Have you noticed...?

[bleujazz3]

We haven't seen much of Big Mike lately? Where is Mikey? And why does he still look like a chipmunk? (Running for cover...) :D:D:p

[FrankiePRS]

Mike's alive and well, trust me. He's just spending a lot of time in his happy place. Good on ya Mykkus. Even Raiders fans deserve love. :D

[dinocicerelli]

my happy place has no midgets.

[GC Ron]

I'm sure he's a happy boy after the game today!

[Thomas Hebert]

my happy place has no midgets.

In my happy place the midgets are naked and they bring me fruit and wine ;)

[dinocicerelli]

In my happy place the midgets are naked and they bring me fruit and wine ;)

A naked midget with fruit and wine would be OK, I guess. As long as they have nice fingernails. There is nothing as gnarly looking as a midget with gnarly fingernails.

[fazen]

my happy place has no midgets.

I think they prefer to be called dwarves.

"My happy place has no dwarves" :)

[bleujazz3]

Oh if I were a midget (fishy), I wish I were a bass,
So I could climb up on the rocks,
And slide down on my.....hands and knees...

Famous little kid song from 1966 in our neighborhood.

Come on, you had kid songs from your neighborhood, what were some of 'em?

[bleujazz3]

In my happy place the midgets are naked and they bring me fruit and wine ;)

I agree entirely. Only thing I can't handle is midget-jello wrestling. Some things even a grown man won't do.

[dinocicerelli]

Some things even a grown man won't do.

You got that right, Bob.

[bleujazz3]

You got that right, Bob.

Jello-aside, here's my take, and a holiday wish for you, Dino:

The core of my mindset is based on a body of knowledge. If someone leaves an unanswered question up to the imagination, it only causes confusion.

I prefer to think that being a zealous (not a zealot) worker has its benefits. It allows us to strip away the misconceptions about how the world sees each of us.

Someone once said, it's like peeling away the layers of an onion. We know that there is a unknown vast amount of knowledge in the universe. No human person has immediate recognition of this knowledge, despite the fact that a human's brain is larger than any other living creature on this earth, and the brain acquires knowledge as a person grows to a healthy maturity.

While many of us often find comfort in the more base things in life, we forget that knowledge is something that can be acquired through personal study, and remembering basic principles with which we are instructed.

When we disregard falsehoods, fiction, and other distractions that only embellish life but often add to its worsening complexity, life can make sense again.

Modern day society is based on how well it can draw out knowledge from a person without being intrusive. I suggest that if someone sincerely want to understand something, he should ask himself what the answer is, or allow someone to ask a question that gets him to reason on it for himself.

This is how the best teachers instruct students; by providing an illustration or situation in life, then asking a viewpoint question and allowing students to reason on the answers for themselves. In this manner, students attain a personal knowledge of the principles taught and are able to make it their own personal study because of their own perspective on those principles.

Some things a man won't do? Tear a band-aid off a crying child's elbow. (I'll wait until the child is calmer). Change a diaper in an unlit room. Allow a 3-year-old to wear make-up, even if she looks cute as a clown after the fact. Wear a plaid shirt and striped jacket with corduroy pants. Cook dinner for my little creatures in my yard (they get dinner from a can, dry food, seeds or apples, as always).

Here's my holiday wish, Dino:

I still say the best, most delicious meal I can make for my family that means more to me than anything else is a lemon-pepper roast chicken, garlic mashed potatoes, kernel corn, crescent roll, chicken gravy, and apple or pumpkin pie dinner.

Cook the pie(s) the day before serving the meal and reheat with some cheddar cheese, ice cream or Cool Whip..

Pick up a roaster chicken at your market, about 7 lbs. Remove the giblets, wash it and pat it dry with a paper towel. Salt the inside if the chicken cavity with about 2 tsp of salt. Cut 2 carrots into quartered sticks and 1 stalk of celery into sticks. Fill the chicken cavity with the carrots and celery. Stuff half a lemon into the end of the chicken cavity. Fold the wings under the chicken, and tie up the legs with butcher's twine. Season the chicken with lemon pepper seasoning (available at Penzey's Spices (www.penzeys.com)), and place in a preheated 400 degree F oven for one hour.

After the first hour, turn the temperature down to 325 degrees and cook until the chicken is done (the pop-up gauge will tell you when the bird is done). You can estimate when the chicken will be done by calculating 20 minutes per pound of chicken. (i.e., a 7 lb. chicken with take 140 minutes, or 1 hour 20 minutes)

Cooking the chicken at 400 degrees for the first hour ensures good browning. During the last hour and 20 minutes you can make the garlic mashed potatoes and corn. The crescent rolls can go the oven in after the chicken is done and these take only 11 to 13 minutes, plenty of time to cook while you carve the chicken. I serve the rolls with butter and honey.

All of this shouldn't be holiday hell. Just find one or two other people who can set the table and clean up after you have cooked and your reward is a meal that you have prepared, and somebody else helps clean up.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your daughter, Dino. I hope you will find refreshment in my virtual feeding, and the answers to the questions you seek.