Unexpected Consuquences

I've started making macaroni & cheese from scratch. I use corn starch or flour, butter, skim milk, spices, cheddar, gruyere, and Dreamfields macaroni. It's lower in fat than the pre-made mixes, higher in protein, and very, very tasty. What surprises me about it is the cost.

A serving of my homemade mac & cheese costs 10 times a comparable serving size of the boxy powdered stuff, and 5 times the cost of the "deluxe" boxed mix that has pre-mixed cheese sauce.

A serving of my mac & cheese is about $2.33. It's pretty cheap, as meals go! I can imagine making a more expensive version with higher quality cheeses, but I cannot imagine cutting the price any lower.

Real food costs 10 times more than things pretending to be food.

Eating healthier turns out to cost more, every time. It's a point that I bring up from time to time, and I thought that I'd just trot it out again, today, for fun.

Go F*** Yourself, South Dakota

From http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifJudge blocks new SD abortion law from taking effect:

In South Dakota, supporters of the three-day waiting period say the Planned Parenthood clinic in Sioux Falls gives women little information or counseling before they have abortions done by doctors flown in from out of state. They say the bill would help make sure women are not being coerced into abortions by boyfriends or relatives.

Leslee Unruh, founder of the Alpha Center pregnancy help center and supporter of the law, said that Schreier's decision was not a surprise and her organization plans to intervene on Friday.

"We're in it for the long haul," Unruh said after the ruling Thursday.

Sarah Stoesz, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, said the law represents a blatant intrusion by politicians into difficult decisions that women and families sometimes need to make.

"We trust women and families in South Dakota to know and do what is best for them, without being coerced by the government. And we stand with them in our efforts to overturn this outrageous law," Stoesz said in a statement.

Discussing the major step of giving birth and raising a child with relatives or boyfriends is a GOOD thing. The boyfriends are most likely the fathers of these unborn babies, and relatives are the people who are your support system when you expand the family. If they express concerns that bringing a baby into the world isn't a good idea at this time, isn't taking their concerns seriously a very reasonable thing to do? One assumes that your family members can't all be against having children, otherwise you wouldn't be here, right? Religious or non, pro-choice or pro-life, your family is your family, and they're pretty likely to know and love you. The odds are higher, at least.

Manditory counseling by strangers that are most likely members of anti-abortion groups isn't counseling - that's coercion. So f*** you and your stupid required counseling law, SD. F*** you.

Tragedy Doesn't Make Me Any Nicer

Floodwaters in South falling, but misery remains

'There wasn't nothing I could do ... I just had to sit up there on that hill and watch my house get more and more underwater'

I'm guessing that the misery starts with their lack of English teachers.

Discovered a Skill

You know what I can do? I can listen to a person say a single sentence that dances around terrible news that they can't bear to say out loud, and get it. Even more than that - when I get it, I am able to say "OK", in a calm, significant way that lets them know that I understood the actual message, and that they do not need to say anything else out loud, risking their tenuous hold on composure.

Nope, you don't have to say anything else - I get it. Also, I'm sorry. I've had enough bad news of my own that I remember how it feels for you. I'm really, really sorry.

Not Actually Going to Kill Anyone

My dad is killing me, again. I was on the phone with him, telling him my schedule, and when I got to the part about being home before 9 because I wanted to get at least one batch of Saturday's cookies baked off, tonight, when he exclaimed, "Again?!".

See, Dad is upset that I'm baking cookies, because I'm fat. He told me so. He also told me that it's a shame that I'm a good cook, because I eat too much of what I make. I'm going to have to euthanize the son of a bitch one of these days.

Especially since he was a fat, fat man all his life, until illness took away his appetite.

Winners

On the Ships & Dip 4 cruise, I met a guy with a banjo. His name was Zach Daniels.

It turns out that he's in the band Oakhurst. I haven't heard them, they appear to play bluegrass, which I mostly like. It's not my bread and butter, but I own some on purpose.

Zach was one of the most fun people I met. He came to karaoke wearing a white luchadore mask that had giant golden horns on it. Kind of like this one, but different colors:



He signed up for a karaoke song as "Zakka Kahn", and sang "That's the Way of the World" by Earth Wind and Fire.

Also, his wife is unreasonably hot. Zach, meeting you on vacation was a total win.

Official Report

Best Cruise Ever.

While I am not thrilled at the idea of being thought of as "The large woman who sings Heart", the fact that I was thought of in the first place is absolutely thrilling.

OMFG!!PONIES!!!!!1!!

I'm going on vacation on Saturday!

Not as Pretty as the Staged One

The inside of my actual cupcake: