The lake ecosystem likely has the right amount of acidity and nutrients for the tomatoes to flourish. It's a big hydroponic farm.

I never knew I needed something so much.

From the quote from the monks, I don't see where you get "religious language". Certainly they are struggling to find a way to describe the event accurately, hence the "pummeled snake", but considering the state of knowledge then they do a pretty good job. If I remember Sagan's coverage of the story, the person who…

(SPOILERS)

First read when I was a teenager, about 16.

That's a great example of how one's discernment as a reader changes over the years. The first time around your radar wasn't attuned to all the "frequencies" of that novel.

I don't know why, but somehow when I read this the first time I thought the author was holding up his society as some sort of Utopia. On a second reading it's clearly not. I can't really say I liked it better, but it certainly made more sense.

I think I was aging out of Asimov even as I was reading him. While he is an iconic part of sci-fi, his characters were pretty flat... I remember reading I Robot after I finished the Foundation books, and I couldn't tell the two human characters apart. And then there are the women characters.... if they feel off to a…

The Silmarillion. Lumbered through the damn thing the first time around wondering where all the hobbits were. After repeated readings, I love it more than LOTR, the Hobbit, and Horton Hears a Who combined.

Needs this...

Unfortunately, that continues to happen outside of the restaurant industry. Calling in sick to the rehab company I used to work for as a therapist was a nightmare. You would get yelled at, told you HAD to come in on the weekend to make it up (nope, sorry not true) and then berated when you went back to work the next…

I hope those two toddlers survived their parents..

Happened at my high school in Trinidad. But were a Catholic all-girls school and I'm not sure if it was just us or a nationwide policy. They weren't prevented from sitting exams though. They had to go to a special centre instead, and I think they actually got some instruction in parenting and childcare as well as…

Breadstix R Us

Afternoon Delight's story: It's important to keep in mind that in almost all jurisdictions of the US, this would be perfectly legal. Bosses generally aren't required to give workers sick time unless it's a serious illness or injury, and then, it's only unpaid time. Stomach viruses don't count. Even in the very few…

Restaurants and cocaine go together like PB&J. What a bunch of lunatics.

My caucasian farmer grandmother in rural Iowa in the 1920's used to walk cornfields (detasseling was a hideous chore prior to mechanization) in the 110° summers with hat, veil, long sleeves and long gloves in order to keep her skin white and unfreckled as custom dictated.

weights strapped around their stomach to make sure they don't rise to the surface (enough to instill panic in just about any person, I'd think)

There might be a ton of questions here, but I find they can all be wrapped together into one simple sentence.

Tandoori Grill was my favorite restaurant. The food was always amazing but occasionally not quite as delicious as normal. We would joke that it must have been the regular chef's day off whenever it wasn't as good as usual. It makes me ill thinking that the chef never had a day off, and his "off" days were likely due…