#hecates grimoire

[themiddlenerd-blog]

Bookworm Problems #1: Space

I have no space.

I have no space for a lot of things in my apartment. Living with another person in a one bedroom apartment is somewhat difficult. Every year or so, I try to downsize on what I have. I donate clothes and random things that I don't use. Whatever I haven't used in the last few months, I get rid of. Like any other person I accumulate a lot of shit over the year - some impulse buys, others, things I think I'll use but never get around to using. But there's one thing that I can't seem to toss: my books. My boyfriend said that if I got rid of just 25% of the books I have, I'll have plenty of space. But the thing is, I can't. Even some textbooks I have, I don't want to get rid of - well except my college algebra book (I hate math). 

I don't know why I'm so wary about parting with my books. Part of me knows that I haven't read a lot of these in years and there's really no use to having all of them. I also know that my insane penchant of impulse buying/getting free books is somewhat out of control. My "to read" pile is growing exponentially as months go by. I think there's only one way to describe this: I am a hoarder. I hoard books. I want to keep my mini library for as long as I can - I'm even thinking about buying a little bookplate so I can personally stamp all my books. 

Everyone needs a hobby, right? Mine just tends to take up a little more space than what I have. It could be worse. I could be collecting shoes...or makeup - well, I'm starting to collect makeup. I should get rid of some of it. 

*sigh*

Anyone have any recommendations for bookshelves?

[hecatesgrimoire-blog]

Hecate on Agnosticism

Today I saw on facebook that one of my friends said that people who mock people for believing in God are small minded and that they don't see the bigger picture. While I understand her viewpoint, I think it was somewhat small minded for her to think that people who don't believe in God to not see "the bigger picture". After I moved out, I dubbed myself an agnostic christian - meaning, I believed in God, but I couldn't prove whether or not he actually existed. However, the more I thought about it, I realized that I'm more agnostic than anything. I would like to think that there is a higher power - be it God, Vishnu, Ra...for all I know, Zeus could come down and save my ass. 

But back to my ramble. I think just saying "no you're wrong, or your belief in a higher power is wrong" is in and of itself, small minded. The fact of the matter is, we don't know. I admire the fact some people believe in something, but at the same time, I find it completely close minded for them to judge my lack of belief. The only way you will know for sure, is when you die - you either go to heaven or you cease to exist. 

I think what pushed me further away from organized religion is the way I was raised. I grew up in a Catholic household and I was raised to believe that if I didn't do good things and I didn't follow the Bible, I would go to hell. I don't know about you, but I think threatening a child with eternal damnation is somewhat cruel. It got to the point where I began to question whether or not my actions were caused by an irrational fear of being tortured in hell, At some point, I decided that I would rather be a good and moral person because that's who I wanted to be and because I wanted to make people happy. I was no longer driven by fear, but the desire - not for eternal life - but to be the best person I could be with the only life I knew I had. 

I'm pretty sure I've rambled off point by now; and to be honest, I'm not exactly sure if I had a point to make. I think I just wanted to rant because ignorance goes both ways. I think the only way you can possibly be narrow minded is if you honestly believe that there is no chance you could be completely wrong. I believe everyone is entitled to their belief, but they should accept the possibility, that someone else might be right. 

[hecatesgrimoire-blog]

Burger Boss (Moreno Valley, CA)

I am not a burger person. Let me repeat that: I am NOT a burger person. But my boyfriend is. I hate fast food burgers most of the time because they taste like meat…substance. However, a good burger is hard to come by when you’re not willing to spend a few bucks.

Luckily, we stumbled upon this nice burger place in Moreno Valley. Burger Boss is a “build your own burger” type of place. The pull they have is that everything is “fresh”, never frozen, and locally grown/raised – and you can taste the difference. The location in Moreno Valley is somewhat hidden. It’s in an unassuming plaza area with “for lease” signs on all of the other doors, but when entering, it’s really bright and welcoming. You get to pick and choose your food, and it has a lot of things you wouldn’t normally see. I ordered a single burger on a white kaiser bun, aged swiss, garlic herbed mayo, baby spinach, and crispy pickles. I also got cheese fries.

Admittedly it took a little while to get our food because there was a lot of people, but they bring it out to you on metal baskets somewhat unassembled – which I loved. That way by the time it got to me, things weren’t…mushy? However, I didn’t really have to worry about that with this burger. My first bite and I was the happiest person in the world. THe beef was nice and juicy, pickles were sliced long and were really crisp, and the garlic mayo was something I would happily put on EVERYTHING. To be honest, dear follower, my mouth is watering just thinking about it. I ate that thing fairly quickly and it was enough to satisfy me.

Now onto the cheese fries…they were okay. I love cheese. I love fries. I love cheese fries; but these were not that great. I think I preferred the fries as is (sans cheese), and it was a wasted $3 on those to be honest. The fries were delicious but the cheese just kind of made everything…meh.

But back to the positives! The ingredients were really fresh – and you can taste the difference. The pickles/spinach wasn’t limp, the meat wasn’t grey (they won’t let you cook it beyond medium…because after medium, I mean, who would want it?), and the bun was nice and toasted. The atmosphere was great and the people were really friendly.

Overall: ★★★★ ((cheese fries cost the rating a star))