Brainsprain.net

My mind keeps coming back to that Monday
when we sat outside in the grotto lawn.
I stretched out flat on a chair below
so you could not see me as you sang your songs.

My eyes traced the veins of the of the leaves above
while you told me of your plan.
It rained flowers that matched my shirt.
and silently my teardrops ran.

Ain’t it funny how our memories change with time?
or how a penny whistle tune can be sublime?

When what you seek and who you are merge
you simply divide again, I am afraid my friend.

But why that’s how it goes
only the cosmos truly knows.

Now, I have loved a man longer than I have not.
and I’ve not found many who know what I have got.

I’m so glad to share the laughter
and a pocket full of dreams.
because now I see that lonely heart
is busting to the seams.

It is beautiful to see the love that I have that is so true
you have found in someone beautiful and I have to say
my darling,
Love looks good on you.

I got another of those emails about how much illegal aliens are costing us, the subject line of it was actually, “More Costly Than Iraq.” It’s been a while since I’ve posted a political rant, so…

For my tax dollar, I’d much prefer paying for welfare, food, education and medical attention for people — regardless of citizenship status — than perpetrating an illegal war creating more and more hatred for the United States abroad.

So people saying that war is a great way to spend my money as opposed to blowing it all on food will never have my agreement. War is never the answer. War brings more and more fighting, hatred, and pain. Have you seen gas prices lately? If that were merely supply and demand, oil companies wouldn’t be posting obnoxious profits. We sacrifice American children to kill foreign children over money via oil.
What that article doesn’t comment on is how illegal aliens contribute to our economy. Like the fact that honest, hardworking Americans just don’t show up to do many of the jobs they do. They pay sales tax. They contribute to local economies by spending the paltry sums unscrupulous American business owners get away with paying them — precisely because they are undocumented. You don’t blame mold for growing on bread. You blame the person who left the bread out, right? So we’re going to punish the undocumented aliens for being brave enough to leave their homes, take crappy jobs in circumstances no American would tolerate by throwing them out? Who will mow our lawns? Clean our rooms? Pick our fruit? Americans? Think again.
In short, I’d rather feed them than kill them any day.

It saddens me that so many Americans are so jaded about death and killing that they look for misdirections such as the illegal immigration issue, abortion, gay marriage, and gun control rather than focusing on the fact that we’re facing another quagmire in Iraq and Afghanistan. And the Darfur genocide continues, but Darfur doesn’t sit on an oil field, so we decide we’re suddenly not world police.
Politicians keep misdirecting us, and like sheep, Americans follow the bouncing ball.
Like John Lennon said, “War is over. If you want it.”

I know you already know.  That’s what I’m really writing about.  I found out less than half an hour after he was pronounced dead, and I’ve never even met the guy.  They say bad news travels fast, but with the advent of the Internet, it’s downright CREEPY when news like this is old before the body gets to the morgue.

Ruth lingered in the doorway just long enough to see for certain what she had been suspecting. Once she had her proof, she turned and shot down the hallway like an arrow to her target which had been placed on the back of the utility room door for emergencies just like this one. She was furious and intended to do harm. This was no ordinary anger either. This was rage that had been building for weeks when she first started seeing the signs. It wasn’t obvious right away. Just a little thing here or there, but she had seen it with her own eyes. Now that she knew the whole story, she could almost smell them doing their dirty business down the hall. Did they think they could just get away with this in her house? Don’t think so! She armed herself and started on her journey stepping ever so softly as not to alert them to her presence. She was always such a gentle soul, but there were some things in this world that she just would not abide. She eased the door open and began to open fire. “Die you pig-fuckers! Die!”, she howled as she unloaded the canister on to the floor of her kitchenette. “There will be no cockroaches in my kitchen as long as I walk this earth!”, she exclaimed and tossed the now empty can of Raid into the garbage. She sighed happily and armed off the bomb that would finish the job as she slipped out her front door to meet Emilia.

It’s been a long year.  I’ve lost a lot of weight, been to Disney World, watched friends move away, made new friends, started a new job, got a Wii, and learned to cook far too many dishes by adding Sailor Jerry’s Spiced Navy Rum.  It’s been a good year.  I hope the next one is even better.

I struggled and struggled
thinking I was all things.
I grasped at chaos
and practiced elegant stances
until seven came along.
I disregarded him
saying “I have no time for you as I am all too important”
and he said, he would be back.

I searched the cosmos
I wore meaningful beads
and performed the rites of ancients.
I read the great philosophers
and memorized the words
so I could repeat them with eloquence.

I clothed myself in the world’s greatest thinkers.
I danced before the fire.
I bathed in the river of time
and then I met nine
who asked what I was doing.
I said “look on me and behold my glory! for I am infinity!”
Nine smiled and called seven to her side.
They took me by both hands and
held me like a lover between them
and suddenly, my confusion melted.
I had a purpose
and my burden was no more.
For I am not infinity.
I am eight.

I have been unmade by nothing
and nothing shall be my unmaking.
For the king of fairies mocks me and does not know it.

He, with his world of knowledge and plastic beads
laughs at my simplicity.

He, with textbooks of incantations and useless spells
mocks my energy by comparison to the horned toad.

I also have words of Latin and the rack of a first kill,
but they mean nothing.

They are merely symbols used in time by men who know no better.
Teddy bears of the intellectual man who cling to words
and have forgotten the old ways.

But how can I resist the dance?
What glamor has the fairy king.
But I will not tango, nor drink but my own wine.
And for all his beauty, passion and poise
the fruit on his table is always rotten.

Enough of my friends have asked me for this one I decided to post it. This way I also won’t lose it. It’s a variation of something I found at allrecipes.com and it is quite yummy.

• 3 cups mashed sweet potatoes
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1/3 cup Sailor Jerry’s Spiced Navy Rum (seeing a trend yet?)
• 1 cup chopped pecans (Optional but yummy)

Mix sweet potatoes and sugar, mix in eggs, milk, vanilla, butter. Gradually stir in the rum.  Mix in the pecans if you like.   Pour into a 9×13 greased baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. Add some of those jumbo marshmallows on top for the last 5 minutes or so or until they’re browned if you like, that’s what we decided to do next time.

Here’s one that’s totally NOT on my diet.  It’s incapacitating though, and a combination of other recipes I found plus a bit of a secret ingredient.  In a bowl, combine:

• 3/4 c sugar
• 1 1/2 T butter
• 3 T flour

Mix this up pretty good, then add:

• 3/4 c Light Karo
• 3/4 c Dark Karo
•  3 eggs
• 2 t vanilla (more isn’t bad)
• 1shot of Sailor Jerry’s Spiced Navy Rum (*Secret Ingredient)

Mix this up, and then stir  in 1 1/2 cups of pecans.  Pour this into a pie shell and bake it for 50 – 60 minutes at 350 degrees.  Let it completely cool, for at least an hour.  DO NOT eat it all in one sitting.

At the risk of this becoming a cooking blog… I offer this recipe in two flavors: one for something to do with leftover turkey, and one for those long winter nights between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

What you need:

• 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 Onion, chopped big
• EITHER 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts OR about 1 1/2 cups leftover turkey
• 1 Tsp Cumin
• 1 Tsp Chili Powder
• 1 8oz bottle of Pace (I like Hot, but medium and mild work fine too) salsa
• 2 14oz cans of corn
• About 30 – 34 oz of Chicken Stock
• Lime juice (Fresh or bottled)
• Big bag of tortilla chips
• finely shredded Mexican cheese mix

Heat up the olive oil in a big stock pot.

If you’re using chicken breasts, throw them in and brown them really well on each side, and then take them out and shred them.

If you’re using leftover turkey, it’s probably shredded up anyway and it’s at more or less the same point as the chicken above.

Put the chopped onion in the pot and stir it up until it starts turning translucent, then add the poultry. Continue stirring, letting the turkey heat up or the chicken brown a touch more. When you’re confident the chicken is cooked pretty well, add the cumin and chili powder, stirring it up. After you get that mixed in really well, add the whole jar of salsa. Even if you use hot, it’s not going to make it terribly spicy so you’re okay. Stir until that starts to steam, then add the chicken broth and corn. Don’t bother draining the corn juice, it’s good for you. Keep stirring until nothing is sticking to the bottom, put it on medium heat or so and bring it slowly to a boil. Once it boils, take the heat down as low as it will go and start yelling that dinner is ready. Add 1 Tbsp – 1/8 cup of lime juice, however much you like. Err on the side of not enough, because you can always put more in. Spoon the soup into a bowl, put a nice layer of tortilla chips on top and then a good sprinkling of cheese. Warn those that take this that it was just boiling a second ago and giggle to yourself when they burn the roof of their mouths, but don’t let them catch you doing it. This freezes well and makes enough for 4 people.