"Burger is truth, truth burger...

...that is all/ ye know on Earth and all ye need to know."  John Keats said that in his "Ode on a Mid-Rare Quarter Pounder."  Words to live by.

I work at TruBurger, which, if you don't know—and if you don't know, where've you been?—is one of the many burger joints that popped up out of absolutely nowhere this past summer.  I used to like working there, and now I realize I don't get paid nearly enough to be the only cook who leaves the kitchen properly clean every night.  So I'm quitting.  Soon.  But not before the semester's over, because my term project will deal with these various burger joints and the environments at each, for both customers and employees.  I can't give up my inside information.

So here we go.  I'll briefly introduce the three players and give a run-down of their stats.

Trū Burger

Facebook page.

Price range: $7-12/person
Patty size: 4.5 oz
What's up with the beef?: It's from Creekstone Farms somewhere in the Mid-West. USDA certified Premium and Natural.  Not organic or free-range.  Corn-fed.
Yeah, but what's up with the FRIES?: Cut in-house.  From Idaho. $2.
Vegetarian Options? A vegan beet and black bean patty ($4.50, like the beef burger), and grilled cheese ($3.50)
Yelp rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Company Burger

Website.

Price range: $9-14/person
Patty size: 3 oz.
What's up with the beef?: From their website, "antibiotic-free,
hormone-free." I'll look for more information, but I think we can infer that organic or free-range beef would be advertised as such.
Yeah, but what's up with the FRIES?: Will further investigate.
Vegetarian Options? Grilled cheese ($5), but no vegetarian options with significant protein.
Yelp rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Jucy Lucy's

Facebook page.

Price range: $10-15/person
Patty size: 8 oz.
What's up with the beef? They do not mention their beef source on Facebook or the menu. I'll investigate in person.
Yeah, but what's up with the FRIES? No information other than they cost $2.50.
Vegetarian options? There's their "Ellen Veggie Burger" for $9.85.
Yelp rating: 3 of 5 stars

Just a note, none of the information about Tru Burger is anything I knew just by virtue of working there.  I looked for all this information on these restaurants' menus and available online information.  The Company Burger hides its prices on its online menu, and Jucy Lucy's doesn't mention the quality of their food either online or on their menu.  Something to think about.

Armato out.

Na na na nature.

It's not only this class that has tried and failed to define "nature."  From the wide variety of definitions I found from a quick search on Dictionary.com—my best virtual friend; I foresee myself bringing him up often in these posts—the definition of nature can be general or specific, abstract or concrete, and in- or exclude humanity.

Three of the 20-something entries go so far as to define "nature" with aide of its derivative "natural."

• the natural world as it exists without human beings or civilization.
• the elements of the natural world, as mountains, trees, animals, or rivers.
• natural scenery.

Trying to figure out what this word means is like being lost in the Hundred Acre Wood, we just get looped around and around.  Of course if we want to figure out what "nature" means we probably need help figuring out what "natural" means.  Come on, dictionary!

Maybe, though, it's not so ridiculous.  It's not like anybody draws a blank if someone says "nature" to them.  We've all got some concept of it.  We might each have a few concepts of it that may or may not agree, but everybody has some idea of what nature is.  The word is pretty vague by its nature. Look at me making jokes!

The definition I found that I liked the most reads "the fundamental qualities of a person or thing; identity or essential character."  Sure that sounds abstract, as if I'm taking it in a philosophical sense—natural rights, human nature, all that mishegas.  But no, I'm not off in the clouds, and I think that's the most specific definition I can give to this word.  Nature is the state of how all material objects are.  It's what they look like, it's what they do, it's what's done to them.  Nature is he condition in which the universe is at any given time.

Okay, so that did get lofty.