Hummus & French Grapefruit

You would think I would have much more to say and certainly post more on this blog. I am sure I do but sometimes I don’t say what I am thinking. Sometimes I am unable to put on in words the thoughts which occupy my mind at the moment. For example; the first two sentences of this paragraph was written a week ago. The second sentence had an error in it that I just now corrected. I do love a word processor with spell-check.

Tonight was a simple night. My wife, who works in retail, got off work about two hours later than normal. Then we went out to eat. This is a rough time of year for retail personnel. Seems like we, as a couple experience the same emotions every year during the holidays. The holidays are vastly different than I remember as a kid. Then for years the combination of two bad marriages and being single back and forth, the holidays were just a time of years that came and went. I was thinking tonight while we were driving from the restaurant how much better the holidays are with this wife and this marriage. I didn’t want to say anything because I felt like I was beating a dead horse with the subject. This wife is so much better, so much easier to live with, much more understanding and I feel like I can be myself now. I am truly thankful and my Mother is right, she is a blessing.

Conflict is so prevalent now in everything, I get to the point I just don’t want to be involved in anything. The question is; how can you spend so much time on the Internet? My answer, it doesn’t piss me off. No conflict is involved in my time on-line. Millions of people are now on Facebook. I have reconnected with people from the past that I honestly want to be reconnected to now. Every Facebook friend accepted me and I accepted them. The best part is these Facebook friends do not create conflict in my life. I feel we are going to see more and more “groups” and “clubs” reduce in activity partially because of the changes in attitude in people and part due to the Internet. Why drive somewhere for a meeting to hear the same old stuff when you can stay at home and surf the globe. With social networking sites the group dynamic is met without interference in any schedule.

Businesses, news agencies, politicians, and charities already see the light and jumping on the web. With sites like Twitter and Facebook one can reach a bigger audience easier. I get Twitter updates from three news sources, five popular chefs, two Shriners sources and my daughter. It comes in real handy to keep up with things. The Internet has become a utility in life, like electricity, running water, natural gas, cable television and the telephone. I own and have owned several various reference books. It wasn’t necessarily the knowing the answer that was important but rather how to find the answer. I still like having reference material at hand. How many times have you thought or said “I can look it up on-line.” For example; my wife and I were discussing hummus in the grocery store tonight. She asked if it would be cheaper to make our own. Our curiosity increased after we saw that the jar of tahini cost over ten dollars. Naturally I said I would look up the recipe on-line. Poof! In fifteen seconds and by only typing “humm” in Google I hit this recipe. Another quick, click, drag, copy and paste, here it is ready to share. Gosh it might have taken a whole five minutes to look up a recipe in one of my cookbooks. Thirty years ago, I wouldn’t have known what hummus was much less found a recipe.

Hummus

Ingredients:
•1 16 oz can of chickpeas or garbanzo beans
•1/4 cup liquid from can of chickpeas
•3-5 tablespoons lemon juice (depending on taste)
•1 1/2 tablespoons tahini
•2 cloves garlic, crushed
•1/2 teaspoon salt
•2 tablespoons olive oil

Preparation:
Drain chickpeas and set aside liquid from can. Combine remaining ingredients in blender or food processor. Add 1/4 cup of liquid from chickpeas. Blend for 3-5 minutes on low until thoroughly mixed and smooth.
Place in serving bowl, and create a shallow well in the center of the hummus.
Add a small amount (1-2 tablespoons) of olive oil in the well. Garnish with parsley (optional).
Serve immediately with fresh, warm or toasted pita bread, or cover and refrigerate.

The Internet has changed our lives. It also occupies several hours of our time. It is constantly changing and constantly growing as well as the daily changes in what we see and use the Internet for.

I started this blog post over a week ago and just now continuing…….

My addiction to the Internet grows because it holds no conflict for me. (Yes I know I said that earlier which was a week ago) I can occupy my mind without strife and woe. It seems like I get involved with one section of the web and stick to that until I basically wear it out; I stayed on www.Bladeforums.com constantly for a long time. The knife websites held my interest and I still cruse through then now. Now it seems like Facebook is the number log on site for me. I can stay connected with multiple friends from multiple facets of my life.

Since I got my iPhone I have discovered podcasts and even found more on YouTube to watch. We have reached the “On Demand” generation and are able to listen to what we want to hear at the time we want to hear it. This changes the marketing aspect of the music industry greatly. Plus it cuts into the radio advertising area. Television is also moving in that direction. I was watching a special on PBS about the Ed Sullivan show and was reminded of a time way before VCR or DVR recordings. We used to have to wait for a show to come on and if we missed it, we missed it. Summer reruns used to be a singular rerun. A movie used to come on TV about three years after it ran in theaters. Now it plays in the theater, three months later it’s out on DVD and Pay-per-View. With the DVR we can record television and watch it at our convenience. Life has changed. I envision us all becoming Weebles, wobbling in front of a screen and keyboard. Never leaving our homes and the apocalypse is actually one major power outage….

I have discovered something new on the Internet. While goofing around on my iPhone looking at featured postings from YouTube, I found a couple from the West Coast that post “Videosongs” on YouTube. They are good and obviously started with a very small following to now a large following. These two young people, Jack Conte and Nataly Dawn, collaborate on this music style of music and call themselves “Pomplamoose” which is French for grapefruit and my kind of name for a group. http://www.youtube.com/user/PomplamooseMusic

Tomorrow I have to make another trip to the Shriners Hospital for Children in Shreveport. I am going to turn in all the can tabs we collected this year. It is good to be part of something that totally benefits the children. Looks like I will be away from the Internet for a couple of days. I hope it doesn’t go bust due to my inactivity; at least I have my phone. Maybe I’ll have something more to blog about when I get back….