While driving through Middlebury the other day, I regretfully broke my fourteen year boycott of the Golden Arches. Although my morals were about to be compromised, there was no turning back...My intentions were clear as I walked through this dreadful establishment's sinful ingress. I passed the threshold, took a deep breath, walked into the restroom, and eagerly released my bowels; hey, when you gotta go, you gotta go!!! I guess there is ONE positive attribute to the McDonald's franchise...

March was badcolonies.org biggest month ever for traffic, including the rally entry timeframe. April is well on track to overtake March. Special thanks to the visitors and especially Darwins Preacher and Ghoti_n_Czopc for bringing some fresh content to drive the traffic. All of this would be really great if there was some financial output, but alas it has always been for the fun of creation, sharing and a wee bit of interaction.

ciao ciao S Nathaniel

chalk drawings from Julian Beever. Incredible!

Julian Beever is an English artist who's famous for his art on the pavement of England, France, Germany, USA, Australia and Belgium. Beever gives to his drawings an amazing 3D illusion! Remember, as you view them....... these are all done on level walkways!

These people seem very cheesy.......but they are onto a great idea!

Have you heard about the purple bracelet people?

http://www.acomplaintfreeworld.org/howitworks.html

"Begin to wear the bracelet, on either wrist.

When you catch yourself complaining, gossiping or criticizing (it’s ok, everyone does) move the bracelet to the other arm and begin again.

If you hear someone else who is wearing a bracelet complain, you may point out their need to switch the bracelet to the other arm; BUT if you’re going to do this, you must move your bracelet first!

Stay with it. It may take many months but when you reach 21 days you will find that your entire life is happier, more loving and more enjoyable."

“Complaining is not to be confused with informing someone of a mistake or deficiency so that it can be put right. And to refrain from complaining doesn’t necessarily mean putting up with bad quality or behavior. There is no ego in telling the waiter your soup is cold and needs to be heated up—if you stick to the facts, which are always neutral. ‘How dare you serve me cold soup…?’ That’s complaining.”

—Eckhart Tolle, “A New Earth”

a dilbert appeared in my little workspace. clearly dilbert is the genius responsible for my lot in wonderland this the past year. man, this cartoon can be depressing. cheers to the sales people. and thanks for all the fish.

i have got to get out of this business...

On my recent trip back home for Christmas I noticed that I was constantly asked the following question by friends and family: "So, what do you actually do?" Now this wasn't just a general question, rather it was in reference to my job. I guess I never thought about it, but it makes sense that if you tell someone you're working as a Naturalist they may not know what the hell that actually means you do. Before I became one, I wasn't even completely sure. Often times people nod as if they understand but then they think about it for a second, and out comes the question. I laughed many times (to myself) at the irony of the situation: my boss and most people at work have a hard time grasping what it is I do as well, and I constantly feel like I have to justify my work and even the existence of my position, which is frustrating to say the least, and now I felt as if I was doing the same thing to my family and friends. Not that this question was in any way mean spirited, people were honestly interested in what I did, but the correlation in my mind was unavoidable. My actual job title is Interpretive Specialist, but I long ago gave up telling people this because the confusion and absurdity of responses I received quickly went from amusing to monotonous (Ex.- "Really??? That's cool, how many languages do you know?"). I asked my boss if I could change my job title to Interpretive Genius, but he did not find this very funny, so we agreed to change it to Naturalist, though they still haven't found money in the budget for a new nametag. Anyway, to dispel many peoples' first notion that I am running around the woods naked eating bark and conversing with birds, I found a great video that helps illustrate what I do. Let's just say my guided hikes and presentations are very closely modeled after this video, so if you can't make it out here anytime soon you can still experience the wonder and amazement that I bring to visitors each day during the summer as I guide them through the forest. As a side note, if you don't have time to watch the entire video, at the very least it is well worth waiting for the dancing girls to emerge...

Even for non culinary person like me, Google recipe search is super cool. I decided to take a shot at the greatest meal in the entire eastern block, Shashlik. Here it is:
www.google.com

Russian Shashlik
Make 4 servings
Categories: Main Course Ethnic Low-fat Russian
Ingredients
2.00 tablespoon Corn oil
1.00 large Shallot, minced
2.00 large Garlic, cloves, fine-minced
1.00 tablespoon Parsley, freshly-chopped
1.00 small Onion, finely-minced
1.25 cup Pomegranate juice, unsweet.
1.50 lb Lamb, cut from leg
4.00 dash Cayenne pepper

Preparation
Tart-and-sweet and slightly astringent pomegranate juice the base for
the marinade in the recipe for this popular dish. True Russian style?
Da! Russian overabundance of calories? Nyet! Trim away all fat from
meat. Cut into 2" chunks. Place in small bowl together with onion,
garlic, shallot, parsley, cayenne pepper and pomegranate juice. Cover
and refrigerate overnight. Remove meat from marinade and pat dry.
Skewer the meat, using four substantial skewers. Brush with oil.
Broil under very high heat, turning often until done. Some prefer it
slightly pink (12 minutes). Well done will take about 20 minutes.
Remove from skewers and serve on a heated plate with Kasha.
VARIATIONS: Include 2 green peppers cut into 12 chunks, 4 tomatoes
cut into quarters, and 4 small, white onions, peeled and cut in half.
Skewer alternate chunks of vegetable and meat chunks. Proceed
according to recipe.
www.ecuisine.org