Thinkin' 'bout things - Like a walk in the park,
Things - like a kiss in the dark...
Etc.
Yep, another song lyric. Actually written by Bobby Darin. Recorded by Dino in 1962. And yes, I remember it well… (extra points for those who recognize and know the hidden reference).
Thinking about my youth, and thinking about things I remember. Some things I remember through tangible items, some things will always exist solely in my memory. The latter, unfortunately, later generations will never be able to fully appreciate. Maybe sometimes I remember too much. I don’t know. MA! can keep me straight on perception vs. reality.
For example, Lucas (or insert your name here), you will never know the laughter of my father and mother, and your now aunts and uncles as my dad stopped a 1968 Dodge van full of two families in the middle of Mule Creek in southwest New Mexico – with Jack Arnett pulling off his shoes, jumping barefoot into the water and shouting "OBSIDIAN!!!” Mule Creek was known for the volcanic rock. Well, we all were bare foot in Mule Creek that day, and went home with a coffee can full of the black glass rock. Which sat in Dad & Ma’s garage for a long time.
I remember Grandma Meyer’s pies, because I have her rolling pin that rolled out so many pie crusts. A very tangible thing. Especially when I first used it – the lard of the pie crusts she made was pressed so deeply into that bird’s eye maple. I had to wash it once before I used it and it still came out non-stick to anything.
Watching Mac watch me use his tools in his shop while I worked on a car. He smiled.
Laughing with Dad in his or my shop. Dancing to “Tulsa Time” by Don Williams in my garage. Damn. We had fun.
Thinkin’ ‘bout things.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Where Do I Begin?
Apparently, I begin with the opening line from a schmaltzy “love theme” (sung by Andy Williams) from the 1970 film “Love Story”. If ever there was a film that should be “MSTie’d” , this is it. Snoopy gives it three “bleahs”.
Did you ever wonder why my posts almost always start with a music reference? OK, now we have the gratuitous Andy Rooney reference out of the way. On to the real meaning behind the title.
I’m not going to do an extensive blog entry about the Inauguration, the dawn of a new era, or whatever. It’s been done. Marshall and Grace in their blogs had some profound things to say, and you should read them.
But as I told them, I don’t feel that I have any profound thing to say about the event. Except maybe this…
I’m one of those “behind the scene” guys. Always have been. And I prefer it that way. I’d rather be the guy who actually makes things happen instead of the guy who stands in the spotlight and takes credit for it.
So if this is profound, here you go: President Obama is not just the “stand in the spotlight and take credit” guy. He and his family and millions of Americans worked hard to achieve the penultimate point of leadership in this country. And he has literally already rolled up his sleeves and got down to work.
The new administration’s approach to solving so many problems in this country, and a continuing commitment to the rally cry of “Yes We Will!” by the American people will be how we recover.
So that’s just one blogger’s opinion. For what it’s worth.
(no indication on the Snoopy Meter yet if this gets a Bleah! or a Snoopy Dance)
Did you ever wonder why my posts almost always start with a music reference? OK, now we have the gratuitous Andy Rooney reference out of the way. On to the real meaning behind the title.
I’m not going to do an extensive blog entry about the Inauguration, the dawn of a new era, or whatever. It’s been done. Marshall and Grace in their blogs had some profound things to say, and you should read them.
But as I told them, I don’t feel that I have any profound thing to say about the event. Except maybe this…
I’m one of those “behind the scene” guys. Always have been. And I prefer it that way. I’d rather be the guy who actually makes things happen instead of the guy who stands in the spotlight and takes credit for it.
So if this is profound, here you go: President Obama is not just the “stand in the spotlight and take credit” guy. He and his family and millions of Americans worked hard to achieve the penultimate point of leadership in this country. And he has literally already rolled up his sleeves and got down to work.
The new administration’s approach to solving so many problems in this country, and a continuing commitment to the rally cry of “Yes We Will!” by the American people will be how we recover.
So that’s just one blogger’s opinion. For what it’s worth.
(no indication on the Snoopy Meter yet if this gets a Bleah! or a Snoopy Dance)
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
I Did a Bad, Bad thing… or Did I?
Well, probably not as bad as “Baby” did in Chris Isaak’s song - she broke his heart, of course. I just broke an egg. Intentionally, of course. And here’s how the story goes…
So a couple of weeks ago, I got my January/February 2009 issue of Saveur magazine. One of the ultimate tomes for epicures, chefs, good cooks, and just plain foodies alike. (I fall into the latter category.) And every year’s fist issue features the “Saveur 100” – 100 things about food and cooking which are favorites of the writers, staff and editors of the magazine. I’ve looked forward to that issue and have enjoyed it for several years now.
Well, this year’s issue was a bit of a disappointment. One hopes this is not an indication of a good magazine in decline. But one article struck a chord with me. An article about the benefits of using bacon drippings (aka grease) instead of butter for frying foods. It included some history, a reference to an 1824 southern cookbook titled “The Virginia Housewife”, related how it was an ingredient that “poor folk used”, etc. etc.
Then came the reference to the 1847 cookbook “The Carolina Housewife”. Quoting the article now and not the cookbook: “For a postbellum (sic) working class that couldn’t spare precious butter for frying its eggs, grease ultimately won out over grace”.
Hmmm. Let’s see. Both my grandmothers kept all the grease left over from frying bacon. So did Ma for a long time. So did I for that matter, until the Great Bacon Grease Jar Disaster of 1978. But that’s another story.
The author of the article praised the use of this frying medium, and recounted how he had crunched the nutritional numbers regarding grease vs. butter. And concluded that except for caloric content, bacon grease is better for you.
Of course I had to pull out a pound of bacon and a pound of butter from the freezer and do the comparison myself. Without boring you with the numbers, I’ll just say he’s right. Read it yourself. Page 24 of Saveur magazine, Issue Number 117. Check it out at Barnes & Noble or Borders.
And so this morning, after frying bacon for our breakfast, I made myself a treat – a basted egg. Meaning a tablespoon of bacon grease in a frying pan heated just back to sizzling, broke an egg into the pan, and basted the top of the egg with the hot bacon grease until it, too was cooked. Never flipped the egg.
I did drain it with paper towels before enjoying it with a piece of buttered toast. Whole grain, of course. I loved every bite that I hadn’t tasted for years – decades, maybe.
My cardiologist would probably be apoplectic had he seen this. And it would be hard to explain that the bacon grease, the egg white and the whole wheat toast were the healthiest part of this treat. Can’t really argue about the butter and the egg yolk, though.
They would be the bad, bad things.
So a couple of weeks ago, I got my January/February 2009 issue of Saveur magazine. One of the ultimate tomes for epicures, chefs, good cooks, and just plain foodies alike. (I fall into the latter category.) And every year’s fist issue features the “Saveur 100” – 100 things about food and cooking which are favorites of the writers, staff and editors of the magazine. I’ve looked forward to that issue and have enjoyed it for several years now.
Well, this year’s issue was a bit of a disappointment. One hopes this is not an indication of a good magazine in decline. But one article struck a chord with me. An article about the benefits of using bacon drippings (aka grease) instead of butter for frying foods. It included some history, a reference to an 1824 southern cookbook titled “The Virginia Housewife”, related how it was an ingredient that “poor folk used”, etc. etc.
Then came the reference to the 1847 cookbook “The Carolina Housewife”. Quoting the article now and not the cookbook: “For a postbellum (sic) working class that couldn’t spare precious butter for frying its eggs, grease ultimately won out over grace”.
Hmmm. Let’s see. Both my grandmothers kept all the grease left over from frying bacon. So did Ma for a long time. So did I for that matter, until the Great Bacon Grease Jar Disaster of 1978. But that’s another story.
The author of the article praised the use of this frying medium, and recounted how he had crunched the nutritional numbers regarding grease vs. butter. And concluded that except for caloric content, bacon grease is better for you.
Of course I had to pull out a pound of bacon and a pound of butter from the freezer and do the comparison myself. Without boring you with the numbers, I’ll just say he’s right. Read it yourself. Page 24 of Saveur magazine, Issue Number 117. Check it out at Barnes & Noble or Borders.
And so this morning, after frying bacon for our breakfast, I made myself a treat – a basted egg. Meaning a tablespoon of bacon grease in a frying pan heated just back to sizzling, broke an egg into the pan, and basted the top of the egg with the hot bacon grease until it, too was cooked. Never flipped the egg.
I did drain it with paper towels before enjoying it with a piece of buttered toast. Whole grain, of course. I loved every bite that I hadn’t tasted for years – decades, maybe.
My cardiologist would probably be apoplectic had he seen this. And it would be hard to explain that the bacon grease, the egg white and the whole wheat toast were the healthiest part of this treat. Can’t really argue about the butter and the egg yolk, though.
They would be the bad, bad things.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
In Memory
One year ago today, Jody’s dad – Mac – was buried. On a cold Wyoming winter day under very cold and windy conditions. Ironically, fitting to him, in a grave he chose that is located on a wind-swept prairie with a view of the far off Snowy Range that he loved.
Mac was raised in Iowa, moved to Wyoming in 1959. Like me, he adopted the West and had a fierce love for it. It was something we had in common.
And he was a story teller. Amongst the best I’ve ever known. I sat for countless hours listening to his stories about his Navy time, construction projects, people he’d known… and loved every minute.
He had an incredible and inscrutable love for family. Proud of all his children, but the deepest love he had was for Theany, his wife of more than 50 years. One thing was clear- mess with Theany and you’d have to answer to Mac. Something no one with any intelligence would want to do.
He was keen on “making memories”. Memories of camping at Vedawoo, climbing rocks, Christmases (when he always seemed to know what his present was before he opened it) or shooting down the Easter Bunny. And he loved to laugh.
I spent a lot of time with him, worked in his shop that he was quite rightly proud of, listened to countless stories, and came to know and love this brusque, straight-talking, fiercely loving man. Through more than 20 years, I came to know that I had qualified to meet his standard of a “measure of a man”.
That means a lot to me.
So Mac – rest well. You’ve earned it through your love, devotion and just plain hard work.
We miss you.
Mac was raised in Iowa, moved to Wyoming in 1959. Like me, he adopted the West and had a fierce love for it. It was something we had in common.
And he was a story teller. Amongst the best I’ve ever known. I sat for countless hours listening to his stories about his Navy time, construction projects, people he’d known… and loved every minute.
He had an incredible and inscrutable love for family. Proud of all his children, but the deepest love he had was for Theany, his wife of more than 50 years. One thing was clear- mess with Theany and you’d have to answer to Mac. Something no one with any intelligence would want to do.
He was keen on “making memories”. Memories of camping at Vedawoo, climbing rocks, Christmases (when he always seemed to know what his present was before he opened it) or shooting down the Easter Bunny. And he loved to laugh.
I spent a lot of time with him, worked in his shop that he was quite rightly proud of, listened to countless stories, and came to know and love this brusque, straight-talking, fiercely loving man. Through more than 20 years, I came to know that I had qualified to meet his standard of a “measure of a man”.
That means a lot to me.
So Mac – rest well. You’ve earned it through your love, devotion and just plain hard work.
We miss you.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
The End Of An Era
I suppose that’s one way to describe the demise and subsequent Frankenstein-ish rebuild of The Machine. It has been my ‘puter through Recipe Tuesday, archiving music and movies, countless e-mails… Ah well. As it is said, all good things must come to an end. But then…
(insert bionic sounds here)
We have the technology. We can make it faster, stronger. Faster than a speeding bullet. More powerful than a locomotive. Able to leap…
OK, hold the phone. I got lost in mixed metaphors.
In reality, it will get a new motherboard. Dual Core processors. It will have 2 Gigs of RAM. It will have a terabyte of hard drive space to begin with, and a 500 Gig external drive for extra storage and more importantly, data backup. It will convert vinyl LPs and cassettes to digital format (it’s future main use, BTW). It will read nearly any storage medium format you can throw at it (except ZIP drives, and who uses those anymore anyway?) It has not seen its last days. It will be alive! Bring on the tools!
(insert Tim Allen grunt here)
The new ‘puter? It’s silver. The external hard drive which will sit atop it is silver. The wireless router which will sit atop it is… black and blue. OK, watching the HGTV channel with TLMK made me realize that a contrasting color is a good thing, though I have no problem with monochrome.
The new computer, as described in my last blog post, needs a name. JM&G have contributed some good ideas – I even told Justin that I may need to grab a clip from a Heywood Banks video, grab the audio and instead of the standard Windows music telling you the boot-up was fine, have it yell “YEAH TOAST!” instead.
Time to put in your clutch.
TLMK leaves this afternoon for Denver and points north for the next few days. Denver for a business meeting, then Cheyenne for family time. She’ll be back on Monday. Meanwhile, I have a fridge stocked with MEAT! Leftover ham, roast beast, a flank steak to grill, a T-bone to grill… it’s officially a Meatatarian week! Mark your calendars, bring the whole family, and make some meat memories for the kids! That is, if you want to trek to Western Colorado for a day or three…
Rocky – I can even put a wabbit on the spit for you. After all, Hospitality R Us.
Smile, people. It’s good for your face and your spirit.
(insert bionic sounds here)
We have the technology. We can make it faster, stronger. Faster than a speeding bullet. More powerful than a locomotive. Able to leap…
OK, hold the phone. I got lost in mixed metaphors.
In reality, it will get a new motherboard. Dual Core processors. It will have 2 Gigs of RAM. It will have a terabyte of hard drive space to begin with, and a 500 Gig external drive for extra storage and more importantly, data backup. It will convert vinyl LPs and cassettes to digital format (it’s future main use, BTW). It will read nearly any storage medium format you can throw at it (except ZIP drives, and who uses those anymore anyway?) It has not seen its last days. It will be alive! Bring on the tools!
(insert Tim Allen grunt here)
The new ‘puter? It’s silver. The external hard drive which will sit atop it is silver. The wireless router which will sit atop it is… black and blue. OK, watching the HGTV channel with TLMK made me realize that a contrasting color is a good thing, though I have no problem with monochrome.
The new computer, as described in my last blog post, needs a name. JM&G have contributed some good ideas – I even told Justin that I may need to grab a clip from a Heywood Banks video, grab the audio and instead of the standard Windows music telling you the boot-up was fine, have it yell “YEAH TOAST!” instead.
Time to put in your clutch.
TLMK leaves this afternoon for Denver and points north for the next few days. Denver for a business meeting, then Cheyenne for family time. She’ll be back on Monday. Meanwhile, I have a fridge stocked with MEAT! Leftover ham, roast beast, a flank steak to grill, a T-bone to grill… it’s officially a Meatatarian week! Mark your calendars, bring the whole family, and make some meat memories for the kids! That is, if you want to trek to Western Colorado for a day or three…
Rocky – I can even put a wabbit on the spit for you. After all, Hospitality R Us.
Smile, people. It’s good for your face and your spirit.
Monday, January 12, 2009
On The Naming Of...
The title of this post should end with the word “cats”. A series of poems contained in “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats” by ts eliot. ts eliot, the poet/author who was possessed of a peccadillo of never capitalizing words, and only sparsely using punctuation. The book was eventually made into the Broadway play “Cats”, with the score done by Andrew Lloyd Weber. Much maligned in pop culture during its 17 year run, it won several Tony awards and is still one of the longest continuously running shows Broadway produced. Its run has been over for a few years. I got to see it live twice - once with the original Broadway cast. It was very good!
My conundrum at the moment is the naming of my new machine. It is small, fast, has a brushed aluminum exterior (stylish but also helps with heat dissipation) and has more computing power, memory and hard drive space than I’ve owned before. And remember that I’ve built several computers and only bought one – yes, one – desktop PC instead of building it myself. It will replace “The Machine”, which, when reincarnated, will become “The Beast”.
It’s a curious thing that man gives names and genders to inanimate objects. Various languages will designate everyday objects such as a table either masculine or feminine, and adjust spellings and conjugations of linking verbs accordingly. Ships are invariably female, from the smallest dinghy to the largest aircraft carrier – with only a couple of exceptions. Recall the film “High Society" with Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, Frank Sinatra and Celeste Holm when Bing & Grace were recalling a sailboat they owned “My, she was yar!” The last word I’ll let you look up.
Our vehicles are masculine. Phred (named by Dad) and Steve (named by us). I know at least one niece and her husband name their vehicles as well. I’ve not yet figured out how people determine whether a certain teddy bear is male or female, but I know a couple of people who have been given that level of discernment, and have learned that they’re right so I don’t question it.
So then – my new computer needs a name. It’s silver, fast and compact – sports car elements in a box the size of an average toaster oven. I’m open to suggestions – you all have my email.
It goes online this Thursday. Let the suggestions begin!
Almost forgot – for those of you thinking “But Jay – you said in your last post that it would be the last one from The Machine”. I also have a laptop… ;-)
My conundrum at the moment is the naming of my new machine. It is small, fast, has a brushed aluminum exterior (stylish but also helps with heat dissipation) and has more computing power, memory and hard drive space than I’ve owned before. And remember that I’ve built several computers and only bought one – yes, one – desktop PC instead of building it myself. It will replace “The Machine”, which, when reincarnated, will become “The Beast”.
It’s a curious thing that man gives names and genders to inanimate objects. Various languages will designate everyday objects such as a table either masculine or feminine, and adjust spellings and conjugations of linking verbs accordingly. Ships are invariably female, from the smallest dinghy to the largest aircraft carrier – with only a couple of exceptions. Recall the film “High Society" with Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, Frank Sinatra and Celeste Holm when Bing & Grace were recalling a sailboat they owned “My, she was yar!” The last word I’ll let you look up.
Our vehicles are masculine. Phred (named by Dad) and Steve (named by us). I know at least one niece and her husband name their vehicles as well. I’ve not yet figured out how people determine whether a certain teddy bear is male or female, but I know a couple of people who have been given that level of discernment, and have learned that they’re right so I don’t question it.
So then – my new computer needs a name. It’s silver, fast and compact – sports car elements in a box the size of an average toaster oven. I’m open to suggestions – you all have my email.
It goes online this Thursday. Let the suggestions begin!
Almost forgot – for those of you thinking “But Jay – you said in your last post that it would be the last one from The Machine”. I also have a laptop… ;-)
Monday, January 5, 2009
I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic (Electronic) Blues Again
With apologies to Janis and Big Brother of course. A ‘60’s reference which I am afraid many who follow this blog will not understand. Oh well… as it has been said, "if you remember the 60’s, then you weren’t there.” Or you were rather young with a good memory, as I was.
The electronic blues. This will be the last blog entry written on a magnificent computer that Justin and I (mostly Justin) built a few years ago. It has served me well, but for about 2 months now I’ve been getting the periodic Blue Screen of Death (L’Ecran Bleu de Mort for those living in officially bilingual countries) with a cryptic “Error (insert hexadecimal number here) on DRAM Channel (insert another hexadecimal number here)”. Meaning the CPU and the RAM are having difficulties communicating. Maybe it was something I said. Or it said. Or maybe I need a breath mint. Who knows?
Also, a few years ago I thought it would be nearly impossible to fill a 500 Gigabyte hard drive. Well, I only have 2% of that capacity left right now. Anymore, I’m dealing in terabytes. That’s 1,000 gigabytes. My new machine has that much hard drive space. When I rebuild this machine (yes, I already have a new motherboard to install), it will have either 2 or 4 terabytes of hard drive storage. I’ve learned over the years that some computers are like Jeeps – you can rebuild them over and over and they just keep cranking away. So it is with “The Machine”, as it was christened on its maiden boot up.
What takes up 500 gigs of storage? Only my life for the last four years. Well, at least the edited, abridged version of it. Music, writings, correspondence, pictures, videos… lots of stuff there.
And the bridge in this ballad of electronic blues is my cell phone. I am unabashedly loyal to electronic gadgets that actually work for me. This phone, which I have carried for 2-1/2 years, replaced a Motorola Star Tac that I carried for nearly 7 years. Yeah, a flip phone that had a monochrome green screen, no web browser, no camera, a rudimentary phonebook, and your choice of ringtones were loud, soft, or vibrate. But it worked, and in a lot of places, it worked better than the fancier phones around me. But it was phased out, leaving me no choice but to replace it.
So I have this phone with service from Qwest (yes, my former employer). Then Qwest sells a portion of its wireless network (my portion included, of course) to Sprint. Then Qwest sells their remaining wireless network to Verizon. Once again, my service is being phased out. “End of product lifecycle” is the correct term for all you business/marketing folks out there. And I get a letter telling me that I can’t upgrade my service, and when all obligations to Sprint have been met, that service will no longer be supported. A nice way to say “your time’s about up, buddy.” So I have to switch to Verizon or AT&T or Sprint or Joe Schmoe’s Cellular. Sheesh.
Tomorrow I switch to Verizon. My number will not change. My phone will and it’s practically a computer itself. It’ll take some getting used to, but we’ll muddle through somehow.
An aside and a bit of a consolation – TLMK has to get a personal cell phone now as well. No more personal calls on agency phones except in emergencies is now the rule. Seeing as how she made the rule, it would be disingenuous for her to break it. A pre-paid “burn” phone for her personal use now, albeit a rather sophisticated one. Welcome to 2009.
Tempis may fugit, but it’s got nothin’ on technology.
The electronic blues. This will be the last blog entry written on a magnificent computer that Justin and I (mostly Justin) built a few years ago. It has served me well, but for about 2 months now I’ve been getting the periodic Blue Screen of Death (L’Ecran Bleu de Mort for those living in officially bilingual countries) with a cryptic “Error (insert hexadecimal number here) on DRAM Channel (insert another hexadecimal number here)”. Meaning the CPU and the RAM are having difficulties communicating. Maybe it was something I said. Or it said. Or maybe I need a breath mint. Who knows?
Also, a few years ago I thought it would be nearly impossible to fill a 500 Gigabyte hard drive. Well, I only have 2% of that capacity left right now. Anymore, I’m dealing in terabytes. That’s 1,000 gigabytes. My new machine has that much hard drive space. When I rebuild this machine (yes, I already have a new motherboard to install), it will have either 2 or 4 terabytes of hard drive storage. I’ve learned over the years that some computers are like Jeeps – you can rebuild them over and over and they just keep cranking away. So it is with “The Machine”, as it was christened on its maiden boot up.
What takes up 500 gigs of storage? Only my life for the last four years. Well, at least the edited, abridged version of it. Music, writings, correspondence, pictures, videos… lots of stuff there.
And the bridge in this ballad of electronic blues is my cell phone. I am unabashedly loyal to electronic gadgets that actually work for me. This phone, which I have carried for 2-1/2 years, replaced a Motorola Star Tac that I carried for nearly 7 years. Yeah, a flip phone that had a monochrome green screen, no web browser, no camera, a rudimentary phonebook, and your choice of ringtones were loud, soft, or vibrate. But it worked, and in a lot of places, it worked better than the fancier phones around me. But it was phased out, leaving me no choice but to replace it.
So I have this phone with service from Qwest (yes, my former employer). Then Qwest sells a portion of its wireless network (my portion included, of course) to Sprint. Then Qwest sells their remaining wireless network to Verizon. Once again, my service is being phased out. “End of product lifecycle” is the correct term for all you business/marketing folks out there. And I get a letter telling me that I can’t upgrade my service, and when all obligations to Sprint have been met, that service will no longer be supported. A nice way to say “your time’s about up, buddy.” So I have to switch to Verizon or AT&T or Sprint or Joe Schmoe’s Cellular. Sheesh.
Tomorrow I switch to Verizon. My number will not change. My phone will and it’s practically a computer itself. It’ll take some getting used to, but we’ll muddle through somehow.
An aside and a bit of a consolation – TLMK has to get a personal cell phone now as well. No more personal calls on agency phones except in emergencies is now the rule. Seeing as how she made the rule, it would be disingenuous for her to break it. A pre-paid “burn” phone for her personal use now, albeit a rather sophisticated one. Welcome to 2009.
Tempis may fugit, but it’s got nothin’ on technology.
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