tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29859273029037512552024-02-20T17:37:08.571-08:00Because you're bored.. and so am IA union of food, music, philosophy, and the human existence.
Leave your e-mail with your comment if you want. I'll get back to you.The Whimsical Raj Mahalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11527938971099625180noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2985927302903751255.post-68708877450632706942012-04-11T16:38:00.000-07:002012-04-11T16:38:23.276-07:00C is for.. conjunctivaSo I have a viral eye infection. My conjunctiva is inflamed. It looks really gnarly. <br />
<br />
Medically defined.. " The conjunctiva is a thin membrane that covers the inner surface of the eyelid and the white part of the eyeball (the sclera). "<br />
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It stings a little right now, and the white of my eye is tinged a little yellow. Just gotta wait it out. In quarantine. <br />
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Don't rub your eyes, folks. The Whimsical Raj Mahalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11527938971099625180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2985927302903751255.post-64224708505908580052012-04-02T23:52:00.000-07:002012-04-02T23:52:11.110-07:00b is for .. banh mi!Ahahaha. Banh Mi! ( I knew I would go back to food. ) <br />
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I did not ever have one of these until I was 23. Sad days. <br />
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SO much better than subway. only like 3.50 each about.<br />
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SO many tasty fillings!<br />
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Such nice crispy breads!<br />
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Wish I had had these for college days.The Whimsical Raj Mahalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11527938971099625180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2985927302903751255.post-28794987101203234382012-04-02T00:01:00.000-07:002012-04-02T00:01:04.236-07:00a is for.. altruismso. what is it? <br />
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do you buy it? is it consumed? where does it come from ?<br />
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Loosely defined as a sense of helping others with no anticipation of reward or benefit. <br />
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Is anything truly altruistic? Would not the altruistic person decline any benefits from such actions? <br />
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i'm skeptical of it's existence. but is that really a bad thing? nature has its own parallel.. symbiosis. The Whimsical Raj Mahalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11527938971099625180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2985927302903751255.post-58700135836728224992012-03-29T01:38:00.000-07:002012-03-29T01:38:18.694-07:00a to zhttp://www.facebook.com/atozchallenge<br />
<br />
Dunno if anyone ever reads this.. but my rad friend, Miss Margaret Krohn posted this and I think it's pretty cool. so I'm going to try doing this blogging challenge too! <br />
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While you're here.. you should check her blog out..<br />
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http://margaretkrohn.com/blog !!<br />
<br />
cheersThe Whimsical Raj Mahalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11527938971099625180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2985927302903751255.post-1806649283708728562010-11-24T01:13:00.000-08:002010-11-24T01:13:31.241-08:00Quality<div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">"It's the best thing that you've ever had..</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">the best thing that you've had .. is gone away..."</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Radiohead -- High & Dry</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Food snobbery is a wonderful thing. To learn to appreciate some of life's greatest pleasures. The finest sake, the freshest fish, the most tender green. </div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Yet, it is restricting.<br />
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Some simpler pleasures, little tastes you used to enjoy, just don't compare any more. <br />
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Not to mention the expense. The expense tends to alienate you from those who don't appreciate good food, or who just can't afford to join you.<br />
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To that, I compromise. Eating should be social. You should be enjoying your meal (and tastes of those around you). Likewise as they should for you. Why? Because there aren't enough meals around to try a restaurant's menu one meal at a time for every place worth eating. Even tasting an entire menu for a night, you still wouldn't be able to try it all.<br />
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To this end, a great meal falls on a sliding scale of food quality and good company. Carne asada fries at 3am with some good friends.. or the head chef's choice with one or two kin spirited foodies.<br />
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I leave you with one of the lasting impacts of food quality on my life.<br />
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Salmon.<br />
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One big regret in my life is not having had more fresh salmon while living in Seattle. To be fair.. I lived an hour away by bus, and I figured taking fish back on the bus would be a bit of a pain. Oh what a fool I was in my youth. <br />
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But oh, one bite of fish here or there takes me back.<br />
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I can still taste that last morning's sockeye salmon.<br />
A little bit of butter, lemon, and dried dill.<br />
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SO F'ing GOOD.<br />
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I was not prepared for the flavor, the warmth, the aroma, the blood redness.<br />
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I was instantly filled with grief that I was only then discovering what I would be leaving and missing. <br />
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Something to be craved or to be excited for. <br />
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Something I would go back to look for on interview trips.<br />
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Something that would make salmon from most establishments just not worth it elsewhere in the country. <br />
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If you don't like fish, you've probably just been eating bad fish. <br />
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Man.. sockeye salmon sashimi was delicious. DELICIOUS. <br />
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Sometimes.. there is no substitute for quality.<br />
<br />
</div>The Whimsical Raj Mahalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11527938971099625180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2985927302903751255.post-48534507935446985502010-11-09T00:43:00.000-08:002010-11-21T00:56:27.781-08:00Cravings<div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">"Cause I want it now</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">I want it now</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Give me your heart and your soul"</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">--Muse - Hysteria</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">What is a craving? Can you crave something you've never had? Can you crave an idea, an ideal?</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Why.. at 1am do I suddenly want a turkey wrap like I used to get from the college dining halls??</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Mad shout out to Ro*Tiki and the monkey. </div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">My theory is that we all operate on two levels. The conscious and intellectual, and the subconscious emotional. </div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Cravings are a vehicle to achieve nostalgia. The nostalgic feeling reminds us of good times in the past, they bring comfort. </div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">I think as the conscious represses the desires of the subconscious, a force bottles up until it can no longer be contained. That force .. is a craving. </div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">When you feel your faith erode.</div>The Whimsical Raj Mahalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11527938971099625180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2985927302903751255.post-67574172858523531142010-11-08T01:28:00.000-08:002010-11-21T00:56:08.640-08:00Purpose<div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">"PURPOSE,</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">IT'S THAT LITTLE FLAME</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">THAT LIGHTS A FIRE</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">UNDER YOUR ASS.</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">PURPOSE,</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">IT KEEPS YOU GOING STRONG</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">LIKE A CAR WITH A FULL</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">TANK OF GAS.</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">EVERYONE ELSE HAS</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">A PURPOSE</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">SO WHAT'S MINE?"</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">-- Avenue Q</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">As I was walking back from 7-11 today.. an idea struck me. An idea for what this blog is all about really. Besides being somewhere to put down thoughts about the things that interest me. </div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">What better thing than to think about humans and what they do. What they believe. And how they do it by their own expressions in music and eating habits through some self reflection. </div>The Whimsical Raj Mahalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11527938971099625180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2985927302903751255.post-87791429669307827982010-11-06T00:11:00.000-07:002010-11-21T00:55:25.074-08:00Swing on a Spiral<div style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">As below, so above and beyond, I imagine.</div><div style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Drawn outside the lines of reason.</div><div style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Push the envelope. watch it bend.</div><div style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Over thinking, over analyzing separates the body from the mind.</div><div style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Withering my intuition leaving opportunities behind.</div><div style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Feed my will to feel this moment, urging me to cross the line.</div><div style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Reaching out to embrace the random.</div><div style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Reaching out to embrace whatever may come.<br />
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-- Tool - Lateralus</div><div style="background-color: black; border: medium none; color: white; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: black; border: medium none; color: white; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">One of my favorite songs. Ever. </div><div style="background-color: black; border: medium none; color: white; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: black; border: medium none; color: white; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">What's it got to do with food? Or anything, you say? </div><div style="background-color: black; border: medium none; color: white; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: black; border: medium none; color: white; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">.. It's a philosophy of life .. one I try my best to appreciate.</div><div style="background-color: black; border: medium none; color: white; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: black; border: medium none; color: white; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">And of course.. why would it be here if it didn't relate to food?</div><div style="background-color: black; border: medium none; color: white; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: black; border: medium none; color: white; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">You know the friends who can't eat certain things, nay, refuse to try this food or that food.. </div><div style="background-color: black; border: medium none; color: white; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: black; border: medium none; color: white; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">They're missing out. Maybe they can't help themselves. Maybe they need a push. </div><div style="background-color: black; border: medium none; color: white; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: black; border: medium none; color: white; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">One of my favorite favorite eating experiences involves just trying things. Specifically.. </div><div style="background-color: black; border: medium none; color: white; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: black; border: medium none; color: white; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">่ตไป็ .. or Oyster Omelettes.</div><div style="background-color: black; border: medium none; color: white; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;"></div><div style="background-color: black; border: medium none; color: white; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">Sounds weird huh? Gross? Maybe.</div><div style="background-color: black; border: medium none; color: white; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;"></div><div style="background-color: black; border: medium none; color: white; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">But it's DELICIOUS. To my great surprise too. I'd always battled against sometimes disliking mollusks because of the tendency to get crappy ones with a gritty or sandy texture inside. Yuck.</div><div style="background-color: black; border: medium none; color: white; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;"></div><div style="background-color: black; border: medium none; color: white; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">So what is it? It's a simple egg omelette with oysters and generally the stalk of a green leafy vegetable. A little bit of corn starch for some textural effect. And topped with some magical sweet/sour ketchup-y sauce that pulls everything in together. The egg, the oyster, the veggie. It's blissful. But I can't really tell you how it tastes. In fact, trying to think of the three individual pieces.. and their tastes, and then trying to mentally combine them.. utterly fails to capture the beauty of the whole. </div><div style="background-color: black; border: medium none; color: white; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;"></div><div style="background-color: black; border: medium none; color: white; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">I'm pretty sure if anyone had told me what was going on before I tried it. I wouldn't have. </div><div style="background-color: black; border: medium none; color: white; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: black; border: medium none; color: white; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">But.. if you want to live.. you have to reach for the random. </div><div style="background-color: black; border: medium none; color: white; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;"><br />
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</div>The Whimsical Raj Mahalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11527938971099625180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2985927302903751255.post-26356441051821687622010-11-05T00:12:00.000-07:002010-11-08T08:47:10.742-08:00Nostalgia<div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">So some friends think it may be enjoyable for you to read me talking about food.</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">What is nostalgia? Something that reminds you of your past.. in a good way. Something that evokes that feeling that isn't explained with words. Something just fantastic. It's uniquely personal. </div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Though I want to point out a difference between nostalgic food.. and good food. Sometimes they're the same. Sometimes they aren't.</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Oftentimes the first taste of something, provided it's not just completely horrid and prepared in such a way to just be a mockery of the real thing, even if not the best, will just strike such a resounding chord in your memory that you search for that taste. </div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Turnip cakes are a good example. I still have not had a turnip cake in CA that I have enjoyed more than the ones I grew up eating as a kid in KY.</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">For me.. one of my special dishes is Taiwanese Beef Noodle soup.</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beef_noodle_soup</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">As my mother used to make.. stew cuts of beef tenderized in beef broth w/ soy sauce & five spice. Topped with Chinese style flour noodles & slightly wilted vegetable (generally bak choi). One of the best ways to end a trip outside in the middle of winter. Just sitting down to a large bowl and breathing in the wonderful aroma from the five spice, especially the anise. Then that perfect bite of noodle with a nibble of beef.. just to get all the flavor in. And snatching a piece of veggie in after. And slurping some broth in one of the big wide soup spoons..</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">The beef should just fall apart. Melt in your mouth. The good stuff.</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Since I left home, I've since had better beef noodle soup. With shank even (stewed down til it just melted too)...</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">With a side of pickled mustard (the proper condiment for this sort of thing) and homemade thick noodles. Each noodle is slightly different from the rest. Unique. Different.</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">But it all reminds me of those early bowls at home. Sadly, these days, even my mother doesn't make it like she used to. </div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">But times change. The memories remain.</div>The Whimsical Raj Mahalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11527938971099625180noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2985927302903751255.post-1239793113964791962010-10-05T23:11:00.000-07:002010-10-05T23:11:59.826-07:00Lower your standards<div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">I love food. It's delicious. I want to enjoy it. Daily. Why?</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Because.. I have to eat it. I might as well fucking LOVE it. How many things in the world are there you have to do that you can also love? </div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Work? The other gender??</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">I digress.</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
So what is it about being sick that makes a bowl of canned chicken noodle soup & saltines in-fuckin-credible???</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">I sure as hell don't know. That said, always make homemade.</div>The Whimsical Raj Mahalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11527938971099625180noreply@blogger.com0