Agree 100%. From a sociological perspective, though, stuff like the national anthem, the bald eagle, and the pledge make up a state-run religion. Not in the sense of Anglicanism, which is the legit state religion of England or Great Britain or the UK or the Commonwealth or something (I have no idea what distinguishes…

I'm an American Jew in the Bible Belt. Many of the people I deal with in everyday life strongly believe that you're not a real American unless you love Jesus the way I love bacon (a lot).

Bazinga!

Patriotism is a kind of pseudo-religion, what with all the mystical symbols, traditional chants and songs, and demands of fealty OR ELSE.

Let me quote for you the great philosophers Matt Parker and Trey Stone.

Instead of quinoa, actually. I'm sure technically it can only be called risotto if it's rice, but whatever. Originally the recipe came from somewhere on the interwebs but I cannot remember where. Oh well.

You have to wilt it, which is really easy. Kale + small amount of cooking liquid + 2 or 3 minutes = wilted. Add pasta, other vegetables, and/or proteins as your heart desires.

To be honest I have no idea where I found it. Also now that I think about it the grain was quinoa, not barley. From what I remember, you toast the quinoa, cook it in broth, then add chopped carrots, onions, garlic, and tomatoes until the veggies are lightly cooked. Throw in a whole lotta kale/arugula/whatever dark…

Ha, I do the birthday thing too! The only problem is some people don't make their birthdays public and then I really never think about them...

I know all of my facebook friends in person or *really well* online (as in 10+ years of communication). I frequently unfriend people if I realize that I only think about them because facebook told me it's their birthday. While it's nice to say hi to folks from middle school, I really don't care about their weddings or…

If you need me I'll be hiding under my desk and muttering.

Guy I know told me a few months back he's going vegan/freegan. Dude's every Man stereotype rolled into one. Stinky, builds things, has no emotions other than loving to build things, fuck people, and take giant shits, spent a while in the army, etc.

Whaaat. Kale is awesome with a side of amazing. You just haven't had it prepared the right way.

...Indian Mexican? What kind of awesome sorcery is this?

When I lived in Southern California I frequently got asked exactly two questions, in this order:

Yeah, but you know how tupperware gets if you leave something in there too long...

Not cool, Batman. Not cool.

To be honest I'm slightly tickled that the trolls came out to play on my little comment. Makes me feel like I said something meaningful now.

Middle Eastern is white according to the census. My dad is Syrian/Persian/Israeli and my mom is European/American. Technically we're all white. Having grown up bicultural it's really hard for me to call myself white as opposed to mixed. But I'm fully aware that I'm wrong, at least where the government is concerned.

I just can't stop giggling at all the people who get up in arms about languages other than English gaining prominence in the US...but can't speak their native tongue their own selves.