Schrodinger's Kittie

The Bloody Mary of Madagascar. Also known as The Mad Monarch. Upon the death of her husband, King Radama I, Queen Ranavola spread the rumor that the island’s idols prefered her to be Queen than for the decreed successor (Radama’s nephew) to take the throne. Soon after this was spread about, Rakotobe (Radama’s nephew) and all his supporters were slaughtered t…o a man. As far as Ranavalona was concerned, the only good foreigner was a dead one. She broke treaties with both the English and the French and banned Christianity. With a fanaticism that would have made Mary Tudor proud, she came up with creative and inventive ways to eliminate any one caught practicing Christianity. They were tortured, flung from cliffs, boiled in water, poisoned, flung off cliffs or beheaded if they didn’t recant. She also got rid of trial by jury and brought back the ordeal of tangena. The accused would be fed the poison along with three pieces of chicken skin: if all three pieces of skin were vomited up then innocence was declared, but death or a failure to regurgitate all three pieces of skin indicated guilt. She was also partial to boiling the accused to death – in boiling water. Tossing them off cliffs was another fun pass time for her; and, if those didn’t suit for the day, she would tie prisoners to a yoke and left to starve. This would prompt the prisoners to break the neck of the other in an attempt to escape the yoke. She was a sadist of the first water and no torture was too extreme for her to consider. Her hate was particular aimed at foreigners and most particularly Christianity. The majority of those put to death during her reign were those who refused to recant their conversion to Christianity. Her fanatacism on this matter lead many to believe that she was truly insane. Others stipulate that she managed to avoid being assassinated or removed from power which testifies to her being intelligent and clear minded.

I enjoy the art and feel of steampunk on my computer sometimes. I have an entire theme for it (my icons went a little nuts and I’m working on getting them all back); but, one thing that’s always been lacking for me was sounds to go along with the really nifty themes I was able to cobble together.

So…I made some. I took various sound bites from train stations and trains around and about and snagged small sections to make the .wav files for my sound bites.

I decided there might be one or two out there who’d like them, so I am posting them here as a .zip file. Enjoy! I just ask that these sounds bites not be used in pay theme packages.

Stempunk Sounds

I’ve been trying to find some filling meals that will satisfy my hunger and my taste buds, and will also allow me some wiggle room at night when I have dinner with Mike.  Since I really don’t want to cook a meal for him and then sit and eat carrot sticks, I wanted to find a way to allow myself to enjoy what I make for dinner.  However, skipping eating through the day and only eating dinner is one reason I’m in the position I am, right now.

Click on image for nutrition information

So, here is what I’ve managed to come up with for my meals and snacks at work…I’m watching my sodium levels so I’ve been really happy with what I’ve managed.  For breakfast, I have my Irish oatmeal made with water instead of milk (½ cup), and a ‘fresh fruit mix’ which is strawberries and blackberries that I’ve cut up (½ cup).   Sometimes blueberries or pomegranate seeds will make its way in.  For snacks it’s caramel flavored mini rice cakes – which are surprisingly not bad at all.  And, I’m thrilled that I’ve managed to find a yogurt that is significantly lower in sodium than any of the others and only 20 calories more than Dannon Light and Fit.

Considering it seems you can’t go low sodium and low calorie in the prepared food department (someone explain that?) I figure the trade out of 60 mg of sodium for 20 calories (or approximately 20 minutes strolling with the dogs) is well worth it.  The yogurt is Fage Total 2%.  It comes with little sections on the side holding the fruit that you can then mix in when you eat it.  Today’s option was cherry.  They offer plain, honey,  strawberry, cherry, blueberry and peach in the Total 2% category.  I figure, if I follow this meal plan, and eat significantly smaller portions at home for dinner…I should hit my target without having to stress about it.  This plan, without doing much in the way of exercise, still leaves me about 650 calories for dinner – more, if I actually manage to find time to exercise.