Saturday, December 28, 2019

Tip for Reusing a Turkey Thermometer

Did you know you could re-use the thermometer that comes with many frozen turkeys? It makes sense, when you think about it. Those thermometers contain a ball of metal and a spring. The thermometer is designed such that the metal will melt at the safe temperature for turkey meat (~180Â °F), releasing the spring and popping up the button. To reset the thermometer all you have to do is dip the tip of the thermometer in hot water (near-boiling will definitely work) to melt the metal. Push the button back down and remove the thermometer from the water, keeping the button depressed. Wait about a minute for the metal to cool, locking the spring back into place. There you go! If you dont cook turkey all that often, remember the thermometer is good for chicken or other poultry, too. Its much smaller than the typical meat thermometer and also much less likely to injure your hand if you go fishing around in a drawer for a thermometer that you rarely use. Youd need to cut open a turkey thermometer to confirm it is metal that holds the spring, as opposed to some polymer, but if is metal inside the thermometer, you should discard any thermometer with a damaged coating. Metals with low melting points tend to be toxic, after all. This also means that if you cut open your thermometer to examine its workings, you should use care and dispose of your experiment out of reach of children or pets.

Friday, December 20, 2019

A Biography Of Frida Kahlo - 1414 Words

Hayden Herrera’s book Frida, A Biography of Frida Kahlo (1983) writes with engrossing detail the life story of the famous Mexican painter Frida Kahlo known for her folk art with vibrant colors and elements of surrealism. Herrera captivates her audience by telling the challenging journey and the various important obstacles Kahlo had to face throughout her entire life during the twentieth-century. Herrera explains how Kahlo’s various masterpieces have been shaped by her life circumstances and experiences like her childhood in Mexico City during the Mexican Revolution; the traumatic accident when she was a young girl that left her incapacitated and unable to bear children; her turbulent marriage with muralist Diego Rivera and love affairs;†¦show more content†¦Kahlo began to paint in while she was recuperating from the devastating accident she faced when she was merely eighteen years old that would change her life forever. The accident occurred when a trolley cras hed in to the small wooden bus she was riding in. The accident which nearly killed her, left Kahlo partially invalid which including three broken places to her spinal column, a broken collarbone, two broken ribs, three broken places to her pelvis, eleven fractures in her right leg, a crushed and dislocated right foot, and a dislocated shoulder. A steal rod also impaled her in the uterus exiting through her vagina leaving her unable to bear children. Due to this event Kahlo stated, â€Å"I lost my virginity† (Herrera, 49). Herrera explains that many of Kahlo’s supporters view her tragic accident as if it were Kahlo’s destiny. Kahlo was destined to endure a long life of pain and anguish in order to create the unusual, morbidly unique works of art. Kahlo was compelled to wear a full cast that cover a third of her body; wrapping from her chest down to her feet. Her painting started on her body cast which began her journey through the world of art. She abandoned her studies of medicine because of her immobilization and gave up her medical career to fulfill her career as a painter instead. Kahlo’s first greatest paintings begin during this time, My Grandparents, My Parents and I (1936).

Thursday, December 12, 2019

Character Analysis from a Raisin in the Sun free essay sample

Beneatha’s Struggles Eleanor Roosevelt once said, â€Å"A woman is like a tea bag – you never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water. † As carbon matter endures unimaginable heat and pressure to transform into a beautiful diamond, so also do individuals experience incredible situations in life, which lead to opportunities for personal development. These times of struggle do not always produce the most gracious or picturesque representations of a person, but they are often necessary for that person to experience internal growth. Throughout Lorraine Hansberry’s story of A Raisin in the Sun, Beneatha’s character is forced to deal with conflict from many different sources, thus taking her through a process of self-actualization. Externally, upon introduction to her character, Beneatha struggles against a society that does not readily accept her as an African-American woman. Set in Chicago’s Southside in a time before the Civil Rights Movement had really gained momentum, A Raisin in the Sun places Beneatha in a tumultuous environment. We will write a custom essay sample on Character Analysis from a Raisin in the Sun or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Simply by virtue of her birth, this young African-American woman finds herself catapulted into a time of social conflict and unrest due to the highly charged civil rights issues coming to surface. Additionally, in this time, if they insisted on working, women were expected to become domestics, secretaries, nurses, or teachers: all roles which ultimately submitted to male authority. To add fuel to the fire of her individual situation, Beneatha finds inspiration from a personal experience and decides to become a doctor, which at that time was rare, if not dissident, to the current society as a woman of her race.In a moment with her friend Asagai, Beneatha shares the memory of a neighborhood child being injured and her internal response to his treatment: â€Å"That was what one person could do for another, fix him up – sew up the problem, make him all right again. That was the most marvelous thing in the world†¦I wanted to do that† (p. 1241). Beneatha saw that the medical treatment made an active impact on the boy’s life. She herself wanted to participate in the active positive change in people’s lives. Beneatha’s professional aspiration proves an admirable dream but surely sentences her to an uphill battle throughout her future.Going deeper, more personal to Beneatha is the sibling rivalry she experiences with her older brother, Walter. Jeremy Boyle, a family-based website writer, expounds on the dynamics of a sibling rivalry: As siblings grow into mature adults, they hope and expect rivalries will recede into the past. For most siblings this is the case, but for some rivalry continues to burn deep. In some cases, new rivalries pop up. When sibling rivalry persists into adulthood, the conflict and self-doubts can be devastating. Boyle touches on the aspect that a child easily forgives a broken toy or a smaller piece of dessert.However, as the child matures into adulthood, a lifetime of favoritism or lack of respect ultimately wears down the bonds shared by siblings. The most tangible point of conflict between Walter and Beneatha involves Walter’s resentment towards Beneatha. Walter resented Beneatha because the family made financial sacrifices so that Beneatha would have the money necessary to pursue higher education. Meanwhile, Walter felt stuck in his job, holding a position as a chauffeur, and furthermore felt stifled by his family who responded skeptically to his own business ideas and desires.Instead of taking personal responsibility for his own decisions and results thereof, Walter blames the family’s lack of resources on the expense of Beneatha’s education. Furthermore, while he himself professes a desire to rise above the status quo of his community, he begrudges Beneatha for her assertive actions to realize her own dreams even to the point of trying to discourage her success. Unable to see beyond his own insecurity and afraid that he himself will not realize his own dreams, he exclaims, â€Å"Who the hell told you you had to be a doctor?If you so crazy ‘bout messing ‘round with sick people – then go be a nurse like other women – or just get married and be quiet† (p. 1204). The climax to this conflict surfaces when Walter, due to a bad busine ss agreement, looses the money allocated for Beneatha’s medical education. This inevitably forces Beneatha to question and reassess decisions she previously made about her life. The money previously available for her education disappeared; this meant that in order to continue with her plans she would need to work even harder to accomplish her goals. Does she really want to become a doctor? Can she really afford it?What if she failed to succeed? This financial conflict proved to not only fire the rivalry she and her brother shared, but it also triggered the conflict within her own being. Most intimate to Beneatha rages the internal battle between living a more socially acceptable life versus a more personally gratifying life. Beneatha’s two suitors, George and Asagai, act as the personification of this division. On one hand George represents an easier life in her current society. Because of his family connections, established financial security, and assimilation into the American culture, a future with George promises comfort and approval.The hopes of assimilation provided an amount of relief from the conflicts she faced; the more cultural and social acceptance she gained, the less struggle she potentially faced. Transversely, Asagai, a Nigerian native, woos her internal hunger for a life more true to her African heritage. Asagai seems to have the ability to see beyond the surface of her demeanor. He speaks to the core of her being, challenging her motives, her words, and her actions all the while encouraging her to pursue the desires of her heart even to the point of suggesting a new life with him in Nigeria.He promises her, â€Å"I will show you our mountains and our stars; and give you cool drinks from gourds and teach you the old songs and the ways of our people† (p. 1243). Using poetic imagery, Asagai allures Beneatha’s feminine desire for beauty as well as the pull she felt to bond more closely with the truths of her ancestry. The dichotomy of these two polar opposites does not afford Beneatha neutrality; she knows her choice of actions will ultimately profess her position. Ultimately, much like life, though an optimistic tone emerges in the end of the story, the future still remains uncertain.The audience does not see the final resolution to Beneatha’s conflicts. However, the audience does see that Beneatha’s courage to face these specific confrontations brings her closer to being at peace with the antagonists in her. Again, Eleanor Roosevelt’s words become relevant when she said, â€Å"Friendship with oneself is all-important, because without it one cannot be friends with anyone else in the world. † Eleanor Roosevelt recognized the phenomenon that unless a person works to resolve her internal conflict, she will always face external factors that consistently trigger the emotional voltage behind the situation.

Wednesday, December 4, 2019

Fallen by Evanescence free essay sample

Full of mesmerizing vocals and eerily haunting lyrics, Fallen is alternative rock band Evanescences Grammy-winning debut album. Fallen spent 104 weeks on the Billboard 200- with over half of that time period in the top 20. It went platinum seven times, selling more than seven-million copies in the United States and over 15 million copies worldwide. Having five Grammy nominations, Fallen went on to win two. All of these accolades speak of the great talent of the musicians in this amazing band. Maybe all these things came about because Evanescence is not your typical, crude, pop music- it is real, touching on topics other artists seem to avoid, and seamlessly conveying perfectly dark messages that speak of emotions which everyone feels. Fallen features powerful female vocalist Amy Lee, whose voice provides a refreshing change from the male voices presently heard all over the rock genre. Her voice is so emotional that it feels as if she were sitting right in front of you, letting you help her bear her burdens of unrequited love, sorrows, and grief. We will write a custom essay sample on Fallen by Evanescence or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Unlike most mainstream music today, it gives you something to think about and, subsequently, leaves your soul with something that plagues and stays with you throughout the rest of the day. Amy Lee and co-founder Ben Moody gave birth to the group in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1994, where they met at a youth camp. Their big break was in 2002, when the company behind the movie Daredevil asked Evanescence to headline the soundtrack. By the time the film was released in February, â€Å"Bring Me to Life† was being played all over the radio. Evanescence always keeps the listener guessing, using an interesting mix of musical styles- including classical strings (violins) and more modern guitar riffs. For example, the orchestration of â€Å"My Immortal,† written by both Ben Moody and Amy Lee, is almost completely comprised of pianos and violins. In contrast, a significant number of the songs, such as the first song on the album, â€Å"Going Under† have hard rock elements, including heavy drums and the aforementioned guitar riffs. These compositions are a mixture of heaven and hell, with instances of angelic voices in the background of the song â€Å"Everybodys Fool† compared to occasions of screaming men, as heard in one of their hit singles, â€Å"Bring Me to Life.† This unusually beautiful sound lends Evanescence an originality that is unmistakably their own. Many of the songs on Fallen are influenced by the deaths of Lees 3 year old sister and Moodys grandfather. The strong messages about death and depression induce emotions that may be unwanted for some listeners. They often talk about feeling worthless, feelings that, as teenagers, we need to healthily explore and gives you something that makes you feel as though you are not the only one. On many popular albums, the best song is not the most well known. For example, my favorite song on this album is â€Å"Imaginary.† First released in 1998 on Lee and Moodys Evanescence EP, â€Å"Imaginary† forced me to dig deeper within myself. At first I had no idea of what the song was talking about, but on my second listen, the nonsensical chorus which speaks of purple skies, paper flowers, and candy clouds became a reality. I realized that she wanted to get away from this world, leaving her personal troubles behind by creating a perfect fantasy land. By inviting me into her utopia, I saw the possibility of using creativity to make my own fantasy land become real. The flow of the lyrics, the powerful voice and the beautifully arranged songs are all examples of why this album is amazing. But, something deeper than the external speaks to me when I listen to this music; something that lurks behind the words- perhaps a glimpse of myself. As Lee said in â€Å"Hello,† â€Å"Soon, I know Ill wake from this dream,† but while I am still in it, I will love and cherish Evanescence as long as Im asleep.