I have nothing much to say today, but here’s a sound file of me laughing.
Actually, the more I think on this . . . I think I’m going to do a sound board with all kinds of sound effects. Hey, I’m not popular like David Lee Roth, but eh . . . what the hell.
Wow, another week has gone by. The Garden has had plenty of help from the sky this week. Thunderstorms have swept across much of the South East. I’m happy for that because I just got my water bill.
I realized my first major mistake with the square foot garden. You are supposed to put seeds down in a little patch of vermiculite when you plant them. This magical material seems to be hard to find at the hardware store. I opted to just put seeds into the soil and now I see the problem. Several seeds failed because they didn’t have that space to “explode out” in. I think the vermiculite provides a nice moist basket and room for the sprout to shoot out. There are some cases where the sprout has shot out a half foot down the garden bed, having traveled underground for days, looking for the light. Today I put down some more seeds for the spots with no obvious activity.
Marigolds to shoo away pests: My wife is convinced that marigolds bring some kind of bad luck. Ask any gardener and they’ll say it’s a good flower keep pests away. I also have some vinca planted as well.
Basil: Of the 8 basil seeds I put down, only 4 came up. I put down some new seed in the dead spots. I absolutely love basil. You can tell a proper Italian restaurant because they put fresh basil on the pizza and pasta.
Carrots: The vegetables that grow underground give me a lot of anxiety because it’s hard to tell how well they are doing at first. The carrots have finally started to show some nice tops this week. I planted three squares worth so I can eat like a bunny.
Big Boy Tomatoes: It looks like this has a slight case of blurry, but otherwise the plant is coming up OK. Tomatoes seem so fragile at first.
The garden grows daily and works hard to take away the more depressing things in life like my niece getting a nose ring, Fox News, internet SPAM and Cadillac Escalades. Just 15 minutes in front of it revives me. Just seeing things grow is a positive force.
Peas: The peas have accelerated growth this week. They are starting to bush out. Soon I’ll have to build a trellis for them. I think I’ll drill a 1/2 hold in the board and put in some kind of pipe in an inverted “U” shape.
Cucumbers: I do love the pickles so hopefully these 4 squares of cucumbers will provide enough to last the winter. They grow one leaf at a time, unlike the others that kind of grow evenly.
Swiss Chard: I had Swiss chard for the first time at my uncles house in Minnesota. It was wonderful creamy stuff! I planted 2 squares worth. The Square foot gardening book tends to think this plot will be good for two people but right now I don’t think there will be enough chard to keep me happy.
Paris Island Lettuce: I admit I picked up this seed packet just because it said “Paris” on it. It sounded exotic. The variety is called “Paris Island Cos” and so far it seems to be coming up very well.
Maple-Copter impostors: We have the most glorious maple in the back yard. It towers up a good 100 feet or more. Each spring, it sends its denizens of maple-copters out to take over the yard. The little feathery copter blades are all through the garden. At first I left them in the garden thinking they would be good mulch. To my amazement, I now have several maple trees growing! It’s a shame to yank them up after the long journey they took. (just in case you don’t recognize it, look to the bottom right of the yellow marigold flower)
As I plow on towards 40, I realize that I’ve lost the valuable “youth-o-trons”, the primary matter element that keeps young people from getting shocked. I seem to get static electric shock on a daily bases. Even with winter gone for the year, I continue to get shocked dozens of times per day by static build up.
Here’s the scenario. I’m in the car, I get out and go to close the door and as a grab the door handle . . . “ZZZZzzzzZZZ’t” , “Dammit! At first I got pretty good at closing the door by pushing on the glass window. It insulates nicely, so at least you can avoid the shock that way. That doesn’t last for long, because once you head to the building doorway and touch the metal knob, “ZZZzzzzaat’t“, “Ow, Dammit. Aghghghg!”
I also have this issue in the house all the time. If I get up from the recliner, walk to the kitchen and say, turn on the gas stove . . .”ZzzzzaZZZt’t” ”Why! Why! Why is this happening! Damn!”
I thought about the electric and the basic process of getting shocked. The electric wants badly to jump from your body to the ground. After searching on the internet on ways to deal with static, I would often hear, “Touch something grounded like a lamp frame.” I tried various things like touching a lamp frame, the ground or the screw on an electrical outlet. Every time I would still get a jolting shock that sent me through the roof.
Here’s the part they don’t often mention: DISCHARGE SLOWLY.
After a great deal of trial and error, I realized that I could discharge the electric slowly and not feel the pain of sudden shock. To do this I hold my key with two fingers and “hover it” about 1/4 inch near the door lock. At this point I will hear the most wonderful cracking sound as the electric arches off the key and into the lock (listen carefully for it!). This method slowly discharges the electric without causing you pain. After about 5 seconds of crackling, you’re safe to touch anything metal.
I had remembered finding devices for your keychain that did this same thing. Some even had a LCD display. They are usually conveniently priced at $15 to $20 bucks. There’s nothing magic about them, they are just made of the right conductor to slowly dissipate the charge. You can do the same thing by hovering your key. I’m going to experiment in the house by always carrying my keys. Then when I get out of the recliner, I’ll hold the key near the lamp frame and listen for the crackling noise.
(I took this post down, thinking it was too rash. I counted to ten like a good boy, did some research, then decided to put it back up. I even found someone who basically had the same exact type of post.)
The religious right still thinks it’s necessary to control wine sales on Sunday morning. This throws me into a angry tantrum. I go to buy my sweet mother a basket of pasta, sauce, fresh bread and pesto. I put a nice bottle of wine in the basket and get told, “No alcohol on Sunday morning.”
This has no doubt infuriated thousands, especially tourists who are completely shocked at this when passing through. Not only that, the poor minimum wage check-out girl has to hear the ranting and raving of everyone who comes through the line. The bag boy has to keep taking packages of beer and wine back. The roads get twice as much traffic as everybody begrudgingly goes back to the store at 12.
Really? Seriously? This makes sense to you? Plenty of laws are good ones. For instance.
But this Sunday law is the most ridiculous thing on the planet, and you know it. It doesn’t prove anything just like Prohibition didn’t work. All it does is make most people angry. The rest of them learn to stockpile booze, which in the end, defeats any purpose of you limiting sales on Sunday.
It’s called a “Blue Law” as stated in Wikipeda. In North Carolina, you can’t buy booze in the supermarket from 2am to 12pm on Sundays. There is also a weekday limit from 2am to 7am. This stuff is leftover from Puritan times. The idea is trying to “keep the sabbath holy”.
This type of stuff makes me pretty angry, because to me, the conservative religious right is the one harping on about how “government is taking away all our freedoms“, “government is too big“. Then we have stuff like this where basically religion is telling government when I can buy a bottle of wine.
You have every right to worship the god you want. That’s what makes America beautiful. But this? This appears to be a double standard.
This year has been an awaking for me. Early in the year, clues started to come in about my Asperges Symptoms. That led to a good bit of research on people with similar issues. I read an interesting post at MeetTaylorMorris about ”Dairy as a Disaster“. This family took their autistic daughter off dairy products with fantastic results. It wasn’t long after, I found the ANDI article with a similar story.
It has become clear to me that there is a connection, even though several doctors claim their is no connection at all. Some articles go as far to make threats like, “Taking your kid of dairy could be dangerous!“. It almost reads like dairy industry propaganda. This whole nation has been brought up to believe we need milk or we’ll die! That’s a powerful lobby and further more; that’s a powerful lie. Even though humans like to eat a lot of cow, the milk part was intended for the calf. Human circuitry is not engineered for it.
Since doing the research a couple of days ago, I have completely shunned dairy products. I’ve begun to see immediate results:
I am also abstaining from wheat as well because both dairy and wheat have caused me major indigestion throughout life. This is a documented problem with people on the autistic spectrum, although controversy rages onward.
You could look at the issue two ways, “The Direct Autistic (opiate) Connection” or “The Cumulative Theory“. You could say there actually is a connection or you could just say, “It’s food allergies” like the detractors say. Proponents of the idea believe in the highly controversial ”Opiate Theory“.
To me, the truth is in the trial runs. If I take myself of dairy and wheat and my Asperges symptoms are reduced, then I draw a connection. There could be a direct connection. It could be a combination of things. Asperges Syndrome drains you in the first place. Ask any Aspie and they’ll say normal social tasks take 3 times the effort as others. A food allergy would further exasperate that condition. In the latter, cumulative theory, you are trying to give yourself an edge in any way possible. Getting rid of nagging allergy issues, better helps you to deal with the social stress, loud sounds, bright light, etc.
At any rate, I think I’m on to something here.
So these days, cutting out diary and wheat provides a lot of challenges. The first couple of days were interesting, but now I see that I’m in for the long haul. Just what the hell do I eat now? The first great loss was bread. I had a ritual of eating toast in the morning and now that is gone. The replacement candidate is corn. Now, I’m keenly aware of all the things you can do with corn.
For breakfast, I’ve tried some polenta with pretty good results. It’s still a pain in the ass to cook up a batch and fry it in the morning. I still miss my simple slice of toast.
Lunches used to be sandwiches all the time. Now I have a huge stack of corn tortillas for wrapping things up in. The first couple of tries were not so good. These shells taste like complete gack when raw. I experimented with frying them up in a pan. It got kind of tedious. Then I finally came around and realized they will fit in the toaster. If you toast a corn shell to medium, they have a nice roasted flavor. Now just plop down the filling of your choice.
For tostadas, I’ve experimented with beef strips, salmon, onions and mayo. If you don’t over-toast the shell, you can wrap it up taco style. The corn shells don’t do so well for peanut butter sandwiches, but if I’m hungry enough, It tastes OK. I was very excited to tell my wife about “this fantastic creation” I just made. She kind of shrugged and said, “Yeah, that’s called a tostada.” I’m like, “Oh yeah, that’s the thing that comes on the combo plate at the Mexican restaurant.” You are usually not too interested in it. Believe me, now I’m very interested.
Dessert continues to be a problem, but I’ve found some good alternatives. With these diets high in meat and vegetables, I find a much bigger urge to finish with something sweet. Just about 98% of the desserts out there are a lethal combination of wheat and dairy products. I try to keep hard chocolate bars on hand, but most of the time I make a concoction of hot Columbian coffee, sugar and cocoa. This seems to be a nice boost of sugar and caffeine, which signals me to stop eating.
This diet is nothing new to me. Like many out there, I’ve flirted with the Atkins and South Beach “low-carb” diets. They made me feel good, but this time I hope to increase my clarity of thought and reduce the extrasensory pressures that are so common on the autistic spectrum.
(P. S. Do I get points for the BattleStar Galactica reference?)
I found this incredible article that any parent with an Autistic child should pay attention to. The controversy of diet and Autistic symptoms continues to rage on. Parents of Autistic children have found that removing diary and wheat products from their diet can in fact reverse the symptoms of Autism. Doctors continue to poo-poo the idea claiming lack of medical evidence. In this country where dairy and wheat lobbies are so strong, it’s hard to raise a voice about how damaging these foods can be.
As an adult with mild autistic symptoms such as lack of eye-contact, sensory overload, pacing, narrow interests and lack of social skills, I’ve become incredibly focused on all aspects of Autism and Asperges Syndrome. My entire life I’ve had a love hate relationship with milk/wheat products. I often crave them. Then after eating these foods, they strip me of the ability to concentrate and handle sensory overload. Add this to a general inability to digest these things and you have a ticking time-bomb.
Whether it’s food allergies, Autism or a combination thereof remains to be seen. I inadvertently found out how harmful milk and wheat were while on the Atkins and South Beach diets which naturally limit both dairy and wheat products. Those diets had me feeling fantastic. Digestion improved dramatically. Of course I lost weight, which is a good feeling, but at first, I didn’t realize how my concentration level increased as well. It was much easier to do things like focus on a reading a book.
There is a lot of controversy with “The Opiate Theory” and Autism. This site goes into that some. As the theory goes, milk casien and wheat gluten can create peptides in the body that, “alter the person’s behavior, perceptions, and responses to his environment“. Normal people avoid this effect, but people within the Autistic spectrum are at high risk. An obvious symptom is how hard it is to digest something like pizza which is a double whammy of dairy and wheat.
Other times I’ve reached ethical dilemmas. I once tried to go vegetarian, which was an absolute disaster, because of the increase in dairy, wheat and soy. My vegetarian stage gave me immediate indigestion, lack of concentration and lethargy. These days, I try to eat heavy amounts of vegetables with light amounts of lean organic, ‘ethical’ meat, rice and beans. It is a constant battle though because many social engagements practically require you to eat wheat and dairy combinations. You have to be a real stick-in-the mud to keep true to your eating needs. In the end, an autistic person may have to refrain from milk and wheat at the social engagement in order to avoid the sensory overload of the thing in the first place.
I tend to agree with the author in the article that doctors can often be full of baloney which is why parents of autistic children and adults suffering from these symptoms should research and share information online. Rapid changes in diet can be dangerous, so consulting a doctor is ‘recommended’, but I would be armed with as much research as possible beforehand .
I’ve searched for studies concerning the connection, but good information concerning adults is harder to find. This About.com article gives a brief summary of the GI tract / Autism connection.
I happened to be poking around and found two good sites dedicated to the square foot gardening concept that I have started working with. In time I may add more resources. People who start gardening are very passionate about it so good information is easy to find.
LASquareFootGardening.com: One interesting thing about the site is the author seems meticulous about keeping harvest totals for the garden. That seems like a good idea that I may adopt. The author has around 128 square feet of raised garden beds around Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
The site has sections for “How To”, “Harvest Totals”, “Reference Sheets” and a forum for discussing issues
MySquareFootGarden.net: This is well designed site with lots of images from the author’s garden. Sections included, “Building”, “Planting”, “Growing”, “Recipes”, “Vegetable Information” and photo gallery. Some interesting articles to date are on organic fertilizer, homemade tomato cages and various trellis methods. The author of this blog is located in Utah.
I got a lot of hits on my post about “Square Foot Gardening” which gave me an idea on keeping a journal of the progress. It is truly a joy to see things grow in your back yard. It’s probably the second best thing to watching kids grow up. My blog has become saturated with a lot of ranting and raving about Fox News and wasteful lifestyles, so this series should shore up the positive aspect of my life (I actually want to do a post called, “Every time I hear a Fox News story, I plant flowers.”).
I think the garden is in week 3, so I’ll start here. I would encourage anybody to start with this type of gardening. You could even do it small scale on your condo patio. Every morning we go out and study the growth. You become so excited when a leaf pops out.
The map: This is the map that I scribbled out after the construction. You figure out what you want to plant and then use the book as a guide on how to arrange the seeds. Most things use geometric patterns of 1,4, 9 or 16. In some cases, like cucumbers, you put down 2 seeds, side by side. They will vine up. Peas go down slightly different in a pattern of 8 that is 2 rows of 4.
Bush Beans: I didn’t have a lot of room for vine plants, so I went with bush beans instead of the vine variety. By far, they are growing faster than anything else.
Beets: A lot of people don’t like beets, but I love them. They give you a lot of energy. You just have to be patient when cooking them.
Basil: There is one dish I really love which consists of taking Roma tomatoes, fresh basil, garlic, peas, virgin olive oil and parmesan cheese. It’s light and super tasty.
I’ll feature more of the squares in the coming weeks.
I’ve heard a new trend about putting bacon in just about everything from toothpaste to martinis. I came across an article showcasing ”bacon flavored chocolate” and had a pretty good laugh over it.
Still, I’ll try anything once, twice if I like it.
I get bacon cravings quite a bit, just like any red-blooded American man would. There is a new fascinating trend covering “umami“ and relating it to the fifth sense. Bacon is an umami food which is one of the reasons why people crave it so much. Other umami foods are aged beef, mushrooms, asparagus and stinky cheeses. Suprise-Surprise—those are all foods I love (even stinky cheeses like Limburger).
I have two other foods that top my list as methods to get past a dark dingy day. That would be the homemade brownie and hot black Columbian coffee.
The Build Up
Earlier this week, I made some brownies and last night I had the bacon craving. Finally a call for coffee went out from my brain just as a summer rain came in. That’s when it all came together: Brownies, Bacon and hot Columbian coffee. POW! AWESOME! It sounds gross, but wait till you try it. For added kick and craziness, add smoked peppercorn bacon like I did.
What a great find and such a tragedy, that I’ve also found that wheat products and probably coffee, grease and just about anything is not good for people with my afflictions. What can you do?. I’ll have to treat is like a “break-glass-in-case-of-emergency” food. It’s certainly not something you plan for every week. Also, with a little thinking, I can probably focus more on vegetable based umani foods like mushrooms and asparagus. For now though, the 4-3-2-1-Punch of Umani, Grease, Sugar and Caffeine is hard to beat.
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NOTE ON BUYING ETHICAL MEATS: Some people are pretty strong minded and can easily live a vegetarian life. Other’s like me have so many foods like soy, wheat, cheese and milk that don’t sit well that I often find it draconian to shrug off meat consumption. If you must eat meat, you can still make an effort to make better choices with your meat purchase. A good supplier of bacon would be Applegate Farms who has a more admirable mission of raising meat in a sustainable, ethical manner. It’s also good to realize the things like Bacon Brownies are a real treat, not something you would eat every week. Reducing meat is admirable—so is reducing my cholesterol which is out of control. Still I believe in living life with some degree of freedom, otherwise, what’s the point?
There’s your self-righteous rant for the day.
