End of Engineered Eutopia

Disclaimer: trying to sleep, had a glass of wine, thought of an idea…

For a dystopian story:

1. Barren planet

2. Robot appears

3. Sees another robot’s head with spine in mouth.

What happened to you?

We ran out of things to eat!

We?

Head looks around.

Well, yea, we…

Who was with you?

Um…

Robot with body eats the head.

Another robot appears

What cha doin?

Oh, were just having lunch.

We?

Um, well…

2nd robot eats the 1st.

A 3td robot appears.

Hey, hows it going?

Oh, you know, we’re just hangin out..

We?

Well …

Newest robot eats older one.

After a while, no more robots appear.

A body-less robot rolls around trying to eat its own head.

We see that the entire planet is bald. There is nothing anywhere.

The robot head starts to cry and moans “im going to die alone!”

Last scene: rusted robot head has disintegrated.

Wind blows, whistles with no echo.

The end.

 

O-mep-ra-zole, o-mep-ra-zole,
You coat my tum securely.
O-mep-ra-zole, o-mep-ra-zole,
You coat my tum securely.

You make it so
I can safely eat.
My digestion is
Now more complete.

O-mep-ra-zole, o-mep-ra-zole,
You coat my tum securely.

 

I don’t like taking meds, so I made up this song to sing when I take my omeprazole.  Singing helps me remember I am truly grateful for this Rx without which I wouldn’t be able to eat!

 

Virtual Cafe

Photo by Engin Akyurt on Pexels.com

Besides movies and tv shows, Amazon Prime Video offers some unconventional genres including “atmospheric” scenes with no music or narrative.  One provider of these moving scenes is The Window Channel.  One variation on this type of offering is

Morning Jazz at Coffee Shop

This one includes some quiet jazz music as background to a scene in a cafe with a few people coming and going.  I can’t find who actually produced this little gem, but it was directed by “Annabelle.”

For those who like to have a gentle buffer from their immediate surroundings while they write, this little video offers the atmosphere of being in a quiet cafe.  I’ve found many jazz-at-a-cafe playlists on YouTube, however, they don’t include a moving picture.  So if you need a “window” into elsewhere while you read or write, check out Annabelle’s “Morning Jazz At Coffee Shop” or other views from The Window Channel on Amazon.

No, I’m not paid to promote this, nor do I receive any form of reward from Amazon or anyone else.  I’m just sharing because I know other coffee-loving writers might enjoy this accompaniment to their creative activity.  Enjoy!

 

Heart Matters

Sometimes when I write, it’s really just because I want to hang out on my site!  More and more people are saying blogs are passe.  Even if that’s true in general, it’s not true for those of us who blog! Most of us not only write blogs, but we read others’ as well.  This reminds me a bit of an old wisdom-tale about a child on a beach saving the starfish.

A child was walking along a beach picking up the starfish washed ashore and flinging them back into the ocean.  An older man watched him for a while, then approaching the child asked “what do you think you’re doing?”

The child responded “I’m saving the starfish!”

“You can’t save the starfish! What does it matter if you throw one back? Two more are washed ashore!” scoffed the man.

The child quietly flung another starfish into the ocean. “It mattered to that one!”

I often think of that story when faced with a challenge that I think matters but the world at large considers futile.  I might not be able to make a difference to significant number of people, but sometimes I can make a significant difference to one person, and that’s what really matters to me.

As Saint Mother Theresa said:

We can’t all do great things, but we can each do small things with great love.

And I really love this Jewish proverb:

Save one child and you save the world.

As someone once said,

We can count how many seeds are in an apple, but we never know how many apples are in a seed.

So, do what matters to you! And if you discover it has mattered to even just one other person, thank God for the grace to have seen the fruit of your labor.  Most of us will never know the impact we’ve had on other lives, especially the good repercussions of our actions. That’s largely because most people will tend to speak up more quickly and loudly if they have a complaint. Oftentimes people will notice how they benefited from someone’s kindness or example much later, and they don’t bother to return to give thanks.  That’s okay!  We just need to trust that the seeds of good we plant will eventually blossom and give fruit for someone on their journey, just when they need it. With the Lord, nothing is wasted.

“Life is short and we have not too much time for gladdening the hearts of those who are traveling the dark way with us.  O be swift to love!  Make haste to be kind.

~ Henri-Frederic Amiel (1821-1881)

 

Calmly Creamy

Today I brewed a pot of Great Value’s Crème Brulée Medium Roast.  It’s advertised as “rich and creamy.” For my palette it pales in “richness” if you’re expecting a strong crème brulée flavor.  However, if you enjoy a full-bodied medium roast that is subtly sweet, then this is the brew for you!  I’m enjoying it black.  I’m not sure the flavor would come through added cream and sugar.  Other brands make a better brulée, but for half the price this is quite good.

 

Crazy for caramel

I’m crazy about caramel but this drizzle doesn’t deliver.  Folgers Gourmet Caramel Drizzle freshly brewed has a lovely, somewhat mellow, delicious coffee flavor, but with only a hint of caramel, so if mild is what you prefer, this is the flavored-coffee for you.  I might have found it extremely delicious if I had thought it was regular coffee; the caramel flavor is that mild — I might have thought it was just a richly dimensional roast.

I am notorious for letting my cup of coffee cool while I do other things.  When I kept coming back to this particular perk, the more it cooled, I found the caramel became more pronounced.  This makes me think Caramel Drizzle might be better served iced.  I’ll try that another time.

Photo credit: Folgers website

 

McDonald’s Hazelnut

You can buy McDonald’s Hazelnut at Wal-Mart, which I did.  I brewed a pot just as I normally would, the only variable changed is the ground beans.  My findings:  the flavor is moderately strong, mostly magnificent, but a little bit “reedy”, i.e. a tad more acidic than Seattle’s Best.  Because when I have Hazelnut at McDonald’s, I normally have it as Iced Coffee (and they add sugar and cream), I plan to test this brew that way next time.  For now, it will probably rank as my 3rd favorite for Hazelnut.  Seattle’s Best is still holding 1st place.

Also of interest: I noticed that when I brewed the Seattle’s Best Toasted Hazelnut, the aroma was more powerful than any of the others I’ve tried so far.  I’m sure that makes a difference in how I taste the taste, but I wonder why the aroma would be SO much stronger when the flavor (while drinking) was only somewhat stronger.

Once I finish my “research” and narrow down my favorites to 3, I might investigate more variables between them or within their pre-customer processes.  For now I would give McDonald’s a big thumbs up, but not really a Fave.

 

Seattle’s Best Hazelnut

I’ve made this coffee three times now and it remains my favorite thus far.  Favorite hazelnut, favorite coffee period.  It tastes great whether brewed to be strong or weak, whether drunk hot or over ice.  I always drink my coffee black so I haven’t tried it with cream and/or sugar, so I can’t comment on how the flavor performs when those are added.  The flavor tastes gently, sweetly nutty like hazelnut should, and there’s a slightly coconut-like je-ne-sais-quoi that conveys the “toasted” aspect.  The best part is that this doesn’t taste like flavored coffee or qualified hazelnut; it tastes absolutely whole: one perfectly blended brew of Best Coffee.  Try it and you’ll find it’s not just Seattle’s Best; it will be yours too!

 

Check out Desafinado by Gal Costa

https://play.google.com/music/m/Teiluinddsg7vad2wppdvlsyetq?t=Desafinado_-_Gal_Costa

This is the best cafe music!  If I owned a little coffee shop, I would offer only the world’s best coffee drinks from all around the globe, served in white porcelain sitting on generously sized saucers with petite silver spoons and large sugar cubes.  The background music would be Basso Nova every Friday, French accordion music Thursday afternoons, and the best of Bach on Sunday…

 

Hello, kitty!

For those days when even a serious cup a Joe needs a light touch.