I watched the election returns with a group of black civil rights activists, some of whom had been working in 'the struggle' for longer than I have been alive. I still don't have words to describe the jubilation in the room. I teared up a bit as Matt Little, 87, a man who led the Minnesota delegation of the NAACP to the March on Washington in 1963, grabbed my arms and told me that at this moment he felt like his life's work was nearly complete.
People in the room immediately grabbed their cell phones to call or receive calls from loved ones. Tears rolled down their cheeks. People were hugging and shouting, 'we did it!' I was struck by an image on CNN in the background of a group of Kenyans, in Kenya, celebrating Obama's win. I got the sense that the whole world was on Cloud Nine.
I left the site of the party and headed back downtown to the office to file a story. In the car, I listened to John McCain's concession speech. I got choked up as he so gracefully offered his congratulations to his opponent - but also his condolences to Obama over the loss of his beloved grandmother. I can't imagine the mix of emotions going through the president-elect's head over this. The woman who played such an integral role in his ascendency died just hours before he made history.
I got into the office just in time to see Obama's acceptance speech in Chicago. His address was perfect. It set the right tone and completely captured the moment. Then they turned the cameras on the crowd and focused on Jesse Jackson. He wasn't just teary eyed - he was crying. I got chills and my eyes welled.
I finally finished my story and got home around 3 a.m. I had to watch some more election coverage before I could sleep. I asked Mecca, 'when was the last time so many Americans felt so much joy about the selection of a president?' I can't remember in my lifetime. People who voted against Obama just don't get it. Obama's transformative appeal is not about some 'cult of personality' or 'celebrity.' He has struck a legitimate nerve in people all over the world. And yes, I too, have had my faith in this country restored. But Obama's got a lot of work to do now to rally the rest of the troops. There will no doubt be pockets of this country that will push back and you will probably hear some white folks say, 'he's not my president.' I hope this period doesn't last long. We can't afford that.
This year's celebration is definitely a little more low-key than last year, when I went to Houston and bought a new computer.
41 is - well - ho hum.
I had drinks with my buddy Eric the other day, (he's 45) and he told me, "you can't be 41. You have to be in your 30s." Like it would make him feel younger.
Yesterday, my doc called me and told me these words, "The results from your blood tests are in." I froze.
"They're normal," she said. "Except you have really low levels of Vitamin D."
I'd gone in earlier in the week because of pains in my wrists and arms. I also had some blurry vision in one eye for a short spell last week. I'm not a hypochondriac - but at 41, I'm not taking any chances. I don't want to be the one, after they get diagnosed with eyeball cancer, saying, 'Well, if I had only told the doctor earlier, they could have caught it in time..."
Not me. If I feel pain in a part of my body for more than 12 hours, that I didn't bump into a kitchen counter or fall on, I'm going to the doctor.
Anywho. I'm taking the vitamin D supplement and reading articles about what vitamin D deficiency can do to a person. Apparently, it can lead to all kinds of nasty things, like cancer - but it also can make your joints ache and give you rickets.
But I'm not one of those people who dreads having a birthday. I love birthdays and I plan on having a great time today. I'm going to try and fill the day with stuff I like to do, like napping, power-napping and watching tv. On tap for tonight: a rare steak, some 12-year old scotch and shagging the love of my life.
Woke up with a dark cloud over my head. And the voice in my head has been grumbling this all morning:
"Goddamn Vikings... Hate Packers...what the hell? So mad at Tavaris Jackson...bad throw, bad call @#@@$! Sweet Jesus on a Segway, what were you thinking??!! grumble, grumble, need coffee."
Then I turn on the radio in the car to listen to like-minded fans grumble on the AM sports talk radio.
Says one of the dudes on KFAN: "The Vikings give me a stomach ache, ouch! Where's the Pepto?" Then he launches into a list of reasons why his life would be easier if he were a Packer fan. Word.
I'm not a joiner. I'm not a gang-member. I'm not a religious zealot. But I AM a football fan, which I guess slightly contradicts my former assertions.
So that means today is one of my favorite days of the year. It's the first day of the football season for my favorite team and I'm hopeful. Although, as a lifelong Vikes fan, I've learned to temper my optimism with the reality that EVERY friggin' year, this team ultimately disappoints its fans.
Be that as it may, I've predicted that the Vikes will go 9-7 this year and finish behind the Chicago Bears - who looked pretty dominant against the Colts last night. Detroit is still dismal. The Packers are Favre-less. So the Vikings will do what they do best, show flashes of promise with an exciting running back - Adrian Peterson - who make the ESPN highlight reels many times this year. And their defense will keep the score in many games close. But, I have to go with history: 9-7.
After a week of chilling out, having hot dates with my wife, eating great food and sleeping in until 10 a.m. every morning, here I am, back at the office.
I'm taking advantage of my time off from work this week to do a few things that I've always wanted to do but just haven't had time. For instance, I decided to try to get rid of some of the drops of dried candle wax spread about on the kitchen floor. So, I squatted down with a lighter and a piece of paper towel to melt them away. But that got old quick, so I decided to make a big batch of potstickers.
After a failed attempt at grinding my own chicken (it was ugly), I decided to go to a professional and get some ground pork. Once I got all my ingredients, I started with this:
Rum and pineapple soda -- this actually goes into the cook, not the food.
Now, for the 'solid' ingredients:
Looks almost good enough to eat raw: ground pork, grated ginger, crushed garlic, chopped scallions, shredded napa cabbage, salt, pepper and a little Chinese five spice powder. I salted the cabbage and squeezed out some of the liquid before I mixed it with the rest of the ingredients in the food processor.
I brushed a little water around the edges of the wontons and sealed them as best I could. I made a few mutants before I managed to get some pretty decent looking ones.
I made two cookie sheets worth of these little love dumplings, covered them loosely with plastic and put them in the freezer. About an hour and a half or so later, I placed them in a large ziploc freezer bag.
My favorite way to eat these precious morsels is to brown their bottoms in a pan with a little bit of oil. After a few minutes, pour in a little water, cover the pan and steam them for close to ten minutes (since they are frozen and contain raw meat). I eat them with a dipping sauce made out of soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, red pepper flakes and chopped scallions.
Woke up this morning when my body told me to get out of bed. Stomach told me I was hungry and should seek food. So me and Mrs. took a little trip to Sea Salt. If you try to go to this place on a sunny summer eve - you can expect a wait. The first time we went there last summer, we waited in line for an HOUR. Normally, we would have said, 'forget that shit.' But we had taken our bikes there and by the time we made it, we were too hungry to find a plan B.
Ah, but on a Monday afternoon, the wait was minimal and as you can see the food was a treat. I was craving fish tacos like a traveling hamster and that's what I got. And yeah, I picked the cilantro off. Apparently, I have the 'cilantro tastes like soap' gene.
Last year I took a week off from work around my 40th birthday, just so I could hang out and screw around. Well, this year, I can't wait until September, so I'm taking this week. My goal is to do pretty much whatever I feel like.
Today, Sat. I took the bike out for a long ride down the Midtown Greenway. And fired up the grill and burned some chicken.
Per a previous post, I like my job, but sometimes I just get really tired of having a schedule: getting up by a certain time, putting on appropriate clothing and being in a certain place for a specified amount of time. For the next week, I'm staying up until I get tired, getting up in the morning when I'm ready to get up, wearing what I want to wear and not keeping a schedule.
Commuting to and from work day in and day out gets to be a big drag. So I made a short video that attempts to make the drudgery of driving cool. Check it out.
This here video was made possible by Fender, an iMac, Garageband, Quicktime Pro, WireTap Studio, iMovie and of course a guitar player who's still got a little too much 'guitar-ego.'
I just got one of these kewl tripods for my camera. So every once in a while, I set the camera on the car dash to record some video of my travels. On my way home from work on Friday, I filmed this on 35W.
No windows. No people. Flourescent lights. This is the office. My workplace. If I had a weaker constitution, I would surely flip-out under these conditions. I am, for lack of a better term, a weekday warrior. I get up early, even though my body tells me to sleep. I get up early, even though there is no boss here to keep track of when I come in. When the walls close in on me, I get out and walk around downtown. When my brain begins to wobble after staring at the computer screen for too long, I put my head on my desk and doze to the serenading buzz of flourescent lights. I daydream about having enough money to do other things. I prefer to walk up and down the six flights of stairs rather than stand in an elevator with strangers. I don't care to chit-chat or listen to the big-assed office ladies bitch about Judy in accounting, "who does she think she is? I turned in those forms three weeks ago."
I'm good at working. I actually have two jobs and work nearly everyday of the week. I'm not a whiner. Don't believe in it. It doesn't accomplish anything. And actually, I like what I do. It's better work than digging ditches. But it's still work.
Nate, Billy, Me and Chrispy earlier this week at Cosmos. These guys are, as the Chosen People say, Mensches. I looked up a couple definitions for Mensch and this one, from JewishHealing.com says it best:
A mensch literally means "a person" in Yiddish, but figuratively it means something much deeper. A mensch is a person with whom you would be happy to befriend and associate with, because you feel genuine in a mensch's presence. A mensch is a highly evolved human being.
The night this photo was taken by my lovely Mrs. was a weeknight. I had to cut my celebrating short, but she, Nate and Chris were heading out for more drinking and shenanigans. Now, my wife is a full grown woman and can handle herself. But there are times when I wake up at 7:30 a.m. to start my day and she's still out having her evening, I can get a twinge of worry. In this case, I didn't have a bit of concern. I knew she was with two men whom I trust with my life. And I knew that if any crap went down, that these guys would do everything to protect hers.
I'm a news-aholic, but sometimes the stuff gets so potent that I just have to put down the sauce. I'm taking a break from news about bank bailouts, about the father who got stomped by six dudes - one of whom pinched his 12-year-old daughter's butt, Iran, Iraq, the presidential campaign etc. So I'm watching nothing but fuzzy bunnies and kittens today.
No one on TV does a better job than the Daily Show of showing how stupid we can be. Check out how Jon Stewart skewers the television media coverage of the New Yorker cover of the Obamas.
After hearing people say they were 'offended' by the cover, I get reduced to ranting like Lewis Black. @#%! You ##$!! idiots! Satire! @@#$%! Liberal magazine !@#%&** Because some !@#%! actually believe this #$^%#^!!
NFL Football The interstate highway system the pursuit of happiness wide open spaces Jimmy Carter was born here the Constitution all the best music started here
This box of veggies came from the farm this week. The cool-looking long, curly things are garlic scapes. I'd never seen a garlic scape before, but the things are delicious. We also got three pints of fresh strawberries (little jewels of tasty goodness), asparagus, lettuce, kale and more.
It's almost a shame to eat the things, considering how cool they are and what they can do.
In a recent column in the Washington Post, Sally Squires writes about the nutritional virtues of fruits and veg. Although it's nothing you probably haven't heard before, Squires points out there's still much scientists don't know about what goes on inside fruits and veg - and what goes on inside your body after you eat them. It seems there's a new wave of nutrition science which -- instead of trying to extract the good bits out of plants and putting them into pill form -- is telling people to just eat the whole plant.
mmmm....phytochemicals and beta carotenes never tasted so good....
The mrs. has been away for nearly a week exploring Costa Rica with her ma and sis. So, what's a guy to do? I've been doing a lot of cooking, sleeping, enjoying an occasional vodka cocktail and playing guitar. One day, I got it in my head to go crazy with the Garageband and let my inner Joe Satriani out. Yes, I am a guitar nerd.
I also rented some movies the mrs would never watch. Like The Empire Strikes Back, Family Guy's Blue Harvest, and Cloverfield (although I had to stop the movie when the people started walking through the subway tunnels. Too scary).
Got called to do an assignment for work that involved driving to Winona, MN (140 miles one way). During the course of my 14 hour work day, I spent about 5 hours in the car.
Next day - the alternator in the car goes on the fritz and I spend $482 for the repair. Also, my battery is weak and will need to be replaced before winter.
However - Saturday is a beautiful day. Wife and I ride downtown to BluesFest for the afternoon and then hang out at a backyard bbq in the evening. Over the course of the day, I got to hang with good friends and their adorable children, hear some good music, ingest lots of beer, grilled meat and vodka. And, to top it off, I got lucky.
...because they just might be planning our demise.
The following is a 10 minute presentation by Joshua Klein, who has a thing for crows. In the first 5:00 minutes of the lecture you'll see something that will blow your mind about how smart these little buggers are. Apparently, crows can make tools AND hold grudges against people, so don't piss them off.
By the way, I also highly recommend the TED Talks website as a great way to spend 'non-porn' minutes in front of the computer.
WARNING: this post is a little longer than usual. Most of it focuses on Michael Pollan's book In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto. He's much better at talking about his research than I am, so if you're so inclined, check out the video of this Google chat he did a few months ago (it's an hour long, but it's the best non-porn hour in front of your computer you will ever spend):
And here's my little food testimonial:
I’ve noticed a pattern among my male friends. As we get to be 40-ish, we’ve come to the realization that we can’t eat like we were still 18. We used to believe we were indestructible and we ate like it. I remember being able to eat (and keep down) a Big Mac, large French fries and three hamburgers; pizza several times a week; and then there was the day me and Bill downed a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken between the two of us.
Now we are reminded by our bathroom scales, blood pressure levels and cholesterol test results, that we are not only mortal – but we are on the road towards heart problems, diabetes and other serious health problems that are linked to poor diets.
Hypertension (high blood pressure) and diabetes spot my family tree. I remembered my grandma Minnie, who had both afflictions, taking a handful of medications and giving herself insulin shots daily. It horrified me. My father also had a couple scares with high blood sugar and cholesterol and my own tests showed that I was pre-hypertensive, pre-diabetic and my bad cholesterol was kicking my good cholesterol’s ass.
I knew that I could get these levels under control by going on a low-calorie, low-fat, low-carb diet. But I also knew that, for me, that’s not a sustainable diet. Anyway, I don’t believe in diets. All a diet makes you do is crave the food you can’t eat and then fills you with guilt at any little slip. Face it, it’s no way to live.
Lucky for me, my wife read Michael Pollan’s book The Omnivore’s Dilemma. The book challenged her to look more closely at how and what she ate. And she challenged me to do the same. I first read Pollan’s follow up to ‘Dilemma’ a shorter read called In Defense of Food – An Eater’s Manifesto. It contains a lot of the info from the previous book. And in seven words Pollan sums up a reasonable approach to eating:
Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.
Here’s what I’ve taken to heart and have tried to adopt – not as a diet – but a lifestyle change (there’s a big difference):
Eat food. Eat real food -- not a bunch of processed stuff. Why? Because processing eliminates the natural goodness in food (and it puts a lot of harmful stuff in its place in order to give it shelf life). Plus, when food companies try to put the good stuff back in, scientists have found that the nutrients don’t behave in the same way. Meaning, all the supplements and “vitamin fortified” shit you eat – isn’t making you healthier.
Real food is more than the sum of its nutrients. For example, scientists have extracted the beta-carotenes from carrots and put them in other food. Now the evidence shows, you’re better off just eating the friggin’ carrot.
It goes the same for all the so-called ‘bad stuff’ like animal fats, carbohydrates and cholesterol. Remember, there are societies where their main source of protein is animal fats. Think about it. Herding societies and Eskimoes eat a lot of meat and fatty fish and whale blubber. Think of the French diet, full of butter and other fatty goodness.
The point Pollan makes is to look at the lifestyles together with the diets. Long story short – fat alone is not the enemy. And the fear of fat is driving people to eat artificially produced ‘low fat’ foods. I used to think I was eating healthy by eating those Boca burgers. But if you look at the ingredients, you’re going to find a bunch of other crap in there, that may be making you worse off than if you’d just had a burger.
The same goes with carbs. People have been eating pasta made from white flour, eating white rice, and white bread for years. Why all of a sudden are these verboten? (read the book.)
Not too much: Portion sizes are way out of control. We really just don’t need to supersize everything. I now cringe at ads on television for Taco Bell which extol the virtues of stuffing your food sac for $1.99.
I learned a little tip: if you’re full, you’ve eaten too much.
Mostly plants: Notice he doesn’t say ONLY plants. Although he says there are plenty of good reasons to go strictly vegetarian, there is a movement that recognizes the benefits of eating pasture-raised animals. Thank the gods. Because, to be honest with you, I’m just not giving up the meat. But, I’m certainly more willing to make a serious effort to eat pasture-raised, naturally fed chickens, pigs, turkeys and cows. These animals live better, die much more humanely and taste better than their feedlot brethren. Plus, because these animals have eaten what they’re supposed to – cows are meant to eat grass, not corn (its bad for them) – their meat becomes more healthful.
The challenge for me is to incorporate more plants into my life. And I have to say, after reading about the process under which plants convert sunlight into nutrients, I’ve attained a much higher respect for the little beings. They are amazing little sources of all kinds of things that are good for you, AND, when prepared properly (meaning not overcooked), they’re tasty to boot. And for the record – you will not cancel out the goodness of properly wilted greens by adding a little pork fat.
So I’m making more room for them on my plate. Whereas, I used to have just meat and potatoes – now the meat portion is smaller and there’s some kind of dark leafy green, like spinach or kale or chard. And there’s some kind of rice (brown rice is actually quite lovely) or bean dish.
The more plants you eat, the less room you have for meat. It’s as simple as that.
Pollan says, and I’ve come to agree – that America’s got an eating disorder. We don’t know what to eat, so we’ve turned to the food scientists for advice. That has led to a national obsession with the nutritional value of everything. We count calories and carbs. We buy butter substitutes, fake yogurt artificially infused with good bacteria and vitamins, we swallow vitamin supplements by the handful, we buy vitamin-fortified water (are you shitting me??) and we buy fiber substitutes – All because we refuse to just eat a balanced diet. Remember, all the good stuff you need is in the food – no supplements are needed.
So, after reading In Defense of Food, I decided that what I needed was not a diet – but a lifestyle adjustment. That means I put more time into selecting and preparing the food I eat. I look forward to seeing the butcher at Clancey’s and getting the low-down on the farms where the best cuts of the day come from. Also, Mecca and I signed up for a half a farm share, which will bring us 10 lbs of organically-grown veggies every other week. That means I’m going to have to learn some new recipes that involve fresh veg.
And really, the extra few hours it may take me to shop and prepare this food every week, is time that I would otherwise be spending either in front of the computer or the television.
I did start exercising a lot more than I used to. It has helped bring my blood pressure down -- at last check it was 110/60. And, personally, I think the exercise has helped keep me from huffing and puffing in the sack (if you know what I mean.)
Here are the results of the food lifestyle change so far.
I’m slowly losing weight. Which is fine - because diets encourage rapid weight loss and then when the diet fails, the weight goes right back on. I’m still about 20 lbs over my BMI or whatever. I don't really care. Interestingly enough, at my last physical, my doc didn’t say anything about my weight. She was more concerned about my lipid and blood glucose counts. My tests came back and to my pleasure, my good cholesterol is back to where it should be and my blood sugar is around 80 (it used to be close to 100 which is pre-diabetic).
When you think about it, food is not medicine. It is to be enjoyed. Share it with people you love. Don’t worship the food, but respect it enough to get the good stuff. Veggies and critters that have been properly raised are also good for the environment as well as your health.
Michael Pollan knows a lot of people have read his books and taken his research and advice to heart. So he often says in interviews – don’t freak out if you can’t always get to the farmer’s market for organically grown food. A peek in his fridge once revealed some processed food, including a can of spray whip cream. He said his son likes the whipped cream on his Belgian waffles.
“I’m not a fanatic,” he said.
So I’ll add this to his seven word manifesto:
Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. Don’t freak out.
When I sit at the computer at 9:30 a.m. on a Sunday, here's what I see. The sun is busting through a big pine tree right outside the window. If I listen closely, I can hear the sounds of springtime: the many patrons of the coffeeshop next door chatting and sipping Peace Coffee; their bored children squeak as they chase each other around on the sidewalk.
About this time of the morning, the little cat Baci is vying for my attention by rubbing up against my shins and occasionally, reaching a paw up to tap me on the leg. Most times he adds a little 'claw' to ensure some sort of response.
That's my cue to pick the little dickens up and harass him.
I took a day off of work last week and got bit by the grill bug. Chicken is one of my favorite things to cook. I like the indirect heat method of grilling because it takes longer and the chicken gets mega-juicy. Put a drip pan underneath and catch the tasty leaks. Don't get me wrong, I love burnin' burgers and steaks, but they're done in a matter of minutes and then all those hot coals just go to waste.
There are more protests over cartoons depicting the prophet - er what's his name? The protests are being held in Afghanistan, mind you. To that I say, 'dudes, you live in a country being torn apart by war. Isn't there something else worth raising your fist and yelling about?'
The Mormon church recently decided to throw its support behind a state law banning the sale of wine coolers in grocery stores. According to the AP: "I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that these alcopops are directed to our kids. It is a gateway drug," said Rep. Mike Noel, R-Kanab.
Restrictions on wine coolers were almost guaranteed after the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said last month that it supported doing so. Sixty percent of the state's residents are Mormon, but 80 percent to 90 percent of lawmakers are. ----
Last week Mother Jones released a list of songs that are reportedly used as 'torture music' on terror suspects.
Says Mother Jones: "Music has been used in American military prisons and on bases to induce sleep deprivation, "prolong capture shock," disorient detainees during interrogations—and also drown out screams. Based on a leaked interrogation log, news reports, and the accounts of soldiers and detainees, here are some of the songs that guards and interrogators chose."
Topping the list is "F*ck your God" by Deicide. You can listen to a clip from the song on the Mother Jones website. What jihadist wouldn't crack after listening to this satanic, speed-core (complete with 'cookie monster' vocals) played at earsplitting levels 24 hours a day?
The list also includes the Barney song, the Meow mix jingle and curiously "Raspberry Beret" by Prince. Really?
Here are a few of my suggestions that didn't make the list:
Anything by Celine Dion (that bitch just annoys me) the commercial jingle for Kay Jewelers "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go" by Wham The entire score of "Guys and Dolls" "Proud to Be An American" by Lee Greenwood
Of course, there's more. But any of this stuff played 24 hours a day would cause me to either dig out my eardrums with a melon-baller, or confess to being a terrorist.
I've often wondered that if I was a character in a movie, what my theme music would be? Well, I've found it in a song called "That Kind of Man," by a band called The Heavy.
What better musical accompaniment could a soul brother like me ask for? That driving beat and Curtis Mayfield-esque vocals bumping as the camera follows me as I cruise through downtown Minneapolis in my dope Ford Focus.
"duh-nah nah, duh duh nah nah, duh duh nah nah..."
I'm on my way for a big meeting with 'The Man.' Now I'm walking down an alley, wearing a full-length black leather trench coat, black beatle-boots and a turtle neck sweater.
"duh-nah nah, duh duh nah nah, duh duh nah nah..."
Valentine's day cards are generally way too sappy and fake. I mean, really, a card with a picture of a silouetted couple on the front and a canned message inside is supposed to get you some leg?
Not for me. I've decided to post my superior-awesome Valentine's Day poem to my beloved on my blog for the whole world (or the three or four people who read it) to see:
Your love is better than bacon or finding a 20 dollar bill in my coat
Your love is better than sunshine and chocolate and freedom and whiskey or clean laundry or curried goat
without you life would be cruel, nasty and banal it would suck, much worse, than being hungover at the dentist getting a root canal(with Celine Dion music playing in the background)
I love the things you don't like about yourself like the body parts you think are too big
I love you more than the gays like the showtunes I need you more than Harry Connick Jr. needs a gig (really, what's he been doing lately?)
Your beauty makes me feel giggly and warm like a schedule one drug
And right now I need a fix, c'mon baby gimme a hug (like 50 cent)
You're prettier than new money sexier than a rare, ribeye steak
You smell nicer than a Bed Bath and Beyond you make other women jealous and say 'gimme a break'
Some may hate you cause you're beautiful but let them haters hate
All that matters is I love you This is a celebration bitches - let's celebrate!
Watched the Spike Lee documentary, "When the Levees Broke" last night. It is probably the closest any outsider can get to what happened to the people who got flooded out of their homes and their lives.
I took this photo of an old cemetery in New Orleans in 2006. Mrs. M and I loved our visit. The people were great; food spectacular; music amazing. But after watching the documentary last night, we realized that we missed so much. The city will never be what is used to be.
This is the first car I bought with my own money. A 1971 Plymouth Valiant. I bought it for $600 from a dude who used to drive the inter-campus shuttle which I took from class to work everyday when I was in college.
The bus driver was a Jehovah's Witness. I found out after I asked him one day if he voted during the last election. He told me his religion forbade him from taking part in such earthly, secular activities. I asked him, 'well, what if someone that you thought was evil was running for president. And your vote was the best way to stop him?' He told me that was up to the lord to handle.
Anyway, I loved the Valiant. In this picture it's parked behind the house I lived in during much of my college days. The house was located downtown, 1212 S. 7th street. 1212 was the scene of a lot of keggers, brawls, all kinds of sex, drug use and a few mice.
Oh yeah, the car. It was so cool. But one day, while I was stuck in traffic, it overheated and burned up the engine. It would have cost three times what I paid for the car to fix it. I was heartbroken, but, then again, it was just a car.
I got another one later. But you never forget your first.
Hats off to the 'Breakfast Blogger' for bringing the 'bacon weave' to my attention. How many times have you been eating a supertastydelicious BLT or bacon double cheeseburger, and you have to keep re-adjusting your bacon? It shifts around because the lettuce and mayo is slippery. And of course, you want to make sure you get some salty, smoky goodness in every bite.
This is me and my big brother Niel. The photo was taken almost 40 years ago. My mom tells me that when I was this age, I followed my brother everywhere. I tried to emulate everything he did. I looked up to him and he could do no wrong in my eyes. Had my brother been a real dick, he could've done some cruel stuff to his little brother. But he never did.
I still look up to him and think he can do no wrong. He lives in California with his wife and two kids. One, Jett, is a little boy about as old as I am in the photo.
Niel is one of the coolest people you'll ever meet. He's only three years older than me, but I still want to be like him when I grow up.
Sometimes when it gets this cold, I get mad at white folks for the whole slavery thing. I think, 'hey, if they didn't take my people out of Africa, I'd be in some warm country right now.' Sure, I might be dodging bullets or machetes in the coup attempt of the week. But I'd be able to unclench my shoulders and neck once in a while.
So, if you're white and you drive by a group of black folks shivering in the cold waiting for a bus. And they scowl at you -- all warm and content in your sensible compact car. Chances are they're thinking the same thing I am: "Damn, it don't get this cold in Africa."
I just got a new scanner. So I've been scanning some pictures that are tucked away in photo albums on a shelf in our bedroom. My goal is to bring them back into the light of day and make them more accessible.
So far, I've gotten through pics taken about the time me and the Mrs. first met and some of our informal wedding shots.
There are so many pictures from parties. Most of the photos feature our guests mugging for the camera as they grip their drinks. It's funny to see clothes you used to wear; that ugly lamp we used to have in the living room of the old duplex we lived in over north. Some of the pictures feature couples that are no longer together. And some of the wedding photos show loved ones who are no longer with us.
You also notice how seven or eight years have changed the people around you. Back then our faces were a little thinner; us dudes had more hair.
Check out the wedding pic. It makes me think, 'dang, I looked pretty sharp. No wonder she wanted to marry me.' heh.
Somebody probably said this before me, but pictures really are bookmarks. And these are stuck in a book that's still being written.
The older I get, the more I utter a similar phrase - like "I remember when" or "back in the day." Sometimes I feel like Dana Carvey's 'Grumpy Old Man' character. "In my day, the girls didn't wear underwear made of strings. They wore big, white bloomers that covered them from head to toe. And we liked it!"
For today's installment of 'remember when' I turn to college football.
Remember when the only college football bowl games were played on New Year's Day?
Now, there are way, way too many bowl games and most of them are played anywhere between Thanksgiving and like, mid-January. It used to be just the Fiesta, Orange, Sun, Cotton, Gator, Rose and Sugar Bowls. Then the bowls started to 'run out of money' so they needed sponsors to bankroll them. So, you started getting the 'Federal Express Orange Bowl' or the 'Tostitos Fiesta Bowl' and stuff like that.
That led to shit like the 'Chick-fil-A Bowl'. Never heard of Chick-fil-A? Neither have I. I think they're a fast food chain or something. Not McDonalds, or Burger King or some other established fast food chain. WTF? Of course, there's the Outback Bowl (named after the mediocre restaurant chain).
Here are a few others, "The Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl" and the "Meineke Car Care Bowl." So do the winners of this one get coupons for free oil changes? There's the "San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl." I kid you not.
I count a little over 30 bowls this holiday season. So that also means just about every college team in the nation gets to play in a bowl game. It used to be just the best teams got in. Now, apparently all a team needs is to have an above .500 record.
I believe in rare red meat, sharp cheddar, strong coffee, over-the-top guitar solos, foofy cocktails, Marshall Amplification, Mac computers and blue humor.
Don't believe in: Meanies, stupids, gods, compassionate conservatism and freeway ramp meters
I watched the election returns with a group of black civil rights activists, some of whom had been working in 'the struggle' for longer than I have been alive. I still don't have words to describe the jubilation in the room. I teared up a bit as Matt Little, 87, a man who led the Minnesota delegation of the NAACP to the March on Washington in 1963, grabbed my arms and told me that at this moment he felt like his life's work was nearly complete.
