Happy Halloween
October 31^st, 2003
9:08 A. M.

Good All Hallows Morning to everyone!
Welcome to the day when some of our ancestors would disguise themselves to elude the evil spirits that were thought to be more powerful on this day than on any other.
I was planning on disguising myself as a Jedi. I had at least two Jedi lightsabers at my old apartment, and I remember packing them away and bringing them here, but I can't find them.
I have managed to keep up with my Darth Maul double bladed lightsaber, but I lack the make-up and contact lenses to be disguised as him. I might have to go as a random Sith Lord today.
The cloak I have is neutral...it could be used by practioners of either side of the Force. I suppose I could dress all in black underneath it...
But, I would much rather be a Jedi. I've already borrowed the majority of that outfit from a guy at work. I would be pretty much all in white/khaki for that outfit.
I hope I can find my single bladed lightsaber before I take off for the gym this morning. Heck, I've worked on those impressive twirling techniques used by Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor in the first movie (as well as Hayden Christensen, and too many others to name in the second). I apologize to any celebrities whose names may or may not be misspelled here.

Well, I better get to looking before I go off to the gym.
I'll post more tomorrow!

Just Blog Surfing
October 39^th, 2003
10:06 A. M.

I've been up since about ten 'til eight this morning. I only spent twenty minutes of my usual hour of lying in bed mustering energy to face the day. That must be a good sign.
I also spent the next 50 minutes actually organizing my living space (finally). I've been in my new apartment for nearly a month now, and I have only unpacked a couple of boxes. I didn't even bother packing my clothes in the first place; I transferred them hangers and all from my old closet to the car to my new closet.
I know what I'm like. If I had packed my clothing, I would surely have gone out to buy new clothes instead of unpacking the ones I already own.

I am exaggerating there.

I hope.

But, you never know what you're capable of until after you've already done it.

* ** * *** * ** * ***

I got some disappointing news from D last night. She and her husband have been struggling to have a child for a while now. Last week, Dwent through a couple of procedures to get pregnant...with hormone therapy and everything (she will be a high risk pregnancy, so even if she does get pregnant, she will have to be on the hormones for the first three months of it).

This poor lady has been through so much over this.

I've known her for the better part of 12 years now, and I knew she had endometriosis back shortly after I met her. She told me she was diagnosed at the age of 11, and told at the time that if she ever wanted to have children, she'd better have them by her early 20's. And, I thought that when she started dating my best friend, that the two of them would make great parents.
If D hasn't written about my best friend, I won't either. Suffice it to say, he surprised both D and I.
And now, here she is; past her early twenties, still struggling to become a parent...like she's always wanted to be. Her doctors have not been giving her much hope over this past year.
I feel so bad for her.
I know roughly how she feels. I'd love to be a parent, too...but my struggles with that do not involve surgeries or hormone therapies.
My struggle is more about me not really fitting in with the rest of society.

An honest, open, affectionate man?

"I don't think such a man exists!"

Yes he does, dammit! But, you all keep ignoring him, and going after the man who doesn't need you and lets you know it!

So, now you get a sense of what makes for an embittered writer...

* ** * *** * ** * ***

After cleaning up my place and thinking about D and her problems, I decided to check out a few web logs from the 10 most recently updated on the Blogger opening page. You folks out there are putting out some really good work! Keep it up!
I've managed to expand my browser's favorite blogs folder by six today! For your reference I have checked out;
Diary of a Graduate Girl
jaygirl
Random. Really
The Daily Aneurysm at jabartlet.com
The Quitters
and
The world of the musical mind

While I haven't had the time to read these in their entirety, I have read today's posts. All of you have put out some good stuff, and I will be back to read more. I also recommend these blogs to my own readers (if there are any left after that unplanned two and a half week break I took).

For All Those Who Overheard My Conversation Last Night
October 29^th, 2003
9:34 P. M.

Ok, I posted so late last night because I went down to my local pub last night. (Yes, we have pubs here in the U. S., but from what I understand, they are nothing like their counterparts anywhere in Europe.) At the pub, I started talking to this 42 year old guy who was telling me that if you treat a woman badly, she'll want you more.
I've already figured that out. I look back at the evidence I saw in my last girlfriend, and that is exactly what would have happened, had I not tried to treat her like a queen.
If I had been coldhearted to her...if I had done my own thing and not made time for her (as she did to me), she would have gone out of her way to make me want to stay with her. According to the 42 year-old at the pub, that is.
My ex does have a history of going for the "wrong guys."
Her first ex boyfriend offered me a job working the "front" of some thing that he and his friends were into. I'm not entirely sure what that meant, but I knew on the spot that I wanted no part of it.
Her current boyfriend (I don't know if I've mentioned this or not) is an illegal immigrant. He's not an undocumented worker. He's a falsely documented worker. He's from Mexico...his papers say he's from Puerto Rico. I have no idea what kind of people this fellow is tied up with, or how much he may owe to them for these papers. When my ex wasn't my ex, I tried to point this out to her. She, of course, pretended to listen, but kept running around with him anyway. I told her that he could be in danger, and that by extension, she would be too if they were out together and anything ever caught up to him.
But...danger may be a turn on for my ex. And I'm not dangerous.
I prefer being open and honest. I prefer to let my significant other know I care about them. Not just by telling them, but by showing them. I prefer to not let anything come between me and my love.
This is the way I will carry on until I find someone who will appreciate it for the rest of our lives.
If I can't find that, then this world is truly in trouble.
So, Mr. 42 Year-Old-With-A-Divorce-After-Thirteen-Years-Of-Marriage, your advice has been taken...
...with a shaker of salt...

And with that out of the way, I have the return of the:

Humpday Quote of the

Week!

...for advice is a dangerous gift, even from the wise to the wise, and all courses may run ill.
J. R. R. Tolkien

I Don't Know What the Heck That Was, But It Was Nice
October 28^th, 2003
The Time's Not Important (It's really 1:38 A. M. on the 29^th, but I'm counting this as Tuesday's post!)

OK, so has this ever happened to you?

It doesn't really matter where you are, because this circumstance can happen anywhere. And this has happened to me only twice in my life.
Here is what I'm talking about.
You are standing around, talking to someone of the opposite sex, and you are connecting with them...really having a nice conversation. You know that friendship is there, and anything beyond that hasn't entered your mind (and you don't expect it to).
But, at some point, for whatever reason, the two of you have drifted into each other's personal space. This usually happens when neither of you are really paying attention to your proximity. You may not even be looking directly at each other. In my case...my cases, really...the other person and I had each other in our peripheral vision. In both cases, she was looking down and slightly away from me, and I was looking roughly over her shoulder...but higher. We drifted almost into physical contact range.
But something happens....
One of the two of you (as happened in my case) realizes what's going on, and that near contact is broken...and the two of you rush your attention to other things. This happens in such a way...well, let's say from my experience, this happens in such a way that you aren't sure if you're the one that broke off first.

Like I said earlier; this has happened to me twice in my life that I can readily recall.
The first time...while I can't tell you exactly who broke it off first, I can tell you why I broke it off when I did.
I was working in the garden shop at a store about three years ago. There was someone who worked with me whom I didn't consider myself necessarily attracted to, but I readily acknowledge that she was(is) very pretty. But, I had a girlfriend at the time to whom I was (hopelessly) devoted. That was reason number one. That was the big one.
Come to think of it, both reasons were very big for moving out of her personal space. Not only, as I stated before, did I have a girlfriend I was devoted to...the young lady I didn't mind having in my personal space was just that; young.
I was 26. She was 16.
And, I respected her. I still do. I see absolutely no reason for a 26 year-old to get involved with a 16 year-old. I'm certain she would agree. So, therefore, I'm back to this one (not so) nagging question;

Did I break that "contact," or did she?

The second time this happened was about a year and a half ago. It was another case in which the lady and I had already established a friendship, so we could (and would) talk about anything. This time, it wasn't just the two of us in the room, though, so other folks (might have) witnessed it.
We were all gathered around talking about one damn thing or another, and this lady and I accidentally drifted into each other's personal space. I didn't mind it. I'm guessing she didn't either.
There is no way I could have missed seeing her...heck, she was standing right in front of me, at a little more than three quarters profile. She had to have seen me, too.
But, there we were. Hanging out, talking...and we had drifted into each other's personal space. We held that for a beat or two, and I realized this:
"The only person I should let get this physically close to me is my girlfriend."
So, I changed my orientation to her, and took one or two quick steps in the new direction I was facing.
At roughly the same time, she did the same thing, so in a beat of a heart, she and I were about four paces away from each other.
Reasons for this retreat:
I was devoted to my girlfriend.
I was 28. My unwitting co-participant was only 26.

26? Hey, wait a minute!!!
She was 26, and unattached. I was in a relationship with someone who was going out with other guys every time it struck her fancy.

Well, at least I know what I'm made of. I at least know that I have the power to resist.
But, dammit! The second participant was only 2 (not 10!) years younger than me, and unattached! She is prettier than my ex, but far more importantly, and this will be the only time I use a word so vulgar in a post, has her shit together.

(On a total tangent here, I realize that there are many more "acceptable" words to use in the place of the one I just used. They all happen to sound French. The word I used is from Old English, and was in common use in England in the early 11^th century. Totally acceptable until *guess who* invaded England in 1066. I have nothing against the French of today. I'm wondering if the French in 1066 decided to export their jerks, and they all landed in England in order to give us a list of "Dirty Words!")

But, back to my main point here (don't you just love sidetracks?), I now am left to wonder...what would have happened had I not broken that contact. I like my current co-worker, and I readily acknowledge that if I had met her at the right time I would have asked her out. But, at the time, I was devoted...to you know who (at least by description, as I will never mention her name here).
Now, I have no-one in my life as a significant other...and my current co-worker is talking of marriage.
Damn.
Missed out again!

Strange...I'm smiling right now.
It's funny when I read it.
It's funny when I think back on it.

Why am I not hurting over this?
I expected pain.

I guess it comes down once again to this:
"Grab A Hold of That Fistful of Rain"

monday It Stays
October 27^th, 2003
11:50 P. M.

Like I wrote earlier, I don't know whether or not to capitalize "monday" until the day is over. If you notice, I put in the morning post that today is October 28^th (note also the double post, which is done by me hitting my browser's back button instead of Blogger's re-edit button. I could correct this, but I would rather leave it as a reminder of how mondays can start). Well, it ain't...and I found this out when my workday was about three quarters over. I have been writing October the 28^th as the date on everything I handled at work today. I had to go back and correct every single thing. Dammit. (I wish there was a word more appropriate for the way I feel about days like today. I mean, this was no major catastrophe by any means. It was, however, one hell of a nuisance.)
I started putting that date on everything today because, apparently, while I was setting my watch an hour back (in a dimly lit room) this weekend, I accidentally set the date a day ahead. I have no idea how I managed to do that.
My best guess is that I was befuddled by my watch's sticky buttons. I swear that thing will one day make me bleed, if I don't get a new watch before that happens. I know I wind up leaving a nice little group of button imprints on my fingers every spring and fall. I know it's time to reset my watch when those imprints have finally faded.

Overall, it was a good day today. I made it through, I am pleasantly tired, and I got done everything I wanted to do. And I did it a day early, thanks to my misadventure in time...

Another Monday in the Works
October 28^th, 2003
8:53 A. M.

Yes, indeed...yet another monday. I even refuse to capitalize that word until the day is over. It's just getting started, and so far so good. I haven't ventured outside my apartment yet, but sometimes I can get the feeling that a monday can go wrong just from the way the air feels.
Right now, I can't tell how this day is going to go...it could go well (in which case it goes from a monday to a Monday), or it could go wrong (in which case it would go from monday to...let's say...an unrepeatable string of descriptors.)

No matter how well today goes, yesterday was good. I went to a K-Mart (it's the only one left in my town, so I should say the K-Mart) and saw a couple of old friends there.
I don't remember if I've written about this or not, but I used to work at a K-Mart here in town about 3 or 4 years ago. I was in the garden shop (I love plants of all kinds), and I worked with a bunch of nice people there. There was a young couple there, both still in high school (they were about 16 years old at the time), and they looked good together. The public persona of this couple was such that I thought these two kids would be together forever. I have been wrong about this sort of thing before, though. (And, so has D! Ask her about it some time. If you mention "This Space For Rent" when you ask about this reference, she'll know what you're talking about.)
The guy was, well, kind of an average 16 year old. Lots of potential, but not entirely mature. (But, then again, I don't consider myself all that mature, and I'm counting down the days 'til I turn 30.)
The girl, on the other hand...well, she was special. She is intelligent, charming, very pretty, and an overall joy to be around. I thought that the boyfriend had enough on the ball to recognize this. Turns out that he might have been a total lunkhead. And, ladies, before you ask me why men are such lunkheads, and expect me to have a good answer simply because I'm a man, you must know right now that I'm just as befuddled as you all are. I mean, heck, I let my ex girlfiend (yes, the 'r' is missing there...ladies, you should do likewise in reference to a bad ex, too) know how much I cared about her every day...I even told her what I liked about her.
Well, back to my former co-workers. From the friends I have in common with this couple, I found out that the guy would "do his own thing" (I'm assuming he would run around with his friends and break dates with his girlfriend...which sounds all to familiar to me) and then turn around and act like he wanted to keep her around. It must have been the old keep-'em-dancing-on-a-string routine.
I wonder if this dude ever knew, or ever will know, how it feels to be done that way. I wonder if any of you who have pulled, will pull, or are pulling this horrific trick on your (in)significant others will ever know how it feels to be on the receiving end of such treatment. I gave you a clue in that last sentence. For those of you who caught it, well, you must have been done that way before; and you have my condolences, and my complete empathy. To those of you who didn't catch the clue...well, there is very little more that I can say to you. You're probably in one of these relationships where the other person treats you like an inconvenience one day and gold on the very next. You love this person with all your heart, for everything you're worth, but they never seem to wholly appreciate that. They're wrapped up in their own little worlds, doing everything that is important to them, and getting around to you dead last.
So, now I will make my clue more apparent than it already was...take "(in)significant other" and remove the parentheses.
And I can't believe this guy treated my co-worker like that (I met her before I met him). From a few days after I first met her, I was going over these impossible scenarios...like; "If I was a couple of years younger, or she were a couple of years older, I'd ask her out without hesitating."
Or; "If something happens and my girlfriend and I break up in a couple of years, and I am still in contact with my co-worker, I would ask her out then."
Well, my girlfiend of 7 and-a-half-years and I have split up. My co-worker is available, and now 19 (she happens to be the only exception I can think of to not dating anyone much younger than 24 or 25). But, I'm no longer in contact with her.

Ah, well...Like Warren Zevon said, "Grab a hold of that fistful of rain."

Another Monday in the Works
October 28^th, 2003
8:53 A. M.

Yes, indeed...yet another monday. I even refuse to capitalize that word until the day is over. It's just getting started, and so far so good. I haven't ventured outside my apartment yet, but sometimes I can get the feeling that a monday can go wrong just from the way the air feels.
Right now, I can't tell how this day is going to go...it could go well (in which case it goes from a monday to a Monday), or it could go wrong (in which case it would go from monday to...let's say...an unrepeatable string of descriptors.)

No matter how well today goes, yesterday was good. I went to a K-Mart (it's the only one left in my town, so I should say the K-Mart) and saw a couple of old friends there.
I don't remember if I've written about this or not, but I used to work at a K-Mart here in town about 3 or 4 years ago. I was in the garden shop (I love plants of all kinds), and I worked with a bunch of nice people there. There was a young couple there, both still in high school (they were about 16 years old at the time), and they looked good together. The public persona of this couple was such that I thought these two kids would be together forever. I have been wrong about this sort of thing before, though. (And, so has D! Ask her about it some time. If you mention "This Space For Rent" when you ask about this reference, she'll know what you're talking about.)
The guy was, well, kind of an average 16 year old. Lots of potential, but not entirely mature. (But, then again, I don't consider myself all that mature, and I'm counting down the days 'til I turn 30.)
The girl, on the other hand...well, she was special. She is intelligent, charming, very pretty, and an overall joy to be around. I thought that the boyfriend had enough on the ball to recognize this. Turns out that he might have been a total lunkhead. And, ladies, before you ask me why men are such lunkheads, and expect me to have a good answer simply because I'm a man, you must know right now that I'm just as befuddled as you all are. I mean, heck, I let my ex girlfiend (yes, the 'r' is missing there...ladies, you should do likewise in reference to a bad ex, too) know how much I cared about her every day...I even told her what I liked about her.
Well, back to my former co-workers. From the friends I have in common with this couple, I found out that the guy would "do his own thing" (I'm assuming he would run around with his friends and break dates with his girlfriend...which sounds all to familiar to me) and then turn around and act like he wanted to keep her around. It must have been the old keep-'em-dancing-on-a-string routine.
I wonder if this dude ever knew, or ever will know, how it feels to be done that way. I wonder if any of you who have pulled, will pull, or are pulling this horrific trick on your (in)significant others will ever know how it feels to be on the recieving end of such treatment. I gave you a clue in that last sentence. For those of you who caught it, well, you must have been done that way before; and you have my condolences, and my complete empathy. To those of you who didn't catch the clue...well, there is very little more that I can say to you. You're probably in one of these relationships where the other person treats you like an inconvenience one day and gold on the very next. You love this person with all your heart, for everything you're worth, but they never seem to wholly appreciate that. They're wrapped up in thier own little worlds, doing everything that is important to them, and getting around to you dead last.
So, now I will make my clue more appearant than it already was...take "(in)significant other" and remove the parenthises.
And I can't believe this guy treated my co-worker like that (I met her before I met him). From a few days after I first met her, I was going over these imossible scenarios...like; "If I was a couple of years younger, or she were a couple of years older, I'd ask her out without hesitating."
Or; "If something happens and my girlfriend and I break up in a couple of years, and I am still in contact with my co-worker, I would ask her out then."
Well, my girlfiend of 7 and-a-half-years and I have split up. My co-worker is available, and now 19 (she happens to be the only exception I can think of to not dating anyone much younger than 24 or 25). But, I'm no longer in contact with her.

Ah, well...Like Warren Zevonsaid, "Grab a hold of that fistful of rain."

Just Kickin' Around the Old Digs
October 25^th, 2003
9:43 P.M.

Ok, I bet you folks were expecting me to skip a few more days before I posted again.
Well, I didn't.
I've been trying to get back into my old (new) habits. You see...in all the time that I haven't been posting to this web log, I haven't been working out either. I can already tell a difference. My clothes aren't fitting quite right anymore. I'm not worried, though. I'm going to be making it back to the gym regularly starting this week. I'm pretty much settled in to my new apartment, and I've picked up on my routine again.
So, I should be back on track once again here very soon.

Today has been set aside for running around with old friends. These are the guys who were once my roommates. We still do all sorts of adolescent things...hang out, listening to music, and playing video games. I'm the youngest of the three of us, and I turn 30 on January 1^st, so we listen to older music, and play older video games (or the new sequels to the games we grew up playing.)
This is actually going to turn into an all nighter (without the staying up all night to see the sunrise sort of thing...all three of us have noticed one thing already; We just can't stay up like we used to.) I just came home to pick up a change of clothes and to post to my log.

Pretty much just forcing myself to sit in front of the keyboard once again...to keep the creative juices flowing.

I am afraid of losing all the gains I'd made in the past two months.

Wednesday's Almost Over. Shh! I Can Hear the Weekend!
October 22^nd, 2003
11:50 P.M.

I'm sitting here typing this out while having a (nearly) midnight snack of the bangers I bought at the little import shop this morning. Gosh, I love these things. They're so much more palatable than the sausage links with which I grew up (and I liked American style sausage links anyway!)
I went to talk to a recruiter at a business college today. I've been wanting to go back to school for the longest time...I've spent a lot of that time trying to think of what I would like to do for the rest of my life;

Top priority: Marriage and children.
Since I have no fiancee, no girlfriend, or even prospects I'm holding my breath for right now anyway, I'll move on to;

Second priority: Finding a career I'll enjoy for the rest of my life.

It's pretty much come down to radio and TV broadcasting. You folks have already read how much I enjoyed all those plays I acted in while I was in High School...so I was looking into careers that could bring me as close to that experience as possible.
There was mention of some radio announcing classes in the sessions I would be attending...and I think I would take to announcing very well. Heck, I even did a radio announcer part in the play "Someone Waiting." I had fun doing that.
I haven't mentioned this before, but I was even a (substitute) DJ at a radio station run by the college I was attending in 1997. I have 12 hours of training on their antiques, and 24 hours of on air and unsupervised experience behind me! (I forgot to say...all DJs working at this station were volunteers. I loved it so much that I did it without even the thought of a payday. Imagine if I were to do that for a living.)
One thing I do understand: Starting pay in this field is actually less than what I'm making now. However, one can more than pick up that slack by doing voice overs...if you're good enough to stay in demand.

While discussing the possibility of going to this business school, someone who actually went there overheard me. She said that not only was it very expensive, that she had trouble transferring credits from her former school to this one...and she has already looked into transferring credits from this business school to another college...and those credits will not transfer out. Ah...something more for me to consider.
I may just go back to the community college here in town. The classes may be bigger, but I should be able to make up for that by "giving it my all." I know that whatever credits I have from the last time I attended college will transfer there...that community college is a part of the university system I was in ten years ago anyway.

Oh, and there was an interesting twist from today's tour of the business school. The admissions man who was showing me around...this is great!...is a director for a theater group here in town. We talked a little on that subject, and I will be going to an audition for him next month.
Again...this audition will be one of those "I'm doing this just for the hell of it" things. I encounter my best luck doing that!

I bet you thought I was going to forget the

Humpday Quote of the
Week!
I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.
Mark Twain

Oops! Thirteen Days Since Last Post!
October 20^th, 2003
11:45 P. M.

Lessee....What's gone on in the world since the last time I did an entry here...

What was it...October 13^th that Arnold Schwarzenegger was "elected" governor of California (I wonder if former ENRON executives contributed to the campaign?)

China finally entered the space race (boy, have they a lot of catching up to do!)

Some poor schmo accidentally interfered with his favorite team's chance at winning the World Series (I haven't cared about any team winning the Series since the early '80s, or whenever it was that games' scores ceased going into double digits and the speeds of fastballs entered triple digits...and players' salaries hit six or seven digits.)

Ok, so the world remains a pretty freshet out place. Not a lot new really going on out there. And, truth be told, not a whole lot new going on for me too.
I stayed at my mother's house a lot last week. Before we hit the road to Alabama, my niece picked up some sort of infection. Mom and I spent six hours in a car with her...And I am the one who caught the bug...Mom had a couple of symptoms, but they passed pretty quickly for her.
Alas for me! I came down with a full blown sinus infection...And it was in full force for the way back home......
...Six hours in a car
with a sinus infection
and
no
tissues
anywhere!

Actually, I started coming down with whatever my niece had that very night. I caught whatever it was very quickly. It kept me up late Sunday and Monday nights. I also woke up unable to breathe a couple of times those nights.
Some vacation.
I even missed a day of work last week. Wednesday in fact. I bet folks were wondering why I would take a sick day immediately after two days of vacation.
I understand that there are a lot of people who would have pulled a scam (call in because they felt like staying on vacation an extra day), but I was sick while on vacation.
When I showed up at work on Thursday, they all new I wasn't kidding...gosh, I hate sinus infections.
And...whatever it was that this sinus infection started out as is infectious! At least one person has told me that they're having some symptoms like I had last Sunday night!

I bet this post goes nowhere in explaining why I haven't done an entry in nearly two weeks...
Let's just say...two weeks ago I was too busy getting settled into my new apartment (and back into my old routine), and last week I was sick, and staying with my mommy (like any real man should when he gets sicky-poo.)

Just a Blog Before I Go
October 7^th, 2003
11:42 P. M.

I'm just dropping this line to tell you folks who may or may not be reading that I have in no way lost interest in maintaining This Space for Rent in any way whatsoever.
I will also warn you folks that I won't be writing so often at all this week (much like last week). This past week, and the week I'm looking forward to have one thing in common...there are many things that will keep me away from a computer with an internet connection.
My niece is up from Alabama this week, staying at my mother's house. So, while Mom is away at work, I will need to be there to watch my niece. At about the time I will be going to work, Mom will come home, so there will always be someone home with the 9 year-old this week.

Oh...and one more thing...

I will be going to Alabama this coming Sunday, and returning Tuesday afternoon. So, the next time you might get to hear from me will be next Tuesday.

On top of that, I will also be missing out on going to the gym until then, too. Bummer...I was really getting into a groove there...but, I will pick right up where I left off. I do intend to get in shape! (There is no getting back in shape...I would have to have been in shape at some point in the past for that to ring true....)

This Space for Rent is Back Up and Running
October 5^th, 2003
10:14 A. M.

In case anyone has been wondering, no I have not forsaken my writing again. I've been trying, in fact, to get back to my posting all week. I finally got moved into my new apartment, but when I had the phone service switched over, the dial tone promptly disappeared. I haven't been able to place or receive calls here all week. So, forget about the blog...

I can tell you...it has been a long week. Lots of things have happened that I would have liked to have written about. Most of those things, however, I have forgotten.

But, I will write about my experience in a small Irish imports shop in downtown. It is a wonderful little place (emphasis on little). It carries clothing, jewelry, pottery, books, music, groceries (yes! groceries!), and all sorts of odds and ends imported from Eire itself!
From talking to the lady who runs the place (several months back), I found out that they carry blood sausage, white sausage, rashers, and bangers...quite possibly a few more things I have never heard of before.
Well, earlier this week, I got some rashers and blood sausage (don't go ewww, I find the stuff quite tasty! I highly recommend folks try it...it reminds me of something I used to get at fairs or carnivals...).
The rashers are great! I can tell you that without hesitation...it's made of things with which we all grew up (here in the U.S.A., specifically). All rashers are is back bacon...lots of meat, but relatively little fat. I like these rashers better than I do the bacon I grew up eating. (I sometimes wonder if the bacon I get here in Kentucky is edible at all...)
And then, the bangers...
Wonderful little secret you folks in Ireland and the U.K. have been keeping from us. I found them to be delightfully mild compared to the breakfast links I get here. Simply put, there is just too much fat it our links...you throw a couple of our links in a skillet, turn your back, and they're swimming in grease.
Not so for the bangers! They stayed "dry" the whole time I was cooking them.
The one thing I noticed about the bangers, blood, and whit sausage...they all had pretty much the same ingredients...the blood pudding had (of course) blood, pork, cracker meal, barley, thyme, and pimento peppers (and a few things I'm leaving out because I can't remember them); the white sausage had all these things minus the blood, and the bangers had none of the spices...
So, the main constituents of all three of these things were pork, cracker meal, and barley...
Sounds like you folks over there know how to make your meats stretch (how many people were snickering as they read this sentence, I wonder). I must say you have done a very good job of it, too. I like all three of these products (four, if you count the rashers...which are more accessible to American tastes, anyway) and, as I said earlier, would highly recommend to anyone who has never tried these things to do so. (But, try the white sausage first...I know a lot of people have trouble with the idea of eating blood.....but will not hesitate to order a rare steak--go figure).