Who cares to play TJBM game, The Jelly Below Me, #72?

TJBM feels bad about eating jelly candies.

No, because I don’t eat jelly candies but, I do feel bad for eating a giant bowl of chips and salsa last night. haha

TJBM is a foodie and must work hard on their self control.

The most difficult part is not making every recipe I am tempted by. I could fill the house so easily.
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TJBM is not averse to the idea of a nap in the next day or so.

Adverse! I invented the practice!

TJBM likes dark meat more than white.

True!

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TJBM makes killer gravy.

___

https://www.vocabulary.com/articles/chooseyourwords/adverse-averse/

averse

Thanks for the English lecture.
TJBM is glad the game is back.

Yup, it is . . . !
TJBM has family living is another country. (I’ve got two; my sister is in Switzerland and a brother is in France.)

No, but it sometimes seems like it.

TJBM has enjoyed a family celebration recently.

No. Only one relative on the same continent.
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TJBM likes the taste of toothpaste.

Never thought about it. I suppose mint tastes better than baking soda. I wonder what they sweeten it with?

TJBM had a wonderful day yesterday.

Not exactly winderful, but I could say ‘twas a good day.

TJBM loves physical copies of books rather than e-books.

I prefer physical copies. I like the smell of old books and I like to hold them in my hands, but I have no space for them on a sailboat. I don’t own the house I live in and must be prepared to leave at any time. I must therefore be satisfied with the electronic versions of books. I’ve had my library and I’ve traded it for a different sort of life.

TJBM has radically pared down their possessions in the past few years.

No. I don’t buy anything particularly new either. But you just reminded me that I lost some valuable computer files some time ago from a wrong button. I was able to recover about 80% of the files, but some files among the 20% were really rare and I don’t think I’ll be able to find them again :(
TJBM lives for the future.

I try to live in the moment but I am much more future oriented than I am past oriented.

TJBM has a cat sitting next to their computer staring at them.

No. Sadly, that cat has gone missing.

TJBM lost an animal lately.

No, thankfully.

TJBM loves grilled Brussel Sprouts.

Yes! love those turtle heads!
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TJBM wonders where the sun went.

Nope, it’s nice and sunny outside right now; though it is a bit cold.
TJBM was out shopping for black Friday deals.

No blinking way.
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TJBM is going to make another vat of chai.

No, heading over to my sister’s house to help get rid of the leftovers.

and you left us without a question. lol

TJBM is having Thanksgiving leftovers today.

Gawd no. They’d be six weeks old now!
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TJBM knows who knows where the skeletons in their closet are.

As to past generations in my family, that would be me.

TJBM is the family historian.

No way. I leave that to my cousin.

TJBM has seen “Arrival”.

I don’t remember the last time I went to the cinema…
TJBM doesn’t know what a cinema is.

No, I go to the cinema quite a lot, every few weeks to every couple months depending on what’s playing.

TJBM has one of the new cinemas in their area with dinner trays and reclining leather seats.

True, however, I don’t go to movies very often and haven’t been there yet.
TJBM loves to play outside.

Well..I don’t play a lot outside anymore but I do love being outside in nature yes.

TJBM is a nature lover.

I love nature. It’s especially calming and wonderful near the river.

TJBM dorsn’t know how to deal with babies.

Oh God that’s me! I’m always confused when babies are around. I see people approach them and play with them so naturally – that doesn’t happen to me. Don’t get me wrong, I can deal with people just fine, but babies, no. I get in some heat for that, but I really can’t explain without being misjudged as a cold-hearted bitch.
TJBM has a weakness that overshadows their strength and they hate that.

Too numerous to list here.

TJBM celebrates the passing of Fidel Castro.

Not really. I don’t know much about him.

TJBM loves Christmas and is enthusiastic about holly days in general.

Not so much.
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TJBM has decided which swimsuit to wear.

No decision to make…I only own one.

TJBM is a fan of synchronized swimming.

You mean like this? haha

www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-jxipcNqQA Gawd, Martin Short is so funny!

TJBM likes old SNL skits.

Yes, I do.
TJBM is working today

Just the usual chores around here. It is pouring rain and I am about to watch a Netflix documentary.

TJBM likes documentary films.

Sometimes. They can get close to propaganda, but I usually find that I like them.

TJBM has a slow day today.

Yep. Rain here too.

TJBM has a song running through their head.

All the time. Even at this moment.

TJBM never watches television.

True. It’s been many years since I watched t.v.
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TJBM is wearing socks.

Not at the moment. Truth be told, I hate socks.

TJBM loves eating pumpkin and sunflower seeds.

Not really. haha

TJBM likes peanut butter and saltine crackers.

No, I like peanut butter on celery,grapes or apples.
TJBM is too lazy to cook dinner tonight and is ordering pizza.

Warmed up a Serbian sausage roll thing earlier. Ate it with a side of fried onions and sweet mustard.
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TJBM now has peanut butter on the brain.

Haha I just had peanut butter on toast with a mandarin orange. Pre-dinner snack.

TJBM is more of a grazer than a 3 meals a day type.

True, I like to much on things throughout the day. I might actually have a proper meal once a day, sometime once every couple of days.

TJBM already have their house decorated for the holidays.

No, unless one small multi-purpose wreath on the front door means I’m done with decorating.
Hmm. Maybe the answer should be yes.

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TJBM likes to have lots of pillows on the bed AND on the sofa.

Yes. I can’t live without pillows. Someone needs to lie down.
TJBM is addicted to sleeping.

Maybe not addicted but I do enjoy it.
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TJBM can hear a pet slurping water nearby.

Nope; I live in a people house.

TJBM Is Fluthering in his or her PJs.

I am and am going to bed in about 5 minutes.

TJBM needs a big sleep.

Yep, and I’m on the way too.

TJBM has a stained glass window in his or her home.

No but several hanging panels, self made or purchased.

TJBM can’t wait for Spring ! ! !—Ya I know it is not Winter yet in the Northern Hemisphere.—-

I can wait, I have barely recovered from our brutally hot summer here. I m enjoying the cool/cold weather and storms.

TJBM thinks 75 is the perfect temperature.

I’ll go with 70. Thank you.

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TJBM prefers spicy gum to fruity gum.

Don’t chew, but I prefer a naturally spicy, dark rum to fruity drinks.

TJBM is thinking about how nice it would be to have a warm brandy in front of a fiery hearth this winter.

I’m thinking about how nice it would be to sit in your house in front of a fiery hearth with you and yeah, I don’t do alcohol, but I can take it if the situation calls for it, which in this case is enjoying it with you.
TJBM has some strange fantasy.

I have many strange fantasies. I won’t say anything further than that.

TJBM loves classical music.

Some yes, I like all music except rap and country. Classical, rock, folk, bluegrass, etc. but country music and rap is crap. haha

TJBM likes country music.

Early country works for me.
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TJBM knows where the lightbulbs are.

@BellaB yes, I love old marty Robbins and old Johnny Cash, but that’s about it.

I do! I have a mood lighting fetish and stockpile cool light bulbs, I hate the new LED and Halogen bulbs, the ambience of an autopsy room.
I use the yellow bug lights in my lamps for the nice golden light they cast and also have stained glass bulbs that cast a lovely multi-colored soft light.

TJBM has a mood lighting fetish too.

Definitely. Harsh general lighting is for work, good local mood lighting is for play and relaxation. A quick study of professional stage lighting on the net is a great education in simple interior enhancement. But the moon on a clear night with no light pollution provides the absolute best. There is golden moonlight, silver moonlight and moonlight with blue hues with everything in between. Recreate those in a room and you have perfection.

TJBM has worked on stage lighting.

Yes. In a college production of The Cherry Orchard there was an eight page lighting cue for an interior scene that took place at sunrise.

I’ve also worked follow-spot for concerts.

TJBM has done theater

Yes in high school. Member of “Cast and Crew”, make-up, lights and acting.
TJBM has eaten Gumbo in New Orleans.

No. I would love to go to new Orleans someday.

TJBM has watched a foreign film with subtitles recently.

@Yetanotheruser beat ya to the post! haha

I used to work at The Gumbo Shop

TJBM has been to New Orleans

Ok.
TJBM can answer either question.

@Coloma But mine was better ~

LOL Yes and no.

TJBM has been to New Mexico.

Many times, but long ago.

TJBM has been to the cinema recently.

Actually no, I haven’t been for about 6 weeks or so when usually, depending on what’s playing I go once or twice a month. There are a few things I’d like to see but I have been busy.

TJBM has a cat hogging the couch next to them.

Nope

TJBM had big plans for next weekend.

I never make plans, and even when I do, I never stick to them.

TJBM loves poetry.

Yeah, I enjoy reading it sometimes.

TJBM has found a four-leaf clover?

Years ago.
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TJBM overheats when there is too much black pepper or too many bay leaves in food.

I don’t believe so. Though I don’t really like bay leaves in my food. I don’t like the taste, pretty much the same for black pepper. I am a very picky eater.

TJBM is a picky eater.

Not since I ate university dorm food. Everything is good now.
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TJBM prefers spicy food to heat-inducing food.

I prefer all food. I am a hopeless foodie.

TJBM is hungry now come to think of it. haha I have Key Lime Pie for dessert tonight. So bad.

Just had my breakfast—<burp>
TJBM burps.

YOU’RE GONA HEAR ME RO-O-AR! :D
They say it’s a way to compliment the housewife.

TJBM constantly makes typos when writing.

I transpose letters a lot if I type too fast like spelling “through” as “throguh.” :-/

TJBM likes scary movies.

No <peeps from behind hands>.
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TJBM has grabbed strangers in haunted houses.

Yes, I have worked in a haunted house every year since I was 17, and I love it.

TJBM has a held a fun seasonal job.

Seasonal job: test taking. Time: every winter and early summer. Level of fun: depends on how you see it.
TJBM has a strange perception of fun.

Yes., although some might say it is reflective of my off-beat sense of humor.

TJBM can appreciate an off-beat sense of humor.

It’s required around here.
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TJBM likes leftovers.

Had leftover leftovers for dinner last night. Yum!

TJBM is getting tired of leftovers.

Never!

TJBM prefers Montreal bagels to New York bagels.

I don’t know the difference, so I can’t say.

TJBM knows the difference between Montreal and New York bagels.

Texture and amount of chewiness of course ! <grins>
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TJBM liked the original movie version of The Producers more than the Matthew Broderick remake.

I don’t know, not sure I ever watched it, if I did I have forgotten. haha

TJBM hates doing paperwork.

Nothing repetitive for me!
TJBM has a dream job.

True, I do and it involves me working internationally.

TJBM is currently in school for their dream job.

No, I am older now, been there, done that, now I am living a peaceful, low key lifestyle.

TJBM lives a peaceful lifestyle.

Absolutely!

TJBM always uses blue ink.

Nope, all my pens have black ink.

TJBM should be in bed for the night.

Nit yet.

TJBM hates using perfumes.

No, I love body sprays and perfumes.

TJBM likes to smell nice.

I do, but not with the damn perfumes. Fucking thing attacks my nose and I can’t breathe properly.

TJBM likes to twist other people’s words for fun.

Of course, if I couldn’t do that, then I wouldn’t be working to become a lawyer.

TJBM thinks pizza should be its own food group.

I’m pretty sure pizza covers all food groups and is, therefore, a supergroup :)
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TJBM likes chicken wing day at the deli.

Wings aren’t my favourite, I like the leg more. Although, the tastiest part of the chicken is the roasted, crunchy skin.

TJBM hates taking photos.

Most of the time. If there something very interesting that I think others might enjoy or is unbelievable, I’ll use my phone’s camera.

TJBM did something interesting today.

I read an online copy of a short self help type of book written by a friend of a friend and am committed to sending a review to Amazon. Not sure how I will word my review as I was not impressed. Not only has it already been done a thousand times over it was written in a sophomoric fashion. I was able to speed read about 44 pages because it was all so rote and hum drum.

Finished the whole dull affair in about 45 minutes. lol

TJBM is craving pizza! Thin crust veggie with sausage.

Interesting that you mentioned that. I had a pizza for the first time in ages while in town yesterday. Thin, crispy crust, pepperoni with onions, green peppers and mushrooms. It wasn’t bad.

TJBM is craving a certain dish right now.

Sure am. I would like to have some takoyaki.

TJBM just ate their favorite snack.

Jarlsberg cheese and a slice of green bell pepper on knäckebröd chased down with fish bouillon this afternoon. I had four of them while trying to find an American national news channel that isn’t the 24/7 Trump show. Impossible. Finally gave up and locked into the BBC international, then France 24 and eveh they give an inordinate amount of time to this jerk. Man, Trump drinks a beer and all the world takes a piss.

TJBM threw out their TV ages ago.

No. I have a small flat screen but I don’t watch TV, I do have a DVD collection of movies and that’s why I have TV.

TJBM knows a Beatrice.

I know you and, Jesus, there’s like ten of them on the Shakespeare thread. What the hell is that? What answers do you have to give to be a Beatrice?

TJBM is a Beatrice, too.

Double your pleasure double your Beatrice.

TJBM thinks that quiz is Beatrice biased. lol

It certainly looks like it, or all the women here are ragingloli sockpuppets. Hahahaha. Gah.

Although she appears hardened and sharp, Beatrice is really vulnerable. Once she overhears Hero describing that Benedick is in love with her (Beatrice), she opens herself to the sensitivities and weaknesses of love. Beatrice is a prime example of one of Shakespeare’s strong female characters.

That actually is a good general description of most the women here.

TJBM thinks that Shakespeare was unhappily married.

Can’t say for sure. There’s still a lot of dark areas in his past anyway.
Funny you asked this after I finished my English literature exam… No Shakespeare there though.
TJBM knows an author with a mysterious past.

I’ve never personally known an author with a mysterious past, but I would have loved to have had a sit-down with the author known only as B. Traven.

He was an adventurer and the author of 12 published novels set mostly in Mexico written between 1927 and 1949, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre and Death Ship being the most famous of his works. His worked was said to be autobiographical and if it was, this guy lived one helluva life. He also published many short stories during this same period. His books weren’t often published in the States during those years because many scenes were pornographic and much dialogue was profane, but the stories were excellent. The Wikipedia article on him is very interesting.

Nobody could ever figure out who this guy was, and few could say they actually had met him, but all agreed that he was an adventurer. He always sold his material through agents and friends and for a long time through the influential sister of the president of Mexico. Many years later, she claimed they were lovers, but she never disclosed his identity.

When the equally adventurous director John Houston came to Mexico to film The Treasure of the Sierra Madre in 1947, he arranged to meet the author in a hotel bar and another guy who nobody ever heard of showed up. After the film came out, B. Traven seemed to disappear off the face of the earth. Big mystery.

The other thing I’d like to know about is what happened to 71 year old popular author and journalist Ambrose Bierce He went down to Mexico to cover their revolution in 1914, was last known to have met up with Poncho Villa, and that was the last anyone heard of him. There has been much speculation about what happened to him, but nobody really knows..

TJBM knows of an author with a mysterious past.

Nah

TJBM has, again, stayed up too late.

Yes. That book was so good.
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TJBM has plans with friends over the weekend.

I have tentative plans to take 2 tourist couples on the boat to circumnavigate the island, but this incessant rain could kill the charter.

TJBM has had some interesting moments on aircraft.

Yes. I was once in a hail storm over Utah and it was like being under machine gun fire. It was terrifying. I also sprained my ankle badly falling off my boots on the boarding ramp traveling to asia in 2010. That was awful, 13 hour flight with no way to elevate my foot and a soggy little baggy of ice.

My daughter just flew to Texas to see her dad a couple weeks ago and witnessed several wacky moments. 1st, a passenger a couple isles ahead opened a soda that exploded all over several rows of passengers and then a very large and scantily clad women on her way to Vegas fell down and all of her ample parts popped out. Skirt over her head, boobs flopping around. It was quite the circus that flight. lol

TJBM boycotts circuses because they disagree with the use of exotic animals as “performers.”

I haven’t had the opportunity in the past few years, but for decades I lived about 60 miles north of the Barnum & Bailey/Ringling Bros. circus winter quarters. I went down to see them work with their animals now and then, but they looked so unhealthy and sad that I began going to the big Ringling art museum instead and I loved to tour John Ringling’s house , Ca’ d’Zan, on slow, cold, rainy days when I could wander the place like a ghost at leisure all alone. Beautiful place, magnificent palace. I used to bring dates there in the Miata on sunny days before having dinner on Sarasota beach.

If you go to the site, you will notice the marbel and terracotta plaza out back on Sarasota Bay that served as an outdoor ballroom under the stars and as his private dock for his 1920’s 125-foot yacht, a steamer with appointments rivaling the HMS Queen Mary—complete with solid gold faucets in the cabin heads, like in his house. It sank mysteriously one clear, calm night in 1930 in the bay in 12 feet of water after colliding with a “solid object” that tore a 5 foot gash in the steel hull below the waterline. Strange.

It sunk up to the main deck with ten partying millionaires (billionaires in today’s money) aboard, including NYC’s famous playboy mayor Jimmie Walker and his 23 yr old showgirl mistress. So, those details weren’t disclosed until decades later, and the sheriff never adequately explained what happened to the boat that night. Haha. Money doesn’t necessarily talk. Anyway, it would have been great to be able to tour that vessel.

TJBM has a story about the rich and famous of their area.

I lived on the border of this property for years and it used to be owned by one of the Hiltons. Beautiful 1000+ acre ranch, heated and air conditioned barns, huge home, guest homes, helicoptor pad. The owners were assholes though and couldn’t keep good help because they were so picky about every-little-thing Cobweb in the barn, you’re fired! I had riding privileges there and the trails were fantastic. Old, old, abandoned pioneer buildings waaay out and heirloom rose bushes growing by old homesteads. It was a magical property to get lost on.

www.loopnet.com/Listing/14184707/3721-Bridgepot-School-Road-Mount-Aukum-CA/

TJBM would like to live on a ranch.

I would like to live in your ranch @Coloma :D
And I love your story of the writer @Espiritus_Corvus. My theory is that B.Traven was just another false name among several “names” he got before, and he was just doing a regular “name changing” the time he disappeared.
TJBM loves to make up theories.

I do, especially when people fall for it. [laughs in troll].

TJBM is a good liar.

I can’t say yes; I can’t say no. The only way to find out is to actually speak with me and make your own decision.

TJBM is a polyglot

I am fluent in Serbian and English, and have some moderate knowledge in Spanish and German. I also studied Russian, but I know very little. I have several languages on my “to study” list, but I somehow don’t find time to dedicate to language learning. I will find the time, I promise.

TJBM is happy upon seeing the first snow.

No, because we haven’t had one yet. haha
I live at the snowline so some years we get some and others none.

TJBM will describe what they see around them right now.

Sure, I have my computer on my kitchen table that is blue with pink polka dots on it. To my right on the table is my rust red and brown owl coffee cup with a wonderfully fragrant ice wine in it. To my left my blue business law book closed (supposed to be studying) with a purple notebook on top. Then to the left of my table is my bed a rumpled mess with pikachu sheets and comforter. That’s about as far the light from my computer screen travels. oh yeah, the wall behind me has a brightly colored mandala picture on it.

TJBM got bored with my description.

No, I didn’t. I thought it interesting that colors mean so much to you. I would have described them differently: shape, style, age, a little more detail on the mandala. I realized while reading that that I really don’t pay much attention to color inside the house, but it is everywhere and varied. I wonder why. I’m going to be more conscious of that when I describe things now. Color is important.

TJBM is tired after a busy day.

Yes. I just put on my jammies and sat down and put my feet up on the couch. I’ll be surfing on battery power for a few hours here. haha

TJBM has a busy weekend coming up.

I’m going through the busiest week so far. Having to sit for the finals. Next week is going to be gentler I hope.
@Sneki95 I didn’t know you know so many languages! You beat me to my native tongue, English and Japanese.
TJBM doesn’t like busy days.

I don’t dislike busy days per se. I hate horribly scheduled days, however. (like today, for example)

TJBM is often late.

@Mimishu1995 I am also good at Old Church Slavonic (raises her chin)

Haha. Yep. Everybody here is. It takes some getting used to. We call it Island Time. For some reason, after people move down here, a specific meeting time like, say 12 noon, means anywhere from 12 to 2pm. Projects that normally take a few weeks in the States can be dragged out for months. Nobody is all that anal about anything here, especially time. If someone complains, they are looked at like their are crazy. Drives newbees nuts, but Prozac salesmen starve down here.

Mon, you jumpin’ around like you on fire. Here. Take a hit. Relax. It be de island way, mon.

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TJBM think the people around them are way over stressed.

Can’t agree more, especially my parents. But to be fair, I only notice that older people tend to be more overstress while people my age are pretty relaxed. They are just too obsessed with perfectionism and what people around them think. Come on, do some little mistakes here and there ruin your life?
@Sneki95 don’t make me jealous. Aaaagh :D
TJBM doesn’t like perfectionists.

I appreciate a job well done. I find it hard to be around people who are anal about everything, though. I think everyone does. Gets them all riled up, makes them uptight. Doing a difficult thing with calm and grace is an art too many people fail to master.

TJBM likes to make difficult things look easy.

I like to. I want to. It’s just that I’m not that good at it :(
And today I learned a new word about overstressed people, “anal”
TJBM wants to learn something but they can’t.

I get worried sometimes that, due to age and lack of stimuli in retirement, my mind might be slipping a bit. I fear I’m not as sharp and quick as I used to be and feel it is too soon for that. So, I spend some time teaching myself the higher maths on the internet. I don’t like it, it’s not pleasurable to me, but I do it in hopes that it will keep me sharp. But beyond trigonometry, I am not very successful and I’m not progressing much, but I must remember that progress isn’t necessarily the goal in this case. It’s the exercise that is important. A man my age no longer runs to break personal speed and distance records. He runs to stay in shape, to maintain his stamina.

TJBM feels precisely the opposite.

I don’t run at all, unless the bus is approaching the bus stop and I haven’t quite made it there…

I’m not going to pretend that I don’t share @Espiritus_Corvus‘s concerns about age related deterioration, either mental or physical. But I think my work with the young people at the school is helping with that. It is encouraging, enlightening, and it keeps me knowledgeable about younger contemporary quality music acts, such as Plain White T’s (Hey There Delilah, The White Stripes (Seven Nation Army) or Alternate Routes (Nothing More).

TJBM will share some their favorite music links with us.

Some songs I really like listening, among many others.
Damn, this took time!

TJBM likes eating fish.

Only with special seasonings :p
This just came to me: we haven’t been to the chatroom for a while. Care to set a date?
TJBM would like to wish our old jellies long lives.

I wish everyone to live as long s they so desire.

TJBM is not afraid of their mortality and knows that we are but dust in the wind.

I’m pretty cool with that dust in the wind thing most days.
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TJBM is looking forward to tasting the soup they’ve got simmering.

No soup simmering but… am pet/ house sitting all weekend and one of my little bonuses to my clients is to cook them a home coming dinner. I am going to be baking a meatloaf for them Sunday afternoon with either ground Venison or Buffalo. They love my meatloaf dinners, her husband always requests my meatloaf. haha

TJBM makes a mean meatloaf.

It’s one of the family’s most requested dishes…

TJBM will share a recipe.

This would be great on a cold Colorado afternoon. It takes 15 minutes to prepare this delicious bisque:

NOTE: This is a Bahamian recipe which calls for conch, or scallops, or clams, or any sweet shellfish meat, but chicken will do just fine.

Ingredients
6 cups chicken broth
¾ lb. potatoes, yucca, or casaba, peeled and cubed (about 2 cups)
2 carrots, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 can (14.5 oz.) low-sodium diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon olive or vegetable oil
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 serrano chile or other chile of choice, finely chopped (more or less to taste)
½ teaspoon finely chopped fresh ginger
1 lb. chicken meat..
1 can (12 fl. oz.) evaporated Milk
1 can (13.5 oz.) coconut milk
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
½ teaspoon ground cumin
\¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:
Place chicken stock, potatoes and carrots in large saucepan on high heat; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer. Add onion and tomatoes; cover. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes.

Heat oil in large skillet on medium heat. Add garlic, chiles and ginger; cook for 1 minute or until garlic turns translucent. Add chicken meat; cook, stirring occasionally, for 2 minutes. Add chicken mixture to saucepan. Stir in evaporated milk, coconut milk, salt, black pepper and cumin. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture just comes to a boil. Remove from heat. Stir in cilantro and serve.

TJBM has discovered a new recipe they would like to share.

Well…I can’t share yet but I am choosing between using ground buffalo or venison for my meatloaf Sunday. I’ll report back later.

TJBM has a grumpy cat.

<——

That cat is not to mess with lol :D

I don’t have a cat. I used to, and he wasn’t grumpy at all.

TJBM is horrible at math.

Basics aside, yep, pretty much. As long as I have a calculator it’s all good. haha

TJBM likes history better than maths.

It’s the other way around. I don’t like history that much, but math seems interesting. I have some basic knowledge of history and I’m not that bad at it, but when it comes to math, sometimes I can’t even count properly.

TJBM was exceptionally good at certain subject in school, way more than other kids.

I was always strong in english/writing skills and very artistic.

TJBM is a bit of a grammar snob.

I’m more of a cheese snob than a grammar snob, but I do have some grammar snob moments.
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TJBM prefers vegetables to fruit.

Well, at least fruit doesn’t need cooking.
TJBM is a cheese snob.

Not really. I have my hard to get favorites, but I’m not snobbish about it. It’s more fun to turn people on to new experiences than it is to put them down because they’ve never had the opportunity to experience something. But I won’t eat Danish Havarti. My father had the worst smelling feet in the world and he would merclessly kick his shoes off every night before dinner after a long day at the office. God, that is an awful memory. Havarti smells just like his feet to me.

TJBM knows of a food that they will never eat under any circumstances.

Yes, many. I would not eat my own pet goose, I would not eat exotic wild life like Lion or Rhino or Giraffe. I would not eat raw meat, raw fish. Not a sushi fan at all. I would not eat intestines and other organ meats, I would not eat head cheese. haha

TJBM is picky about how their meat is cooked.

Very. Raw/blue if I know the source. Barely medium otherwise.

TJBM likes cooked cereals.

Nope, I can’t stand cooked cereals. The texture and the taste makes me sick to my stomach.

TJBM has a unique collection.

All I have left are a collection of marine artifacts and some old coins that go back to 1760. I have an old Spanish dollar, the original piece of eight. I have a megalodon tooth about 6½ inches at the base that probably belonged to a 90 ft shark about 20 million years ago.

TJBM has a unique collection.

Do my hybrid morning glory seeds that I have been growing and collecting for 25 years count?

@Espiritus_Corvus I love sharks I bet that megalodon tooth is amazing!

TJBM has a strong intuitive streak.

“Intuitive steak”? I didn’t know meat has intelligence.
TJBM loves meat in a humane way.

The meat I buy at the store was never a live animal. Trust me on that!

TJBM prefers DSL to internet access from a cable company such as Comcast.

All I care is to have the internet connection when I need it.

TJBM never tried drugs.

False. I was a teen/young adult in the 70’s, tried everything, LSD, Peyote, Mescaline, pills, cocaine, hashish, marijuana but nothing that left me with any addictions or that I continued to do after I was beyond my early 20’s. I do still enjoy a little marijuana now and then.

TJBM has or does use marijuana on occasion.

Oh yeah! I’d rather eat it than smoke it.

TJBM uses or has used other drugs recreationally.

Jesus, we sound like a bunch of old reprobates. It was the same for me as it was you, Strauss, and Coloma. Good times and bad times. Left it all behind decades ago. It was a different time under much different circumstances. Among my friends for a long time, if drugs didn’t get you, Vietnam did. I was very lucky to have come out of it alive and mentally intact.

TJBM recently adopted an animal

^ LOL

Hell no…I have enough animals around me all the time. Today I am back and forth pet/ranch sitting around the bend then back here to tend to the neighbors cat and dogs for dinner. I am managing 8 horses, 2 donkeys, 3 dogs, a cat and about 40 chickens. My life as a pet sitter.

TJBM has a constantly changing routine. Is that an Oxymoron? haha

My ox is not a moron; he is quite intelligent, as a matter of fact!

We have an overall routine, but with my wife’s flexible schedule (not working corporate anymore, working on family business, taking some sub teaching on the side) the change is constant.

TJBM knows the source of the following quote:

”... like calling an ox a bull. He’s thankful for the honor, but he’d much rather have restored what’s rightfully his. ”

I’d never heard it, so I looked it up. (For our more urbane Jellies, the main difference between an ox and a bull is that an ox has been castrated for the sake of docility and the bull kept intact for breeding purposes). The quote above was said by Benjamin Franklin to John Dickinson on the floor of the First Continental Congress, when the FF’s were hammering out the constitution while the Revolution was being fought. The exchange went like this:

Dr. Benjamin Franklin:
Please Mr. Dickinson, but must you start banging? How is a man to sleep?

[laughter from Congress]

John Dickinson:
Forgive me, Dr. Franklin, but must YOU start speaking? How is a man to stay awake?

[More laughter]

John Dickinson:
We’ll promise to be quiet – I’m sure everyone prefers that you remained asleep.

Dr. Benjamin Franklin:
If I’m to hear myself called an Englishman, sir, I assure you I prefer I’d remained asleep.

John Dickinson:
What’s so terrible about being called an Englishman? The English don’t seem to mind.

Dr. Benjamin Franklin:
Nor would I, were I given the full rights of an Englishman. But to call me one without those rights is like calling an ox a bull. He’s thankful for the honor, but he’d much rather have restored what’s rightfully his.

[laughter]

John Dickinson:
When did you first notice they were missing, sir?

[laughter]

LOL. If Congress were still that eloquent in their insults, I would watch C-SPAN 24/7.

Thanks, Strauss, that was a good one and new to me.

NOTE: I’m not sure of the veracity of this as it is actually a quote from the film 1776.

TJBM loves reading Churchill and Disraeli quotes.

I love Churchill’s quotes, he always had some sick burn to deliver :D

TJBM took a ride in a fiacre once. (if that is how you say it)

Sneki, that was a new word for me. It is amazing that I’ve never heard nor read it before. According to Google, Fiacre is an old English word used to describe a four-wheeled carriage. So, no, I don’t remember ever riding in a carriage, maybe an old western stagecoach at Knottsberry Farm, but I’m not sure. I did rent a dogcart once to camp on along the coast of western Ireland for a couple of weeks. But that is an open, two-wheeled cart. Mine was drawn by a nanny goat that had the added advantage of providing my wife and I milk every morning.

TJBM has ridden in a fiacre.

If it’s the same thing as I have in mind, then no unless you count those models I fooled around with in parks :D There are actually publish fiacres scattering around the country, for curious tourists and people with nothing better to do. My city doesn’t have one though.
Anyway, you probably don’t know that my “fiacre” is far different than your fiacre. First off it doesn’t have four wheels. This is how an average fiarce commonly looked like during the French reign. And if you want to go back even more, this is how it looked like (that’s a Chinese fiacre, but my country’s fiacre was just a rip-off of that).
TJBM loves to research on how things evolve throughout history.

Yes I do. Sometimes it will take me forever to read a simple history text because I spend so much time researching every little detail on library sites on the net. For me, it’s all part of the pleasant journey back through time, an urge to live in another time. I also love it when I catch the author in a mistake. Mimi, your fiacres looked very nice and practical as public transportation should be. I still can’t get over it that the word was unknown to me until now.

TJBM learned a new word in their own language recently.

Not that I am aware of, what about made up words I do that all the time. :-p

TJBM has been as busy as a beaver and is dog tired.

Getting there. I’m on a very small privately owned island as a result of a charter today. Covered a hundred miles or so since 6am. Very nice place, but I dropped way too much cash for a meal that I could have prepared myself for about seven bucks. And the three hotels here want no less than a grand a night for a single room. Well, $946 is the cheapest. So, after a heavy meal and a couple of drinks, the mate and I must drag our asses back to the boat next to raucous Basil’s bar at the end of the pier. Home of loud music and partying till god knows when. May not get much sleep tonight..

TJBM may not get much sleep tonight.

It’s 04:32 at the moment here. I was supposed to get up at five. No sleeping here, unless I take a nap and wake up at eight or something, which I won’t because I drank coffee and can’t sleep. Also, it’s Sunday. No one gets up early in Sunday.

TJBM loves to welcome the dawn and hear the roosters in the morning (or whatever serves as a rooster at your place).

Please don’t remind me of that abominable chicken that screamed at 3 a.m every morning again. I could never get a good sleep thanks to it. It was a pet of my next door neighbor and it sure knew how to piss people off. I’m glad it finally gave in to old age.
TJBM likes animals but makes an exception for one.

Oh my God! :D Never thought I’d hear someone hating a rooster, nor that someone would have a rooster as a pet. This just made me laugh a lot.
I hear roosters in the distance, maybe that’s why I don’t hate it that much.
As for other animals, I really do love them all. I don’t remember any animal that I really hate, but don’t show me frogs if you don’t have to. Whenever I see a frog, I spend some time tripping I stepped or sat on a frog. Once, I cut up a frog when I was mowing the lawn. It was probably dead before the blade caught it, but I didn’t need to see a frog flying out of the landmower.

TJBM will tell us their weirdest dream.

@Sneki95 I don’t hate roosters, but that particular chicken just got on my nerve. It picked a really convenient time to wake people up. It lived next to my house so I got a full-blown scream in the ears. And the neighbor is a weird pet owner who loves to get weird pets. The chicken was so far the weirdest thing he got. There can be worse things inside the house but I haven’t seen them yet.
I have many weird dreams, probably because I have an active imagination. It’s a matter of picking out which one to tell. One particular dream went like this: I was a boy with power to move objects. He was pursured by some men in black for experience and he had to run away with his fat friend don’t know why the friend was there in the first place. There was a lot of fighting along the way. There was also that girl who showed up here and there offering help, and some boys who had a grudge for my character and tried to aid the men. In one bloody fight the girl was killed, and the friend and I had to take refuge in an abandoned house. I said I couldn’t take it any more and burst out in tears while the friend tried to comfort me. Then I woke up.
TJBM will tell us their weirdest dream don’t know why I like talking about dreams.

I dreamed of killing Marylin Manson.
It all started with me entering a nearby drugstore. I go in, it’s all as it always was, except there is a goddamn Jesus behind the freeser that hold the meat products. He is crucified, chilling on the cross, and burned so hard the wooden cross is completely black and brittle, and Jesus himself is seared. It rotates for some reason.

Second scene: I’m in a restaurant. The object is somewhere on top of some sci-fi looking tower. (I see it from afar it’s like in the moves, when they first show you the image of a house and then play the scene going on inside of it). Anyways, I’m inside of that restaurant, and I am not myself. I am Ichigo Kurosaki, the character from manga/anime Bleach. Ichigo!me is fighting a bunch of shadows that arise from the earth, sent by Yamamoto-looking Marylin (Yamamoto is a character from Bleach, that sends shadows rising from the ground. In my dream though, Yamamoto is Marylin). I kill them all somehow, and see three of my classmates sitting at the nearby table. I come to them, pull out an extremely thin knife, and stab all of them in the chest. They start bickering and hating each other.

Next scene: I’m in the schoolyard. I look behind me and see the burned Jesus again, only way bigger. I ignore it, and start packing some knives. This time, I’m some sort of an assassin, with a nice ass and black leather clothes and all that. While I grab some black knife, a fat dude that looks like a certain politician reminds me that all women from the Obrenović dynasty (Serbian royal dynasty) were excellent assassins. I ignore it, climb a ridiculously long stairs (where I meet a Gypsy boy and my highschool teacher).

Finally, I come to the top. There, I see a young girl holding a rabbit. The girl looks exactly like a character from a manga Claymore. Upon seeing her, I realise that the only way to kill Marylin is to slaughter that rabbit. So I cut its throat.

The girl starts screaming. The sky turns black and red. Hell breaks loose. Marylin, who was sitting there the whole time, starts crying the tears of lava. As I try to run and fall down the stairs, I see the most magnificent, 3D lava tear ever. It was going right towards me, like some sort of a comet.

That is where my mom wakes me up.

That was the single most random and awesome dream I had.

TJBM will continue the series and tell their weirdest dream.

What do you get from your dream? You have too much anime and manga and church :D
I was once an old man who finally decided to look for his father. There was a lot of suspicious circumstances around the father’s disappearance when the man was a child, but no one wanted to talk about it. As a child he was always told that his father was taken by something horrible and he didn’t dare to find out until now. Somehow I knew embarking in the journey could put his life in danger and I said farewell to my young friend. The friend feared for my safety but I told him to steer clear. On my way I met that woman who I had interest in. She actively aided me in my pursuit. I was also attacked by some bad guys and because I was too old to fight I just found ways to escape in action-movie styles. At one point I met a supposedly villain and he told me some mind-blowing truth about my father. I was so disapponited that I considered giving up and settling down with the woman. We were walking along a lake and talking about life when suddenly we were surrounded. I was about to pull out my gun when I woke up.
TJBM will continue the series and tell their weirdest dream.

Weirdest dream ever, I dreamed I blew my nose and a black Scorpion came out. Is that weird enough? lol

TJBM will say “Goodnight Coloma.” time for bed. zzzz

Goodnight Coloma. I am about to do the same.

TJBM is going go have a Bloody Mary or Mojito with brunch tomorrow.

No brunching. No booze for me tomorrow.

TJBM got their false eyelashes off without removing any real eyelashes.

I have never worn false eyelashes before, so my eyelashes have never been ripped out.

TJBM is getting ready for work.

No. Considering which bathing suit to wear to the pool today.
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TJBM made a good breakfast beverage concoction today.

Just pouring my 2nd cup cup of coffee, my morning breakfast concoction right now.
Caramel toffee coffee with a little cream and sugar, mmmm.

TJBM likes exotic coffee flavors.

I don’t really drink coffee, but I have been known to use a tiny bit to add flavour depth to hot chocolate. A little hazelnut coffee in cocoa – it tastes like magic Toblerone mocha.

TJBM was hugged by someone unexpected recently.

Yeah, yesterday. The wife half of yesterday’s charter. She hugged me and thanked me for a safe trip. The husband hugged my first mate. I was surprised because (1) upper class Brits usually don’t do that and (2) it was a very pleasant day and we were never in any danger. But these were people in their twenties, so maybe this is the fashion among them now. It was nice, of course. If you want special privileges, be sure to hug the skipper haha. He/she has a lot of pull in the galley and the booze lazarette.

TJBM is really looking forward to a quiet, relaxing Sunday.

Hah, no, I am about an hour away from launching into a 9–10 hour day of house/pet/ranch sitting, cooking a dinner for one client and then coming back here for the evening routine since everyone is gone.

TJBM wears double socks on cold days.

Hell no. I hate socks, even one pair is too much.

TJBM never wears hats.

Only when the weather calls for it.

TJBM never wears a tie or cravat.

True. I am not fond of women that wear ties. haha

TJBM wouldn’t be caught dead in a pants suit.

I lived in pant suits in the late 1970’s through much of the 1980’s. I am so over the matchy matchy anything. No more suits other than bathing suits.
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TJBM finds national radio call-in programs fascinating.

Sometimes yes.

TJBM likes suspense/thriller movies.

The only suspense movie that I can remember that I liked was Eraserhead.

TJBM has a horrible memory.

Haha, no, I have a great memory, infact, just today when I was coming over to where I am right now to pet and house sit for neighbors I was marveling at how many gate codes and garage door and security alarm codes I have memorized. I know half this counties secret passwords to their homes and properties. lol

TJBM is good at memorizing numbers.

Nuh-uh. I never memorize numbers. I don’t even know my own cellphone number.
I know only a few house and phone numbers, as well several historical and other important dates.

TJBM has bad eyesight and needs to wear glasses.

Only the last ten years or so. Up until my mid fifties I didn’t even need reading glasses.

TJBM knows what presbyopia is.

Presby – old, or the old one. Opia – pertaining to eyesight.

Like you, I began requiring glasses in my late fifties.

TJBM does not wear glasses.

I wish that were the case. Not only do I wear glasses they’re bifocals and I’ve been wearing bifocals for just a little under 15 years. I was about 15 when I got my first pair.

TJBM likes to wear colored contacts.

No but I have a couple pairs of psychedelic reading glasses. One has green striped frames and the other maroon fading to pink. lol

TJBM is a colorful type of person.

I am. Not only am I colorful person, with a vivid personality. I am; uniquely me.

TJBM is working really hard to reach their lifetime goal.

Still working…
Though I’m not sure if I’m heading the right way…
TJBM is still working for their dream.

I’m living my dream!
Although sometimes it seems like a nightmare!

TJBM is living the dream.

Not nearly as dreamy as it was pre-recession. haha No, it’s been a nightmare few years but things are better now. :-)

TJBM will tell us what they had for dinner tonight.

A spiced-up rice and vegetable dish prepared by the first mate. Not bad, but it’s NOT BLOODY BISON MEATLOAF, fer chrissakes. Some people get all the good stuff. It’s our own fault actually. It was drizzling rain and we passed up some good shoal waters teaming with shellfish for the taking, simply by a couple of equipment-free dives. Some conch or lobster would have gone into the rice rather nicely. Laziness never pays off.

TJBM had a very nice Sunday dinner.

I went to a restaurant yesterday. The restaurant was part of a supermarket and my family just stopped there after doing our shopping. It was quite cheap and the food was simple but delicious. The best thing was that I got to choose what to eat. I was not restricted to the raw food like when I was home. And I didn’t need to cook too :) The downside was that there was less food than the last time we went there.
TJBM doesn’t care for dinner.

I thoroughly enjoy formal dinners with friends, but at home I usually don’t make anything fancy. I enjoy what we called “farmhouse cooking” in Sweden. Hearty stews, casseroles, risottos, ratatouilles—good, tasty dishes that can be thrown together quickly. Shepherd’s pie made with mutton is my favorite.

TJBM likes farmhouse cooking.

I’m not fussy about dinner. Tonight I had a bowl of cooked carrots with honey and a bit of butter. I don’t need anything fancy – just delicious.

TJBM owns at least one handkerchief AND knows where it is.

I do not. People still carry hankerchiefs?

TJBM is finally relaxing after a busy day.

I’m relaxing but today I watched football, just like yesterday. :)

TJBM finally remembered to do something he/she has kept forgetting for a while. Sweet success.

Yes actually, I remembered to check my cars oil, something I am bad about at times. I do have a display that tells me if it is getting low and to check it but, it’s better to not wait for the warning, obviously. haha

TJBM uses real butter instead of margerine.

Yes.

TJBM believes that large portions, habitual snacking and sedentary lifestyles are more responsible for the twentieth century bloom in heart disease and diabetes than the actual foods people eat.

I think it is both. Even if you are active if you are living on burgers and fries your arteries will suffer.

TJBM struggles with self discipline.

When it comes to exercise, I’m great. I can get myself to the studio or the pool, rain/sleet/blizzard. Other stuff, I’m not so good.

TJBM is an original instrument snob.

If only I was that good at music.
TJBM is a <insert your thing here> snob.

I am an anime/manga snob, a total otaku.

TJBM is jealous of those who get to go swimming in Dec.

No. I am one of those who swim during the northern hemispheric winter. It is 87F and partly cloudy on St. Vincent this afternoon and I’m planning on snorkeling in the ice blue shoal waters to beat the heat and snatch up some shellfish for tonight’s dinner before setting sail for St. Lucia tonight. But I know harsh, dark winters from living ten years in Sweden, so I do understand northerner’s pain and winter ennui. When I write about my winters here on Fluther, it is in hopes of giving some winter relief to my friends and not to engender envy.

TJBM is not a jealous-type person.

Trying to think of what would make me jealous. I don’t think I inherited the jealousy gene.
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TJBM is as at-ease swimming in a pool or a lake or an ocean.

Yes, I love snorkling in mountain lakes and was quite the white water river rafting babe for years living near a premiere river here in CA. I bought my 1st raft at age 16 and being the adventurous pack leader of my gang I would take my girlfriends on rafting excursions to pick up the Jesuit boys at the Catholic school along the river and give them something to talk about. ;-)
Ya gotta have an Alpha female to get those Omegas out of their comfort zone. haha

TJBM is an Alpha.

Ha. I’ve been accused of that, especially since retirement. But if I were a true, natural alpha, I would have climbed much higher in the medical world and entered competitive sailing years ago. True alphas are amazing and often difficult to be around. I have known athletes that are true alphas; a sometimes-friend who was the contract coach to many of the world’s top-seeded tennis players, a sister who was a world champion windsurfer throughout the eighties, her husband who was a Norwegian Olympic Ski Team coach during the same period… they can be very difficult socially, very controlling and are extremely competitive and must be the best at every little thing, or I don’t think they sleep well.

They don’t seem to be able to relax until they have the upper hand. It’s win, win, win, 24/7. The only way to handle them is to just sit back and let them do their thing. And the best in the world are fascinating to watch. They are basically good people, but not necessarily happy.

Trump is an alpha, but a very ugly type of alpha. He gloats over his victories a bit too much, and is mean to his opponents even after they have been vanquished. He has no respect. That is not a necessary characteristic of most alphas, IMO. Their need for being the best is not necessarily personal. It is about self image and low self esteem—a very deep-rooted fear of not being good enough, probably going back to childhood.

I’m a bit of a perfectionist, and I prefer to lead nowacays in the areas that I am competent, but I’m not a true alpha by any means. Way too laid back, mon.

TJBM has known true alphas.

Yes, one, he was a complete weenie, every-little-thing was a competition. If you declined to do something he would harangue you to change your mind. Talk about controlling! lol
I am none of the negatives you mention, I guess I was an Alpha adventurer type, always up for fun and taking the road less traveled, bold but friendly in my interactions but I am super easy to get along with and not controlling in the least.

TJBM is loitering this morning.

@Coloma Yes, I know people use these words loosely nowadays. I never had you pegged for a true alpha any more than I believe that Bella is a snob about anything at all. I would simply determine you both as competent and discriminating as to your likes and dislikes which are both good, truthful things in my book.

Yep. Enjoying a rare day without rain. The mate has the wheel and I’m just taking it easy napping now and then and letting my mind wander. I will take the wheel tonight and let the mate sleep. She has a big day tomorrow canvassing the hotels for business.

TJBM never feels guilty about slacking.

True, rarely.
In my younger years I was more prone to feeling guilty if I wasn’t super productive but not anymore, I take my breaks gladly with no guilt and bask in leisure whenever I can.

TJBM still enjoys a childhood treat. I like my Strawberry milk. haha

Ah, yes. Rootbeer floats. But they don’t taste the same or have the richness of real rootbeer and real ice cream that they had when I was a kid. And they don’t fill the room with the sweet aroma of bubble gum either.

TJBM has noticed many foods have changed in taste over the decades.

Yes.

TJBM misses dairy bars with fresh peach ice cream.

___

I am an original instrument snob. I’ve been rude at concerts of baroque music performed on modern instruments. I’m not nice about it.

Not so much for peach ice cream, but I’ll second Crow’s hankering for real root beer.

There’s a microbrewery not far from here that brews root beer and ginger beer in addition to the beers, ales and stouts that made them famous.

TJBM has a favorite microbrew.

What… is… that?
@Espiritus_Corvus, you don’t know how much I like it when you respond here. Your responses always contain so many details and insights. You breathe a new air to this game.
TJBM eats strange meal.

How do we define strange?

__

I had an artisanal (I hate that word) alcohol-free ginger beer on Saturday night. Most excellent.

TJBM enjoys trying different flavours.

I do but, I have my limits. I did not eat the yellow sausage on my Air China flight a few years ago. No thanks I’ll pass. haha

TJBM will tell us the most exotic thing they have eaten.

I had chocolate ants once, and I tried some kind of fried grub. It was crunchy, with a nutty flavor.
@Mimishu1995 a microbrew is a brewery that brews in small (or at least smaller than commercial) batches of beer, ale, etc. The term can also refer to the brand of a microbrewer.)

TJBM is up way too late.

I am always up way later than I need to be. So yes, it’s about two hours after I should be in bed.

TJBM makes their own soap.

That is @cazzie’s bag. I think she has a small, online business marketing her soaps as well. She once experimented with making soap from rendered Norwegian seal fat, but it stunk to high heavens. It was an attempt to use a wasted by-product of the fur industry, not to increase the demand upon the seal population. But she took some hits for that here on Fluther as I remember. She is quite the soap maker.

TJBM has a blog, website, or an online business.

I have a blog.
Nothing’s written on it.
I had an idea what texts to upload there, but I dropped it along the way. I often have an urge to write, but I give up halfway through.

TJBM is involved in krafting or arts of any sort.

I draw. Does it count?
Actually you kind of saw it already.
TJBM is involved in art somehow.

I was quite involved at one time. There were many art and musician “tribes” in my hometown. One was an urban commune surrounding the foundry of a glass blower named Dale Chihuly

He was quite successful and needed a large space to work in, so he bought up some old, abandoned warehouses near the railroad tracks near downtown—buildings that were being used by a bunch of kids to live in and produce art and music. Chihuly put in his glass foundry, employed some of the kids there, opened a glass blowing school, developed other buildings into music and art studios, a very charming retail outlet where they could sell their wares and allowed them to continue squatting on a pay-as-you-can basis.

There was also a cafe run by these artists and musicians. It became a kind of commune. I spent a lot of time there, helped with projects, learned a bit about glass from Chihuly and hung out in the cafe. I love little places like that.

The island I live on is packed with local and foreign artists. I meet them in coffee houses and in their studios, but I’m not involved like I used to be. There are only so many hours in a day.

TJBM has spent time in an art colony.

@Mimishu1995 Thank you very much for the compliment above. I am happy that you enjoy these little things as they are fun to write. I thoroughly enjoy reading the details of the lives of your life so far away, and Coloma’s adventures in the beautiful Sierras, and Strauss’ on the edge of the Rockies in Colorado, and Sneki life on the Tisa river and all the others here.

No, but I have an amazing painting that I fell in love with at a winery show about 10 years ago. The artist is also a furniture maker and I was given the privilege of naming this piece. I call it “Ascension of mind” it is an abstract acrylic work, huge, 56×56 canvas with a beautiful oceanic theme of varying shades of wave like design in blues, greens, teals, aquas, golds and browns. It’s my pride and joy.

TJBM has been burning the candle at both ends and needs to take charge of their rest and health.

Haha. I left my Captain Ron persona back on the boat for now. I’m back home and will be napping throughout the day and taking it easy with Sam&Dave.

TJBM is busy as a bee today.

Less busy than I have been but still have things to do.

TJBM likes the color purple.

Not really. It’s just that some of my stuff happens to be in purple. I have a history with color though: I used to like green, then I shifted to blue, and then orange, and now I don’t have any preference for color, but if I have to choose, I’ll choose black.
TJBM is a color snob.

I’m a bit confused as to how the word “snob” is being used today. If it means discriminating, I would say that I’m partial to blues and greens, but it depends on the object. I like my home environment in contrasting earthtones (because it is so bright outside), with splashes of tropical reds, blues and greens repeated in fabric and paintings. I suppose my tastes are “heterogeneous.” (Sneki taught me that word.)

TJBM enjoys experimenting with interior design.

I hope this counts.
I like to re-arrange furniture in my room from time to time. It always has a strange effect, the room I have been living in for 20 years suddenly looks completely different, like a new place. I always need time to get used to my “new room”, even thought it is the same room with same furniture. If anyone of you has the time, try re-arranging everything. It’s fun. It also takes a whole day to do it, and I end up tired, but satisfied as well. (Sometimes, working all day and feeling tired gives me some sort of liberating feel.)

@Mimishu1995 It did count. I meant to write “TJBM does some kraft or art” but it came out sketchy like that. Sorry.
@Espiritus_Corvus I googled that artist you linked. Damn, those works are amazing! Imagine sunlight going through those works, I bet it’s mesmerizing.
Also, I thought you that word? Heh, didn’t know!

TJBM gets mesmerized my monuments, especially if i’s a statue of an existing person.

Not really, I do like sculpture though. I am mesmerized by trees. trees are awesome!

TJBM is a tree hugger type.

Well, I’ve never hugged a tree, but I don’t mind them.

TJBM will tell is which foreign culture would s/he love to encounter and why.

I love Asia, have traveled there. Toroko Natl. park in Taiwan is amazing!
My daughter is going to Amsterdam, Poland and Rome in may. Now I want to go to Poland and tour Auschwitz and take a boat ride on the canals of Amsterdam.

TJBM likes to travel.

I really do. A lot. It always gives me a burst of creativity when I’m surrounded by new things and cultures.

Ever since I got my first bicycle I would climb a tree, pick out something like an old house or other object on the horizon, usually in the direction of the foothills where you live now, and just take off, hell’s bells—sometimes getting in trouble because I couldn’t make it back home by dinner time. One time I made it all the way to Folsom Prison and the trout hatchery nearby. Another time I was trying to cross the American River on a RR trestel and the train had to slow down to allow me to cross. The engineer yelled at me every step of the way. I was a bit freaked out by that little screw-up. The alternative was to jump into the shallow river a hundred feet below. I was about eight years old. I never told mom about those escapades. She would have taken my bike away.

TJBM has always yearned for what lay beyond the horizon.

Sure, I kind of like the idea that we don’t know as much as we think we do. Constantly speculating, testing, and pondering. It’s kind of fun.

TJBM believes there is some truth to conspiracy theories.

Depends on the conspiracy theory. Some of them sound quite convincing, but some others are pure bollocks. Still, I don’t pass them around, just in case.

TJBM does not agree that people who claim they love animals but still eat meat are hypocrites.

No I don’t agree with those little twerps. I eat meat, wear leather products and use them in my work, and I love animals. If anyone wants to call me a hypocrite for that to my face, they are very welcome to do so. Of course, there is price to pay for the privilege and I don’t think they will like that. Naw, I’m not even going to go further into this, the day is too nice. But I must say, I was a bit taken aback recently when someone said that horseback riding was cruel and should be outlawed and this opinion is growing among idiots in the States. Violence is a very unpopular thing on this site. So, I won’t tell you what I would like to do to people like that.

TJBM has a rant that they’d like to get off their chest.

No, at least for today I’m living rant-free~!

TJBM finds themselves editing their puns for the sake of those here who are not native-English speakers.

I sometimes edit for better understanding, of course. I find our non-native speakers quite sophisticated in their command of the language, though. I might cool the slang a bit, but I think they enjoy it.

TJBM took a nap today.

I’d like to be a napper. It’s a skill I’d quite like. No. No nap for me today.
.
.
TJBM found a special Christmas treat, Medenjak , in the bakery today.

No, the closest I came to baking today was cleaning the oven in anticipation of holiday baking.

TJBM is making holiday preparations.

I bought my 9 yr. old friend ‘Sydney” her Christmas present. 2 stuffed animals in a series she collects and some festive gumballs. haha

TJBM keeps Xmas very simple these days.

Sure do, I don’t have a lot of money to spend on Christmas ever and it is not my favorite holiday, so I don’t really put forth a lot effort.

TJBM can make a pumpkin pie from scratch.

With a recipe. But I don’t have a recipe.
TJBM will tell us how their Christmas is going.

Christmas? Santa puts the ho in my retail whore.
TJBM cursed today. Said a bad curse word.

Not just today, that is an everyday thing.

TJBM can be said to have a foul mouth

Not foul but I do swear on occasion.

TJBM swears when they hurt themselves. haha

Of course. I often swear, although I don’t like when someone swears too much, especially in my first language. I swear much more in English.

TJBM drinks way too much coffee.

—@BellaB They sell Serbian sweets in the US? Do they have Munchmellow too?

I’m still up, because it’s day time :)
TJBM is drinking and swearing.

Hell no!

TJBM is very proud about an accomplishment.

@Sneki95 , I am in Toronto in Canada. They definitely have Munchmellow at the Serbian bakery around the corner from our house. I had a package in my hand yesterday – but decided on the Medenjak as it’s a traditional Christmas treat in my family. There is a factory that makes the North American version of Munchmellow (Mallomars and Viva Puffs) about 2 miles away – we can smell it when they are baking with chocolate.

___

I’m very proud of my return to swimming in my late 50’s and my progress in my stamina and technique.

TJBM is ready to get their Christmas clementines.

Already have 3 trees loaded with mandarins, I don’t need any Clementines.

TJBM slept in a bit today. Wow, I slept until 8:15, shocking! haha

Went down for a short nap around 3pm and it turned into a full night sleep. I was dragging yesterday. I feel great now.

TJBM can sleep for 16 hours sometimes.

I don’t think I’ve ever slept that long unless I was really sick, like hospital sick. haha
I need a min. of 9 hours and sometimes 10 to feel my best. I slept 10.5 one night last week. my problem is I get a second wind around 8 p.m. and stay up too late but still wake up early. I am trying to get my sleep routine more routinized.

TJBM has improvised on something lately. I bought a new bath robe but discovered it was missing the sash the other night. it was not located at the store so I bought some heavy corded yarn at the craft store and braided myself a cool belt for my robe yesterday.

Improv/MacGyvering is one of my true joys in life. The knitting needle as substitute long-handled screwdriver was one of my most recent.

brew.make.

—-

TJBM can’t cook.

False, I am a very good cook.

TJBM can’t work on their car.

Fixing my car is no problem. I’ve rebuilt the engine and transmission on it too.

TJBM is chowing down on a well deserved treat,

I spent the whole night playing video games. I just finished my final and I have no more to study :D
TJBM wastes their time.

Only when it’s time to do homework.

TJBM has learned something new today.

I learn something everyday I hope.

TJBM still picks up pennies when he or she finds one.

Sometimes.

TJBM likes Pepperidge farms Mint Milano cookies.

Yeah, they are great with cold milk. Haven’t had them for a long time.

TJBM has a favorite cookie.

See above, and Ginger Snaps!

TJBM feels like a nut.

Not tonight.

TJBM will state the first thing that comes to mind.

Not tonight. :-p

TJBM likes Apricot Jam.

Love it.

TJBM likes apricot jam especially on…

Rye toast.

TJBM has visions of sugar plums dancing in their head.

Now that is new to me. Caraway and Apricot. Hmm. I’ve never tried that. Is that something a lot of people do, or is it something you discovered? (Honest question)

No. I’m still in the mistletoe and citrus-peel-and-clove stage.

TJBM is running out of TJBMs.

Sometimes. It’s one of the reasons I pass some of the TJBMs.

TJBM wants to spend the day in bed and not go to school/work.

I can understand that.

TJBM is going off to fall asleep watching an obscure 1931 film directed by Alfred Hitchcock called Rich and Strange.

Thanks for adding to my watchlist. I’ll see if I can fall asleep, especially by Hickcock.
And are you a fan of film noir too @Espiritus_Corvus?
TJBM will tell us about an obscure movie.

The King of Pigs, a Korean animated movie.
This movie is never mentioned, and it should be. It’s very good. The movie tells about two school friends who meet after many years, and remember their childhood and school days, and one boy they knew. One of the main themes is bullying. I don’t recommend you to watch it with kids, it gets violent at times.

TJBM will describe the relief of the area s/he lives in.

My place is really quiet! It’s something to desire in a big city. Many people want to live in my place, especially the elderly. The place is hard to find though.
@Sneki95 if you enjoy The King of Pigs, you should check out Seoul Station too, directed by the same person. It’s about a zombie outbreak, but it’s not your typical zombie movie. It depicts what would actually happened in real life if there was a zombie outbreak.
TJBM wishes they live in another area.

Not today. I did, for almost twenty-five years. I didn’t exactly hate it, but I was aware of other, much nicer places I could have easily been living and working in and this was gnawing at the back of my mind the whole time I lived there. By many standards, it wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t me at all. I lived on a flat peninsula that contained the highest density population in the state of Florida, in a city that I had spent my teenage years when it was just a small town. The traffic was horrendous, the population had quadrupled and paradise had been paved over with wide streets and suburban housing since I was a kid, everybody was in a rush, impersonal, and there was very little community feeling.

Family loyalties kept me there. I suppose I did the right thing by staying. Family is important. Now I live in a much better place, much closer to nature and the people have a very strong sense of community. I like it.

@Sneki95 Sorry I so suddenly baled on you last night. A feeling of exhaustion overcame me a few minutes before. I just needed more sleep.

TJBM can hardly recognize the area they grew up in.

I haven’t lived there in over 50 years, and there have been many changes. The small rural town (population then 500), about 50 miles southwest of Chicago, has evolved into a bedroom community for some of the larger towns in the area, with a population in 2010 of some 20,000. Here is a street view of the house where I grew up. It sure doesn’t look the same. I used to walk or bike past this building on a regular basis. The silos in the background were not there at the time.

There were rural areas, farmlands, rivers, creeks, and fishing spots within a comfortable bike ride of home. All these spots are developed, mostly greenbelt areas within housing or commercial developments.

TJBM is sometimes nostalgic for days gone by.

Yes. Big time. Especially since the strangeness and revelations that came out of the last election cycle. And I don’t think it’s healthy at all. Not to this degree, anyway. I need to snap out of it.

@Strauss Ha. That being said, I used to canoe the Fox River up there when Aurora was just a small town surrounded by cornfields. About 1971. The last time I saw it was in 2008 and the cornfields had been replaced by miles and miles of apartment complexes and townhouses. Unrecognizable.

TJBM has something weird in either the trunk of their car or somewhere in their house.

The weirdest thing in my house is a… well… I really don’t know how to call it. I came across it on eBay and as a rare item collector I didn’t let it get away. It is a half-book-half-folder thing that’s the best way I can describe it that holds a lot of items. The items seem unrelated to each other, but if you take time to study them, you’ll realize they go together to form a story. It’s like some sort of a collection of a character that happens to be put together.
I’ve been eyeing another weird item on eBay but I’m running into some shipping problem. I’m still trying to find a solution…
TJBM is familiar with online shopping.

Yes, but I don’t shop online much, I used to more but not since I was financially taken down in the great recession.

@Espiritus_Corvus My thing, try it, you’ll like it! Most jams/jellies go well with Rye.

TJBM needs a massage.

Oh yes. A massage would be perfect right now.

TJBM is living in polar fleece these days.

No but, I am living mornings and evenings in my spiffy, oh so soft, new plum colored bathrobe. I love it!

TJBM has been eating too much sugar lately.

Not a candy/sweets fiend. I’ll have more peanut butter and apple slices.

TJBM can identify different types of potatoes before cutting into them.

Yes, I can identify most varieties. I once grew German brown fingerings and urle potatoes. They are amazing!

TJBM likes frogs and turtles.

Yes! Frogs are an excellent barometer of local ecology, like bees. If they begin to disappear, you may very well have a growing imbalance at the tertiary level. There are different types of frogs everywhere here. They can be extrememly loud at night.

Turtles are interesting creatures. There is a ground turtle here that is doing well, but is an endangered species in Florida. It’s nice to see them. We have a variety of very large tortoises: Loggerheads, Leatherbacks, Greens (Terapin), and a few Ridleys that I don’t think are native. They are very curious, and intelligent animals and will swim with you.

They lay their eggs on our beaches. Their meat and eggs used to be a traditional food here, but in international cooperation to protect these species, this is now strongly discouraged. They are definitely good buddies to have around when you’re diving or snorkling.

TJBM has had one particular amazing experience dealing with animals.

There are a few but staring down a mountain lion behind my barn one night some years ago is pretty standout. The cat and I just froze and contemplated each other in silence for what seemed to be an eternity before it it quietly turned and disappeared into the brush. Scary but exhilarating too! I love all the big cats and am amazed these guys can go, undetected, for the most part given our encroachment.

I also love the pacific tree frogs here and used to hand feed them moths under the porch light at night. They will take a moth or lacewing or cranefly from your fingers, such cool little things.

TJBM loves wildlife.

@Espiritus_Corvus The little Pacific Tree frogs here begin breeding in Feb. they are SO loud at night in the ponds and streams. The roar of the frogs. haha

I do, I do. I have observed much about wildlife that indicates things to me ranging from how harsh the winter will be, to what crops might be more successful to raise in the garden.

TJBM is a wildlife prognosticator.

@Strauss I have something for you, you old tar. Here

Thanks, Crow. I love Project Gutenberg!

I… have no idea what is a wildlife prognosticator. Probably because I don’t spend a lot of time in the nature.

TJBM will explain how s/he came up with his/her username.

@Espiritus_Corvus I have no idea what are you talking about. I never got an impression that you baled out on me.

I’ve been using a crow icon since the early days on the net. I like crows; their intelligence, communication skills, organization, hunting skills, survivability… they have a lot of unique qualities.

Anyway, long story short, I was on another, much larger site during the run-up to the first Obama election in 2003–4 and got involved in a political war with a bunch of Neo-cons. They began creating armies of sockpuppets, so eventually I did as well. It was ridiculous, but these things can get addicting.

So, just before election night, I got nailed for having about 100 sockpuppets operated by myself and about 20 friends to counter every neocon lie that was posted. In other words, I was KIA’d. So, now, instead of Crow, I’m the Spirit of the Crow. And I don’t argue with people anymore. I won’t take any shit, but I won’t argue. It’s futile.

TJBM has an internet history.

Other than my, almost 7 yr. participation here at Fluther I also, once, belonged to spiritual/philosophical site for about 5 years before everyones, supposedly, tame egos erupted in some madness. I left and never looked back. I’m good at that. haha

TJBM I can easily ghost someone or something if it’s no longer workin’ for them.

I’m currently ghosting two people. One is an ex-friend who has proven to be unworthy after all those years, and the other is another friend who has changed for the worse. It took me time to finally say “I’m fucking done with you” to the first friend after fruitless attempts to save the relationship, and my relationship with the latter ended after she did something that went beyong my comprehension (there had been fair warning signs but I just ignored them). I’ve finally decided that I have a choice of who to be with, and my friendlist needs to be cleaned up for more deserving people,
TJBM will tell us about their internet history.

Well, not much to tell. The internet showed up around 1998. I looked, I refused to have it in my house of 12 – 17 year old kids (or cable, for that matter, which had been around since the 80’s, but after my divorce in 1991, with no man, I can live without cable) and that’s all she wrote as far as my house (not including jobs or business) until about 2007. When I discovered Wis.dm. Then Fluther. Then Facebook (because Rarebear threatened me.) Then, I ended up with another man and now I have to have internet AND cable, and it like to kill me. Ridiculous.

~The end.

Oh, wait. How the hell long have I been gone that there were 228 answers since the last time I answered? Did I miss something? TJBM will tell me.

I see nothing, I know nothing!

TJBM has made a new good friend lately.

I have.

TJBM has lost a good friend lately.

I have one good friend.
We’ve been friends for over seven years. Hopefully I won’t lose her anytime soon, she means a lot to me. She’s like a sister of mine.

I used to have two friends back in the day. We were very close, but sadly, we went to different highschools and gradually lost all contact. I don’t know where they are now, I only hope they are well.

TJBM is still in contact with a friend from primary or highschool.

No. I didn’t have any close friend in primary school, and my high school year was shit. I only have friends from my current years and I’m happy with that.
TJBM doesn’t let the past bother them.

I think happy people have selective memories. Bad things that happened don’t seem as bad as years pass. I’ve even had to be reminded of the details of some really bad things. But I remember people, and if I run across someone who had anything to do with the bad things, their presence will remind me of it like it happened yesterday. Otherwise, if it isn’t relevant to the present, I never think about it. Life is short at this end. Not a lot of time to waste on bad shit and bad people.

TJBM has been walking a fine line lately.

Yes, the thin line between getting enough rest and feeling like a zombie. haha

TJBM has gone to jail.

So long ago that I almost forgot.

TJBM has been reminded of almost forgotten memories.

Yes. Many statements on Fluther remind me of things nearly forgotten and become good writing prompts.

TJBM writes.

I do, but not as much as I used to.

TJBM will tell us what they are wearing in the moment.

Winter clothes.

TJBM has shoveled snow recently.

I shoveled rain.
TJBM thinks I’m bullshitting.

No, I’ve seen it rain in Vietnam.

TJBM has seen it rain almost literally by the bucket.

Yep, we’ve had a couple rain storms like that in recent months. Now it has just been a misty, drizzle for the last few days.

TJBM likes crazy storms.

I love to sit outside on the porch when there’s a storm front going through.

TJBM has found more than one matching pair of gloves/mittens.

I have, I buy three sets of cheap gloves and leave two sets in my glove compartment, and the other pair in my purse attached to my umbrella.

TJBM is about to get a cuddle up on the couch with a cup of cocoa.

Close enough – making chai – and then heading for the loveseat.

TJBM wants staff.

I’d like to, but all the staff belongs to ucme already.

TJBM belongs in a subculture.

Maybe, but there is time when I can’t find anything that fits me. I don’t really like following the crowd anyway.
TJBM is a free thinker.

I don’t think there is such a thing as a free thinker.

When I think about it, being a free thinker may come with a heavy price of being an outcast. Society works on rules and regulations, so someone who decides not to follow the rules will end up thrown out of the community. Being a free thinker in its true sence would probably mean becoming a hermit or, ironically, creating a new community of fellow free thinkers.
We are wired to belong in a community, and belonging to a group is impossoble without following rules.

It doesn’t justify following a subculture, though.
Subcultures put way too much rules, with no need for them whatsoever. I don’t like belonging to a subculture, nor putting labels on myself either, way too self-righteous and limiting. I don’t like people that do it either: most of them believe that naming yourself is enough to define your whole entity. Thus, they collect a bunch of words and use them without any further thinking, firmly convinced that simply saying “I am X” is self-explanatory and enough ti describe yourself.

So am I a free thinker? Not really, I still follow many rules and conventions. I don’t follow the ones I don’t have to, though.

TJBM sometimes feel s/he is talking bollocks.

Feel it? know it. Corporate-speak pretty much always equals bollocks.

TJBM has a favourite bean.

Black beans cooked in chicken broth, placed on a bed of spicy rice and a handful of chopped raw onions on top.

frijoles negros sobre amarillo del arroz picante con cebolla.

But it changes day to day.

TJBM has a favorite very unhealthy food.

Potato chips! I just can’t have enough of those. At one point they were the source of my financial ruin. Still I can’t get over them. I’m a proud chipaholic!
TJBM eats junk food and is proud of it I used to read about a study that showed that you don’t need to care too much for your diet and an effective way to stay healthy is to be contented with what you eat.

I like some junk food but my big junk monkey is sugar. Sugar and spice and everything nice. haha

TJBM has a strong sense of smell.

I’d assume so. I use to tell my mom almonds had a really sweet smell and taste. Of course, she didn’t believe me. Then in highschool, I learned that almonds have trace amounts of cyanide which is sweet smelling almost like amaretto; and most people can’t smell it if it’s in the air.

TJBM has an interesting fact they would like to share.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is not the first animated feature film, as is widely believed. It is the first one to use hand-drawn animation, and the first to gain international fame, but there are at least seven known feature films made before it. The oldest known is The Apostle by Quirino Cristiani, made in Argentina in 1917. It is a lost film. The oldest surviving one is The Adventures of Prince Achmed, made by Lotte Reiniger in 1926 in Germany. Snow White was made in 1937.

TJBM is a fan of animation.

I am, I like most animation but not Anime so much.
I especially like claymation.

TJBM slept in this morning.

Does 8 a.m. count as sleeping in? it felt luxuriously late to me.

TJBM is trying to push snow out of the forecast with their mental powers.

No, I pushed the snow off the walk yesterday with my “metal” powers, aka snow shovel!

BTW, it all melted away…temperature is in the 50’s (F) right now.

TJBM is experiencing cold weather.

Yes. Wearing my faux Uggs in the house <brrrrrrrrr>

TJBM is considering making soup tonight.

As a matter of fact, I am. It’s a cornucopia of vegetables and legumes from the garden and wild rice with a chicken broth base. A couple of baguettes hot out of the oven with butter will fill out the meal.

TJBM has a favorite winter soup recipe for cold weather.

Oh, potato soup! With half and half, bacon bits, a bit of bacon grease and cream cheese!

TJBM is hungry as hell. (We have an office party, catered dinner to go at 6, to so I’ve held off on eating today. Have an hour and a half to go. And talking about potato soup isn’t helping!)

I am, but for some horrible reason, I didn’t get paid yesterday, and now have to wait until Tuesday to do my grocery shopping.

TJBM keeps lowering their standards every time they open their cupboard or fridge. I sure am :(

Whenever I spend a long period at sea. Getting down to a small tin of foie gras and a half-bottle of green olives with pimentos might sound extravagant to some, but it is not much for two people to live on for two days in constant motion. Since then I carry canned goods and MRE’s that are never to be touched except in case of emergencies.

TJBM has a food stock for storms and such.

I only get my food stock when the storm is near. I don’t keep food in advance. No strong storm has hit us since 2006 anyway.
TJBM has a funny disaster story.

I have several, weather related, and all involved traveling in blizzard conditions

TJBM has a travel tale to tell

Somewhere up in the northern US I offended another driver in some fashion – I don’t know how – and he ran me clear off into the median, over and over again, for mile after mile. He could have easily killed me, and I wasn’t even aware of what caused his road rage. This was before cell phones, of course. I was afraid to stop, thinking he might stop, too, ane make sure he killed me.

TJBM has excellent reflexes.

I think so.

TJBM has a road rage story to tell.

Hah! Coincidentally, just the other day, some dickhead guy about my age with his wife or girlfriend in the car came out of nowhere on a little backstreet shortcut between 2 shopping zones over here. I was attempting to pull out, looked and looked again and as soon as I pulled out from the parking lot here comes this guy at like 50mph on this little road that has about a 25–30mph speed limit. I looked up surprised to see him barreling towards me and made the hand gesture of “slow down” you know, the waving up and down gesture?

Anyway, I was not aggressive nor was I angry or yelling and this jerk had the nerve to flip me off! That did it!
I rolled down my window and gave him a return “fuck you” buddy! haha
I am usually very non-road ragey but I seriously, almost turned around and chased that asshole down to give him a piece of my mind. Prick!

TJBM is quite fearless when necessary.

Yes, to the point of stupidity, sometimes. But I’ve been lucky.

TJBM lives a charmed life.

If you think my life is charmed.
Speaking of feeling fearless, I realize that I’m getting more and more of it recently. The latest example was my school chaos. Basically the exam schedule wasn’t done and it was a few days before the finals. While everyone got freaked out and went on a rampage to torture the school staff, I stayed perfectly calm, much to my surprise. Thanks to that, I was able to know who to contact and reason with them nicely. Eventually the schedule was fixed.
TJBM feel accomplished lately.

Somewhat, yes. I big project is coming along. Finally.

TJBM would like to visit Russia.

I did, during the Soviet era. Many times, both as a merchant marine docked in Leningrad and on leave as a tourist. It was fascinating, and at that time, a very sad place.

TJBM wants to visit one special place before they die.

I really, really, REALLY want to g to Vietnam!

TJBM wishes they could afford to travel more.

Yeah, I do. I have never been outside the US.

TJBM has been to their dream destination.

Sadly, my dream destination doesn’t really exist. My yearning to see what is on the other side of the horizon goes back before I was given my first bicycle. I’ve been traveling most of my life, over land, across the seas, partially driven by a need to find the ideal homeplace in the perfect little town that probably only exists in films I saw long ago in my childhood.

TJBM has been to their dream destination.

I think I have. I wanted to go to Smith Island in the Chesapeake for many many years. Managed to go about 15 years ago and it was wonderful to hear those accents in person. The mosquitoes were wicked but totally worth it.

TJBM is still in The Little Drummer Boy game in their real-life circle.

I don’t believe so. I had to look up The Little Boy Game, and I don’t understand how it would apply to a lifestyle. I am, however playing the Donald Trump is Not the POTUS game with great success. At the word Trump, any media is changed or departed from, be it radio, TV or random print stories. I know nothing about his cabinet or potential plans. I live a sequestered life of my own design.

TJBM understood what TJAM meant, and will explain it to me.

No, I don’t. haha

TJBM can explain what the Little Drummer Boy game means?

You’re a loser in the game if you hear the song :) Not going to malls or Christmas concerts or listening to commercial radio helps.

TJBM is familiar with the addictive nature of Radio Garden

Never heard of it before. It sounds very interesting. I bookmarked it. It would be nice to hear Svensk Radio One news. One source says that Radio Garden was launched just yesterday.

TJBM wonders how BellaB discovers these things.

I do. Hopefully BellaB will tell us her secrets.

TJBM is fascinated by the supermoon.

there is one giant yellow one here this evening

Thanks for the heads up. We’ve had nearly nine weeks of overcast nights, so the best I’ll see is a bright glow. It was overcast during that huge one about a month ago and it lit this place up like a bloody airport.

TJBM is waiting on BellaB.
What’s the frequency, Kenneth?

Yes, I’m waiting too.

Kenny’s dead again and again

TJBM loves the South Park on cable.

No. I never liked that show.

TJBM likes claymation animation.

I love the Claymation raisins

TJBM is a fool for silly Christmas traditions.

__

Radio Garden. I’m a radio nut, among other things. I’ve been listening to shortwave radio since I was a toddler and figured out how to adjust the buttons and dials on my parents’ Telefunken. Taught myself Dutch by shortwave lessons in the 1970’s. I’ve had radio station amalgamations on the computer since the mid-late 1990’s. When I heard Radio Garden was on its way, I was waiting to grab it and hit save :)

What you all do for Christmas is here done for the New Year: gifting (usually kids would be given a sack of candies and toys), cities and houses decorated with lights, the Christmas tree…. I like all of that. I like the lights the most. I have my own tree made on the wall with Christmas lights and I adore looking at it. I also like Christmas music (I even bought the bells and once spent the whole evening holding it in hands while I was reading, just to hear the bells heh. I adore bells). I love that atmosphere and all around happiness, and all those silly traditions, even if I don’t follow some of them personally. I honestly don’t get people who hate Christmas: even if you’re not religious, it’s so fluffy and full of peace and good spirit, how can you not like it?

TJBM loves snow and winter more than summer.

Yes, I do. I hate the summer heat anymore. As much as I love strms I do love the perfect 75 degree day though.

TJBM does not enjoy sweating.

I loathe sweating. It is the only reason I hate summer. Whenever it gets too hot, I just want to hide in the nearest fridge or something. I like winter way more: the snow, the cold catching on your cheeks, the hot drinks, the peace, .... Winter is so much cooler.

TJBM loves the sound of the jingle bells and timbrel.

Sounds a lot like a tambourine to me!

TJBM is doing some holiday decorating today.

Well not I, at the moment, anyway. It’s only me here, and I’ve been kind of busy. Feeling a bit guilty. I thoroughly enjoy a Christmasy house, though. The first mate passes through now and then and has made a few comments about the lack of decorations. I think her fingers are itching to do something about it. Maybe I should exploit that with some kind of bribe. She likes to eat. I like to cook. Maybe the house will get a few decorations after all.

TJBM has a touching Christmas story about the return of a family prodigal.

Why does this question always come to me?
TJBM has a touching Christmas story about the return of a family prodigal.

TJBM has a touching Christmas story about the return of a family prodigal.

I do not. Well…so much for heartwarming Christmas stories lol

TJBM knows if they have been naughty or nice this year.

I know and I’m not telling :)

TJBM recently found money while digging around in the sofa cushions.

Haha no, but I found 3 cat toys under the couch, a red crinkle ball, a red Xmas mousie and a stuffed shrimp.

TJBM has a cat that caches their cat toys in their food bowl.

No,but I used to have a dog that drowned mice in her water bowl.

<waving $50 in the air triumphantly>

___

TJBM is looking for a special recipe to make a soup for a friend’s birthday.

Actually I am asking my neighbor for her taco soup recipe to make next week when I have a friend over. Not a birthday but little get together for Christmas.

TJBM loves hot baths.

A l-o-ong hot soak bath after a day of physical exertion.

TJBM has all their holiday decorating finished.

Yes, in my dream.
TJBM has realistic dreams.

I wouldn’t say so. The plot of my dreams is highly unrealistic.

TJBM believes in astral projection.

I have no idea what it is.

TJBM will share a tasty soup recipe.

This came about from a bit of kitchen serendipity. My daughter was making some from-scratch pierogis. For the filling she had sautéed some ham with onions, garlic and cabbage in olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper.

So, to that mixture (approximately ¼ cup each, garlic to taste) I added one medium size finely chopped leek, and about 5 or 6 medium to large potatoes, peeled and cut small. I simmered those with the previous mixture until the leeks were tender, then covered with water. Add two cubes bullion (chicken or veggie). Bring to a rolling boil, then turn down to simmer

When potatoes are soft, blend soup together. Add 8–10 oz. sour cream or non-dairy substitute (I used coconut milk because there was an open container that I wanted to use so it wouldn’t be wasted). Blend together until smooth, simmer for about another 20 minutes or so, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.

Served with grilled ham and cheddar sandwiches.

TJBM has another recipe to share.

There should be a Fluther food blog!

I just got my neighbors taco soup recipe not an hour ago. Simple and simply delicious.

1 lb. ground beef

1 small onion

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can pinto beans drained and rinsed

1 can corn drained of a couple cups of frozen corn

1 can crushed tomatoes.

1 envelope taco seasoning

1 to 1–½ large cans chicken broth

Brown ground beef with minced onions, add beans, corn, crushed tomatoes and broth to soup pot or crockpot.

Cook on “high” in crockpot for a couple hours or stove top at a simmer for about an hour.

Serve with grated sharp cheddar on top and corn chips or hot, buttered tortillas.

TJBM has been eating waaay too much lately.

No, just the opposite. Lately, I’ve had to remember to eat.
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(From TJBM #71)

A Simple,Tasty, Herbal Tomato Soup
Get a sauce pot. Put in a couple of teaspoons of olive oil and heat to a simmer. Add minced garlic, oregano, basil, thyme, rosemary, red pepper flakes, and freshly cracked black pepper.

Add tomato paste and a little bit of brown sugar.

Add a handful of fresh, diced tomatoes and either vegetable, chicken, or beef broth until it becomes the desired consistency.

You can throw in diced ham, or few cocktail shrimp or bits of conch, but it isn’t necessary..
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TJBM has another soup recipe

I have to go now but…if anyone has an amazing cream of celery soup recipe do share.

I am collecting those recipes above me.

My favourite soups involve homemade stock made from roasted poultry carcasses, garlic/onion/carrots/celery. A big pot of broth with a handful of fresh greens and 2 or 3 pucks of dried Chinese noodles. Sesame oil drizzled on top when it’s time to serve. Any random seafood/fish in the house can go in to fill it out if you’ve got people who aren’t into vegetable noodle soup.

TJBM is waiting for someone to bring home some Triscuit.

Well, that would be a long wait. I don’t think they even carry Triscuit in the stores on this side of the island. Maybe in Rodney Bay.

TJBM has an excellent recipe for Smith Island Cake.

I wish! it’s a good thing. I was surprised the first time I saw one – looked so much like a Dobos Torte.

TJBM is fascinated by food history (what culture doesn’t have some kind of pasty/patty/dumpling?)

I wouldn’t say fascinated but I do enjoy all aspects of history including food/culinary history.
Infact, I just watched a Netflix documentary a few nights ago about several chefs that recreated a turn of the century, 16 course meal from from an old Boston cookbook. All the dishes were made from scratch including making their own gelatin from boiled hogs feet and using an authentic old wood stove/oven. It was very interesting, some very complicated but amazing recipes.

TJBM just had lunch at 3 o’ clcok.

It was 3 o’clock somewhere.

TJBM has just figured out where the next draft is.

The corner brewpub.

TJBM likes draft beer.

I like most beer yes. I used to grow hops too.

TJBM has toyed with home brewing.

Years ago. A home kit from K-Mart or somewhere. It came out a dirty light brown and way too malty. Stunk up the house, too. End of story.

TJBM has tried to make wine.

Not directly. An ex was always making wine/beer/stuff. Most of it ended up as marinade.

TJBM ate fruit today.

A papaya and a couple of tangerines.

TJBM broke something recently

Yes, a soap dispenser. haha

TJBM loves fruit.

Most of them, thankfully. I’m not a spoit brat after all ~
TJBM teaches their kids to eat fruit and vegetables.

No children in this house and the dog doesn’t seem to like fruit.

TJBM loves silly FB apps.

No, I don’t have a FB account anymore, I found it quite useless.

TJBM doesn’t have a social media account.

True. I dropped my FB acct. back in 2011. I was bored to death with others blow by blow accounts of their every-little-move. I don’t care what color tile you are picking for your counter tops or to see the 40 thousandth picture of your ( fill in the blanks ) dog, cat, kid, grandchild.
They look the same as they did last week. haha

TJBM woke up to stormy weather.