Systematic what????

My life for the last week, and stretching forward for a number of weeks to come, has involved and will continue to involve trying to take myself from 0 to 100 in my knowledge of all things Confucian and Ayurvedic. It's very interesting but the volume of reading material is equal, I'm sure, to a small library and there aren't many pictures. I'm going to have to ramp up my speed reading skills and switch on that awesome brain filter thing that picks up the relevant info and skims over the rest, especially since most of the text has been translated from Sanskrit or Chinese and isn't exactly a smooth and entertaining read. At least I have Mog to help me. Sometimes I find it improves my retention if I read parts of the text out loud and Mog usually listens and looks at me with an 'uh huh, that's very profound and I'm deeply interested and you are a genius and how about a snack?' look. Today I must have reached the limit of his/her concentration.

For a cat that was a stray just a few months ago, Mog has wasted no time at all in developing the essential skills of a domesticated cat of means. Things like sleeping on the bed and making happy with the furry blanket in front of a roaring fire just come naturally to him/her now. No, I have not bothered to look under his/her tail to check if we have a him or a her. I think Mog is probably a neutered male judging by size and personality, but do I really care? I'm sure that Mog is comfortable with his gender-ambiguous status and who am I to pry?

Breakfast cam

Quite often I like to have a mushroom omlette for breakfast. This morning I just did the eggs and the mushrooms separately, and it was a nice change. I didn't realise how much more you get the flavour of the mushrooms and then the flavour of the eggs as distinct experiences when they are not just 'omlette'. I put some thyme with the eggs for another angle and then sliced up some avocado on the top. Yummy. Michael Pollan would approve, except maybe about the avocado because I think it has the hidden ingredient of food miles. Everything else is very local, even the olive oil.