Start the Day Off Right

Today (October 29th 2026) is National Oatmeal Day.  Oatmeal is a great way to start the day.  Or to bake into cookies.  Oatmeal can help lower cholesterol, is full of fiber and rich in antioxidants.  So go eat some.

I eat oatmeal on a semi regular basis.  The way I eat oatmeal most times is overnight oats.  I think it is an easy way to have oatmeal ready in the morning that I can just grab and go.

There are a million recipes online for overnight oats.  I found one a long time ago (I can't remember where) that had equal parts oats, milk, and yogurt.  I have used that as my guide for all this time.  Making changes to suit me along the way.  I can no longer find a recipe with these proportions. Which just goes to show that it is not an exact science.

As of right now I use a third of a cup of old fashioned oats, one third of a cup of yogurt and half a cup of milk. I get the store brand (read cheapest) oats, you know the ones that come in the cardboard tube, whole milk (from a cow) and plain yogurt, sometimes Greek and sometimes not.  I
add chia seeds and some sort of sweetener, usually sweetened condensed milk.  Leave it in the fridge overnight and then mix in some sort of topping.  I find this makes a perfect amount for my breakfast.

So no matter what the recipes say, you do you.  Pick the milk you like, dairy or not, pick the yogurt you

like or can afford or none.  I have used whole milk mostly but tried coconut milk too.  I have used Greek yogurt and non Greek yogurt, I even tried vanilla flavored yogurt.  I have tried honey, brown sugar and maple syrup as sweeteners.  And I add all sorts of things.  Nuts, seeds, fresh and dried fruit, peanut butter, coconut, chocolate chips, or whatever I have.  

There is the very basic recipe from Delish.

Six different flavors from Lemon and Zest.

More flavors from Love and Lemons. 

Make them as simple or as complicated as you like.  But give them a try.  You just might find the perfect mix for you.

That's a Big Print

Today (October 20th 2027) is National Sasquatch Awareness Day.  Do you believe in Bigfoot?  I do not believe that there is a humanoid creature out in the woods somewhere but I do enjoy watching Bigfoot movies and shows about people looking for Bigfoot.  Even if you do not believe that Bigfoot is real you can not deny that Bigfoot is great entertainment.  

Bigfoot vs Megalodon

Bigfoot vs Megalodon 2

Bigfoot vs Megalodon: Resurrection

The year is 4045 AD and Earth is uninhabitable.  The last of the humans are fighting the aliens, the Archons, and they have enlisted Bigfoot to fight the aliens and the Nazi experiment, the Megalodon. 

These movies are not good.  Let's get that out of the way right from the start.  Neither are they bad movies.  They are just made for a very specific audience.  The bad movie lovers audience.  So I am not going to say whether these are good or bad.  I am just going to tell you about these movies and let you decide for yourself.  They are all CGI.  It wasn't bad but it did make it look like a video game a lot of the time.  And then the video cuts away and a piece of stock footage was pasted in.  Sometimes you hear someone talking about a hamburger and then it cuts to a picture of a hamburger, but other times I didn't even understand what the cut in footage had to do with anything.  There is more dialog than action.  A lot of the dialog is about sex, even a scene where Bigfoot is trying to get it on with a robot.  The plot is a bit of a mash.  There is a bit of everything.  Bigfoot, a walking Megalodon, an evil clown, a werewolf, a message about us killing planet Earth, a Nazi experiment, aliens, the Sun God Ra.  I mean everything.  All that makes the plot is a bit of a jumble, especially in the third one.  But I watched all three right in a row.  So there is something to be said for them.  I found them entertaining.  Some of it I even found funny.  But they are not for everyone.  I saw the title and immediately knew I had to see these.  If you do not have the same reaction these are probably not your cup of tea.  I went into these movies with my eyes wide open so I was not disappointed.  I just wish there were more scenes with Bigfoot and Megalodon in the same place. Other than that I think you can figure out from the title and plot summary if this is something you will enjoy or hate.  

What Would You Do With Eight Arms?

Today (October 8th 2026) is International Octopus Day.  I happen to think that octopuses are awesome.  I have only ever seen an octopus on TV or in an aquarium.  I think it looks cool when someone reaches into the tank and the octopus wraps his tentacles around their arms.  I would like to try that.  But maybe with one of the smaller ones.

Secrets of the Octopus by Sy Montgomery

Sy Montgomery talks about her experiences with octopuses, and the joys and trials of working with them.

I really liked this book.  I have been interested in octopuses for a long time and always enjoy hearing stories about them.  And there are some great stories in here, about great escapes, human-octopus interactions and observations made in the wild.  I learned a lot too, starting with the fact that the correct term is octopuses, not octopi.  Sy talks about how people think differently about octopuses than they used to, they have become less villein and more hero.  I learned about how the study of octopuses has revealed that many things people thought about octopuses were wrong.  The book also tells you how hard it is to study them sometimes because they do not always play by the rules scientists make.  The book is rather short, so it is a quick read that never bogs down in science that you can't understand.  And there are a lot of beautiful photos that are a joy to look at.  All of it was interesting and engaging.  If you like octopuses you will like this book.  If you do not like octopuses, read this and become an octopus lover.