A Life's Pursuit: March 2009

Friday, March 27, 2009

Fridaku

[1]


No Ordinary Friday


It is Fridaku!
Today we write haikus
Pensive and plain stuff.


[2]



The Morning Shower


The shower is hot;
Steaming my awakening;
Yesterday away....


[3]



The Face Matches the Shirt


Face matches the shirt
Glow-in-the-dark and smiling;
Making more smiles appear.


[4]



The Course of Thoughts


Writing outside in,
words spill out through fingertips,
leaking inside thoughts.


[5]



Friday Crawling By


Friday crawls by slow;
I kick it to check for life,
No reaction though.


[6]



Spring Peaches


Warm, moist, throbbing heat,
Sweet, juicy, ripe, leaking smiles
I breath her inward.

Friday, March 20, 2009

Friday Fixins: Nutty About Peanut Butter!







Absolutely Easy Magic Peanut Butter Cookies!
Now in all fairness, the Queen of White Southern Cookin' isn't the first person to use this recipe; but my she sure does it all so well. Funny what men like about cooking. Anywhooo....
Ingredients:
1 cup peanut butter, creamy or crunchy
1 cup sugar, or 1 1/3 cup sugar replacement (recommended: Splenda)
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a large baking sheet. In a mixing bowl, combine the peanut butter, 1 cup equivalent of the Splenda, the egg, and vanilla, and stir well with a spoon. Roll the dough into balls the size of walnuts. Place the balls on the prepared baking sheet. With a fork, dipped in Splenda to prevent sticking, press a crisscross design on each cookie. Bake for 12 minutes, remove from the oven, and sprinkle the cookies with some of the remaining Splenda. Cool slightly before removing from pan.

Yield: 18 cookies
Prep time: 10-15 minutes
Inactive prep time: 3-5 minutes
Cook time: 12 minutes
Ease of preparation: easy
Paula Dean





But it you really must...here's another recipe more like grandma used to make and you must have your flour fix:
Prep Time: 12 minutes

Old Style Peanut Butter Cookies
mmmm....something smells go good.....
Ingredients:
* 1 1/4 cups flour, sift or stir before measuring
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 cup shortening
* 1/2 cup peanut butter
* 1/2 cup granulated sugar
* 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
* 1 egg

Preparation: Sift together flour, salt, and baking powder; set aside. Cream shortening, peanut butter, and sugars; beat in vanilla and egg. Stir in flour mixture, blending well. Shape mixture into 3/4-inch balls; place on greased baking sheets. Flatten each cookie with the tines of a fork; dip fork in flour periodically to keep it from sticking to the peanut butter cookie dough. Bake peanut butter cookies at 375° for about 10 to 12 minutes.




Ok...one more!

Peanut Butter Cookies!
These cookies are a favorite treat for young children. Have you guessed yet that I LOVE peanut butter cookies!
Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe Ingredients
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• granulated sugar

Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe Directions: In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and peanut butter on high speed for 30 seconds. Add the sugar, brown sugar, baking soda and baking powder. Mix until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally. Beat in the egg and vanilla until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in the remaining flour. Cover and chill dough until easy to handle, approximately 1 hour. Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Roll balls in granulated sugar and place balls 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten the dough balls by using a fork to make a criss cross pattern on the cookies. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 7 to 9 minutes or until bottoms are lightly brown. Cool cookies on a wire rack.

soft peanut butter cookies

Ok I know I said one more several mores ago; but this picture really did it for me taken by Susan. Check this recipe out too!

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

My Fall Down





Well today I am trying something new. It's a new form of poetry for me and I pass it along to you. In the event you have no idea, here's everything you need to know about the poetic form:
Haiku (HI-coo)
Haiku is a poetic form and a type of poetry from the Japanese culture. Haiku combines form, content, and language in a meaningful, yet compact form. Haiku poets, which you will soon be, write about everyday things. Many themes include nature, feelings, or experiences. Usually they use simple words and grammar. The most common form for Haiku is three short lines. The first line usually contains five (5) syllables, the second line seven (7) syllables, and the third line contains five (5) syllables. Haiku doesn't rhyme. A Haiku must "paint" a mental image in the reader's mind. This is the challenge of Haiku - to put the poem's meaning and imagery in the reader's mind in ONLY 17 syllables over just three (3) lines of poetry!
and now the poem...

My Fall Down
I sped down the hill
I fell tactlessly down hard
Sprawled out in pain.


Like Haikus....here's much more!

Monday, March 16, 2009

Racing Downhill To Face My Pride!

bicycle crash




It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon when wifey and I decided to go
bicycling. We have a beautiful park rich in scenery, hills and turns
close to our home; well within a few minutes drive. We aired up our
tires, set our seats to the proper height and took off. The sky was so
blue and our matching mountain bikes whizzed along side each other. As
you may know, mountain bikes have the handbrakes so your feet can
pedal backwards without any braking taking place. We laughed and
pedaled along. She proclaimed that she wanted to at least make it 16
miles. I really hadnt anticipated she would be successful; but hey,
what did I know.


As she pedaled ahead I just enjoyed the view and began weaving left
and right, feeling the wheel grind against the asphalt trail. We were
at the eight mile mark and descending a long hill. I slowed down so
she could get way ahead. I had plans for this hill!


I dont know about you; but when I was a kid, we used to zip down hills
while we struck aerodynamic poses so we could really pick up some good
speed. Instantly transported back to my "used to do" days, my eyes
narrowed and my smile broadened as I stood into a pointed crouch and
lurched down the hill. The wind was whizzing by...not fast enuf. I
leaned over the front wheel so I could cut through the wind even more.
YES! I was REALLY moving now. I could see her trying to pedal up the
other side of the hill. At the bottom of the hill were two S curves;
no problem! I got this! Not only will I do these curves at full speed;
but pass her going up the hill!


bicycle safety first




I was going really fast and began squeezing the hand brakes. The curve
was coming up way too fast and I wasnt slowing down at all. The strong
wooden fence on the other side of the trail flirted with my eyesight.
No sweat! Why am I not slowing down; my grip was tight? As I glaced
down, it became apparent during my loss in yesteryears that I was only
gripping the handles and not the brakes! By the time I looked back up
speed and gravity were deep in carnal bliss and one of us was about
to be reproduced. I never gripped the brakes in time. My eyes were
glued open; but inside I couldnt panic. I refused to scream. There I
was making an L out of an S and fighting the inevitable. It was like a
movie scene. The movie screen only filled with the immediate scene.
First it was a rocking sky and top of trees; then it was rocking
trees and ground, then ground and grass and a dull thud, darkness
(brief but dark). Suddenly I wasnt moving now.

bicycle crash



Despite wishfully thinking that I could silently crash and get up
unnoticed were completely thwarted. Suddenly everybody's watching and
horrified with overly concerned questions and dashes in my direction.
I think I got up really fast. I waved them all away and gave smiling
thumbs up as my brain raced over my body doing a status check for
breaks, scrapes and/or bleeding. From the corner of my eye, I noticed
my right knuckle dripping a little. The right side of my face felt
warm but I dared not touch it. I was actually amazed that I was moving
and obviously not visibly damaged. Standing up my bike which wasnt
easily rolling anymore, I noticed that the chain was off now. Not hard
to fix...but surely it was knocked off after the crash. The brakes
wouldnt let the wheels spin freely...but I wasnt going to acknowledge
that I might not be able to make the 16 mile goal. It wasnt until 2
miles later that I discovered that my front wheel was turned around
backwards pulling the cables tighter, making the brakes engage. Simple
fix had I noticed right away. The scrapes were beginning to burn and
my right pinky finger was throbbing; but I wasnt going to quit now. I
could hear the dull head thump playing over and over in my head. I
remember thinking how empty it sounded as I attempted to laugh at
myself. Of course I did go back to that hill .... because you know
why! It had to be done.


Still amazed at my lack of injury, I noticed a long bruise on my left
thigh distinctly purple from the soft brown tones. I smiled. It had
been so long since I had seen any damage on my body. It felt great!
No, I wasnt indestructable; but I wasnt afraid of the pain. My nights
are dotted with the scenes of the rocking movie I deemed my last
flashes before the crash I walked away from to tell. Even now, it
generates an old smile from the days of a scraped knee and a mother's
kiss; not long followed by a father's glare that declared enuf of that
and get back on the bike. It's funny what makes us remember the
smallest of things or what things really make us feel alive.
Inveribly, it is our memory from the past that makes the present just
a bit more bearable and our futures a bit more hopeful. Sometimes I
wonder if memories are our only hopes of forever.




Sunday, March 15, 2009

Spring is coming!!!!

Seems like a cruel weatherman trick; but its true. Spring is falling in line, its on the way. Remind yourself with some of the most stunning desktop images imagineable!



Spring Fever by =taenaron on deviantART



four seasons wallpaper by ~Dawn42 on deviantART



A Beautiful Day - WP Pack by =little-stock on deviantART

Great Web Comics for Geeks and Designers!

Thursday, March 05, 2009

Looking Backwards Forward

What would you say to you if you could come back from the future once?
Would you have waited this long to come back?
Would you listen to you if you gave yourself advice?







Monday, March 02, 2009

Monday Again: Cold Hard Facts.

Its Monday again and the sky is beautifully bright and blue. The sun beams through the window creating warm streaks across my right shoulder. I stand in the window watching the people scamper by on the street below. Despite how completely pleasant it looks from my vantage; I know it is horribly chilly out there. The wind blows razorblades through coats and skin. So SOME folks had some beautiful snow; but mostly it was a weekend of the "Kroger Economic Stimulus Package." One must wonder if sometimes Kroger and the local news channels are have some arrangement. What other time do so many lactose intollerant people rush out to buy milk and bread?



Meanwhile I have been to Subway so many times that I am baffelled that I havent run out of selections. That whole $5.00 footlong campaign is working. It just so easy after a workout and the evening already at 8pm to get something already done. Not only does it make eating quicker; but the kitchen stays clean too! Viva La Footlong! A very busy weekend somehow all but eliminated itself.