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For my Birthday, my simple shortbread recipe
Ingredients
2 cups AA or finer quality sweet cream butter, unsalted
1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
Or
1 cups turbinado sugar (see notes)
½ tsp sea salt
3 ½ - 4 cups all purpose flour (see notes)
Let the butter come to room temperature, and preheat oven to 350° F. Blend the butter and the sugar thoroughly. Add 2 ( Read more... ) -
Heart Sutra Commentary-- Is not Defiled, Is not Pure
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_Sutra
"Is not Defiled, Is not Pure."
The opal is a crystal (quartz) which has been muddied with water.
Lapis Lazuli is worth the most when it is thoroughly mucked up with pyrite.
Steel is strongest when carbon is mixed in all the way through.
The practice of the dharma itself is just like this.
The process of looking ( Read more... ) -
Contract work
Well, I have just now found that my contract will not be renewed. As of May 1st, I am once again looking for new work. This is unfortunate, because I feel that I have done good work for LexisNexis, but due to departmental flux, I will not be able to be renewed in my contract. I am not surprised, but I am disappointed ( Read more... ) -
[Wedding] Signs that you are headed the right way
When your celebrant, who has done 150 weddings, looks at you as a couple, is excited about your wedding, and says that you are doing well as a couple ( Read more... ) -
Stand in the place where you are
I think it is important for every person, regardless of what is happening to them, to be fully aware of the limitations the current situation places on them, and what limits are conscious, deliberate choices. I will admit, that when I was going through a very rough patch myself, some of what I was contending with was, in fact, necessitated by the ( Read more... ) -
Abolish Civil Marriage
There is a very big problem currently in our country, and it is largely a linguistic issue ( Read more... ) -
The "problem" with fat
Yesterday I saw an article about an Australian girl who is competing as an amateur sumo wrestler, and, of course, collecting an awful lot of the "being fat will kill you" criticisms which often occur when anyone thinks they can get away with the insult. So, I decided to do some research, and see if anyone has actually done the research to ( Read more... ) -
Pathfinder geekiness
So, I pulled a copy of the Pathfinder alpha from www.paizo.com, and I have to say, I really think in many ways it is d20 3.5++. I very much like the Combat Maneuver Bonus system, and like the simplified skill system. I have yet to playtest the amended races, or the beefed up classes, or the modifications to spellcasting and magic items. But, I ( Read more... ) -
Danger Signs
I am frankly terrified by what happened in Nashville Knoxville, at the local Unitarian Universalist Church there. Apparently, someone decided that the "jokes" of the far right media aren't jokes, and need to be followed through. While I can certainly understand the rage someone might feel in the circumstances he may have been presented with, having ( Read more... )