Carpe diem... odds and ends...

Laundry is done, again.

Chocolate chip cookies made. Yummy! I also did a little experimenting. I bought a dozen eggs at a ridiculously low price and froze them in batches of two. After thawing a couple eggs, I used them in the cookies, and they worked great! Good to know. Freezing eggs at What's Cooking America.

Today, I moved another must-read author to the no list. How to turn me off as a reader, in a New York minute: Tout go green, global warming, carbon footprint, vegan is best, be entirely self-sufficient, and a stupid heroine.

Do I believe in being environmentally friendly? Yes. Do I believe that a lot of the Green ideas are nonsense? Yes. Did you see in the news that those "green" light bulbs cause cancer? But only if you turn them on. Really. It's so stupid I can't help but laugh.

Global warming has been proven wrong. The scientists themselves have admitted that they cooked the books. If they'd done the same thing to your 401K, you would have been screaming when you learned that you didn't have nearly as much money as you thought. Get over it. Move on. Find another cause, like human trafficking, which is real and truly horrific. Carbon footprints go hand in hand with global warming, and are just as invalid. There's a reason the carbon exchange collapsed; it was proven to be a lie. Do you plan on getting rid of your dog because it has twice the carbon footprint of an SUV? Based on a lie. Do you know how many poor communities depend on shipping their funny knick knacks or unique foods to world markets? Creates a huge carbon footprint, which is a lie. So are you going to squash this village for a lie? What? I'm being unfair? Using emotional blackmail? Pot/kettle.

I don't mind if someone chooses to be vegan. Their choice. They have the right to choose it. It isn't an easy lifestyle choice. It's all too easy to end up malnourished. And before you criticize me for eating meat, I suggest you read The Secret Life of Plants. Then we'll talk.

Nor can I express how annoying it is to watch a cooking show that declares that everyone should have their own farm. Have they really thought this through? The logistics alone are insane. What about other jobs that need doing... unless their plan is that no one travels, everyone will be healthy because they decree it, there will be no need for police because everyone will be obedient, they're willing to have their home burn to the ground, next time mother nature sends lighting... what planet are they on? Not this one. People are flawed. Some people enjoy hurting and humiliating others. When the world is perfect, then we'll discuss it. Oh, wait, we won't need to because we'll be perfect.

And finally, there is nothing in a story that makes me want to rant more than a heroine who is being stalked, but she is not going to be dictated to by anyone. Great. You're going to put yourself in harms way, along with anyone with whom you come in contact, so you can prove how prideful you are. No one is allowed to protect you because you are independent to the point of stupidity.

Now, the other side of this "coin." I've read books that present these same issues without ruffling my feathers, except global warming and carbon footprints, which have been proven to be lies. Yes, I'm emphasizing. I'm sick of hearing about it, especially hearing about it still being preached as if it were true. Simply repeating the lie will not make it true. Ever.

Green: Walking a block instead of driving a block. Donating items to charity. Not littering. I'm so glad that smoking is no longer in vogue. It's disgusting to be out walking, and literally everywhere is littered with cigarette butts. What is attractive about that?

Several of my favorite heroines are vegan, but they don't rub anyone's nose in it, and they don't expect everyone to follow their lead. They are not offended that others love meat. They recognize it's a choice. They don't even tout that it's particularly healthy, only that it's their choice. Gotta love someone who takes personal responsibility for their choices, without expecting everyone to do what they do.

Being self-sufficient is a good thing, really, but not everyone lives in a place where it's possible, and pretending otherwise is exactly that: Pretending. A lie. I've done the garden, and it was so discouraging when beetles ate more of the veggies than I did. I do have some blackberries bushes that provide some delicious jam, which I learned how to make, every year, except when the weather heats too fast, which it does from time to time, but not every year, so no it isn't global warming, which is a lie. The important thing is to do what you are able.

And finally, our stalked heroine: She allows the hero to protect her without being milquetoast. She compromises and works with him, instead of behaving like a spoiled brat, who has to have her way. It isn't attractive. Don't think I like stupid men, either, because I don't. The heroine is quite capable of making her own choices; please don't decide for her. It's insulting, not only to her intelligence but to his. I mean, is a hero really attractive if he's interested in someone with an IQ matching her shoe size? Anymore than a woman who's interested in a man who isn't any smarter than said same shoe size? And just for the record: Bickering is not attractive. I've seen some arguments and clashes that were spectacular and worked well in the story, but petty bickering and arguing is exactly that: petty, and not attractive.

Whew. I've been thinking about all that for a while. Maybe now it will leave me alone.