Moosing, Frankenstein Cliff, Arethusa Falls

Joe, Tim, and I woke up early Sunday morning to go look for some moose on the Kancamagus Highway, and we were totally successful! A man had pulled over and was sitting very close to the moose by the time Tim & Joe spotted them out the window. It was a nice surprise since we had just hiked a bit into a known moose spot of Tim's without any sightings. They did not seem bothered by our presence, and several other people pulled over for a peek. Tim's 9th and 10th moose, and my 4th and 5th.

female moose

male moose

After observing and taking lots of pictures and videos, we headed up to Bartlett via Bear Notch Road and hiked up the Frankenstein Cliff trail, and then over to Arethusa Falls.

panoramic from the Frankenstein Cliff

The hike was great, although perhaps slightly wetter than we would have liked. After seeing the moose and the view from the cliff, the waterfall, which had several other visitors, didn't seem so great, but perhaps this was due to being so tired and being around people all of a sudden.

Lots of pictures are up on Facebook, as well as Webshots.

And here is a compilation of the videos Tim and I took throughout the day:



BRIAN OUT.

I lean and loafe at my ease

Painting and Cooking in the spring is nice. Thanks to John Thorne's Outlaw Cook and Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads, I have tried new things and succeeded (and thanks to my decision to spend time at the library lately, I found these books... and also Django Reinhardt, but that's another post).

From Peter Reinhart's book, I made pretty good whole wheat bagels, a downright excellent whole wheat sandwich bread, and my new favorite baked good, whole wheat cinnamon raisin bread (with walnuts). I kind of want to have a loaf on hand at all times, it's so good. Definitely going to try his struan, too.

And if you like food in any way, you should read John Thorne's stuff. Every recipe in Outlaw Cook is preceded by the most amazing writing, which pretty much guarantees I will try everything he offers in there. I gave the chicken with forty cloves of garlic a go, and it was like nothing I've ever made. Last night I took inspiration from his writings on the "plowman's lunch", which resulted in a pretty pile of beans, garlic, oregano, and onions on bread. I'm also planning on attempting the recipe he worked out with his wife for a breakfast clafoutis. And the pecan pie. The section on bread ("The Baker's Apprentice") is hands down the most addictive and satisfying thing I've read in a long time. But it's his writing about garlic that really got to me, as I have tried in the past to investigate the artistic possibilities with it and failed. Here is one of my favorite excerpts from the book, where Mr. Thorne is essentially comparing the underlying difference between onion and garlic soups:

Garlic, on the other hand, has a power at once more intimate and more muscular, for it attracts us through an act of aggressive seduction. Cooking may smooth its roughest edges, but that it is thus tamed is nothing but an illusion, for once ingested it suffuses our body with its musky scent, announcing its presence to the world through all our bodily exhalations, both sweat and breath.

In other words, where the onion allows itself to be seduced and its charms to yield to the desire of the eater, garlic is the ravisher, dominating those who would eat it, and then crowing that subjugation to the world through the body's every pore. It allows only two possible responses, apart from shunning it entirely: we can rub it raw on our chest and shamelessly swagger our predilection or use it in pathetic homeopathic doses in hopes that we will not be caught out. (From "Garlic Soup")

See?

Anyways, lots of new pictures are up on Facebook (here and here), but here are eleven:

whole wheat cinnamon raisin bread with walnuts

paintings by amy and i, side by side

me painting

amy lost a strawberry

surprise bee

macro frog

not whole wheat bagels

chicken with forty cloves of garlic (see also: heaven)

come have a seat at the cocheco river!

chive flower

leela is officially a water dog (not portugese, though)

BRIAN OUT.

I want to note that i get sick at the beginning of spring. very sick. is it annual? i will have a better idea next spring. life info, RECORDED! BRIAN OUT.

N.H. Same Sex Marriage...

Fellow N.H. residents: You may or may not know that N.H. is very close to allowing same sex marriage. It has already gone through state legislature and is awaiting approval from Governor John Lynch. Here is an article about it in the Union Leader.

If you think same sex marriage should not be legalized, I think you are an idiot, and I possibly want to punch you.

If you think it should be legalized, go here to e-mail Governor Lynch and tell him to sign the bill: http://www4.egov.nh.gov/governor/goveforms/comments.asp

I am excited that we are this close. Maine's governor just signed a bill allowing same sex marriage, putting all of New England (except N.H. and Rhode Island) at the forefront of progress and human equality. The problem is, there are so many people who don't believe in progress (and many of them don't believe in evolution, which is being demonstrated right now with the AH1N1 "swine" flu, by the way). These people are so obviously stupid that you'd think it'd be no big deal; they'll just go off to church and pray everything works out. And they do this, of course, but they also vote, and they also tell their government how to act. Just read the comments below the article I linked to above. Wow, look at those voters go! Here is a nicely horrific one from Donna in Rye:

When Congress meets, they have prayer before starting. When you go to court, you put your hand on the Bible and swear to tell the truth. Our money talks of God. How can this NOT have anything to do with God?

As for this issue being any of our business, it IS our business. Remember when there was a time that if a man beat a woman it was of no one's concern but the parties involved? That generally happened in the bedroom along with a husband raping his wife. We declared these things that were once kept in the closet, deplorable and unacceptable. Now that all these people have stampeded out of the closet, we need to let them know that their behavior is unacceptable. It serves no purpose except to satisfy someone's sick, sexual fantasies. We have to keep moral standards for our kids.

A friend of mine had a kid that came and told them he was gay. They told him that he must repent of that sin or never talk to them again. Once the novelty wore off, he did just that. Satan puts that "desire" of taboo in our heads and it is up to us to resist that temptation.

People have made being gay "in fashion". How many people have you heard say that it is cool having a gay friend? It makes me sick.

I hope he vetoes this and keep NH as it should be.
- Donna, Rye

Let's go over what Donna from Rye had to say.

• First, she assumes that three examples of the breach in the separation of church and state make it okay for any number of further breaches. She's actually shocked that people could possibly think that laws don't have something to do with God. Because, as everyone knows, a contradictory, hypocritical government is the best kind of government. Hmm, actually, she makes quite a good case for the need of the federal government to remove "In God We Trust" from money. Seriously, does money have anything to do with religious belief? And let's change that darned "Pledge of Allegiance", too. I never liked being forced to recite it, you know.
  
• Second, she casually compares being gay to a husband beating and raping his wife. If you think this is a valid comparison, please find a hammer and hit yourself with it. On the foot, in the nose, whatever, just make sure you do it with vigor.
• Third, she dismisses homosexuality as just "sick, sexual fantasies", which are, of course, grave, grave sins. But, apparently, even if you engage in sin, as the offspring of a friend of hers did, you can always "repent", or as I like to call it, say you're sorry and immediately pretend to live a normal life, guilt free. So, seriously, you can murder anyone, even the Pope, and all you need to do is repent and you're good to go? Uhh anyone? Correct me if I misunderstood this rule, which I assume was created so the church leaders of the past could do whatever they wanted and get away with it.
  
• Fourth, she says that since being gay is supposedly in fashion, it is therefore bad, end of discussion. In a way, I agree with her. Shows like "America's Next Top Model" and "What Not to Wear" should definitely be made illegal.
  

Donna from Rye hopes the bill gets vetoed so "N.H. can stay as it should be". And look at some of the other comments, she's not alone. You know what I hope? I hope that the people who think they are smart and progressive and generally good people aren't so lazy that they can't send a short e-mail. Lord knows there are plenty of stupid people who aren't lazy. E-mail the governor and tell him that he should approve the bill: http://www4.egov.nh.gov/governor/goveforms/comments.asp

BRIAN OUT.