When did mice get so expensive....and awesome?

Yesterday, my mouse died! I had been using it for the past two years. And best part was that it was a tiny optical mouse with retractable cord....one of the twins my bro had gotten for free from a DuPont exhibition. It was cute and small and had light all in the right places. But I guess it lived wayyyy longer than I had expected it to!

So anyway, yesterday I decided to order a mouse online instead of going to Staples or the Shack since this way, I would get more variety and lower prices. I was interested only in a Logitech mouse and searched for it on their website, on Amazon, and on NewEgg. Last time I actually bought a mouse was in 2004, which I forgot back home, and is still living (I assume). That was a corded optical mouse, so I decided to get a laser cordless mouse this time around. I assumed that 40 bucks for such a mouse should be enough, and I would be able to get a pretty good one with that amount. WRONG!!

I looked at some mice on Amazon, and they're....hot!! I mean seriously, have you had a look at them? Those gaming mice? Take a look at this one on the right. My right hand could get aroused just looking at it...holding it...lying on top of it!! Man!! And the features.... a Nano receiver, it can work on any surface, including glass, and has a million other tiny little things I didn't know a mouse could do! The only drawback is its pricetag....$100...no thank you...not even for my favorite hand!

If you thought Logitech Performance MX was mean, check out Logitech MX Air!! It works on the desk or in air. In AIR!! AIR!! How awesome is that? It's tempting...AIR!!....but be prepared to pay $150! AIR!! Okay...still way to much...AIR!! Talk about Tourette's!!



So then I finally bought Logitech v400...on the cheaper side, but still a cordless laser mouse...oh well...


AIR AIR AIR...

Beliefs and Science

Belief makes a star appear as a god, science makes a star appear as gases.

Every now and then, I ask myself how people can hold onto beliefs which they cannot prove are facts...and this is one of those times. There is a Philadelphia forum that I follow to read about current events in my neighborhood, and on that forum, there's a section called Spirituality and Faith. In that section, there is a user who is a creationist and posts excerpts from books and studies supporting his beliefs. Is he wrong in his beliefs? Who is to say what is right and wrong when it comes to beliefs. But my frustrations with such people come from the fact that they consider their beliefs to be true and everything else to be false. I am not questioning their faith in any way....they can follow whatever they want to, but when they start putting their unscientific "facts" to explain their validity is what infuriates me.

Unfortunately, such people exist everywhere. Take for example this guy on the forum...it doesn't matter how many facts and scientific studies you put in front of him, he is never going to understand them. He infuriates others on the forum because he doesn't even try reading the scientific studies posted by others. He believes, no wait, he KNOWS that what he believes is the truth and everything that doesn't correspond to his beliefs is false. Ironic, isn't it? Because this belief is what it is, a belief and not a science. Science is about change. Science is when you stop believing that Earth is flat because you have evidence which shows that it's round. It's when you stopped believing that atom was the smallest constituent of matter when electron came along.

I understand when people want to resist change...it's scary and it's unknown. This is especially true for people who live by certain beliefs, which could be anything, and changing these beliefs could very well mean changing themselves. But calling yourselves scientific under such circumstances is wrong. Go ahead, resist change if you must, but stop thwarting others' efforts to make a progress. Like that guy on the forum, you can argue for your beliefs, but when we show you the evidence, have the balls to quit or accept change....otherwise, you're just a dumb fuck!

What now, Apple Fanboy?

As I've mentioned in my earlier posts, most people going for Apple products do so more for their looks than anything else. Recently, HP came out with a line of notebooks called Envy that is bound to give Macs a run for their money!! Check them out here. Apart from being sleek and Windows Vista and 7 compatible, Envy has a user-replaceable battery, unlike Macbook Pro!! Yayyy for user-repleaceable batteries! But if you're not into user-replaceable batteries, try Dell's Adamo series notebooks which are Windows compatible.

So, all you Apple Fanbois out there who bought Macs because "they look good" (80%of all Mac users) and nothing else, are you gonna make the switch or would it be too shameful for you to admit that something better exists out there?

WHAT THE FUCK, LAYS??

I was having a perfect day. The weather was nice, I ran into one of my old classmates, and everything was going great....until I came home with my groceries!! First, I went to Whole Foods to get perishable items and dinner, and then went across the street to a Super Fresh to get non-perishable items. I usually don't eat chips but since I had picked up a sandwich from WF, I decided to get a bag of chips. I looked for the "healthiest" item in the aisle, read the nutritional info (mainly fat content and carbs) and threw it into my cart. It was Lay's Baked BBQ chips.

I got back to my apartment, opened my sandwich, opened the big bag of chips, took out a few and put them on my plate, and put one crisp in my mouth. It had a different taste. I have tried regular Lays BBQ in the past, and this one was different. Most likely, it was because it was baked, not fried like the regular Lays. So then, I decided to check the ingredient list. First thing I read was "CONTAINS EGG, MILK, SOY, AND WHEAT INGREDIENTS". Hmm....sure these are potato chips, I asked myself. I understand milk because it might have cheese, and these days, it's difficult to find a product without soy or wheat ingredients. But egg? That's an odd one!

So I continued reading the main ingredients, which are as follows:

Dehydrated potatoes, corn oil, modified food starch, sugar, salt, and less than 1% of the following: onion powder, soy lecithin, dextrose, leavening (monocalcium phosphate and sodium bicarbonate), natural flavors, molasses, fructose, spices, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, torula yeast, wheat starch, garlic powder, malt extract, maltodextrin, extracts of paprika, citric acid, chicken fat, soy flour, tomato paste, corn syrup solids, yeast extract, barley malt flour, lactic acid, egg yolk, and whey.

Chicken fat?? WHAT THE FUCK IS CHICKEN FAT DOING IN MY BAG OF CHIPS???? I would've overlooked the chicken fat had it come at a time when I wasn't a vegetarian. But seriously...chicken fat? I know about deep fried shit in tallow and lard, but this is taking it a bit too far. So then, I decided to check out Lays' website to get more info on their other products. What do I find? A lot of their products contain Porcine, or pork enzyme....essentially, enzymes from piggies. Almost all of them have natural flavors. For those of you who don't know what natural flavor is,
The exact definition of natural flavorings & flavors from Title 21, Section 101, part 22 of the Code of Federal Regulations is as follows:

"The term natural flavor or natural flavoring means the essential oil, oleoresin, essence or extractive, protein hydrolysate, distillate, or any product of roasting, heating or enzymolysis, which contains the flavoring constituents derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf or similar plant material, meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy products, or fermentation products thereof, whose significant function in food is flavoring rather than nutritional."

Few years ago, I had read a book by Eric Schlosser, Fast Food Nation, where he described the differences between artificial and so-called natural flavors. I won't go into all the details, but the bottom line is that natural flavor isn't really "natural". Some more research later I found out that Frito Lay's wasn't giving out exact information about what kind of flavors were included in "natural flavors" (figure it out for yourself if you're smart enough). Hmm..... MOFO ASSHOLES!! I mean seriously!!??!

Is it too much to ask for vegetarian yogurt, vegetarian Starburst and Skittles, and vegetarian potato chips...like they have it in the UK?

The "R" word

Racism....what's with this word? For some people, this word has become a taboo. Some put this out there as if everything comes down to this one common denominator. And for some, it doesn't mean anything. Recent events, especially former President Jimmy Carter's interview where he said, "I think overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man, that he’s African American..." has brought this issue into the spotlight again. But before I say anything, I want to make it clear that whatever I say in here is based on my experience and knowledge, so feel free to disagree.

Does racism exist? I'll be damned if it doesn't!! One thing that drives humankind is power. Every single one of us wants to have power...being powerless is scary!! Throughout the history, we have seen people use different techniques to gain power. We have had wars because of that, we have raped, pillaged, and plundered for power. Our history shows that we can go to any lengths for that power....and unfortunately, we don't learn from our mistakes. Discrimination is one of the ways in which we maintain power and control. When I talk about discrimination, I not only mean in terms of race but also in terms of religion, caste, class, gender, and sexuality. Racism is just one of them...

I come from a country where we do not have racism. There, we 'only' discriminate people on the basis of their caste, creed, education, and culture (part of the country they're from). Fortunately, I had always belonged in the majority group in my country and felt safe. Although I had traveled to other countries, I had never stayed in those places long enough to be pushed aside. It wasn't until I came here that I realized the privileges I had back home. Would things have been different had a been a White alien? Probably. I have known other White non-citizens who had heavy accents not being asked whether they were US citizens or if they understood English. This has happened to me a few times....being asked if I understood English...among other absurd things.

That was in the Wonder Bread land, the Midwest. The other day, a couple of my friends asked me to acompany them to a bar that I had never been to in Philly. But when I went in there, I felt like I was the only minority in that place....and people were looking at me funny. No, they didn't ask me to leave.....not verbally at least. But their looks said it all! Unfortunately, there have been a lot of other times when I have encountered similar behavior. Is it because I'm a non-thin person? No, I see several people fatter than me. Is it because of my clothes? I don't think so, I see others wearing similar clothes. Is it because of my accent? Could be, but I hear a guy in suit with a German accent. Is it my ethnicity? Bingo!! No non-white person around! I feel like an animal in a zoo, so I have an overpriced beer and leave the bar 10 minutes after I entered.

Yes, racism exists....at least from where I stand...like it or not. But then someone says, "show me the racism, I cannot see it!". Of course you cannot....we don't have segregated drinking ountains anymore, do we? What we have now is covert racism, not overt racism. An African American driving in a White neighborhood gets pulled over for no apparent reason...that's racism. A White American says he is "colorblind", that's racism. Hah...you can still see shades of gray, can't you? This is one issue that gets me really mad...colorblind!! How does that work? Because when I meet someone different than me, I don't ignore the fact that they're different. I don't look at them and say, "oh you're White? I didn't know that!". Ignoring a person's racial/ethnic background and putting him or her in the "White norm" is wrong because you're stripping her off of her individuality, of her very culture the moment you do this.

I could go on and on about it but I'm going to stop at that for now. As for the minorities, everything isn't racism. Every single blow that you encounter isn't racism, regardless of how racism permeates into the society. Saying everything is the fault of racism makes you helpless and powerless....something you don't want. At the same time, take a stand. Just because you're the President belonging to a minority group does not mean you have to change your ways to fit into the majority group. Saying it wasn't racism but you thought it was isn't going to make people like you. Just because there is a minority President doesn't mean racism doesn't exist...tokenism, anyone? Riddle me this...if the current president wasn't so "White", would he have been elected? This question came from my 16 y/o African American client.

There is nothing worse than a racist who doesn't know he is one!

Chuck Africa, WE need this!

A couple of days ago, I was watching the Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien where he mentioned KFC's new sandwich with deep fried chicken breasts instead of buns, so I decided to search it on the net to make sure such a sandwich exists. UNfortunately, it does!! It's still in the testing phase so is available only in Providence, RI and Omaha, NE....and thank god for that!!

So the "sandwich" is called Double Down and between those two deep-fried chicken breasts are 2 kinds of cheeses, bacon, and sauce. Calories? I wasn't able to find any accurate information on that, but I'll be damned if it doesn't have at least 600 cals!!

So what did I do next? I tried searching for other outrageous menu items on America's restaurant chains' menus, fast-food and otherwise....and the results were shocking!! I always knew that DQ's Blizzards contained pure FAT and that Starbucks couldn't be healthy with all that whipped cream (regardless of what Mary-Louise Parker has on Weeds). I knew it, I knew it, but deep down, I was wishing that it wouldn't be all that bad, for the sake of humanity. Well, it is....check out the following items:

• Domino's Pasta Bread Bowl, Pizza Primavera. Couldn't find nutritional info on Domino's website but got it off from another website. 1340 Calories...that's more than a day's worth of what I should be taking in (1200 given my lifestyle and need to lose weight)


• Ruby Tuesday's Boston Blue Burger. 1424 KCal....smooth! Again, couldn't find it on Ruby Tuesday's website.


• Hardee's Monster Thickburger. Two 1/3 lb. charbroiled 100% Black Angus beef patties, 4 strips of bacon, 3 slices of American cheese and mayonnaise on a sesame seed bun. 1420 Cals.....oh momma!


• Wendy's Baconator. This one has 830 cals but 51 gms of fat (76% DV based on 2000 calorie diet) and 23 gms of saturated fat....more than 100%....!!


• Outback Steakhouse Aussie Cheese Fries with Ranch Dressing. I believe this one is from the book, Eat This, Not That! Whopping 2900 calories....that's more than two days' worth of calories for me!!


• Old Spaghetti Factory Chicken Caesar Salad, dinner portion, 990 cal. For a salad???? Just keeps getting better, doesn't it?


• Baskin Robbins Large Chocolate Oreo Shake, 2600 cal

NOW I understand why this is the fattest nation. Unfortunately, the problem runs deeper than this and it seems like no one cares about the people who actually eat this trash. I cannot imagine how it must be for the ones who eat such things....limited income, no health insurance, lack of awareness and education, and chronic ailments...that's some life!

My homemade naked burrito with guacamole, pico de gallo, black beans and brown rice is waiting for me....but I guess I just lost the appetite!

LEAVE ME BE!!

I love Mrs. X.....oh how I love her. I have mentioned her in my earlier post about adoption, check it out here. I love her for only one reason....conversations with her are always stimulating and they bring me back to reality. They make me realize why I'm not like her and why I could never be like her....oh how I love her!!

So the other day, we had a stimulating conversation....at least for me. For her, I'm pretty sure it was a nasty one. Just to inform you, I was brought up in a culture where we were taught to respect people, especially the elders, and that's why I couldn't tell her the things I wanted to tell her. But at the same time, it was difficult for me to not speak my mind...aah...the wonders of being rooted in two very different cultures! Nevertheless, I did say what I had to while being respectful.

So that day's topic was religion. How did that come up? She said that I should fast for a day (yeah, right!!) each week which would help me land a job.... Yeah, don't even get me started!! Then she asked me, "You don't believe in religion though, do you? That's the problem with the new generation". Seriously? FYI, that's not the problem with 'new generation', that's the problem with education....it makes us question useless beliefs! So then I proceeded to tell why I'm a nonbeliever (I hate the use of the word "atheist" because I don't "believe" that God doesn't exist, I just don't believe s/he does......very different!).

Fasting??? REALLY??? I have never done that in my life! I know there were girls in my school who used to do it for 9 days each year, to get a 'good husband'....Oh the horror!!! Thank god (just an expression, don't get your knickers in a twist) my parents weren't religious!! So anyway, Mrs. X said I should fast because even if it didn't work, it wouldn't be harmful ("except for my metabolism", I mumbled). Then, out of nowhere, she said that I should turn to religion and god, because the only way is up. OUCH!!! That was way below the belt...!

Now, I could've said something equally insulting/hurtful, but I realized she is a family friend, older than my mom, so I let it go. But my question is, what is the deal with religious people? Why are they always trying to convert you? I don't go around knocking on people's doors asking them to support my beliefs! I don't try to convert religious ones into nonbelievers (although it wouldn't be difficult). And I respect all religious people (except religious zealots). So why can't they?


If believing in freedom and respect for all, believing in science, and having transgendered friends screams depravity, then be it. Go ahead, live your pious, moral life with your ignorance and naivete...!