What things tempt you the most?
Diana Krall
For me that’s an easy questions, food, in all flavors, and women, in all sizes and shapes.
I have never wanted to be either rich, powerful or famous.
I think anyone who isn’t at least temporarily tempted by something, a shiny car, a new dress, triple chocolate cake, everyday should check their pulse. They may be dead. 
We do need to control our desire. That’s one definition of being civilized. We can’t let this natural attraction become unhealthy obsession.
I will admit that since I have been diagnosed as a diabetic, and have had to limit my carbs and calories, I do on occasion find my self fantasizing about a “Bacon Explosion”, bacon inside a sausage, wrapped in bacon, http://www.bbqaddicts.com/blog/recipes/bacon-explosion/ , or a Forzen Haute Chocolate from the Serendipity 3, New York City, which only cost $25,000 for a serving, http://www.trifter.com/Practical-Travel/World-Cuisine/Nine-Unlikely-Ways-to-Literally-Munch-Taste-and-Consume-Gold.62178 .
I still do sometimes have daydreams which may included Susan Sarandon (who unfortunately prefers younger men, her husband Tim Robbins is 12 years younger than her) , and Michelle Obama (if I ever tried to act on that fantasy I would find myself in a prison cell in Guantanamo Bay pretty quick).
I love the sights and smells of the world outside my door too much to ever get lost in that dream world.
If I do have an obsession it’s for sunsets, waves rolling in over the ocean, and being surrounded by nature in the park.
10 comments
Comments feed for this article
April 14, 2009 at 5:08 pm
Indian Lake Papa
ED, I have nothing that tempts me or any kind of vices. Mama says I have one vice – I lie a lot!
after listening to and reading your list, I don’t think I will lt you around mama – she is too hot! heh heh!
April 14, 2009 at 5:38 pm
edfromct
As long as you have your “hot” Mama around I guess you won’t be tempted by any vices.
At our age it can become difficult to remember which stories are the lies and which are true
April 15, 2009 at 12:02 am
lovewillbringustogether
$25,000 for one dessert???
I’m prepared to wager that much that, while it may be the most expensive dessert, the majority of people would not find it to be the Best in a blind taste test.
I will personally recommend the Quokka Stopper available from the Rottnest Island Lodge Hotel (a Quokka is a medium sized marsupial early explorers mistook for a giant rat).
Not only is it larger than the Frozen Haute Chocolate – i REALLY had to struggle to get through one – and that was back when i was a young, Fit Choc-o-holic!
It comes in a cheapo plastic, wide-necked, giant champagne goblet and is chocolate mouse on chocolate ice cream with a topping of fresh whipped cream and sprinkled with rich chocolate flakes and generously poured over with Kahlua – a chocolate liqueur.
Chocolate-dipped Strawberry and a sprig of mint is an optional garnish.
Serving size is ‘generous’
Cost – back in the 80’s – was a tad under Aus$ 10.00 (US$ 7.00)
Satisfaction level? Priceless!
and no gold!
You might be able to guess one of my biggest ‘temptations’ from this – food
As great as their many temptations are i have learned through long experience to limit my surrendering to Women as another of my Great Temptations.
I do not feel any worse for it
– but it can be so hard not to ‘look’ 
<B
April 15, 2009 at 12:54 pm
edfromct
I thought you had made up the name “Rottness Island”, but should I have know a good Christian like yourself would never make up stores.
When I read the Wikipedia entry on the quokka I see the Island was named “Rat Nest Island” by the early explorers because they mistook the qukkoa for a rat.
Rottnest Island does look like a great vacation spot. No cars allowed, just bikes. I’ll bet the quokka are happy about that. I would expect being mistaken for a rat would have helped the qukkoa from become the early explorer’s lunch.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quokka
“chocolate mouse on chocolate ice cream with a topping of fresh whipped cream and sprinkled with rich chocolate flakes and generously poured over with Kahlua – a chocolate liqueur.”
That does sound like a very tempting desert. Each of those ingredients taste great on their own.
It is funny how often something does tempt us until we can’t have it. That is the case with me and food since I found out I was diabetic.
It is tempting for me to make fun of the poor Aussie Cricket team after losing yet again to South Africa. I’ll let Rain do that.
April 15, 2009 at 11:51 pm
lovewillbringustogether
You have my unending sympathy for your diabetes – some believe the illness ( type 2) is curable – have you googled/wikied it?
It does require a period of sorta drastic dieting initially for a few months but the reward of being again able to eat chocolate would, in my case, be worth it
I consider you to be one of my truest blogfriends Ed, i promise, if you want to take a (friendly) swipe at the Aussie Cricket team from time to time i’ll take it in good spirits!
I find it hard to say we were beaten by a better team, but the truth is, on the day we were!… and some of our most senior players need to take a long hard look at themselves and the amount of cricket they play if they cannot play to the best of their ability for long periods of time.
For some reason our best batsmen seem to be unable to play even half-decent spin bowlers and don’t seem to learn from their mistakes.
We need to learn before the Ashes Series against England starts in July.
<B
April 16, 2009 at 1:30 am
edfromct
My early diagnosis of diabetes means I have not had to modify my life as much as many others have. There is no cure as of yet. Hopefully I will live long enough until there is one.
Actually it gives me the motivation, at least most of the time, to lead a healthier life. I am in better health, overall, now than I was before I was diagnosed.
There is a down side. I can eat anything, but I have to adjust my portions. I can have a piece of cake, but it means I have to cut back on my carbs somewhere else.
I can have all the protein I want, which is great because I love bacon.
The only thing I can’t have at all is alcohol. That also has improved my health. Not to mention my mental state. 
I was watching a clip from a cricket match. With all the padding the batsman wear is it the goal of a bowler to hit the batsman or the wicket?
Australia is sill rated 3rd best in the world so you should be confident of beating England. Losing to England, not that would be depressing..
April 16, 2009 at 1:52 am
lovewillbringustogether
Sounds like you are more fortunate than many diabetics – for which i am thankful
i might see if i can find the website that mentioned type 2 diabetes being fully curable – not just ‘liveable’…
as for Cricket – LOL
in ‘theory’ the main idea is for a bowler (= pitcher in baseball) to hit the wicket at the batting end with the ball that he has to deliver with a straight, not bent, arm (no ‘throwing’ is allowed and some bowlers have been prevented from bowling because they had ’suspect’ actions).
in practice, if a bowler only aims at the wicket every ball then the batsman is in a far better position to know how to play each shot and this lessens the chances of getting a man ‘out’.
Bowlers (especially the type known as ‘fast’) hate batsmen and the ‘odd’ ball that bounces and rises up straight at the batsmans head is thought to be a ‘good’ ball because it puts the fear of God something else in the batsman’s mind for the next delivery.
Very occasionally (and always ‘Accidentally’) a ball might fly straight at the batsman without bouncing first to further give him something to think about and while this is considered ‘legal’ it would be frowned upon by umpires and everyone else if it happened a little too ‘regularly’
Even with the padding, and helmets akin to those worn by short-stops, injuries such as broken fingers, broken ribs fractured arms and even concussion and stitches are the batsman’s perils in the modern game.
Not bad for a non-contact sport huh?
The batsmen rarely get a chance to return the ‘favour’ to the bowlers – unless it is a ‘tail-end’ (weaker) batsman who are most often the specialist bowlers.
Batsmen have to resort to injuring a bowler’s ego more than his body by hitting him out of ‘the ballpark’ for a Six.
<B
April 16, 2009 at 1:58 am
lovewillbringustogether
hmmm. my ’strikeout’ did not work on the ‘puts the fear of God’ comment??
<B
April 16, 2009 at 5:37 pm
edfromct
In American basball the pitcher(bowler) also try’s to intimidate the batter by throwing in the general direction of their head. If the ball should hit the batter it’s their fault for not be quick enough to get out the way.
For most of baseball history batters were too macho to wear a protective helmut. Then the Commission of the Major Leagues made it mandatory.
There is being brave and then there is being stupid.
April 16, 2009 at 9:38 pm
lovewillbringustogether
I believe the more beanballs to the scone (British for head), the more likely it would be for them to be ‘macho’ and not want to wear helmets and the slower they’d get at moving out of the way… some people need others to look after them!
Cricket was originally a ‘Gentleman’s Game’ and was even played by people wearing suits and a Top Hat – still today there is a term known as a ‘hat trick’ – getting three men out in successive balls bowled by one bowler.
By the 1930’s however the degree of ‘gentlemanly sporting ideals’ had given way to win at all costs/all out ‘war’ between Australia and England with the Test Series that came to be known by the term – Bodyline.
You can probably guess why. It was a bowling method employed to considerable success (and injury to the English players) by the Aussies and was felt by the English establishment to be ‘Just not Cricket, Old Boy’!
it was technically within the rules at the time but was not considered to be the ‘Done Thing’ or to be in the best interests of Sport.
The rise to today’s extreme padding measures and crash helmets was a likely result of this series.
One major difference i seem to notice between baseball and cricket…
You’ll never find an entire Cricket team becoming involved in an all-in brawl because the bolwer bowls a ball directly at the batsman’s head, neither does a batsman take off his gloves and walk/run at the bowler for ‘revenge’ for doing so – in fact the bowler of such a ball will likely stare at the batsman who has managed to avoid injury by a millisecond and say something uncomplimentary about the batsman’s mother while the batsman will likely reply with a ‘witty’ retort or bite his tongue and try to smash the next ball over the boundary fence and then give an equally witty remark about the bowler’s likely lack of knowledge of his own father, or make some uncomplimentary ability about the bowler’s eyesight and making ‘helpful’ suggestions as to how not to be smashed out of the ground next time.
Hardly ’sporting’ in the truest sense of the word, but it is interesting to see how two different cultures handle similar situations.
At the highest levels Cricket is played with similar spirit/reactions between the English, Aussies, South Africans, Indians, Pakistani’s, New Zealander’s and several different African and Asian and even the West Indies Cultures also. All places at one time or another which had a strong link to the British Empire and it’s attitudes.
As America did at one time also i believe?
<B