Blackness fills the Daily Kos diary list. It's enough to drive a woman screaming into the street waving her arms, punching people indiscriminately.
I forced myself to shut down this computer and go do something else (like vote in the special election) but the feeling lingers.
Now I'm feeling better, and here's why:
I log on this morning to diaries about how I'm going to get screwed by the Credit Card companies, though I try to be responsible with my credit. Diaries about how my children may possibly be subject to horrible abuse. Diaries about Jesse Ventura arguing with everyone, all over town (they're fun to watch, but all that arguing wears on me). Then of course there's the special election in California, which is making me pull graying hair out of my head.
I get myself out of the house to go vote, but I'm punching that "No" button angrily, and my heartbeat is still abnormally high and I'm feeling extremely anxious, which I'm not prone to.
I come home and I'm back on the damn computer. More diaries that are making me crazy. Coal ash poisoning those poor people in Tennessee. Argh!
Now I've got to figure out what to make the children for dinner tonight that has some level of nutrition and can be made quickly after we get home from tae kwon do. I've got chicken breasts. Oh, so boring. But I start rummaging.
Onion, garlic, soy sauce. Hmmm...a little hoisin, some sesame oil. Now I've got a marinade, and some kabobs come to mind.
I realize that I'm feeling a little better, my heart-rate is slowing, and I find myself humming a tune!
So here's my silly, simplistic antidote to the Daily Kos blues:
2 lbs. chicken breasts, cubed
2 tbls. sesame oil
2 tbls. soy sauce
1 tbls. hoisin sauce
1 onion sliced thinly
6 or 7 or 20 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 tbls. chopped fresh ginger
1 tbl. dried oregano
Marinate for a few hours, then skewer it with fresh onion, peppers, mushrooms if you're into that kind of thing. It grills up in a few minutes, and it's a lovely meal with some rice and a salad.
It's not a brilliant or original recipe, but when the smell of the garlic and ginger and soy sauce and onion assails your nose, it's like taking a few milligrams of Ativan or a Xanax.
I can still smell the garlic on my fingers as I type this, and I have a little grin on my face.
I'm getting the hell off this computer as soon as I post this. I won't fall back into the Daily Kos black hole!