Being a Scorpion

I have tried to make cannelloni pasta many times.  It often fails.  If the shells are too wonky they don’t hold and it may as well be a lasagna mush by the time you pull it out of the oven.  So take the shells out when they are still rather firm.  Next challenge is the vegan cheese.  One tray is filled with ricotta and I always try to make a set for my older daughter.  Last time there was a bunch of raw tastes which were just too strong.  This time I cooked the mushrooms, garlic, parsley first, blended it with some tofu.  This worked.

This morning in my Chinese reading I stumbled on an article about an unfortunate gal who was detained on the train somewhere near Shijiazhuang.  She was accused of being a “scorpion” in a multi-level-marketing scheme.  These sort of Ponzi schemes are legion in China and perhaps she was the bad lady she was made out to be by the reporter.  But what seemed odd was that they had her picture there, being interrogated in the dining car of the train.  Who took that picture and shared it with the media?  Then they had her being escorted off the train with her face covered.  It all seemed a bit like a set-up, where she was guilty-until-proven-innocent.  What do I know?

Last year this time we were all down in Lombok.  It was lovely, mostly.  But I got the runs, badly and spent most of the time lying in bed, reading.  Accordingly I couldn’t insist that we all go view temples and museums and everyone else was quite content to enjoy a proper, relaxing vacation.  

Lombok had an earthquake not long ago.  And then there was that terrible video from last week, of people watching a band play on a beach at some hotel that looked an awful lot like the New Year’s Eve event we watched last year when suddenly a tsunami hits.  This year we have simply staid put.  The stay-cation vibe is working well this year.  Chip away at work, hit the gym, make nice meals at home.   

Saturday, 12/29/18