the eye of Nova's mind

I'm just getting into peppers. Do you like them? If so, which are your favorites?

Most of my life, I avoided overly spicy-hot foods (primarily due to an incident when I was three, where I mistook hot sauce for ketchup). Only recently have I decided to delve into the varieties & complexities of hot peppers.

I've tried poblanos, serranos & habeneros. Poblanos feel really laid back to me, somewhat of a jazzed-up bell pepper: some piquancy, but very mild. Serranos, comparatively, have a much brighter, greener flavor & packs far more punch. It's got a nice little bite to it that lets your tongue know it's there. The difference between seeded & not is striking.

I really enjoy the almost floral flavor of habeneros. I will admit that I've never eaten one with the seeds & membrane still intact, so I have not gotten its full intensity of heat. (Peppers are scored by Scoville Heat Units. Bell peppers are 0; serranos are around 6,000; habeneros clock in at 350,000 SHU.) But, seeded, the addition of the peppers to Mexican dishes & even scrambled eggs is a delightful change of pace.

I would have picked up some Anaheim peppers this weekend, but it was obvious the peppers that were available had been sitting out for some time. They'd started to change colors, right on the shelf.

What is your favorite fish (to cook)? Any particular accompanying technique?

If you like fish, what type is your favorite?

Serious writer's block going on over here.

Some ideas for a couple of poems? Perhaps you have a starting line or a handful of words that seek completion.

I've been instructed recently to observe a heart-healthy diet. In the ensuing near-month, I have done a good job of altering certain elements of my diet, though I still have an inordinate attachment to chocolate.

What's the most unhealthy item in your diet?

What has been the most interesting happenstance in 2010 for you so far?

How is it possible that, when copying tracks from my Tracy Chapman CD onto my hard drive, the music that comes up and overlays is "Paperback Writer" by the Beatles?

Well, playing back the track that was in question ("New Beginning"), the superimposition seems to have vanished.

That was strange.

The cover of this month's Sculpture Magazine^* is incredibly suggestive, in my opinion. What does it remind you of?

When I first walked by it in the library, I had to do a double-take.

^*Anish Kapoor, Hive, 2009. Cor-ten steel, 5.6 x 10.07 x 7.55 meters.

If you attended a movie in the theater this year, which one was your favorite?

Do you have a favorite senator? If so, whom?