I became insane with long intervals of horrible sanity.
Edgar Allen Poe

The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one's time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all.
- H. L. Mencken

Many people would sooner die than think; In fact, they do so
-Bertrand Russell

What I have been telling you, from alpha to omega, what is the one great thing the sigil taught me — that everything in life is miraculous. For the sigil taught me that it rests within the power of each of us to awaken at will from a dragging nightmare of life made up of unimportant tasks and tedious useless little habits, to see life as it really is, and to rejoice in its exquisite wonderfulness. If the sigil were proved to be the top of a tomato-can, it would not alter that big fact, nor my fixed faith. No Harrowby, the common names we call things by do not matter — except to show how very dull we are ...
-James Branch Cabell

May 31, 2014 - 11:27 a.m.

Thorin's Wisdom

I had very bad insomnia last night so now I can't remember the brilliant entry I had planned for today. You'll have to take it on faith that if I had remembered and you read it, it would have changed your life.

I have decided to create a new profession for myself, gustatory therapy. This must actually exist. What is it? Read on.

I had another one of those, "I can't get myself moving" days. I have had too many of them. I ended up not going shopping so I had nothing for dinner. Well I did, but not what I wanted. And I wanted to get out of the house. I wanted something that would make me feel good, comfort food. I Googled "Best hot dogs Brooklyn." I found The Vanderbilt in Prospect Heights, only 20 minutes from here. The list actually recommended the Kielbasa but it's meat in a casing and it looks like a hot dog so it counts. I got dressed hopped on the subway to check it out. I got in and the place looked trendy, not a plus for me But I was there and the food was recommended and there was an open seat at the bar. I took it and checked out the menu. It was designed oddly, Instead of listing main courses and sides it was all combos. It had the kielbasa I wanted with German potato salad that I didn't want. But I saw they had cottage fries on a different combo. I asked if I could substitute it and was told I could. From there on in everything was not just good, it was great. I'll start with the food because this is me and food is always central. There is always a question of what you'll get when you order cottage fries. It can be totally different foods. Sometimes they are just steak fries. Sometimes it's like a fried mashed potato. This was like thick cut potato chips, fried cross-sections of a potato about a quarter inch thick. It came with this yellow thick liquid in cup. I had no idea what it was? I thought it might be mustard. I dipped a finger in it and tasted it. It was something hot but I couldn't quite identify it. I decided to use it instead of mustard. It turns out that it was spiced up mayonnaise. No complaints from me. Everything was fantastic. So was the staff. So you know how in many restaurants the wait staff acts like they wish the customers didn't want service? This was the opposite. I was served by two waitresses. Both repeatedly asked me if everything was good and if I were enjoying myself. There was someone behind the counter and he wanted to know if I was enjoying my food. They didn't just asked me pro forma, they all smiled and acted like they cared. They were such pleasant people to be around. They all said good bye to me when I left. I tipped nicely of course but they all deserve raises. I don't care what they get, they deserve more. Oh and the waitresses were both very cute and reminded me of people I like, Katie and Emily. OK everyone I know is named some variation of Katie and I know several Emilys or is that Emilies? How do I say which ones without giving the last names here. It's Katie from We're About 9 and Seth's girlfriend Emily. Seth and Emily this means you can never breakup or people reading this in the future won't know who I'm talking about. If you hit a rough patch keep that in mind.

There is one more fantastic thing about the Vanderbilt, it is only a block from Ample Hills Creamery, the best ice cream I've had in Brooklyn. So of course that was my next stop. I had a pretzel cone with a scoop of dark chocolate and a scoop of the munchies, Pretzel infused ice cream with clusters of potato chips, pretzels, Ritz crackers, and mini M&Ms! Combined with the pretzel cone I had lots of sweet and salty.


I am a purveyor of food porn. I should have taken a pic of my kielbasa and cottage fries. I'm sorry. They need to come up with a way of postings smells and tastes online.

I ate the cone as I walked and finished it shortly before getting on the subway. The came almost immediately. Things kept on working out perfectly. When I got home I realized that I was happier than I've been in weeks. That's when I realized the value of gustatory therapy. Forget teaching. People will come to me with their problems and I'll prescribe fun food to make them happy. Know something, there's more truth to that than plenty of therapies that people pay good money for.

I called Brianne when I got home as she's had to listen to me when I was sad so I wanted her to hear me when I was happy.

The difference between last night and the rest of the day was the food but my improved mood was set up by something else too. I have had more meaningful conversation in the last week than in the previous few months.

A miracle occurred, I remembered what I wanted to write about. The question is, should I write about it now? I've already written 920 words. By the way as I'm a stickler for such things 920 was the 920th word. That's what it always mean when I write things like that. I should also point out that URLs and HTML tags you don't see count as words. So here's what I'm going to do. I am going to write it down in my diary ideas page. Next time I have nothing to write about I'll use it. And then I won't have the pressure of you expecting it to change your life. It will change your life but only if you don't know it will change your life.

Today's plan is to go up to The Common Ground to see Jerron Blind Boy Paxton and Mamie Minch. Now I'm going to make breakfast, poached eggs and Taylor ham. Are there really bloggers that don�t write about everything they eat? What's the point?

I just realized I'm following Thorin's wisdom. His last words to Bilbo are: "If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world." At least there's a merrier me.


I signed the Pro-Truth Pledge:
please hold me accountable.





Memories: Not that Horrid Song - May 29, 2018
Wise Madness is Now In Session - May 28, 2018
The NFL and the First Amendment - May 27, 2018
On The Road Again - May 26, 2018
Oliver the Three-Eyed Crow - May 25, 2018



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Horvendile May 31, 2014
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