Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Day is a national holiday celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Thanksgiving is celebrated each year on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States and on the second Monday of October in Canada. Because of the longstanding traditions of the holiday, the celebration often extends to the weekend that falls closest to the day it is celebrated. Several other places around the world observe similar celebrations. Thanksgiving has its historical roots in religious traditions, but today is celebrated in a more secular manner. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is not a religious holiday, although it was started as a prayer of thanks by the Pilgrims and Puritans in New England. It is not restricted to one people, as it was a celebration shared by native Americans, and those of German, Dutch, and British back ground.
It is a day of giving thanks for making it to the holiday. It is a day of giving thanks for new and old friends. It's a day of giving thanks for those with us, and those distant, even if the distance is time as in those gone from the earth. It's a day of appreciation for all we have, and all we have to offer.
It is a day of feasting, and football (especially if the Cowboys lose). A day of Turkey and Pumpkin Pie. A day of family and friends. A day of giving and helping those less fortunate. It is a day of reflecting back on your blessings.
Give thanks, give a hug, lift a glass of your favorite beverage, and remember all you have to be thankful for.

Recipes

About 20 years ago I got a book, 1000 classic recipes. It was hard covered, but about the size of a paperback book. Unlike many recipe books that have separate pages with pictures of each recipe, it was more for a professional cook, with similar recipes collected together on a page. It listed each recipe by the main ingredient, whether meat, poultry, fish, vegetable, dessert, or baked. Then it would divide it by method of cooking, dry cooking like grill or broil, moist cooking like saute', or wet cooking like stews and soups. Except for the baking part, which is as much a science as anything, the recipes only listed the ingredients, not the amount. Baking you need to know exactly how much of items like yeast and baking soda and baking powder, how much flour and sugar, how much liquid and fat to make it rise and color how you want it to. With most other recipes, you cook by taste, smell, touch, look, and even sound. You add the other ingredients by how you want it to end up. Some people like food more well done, or with more garlic, or hotter spices, or rarer, and milder. Being as it was made with the professional in mind, it was written so they could adjust the taste to their kitchen's cuisine, or taste. Since the recipe started without an ingredient list it was easier to convert the recipe. I enjoyed this book much more then many other cookbooks as I am in control of the outcome. It wasn't just a by the numbers book, but a creative, DIY, cookbook. For years I've been a cook, but never considered myself a chef. I was trained on the job, at times by those who created the recipes, or knew the science and art of cooking enough to adjust them to the tastes of their clientele. Now that I am working in a cafeteria, where the numbers and clock count rather then creativity, where you are making 100s of identical items, I can see how I was closer to a chef then just a cook, because I enjoyed making something different, creating my own recipes, working from my senses as much as from the book.

1%

I just finished watching the movie "The Fountainhead" by Ayn Rand. It was Ayn Rand's book, and eventually movie, that preceded "Atlas Shrugged". Last week I watched a documentary about the philosophy's of Ayn Rand. As proud as Ayn Rand was of her book, and the movie, she saw that people did not understand the concepts that she proposed. As she was born and lived her early years in Russia, from before it was the USSR, she saw how the government was pushing the people to not stand out, to put the good of the people first even if it stifled creativity. Both books showed how men of integrity were blocked and held back by those in power. Those in power didn't want anyone else to join them at the top unless they played by their rules.

Some outlaw motorcycle clubs can be distinguished by a 1% patch worn on the colors. This is claimed to be a reference to a comment made by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) in which they stated that 99% of motorcyclists were law-abiding citizens, implying that the last one percent were outlaws. As a result, some outlaw motorcycle clubs used it to unite or express themselves and are commonly referred to as "one percenters". The comment, supposedly a response to the Hollister riot in 1947,[22][23] is denied by the AMA—who claim to have no record of such a statement to the press, and that the story is a misquote. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outlaw_motorcycle_club#One_percenter

The identifying with being the 1%er, being unique, is a strongly held American concept. It is something to strive for, not something or someone to fear or take offense to. Everyone of the men who signed the Declaration of Independence were 1%ers. Each a unique individual. Each with their beliefs in individual rights. Coming together to make a union of States to stand together against a ruler whose only desire to expand his empire. They knew that 1%, or even 1 person, could make a difference. They were opposed by those who didn't want things to change. Either those who had power and didn't want to lose it or those who would rather have safety and not freedom.

They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. Benjamin Franklin http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin This was written by Franklin, within quotation marks but is generally accepted as his original thought, sometime shortly before February 17, 1775 as part of his notes for a proposition at the Pennsylvania

No matter what the Occupy Movement says, I want to be part of the 1%, if not financially then philosophically and spiritually, not, as I like to infer, one of the Sheople to be led to the slaughter.

You can't take the sky from me

You know you enjoy something when you can listen, view, smell, taste, or feel it over and over again, and it still affects you like the first time.
Among some of the things that affect me that way are; Freebird by Lynyrd Skynyrd, I still get goosebumps when I hear Ronnie ask what song is it you want to hear; and when Riff Raff starts telling about Michael Rennie; when I smell the bubbling cheese and tomato sauce of a good lasagne; when I take that first sip of fine honey mead.
But this is about another of my true loves in life, Firefly and Serenity. I am starting to watch the series again for the I don't know how many times. I am a sci-fi and fantasy geek, enjoying where certain movies and books take me. Something about the Firefly class ship named Serenity just takes me further then any other. I think more then anything it is the freedom, being able to roam the galaxy, living by your wits. Life for most people is restricted. You live by the clock. Each day is the same thing over and over. Wake up in the morning, do what you are told and expected to do, go to bed early enough so you can do it again tomorrow. Waiting for the weekend, or if you have 2 or more jobs, just running one into the other. I have spent my whole life looking to the sky, wanting to run away, not looking back. Not to escape anything but to enjoy my life. To live, really live, with no shackles to hold me, free. Serenity is that freedom.
For now I'll just watch Firefly through to the end of the tv series, and then watch the movie Serenity, taking my freedom from the actions of Captain Mal, Zoe, Wash, Jane, Simon, River, Book, and Kaylee.

Ballad of Serenity
lyrics and music by Joss Whedon
sung by Sonny Rhodes

take my love
take my land
take me where I cannot stand
I don't care
I'm still free
you can't take the sky from me

take me out
to the black
tell 'em I ain't coming back
burn the land
and boil the sea
you can't take the sky from me

have no place
I can be
since I found Serenity
but you can't take the sky from me

Things Change

Life is chaos, it is in a state of constant change, so therefor I have decided to change this Blog from a lotto blog to an all encompassing blog about anything and everything. I may make posts about the lotto, and I am sure that at times there will be some posts that have a commercial aspect to them, but this won't be a commercial blog, just a way to share things, and if I can make a few cents here and there, I won't argue. I may make posts that are shared on other networks, and definitely will be sharing this post or at least link to it on most of my other social networks. I hope what I write will interest you, making you laugh, or think, or take action. Come back often, leave your opinion in the comments, let me know if you have an interest that I might share. Also check out my micro blog at http://tucksmobileblog.blogspot.com/, it's sort of like a personal twitter feed, especially since most posts are also shared on my twitter account. I post links and short one liners there, where here I share more extended writings. Take care and safe travels. Tuck