Lo, we are random!

m_shell and I took a short walk down along the waterfront, where we saw an unattractive gym with huge windows. (Me, as we got closer: "Oh, the hideous thing is a gym! That's why the windows! So that they can see the canal!" m_shell: "Or so that people with spandex kinks can see them.") We were going to walk along one path, but then something that appeared to be a bush from a distance resolved itself into a flock of geese so big that I couldn't make out individuals, and I stood my ground and refused to go any further. (One should never walk through a flock of geese unless one absolutely needs to. They bite.)

Also we saw those weird Exercise! equipment stations, you know, with the inexplicable bars and what appears to be a diagram of a man hopping on one foot while holding onto a pillar? And his legwarmers are shown in great detail, but you can't work out which arm is which? And there's a little note that this improves balance and that you should stretch before you do it, and you look at the diagram and say "I don't know that I can touch my foot to my head while hopping no matter how much I stretch?" I find those very amusing.

Graffiti included: "Beast, you're skying!" (Me: "is it an X-Men reference?") At first we thought it said "Beast, you're skiing!" which made little sense, but at least was in some sort of English grammar. As far as I know, anthimeria notwithstanding, "to sky" is not so much a verb. Also, "dehumanize," and a sign for Ithaca Oating.

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[redacted]

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Also, King Kaufman agrees with me. Basketball is getting faster again, and there's less standing-around-being boring, and that several teams are doing great fast break offense again. Woe that I do not have cable, man. I could totally study Turkish while watching the game.

It is sad that, when reading preseason articles, I still say "The Charlotte Bobcats? Who huh what now?" as they've been around for a year now. But, seriously: the Charlotte Bobcats? Who huh what now?

Hibiscus cooler recipe

This is a sparking hibiscus cooler "recipe" that I like to make to use up refrigerated remnants of hibiscus tea, though of course you can make the tea with the end goal of hibiscus cooler instead. The basic flavor is like unto the old Saturn Cafe hibiscus cooler (before they stopped doing agave sweetening, the bums).

1/2 cup dried hibiscus
4 cups water (approx. 1 L)
1 L sparking water
2 TB raw agave nectar (I get mine at my co-op; you can make it with honey if you can't find agave)
1-2 lemons (optional)

1. Bring the water to a boil. Put the dried hibiscus in an open container that will let the water move (like a pitcher or a teapot). Pour boiling water over the hibiscus and steep at least five minutes.

1a (optional). Strain and drink some tea hot, with honey; it's excellent for sore throats.

2. Strain remaining hibiscus tea. Chill.

3. Prepare hibiscus cooler: 1 part tea to 1 part sparkling water. If you didn't drink any, that's about 1 L of sparkling water to the 4 cups of tea. Add raw agave, a half tablespoon at a time, stirring continuously and tasting for sweetness. If you like your hibiscus cooler even tarter than that, squeeze in the juice of a lemon and decorate with lemon slices.

You may like your drinks sweeter than I do; if so, keep adding agave until you're happy with the balance.

Other things you can try: use sliced limes or oranges in addition to or instead of lemons, serve over crushed ice or blended with ice to make a hibiscus granitaish thing, or put sliced or pureed ginger in with the dry hibiscus when you're making the tea (it'll strain out with the hibiscus).

Hibiscus is tart, bright bright red, high in vitamin c, and excellent hot or cold for sore throats.