Pot

During the last election, the voters of Massachusetts decided to decriminalize marijuana, at least in small amounts. The arguments in favor of the proposition were mostly along the lines of, it sucks to have a criminal record for doing something illegal. Apparently it is hard to get a job, or find housing when you have a criminal record (which you get by doing something illegal). Needless to say I was not a big fan of this proposition.

Another reason I am not a fan of this proposition is because marijuana is classified as a schedule I drug by the federal government. To have a state undermine the enforcement and viability of a federal law is a travesty. Unenforced and poorly enforced laws are bad laws.

Anyway, that aside out of the way... Since the proposition was passed (it still has not become law) I have smelled marijuana on numerous occasions. In fact just a couple of days after it was passed I smelled smoke coming in through my window. This morning on my way to work, I was standing on the subway platform and the foul odor came my way. I saw three high school age kids standing at the very end of the platform, and hiding behind a pillar. I suspect they were the ones doing the smoking.

So, I'm wondering if the passage of this proposal is going to cause an escalation in the amount of pot being smoked. Also will it encourage people to smoke in public.

My Niece

The first few days of this month saw me in Knoxville, Tennessee to visit my niece Veronica Marie Bartholomay. Usually I travel to Knoxville to visit my sister, but, then again my niece is only 2 months old so there hasn't been a lot of chances for me to visit her.


Anyway, in addition to being the first time I got to see my niece, it was also my niece's baptism. I was honored to be her godfather, or rather her baptismal sponsor. I even got to hold her during most of the service.

The other sponsor was Veronica Marie's cousin Marsha (Roger's brother's daughter). I'm bringing up the other baptismal sponsor because we both apparently share a good idea of what a two month old needs. A ninja doll!
Seriously, we both independently decided that Nica (short for Veronica, although with her being so small right now, it is easier to think of her as Veronica Marie) needed to have a ninja doll. Melanie said that when Marsha brought the ninja doll she said, "That looks like something that Peter would get" and sure enough...

As for little Nica, she is a beautiful wiggly bundle of joy. She was also pretty well behaved for me. She didn't fuss once during the entire church service, and was even awake for the first half. She got a bit fussy when we insisted on getting photos with her after the service rather than letting her eat. But once that issue was settled she calmed down and slept while the rest of us went to lunch.


This is my favorite picture from the trip down. My niece really isn't that small, she just looks tiny next to my enormous mug. She's about the length of my forearm, and the fist that she's cocking back in the photo is about the size of the last joint of my thumb. Actually, the size issue was rather funny when I tried to hand her back to my sister after the first time I got to hold Nica. I was being so careful to distribute the holding, i.e. spreading my hands, that my sister couldn't actually find anywhere to put her own hands.

Candy Corn Threshold

Halloween was a few days ago, and halloween reminds me of mellowcreme pumpkins. Mellowcreme pumpkins are a candy confection that is related to the candy corn. The ingredient list of both Mellowcreme pumpkins and candy corns are the same. Sugar, sugar, sugar, sugar, and flavorings. Alright so really it's sugar, corn syrup, salt, honey, gelatin, confectioner's glaze, dextrose, and various dyes and artificial flavors. But, corn syrup is sugar, honey is sugar and dextrose is sugar, so there is a lot of sugar packed into these goodies.

The mellowcreme gets its name from the gelatin portion. Gelatin is the primary reason that marshmallows are so fluffy. It is also used in the pumpkins (and candy corns) to make them soft and delicious. So really, mellowcreme pumpkins are a cross between marshmallows and rock candy.

Anyway, mellowcreme pumpkins fall prey to the same failings as candy corns: the candy corn threshold. I have had this theory for a number of years, ever since winning a "guess how many" candy corns are in a jar contest.

I started eating the candy corns. As I ate the candy corns I reflected on how wonderful they tasted, and how I could eat candy corns for my entire life. Then suddenly, I bit into a bad candy corn. It tasted disgusting. There must have been a bad candy corn in the bunch. So I fished into the jar and came up with another candy corn. I popped this fresh candy corn in my mouth, bit down, and was disgusted! What are the chances of having two bad candy corns in a row? Especially after having so many that were absolutely fantastic?

I put the jar of candy corns aside, and pondered. Had I eaten past a line in the jar below which the candy corns were turned? I examined the jar minutely and could find nothing to suggest that the corns were tainted. I waited quite a while before delving back into the jar. With a good deal of trepidation I ate another candy corn. It was delicious! Perhaps there were only a few bad corns and I happened to get two in a row. But alas, this was not the case. I had a few more and then suddenly they turned sour again. I had gotten through barely a dozen before the taste turned from divine to damned.

So, that was how I discovered the candy corn threshold. You can only eat so many candy corns before some physiological phenomenon occurs which tells your taste buds that enough goodness has passed through. When that occurs you have to stop eating candy corns and allow the system to recover. The body does slowly recover, but it is a recovery and not a resetting. So if you press on while not fully recovered you will hit the threshold much more quickly.

Candy corns are not the only food that has a candy corn threshold. Marshmallow peeps also fall victim to this phenomenon. But peeps are much more insidious because there is a very real chance the the peeps have turned bad, especially if you have moved on to the second package.

For those who don't eat candy corns the same thing can be true of alcohol. You are having a blast, and then suddenly you lift your most recent drink and you feel sick. You put the drink down, get some air, drink some water, anything except taking another sip. You start feeling better, so you have another sip. If it doesn't taste too bad you start drinking some more, but it'll only be a few sips until you are at the threshold again. The point where your body says, any more alcohol and I'll puke all over your shoes. Unfortunately with alcohol, you can go well past this point before your body catches up on the scoring. So kids, stick with candy corns.