※SpinalGap24 ※

for hors d'oeuvre, try these;

1) Would you enjoy spending a month of solitude in a beautiful natural setting?
Food and shelter would be provided but you would not see another person.

2) What is the strangest thing you’ve ever eaten?

3) What vegetable do you most resemble?

4) What was the best thing before sliced bread?

A recent study indicates when men crave food, they tend to crave fat and salt. When women crave food, they tend to desire chocolate.

Americans consumed a gross 3.1 billion pounds of chocolate in 2001, which is almost half of the total world's production.

Chocolate manufacturers currently use 40 percent of the world's almonds and 20 percent of the world's peanuts.

A daydream is a meal at which images are eaten. Some of us are gourmets, some gourmands, and a good many take their images precooked out of a can and swallow them down whole, absent-mindedly and with little relish.

-W. H. Auden

A smiling face is half the meal.
- Latvian Proverb (for Kiki)

I was briefly able to return home today, but now safely under the hospital medical team's clutches once more...this medication raises my temperature, heart rate, and nausea, but, alas, lessens my spinal pain...is it worth it?
Noooo....

Anyway, I tried making my lunch at home, which was a great feeling after so long under regulated plastic spaceship meals.
Hanna would be interested, because I set-out with omelette in my mind, which became a bit more.
I cut three herb sprigs from my garden, some onion leaves, shrimps, mushrooms, maasdam, pepper, a tiny touch of chilli, olive oil, and onion slices, together with the eggs...whilst deep frying thinly sliced potatoes, garlic and daikon!
It was an experiment for me to fry Japanese radish, but it seems to have worked, and the omelette was ok. For me, with all the medical schedules surrounding my life, this meal was a joy.
What do you think dear friends?

Since last night's game, listening to this song, stuck in my head...

See the sun rise over her skin
Don't change it
See the sun rise over her skin
Dawn changes everything
Everything
And the delta sun
Burns bright and violet

Mississippi and the cotton wool heat
Sixty-six a highway speaks
Of deserts dry
Of cool green valleys
Gold and silver veins
Of the shining cities

In this heartland
In this heartland soil
In this heartland
Heaven knows this is a heartland
Heartland...heartland

See the sun rise over her skin
She feels like water in my hand
Freeway like a river cuts through this land
Into the side of love
Like a burning spear
And the poison rain
Brings a flood of fear
Through the ghost-ranch hills
Death valley waters
In the towers of steel
Belief goes on and on

In this heartland
In this heartland soil
In this heartland
Heaven knows this is a heartland
Heartland...heaven knows this is a heartland
Heartland...heartland
Heartland...heaven's day here in the heartland
Heart...

U2

So, we topped the group, as winners, unbeaten, and avoiding the mighty hosts Germany.
But still the English are filled with pessimism and gloom. I am surrounded by people and friends from all corners of England, and indeed, the world, the majority of whom are depressed.

Not me. I can only agree that England's performances have failed to live up to the pre-World Cup hype...but I did not believe any of that springtime crap anyway, as I felt that England had world class players, working together as a good team, under a conservative manager, making us a great quarter-final bet, as in every tournament. We are very good, but not made of of quite enough to win it, unless luck goes our way, as it did for my beloved Liverpool in the Champions League 2005.

And be fair, it was a good game to watch for a neutral...very Premiership, and neither side were bad, only the English defence.

Now, Owen Hargreaves must consider himself lucky to play away from the Premiership, away from the hounds. His performance last night was selfless and important, way ahead of Beckham's contribution. Who is the captain, by the way? Because he fails to instill any fire into the players...unlike players past, (Bryan Robson, Tony Adams etc). Owen Hargreaves IS a good player, full stop...it is just that many people don't understand his role.

As for Michael Owen, I am disgusted at what I heard last night from some 'Englishmen' who just grunted, "so what, he's injured, ...was rubbish anyway". That attitude is about as valied as a dragonfly trying to blot out the sun.
Michael has given his all, to all three clubs and his country, from a very young age, and I am sure would have scored some goals in Germany too. Now, it is unlikely that he'll score at all this year. I feel sorry for Newcastle, who relished a Shearer-Owen partnership, which hardly materialised, and now await a season without both.
I just hope that this latest, probable serious injury, will not permanantly hamper his star play, though if you look at Ronaldo, weight apart, it probably will.
I wish Owen a quick recovery. All I want is to see his scoring ability restored, and his happiness back. He has looked an unhappy soul for too long now. Not too disimilar to the tale of Fowler, (for different reasons). They have both followed a similar footballing path at a strikingly similar age.

Come on England, be positive for a change. Sweden got second place, awaiting Germany and they celebrated long into the night like New Year's eve...shouldn't we realised that we're not favourites, not ranked number 1, and have actually done "ok"?

I know most English people are proud and passionate about this World Cup, perhaps the reason we feel some disappointment at the performances, but deep down, we're all proud of the team.