Having ordered a box of Miracle Berry Fruit Tablets from ThinkGeek a few weeks back, I finally got around to experiencing them alongside a buffet of sour fruit. From watermellon to lemons to blueberries to lychee, we tried it all. Chew one of these tablets up and then eat some otherwise sour fruit, and you will be treated to a flavor change that results in just about any sour fruit tasting like it's been rolled in sugar.

However, as someone who typically goes out of their way to find the sour fruit for it's own sake, I was rather disappointed that this Miracle Berry took what I enjoyed and removed the enjoyable part.

Oh well, maybe they'll find something that makes sweet fruit taste sour... or maybe I should just stick with unaltered sour fruits.

Throughout history, military leaders have been keenly aware of the fact that troops perform better when they are kept in a state of hunger. They are more alert stay focused... until they get a good meal in them.

Contrariwise, we all know the sensation of having finished a large meal. You feel comfortable, sedentary; you don't want to move... at all.

This dichotomy of hunger provides a well defined playing field for productivity. If you want to stay productive, stay hungry. It's that simple.

First of all, lets get one thing straight: if you intend to enjoy your coffee, don't put it through a drip coffee maker. If you bought good beans, it is worth the trouble to brew them properly. If you didn't buy good beans, then you don't care what it tastes like anyway and you can go brew drip coffee till your heart is content.

Me, I like to taste it, not withstanding the addition of cream and sugar. Good coffee just tastes better.

And good coffee brewed correctly tastes great!

What constitutes good coffee and how are you supposed to brew it properly?

I began with an idea that whales were sentient and that having something to do with their lifespan (likely falacious, but it's Saturday morning, lemme dream). In researching the average life span of whales, I ended up reading about the maximum life span of animals in general, including humans. Apparently, we've been capped with about a 120 year life cap for thousands of years. Average life span may fluxuate wildly, but the whole game seems to have always been capped at 120.

Part of the process of acquiring the original data involved something called a Cohort study, which sounds a lot more interesting than it actually it.

Research on maximum life span indicated that the only variable which has been shown to impact biological limits is through calorie restriction. It seems that drinking your nutrients in a protein shake instead of consuming them the traditional method has some merit after all. Calorie restriction simply means that you concentrate your nutrients into as few calories as possible; fewer than most of our diets encompass, anyway. Calorie restriction studies suggest that "lifespan is increased for an organism if it can remain lean and if it can avoid any excess accumulation of adipose tissue...", but caution that nutritional intake should not be impacted if such a diet is to be successful.

I recently picked up an actual "censer" for burning incense in. Not for lighting off your typical pedestrian "cones" either. This is set up with a small basin of sand in which you place a lit piece of coal. Upon this coal, you place nuggets of incense resin which smolder and melt while giving off whatever flavor of fumes you happen to have picked up.

And, while we are on that subject, there happens to be a lot more to incense than just lighting off another stick of Na'g to hide the smell. Live a little and try something new once in a while.

Me, I'm a big fan of collecting a variety of something so that I can try out as many different types as possible. You should have seen the selection the day I decided to try out exotic fruits; I wasn't even sure what most of it was called when I ate it, not having gone to the trouble of keeping anything labeled. I felt it was educational anyway.

Today, I'll let you in on my recent experiences with the various types of resin that I've burned in my censer.