UNWRITTEN

I love this song by Natasha Bedingfield: "Unwritten." There's hope in it and encouragement to go forward in the direction of your dreams.

I am unwritten, can't read my mind, I'm undefined
I'm just beginning, the pen's in my hand, ending unplanned,

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you can not find
Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions

Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten

I break tradition, sometimes my tries, are outside the lines
We've been conditioned to not make mistakes, but I can't live that way

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you can not find
Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions

Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you can not find
Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions

Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins

Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten
The rest is still unwritten
The rest is still unwritten

Shit flows downhill

My dad gave me two pieces of advice when I joined the workforce: "Shit flows downhill and payday's on Thursday." The longer I work, the truer these words of wisdom become.

The other truism is the military slogan: "Ours is not to question why; ours is just to do or die!" I have learned that the civilian equivalenet is "Ours is not to question why; ours is just to do or get your ass chewed out when you question why and the incompetent ones imposing the extra hassle (to cover their incompetence)will go to upper management to make themselves look good and you bad."

C'est la vie.

Stone Soup

I have one ingredient with which to make lentil soup: lentils. I have searched the net for recipes, but have found that the only common denominator I share with all those recipes, is the main ingredient.

Enter: improvisation. I have Tabasco sauce. I have eggplant. I have rice so I can ladle it over rice and pretend it tastes like Dal. I have a mixture of spices which will have to do as I don’t have the single servings of cumin, coriander, basil, etc called for in various recipes I have researched. But I do have tomato sauce. And chickpeas. I must be able to make something out of the ingredients I have.

Oh the joys of cooking with no large grocery store like Safeway nearby and relying on what is in season at the local market. How spoiled we have become back home. I think over the times I used to think there was nothing to eat. I know what that means now. I used to complain over not knowing what to cook. Now I have to figure out what to cook as a means of survival, with even less ingredients than I had in my pantry back home and no grocery store around the corner. I get to figure out how to make something taste good with none of the ingredients I am used to, or none of the ingredients needed to make the recipe I want.

It is a challenge that I have to accept. I have no choice but to accept it. I have a stone. And some lentils. Anyone got anything else?