Blogaround

A frog. Image source.

1. ‘They love him like he is the second coming of God’ (posted August 21) "So you would quickly take steps to distance yourself from the statement, making it clear that you recognize it is not accurate or true, that you do not think of yourself in this way, that you do not approve of its sneering ignorance or of its idolatrously worshipful tone."

2. Is Hagrid Secretly A Millionaire!? | Harry Potter Theory (posted September 3) "Why is this allowed to happen? Because Hagrid must be such a high roller, his vault must be so full of gold, that he just gets this kind of insane special treatment."

3. Why isn’t the Space Force in the Bible? (posted September 5) "Their problem isn’t merely a howling anachronism, but a narcissism that won’t allow them to seek or to find anything but their own reflection."

4. Young-Earth Creationism Leads the Short-Necked Okapi to Identify as a Giraffe (posted August 19) "This barely qualifies as a hypothesis much less a theory. For what I have called young-earth evolutionism (YEE) to be true, much of what we know about genetics, ecology, evolutionary processes and even some principles of chemistry, must be completely wrong."

5. Famous Viking Warrior Was a Woman, DNA Reveals (posted 2017) "Since the remains were found alongside swords, arrowheads, a spear, and two sacrificed horses, archaeologists had considered it a warrior’s grave—and, thus, a man’s."

6. High school students offer a silent ovation while a classmate with autism receives his diploma (posted July 9) Well I have *feelings* about this. It's presented as a heartwarming story, but... I'm autistic- not in the same way that the student in this article is, because in my case people don't know I'm autistic- but yes, like him, I have sensory issues about sound (he isn't okay with applause, but in my case it's other sounds; applause is fine for me). And everything surrounding that, the way people respond, the way people treat me, it's the biggest emotional trauma of my life. Imagining myself in a similar situation to what this article describes, it's ... it's not good enough that they all didn't clap. I would still experience all the fear and all the trauma. The article presents it as if because everyone didn't clap, it was a good experience for him. Is that really the case though? If it was me, it would still not be a good experience. You can't undo a lifetime of trauma with just a few minutes of everyone politely not clapping.

7. How To Be A Woke White Person Online (posted September 2) "People of color have to interact with your racist family member in all their oblivious and intentional racism."

8. A Nation That Isn't Crazy About Labor Celebrates Labor Day (posted September 2) "The thing about Labor Day is that while it was, at least for a few decades during the "Progressive Era," something that workers and unions actually marked with parades and demonstrations and stuff, it's been a long time since Labor Day has really been marked by anything but furniture sales and the mandatory newspaper piece on The American Worker and/or the Decline Of Unions."

9. ‘I Keep Getting Rejected for Jobs I’m Perfect For!’ (posted September 10) "It sounds like you’re thinking of getting hired as pass/fail: If you’re good enough, you’ll get the job. And if you don’t get the job, you’re not good enough … and possibly a horrible failure in general. But that’s not how hiring works."

Frogs. You guys.

Pretty much like this. Image source.

Yesterday I was looking around in a fancy imported-food grocery store, as part of a seemingly endless search for pancake syrup. Seriously, you cannot get syrup in China. (Well actually I did find some at this imported grocery store, but it was super-expensive fancy maple syrup, and I just want Mrs. Butterworth, come on.)

So anyway. I'm walking through this grocery store, and I see a tank full of frogs.

Like, living frogs. Big bullfrogs, bigger than your hand. A whole bunch of them, just sitting in this tank with a bit of water in the bottom. Frogs. Big bullfrogs. Living bullfrogs, you guys.

Frogs.

Frogs. Just a freakin' tank of bullfrogs. Just sitting there. And then one of them waddled around a little bit.

I wish I had a photo to show you, but I was just so shocked/ it's not really polite to gawk at and photograph what's being sold in a grocery store.

FROGS!!!!!

Living frogs. Really big bullfrogs. With a little sign in Chinese that said "牛蛙[niú wā]" (bullfrogs) and the price per 500 g.

So... so people buy them and take them home and kill them and cook them and eat them? Does the grocery-store attendant put the frog in some kind of plastic container with air holes? How would you kill a bullfrog? Ewwwww...

There were frogs, you guys.

I've seen live lobsters and fish for sale at grocery stores in America. In China even more so. But I've never seen live frogs for sale. And of course, in my mind frogs are completely different because they are cute while the lobsters and other seafood aren't.

Oh my goodness you guys, these frogs were huge.

Wow. I've never seen anything like that.

Bullfrog dish. Image source.

Oh by the way, I've eaten bullfrog before. The meat was really soft, and the taste was pretty normal. Maybe like chicken. It's a very normal food you can find in Chinese restaurants.

Still totally shocked to see live ones for sale at the fancy imported grocery store. Wow. Frogs.

Frogs.