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It comes off with vinegar

Every now and then, I really fancy a nibble of sweetcorn fresh off the cob, drizzled in virgin olive oil with a little salt, freshly ground black pepper and a dollop of Dijon mustard. It's great fun because it looks so silly holding the thing between two forks and twiddling it around as you nibble. And of course you get in a real mess especially if you have bristly, hairy bits on your face and then little pieces of corn get stuck between your teeth. It just tastes so yummy though!

So braving the rain I bought one of those double packs of corn-on-the-cob at the supermarket this morning. About 20 minutes on medium heat, in a big pan of boiling water.

The thing is, it's just so easy to become distracted! There's music to listen to, papers to sort out and bits of writing to do. And I forgot didn't I. Forgot that is, until two hours later I could smell the smell.

Black! The bottom of the pan was thick black carbon, rock hard. Wouldn't come off with the scourer and I couldn't even make a mark in it with a knife. Then a little idea popped up. I found some vinegar, poured it in so it just covered the black bits and left the pan on the side for a few hours.

And guess what? It worked! Well vinegar is like a weak acid, isn't it. All the black came right off leaving a nice shiny (well okay, scratched a little), stainless steel pan underneath. So I thought then, "I'll have to remember that".

But the funny thing is that I will remember that. It's the kind of thing I do remember. So why then, can't I remember what's on the cooker?
Maybe my learning memory is working, but my remembering things memory is broke? Could that be it? Can that happen?

Hmmm, think I'll have to investigate and find out more about this forgetting business.

Anyhow, you'll be relieved to know that the corn was still edible. A bit roasted and black along one side, yes, and a bit dry, but edible nonetheless. And it's pasta tonight but that only takes 10 minutes. I reckon that if I station myself in the kitchen and keep looking at the pan, and make sure I don't wander off, I should be safe. Fingers crossed ...

Listening to: The Rocky Horror Picture Show, "There's a light"
Wondering: why sweetcorn is yellow ...

A focused morning

It's morning!
I'm completely focused and ready for the day.
An MP3 player is wired to my earphone and I'm sitting at the computer, catching the news.
Just finished a breakfast of half a grapefruit and a nice mug of tea. Of course I have to have a tea towel tucked round my neck to catch the squirts - don't you find that grapefruit just squirts juice everywhere?

Lets see, peace talks, Bush condemns, three killed, riots, free speech under threat ...
All very fascinating but I do fancy another mug of tea!

Okay, gather up the mug, breakfast clutter, downstairs to the kitchen ...
MP3 is playing - Air, "Kelly Watch the Stars", a kind of innovative, but lighter than air song that just floats around and carries you right off.

Tidy things up, put things away.

You know the fascinating thing about this song by French band Air, is that part way through, they do this piano bit which is straight out of Alice Cooper's "My Stars" from the 1972 "Schools Out" album. Funny how you notice these things isn't it?

Now, kitchen ... kitchen ... what am I doing here?
Eh, not sure. Not to worry, quite fancy a mug of tea though, don't you?
... okay, boil the kettle, grab a tea-bag ...

... um, hold on, where's my mug gone?

My special tea mug, could've sworn I had it a minute ago,

hmmm, a mystery ... mug ... mug ... oh muggy, muggy where are you?

Ah, okay, maybe I don't want tea after all.
No! No tea, how about some cereal instead?
Yes, cereal sounds good, milky, crunchy, cereal. Lots of nuts, yes!
... grab my cereal bowl, now where's the cereal?

... open the cupboard, what's this ... ?

Ah ha!! Mug found, mystery solved.
I do like mysteries just at that precise point when they've been all worked out and the answer pops right up, and suddenly, they're not mysteries any more.

Hey-hey, it's a good morning after all, wee-heeee.

Time for a tidy up.
in the bin with the grapefruit ... hang up the tea towel,
Wash the spoon ... put it away,
wash the cup ... into the drying rack.
Efficiency you see, Bunny people are very neat and tidy, especially on focused mornings.

Now. What am I doing with this bowl?

(scratches head) eh, that's funny ... maybe I was putting it away ... yes, that must be it.

okay ... all done in the kitchen ... back up to blog, yes, talk to my blogging friends, yippee!!

Okay I think I'll write a post. What can I talk about?
Hmmm ... (thinks) ... actually, just before doing that, I quite fancy a nice mug of tea ... and come to think of it, some breakfast too ... let's pop off down to the kitchen ...

MP3 is playing Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, "Deja Vu". Now there's a great old classic, isn't it ... ?

Burnt Soup

It's just happened again. This is becoming an unfortunate but regular habit. I like soup. I know it's in a can but it's fairly healthy and is easy and quick to make. I've found that if you leave it on a very low heat, from cold, for about 33 minutes, it cooks perfectly (I don't like Microwaves).

The only thing is remembering when the 33 minutes are up. There is a timer I use for various things but I keep it in my den, not in the kitchen. The problem is that during the 20 second walk between kitchen and den, I forget to set the timer. I've tried hurrying, leaving the kitchen repeating the word, "soup", over and over, and tying a little piece of red cord around my finger.

Sometimes I get back to my desk and find a curious thing, a little piece of red cord tied around my finger. No idea why it's there, so I generally untie it and put it in my pocket.

I can smell it now. that smell of soup that's been burning for over an hour.

Listening to: Faust "Its a bit of a pain"
Wondering: how I'm going to clean the pan

Where's the Dalai Lama?

Just read a particularly depressing news article, Brain damage link to memory lapse, talking about memory loss being the first sign of Alzheimer's. Now if there is a word that's garaunteed to send shivers down my spine, that's it.

There might be a glimmer of hope - a suggestion the disease could be hindered by keeping an active brain.

Ok, now I'm panicking! How do you keep an active brain? Where did I put those suduko books? Quick, find a novel. What political movement can I join? Where's the Dalai Lama, I need to talk to him!

Maybe I can forget I read this?

Currently playing: "The Baudelaire Orphans", Thomas Newman
Feeling: shaky

Reasons almost two

Reasons one and one and a half.

Then there's remembering

Memory is a fragile thing and somewhere along the line, mine broke. I forget things, like the milk, the name of the person I’m speaking to, my bus pass, how to be nice, good memories, bad times.

I mean, have you ever been in a conversation with a mate, just about to tell him how many pairs of shoes your girlfriend of 10 years bought yesterday, when suddenly ... you, eh, can't remember her name?

What!?

Runs and hides under a bush. It's a bit like the deja Vu scene in the Matrix. Chatting away automatically, then ... stumbling silence! ... someone comes along with brain tipex and just wipes it out. Like there was a hole where her name should've been. I mean, she hadn't even been nasty to me (until she found out that is).

How can such a thing happen???

And that was just the start. I find my self flitting around like a lost butterfly, can’t concentrate on anything for more than a few minutes at a time. It could be a sign of age, or the onset of some age related psychological disorders that I don't even want to begin to think about. Luckily I can't remember what they're called.

But there are some benefits. It means you can forget old pain, it means you can make the same mistakes over and over again. It means I can listen to Dark Side of the Moon, after years of gritting my teeth at the most overplayed album ever to plague the planet's airwaves.

Now, what was I saying?

Oh yes, so you see this journal is mainly for me, so that I can look back in the days ahead and remember what's supposed to be on my shopping list.

"Carrots." Eh? "On the shopping list, carrots please, lots of nice fresh ones." Oh.

Currently playing: Remember You're a Womble, by eh ... ?
Mood: frustrated