Random Thoughts...

1]Just saw a great new commercial using footage from Godzilla 98, for doritos. They show his "first appearance", and the fish semi-truck he chomps on is replaced by a doritos truck, and at the end of the commercial, it shows when he appears from the sewer, except this time he's licking cheese powder from his hands.

2]The Weather. I love this time of year. It's not too hot, and it's nice and breezy. I'm of the opinion that the windows should be WIDE open, even if you have to wear a shirt. Besides, indoor air is generally less healthy than outdoor air, so circulation is good. However, not everyone I live with seems to share the "open the windows" opinion...

3]I made brownies yesterday. They're gone today .
But that's not the point I'm trying to make here. Now, I've always been pretty good at math (although it wasn't my fave subject, so I always took the easier classes, no calculus for me!), but I'm ever so slightly befuddled. I was trying to figure out approximate baking times for our new stove based upon total surface area of the baking dish. The mix recommended a 13x9 pan, which gives you 117 square inches of surface area, at 28-31 minutes. And I started thinking...
If I took 3 inches off t he long side (making it 10 inches), and added it back to the shorter side, (making it 12 inches), essentially we're not actually losing size, however, now we have 120 square inches of surface area! Where'd that extra 3 square inches come from? I had taken the total inches (22, specifically. 13+9, 10+12, etc.) and started thinking of other derivations thereof. I came to the conclusion that an 11x11 square pan gives you 121 square inches, ie the most out of any derivations of 22, and thus, the shortest baking time (more surface area, and the mix would be spread out more. I haven't even attempted to calculate the changes in depth between variables, but I feel it's a fair assumption. So an 11x11 pan will probably only take about 20 minutes), not to mention it being easier to cut even pieces for everyone (assuming you're anal enough measure each piece. I assure you, despite my apparent nerdness, I'm not THAT anal).
Why did I start contemplating all this? Because I was in the bathroom, where all great and wonderous thinking takes place.

4]The Da Vinci Code: And I thought I was paranoid...
First off, this (from book to movie) has always been promoted as a work of *fiction*. Even if it wasn't, it isn't anything more than speculation (heck, even within the fictious story, the storyline is based on speculation).
Secondly, Da Vinci was a brilliant man, but a] has a known history of playing with genders in his work. For whatever reason, he had no problem painting/drawing effeminate men, masculine women, and often, gender non-specific figures. It seems he found them interchangeable, or at the very least, felt that the specific genders of his subjects were unimportant in many of his works of art. Also, b] as brilliant as he was, why would he, and he alone, have this specific information (presented in the ficticious work)? He also have a known history of being a theorist. A really good one, too. Even if he did theorize everything presented therein, it's still just that, a theory!
Thirdly, and this is from a more christian standpoint: One of the tenets about the bible is, "take nothing out, nor add anything to" it. What is in the bible is there for a reason, what's not there was also done for a reason. But that doesn't mean that stuff didn't happen outside the bible (it just wasn't included for whatever reasons). Jesus may have taken Mary Magdalene as his wife, and He could have had 43 kids with her. So what? That doesn't do ANYTHING to disparage, or somehow lessen the importance of His teachings presented within the bible. Of course the naysayers would latch onto such factoids and use it to undermine, or otherwise tear into Christianity (they've been doing it for centuries, like they really need another excuse). The point is, no Christian secure in his/her beliefs has anything whatsoever to worry about this, even if it was proven to be 100% true! The church has become just that paranoid. They have more to worry about from the pedophiliac priests who are tearing down the church from the insides, than from this speculative work of fiction that only would add another, if somewhat unexpected, aspect to the life of Jesus, but not negate what is reported in the bible.
Btw, I am a Christian (even if, admittedly, I'm not always a model christian), and I'm also naturally paranoid, but even I feel the church has often gone way too far in it's own paranoias. God help us all...