I'm 33, as of last November.  Not old, by most measures, but not exactly hitting puberty, either.  The weird thing about getting older is watching your tastes change right in front of you.  Like music, for example.  As a young little shit, I never really liked Nirvana, but lately I have been digging on them.  Beck is another one.  Recently he has been showing up on my Pandora station and I haven't been "disliking" it as I normally would.  It is kind of neat to have new music to listen to, but it bothers me to think that my really cool and hip music tastes are becoming like yours.

Clothing is another.  I've pretty much been wearing black Dickies pants for about three years now, along with beer shirts, band shirts, and beer-related hoodies.  Yesterday I stepped up and bought a jacket.  Like, a real one.  Then I realized that I loved it and everything else in the Ben Sherman shop I was in.  Yes, I have begun to like ... designer clothes!  I'm a bit afraid of what's next for me - going to bed early?  Buying art?  Having dinner parties?

Growing up is weird.  

Hair Bands and Their Impact On Society

Laying here, watching a Poison video, and realizing that the metro sexual thing that happened a few years ago was just a reincarnation of the 1980s hair band thing. I mean, you have the make up, the meticulously styled hair, and the awful clothes. All you need is a smoke machine and spandex and we have the greatest music decade all over again.

That's all.

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Ramen Tests - #1 - Unif-100 Artificial Tart Beef

You have to admit - the Chinese have a serious set of balls.  I mean, to just flat out say "artificial" right there in the name of your product and still expect people to buy is pretty punk rock.  We aren't fooling oursleves - we know that most shit is artificial, from concentrate, or at least dragged through the muck before reaching our faces, but we hide behind that by reading the front of the packet and going "well this seems fine to me".

As per the "Cooking Instruction", I loaded the bowl with the noodles, then opened the three flavoring packets into the bowl and added my water.  After it was covered for the required 3 minutes, I removed the cover and checked out my lunch.  The water/broth is a nice red/amber color, with lots of previously dehydrated bits and bobs floating around.  Looks good, smells good.

Tasting it, I realize just how much normal ramen sucks.  This stuff is packed full of flavor and spice, and I swear I'm right there in the chem lab, creating the beef flavor along with the scientists.  I don't pick up on much of the tart flavor they were touting in the name.  Perhaps it's just cutting sort some of the spice. I dunno.   It is pretty oily, though, with a slickness hanging around in my mouth that is not all together welcome.  The salt really comes out as well.  I feel like if I spit in a cup and dried it, I could harvest some salt for dinner.

All in all a good meal.  Not sure if I can finish it, as the oil is starting to rumble my gut, but the flavors were great and I'd get it again.  As should you.

Ramen Tests - An Introduction to pain

Being broke, out of a job, and a bit of a masochist, I've recently turned back to eating ramen noodles.  Reliving memories of downing two Cup o Noodles in a sitting during my high school days, I figure this will be a nice tasty journey for me.

Then I remembered 99 Ranch Market had opened up in my town.  Being the keepers of all things Asian and tasty, I headed there for my ramen revival.  The wall of dried noodles with small packets of chemical flavorings and oils made me weep openly, for I have completed my quest.

At any rate, here I am, with a cupboard full of various flavors of ramens and a whole lot of free time.  So with each one I eat, I'll post my thoughts and feelings about it, along with a photo, so that you can join me along my path to some other sort of physical aliment.  

Aren't I nice?
High blood pressure, let's be friends ...