Avatar

 

Hi Natty.  What are you doing today?  It's the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, and certainly a solemn occasion.  I remember 20 years ago I was the first to arrive at the restaurant, so I started my routine as usual.  Next the boss came in, and he brought a TV.  Then we watched the news unfold, and I felt on the edge as you may expect, as did everyone else.  The situation sucks, and that's the world.  I don't wish to discuss my perspective on the matter.

Hey, Abba is getting back together!  And they are using avatars for their live shows.  This means hooking up motion sensors to the face and body, and what people see will be young and beautiful, just as the crowd would like.  I suppose Abba will be doing the singing, and somebody else will be doing the jumping and kicking.  The Japanese have been using avatars for live shows for a while already, as you can see in the video below.  I'm sure it would be possible to have motion sensors activate the avatar in the Second Life context, but I haven't seen anyone do the programming for it yet.  I'm sure the Japs would program such if financially motivated, but I don't have the bucks to get it done for Mary at this time.  She's not going to do any jumping and kicking while singing, period.  Her voice is very sensitive.  Right now, using stock animations serves our agenda just fine.

Kelp!

 

Kelp?  Honey, I eat that stuff all the time!  It's a must-have for my ramen.  What else I put in there depends on how I feel, what's in the cooler or at the grocer, but kelp is always a part of my ramen.  I had ramen today, in fact!  I guess I should have taken snapshots but I guess it's a good thing I didn't, lest people start selling ¥50,000 Zam-style bowls of ramen.  But I'll go ahead and describe what I did today.

See the amount of seaweed that my fist is gripping above?  That's the usual amount I snip off and soak to generate kelp broth.  After a while, I took out the kelp and poured the water into a pot and boiled a hardtail scad along with some fragrant leaves (Vietnamese coriander) and anchovy bouillon at medium heat until the flesh began to fall off.  I took out the fish to cool down in the fridge, fried up some garlic then added the broth to it.  I sliced up the kelp into noodle-like strands then put it into the broth along with sliced tofu, fish cake, and a couple of squid balls.  Then I removed the bones from the fish, put the white meat into my soup, and gave the rest to Lookie and Adolf Kitler.  The noodle brick went in next (don't stir!), while I put a dash of soy sauce at the bottom of my bowl.  When the noodles were soft enough I fished them out of the soup, placed them on top of the soy sauce, and cracked an egg to the side of the noodle brick.  I poured the hot soup on that then topped the bowl off with some dried fried onions and home made hot sauce.  Want some?  Please don't tell me you don't like to eat kelp!

Coffee black

 

Hi Natty!  How are you?  Want some coffee?  I'm not a coffee pro like you, I just need a shot at the right time so I don't pass out.  Namely, while Mary Unknown7 is singing.  As you may know, I don't eat sugar.  Well, not consciously I try.  I bought some roast chicken for lunch at the big supermarket.  Overcooked!  The skin and outer layer were tough as leather!  The insides were palatable though, and I gave the rest to the cats.  They like having things to chew on.  But roast chicken has sugar in it, I think.  I also bought some of those giant grapes, do you remember those?  Does that count as sugar?  Coffee creamer has sugar in it.  I consume so little sugar, that my teeth have become very sensitive to it.  So I nixed the creamer from my cup of coffee today, and had my coffee black.  I can handle black coffee.  It wasn't even that black, it was sort of off black, almost grey.  It was only half a teaspoon of instant coffee.  I suppose I should start drinking stronger coffee, to get a better jolt.  I'm just not a coffee pro like you.

English

 

Hi Natty!  How are you, Sweetheart?  I hope all is calm and cool with you.  You want some of my fries?  I had fries for dinner to go with my leftover flat noodles.  Yeah it's a weird combination, but that's the beauty of eating alone: nobody cares, least of all me.  I'm full though, and I know I'm not going to get a tummy ache.  But you are welcome to share my fries anytime, because I love you.  Otherwise, there's not much to report today.  I didn't go anywhere, other than to dump the trash then buy my lunch at the corner restaurant.  Ideally it would be no human contact whatsoever during these pandemic days, but I guess that's close enough.  Anyway, it's time to move over.  I love you!

Old ways

 

Hi Natty!  How are you today?  I hope you are well, and enjoying yourself.  Ugh, I'm so drowsy.  Mary really did a number on me today, and I can barely keep my eyes open.  And I just woke up from a nap!  I have to hear that voice bouncing around in my head at close range, and today I'm on the verge of fainting.

I asked my mother to give me an old mortar and pestle set that she didn't want anymore from her collection of unwanted kitchen utensils.  The set above is what I found.  I recognize it: it's the same one my grandmother used 50 years ago, and she probably got it from her mother.  I need it to make hot sauce.  I suppose I could just use a blender, but I need to make at least a cup of sauce at a time otherwise it won't blend properly.  I use a couple of tablespoons of the stuff and the rest goes to waste.  This way I can just make one serving at a time, and it will be fresh every time.  Sometimes the old ways are the best.

Monday

 Hi Natty!  How ya doin' Honey?  Is everything nice and easy for you over there?  I hope so.  I feel much better than I did yesterday.  Yesterday was a busy morning, and I don't like mornings in general.  Too much labor in the morning can leave me useless for the rest of the day, and couple that with lack of sleep...  I have been staying up past bedtime lately, listening to music or watching movies.  I thought it would put me to sleep, but it didn't.  Then I had to do the usual tossing and turning before falling asleep.  I like to do shoulder exercises while I'm tossing and turning.  Those are relaxing to do when I'm lying on my side.  But today I have more energy.  I cut the grass in the evening, and had a simple dinner.  I didn't stay up too late last night, I did my tossing and turning right on schedule.  Anyway, on to the next item on my list.  I love you!

Gamer rage

 

Hi Natty!  How are you today?  I hope everything is A OK over there for you.  You know, those beans yesterday never gave me gas.  Which gives me a theory, that if a food were done right then it won't give you stomach problems.  Which is obvious of course, but flavor is a factor as well.  I put some of those beans on my cheeseburgers for dinner.  You don't like beans, do you?  Nor burgers, right?  Well I plan to feed you with what you like, and teach you how to make them too.  InshaAllah.  I feel tired today.  Sundays are busy for me.  Did I ever tell you how much I admire your feet?  I can tell by your big toes how strong your feet are.  You could probably cling on to branches with your feet like a monkey.  I have bad feet and that makes my legs tired, so I was at half strength during Mary's set today.  I didn't feel like passing out though, thank God.  I need to be alert in case somebody tries to mess with Mary's emotions while she's trying to sing.