Carrion Luggage (Book)

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Carrion Luggage

Carrion Luggage

Native to the Americas, the turkey vulture (Cathartes aura) travels widely in search of sustenance. While usually foraging alone, it relies on other individuals of its species for companionship and mutual protection. Sometimes misunderstood, sometimes feared, sometimes shunned, it nevertheless performs an important role in the ecosystem.

This scavenger bird is a marvel of efficiency. Rather than expend energy flapping its wings, it instead locates uplifting columns of air, and spirals within them in order to glide to greater heights. This behavior has been mistaken for opportunism, interpreted as if it is circling doomed terrestrial animals destined to be its next meal. In truth, the vulture takes advantage of these thermals to gain the altitude needed glide longer distances, flying not out of necessity, but for the joy of it.

It also avoids the exertion necessary to capture live prey, preferring instead to feast upon that which is already dead. In this behavior, it resembles many humans.

It is not what most of us would consider to be a pretty bird. While its habits are often off-putting, or even disgusting, to members of more fastidious species, the turkey vulture helps to keep the environment from being clogged with detritus. Hence its Latin binomial, which translates to English as "golden purifier."

I rarely know where the winds will take me next, or what I might find there. The journey is the destination.

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December 12, 2025 at 9:43am

#1103520

Grate-itude

Ah, yes. December. An appropriate time to think about Cheeses, our Savour.

The Easiest Way to Grate Parmesan Cheese
This TikTok hack just changed the game for getting freshly-grated Parmesan.

After three rants in a row, it's nice to get back to a safe topic like delicious ch-

Wait.

"TikTok hack?"

If you are adding grated Parm to a pasta sauce or really need it to melt into your dish freshly grated is the way to go.

That's true, but, and hear me out here, the easiest way to grate Parmesan is to buy it pre-grated.

I admit it's not as tasty as the fresh stuff, but all I'm doing is adding a bit of extra flavor to my sad, lonely, bachelor microwave pasta dish.

This hack leaves all the work up to one staple kitchen appliance: the blender.

Okay, so, let me get this straight.

You think it's easier to grate the cheese in a blender than to use a handheld cheese grater?

You're not thinking this through. You have to factor in cleaning. Cleaning a handheld grater is dead easy if you have a dishwasher: throw it in there. Cleaning a blender, on the other hand, is a chore.

Start with a wedge of your favorite Parmesan cheese. Cut the cheese into several cubes. No special knife skills needed!

Ah, yes. And then there's this additional step. And you do need special knife skills; Parmesan is a hard cheese, and unless you know what you're doing, you could add fingertip to your pasta topping.

Why is Freshly Grated Cheese Better than Pre-Packaged Products?

Because the Bulk Cheese people paid us and the Pre-Packaged Cheese people didn't.

...okay, no, I agree that freshly grated is best. But sometimes laziness is better than not-laziness.

The article does go into some semi-technical reasons why it's best to Make Yourself Grate Again, and you can go there if you want to know.

Anyway, that's all for today. No deep philosophical insights, no questionable scientific studies, no articles chock-full of confirmation bias. Just some nice, cheesy jokes.

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