Eureka?

Butyric acid. It's the chemical I think is responsible for my dislike of popcorn and many cheesy Italian dishes. Apparently it's an acid common in parmesan, rancid butter, and vomit. I've always become unsettled and slightly nauseous around buttered popcorn and cooked Italian foods involving lots of parmesan and other strong cheeses. Even uncooked parmesan does the same thing. The taste is just fine but the smell is putrid to me. (Parmigiano reggiano, though not of the most pleasant smell, tastes great with some good Italian bread or prosciutto.) Nobody else I've met is this way; everyone has thought me strange for it. But maybe I can just smell the acid more strongly than most other people, hence my aversion to foods containing it.

People who annoy the crap out of me

Now that's a loaded statement right there. Such a list alone could go on for thousands of words, not to mention an essay. But I'll keep this one short.

Bloggers. Ironic, isn't it? I don't mean your run-of-the-mill ordinary person "blogging" about their lives, interests, what-have-you. No, I mean the idiots who vomit up often incorrect and mostly unsourced information about politics. It's one thing to give your opinions on political issues, but it's a completely different thing to present your opinion as something it's not. Unless you know what the hell you're talking about your words are useless. And guess what? Most of the idiots probably don't know their asses from holes in the ground. In fact, I'm willing to bet that many of the so-called "blogosphere" inhabitants are actually chuweros. But it doesn't matter who stupid, how ignorant, how wildly incorrect they are. Why? Because their readers are just as dumb. It's a rare thing indeed when you come across someone who is educated, professionally or not, on the subject about which they are speaking. Even then they often make fools of themselves with outlandish statements and arguments so convoluted, self-defeating, and chock-full of logical fallacies that you can't help but laugh. The saddest part of it all is not that they are so ill-informed or that they even get away with it, but that they are lauded and supported in their failure. I don't think highly of the media in any form, but I think the least of "bloggers", they who say nothing while they purport to speak ta alethe. My discipline is the search for facts, not truth, so I take issue greatly with such claims. If you seek the truth I can point you toward a philosophy department. It's a shame that people are so easily influenced that they refuse to assail critically what they are presented in any sort of media. Only when some "hot-button" issue appears do they take notice, and even then rarely do they investigate the reality of the situation. C'est la vie. You do what you can I suppose.

In other news the half-foot of snow predicted never arrived, nor did the low temperatures. Instead, we had a rather nice day with a high around 42, a tiny bit of snow that fell like rain and melted almost instantly, and a sunny afternoon/early evening. I eagerly await when it is warm enough for me to enjoy the outside in full once again. Of course, I'll be leaving town shortly thereafter but nonetheless, it will be pleasant.

Winter storm watch

The Weather Channel is predicting three to five inches and NOAA three to seven inches of snowfall tomorrow night. I think that's more snow than fell in all of my 18 years in Dallas.

Springtime for Boulder?

It was in the twenties and snowing a couple days ago. Yesterday reached the thirties I believe. And today? The forecast was 58. By the time I left work it was 65, bright, clear, and beautiful. I went home and changed into shorts and a t-shirt after work before running errands. Tomorrow's going to be colder and raining while more snow is expected later in the week. Oh well, at least the hills are verdant once more.