Meat.

I started the day with a cup of coffee.

Then I saved my calories for meat.

I seasoned the meat with salt and freshly ground pepper, and let it sit overnight in the refrigerator.

Then I took heated my heaviest pan, and seared each side for approximately six to seven minutes. Then it is in the oven at 350° F for 10 minutes. Remove from oven, let stand for 10 minutes before eating.

Cherry Coke Zero, salad, waffle fries, and steak! Yum!

Eating Regularly.

I have a "problem" with eating regularly. No I'm not anorexic! I just don't eat on a regular schedule. This "problem" is worse when I am living alone, because when I have no one to cook for, I don't particularly bother to cook or feel the need to eat at regular time points.

Because the "ball and chain" will be overseas visiting relatives for a couple weeks, I plan to mitigate my "problem" by making a conscious effort to document my food intake.

Today's dinner was salad. I made it with salad greens, cherry tomatoes, sunflower seeds, chickpeas, and blue cheese. The dressing was a simple balsamic vinaigrette made with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper.

Freedom of Internet Access?

This is a map of the freedom of internet access around the world. No not really - this is just a graphical representation of where readers have hailed from since March of 2009.

Countries that are white have recorded no visits. I'm sad that the Dear Leader has not honored me with his virtual presence.

Intersexed Awareness Day?

Oops - sorry, it is the birthday of Frida Kahlo.

The Joy of Cooking... Squirrel?

Squirrel!

The Joy of Cooking also recommends catching the possum alive, and feeding it milk and cereals for ten days before dispatching it and serving.

Awesome! Can't wait to try it someday!

Chinese traffic accidents.

Not particularly graphic - but funny enough that you'll laugh (then feel guilty for laughing).

Uh... Chevrolet? What?

According to the New York Times, some morons who work at General Motors decided that employees should refrain from using the word "Chevy" when communicating about their products.

Imagine if BMW insisted that its employees could only say Bayerische Motoren Werke!

Anyway - see the memo below:

"Chevrolet Team,

We wanted to write you a quick note requesting your support of our Chevrolet Brand. When you look at the most recognized brands throughout the world, such as Coke or Apple for instance, one of the things they all focus on is the consistency of their branding. Why is this consistency so important? The more consistent a brand becomes, the more prominent and recognizable it is with the consumer. This is a big opportunity for us moving forward.

As you know, we are investing substantially to improve the consistency of our retail facilities through the EBE process. Aside from the facilities aspect of our branding, there are many other ways in which we can demonstrate this consistency. One way to achieve this is with the use of Chevrolet vs. Chevy. We’d ask that whether you’re talking to a dealer, reviewing dealer advertising or speaking with friends and family, that you communicate our brand as Chevrolet moving forward.

We have a proud heritage behind us and a fantastic future ahead of us... speaking to the success of this brand in one consistent manner will ensure Chevrolet becomes even more prominent and recognizable than it already is.

Thank you for your support of this effort!

Alan and Jim

P.S. We put a plastic “Chevy” can down the hall that will accept a quarter every time someone uses “Chevy” rather than Chevrolet! We’ll use the money for a team building activity."

Who are Alan and Jim? Alan is the Vice President for Chevy's Sales and Service, and Jim is Chevy's Vice President for Marketing.

Reading through the memo, it appears that Alan and Jim do not realize that "Coke" is not the proper brand name for Coca-Cola. It also appears that Alan and Jim believe that GM's marketing woes had something to do with brand ambiguity.

What is brand ambiguity? Generally it is a potential buyer's inability to discriminate between alternative brands.

Hm. So what was Don McLean singing about when he wrote "drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry" ?!

Are these two people complete imbeciles? Really? Chevy has a brand recognition problem? Who seriously thinks that Chevrolet, a French sounding name of Swiss origin, sounds better for a blue collar car company?

As a taxpayer, I'm not optimistic that the US federal government is going to get its money's worth from the GM IPO. Especially with these morons wasting time on these senseless efforts, instead of you know... drawing up <sarcasm> awesome marketing </sarcasm> efforts for the Chevrolet Volt.