A Lesson Learned... Again

This past Sunday I relearned a lesson I learned a little more than two year ago, when I first moved to Austin. Back then, I had a bad experience while innocently eating a salad. It was laced with a certain fruit I've grown to love.

During the past two years I've grown to love jalapeno peppers. You can probably find some evidence of this in past entries of mine. They seem to go great with everything. I especially like them in popper form or sliced on hamburgers. What I forgot about my experience several years ago is that there is a big difference between pickled jalapenos and fresh jalapenos. Sunday they were serving burgers and had sliced tomato, onion, and fresh sliced jalapenos readily available to pile on. Without a second thought I helped myself to all three. The Scoville scale may rate jalapenos as a mild pepper in comparison to others, but from personal experience I can tell you that fresh jalapenos are several orders of magnitude worse than the pickled variety most of us are used to. After several minutes of torture, I was able to say "I think I need medical attention." I was watering at the eyes and nose, but I knew I would recover. People near me thought I might be serious, though, and I had to reassure them I was only saying so in jest.

One interesting thing to note is that Capsaicin, the chemical compound responsible for the heat, only fools your neurons into thinking something is hot, instead of being an actual chemical burn. Therefore, the sweating and watering is due to your brain being fooled, not directly from the pepper. Also interesting to note is that the sensation is similar to "runner's high," (read the Capsaicin entry) something else I've experienced and enjoyed.

Plants

Not quite the ballpoint pen entry you've been waiting for, but close. I own two houseplants. They may be the only plants I've owned since kindergarten when they send you home with plants in styrofoam cups for Mother's day, etc. They are certainly the only two plants I ever bought at a store. This was probably around the same time I bought furniture and a few things to decorate the walls with. I bought an Escher print, but not the one I really wanted. That still bugs me. So my plants have been through various periods of being alive and dead, but I thought this last one was the final nail in the, uh, pot. After a long period of neglect, I tried to revive them by leaving them outside for a long period of time where they enjoyed plenty of sun and plenty of rain. Unfortunately during this same time they experienced plenty of freezing weather and plenty of wind, which knocked one of them over. Nothing sprouted, so that revival was unsuccessful. They've been sitting on my bedroom floor with no sun and no water for several months now.

So I get up this morning and look at my two dead plants briefly and notice that one curled up leaf is emerging from the dry soil. What the...? They just won't stay dead.

I Woke Up this Morning

thinking, "great, it's Friday, at least I can wear jeans to work." Then, about fifteen minutes later, I thought, "whoops, no it's actually only Thursday. It's a good thing I put my khakis in the dryer." Only once I was up and getting ready did I realize it was only Wednesday. Ugh.

Real World hits Austin

Some of you may know the MTV reality shows are a guilty pleasure of mine (and now VH1, too, since I am "maturing"). Now is my chance to get really close to the action--I found out today that the Austin Real World cast lives about three blocks from where I usually hang out on Wednesday nights. I may decide to walk on by if it doesn't get too late. Actually, I won't be surprised at all if I see them on Sixth street. I mean, going out and drinking every night is what the show is all about now, right?

How about that, they are within easy stumbling distance of both Sixth street and the Warehouse district. Who would've guessed?