kbobam

This is an area in the Southeast section of Washington, D.C. It's the PCP capital of the world (literally), and basically just not a place you want to be. But gainful employment is hard to turn down these days. And hey! I grew up on the streets of New York City! So I was only a little bit completely terrified. Got to where I was going, and jumped out of the truck. Had to take two full steps before I could take this picture. ( :

Like it!

Oh geesh. That doesn't sound too bad. But I can't be certain. You can put all the marshmallow glop in the world on sweet potatoes, and I still hate them. I don't bother with peeling raw carrots anymore, mostly out of laziness. They seem fine either way. On a separate note, my father once voiced his opinion that "It isn't even really a pizza without anchovies". I wasn't having any of it at the time, but I sort of agree with him now. Just can't find anyone to eat one with. ( :

I'm convinced that this is a 'built-in' trait we have. It usually remains dormant until the age of 50 or so, probably because the 'big five oh' feels like such a life-changing event for so many of us. I remember when this first became apparent. I was sitting in a lunch area with four other guys. After we'd shot the bull for a while, I had this wonderful 'brotherhood' feeling come over me. And part of it was the amusement that I was the only 'white' guy there, but I wasn't the 'odd man out'. That distinction belonged to the guy who was twenty years younger than the rest of us! We had little interest in talking with him. It's kind of a neat thing. It reminds me of the "there are no atheists in foxholes" concept. You get to be a certain age and suddenly there's an automatic 'respect' going on for others like you. They've 'been there and back'. Being a 'guy' is really difficult, and it just seems to keep getting 'more so'. So all of a sudden it doesn't matter anymore whether you used to hate 'conservatives' or 'liberals', or whether you were a 'homophobe' or a 'racist'. All that stuff disappears! We're all in this together! P.S. Just addressing one particular idea here, but I have no doubt that being a woman is equally 'difficult'. ( :

OMG! Your avatar marble's moving!

There are most likely a few others I would say the exact same thing about. And this may be a repost, but if so it was several years ago. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tECqD1EfQJE

'With' skin, or 'without'? ( :

So it's definitely looking like cooked spinach is a no-no at dinner parties. I mean, why serve something which at best will have a 50% success rate? Was glad to see I wasn't alone in making the raw/cooked distinction. Feel the same way about carrots.

That's a good one. Cooked spinach is pretty repulsive to me. But it's great on a funky white pizza, where the limited cooking doesn't ruin it. Also terrific raw in a healthy salad! I should mention for the record that my 'healthy salads' involve mass quantities of thousand island dressing, crumbled cheese, and real bacon bits.

Yeah, that's pretty cool! Never heard of the apple skin 'thing' until you mentioned it. Or of the 'bitter receptor'. It does all sound related. This whole thing got me wondering about a particular situation. I'd like to hear if anyone has any most and/or least favorite things to eat. But , it has to be something that almost everyone you know feels the exact opposite about. ( :

I took a pretty good shot of these guys last year. But I wanted to try it again. Have been watching them for a few weeks now, and have noticed that they seem to change their positions relative to each other pretty much on a daily basis. This is because when I go in and out of the house I make a point of looking at them in a 'picture-taking' mindset. I check them out from many angles and visualize 'rectangles' floating in the air and decide whether they're filling the rectangle properly or not. The technique used to do this involves squatting at different levels while simultaneously shifting the upper body from side to side. Followed by a still-squatting 'crab walk' to one side and then the other. Neighbors and passers-by think I'm nuts. Anyway, I thought tonight they 'filled the rectangle' pretty well.

I just clipped this part of a web encyclopedia's description of the stuff. Different people may perceive the taste of coriander leaves differently. Those who enjoy it say it has a refreshing, lemony or lime-like flavor, while those who dislike it have a strong aversion to its taste and smell, likening it to that of soap and bugs.[15][22] Twin studies have shown that 80% of identical twins shared the same preference for the herb, but fraternal twins agreed only about half the time, strongly suggesting a genetic component to the preference. In a genetic survey of nearly 30,000 people, two genetic variants linked to perception of coriander have been found, the most common of which is a gene involved in sensing smells.[23] The gene, OR6A2, lies within a cluster of olfactory-receptor genes, and encodes a receptor that is highly sensitive to aldehyde chemicals. Flavor chemists have found that the coriander aroma is created by a half-dozen or so substances, and most of these are aldehydes. Those who dislike the taste are sensitive to the offending unsaturated aldehydes, while simultaneously may also be unable to detect the aromatic chemicals that others find pleasant.[24] Association between its taste and several other genes, including a bitter-taste receptor, have also been found.[25] Thought the first sentence was interesting. And possibly an understatement. Have come to realize that some people are almost violent in their dislike for the stuff. (Please disregard changes in fonts here. The computer is going nuts.) I personally love the stuff and can't get enough of it. But it definitely seems like one of those things which should be avoided in a 'main course' for guests. Good Scotch is a similar product. Guess which side I'm on with that one! ( :

1933 or thereabout. Eleanor Roosevelt in her Buick! ( :

Hee-hee! I have a sneaking suspicion that there might be other people around here who feel similarly!

Thanks for the 'word'! This is incredibly fascinating for me. ( : http://biomimeticsummit.com/general-information/what-is-biomimesis/

The yelling bird is hilarious. I'm hearing "Workers, unite!" ( : Also cracked up over the tilted head question by the second dog involved in the 'joke'. Jess, I don't know dogs real well overall. I'm ass-uming that 'dobie' refers to a Doberman. This dog has always confused me. They're so often portrayed in movies and similar as violent and threatening 'security' dogs. But I've been around for a long time, and every single Doberman I've ever met has been as sweet and loving as dogly possible. ( :

Enjoyed your title, and I guess there've been a few good fights here. But I don't think people here get into that sort of thing too often. They sometimes get into 'spirited debate', but my personal feeling is that this board lacks a lot in terms of being 'fight central'. Good thing. This is mostly because most of the people who've decided to be here on a long-term basis just enjoy sharing the 'marble love' ( :.

Nice. I really like the eggs. Are there non-egg versions of this marble and/or a name? Don't often find myself excited by what I guess I'll call 'pastel' colors. But these are very '3D' and dramatic!

Carnival and Halloween are both great. The photo with the cullet made me think of sushi for some reason. But separate from that, it's a great 'made for each other' shot. ( :

Thanks so much for the response. I was a little worried I'd 'shut everyone up' with that post. Every once in a while, when I do a really focused concentration on natural patterns, I can get into a hypnotic state where the entire universe comes together and makes sense. ( : I think my man Edward Weston felt sort of the same thing.

I made a conscious decision to not try to describe the 'feeling' that spotting a rainbow gives me. Decided I wouldn't be able to do it well. Glad to see that it wasn't necessary anyway. I think you guys 'get it'.

Wax soda bottles! Haven't thought about them in a while! What a ridiculous concept. But somehow it made sense at the time!

This is like a nice bedtime story with a cliff-hanger. And I'm not going to sleep until I know if you ever made it home! ♪ You can't make me... You can't make me... ♪ And what kind of candy did you get?

The rarely-seen Wild Flowering Asparagus! Yeah, okay. I have no idea what it is. ( :

Looks nice! And, as always, my personal tendency is to feel more attachment to less-than-perfect marbles which can be handled in a relaxed manner. The 100% perfect marbles make me nervous. A marble that got 'swatted' across the floor by a cat has a 'memory'. ( :