Recipe - Vodka Rigatoni

Here a quick, easy dish that'll make dinner guest wonder why you're not working as a chef in a fancy restaurant:

1 or 2 tablespoons olive oil

1 large chopped onion

28 oz. can crushed tomatoes (not Hunt’s-too watery)

1 teaspoon chopped garlic

1 pint heavy cream

¼ cup vodka (a tiny bottle found in liquor stores is perfect)

10-12 slices prosciutto (cut into small strips)

1/8 (one eighth) teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1-16 oz. box rigatoni pasta

Parmesan cheese (optional)

In large, heavy skillet, sauté onions in olive oil over medium heat for 10-15 minutes until onions are softened. Add tomatoes & garlic; cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, cook pasta per directions on box. Stir in heavy cream, vodka, prosciutto and crushed red pepper flakes. Cook until sauce thickens. (To help sauce thicken, remove skillet from heat for a few minutes, let sauce cool a few minutes and then return to heat.)

Drain pasta; add to skillet with all other ingredients; stir together. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese & serve.

Clinton - Prototype for a Rand McNally Roadmap?

Assuming the top picture is her 2016 Presidential candidate photo, how did Clinton get rid of the wrinkles that were on her face in the photo right below? And looking at the bottom shot - how'd she make the bags under her eyes disappear?
Personally, I'm hoping those supposedly self-confident women who are proud of their beach ball shaped bodies, who cast disdain on slim runway models, who are not ashamed of their rotund shapes, who seek to change the paradigm of what attractiveness should be take issue with Ms. Clinton's attempt to hide her age. 
Because if the outward vestiges of a person must be changed to appease the masses, can her inner workings fair any better?

Taxes - 2014

April 15th has by now come and gone and because I flat out fear the IRS, I dutifully filed my income tax for 2014.
Up until this filing, I had religiously used TurboTax (TT) software to file for my refund. But I read some bad reviews for TurboTax this year.
I'd have been willing to ignore those since the CDs were so darn easy to use, but the game breaker was the price. It was $90, and it gave me pause. Significant pause. Because H&R Block software was only around $50 AND imported all my prior year's data.
Once installed, H&R operated basically the same as TT. One slight difference: I have a small side-business & input of its debits/credits was done in a slightly different manner, definitely not as smooth as TT. 
But all in all, for the near $50% savings I experienced by switching programs, it was worth it.
So, in summary, TT has lost someone who had been a faithful customer for about seven years for a cheaper but just as capable piece of software.

Movie Review - The Zero Theorem

There's an expression that goes something like this: "If you make it they will come." After trying to watch the movie "The Zero Theorem," I cannot in all honesty bastardize that statement into "If you film it they will view it."  

I sat through about 25 minutes of this film and quite frankly, I just didn't get it. Perhaps it was my stilted IQ bordering around the dull normal range, a pressing issue festering in my subconscious sublimating to an inability to concentrate or my selfish desire to spend my time on something worthwhile that forced me to pull the plug on this one; I don't know. But like I said, I just didn't get it.

Before judging me, let me state I understand the concepts of allegory, metaphors, analogies, symbolism and many others as applied on the screen. But I flat out didn't comprehend what was going on here. 

Set in a future that is truly a test of one's visual capabilities, the protagonist named "We" has a job in a surreal environment. He pedals a Rube Goldberg-esque machine while sitting in front of a monitor, producing a phosphorescent liquid in tubes that's used for who the hell knows what. Since I bailed on what seemed to me producer Terry Gilliam's attempt at recording an LSD trip I can't honestly say what it was about, its theme or message to the viewer. But I also don't need to stop smashing my fingers with a hammer knowing it will feel so good when I stop to derive some pleasure in my life.

There might be an underlying philosophical concept to be experienced but it's far from the surface of reality, as unrevealed and unattainable as the river Styx. To quote in part another review I read for Zero Theorem: 

Sudden singularities & the big crunch are a spectacular narrative to explorer tragedy & the philosophical purpose of life. Visually the film is overwhelming and the eclectic Bucharest architecture is perfect for Gilliam's vision

Okay. Um - huh?
One might call this a deep film, requiring a riveted attention span and drawing on years of knowledge gleaned from schooling in the Fine Arts, acknowledging the work of an avant-gard master filmmaker who has poured his heart into a work of staggering beauty and complexity.

To me, it was crap.

A Working Life - or Not

It's taken years; no, I'm wrong. It's taken my entire working life to realize I can't work for somebody else. Note I used the word "can't" instead of won't - there's a marked difference. Won't to me means a little kid who plants his feet and refuses to do something. Can't on the other hand connotes (at least to me in this respective instance) an inability to perform as expected. 
Let me clarify. In case you get the impression I was one of those employees who was the bane of an employer's existence, I'm afraid I've led you a bit astray. At the height of my career, I was responsible for the management of all medical, dental, life insurance, pension and other employee benefit plans to a tune in excess of $39 million. Chump change? I think not. But I digressed.  
A couple of years ago I tried my hand at an online business. Were my efforts successful? Was I able to earned what could be construed a viable income for myself? Yup, and to the tune of six figures.
So I was then able to compare working for the man & going out on my own. My preference? Without a moment's hesitation I can say putting all faith in my own abilities far, far outweighs any other employment opportunity I was ever offered.
See, I hold the ability to use my God-given brain to entertain an online opportunity, research its viability, possible income opportunity, competition, appropriate keyword density and other Google-related indices as sacrosanct. In other words, point me in the right direction, let me go & I'll do my thing. And most importantly, I answer to myself. 
As a point of reference & in the interest of full disclosure, I'm presently working for the man. But I've just scoped out an opportunity that's interested me. I'm reviewing the business's videos, pdf files, sample products, etc. Bottom line, it looks good - real good. When I'm all-in my initial income goal will be about $100/month. Once I reach that, I'll quickly ramp up to $200, then $500, then $1,000+. Give me a couple of months. Watch me make this work. Then I'll sever ALL ties with current employer. I will be on my own 100% - something I should have done years ago. 
I'll post updates here periodically.