Michelle

I wasn't thinking that until Potter mentioned it. Now I'm thinking it.

I haven't a clue who David Blaine is, and I laughed pretty hard.

I think the smiling leaning on wall pose is the very best out of all the photos you've posted so far for consideration for this contest... even if the tan is a bit dark. If your audience is 16 - 24 yr old females, that photo is perfect. Whether anyone voted for it or not, there's something incredibly sexy about the table tennis photo. Maybe it's your expression... or maybe it's just that I have a thing for dark suits. Either way, it was compelling enough to comment.

Richard, you just made me spill something.

I've been known to drive to Austin just to have lunch... So yeah, count me in for any Austin events.

Hey, I do it EVERY DAY! Just not generally when anyone's paying attention...

I think the fact that it's small is what I like the most about it. When I was a kid, my grandparents had one of those campers that sit on the back of a pickup truck. That treehouse is a lot nicer than their camper was, but it still reminds me a lot of it. Anyways, I'd climb in there and cuddle up under a blanket, and my grandmother would make me oatmeal and hot cocoa and feed me lots of junk food and we'd play cards and yahtzee all afternoon. Sometimes other family members would pile in too. It was cramped and crowded, but cozy. If we'd rented a great big beach house or something for our family vacations, we'd have had lots of space to spread out and all do our own thing... and so few of those precious memories.

I found this letter about farting from Benjamin Franklin rather amusing, and even on-topic: GENTLEMEN, I have perused your late mathematical Prize Question, proposed in lieu of one in Natural Philosophy, for the ensuing year, viz. "Une figure quelconque donnee, on demande d’y inscrire le plus grand nombre de fois possible une autre figure plus-petite quelconque, qui est aussi donnee". I was glad to find by these following Words, "l’Acadeemie a jugee que cette deecouverte, en eetendant les bornes de nos connoissances, ne seroit pas sans UTILITE", that you esteem Utility an essential Point in your Enquiries, which has not always been the case with all Academies; and I conclude therefore that you have given this Question instead of a philosophical, or as the Learned express it, a physical one, because you could not at the time think of a physical one that promis’d greater_Utility. Permit me then humbly to propose one of that sort for your consideration, and through you, if you approve it, for the serious Enquiry of learned Physicians, Chemists, &c. of this enlightened Age. It is universally well known, That in digesting our common Food, there is created or produced in the Bowels of human Creatures, a great Quantity of Wind. That the permitting this Air to escape and mix with the Atmosphere, is usually offensive to the Company, from the fetid Smell that accompanies it. That all well-bred People therefore, to avoid giving such Offence, forcibly restrain the Efforts of Nature to discharge that Wind. That so retain’d contrary to Nature, it not only gives frequently great present Pain, but occasions future Diseases, such as habitual Cholics, Ruptures, Tympanies, &c. often destructive of the Constitution, & sometimes of Life itself. Were it not for the odiously offensive Smell accompanying such Escapes, polite People would probably be under no more Restraint in discharging such Wind in Company, than they are in spitting, or in blowing their Noses. My Prize Question therefore should be, To discover some Drug wholesome & not disagreable, to be mix’d with our common Food, or Sauces, that shall render the natural Discharges of Wind from our Bodies, not only inoffensive, but agreable as Perfumes. That this is not a chimerical Project, and altogether impossible, may appear from these Considerations. That we already have some Knowledge of Means capable of Varying that Smell. He that dines on stale Flesh, especially with much Addition of Onions, shall be able to afford a Stink that no Company can tolerate; while he that has lived for some Time on Vegetables only, shall have that Breath so pure as to be insensible to the most delicate Noses; and if he can manage so as to avoid the Report, he may any where give Vent to his Griefs, unnoticed. But as there are many to whom an entire Vegetable Diet would be inconvenient, and as a little Quick-Lime thrown into a Jakes will correct the amazing Quantity of fetid Air arising from the vast Mass of putrid Matter contain’d in such Places, and render it rather pleasing to the Smell, who knows but that a little Powder of Lime (or some other thing equivalent) taken in our Food, or perhaps a Glass of Limewater drank at Dinner, may have the same Effect on the Air produc’d in and issuing from our Bowels? This is worth the Experiment. Certain it is also that we have the Power of changing by slight Means the Smell of another Discharge, that of our Water. A few Stems of Asparagus eaten, shall give our Urine a disagreable Odour; and a Pill of Turpentine no bigger than a Pea, shall bestow on it the pleasing Smell of Violets. And why should it be thought more impossible in Nature, to find Means of making a Perfume of our Wind than of our Water? For the Encouragement of this Enquiry, (from the immortal Honour to be reasonably expected by the Inventor) let it be considered of how small Importance to Mankind, or to how small a Part of Mankind have been useful those Discoveries in Science that have heretofore made Philosophers famous. Are there twenty Men in Europe at this Day, the happier, or even the easier, for any Knowledge they have pick’d out of Aristotle? What Comfort can the Vortices of Descartes give to a Man who has Whirlwinds in his Bowels! The Knowledge of Newton’s mutual Attraction of the Particles of Matter, can it afford Ease to him who is rack’d by their mutual Repulsion, and the cruel Distensions it occasions? The Pleasure arising to a few Philosophers, from seeing, a few Times in their Life, the Threads of Light untwisted, and separated by the Newtonian Prism into seven Colours, can it be compared with the Ease and Comfort every Man living might feel seven times a Day, by discharging freely the Wind from his Bowels? Especially if it be converted into a Perfume: For the Pleasures of one Sense being little inferior to those of another, instead of pleasing the Sight he might delight the Smell of those about him, & make Numbers happy, which to a benevolent Mind must afford infinite Satisfaction. The generous Soul, who now endeavours to find out whether the Friends he entertains like best Claret or Burgundy, Champagne or Madeira, would then enquire also whether they chose Musk or Lilly, Rose or Bergamot, and provide accordingly. And surely such a Liberty of Expressing one’s Scent-iments, and pleasing one another, is of infinitely more Importance to human Happiness than that Liberty of the Press, or of abusing one another, which the English are so ready to fight & die for. -- In short, this Invention, if compleated, would be, as Bacon expresses it, bringing Philosophy home to Mens Business and Bosoms. And I cannot but conclude, that in Comparison therewith, for universal and continual UTILITY, the Science of the Philosophers above-mentioned, even with the Addition, Gentlemen, of your "Figure quelconque" and the Figures inscrib’d in it, are, all together, scarcely worth a FART-HING. ---------------------------- I wanted to put the bold part in my signature, but it wouldn't fit. http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=470

ditto. If there's anything I can do to help, let me know. There may be some settings that can be changed that'll make it a bit harder for spammers to sign up in the first place, too. I forget what it's called, but if you PM me, I'll find out for you.

I made this the other day! Even though I screwed mine up a bit, it was a hit at my house. It seems that my loaf pan is substantially smaller than the one your wife used and I didn't realize this until after I'd put all the ingredients together and was ready to bake. The recipe made about 1½ loaves in my pans, and I misjudged how much to adjust the cooking time. Still, it was tasty.

Vegan, emphasis on organic and whole foods, flirting with raw.

Welcome, Justin!

I saw the title of this thread, and was afraid it was going to be another bathroom topic. It'll be nice to have the memberlist cleaned up. I was looking through it one day to see who else here was in/near Houston... and kind of cringed at some of the names I saw. And how many. Thank you admins!

My daughter and I are planning to take a cruise for her birthday coming up in a couple months. The cruise lines we're considering are Carnival and Royal Caribbean. While I have been on a few cruises before and I have sailed with both companies, I did it before I went veg. so I don't remember what (if any?) vegan options were available. Has anyone here been on a cruise? Were you able to find enough to eat, or were most of the "vegetarian options" offered the ovo-lacto variety rather than vegan? Will they cater to special dietary needs with advance notice, or is it kind of hit-or-miss like with airlines? Do you recommend one of the above cruise lines over the other? I do plan to pack plenty of vega bars and other treats and maybe even pack my blender (it's a tribest and quite portable) if they let me, but I'd rather not rely on that as my main source of food for a whole week. It would be more fun if I could eat in the dining rooms like everyone else. Any suggestions appreciated!

If they don't, then we should have a "hurray, we're not married" cupcake tower, so the singles among us can celebrate. I'll be first in line.

Wow, now I want cupcakes! That's beautiful...

Odidnetne, have you considered the ramifications of literally hundreds of burritos being consumed within a short time span, coupled with the fact that we'll all be staying together and most likely sharing rooms? The aftermath could be deadly.

They just wait for a good lightning storm, I bet. The trees channel the power down to them. Seriously, though, that's one heck of a cool treehouse.

Haven't seen this name in a while... I had such a huge crush on him as a kid.

Even still... at this point anything that gains any awareness at all is good, even if the approach isn't perfect. I'm amazed at how many people I talk to haven't any clue whatsoever what hemp is, much less be familiar with the many uses and benefits. I thought this was old news?? Someone asked about my tshirt, I told them it was hemp, they replied with a blank stare. I gave one of my co-workers a vega bar the other day, she was reading the ingredients and said "what's hemp?" Adding this movie to my "must see" list.

Aside from that detail, it is rather Carlin-esque. And aside from that detail, it's a magnificent quote, whoever wrote it.

Not often, but yes.

Are you looking for something like Food Combining and Digestion or Food Combining Made Easy? I have both of these, would recommend either, but the latter appears to be out of print. The basic idea is that protein is digested by an acid and starch is digested by alkaline enzymes, so if you eat a protein with a starch, the acid and alkaline neutralize one another, then your food tends to ferment and rot instead of digest properly. It's a bit more complex than that, but not really much, once you understand the basics. Definitely worth a read.

We've got a Moe's near here too, we were just there the other night. It's nice to be able to eat a filling vegan meal in a mainstream restaurant, without having to order a collection of sides.

Oh, I've got to find out where this place is and check it out.