We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.
2:1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.
2:2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.
2:3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them.
2:4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
2:5 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem.
2:6 And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each.
2:7 Amazed and astonished, they asked, "Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?
2:8 And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language?
2:9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,
2:10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes,
2:11 Cretans and Arabs--in our own languages we hear them speaking about God's deeds of power."
2:12 All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "What does this mean?"
2:13 But others sneered and said, "They are filled with new wine."
2:14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, "Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say.
2:15 Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o'clock in the morning.
2:16 No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
2:17 'In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.
2:18 Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.
2:19 And I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
2:20 The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord's great and glorious day.
2:21 Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.'
My excellent fitness trainer told me that it takes 2 years to pass from the beginner phase of weights, regardless of age. That has nothing to do with amount of weight moved; it's just about getting the forms down right, ramping up past the beginner's need for any machine training, and getting to the point of effectively pushing the envelope of your innate abilities - whatever they are - past the initial "waking up" phase.
The antique fitness recommendations of simply running, jogging, walking, rowing, swimming, spinning, etc. have long gone the way of the low-fat diet. Well, the low-fat diet was totally wrong, but low-resistance cardio (only if intervals) does still have a place in the Fitness Triad of Resistance, Cardio, and Calisthenics.
As an ectomorph with a runner's build, I will never bench at the levels of the shorter, muscled guys with short arms. No problem with that. I just want to maintain and improve fitness and not be, or look like, a weak, lazy schlub. That's why I did 45 pull-ups this morning (ok, jumpers), and 5 sets of deadlifts with increasing weight each time. It feels quite good when you stop.
Barbell squats kill me, or will. Matchstick legs and no ass, he says. I ask him to please wait until I finish my coffee to insult my God-given physique: I am easily offended and may need to retire to my Safe Space at the local pub.
Mrs. BD is a more sturdily-built mesomorph. She enjoys the weights part of her program more than I do, but she can't do barbell squats (iffy knees). She does deadlifts, snatches (which I can not do due to one bum shoulder), pull-ups, dumbell rows, bench press, curls, press-downs, pull-downs, overhead presses, and plain squats. Interestingly, doing weights has done a lot of good for her knee issues, just as the trainer predicted.
Rule of Thumb: Make everything a bit harder each week and aim for the goal of condensing everything in the efficient multi-muscle group basic exercises. Takes a while to get there, maybe a year. If middle-aged or +, one 3-6 set of each resistance exercises/week is enough.
Photo above:Your editor last week, after one year of resistance training. Think I should cut my steroid dose a bit yet? Truth is that no middle-aged guy with 5-6 hrs to spend on fitness including only 2 hrs of weights in that will bulk up very much. Mainly weight-redistribution will occur. That, plus energy and vitality. Any gut disappears even if you like beer.
Photo below:Mrs. BD after one year of the Fitness Triad plus Atkins diet. Keep it up!
Rarely has so much changed within a lifetime. Yesterday’s outré and outcast recast as inquisitors; great nations in demographic collapse; primal human practices like marriage, veritable specie constants, condemned as iniquitous and beyond rational defence, and most surprisingly, all happening peaceably, with little alteration in surface political forms. No wonder elders scratch their heads, as do those few historically literate young. This essay proposes to settle their confusions by revealing the deepest drivers of these astonishing and revolutionary changes...
Daughters and I are grilling lunch today for 3 moms in the family. Gave birth so God bless 'em.
Grilled things: eggplant, mixed-colored bell peppers, yellow squash, onions, portobello mushrooms, asparagus. Marinate with oil & vinegar, garlic, and herbs, salt and pepper and toss em on the fire. I use very large chunks or slices. That's Italian, or really more like Sicilian. To keep it traditional, I always throw some wood on top of the charcoal. I close the grill top so they cook before they burn, but I do like them a bit burnt.
London Broil, rare. My new Victorinox serrated meat knife can slice this thin enough to eat happily. 1/4-inch-or- less slices. Otherwise, I find London Broil inedible, meat-flavored chewing gum.
Mixed salad with walnuts and dried cranberries.
Mixed berries with creme fraiche (or sour cream, no difference really) for dessert
1:1 In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning
1:2 until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.
1:3 After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.
1:4 While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. "This," he said, "is what you have heard from me;
1:5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."
1:6 So when they had come together, they asked him, "Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?"
1:7 He replied, "It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority.
1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
1:9 When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.
1:10 While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them.
1:11 They said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven."
Unfinished artwork is great fun to look at. It's as much fun as watching a Youtube of craftsmen or chefs at work - or the late lamented Bob Ross' painting show.
Often, a finished product reveals little of what went into its production. It is concealed.
Mrs. BD and I saw the show at the Met's new satellite gallery a few weeks ago. Worth a trip. You can travel the world, but olde NYC right here in little olde USA remains the premier fine art venue in the world. The tourists know that.
Not just for the Derby. This source, which explains why we can thank the Arabs for the basis of this refreshing adult beverage along with inventing Algebra, notes:
Mint Julep first appeared in print in 1803 described as a "dram of spirituous liquor that has mint in it, taken by Virginians in the morning."
A breakfast tonic to tone ye olde brain. Healthy herbs. You can use either homemade sugar syrup or confectioner's sugar. Here's one. Use a chilled julep cup or collins glass. I grow a mint called "Kentucky Mint" which is quite intense, but close to Spearmint, just for this purpose, but I haven't made a batch in years. I should. Unlike Southern families, I do not own any heirloom Julep Cups. I am tempted by these on eBay ($500 for a pair). Nice Sterling cups seem to run between $100 to $1000 apiece. I am not in the market for these right now.
Acts 2:1-21
On the occasion of what would have been her 100th birthday,
First Evidence of Humans in North America Found Off Florida, New Study Says. 
Horse Sex:
My excellent fitness trainer told me that it takes 2 years to pass from the beginner phase of weights, regardless of age. That has nothing to do with amount of weight moved; it's just about getting the forms down right, ramping up past the beginner's need for any machine training, and getting to the point of effectively pushing the envelope of your innate abilities - whatever they are - past the initial "waking up" phase.
Jane Austen’s 
A school that cares: Success Academy’s been awesome for our special-needs son
Image stolen from Ace 
Fresh truffles, black or white.
Not just for the Derby. 