Old Art

So, in Dublin, I saw some icons at the Chester Beatty library, and I thought "wow, I'm impressed - those are in pretty good condition!" Then I saw that they were made in late 1700s, and I thought "meh." After all, I saw in Sinai an icon in excellent condition that's over 1000 years old, so this was kind of small potatoes. 

I started thinking, why are we impressed by old artwork? Is it because it's old and well-preserved, or because it's impressive that they were able to create something that complicated so long ago? 

If it's the first case, then our amazement shouldn't be limited to just works of art. If we found a really old, well-preserved paper bag, surely that should be just as impressive. The impressive part has little to do with the item itself; it's the effort that was put forth to make sure that item survived substantially longer than it should have. 

If it's the second, then we should be equally impressed by specimens like old computers. Surely, no one would stare in awe if I assembled a Pentium I computer today. However, that was definitely impressive in it's own day and age. The fact that it's not visually appealing shouldn't matter. 

It seems to me that the age of a piece shouldn't matter. But, even in my own mind, it does. I'm not sure how to reconcile the two. 

Random Stuff

First of all, check this out:

http://textfromdog.tumblr.com/

Some are better than others, but I thought it was pretty funny on the whole. 


Next, I've been making a lot of soups recently. They've been a good way to get a meal + salt fix, without feeling too full. In theory, they should be fairly healthy (I don't add any oil or cream). 

A few quick tips:

1) Add the meat first - doesn't matter if it's chicken, beef, pork, whatever. The meat needs to cook the longest, and you want it to be the most tender, so let that cook/stew for the greatest amount of time, over relatively low heat. Beans should go in next (if the recipe includes beans). This helps break down the skin, which can be hard to digest for some. Beans are healthy and filling, so it's good to find a way to incorporate them into the soup.

2) Vegetables/pasta should go in last, possibly after you've turned the heat off. Things like spinach, peas, pasta will become overcooked if you add them before you're done boiling. 

3) Sweet corn goes pretty well in almost all soups that I've tried. I keep a big bag of frozen corn in the freezer, and just add about a pound to any soup that I make. Obviously, if you don't like sweet corn, this isn't for you. 

4) Tri-tip works best if you're making steak chili. It has a good flavor and isn't too chewy. Also, I add a little bit of BBQ sauce to my chili for flavor.


Lastly, I learned that beer has a LOT of calories. The rough metric is 30 calories per 12 oz per 1% ABV. So, a 5% ABV beer has roughly 150 calories for a 12 oz. serving. 

That means if you have a pint (although most restaurants/bars serve you 12 oz even when they list a pint - very few have actual pint glasses from my experience) of 7% beer, then you've had 7*30*4/3 = 280 calories PER PINT.

This explains why I can't lose weight while drinking, and why so many guys have beer guts. 

Have a good week.