The Character of a Happy Life

Here's a little funny for the day, I have nothing new going on. Still haven't heard from my online friend yet ... so I guess that's all finito. No worries, I'm a resilient type. WOOT! Oh ... I almost forgot .. this is my 102nd post. I completely missed my 100th. Which actually ... adding up all my blogging is like 600 or something like that. He he he

Onto the fun stuff:

A sixteen year-old boy came home with a new Chevrolet Avalanche and his parents began to yell and scream, 'Where did you get that truck???!!!' He calmly told them, 'I bought it today.'

'With what money?' demanded his parents. They knew what a Chevrolet Avalanche cost.

'Well,' said the boy, 'this one cost me just fifteen dollars.' So the parents began to yell even louder. 'Who would sell a truck like that for fifteen dollars?' they said.

'It was the lady up the street,' said the boy. I don't know her name-they just moved in. She saw me ride past on my bike and asked me if I wanted to buy a Chevrolet Avalanche for fifteen dollars.'

'Oh my Goodness!,' moaned the mother, 'she must be a child abuser. Who knows what she will do next? John, you go right up there and see what's going on.' So the boy's father walked up the street to the house where the lady lived and found her out in the yard calmly planting petunias!

He introduced himself as the father of the boy to whom she had sold a new Chevrolet Avalanche for fifteen dollars and demanded to know why she did it.

'Well,' she said, 'this morning I got a phone call from my husband. (I thought he was on a business trip, but learned from a friend he had run off to Hawaii with his mistress and really doesn't intend to come back).

He claimed he was stranded and needed cash, and asked me to sell his new Chevrolet Avalanche and send him the money.

So I did.'

(Are women good or what?)

ஜ~§Quote of the Day§~ஜ

Peace and friendship with all mankind is our wisest policy, and I wish we may be permitted to pursue it.
Thomas Jefferson

ஜ~§Question of The Day§~ஜ

It's the first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere and the first day of autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. What season do you want it to be where you live?

ஜ~§The Word Of The Day§~ஜ

Schwerpunkt

PRONUNCIATION:
(SHVEHR-pungkt)

MEANING:
noun: The point of focus; an area of concentrated effort, especially in a military operation.

ETYMOLOGY:
From German Schwerpunkt (center of gravity, focal point), from schwer (weighty) + Punkt (point).

USAGE:
"In the only arty shot, the Dalai Lama, seen in silhouette, sits at the schwerpunkt of a Mondrian-like composition."
Meir Ronnen; Happy Families?; The Jerusalem Post (Israel); June 25, 2004.

"But is the pledge to abolish Australian Workplace Agreements a masterstroke or a blunder? That question could be the greatest contest of judgment between Beazley and Prime Minister John Howard. Should it be the schwerpunkt of Labor's attack or will it be an unproductive dilution of forces?"

ஜ~§What I'm Reading§~ஜ

The Stars of Mithra trilogy, Nora Roberts.

ஜ~§What I'm Watching§~ஜ

Tonight is: TSCC, Dollhouse and the series finale of Battlestar Galactica.

ஜ~§Poem Of The Day§~ஜ

The Character of a Happy Life

HOW happy is he born or taught
That serveth not another's will,
Whose armor is his honest thought,
And simple truth his highest skill;

Whose passions not his masters are;
Whose soul is still prepared for death,
Untied unto the world with care
Of princes' grace or vulgar breath;

Who envies none whom chance doth raise,
Or vice; who never understood
The deepest wounds are given by praise,
By rule of state but not of good;

Who hath his life from rumours freed,
Whose conscience is his strong retreat,
Whose state can neither flatterers feed
Nor ruins make accusers great;

Who God doth late and early pray
More of his grace than goods to send,
And entertains the harmless day
With a well-chosen book or friend.

This man is free from servile bands
Of hope to rise or fear to fall,
Lord of himself, though not of lands,
And having nothing, yet hath all.

Sir Henry Wotton

ஜ~§Recipe of the Day§~ஜ

Tuna Puttanesca

Ingredients:
Salt
1 pound penne pasta
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 cans (about 5.5 to 6 ounces each) Italian tuna in oil or water, drained well
6 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 to 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
A generous handful black olives (Gaeta, kalamata or oil-cured), pitted and chopped
3 tablespoons capers, drained
1/3 cup white vermouth or 1/2 cup dry white wine - eyeball it
1 (28-ounce) can whole or diced tomatoes (recommended: San Marzano)
A generous handful fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
2 teaspoons lemon zest
Fresh ground black pepper
Crusty bread

Preparation:
Place a large pot of water over high heat and bring up to a boil. Salt the water and cook penne to al dente.

Meanwhile, heat a large skillet with 3 turns of the pan extra-virgin olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes, cook a minute or 2, then add tuna and break it up with your spoon. Add olives and capers, cook a minute or 2 more, then add vermouth or white wine; stir and cook down a minute. If using whole tomatoes, place a colander over a bowl, crush up tomatoes with a wooden spoon, then add tomatoes and their juice to pan. Otherwise, stir in diced tomatoes and juice. Add parsley, zest and black pepper, then simmer the sauce a couple of minutes more.

Add a couple of ladles of starchy pasta-cooking water to the sauce. Drain pasta, add to the skillet and toss to coat. Serve with some nice crusty bread.

Brightest Blessings,
~S~