Beans and Holes of the Black Variety

Earlier today I was trying to remember what exactly a pulsar is. I know this is information that was once at my fingertips but it seems to have retreated into the dark recesses of where ever forgotten things go, something to do with the hippocampus, but I forget.

(that is a funny joke, get it? hippocampus, memory, I forget. )

Ok, I apologize. I should relabel it simply as "a joke" not as "a funny joke".

So I looked through some books to try to pry the info out of either the book or my brain. Then got sucked into this little astronomy book I found. Sucked in figuratively not literally, as in a black hole. So now I remember that a pulsar is a tiny, super dense, rapidly spinning neutron star. But I find myself once again totally mystified as to what exactly a black hole is. I can explain the words; I read the chapter twice. It's the concept that remains elusive. A black hole is an incredibly massive object that doesn't take up any space. None. Not even a little bit. Very strange. The laws of physics break down and can't really explain it, so how can I be expected to explain it here? And yet for all its strangeness and mysteriousness--how very, very cool!

Want to know something else strange but cool. There is a woman in Bellingham who makes black licorice scented soap. I have a bar on my desk. As I'm typing this post, I'm breathing in the rich aroma and CRAVING black licorice. I'm not so foolish as to take a lick, I know that would end badly, but I want to. So very, very much.

Downstairs we have a big jar of jelly beans; I like to dig out the black ones. So even if I went down there to get a bean, I don't think there are any black ones left to mine.
Yesterday I was standing in the kitchen digging through the jar looking for favorites. Soon my 1 year old nephew is standing at my knees yelling "kis, kis" his word for skittles, it works for jelly beans too. I have no ability to say no to a fellow sweets lover. And my nieces and nephews can all attest to the fact that I have never willingly said no to anything they've asked for.
Soon there were 8 n&n's standing around me and I was doling out candy to everyone :)

Tess will only eat pink ones. I tried to give Jack and Kate ones that matched their shirts as they both drool profusely when eating candy. Brielle wanted a root beer one but got shafted when she bit into a coffee flavored one. Yuck! Also yucky is the buttered popcorn bean. My own opinion, not shared with the rest of the world apparently, as it pops up on a lot of jelly bean eaters favorites list; including my niece Anna. Megan liked the strawberry cheesecake. Linzi, the blueberry.
But now they are all gone, even Jack who was staying here for a week with my sister Siri. So I have the beans all to myself! (Insert evil laughter here.)

I do have to fight the parentals and Kay for them, but I think I can outrun my parents and Kay uses a walker, so I should be able to take her. She's sneaky though. We sometimes hear her down in the kitchen in the middle of the night dumping jelly bellies onto her walker tray. What she lacks in stealth she more than makes up for in determination.

For Christmas about 5 years ago I bought Damon a packet of the Harry Potter inspired Jelly Beans. Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Bean. We enjoyed them together. I remember trying dirt, soap, black pepper and sausage (it could have been bacon?, I'm not sure). But didn't try vomit or booger, which sound even more disgusting than buttered popcorn. Of the weird-o flavors, dirt was my favorite, but one was enough. In other words, dirt isn't going to show up on my top three flavors list. No, that special place of honor belongs to Hot Cinnamon, Black Licorice and Coconut.

What's your favorite flavor bean?