eggplant.

i think eggplant is totally disgusting. well, as a food. i enjoy aubergine as a color. also as a word.

however, i have recently discovered that i really enjoy baba ganoush. (is that how one spells is?) about once a week i get the mediterranean combo plate at truly mediterrranean, on 16th, and it is like a massive orgy of deliciousness. sososo good. and way too big. way too much food.

anyway, i have avoided the ganoush, because i know i really detest eggplant, so i probably won't like it, but i finally tried it and it is fucking delicious. it has a gently smokey flavor. the texture still gets little bit snotty for me, but i dip stuff in it (falafal ball? pita? dolma? yesyesyes!) and it is just fine.

i think that this illustrates one of my favorite traits about myself, which i suppose could also be seen as a character flaw, but *i* think it's good.

i come from a VERY opinionated people. my mom and dad are very strong people, and i am a strong person, and we harbor strong feelings about things. so, when i opine, i am a very STRONG opiner. as i've gotten older i have grown to be a little bit embarassing about my rants, and see how obnoxious they can be, but until about 3 years ago i was unaware what a loud-mouth i was. 

so, i will, from time to time, loudly pontificate and expound on something or other. i am a very persuasive speaker, and i am funny.

but i am also quick to admit that i am wrong. or, to be open to grey areas and areas of contradiction. so, i may have a really strong negative reaction to a person, and feel like they're human bags of shit, and that they smell, and that they dress like tramps, or act like tramps, or are seemingly without any redeeming qualities. 

but, if time passes and it appears that my earlier assessment of that person was wrong, i will not hold on to my negative opinion,just to be right. i will let myself like them. i will let go of my previous negative opinion.

so, eggplant, i was wrong to say you were without redeeeming qualities. in baba ganoush, you are a delight. and the color of your outer skin is very lovely. you are still the texture and flavor of snot when not in baba ganoush, but i was wrong to be so close minded.

another example: mayo. hate you, mayo. the idea of mayo is gross. seeing it blobbing out the side of a sandwich is revolting. and yet...
if the aioli (which is basically mayo) is mixed with something tasty, like horseradish, you are very delicious. or, on a turkey sandwich with cranberry sauce, you add a nice little creaminess. so, while i don't feel like anything i said on the 'mayo haters' tribe discussion board was wrong, and i stand by that feeling, i admit i will voluntarily add you. 

also, eggs. i don't trust you, eggs. you hurt me. you make me feel ill 4 out of 5 times. but that 5th time, when you sit easily in my stomach, you're pretty much perfect. soft-boiled you're nasty; deviled, hard-boiled, fried, all these ways are repellent. but scrambled, and used to hold together various elements of deliciousness (bacon, cheeses, broccoli, whatevs) you are just the thing. 

other times when i was wrong:
-christina aguilera - i was not wrong when i rejected you for the whole 'dirrrrrty' thing. that was a really lame, ugly, whorish time for you. i have always said your voice is very strong. and now you have pulled yourself together, and i am happy to root for you and your seemingly normal marriage to that jewish guy. 

-chocolat (the movie) - i refused to see you because you looked cheesy and i don't really enjoy juliette binoche (but i think that is only because i read a really annoying interview with her in vogue once), but you were delightful and i would gladly watch you weekly.

-la - i admit there is non-suck to be found, i just didn't find much of it. some tasty-ass food and 2 or three people i love. 

this could be a fault, in that i am changeable, but i think it's good. if i'm wrong, i'm wrong. and i am not going to pretend to like someone or something when i don't. i won't go to a party at someone's house if i don't like them, even if everyone i know is going. 

i know i haven't been talking about cancer much lately. i haven't been thinking about it a lot, either. i mean, i am, i can't help it, but i have been thinking about other things.

don't worry. i am sure there's more to talk about,