where you eat foods as close to their natural unprepared state as feasible. Like getting brown rice instead of white but still getting it dried and packed rather than going out to wherever and plucking it yourself. This again is for health/nutrition reasons. People can say what they want about it being “good chi” or what have you but sticking with the rice example what does it for me at the end of the day is the fact that brown rice has notably more nutrients than white.
If you’re curious of course the main reasons that foods are processed in any way (including cooking them) would be; preservation, taste, and “safety” in that order. Some might debate that order but the final one applies chiefly to either meats or items that are more on the end of delicacy (Fugu anyone?) in the modern diet and I think those things can fuck off.
If I remember correctly supposedly the only processing you can do that actually adds nutrients to vegetables is chopping them. That’s a bit dicey though. Fermentation of course has effects too but whether that can be considered adding or if just changes characteristics I don’t honestly know. I suspect the latter with the exception of bacteria. I’ll give yogurt so-called “pro-biotics” although that’s more like cultivation than fermentation isn’t it…… Well those things don’t have to do with me.
In any case what did I make? A wheat saute. I’m not talking about “seitan” here either, I’m talking about… I guess they call them “wheat berries”. Yeah I simmered some at the start of the day and had it with some yogurt. Then later on I took what was left over and tossed it in with an onion, some garlic, and the last of some frozen (I dislike frozen, but you take what you can get when you get it) shiitake mushrooms I had. The end result was not so bad. Since all the stuff besides the mushrooms hadn’t been processed and thus wasn’t plagued by added salt and sugar like everything prepared that you’d buy (ever check the label on tomato sauce) I splurged and cracked (oh you’ve got to grind your own) some sea salt on top. Needless to say this wasn’t the finest meal in the country to be had tonight but it was passable and probably the healthiest thing I’ve eaten in some time. I could have used some greens though, maybe brocolli or… hmm not asparagus. I used to like celery but I heard that contains carcinogens and I’m waiting to hear what the implications of that are.
So keeping in this spirit tomorrow I’ll be having whole oats. I think I’ll go with yogurt on them once again to start and then see about anything else I can come up with for what will remain. I mean you know I like to saute but with oats? I guess I’ll just keep them a porridge/gruel (we’ll see how watery I feel like taking them), maybe I’ll cheat and put a bit of honey on them eh? Of course the real solution is to just not make so much that there will be leftovers but I’m just following the basic directions the first time out.
Speaking of which, do you know how cheap whole grains are? You can buy a moderate sized bag for less than a single item of fast food (oy vey!) and you could probably get a year’s supply (of course some would spoil before that much time passes…) for less than a decent meal out. Vegetables are comparitively a bit more expensive but still less than meat would be in most places. Actually at this pace I think that the thing I buy which is the most expensive is the extra virgin olive oil i use.
And just to say it, I buy organic ingredients as much as possible. This is another reason for cutting out meat, grains and veggies are pretty freely available (though still markedly more expensive than their chemically and/or genetically treated counterparts) organically in any country worth living in but it’s harder and drastically more expensive to get organic meat. Of course with the condition that the ocean is in it’s hard to get things from the sea that you can feel so good about but some of that stuff they can cultivate now too. I don’t think they do so much other than animals but you know maybe someday…
Of course the ocean and organic foods are subjects unto themselves and I think I’ve got enough for today.
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The Sky Before Dawn 