Fire with Fire

Amazing and exciting stuff.  I teared up along with the doctor at the end.  Thanks for sharing, Didi!

Wendell's Eggplant Parmesan

Wendell made this sometime last week.  It was winnahs.  The recipe is from Allrecipe.com and is actually called Eggplant Parmesan II. 







3 eggplants, peeled and thinly sliced
2 eggs, beaten
4 cups Italian seasoned bread crumbs
6 cups spaghetti sauce, divided
1 16 oz. package shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1/2 tsp. dried basil

Dip eggplant slices in egg, then in bread crumbs.  Place in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake in preheated over for 5 minutes on each side.

Spread spaghetti sauce on the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Place a layer of eggplant slices in the sauce. Sprinkle with mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.  Repeat with remaining ingredients ending with the cheeses.  Sprinkle basil on top.

Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes, or until golden brown.

Kapahulu Walk with my iPhone

My friend Kevin said that I need to get off my butt and get to taking picture again.  So, okay, okay, I hope iPhone photos count.  I took these pictures on my one-hour killing-time walk when I took my car in for its biannual maintenance service to Ernest at Kapahulu Auto Repair.

Look at the space between my big toe and the next!


Sign at Tenkaippin Ramen.


Looks like there's gonna be an Art Festival next month in Haleiwa.


So cute this barber shop.


You can get a haircut for $12.00.


Couldn't figure out why, except that maybe my big toe could get caught in that puka.


I had just heard of James Gandolfini's passing earlier on the same day.




Me and my sisters like to browse in antique stores, but you really can't find any bargains in um . . . not like at the swap meet.


I thought this carved rock was cool . . . but $350!


You know what really caught my eye here?  The little sign on the bottom.


Caryn's Okazuya!!  The one that used to be on Young Street!


Wall at Thai Herb Kitchen.


I googled it.  It's at 764 Kapahulu, Suite 200, but don't really know if it's a school or store or what.


Made me think of Japan.  I don't remember what place this sign belongs to.


Lots of food trucks in this lot.


I've been noticing a lot of these dialysis places around lately. 


This is the one that used to be in Farmer's Market.


This was across from Safeway.


Sign at Good to Grill near Safeway.


Now that I have one, I agree.


It says "1953" on this building. It's as old as me.


And finally . . .  I thought this sign was funny.  It's in a window at Tattoo Artisans.

Peacock Spider

Amazing footage of a spider only 4 mm in size taken by a hobbyist, Jurgen Otto, using a Canon camera equipped with a 100mm macro lens.  Thanks for sharing Steven!

Glow

I knew that some marbles fluoresce under black light and I wondered which of mine did. I ordered a black light flashlight from Amazon so that I could check um out.

Here are a few.


Whoa!


















I got this bead at the swap meet awhile back.  I suspected that it might be a vintage vaseline bead, but I wasn't sure.  Vaseline beads also glow, so I was anxious to see if this one would.


It did!


We get the term "fluorescence" from this mineral.  It's called a fluorite.


And it's the best glower of all!

Other Worlds

First, to give you a perspective of how much a billion is:  One BILLION minutes ago was just after the time of Christ.  Try to keep in mind just how great a number that is as you read below.

Our galaxy, the Milky Way Galaxy contains 100 - 400 BILLION stars.

Astronomers think that there may be at least 17 BILLION earth-sized worlds in our galaxy alone.

If just 1% of these earth-sized worlds are habitable, that would be 170 million worlds.  If only 1% of these worlds have developed complex animals, that would be 17,000 worlds. If only 1% of these animals have evolved so much that they have a civilization similar to ours, that would be 170 worlds . . . in our galaxy alone.

The most recent computer simulations say that there are 500 BILLION galaxies in our universe.  If we only count 400 BILLION of those, each with 170 civilized worlds, that would be 79,900 BILLION civilized worlds.

If only 1% of these civilized worlds actually do exist, that would be 799 BILLION civilized worlds. 

If we cut this down even further and accept that just 1% of those worlds actually contain civilization, that would be 7.99 BILLION civilized worlds in our universe. 

(Info mostly from here).

I imagine that it could be very likely that there is a person just like me with thoughts similar to mine who is sitting in front of her computer a BILLION light-years away . . .  also wondering.

Meditating?

I'm sitting in a quiet place trying to focus on my breath.  I struggle to keep thoughts of today and thoughts of yesterday away. As the thoughts come, I imagine pressing a delete button and throwing them into a trash can.  

Suddenly I hear a voice coming from my left.  It says, "What am I doing, and where am I going?"  I  think, "Yah, that's what I'd like to know too."

I'm in the ocean . . . very, very deep down.  It's dark.  I can't see anything down here. And the pressure.  I can hardly move, the pressure is so great.  I know that I need to go upward. I feel that it won't be as dark and the pressure won't be as great further up.  And it'll get gradually easier and easier to move as I rise.

I . . . just . . . gotta . . . get . . . there . . .

My Habit

I oftentimes wake up in the morning with my left hand in a fist like this.  It's a habit I started when I was 6 years old to help me break another habit . . . my thumb sucking.



I remember very clearly one night 54 years ago, my father's efforts to stop me from sucking my thumb at night.  I watched as he put some tabasco sauce onto my left thumb and wrapped a band aid around it.  Then he put me to bed.

I was so sad.  What had been a source of comfort for almost my entire life was being denied to me. I lay there quietly sobbing.  After awhile my dad came to check on me. He saw that I was crying and asked me if my mouth was burning.  I lied and said yes.  I didn't have the words to say otherwise. 

He picked me up and took me to the sink and washed out my mouth for me.  He took a washcloth and scrubbed the nonexistent tabasco sauce from my tongue.  He asked if that was better and I said yes.

I don't remember if he removed the band aid or just left it on.  It didn't matter.  I never sucked my thumb again after that.  Instead I would fall asleep with my thumb tucked into the palm of my hand. 

Michele's Flying Saucers

Surprise Lorna!!  Thanks for teaching me about Kauai flying saucers. Today, coworker Michele brought all the fixings to make her version of this treat.  It was a hit! 

Flying saucer photo taken by John Hyun.













Here's Michele's recipe.  She said that you can also add brown sugar to taste if you like.


K, I wasn't gonna post these pictures 'cause I just look so ridiculous, but because Michele asked about um here they are.


I was wondering why I was having such a hard time at first.  This is why.  Aiyaiyai.