Tuesday, September 13, 2022

Happiness is Enrico Caruso singing Verdi, Rigoletto: Act III: La donna é mobile

 


Woman is flighty.
Like a feather in the wind,
she changes in voice
and in thought.

Always a lovely,
pretty face,
in tears or in laughter,
it is untrue.

Refrain
Woman is fickle.
Like a feather in the wind,
she changes her words
and her thoughts!

Always miserable
is he who trusts her,
he who confides in her
his unwary heart!

Yet one never feels
fully happy
who from that bosom
does not drink love!

Refrain
Woman is fickle.
Like a feather in the wind,
she changes her words,
and her thoughts!

Sunday, September 11, 2022

Happiness is grape season


 Come, thou monarch of the vine,
Plumpy Bacchus, with pink eyne,
In thy vats our cares be drown'd.

-- William Shakespeare, Anthony and Cleopatra, Act 2, Scene 7

Sunday, August 21, 2022

Apples harvested too early can taste like the soil


 

 The cyder at first is very luscious, but if ground more early, it is more racy.

-- John Mortimer (c.1656-1736), The Whole Art of Husbandry

Wednesday, August 17, 2022

Happiness is 15 minutes of solar noon sunlight


  For most white people, a half-hour in the summer sun in a bathing suit can initiate the release of 50,000 IU (1.25 mg) vitamin D into the circulation within 24 hours of exposure; this same amount of exposure yields 20,000–30,000 IU in tanned individuals and 8,000–10,000 IU in dark-skinned people. ... spending a few minutes outdoors (3–15 minutes for whites and 15–30 minutes for blacks) when the sun is highest in the sky, with 40% of the skin area exposed.
 

Tuesday, August 16, 2022

Friday, August 12, 2022

Happiness is neither poverty nor riches


Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, "Who is the LORD?" or lest I be poor, and steal, and profane the name of my God.

-- Proverbs 30:8f.

Friday, July 29, 2022

Tuesday, July 19, 2022

Tuesday, July 12, 2022

Happiness is the clear head of the morning


 As soon as Phoebus' rays inspect us,
First, sir, I read, and then I breakfast.

-- Matthew Prior

Monday, July 11, 2022

Happiness is belly-timber


 The strength of every other member
Is founded on your belly-timber.

-- Matthew Prior

Wednesday, July 6, 2022

Happiness is fourteen miles to the Cumberland Gap

 

 

Lay down, Boys, and take a little nap, Lay down, Boys, and take a little nap, Lay down, Boys, and take a little nap, Fourteen miles to the Cumberland Gap.

Cumberland Gap with its cliffs and rocks Home of the panther, bear and fox. The first white man in Cumberland Gap, Was a Doctor Walker, an English chap.

Friday, June 24, 2022

Happiness is the most important difference between your smart phone and your dumb phone


 With the smart phone you can butt-dial a conference call and piss-off multiple people all at once instead of annoying just one person by mistake.

Friday, June 17, 2022

Happiness is having a pulse!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nyuk, nyuk.

Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink. ... And at the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king's meat. 

-- Daniel 1:12, 15

Wednesday, June 15, 2022

Saturday, June 11, 2022

Happiness is a ground-dwelling bird


 Have you mark'd a partridge quake,
Viewing the tow'ring falcon nigh?
She cuddles low behind the brake;
Nor would she stay, nor dares she fly.
 
-- Matthew Prior

Sunday, May 22, 2022

Happiness is my new "go-to" canned tomatoes: Contadina San Marzano Style

 

"Product of Italy" available on the shelf right here in Michigan, right now.

Saturday, May 21, 2022

Happiness is fast and easy roasted red pepper sauce


Fast and Easy Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

1 jar Mezzetta Roasted Red Bell Peppers, drained
1 ripe avocado
2 T extra virgin olive oil
1-2 T fresh lemon juice
3 cloves garlic, pressed
0.5 t salt
0.5 t black pepper
0.5 t crushed red pepper flakes

Add everything to a food processor and blend until smooth. Makes about 2.5 cups. Freeze half and use the rest on cooked black beans, pasta, vegetables, or sandwiches.

Sunday, May 8, 2022

Happy Mother's Day


The carnation does not drop its petals, but hugs them to its heart as it dies, and so, too, mothers hug their children to their hearts, their mother love never dying.

-- Anna Jarvis



Wednesday, May 4, 2022

When you have your health, you have everything

Jesus Ben Sirach, 1860 woodcut by Julius Schnorr

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is no riches above a sound body, and no joy above the joy of the heart.

-- Ecclesiasticus 30:16

Sunday, May 1, 2022

Delight each May morning


 The shepherd swains shall dance and sing,
For they delight each May morning.
If these delights thy mind may move,
Then live with me, and be my love.

-- William Shakespeare

Wednesday, April 20, 2022

Your traditional chicken broth is probably contributing to all your aches and pains


Simultaneous Determination of Purines and Uric Acid in Chinese Chicken Broth Using TFA/FA Hydrolysis Coupled with HPLC-VWD :

Chinese chicken stock was prepared ... Briefly, yellow-feather chicken carcasses with the head, claws, and internal organs removed were cut evenly in half along the back, rinsed and drained in cold water, and cooked in a 5.6 L stainless steel stockpot ... with purified water ... at the meat to water ratio of 1:2 (w/w). The chicken carcass was placed in the stainless steel pot when the purified water was at 95–99 °C, and cooking was timed when the broth temperature again reached 95–99 °C. After 4 h of stewing, the top layer of fat was removed and the chicken stock was stored at −20 °C for further analysis. ...

Gout is the second most common metabolic disease affecting human health after diabetes. Gout is closely related to the content of exogenous purines and uric acid consumed in the diet. Chinese chicken broth is a delicious traditional meat soup, rich in protein, fat, minerals, and other nutrients, and is popular among consumers. Chicken broth is often considered a high purine food, posing a health risk to patients with gout and hyperuricemia. This work copes with the optimization of purines and uric acid content simultaneous determination in Chinese chicken stock when hydrolysis and extraction procedures, as well as HPLC, were studied. ... It has been demonstrated that Chinese chicken broth contains a significant amount of purines, with the highest content being hypoxanthine. It is also worth noting that some uric acid is also present in chicken soup, which can directly affect the body’s blood uric acid levels when ingested.

Friday, April 1, 2022

Thursday, March 24, 2022

Broccoli, brussels sprouts, kale, cabbage contain sulforaphane, now shown to inhibit replication of the virus which causes COVID-19

From the story here:

... low micromolar (µM) concentrations of sulforaphane (2.4–31 µM) lowered virus replication by 50 percent among six distinct strains of SARS-CoV-2 — including the Delta and Omicron variants. Researchers discovered similar results among cells previously infected with the viruses. In these cases, the protective effects of sulforaphane were apparent even in reference to already established virus infections.

Wednesday, March 23, 2022

Happiness is cranberries for heart health


 

From the story here:

The participants assigned to the cranberry powder group displayed notable improvements in their flow-mediated dilations (FMD). Study authors say FMD signals both heart and blood vessel function improvements.

Scientists consider FMD an important and sensitive biomarker of one’s cardiovascular disease risk, measuring the widening of blood vessels when blood flow increases.

It’s also important to note that the FMD improvements among participants were apparent within just two hours of consuming cranberry powder, with the beneficial effects remaining after one month of daily consumption. This suggests eating cranberries is great for the heart in both the immediate short term and over the long haul.



Thursday, March 17, 2022

McGinty says "Happy St. Patrick's Day!"


 Oh, McCarthy was dead . . . and McGinty didn't know it,
And McGinty was dead . . . and McCarthy didn't know it,
They both were dead in the very same bed,
And neither one knew that the other was dead.

Friday, January 21, 2022

Happiness is a rasher of bacon, thin or thick

 


If we grow all to be pork eaters, we shall not shortly have a rasher on the coals for money.

-- William Shakespeare, Merchant of Venice

Monday, January 17, 2022

Thursday, January 6, 2022

Happiness is polite dinner conversation


Thou say'st his meat was sauc'd with thy upbraidings;
Unquiet meals make ill digestions.

-- William Shakespeare

Saturday, January 1, 2022

Happiness is what is seasonal


 At Christmas I no more desire a rose,
Than wish a snow in May's newfangled shows;
But like of each thing, that in season grows.
 
-- William Shakespeare

Thursday, December 23, 2021

Happiness was when American Colonial forests ruled the sea for England


 Lords of the world's great waste, the ocean, we
Whole forests send to reign upon the sea.
 
-- Edmund Waller

Wednesday, December 22, 2021

Monday, December 20, 2021

Happiness is the vaporless morning


 The morning is the best, because the imagination is not clouded by the vapours of meat.

-- John Dryden

Tuesday, November 30, 2021

Monday, November 29, 2021

Happiness is foods for brain health


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Out:

added sugars such as high fructose corn syrup, baked goods, sodas; 

fried foods;

potatoes, white bread, white rice;

alcohol;

nitrates.

In:

dark chocolate 70% or higher, 45 grams a week;

strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, one half to one cup a day;

turmeric, black pepper, curry;

dark leafy greens;

fermented foods with live active cultures such as yogurt, kefir, kombucha, miso, sauerkraut, kimchi.

Sunday, November 28, 2021

Friday, November 26, 2021

Happiness is Kerrygold pure Irish butter

It really does taste amazing, and it most likely has much more vitamin K2, necessary for bone absorption of calcium, than conventional butter:

The measurements we are talking about when measuring levels of MK4 is the μg(microgram). In Anú Dairy butter there is 54μg per 100g of butter; other high quality Irish butters are around half that at 25μg but it can go as low as 7μg or 11μg for conventional indoor feed cattle. Kevin explains that in Europe having a claim of “uniquely rich food”means it needs to be at 30% or above. ...

Butter is a huge industry in Ireland, there are 9 butter plants in Ireland each producing 10,000kg/hr and 140,000 tonnes/year in exports. In terms of scale Anú Dairy is very small and not really in that space, they are a small artisan producer. ...

There are so many different brands of butter, Président butter is white, so there is no grass there, but Kerrygold butter is much better. Even Irelands conventional butter is very good quality compared to international butters and the reputation is very strong overseas. Kevin also mentions there are good small farmers in America such as Maple Hill Creamery, for example.

More. 

 



Saturday, November 20, 2021

Happiness is a recipe which helps you cut back on toilet paper!

 For a butt-hole which is clean as a whistle, eat one of these oat flour and wheat bran muffins every morning instead of toast! You'll find yourself using far less toilet paper as a result!

Foil the kitty!


Oat Flour & Wheat Bran Muffins

1 cup oat flour (just grind up one cup whole oats in the coffee grinder)
2 cups wheat bran (I pay $1.29/lb at the health food store for a refrigerated bag of organic; super cheap!)
1.5 t baking powder
0.5 t baking soda
0.5 t ground cinnamon
 
1.25 cups milk
0.33 cup brown sugar
1 egg beaten
0.5 cup apple sauce
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1/ preheat oven to 400 F
2/ combine dry ingredients in one bowl, wet in another
3/ add the dry to the wet, whisking together
4/ line two 8-bay muffin tins with parchment baking cups
5/ spoon in the completed mixture, about 1/4 cup each
6/ bake 15-20 minutes
7/ let cool thoroughly before storing in the frig or freezer
8/ parchment peels right off once cooled
9/ rewarm in microwave and serve with butter and jam
10/ one a day will do ya
 
 


Saturday, November 13, 2021

Happiness is really roughing it


The roots of thistles have my hunger fed,
Two roods of cultur'd barley give me bread,
A rock my pillow, and green moss for my bed. 

-- Walter Harte

Sunday, November 7, 2021

Happiness is the rye, and the straw thereof


In champion countrie a pleasure they take
To mow up their haume, for to brew and to bake:
The haume is the straw of the wheat or the rie
Which once being reaped, they mow by and by. 

-- Thomas Tusser

Thursday, November 4, 2021

Happiness is the vivid imagination of Shakespeare


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I told John of Gaunt he beat his own name; for you might have truss'd him and all his apparel into an eel-skin: the case of a treble hautboy was a mansion for him, a court.

-- William Shakespeare, Henry IV Part 2, III.2


Monday, November 1, 2021

Happiness is the sweet oblivion of country life


Oh, could I see my country-seat!
There leaning near a gentle brook,
Sleep, or peruse some ancient book;
And there in sweet oblivion drown
Those cares that haunt the court and town.
 
-- Jonathan Swift