Esoteric Etiquette

If somebody you know suffered a disappointing date brokered through a match-making website, sharing the comment “There are plenty of fish left in the sea” might be highly inappropriate. This is particularly true if the site happened to be PlentyOfFish.com, as she will think that you are making a horribly cruel joke at her expense.

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Depending on the degree of catastrophe that was experienced (and eventually comprehended in the aftermath), your well-intentioned journey from Mars to Venus could result in an articulated knee to the gut… followed by black-eye-prostration… followed by one or two cracked ribs… followed by….

Recipes, Entry 1: Peanut Butter Chocolate Oatmeal Crunch Power Breakfast

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Directions

  • Wake up
  • If Monday, Wednesday, Friday then shave
  • Evacuations
  • Stretch
  • If Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday then perform series of 120 pushups/leg-lifts/elbow-to-knee-crunches in the following intervals: 30/40→40/30/40→40/30/40→40/30*
  • If Saturday then run seven miles*
  • Pour glass of fresh apple juice
  • Take multivitamin and vitamin-C pellets
  • If Monday, Wednesday, Saturday then fill one ~6.5cm radius and ~7.0cm height saucepan to ~80% filtered water (NOTE: the same volume of water in a larger pot would be easier)
  • Place saucepan onto burner cranked up to the highest setting
  • Add two pinches of salt
  • Add slightly more than enough Thompson raisins to cover the bottom of saucepan
  • When water begins to boil, turn heat down to ~45% and add enough rolled five grain cereal (barley, oats, rye, wheat, triticale) so that it will represent 10% to 20% of the total amount of cereal
  • Immediately add enough old-fashioned rolled oats to make up the remaining 80% to 90%
  • The recently added rolled cereals should be moving almost freely in the boiling water (the contents of the saucepan should resemble an already thickening “cereal soup”)
  • Wait for two to three minutes; if done right, the cereal will be of the desired consistency: soft, but not mushy and not without granular definition
  • While waiting, drink some apple juice and fill two Blender Bottles each ~35% full with unsweetened soy milk, add one-half serving of chocolate-flavored plant-based protein powder** to each Blender Bottle, add orb mixer thingamajig and mix powder into soy milk for both Blender Bottles, and finally cap and shake fervently (UPDATE 2014/12/03: my body doesn’t take well to long term and regular intake of protein powder so I use protein powder intermittently, but YMMV)
  • Turn heat down to ~20%
  • Add one heaping spoonful of coconut oil to saucepan, stir (UPDATE 2014/12/03: like the protein powder, my body does not always take well to long term and regular intake of pure oils, such as coconut oil and olive oil, so I use coconut oil intermittently, but YMMV)
  • Add a modest amount of maple syrup (must be grade A or grade B maple syrup!), stir
  • Add three heaping spoonfuls of unsalted creamy peanut butter to saucepan, stir slowly so as to not make a mess
  • Cover saucepan with lid
  • Turn heat down to ~10% to ~20%
  • Take shower
  • Divide contents of saucepan into the two Blender Bottles (it is recommended that this is done over the sink)
  • Add mixture of sliced-almond/pumpkin-seed/powdered-cinnamon/ground-flax-seed/chia-seed/unsweetened-coconut-flakes/sesame-seed to the top of each blender bottle for nutrients and crunchiness (this should be made ahead of time and stored in a mason jar—choose the desired proportions of ingredients)
  • Fill each Blender Bottle to the brim with unsweetened soy milk, screw on lids, and shake some more
  • Drink remainder of apple juice
  • Share extra serving with a friend or loved one, or put in the fridge for the following day’s breakfast
  • Dress
  • Grab napkin and drive to work, enjoying breakfast during commute

* Yes, exercise is a necessary ingredient.
** If you dislike protein powder or prefer not to use it, eat one-half to one serving of Greek yoghurt while making your oatmeal (to make up for missing protein).

PSA: If routine consumption of this meal (or one like it) is what you are going after, first start out with a large bowl of plain oatmeal made only of old-fashioned oats, milk, raisins and cinnamon. You have to be content eating every last spoonful without the addition of any sugars or sweeteners—the raisins are all you get. If you can manage this for a month, without skipping this new breakfast regiment, then a jog or three around the block will not be such an ordeal.

(Don’t) Be Evil

I’m thinking about starting my own company and calling it the Fuzzy Wuzzy Bear Corporation. The mascot will be a bear named Bert (AKA Fuzzy Wuzzy) and he will sport a healthy, benignly charismatic grin on his Disney-approved face. We will take hundreds of pictures of Bert with underprivileged school-children and strategically share them with our customers, most of whom would not think of themselves as customers because they never pay a shiny copper penny for anything that we offer. Bert will serve an instrumental role in our exceptionally sophisticated and equally clever business maneuverings where we give everything away for free and somehow make billions of dollars in profits every quarter.

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While any normal person would be inclined to call this plan “half-baked”, my fellow investors and I know it will not only succeed, but that others will be eating double helpings of crow for the decades to come.

Like the Sacred Song that Someone Sings Through You

The Real Thing icon-external-link-12x12 icon-search-12x12 (track 06 from The Real Thing LP by Faith No More icon-external-link-12x12 icon-search-12x12 )

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I know the feeling
It is the real thing
The essence of the truth

The perfect moment
That golden moment
I know you feel it too

I know the feeling
It is the real thing
You can’t refuse the embrace, No!

It’s like the pattern below the skin
You gotta reach out and pull it all in
And you feel like you’re too close
So you swallow another dose
The pinnacle of happiness
Filling up your soul
You don’t think you can take any more
You never wanna let go

To touch the roots of experience
The most basic ingredients
To see the unseen glitter of life
And feel the dirt, grief, anger and strife
Cherish the certainty of now
It kills you a bit at a time
Cradle the inspiration
It will leave you writhing on the floor

This is so unreal, what I feel
This nourishment, life is bent into a shape I can hold
A twist of fate, all my own
Just grit your teeth, make no sound
Take a step away and look around
Just clench your fist and close your eyes
Look deep inside, hypnotize
The whisper is but a shout
That’s what it is all about
Yes, the ecstasy, you can pray
You will never let it slip away

Like the sacred song that someone sings through you
Like the flesh so warm that the thorn sticks into
Like the dream you know one day will come to life
Try to hold on just a little longer, stronger

It’s the jewel of victory
The chasm of misery
And once you have bitten the core
You will always know the flavor
The split second of divinity
You drink up the sky
All of heaven is in your arms
You know the reason why

It’s right there all by itself
And what you are, there is nothing else
You’re growing a life within a life
The lips of wonder kiss you inside
And when it’s over the feeling remains
It all comes down to this
The smoke clears, I see what it is
That made me feel this way

I know the feeling
It is the real thing
The essence of the truth

The perfect moment
That golden moment
I know you feel it too

I know the feeling
It is the real thing
You can’t refuse the embrace

This is so unreal, what I feel
Flood, sell your soul
Feel the blood pump through your veins
Can’t explain the element that’s everything
Just clench your fist and close your eyes
Look deep inside, hypnotize
Yes, the ecstasy, you can pray
You will never let it slip away

Like the echoes of your childhood laughter, ever after
Like the first time love urged you to take it’s guidance, in silence
Like your heartbeat when you realize you’re dying, but you’re trying
Like the way you cry for a happy ending

I know