Long time eater, first time maker. That's right, this weekend I took an adventure into making homemade caramel apples. After indulging in the decadent gourmet candy apples from the state fair, I decided that it might be fun to give it my own shot. The plan was simple enough - start with the basic caramel apple, and if that was successful, then move on to bigger and better things. I debated on making caramel from scratch - as in melting sugar and using a candy thermometer and all that mumbo jumbo, but instead I opted for a simpler solution: melting caramel candies. Is it cheating? Possibly. Have you made caramel apples from scratch? No? Then shaddap you face! It was a learning experience for me, a decadently sweet learning experience.
New Thing #13: Cleaning a Cow Pen
Before y'all start with the Davis cow jokes let's get the record straight. My experience with cows comes 2 years after graduating from UCD. And while we're at it, no, you can't physically tip a cow over. But I digress. This weekend I got down and dirty at an animal science teaching facility where researchers are studying the effects of sprinklers on dairy cow's feeding behavior. It makes sense - if you weighed a thousand pounds and had to endure the skin-melting heat of a Davis summer, you'd probably enjoy your food more when it was accompanied by a cool shower. And man do those cows eat! They say that if you give a mouse a cookie, it'll ask for milk. I found out that if you give a cow some feed, it shits. A LOT. Massive amounts of liquefied crap. Once you hear the distinctive plopping sounds, you know you're in for a real treat. To make matters worse, they don't bother to stop eating while they evacuate their bowels. Chew, chew, plop, plop, chew, plop, plop, and so on and so forth. I felt like I was witnessing one of those conveyor belts, where food goes in the mouth and instantly pops out the other end as waste. Lovely huh? Oh there's also the pee as well, which sounds like someone pouring a gallon of water onto a concrete floor. You know how if you see someone yawn, it's contagious and you end up yawning yourself? Listening to the sound of urine hitting the ground is kind of like that too. But the best part of the whole experience? Getting sneezed on by a cow. Yup, it was pretty much the whole Jurassic Park stick-your-hand-out-to-pet-the-pretty-animal-and-get-a-handful-of-snot-instead deal. Eat your heart out Mike Rowe.
New Thing #14: Reading Watchmen
Dog carcass in alley this morning, tire tread on burst stomach. This city is afraid of me. I have seen its true face. The streets are extended gutters and the gutters are full of blood and when the drains finally scab over, all the vermin will drown. The accumulated filth of all their sex and murder will foam up about their waists and all the whores and politicians will look up and shout "save us!"...and I'll look down and whisper "no".When a comic book starts out like that, it pretty much sets the tone for the entire book, and you best believe that it's going to be good. I haven't seen the movie, so the comic has gone unspoiled thus far. I was surprised at the amount of background material and depth that the story goes into, and I found myself seeing the difference between a comic book and a graphic novel. Watchmen is definitely the latter. It's not images enhancing the text, but the text that enhances the images. And there are images that stand on their own with no need of textual enhancements. I'm only 3 chapters in, but I can already see why it's on Time magazine's 100 best novels list.
New Thing #15: Visiting the Lafayette Hillside Memorial
I pass by this memorial twice a day going to and from work, yet this was the first time I've ever stopped to look at it. A hillside littered with white crosses, Stars of David, and Islamic crescents. It really is quite a sight when you start to realize what they're actually symbolizing. 5,166 (and counting) American soldiers that have paid the ultimate price in the name of their country and its sons and daughters. I don't think many people really take the time to appreciate the memorial - most likely due to it's close proximity to the bustling Lafayette BART station. But if you're ever in the area, you should check it out for yourself. No words of mine will ever do it justice. There's a dedicated blog about the memorial for those interested.
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