ConsciousThoughts: Welcome to a new category on the topic of Consciousness

 

This category will be dedicated to a diablog on the topic of  consciousness and cognition, including discussion on related theories, studies, research and publications.

 

You are invited to participate, either by leaving comments under each posting, or by e-mailing me larger entries for posting under this category.

 

E-mail me at: rayne_today@yahoo.com -- Thank you!

 

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After my post the other day on this topic, The Raven and I traded a few thoughts on consciousness today via e-mail; I’ll post them under the new category to get things rolling.

 

Raven’s reading John Searle’s work; be sure to watch for Raven’s take on this text at his blog in the near future.

 

Are you reading anything on the topic of consciousness?  Please do tell!

 

  8:43:24 PM    comment []

Tactile: Worst dinner out in almost a decade

 

The award goes to our local Bennigan’s.  Yeah, I know, what did I expect?

 

Worse, it was hubby’s birthday.  I’m a terrible spouse, aren’t I?

 

I’ll layout the rationalization.  We needed to go out and do some shopping, the kids were tired and restless, the weather was bad, neither spouse nor I felt like cooking, ya-da, ya-da, ya-da…and hubby bit when I went through the restaurant roll call.  I went through the list of places that 1) are kid-friendly (i.e., serve chicken fingers and French fries), 2) have at least a couple of heart-healthy grilled options, 3) located near shopping, and 4) bonus points if we had gift certificates.  We had gift certificates for Bennigan’s squirreled away that needed to be used. 

 

Ding-ding-ding, Bennigan’s.

 

Stupid me, I opted to be adventurous and try the NEW! Grilled Ahi Steak Salad – a tuna steak grilled to one’s specifications, served on a bed of mixed field greens, garnished with fried wonton noodles and dressed with a ginger-soy salad dressing. 

 

The rest of the crew played it safe – two orders of chicken fingers and a grilled chicken platter for hubby.

 

So?  What could go wrong, the tuna’s overdone even though I ask for still-flopping rare?  The tuna is bad since fresh fish is nearly always questionable at a place like this?

 

Nope.  First, they serve hubby a deep-fried chicken platter.  He must reject it and wait for a new, correct order.

 

The kids’ meals are cool.  The fries and chicken both are tepid – which never seems to happen at other restaurants.  Typically, the food’s so hot that the kids are compelled to wait longer to eat.  Maybe it’s a blessing this time that the food’s cool since the little guy is VERY hungry.  But it’s not a good sign. 

 

My dinner at first glance looks better than I expected.  The tuna steak is indeed quite rare, exactly as requested.  I pay it no mind while I get the kids ready for dinner.  Hubby’s correct meal shows up, doesn’t look too bad from where I’m sitting…

 

And I try to dig in.  I push aside the wonton noodles hiding the salad below.  I take one fork full of greens, thinking as I did so that I made a tactical error by not asking for the dressing on the side.

 

But there’s no dressing anyhow.  Absolutely none.  I can still salvage this salad by asking for some dressing, I think.  I decide to poke around and see if it’s just that the dressing ended up in a puddle on the other side of the plate.  Nothing, not a speck of dressing anywhere.

 

Worse, more than 25% of the field greens hiding under the wonton garnish are spoiled.  Rotten.  Squishy, oozy, dark green rotten.

 

I think I’m going to barf.  I keep picking, thinking maybe it’s just the hot tuna steak sitting on the greens that’s wilted them so badly.

 

Nope, the rot is spread throughout ALL the greens.  And more than 25% of the greens are so afflicted.

 

I can’t recall having to send a meal back in front of my kids – but this one will be. 

 

The waitress returns, asking if everything is okay; she’s astute enough to see I’m very unhappy about the salad.  I explain there’s no dressing and the greens are spoiled.  She asks what she can do and I ask her to take it back.  Do I want another salad?  Hell no, I think, what are the REST of the greens like here?  She brings me a menu; I double-check the salads.  Yep, the tuna one is the only field green salad; the rest are all romaine.  Probably my error in not selecting the greens they move in the highest volume.  But I’m pretty skeptical now.  I opt for the grilled shrimp platter instead.

 

One look at hubby’s face and I realize I’ve erred again.  My new meal and his both have an alleged pilaf and steamed broccoli.  He is picking around the pilaf and torquing on the chicken breasts to cut them.  Once the waitress is out of earshot, he says his meal had been up for a while before it was served and that the pilaf was wretched.  I know what he really wants to say, but he won’t say it in public or in front of the kids.

 

<sigh>

 

My daughter is being a tease, threatening to tell the wait staff that it’s her dad’s birthday.  She realizes the error of her ways when she gets the nuclear-blast stare across the table from both dad and mom.

 

The shrimp platter arrives after the rest of the family has finished.  The shrimp are questionably fresh, the pilaf is every bit as bad as hubby implied.  It’s polluted throughout with nearly raw red pepper, carrot and scallion pieces.  The broccoli is RAW – of the six pieces on my plate, 4 have been steamed long enough to turn bright green but not to the point of even tender-crunchy, just plain raw crunchy.  The remaining two pieces are cold, untouched by steam, and a nice blue-green color characteristic of raw broccoli.

 

I like raw vegetables very much, but not when I've ordered cooked.  Blecchh.

 

The assistant manager arrives, apologizes, claims the salad girl “didn’t know there was supposed to be dressing” on the tuna salad.  (Never mentions the real offense, the rotten greens.)  Asked if she could give me a voucher for a dessert.  No, thanks very much.

 

We won’t be back to use it.

 

  11:11:47 AM    comment []

Pugnacious are us

 

Yeah, here in Michigan, we’re pugnacious.  We’re tired of taking a backseat in the U.S. presidential political process.

 

Governor Granholm is working on putting Michigan in the first wave of primaries, along with New Hampshire and Iowa.

 

You go, girl, for once it’d be nice to be in the driver’s seat.

 

  10:04:38 AM    comment []