Well it is new years. Well it should be new years in a few hours. 4ish EST.
It's gonna be a long night for me as I've got things to do. Lots and lots of things. And these things must be done soonisher rather than later-er.
TURTLE!
Today was a beach sorta day. Mantanzas state park was graced by my presence and I was able to catch a photo of some varient of elusive turtle before his gracefulness slipped back beneath the waves. His tiny flippers dainty gadgets of superior water movement whose form echoed sentiments of freedom as he paddled beneath the waves. Well no it could be a she. Or an assexual turtle. As an individual who was not about to jump off the bridge to make sure one way or another, I can only assume that this was indeed a male turtle.
Among other things I got pictures of... 2 tortoises conversering. Or sunbathing. Or ya know whatever gopher tortoises do in their spare time. These two seemed perfectly content sitting there as I gawked at them and snapped several pictures. For all I know they could be dueling for mating rights or ya know waiting for some hot female tortoise to stumble slowly by.
Oh and this guy. Girl/hermaphrodite. I dunno. I think sea urchins are herms right? Well it was alive. creepy little thing with those little spikes of it's moving around like they were. Found 2 of them actually, this being the second one. Though I must kinda admit that that little mouth and beak of its were cute and that in general this little one was quite interesting to examine and in general contemplate over. How his existence was different today of all days because a monster removed him from his aquatic environment to touch him all over. It's an interesting sensation to have a sea urchin walk over you. Much like having a sea star do the same thing. Kinda like hundreds of little needles tapping parts of your hand to see if it's safe to walk on and then gingerly each one moves a little. And then turn your head and it's moved out of your hand and back onto the sand. The waves lapping the world slowly away and the sea urchin back on to it's own buisness and searching for that next clump of algae to nom on. For that's really all it cares about. It doesn't give a shit about the world around it or how it's probably going to be an endangered species soon. Nope in the end, it's just content being itself.
It'll be the new year soon. A new chance for me to begin anew. And ya know live and be happy and whatever else.
On the day of your death we will drink and we'll sing.
Yes this girl again. I am in love with her voice. She truly has a bard's voice. Which is probably why I've listened to the above song about 10+ish times.
Among other things that happened today... I finally got my license (yeah I know, bad Asian driver jokes aside), it's useless to be honest. The only reason I had my permit to begin with was that I needed a form of Identification when I traveled (don't bother going to an airport without one or your passport). But yeah yours truly has a license now. It's just a piece of plastic that verifies that my organs can be harvested in the event of my traumatic death. Well not hoping I die. I have a week before the job's recruiters message me back about their decision. And 2 weeks before I get the most amazing sex I've yet to have.
Yes indeed. I should get around to finishing my arrangements for my plans to California. Going out for a weekend. One full of spontaneous sex. Fun. And general mischief. I'm really looking forward to seeing my old friends though. Some of them I haven't talked to in several months.
And oh yeah, I got experience butchering today. Diced a duck into many small pieces. Not fun sirs and madams. Especially with a cleaver that wasn't particularly heavy. Cleavers work in the cookery world by many forms, each part of the blade specifically suited for a different task, be it chopping, slicing, dicing and/or transport. The cleaver I was using was balanced well, but the rather stubby nature of the handle made placement for my medium-sized hands awkward.
But that's a different story and one that isn't much onto my present state of mind.
I'm content. And that's saying a lot about me right now.
So I forgot the password to my laptop for all of 5 minutes. And while my frustration boiled as I typed in every combination of random jibberish I had in my notebooks (I have a feeling a few of them might actually be passwords. The rest are just random shit that came to mind as I was doing other stuff that needed my attention.
Also my eyes are numb. contacts were a wise move as I needed driving experience.
And I perfected my mapo tofu dish :) It seems the key of course is to add half->1 tablespoon of Szechuan Pepper. Grind them first in a mortar and pestle to get a nice even consistency powder. This of course is the true key to the dish. The Ma or ้บป literally translates to numb. I wanna say. This feeling is hard to/impossible to replicate in most dishes and as such, the component of the Szechuan Pepper is absolutely important. In my previous attempts with the dish I would end up using an excess amount of ground chili pepper and pre-prepared/store bought chili sauce. And while this preperation is quite passable for common fare, it is necessary to realize that while common fare is fine; adding additional touches to truly excite the pallet makes for a much more enjoyable dining experience.
To note though, adding the Szechuan Pepper added a texture issue with the finished dish. In the grinding of the peppercorns, I came to realize that the finished product was a mix of dust, small twigs and crushed peppercorns. This of course leaves a grit like mouth-feel. The flavor booster comes from the crushed nature of the pepper, and as such I can't simply omit it :( I'll need to work on this some more in order to truly get my mind around such a conundrum.
In the morning, I'll be getting my driver's license. Bout time too. But meh. That's as useless as anything else I force upon myself.
