In turning the tables news ... the NCIL (National Council for Independent Living) is having their annual conference downtown. As a result, we're having some instances of wheelchair gridlock. In addition, the wheelchair people are taking over some places, outnumbering those on foot. It's kind of an interesting perspective, having them be in the majority, even for a brief while.

mfnlaw and I had dinner last week and we noticed a large number of wheelchair/mobility impaired patrons in the restaurant and bar.

Sounds like impending CrippleTron doom!

I kind of get a kick out of seeing a bunch of people in wheelchairs moving fast, very sure of where they're going, taking over the sidewalk ... I just get out of their way and watch my toes.

regardless of whether it's actually better for you.

I suspect that ingesting the same volume of cane sugar as HFCS has similar health effects. But the ish is that they stick HFCS into everything, and it's easy to lose track of how much sweetener you are really eating.

Dag, still out of the loop. Not as far as one of my editors, who corrected an Ari Gold quote for me this morning. Because I'm ahead of schedule, so I thought it amusing to write back "Just call me Helen Keller, cause I'm a miracle worker, baby." He writes me back "Actually, they were talking about Annie Sullivan with that title, really," Which, in this body, at this age, is a ginormous "No, duh," for me, right? Though I have to confess I was dork enough to want to say the same thing when it came out of Piven's mouth, but I didn't, and I'm glad. Cause it's a buzzkill, and that's the point, isn't it? Ari reads just enough to be dangerous...

My understanding is there are 2 problems with HFCS . The first is the volume of it -- and how it has changed/ encouraged our taste buds to eat more sweets. And in the process redefine what sweet is to our taste buds. the second, which can't site off the top of my head , is that HFCS is like transfats. It has been changed enough that are bodies don't quite no what to do with it.

The best thing to do is change your bodies definition of sweet. by trying to eliminate in a logical way - the amount of sweeteners in your diet.

which reminds me, good for you askye. And I agree that Volumetrics is the most logical diet I've ever seen. And for someone that likes food the way I do, an easy way to think.

Foodie advice. I bought some plain goat cheese at a bargain a week ago. Been using recipes from the internbunny. And they are OK, but I feel like I'm not taking full advantage of the ingredient. That is most of recipes I've used kind of drown the cheese. And I understand the impulse, because undiluted the flavor is too strong for me. But the thing is it is (to me) basically a good flavor - just need to be complemented and made less strong, not buried. I don't know quite how to explain what I'm looking for, but can anyone suggest something that works with and complements the flavor of the goat cheese rather than fighting it?

Fig paste.

Get some fresh figs (if you can), cut them in half, smear a bit of goat cheese on the cut side, and wrap the whole thing in a slice of prosciutto. Place these on a baking sheet and broil for about 3-4 minutes, or until the prosciutto is slightly crispy.

YUM!