Haven't yet heard from my traveller, who should be in Guatemala & well on his way by now. None of the other bloggers have posted since arriving though, so I'm assuming that they've all got there ok & are (a) too busy (b) not in the vicinity of an interente cafe (c) not thinking about blogging!
The other traveller is a little nervous about tomorrow's trip, but once on the plane the jitters will no doubt vanish.
And as I said above, no news is good news!
2011-02-04
2011-02-02
2010-12-27
surviving the holidays
I am not a big fan of Christmas. It's not just that I'm not a Christian, it's all the baggage that comes with it.
For as long as I can remember, the whole family get-together thing has been fraught with stress, and featured tears before bedtime for someone, usually me. As the only child, and even only grandchild for many years, I was both the focus of attention and the rope in the annual tug of war between in-laws that had little in common and no incentive to find any such thing. Apart from me.
Spoiled? Yes, at least showered with gifts, some of them actually quite nice. No complaints there, provided there were plenty of books. Overfed, too. My female parent would on the one hand offer endless goodies and on the other accuse me of gluttony and ask when I was going to lose weight. Something wrong with this picture? D'oh. Then there were the grandmothers. They agreed that I didn't attend church enough, although they differed as to which one. Both Protestant. Music was ok but discourse was so laced with hypocrisy I gave up church even before I had read the Bible and realized what a dreadful tome it is. People who take it literally simply cannot have read it. But, I digress.
Nobody in our family would dream of inflicting physical abuse, apart from the occasional well-deserved swat on the seat of the pants. They just went in for sarcastic comments and galloping perfectionism, focused inevitably on me. It was required to "view" the presents given by & to each family member, whether to foster envy or disgust was never clear to me. Failure to effuse sufficiently was punishable by solicitous enquiries as to the state of ones health. Throwing up wasn't an option, even if overfed. In a nutshell, everyone disliked each other and competed over the child, since Christmas is for children, right? Spare me.
So, although I learned to cook all the festive dishes, and now do so for my entire ageing family (thank goodness I produced no offspring myself), and although I learned a huge repertoire of carols so I could be the pianist for the obligatory sing-along, I really don't care for the season.
Next year, I'm doing something entirely different. They can have their Christmas at a restaurant.
For as long as I can remember, the whole family get-together thing has been fraught with stress, and featured tears before bedtime for someone, usually me. As the only child, and even only grandchild for many years, I was both the focus of attention and the rope in the annual tug of war between in-laws that had little in common and no incentive to find any such thing. Apart from me.
Spoiled? Yes, at least showered with gifts, some of them actually quite nice. No complaints there, provided there were plenty of books. Overfed, too. My female parent would on the one hand offer endless goodies and on the other accuse me of gluttony and ask when I was going to lose weight. Something wrong with this picture? D'oh. Then there were the grandmothers. They agreed that I didn't attend church enough, although they differed as to which one. Both Protestant. Music was ok but discourse was so laced with hypocrisy I gave up church even before I had read the Bible and realized what a dreadful tome it is. People who take it literally simply cannot have read it. But, I digress.
Nobody in our family would dream of inflicting physical abuse, apart from the occasional well-deserved swat on the seat of the pants. They just went in for sarcastic comments and galloping perfectionism, focused inevitably on me. It was required to "view" the presents given by & to each family member, whether to foster envy or disgust was never clear to me. Failure to effuse sufficiently was punishable by solicitous enquiries as to the state of ones health. Throwing up wasn't an option, even if overfed. In a nutshell, everyone disliked each other and competed over the child, since Christmas is for children, right? Spare me.
So, although I learned to cook all the festive dishes, and now do so for my entire ageing family (thank goodness I produced no offspring myself), and although I learned a huge repertoire of carols so I could be the pianist for the obligatory sing-along, I really don't care for the season.
Next year, I'm doing something entirely different. They can have their Christmas at a restaurant.
2010-12-08
Have these people never heard of martyrs?
The ubiquitous wailing & gnashing of teeth in the international media over the "case" of one J. Assange and his organization, WikiLeaks, continue to astound me.
In particular, his arrest and bail denial on what may or may not turn out to be a proven charge, one that some might say was all too conveniently timed, have garnered publicly flaunted satisfaction in both media and diplomatic quarters, not to mention international security forces and others alarmed by the success of whistle-blowers in publicizing "sensitive documents".
Never mind that the "sensitive documents" are, generally speaking, mere confirmation of what a cynical public has long supposed about the purveyors of power. Never mind that these same power-brokers have many more intact secrets that may well exceed the imagination of public cynicism. After all, none of us wants to imagine that we might be living, not in our cherished (if mythical) democracies, but in incipient totalitarian states. Forsooth, that could never be!
Evidently those in power and their media lapdogs have failed yet again to learn from the history they have mostly used to their good advantage. It's true that the public attention span is short when it comes to public wrongdoing, whether political, religious, or financial. It's also true that the public memory is extremely long when it comes to situations where an individual (worthy or not) is sacrificed in the name of the powerful. One might cite the putative execution of a proselytizing carpenter circa 2000 years ago as a case in point.
This Assange fellow has an organization, and followers. Mirror sites already abound. These folks know how to work the Internet. If I were a betting person, I'd lay heavy odds that those in power themselves find the Internet too useful to take it down all over the world. The time appears ripe for creation of a martyr and a grass-roots mythology that will continue to nibble at the heels of those currently holding the reins and writing the cheques.
I wonder who will be first against the wall?
In particular, his arrest and bail denial on what may or may not turn out to be a proven charge, one that some might say was all too conveniently timed, have garnered publicly flaunted satisfaction in both media and diplomatic quarters, not to mention international security forces and others alarmed by the success of whistle-blowers in publicizing "sensitive documents".
Never mind that the "sensitive documents" are, generally speaking, mere confirmation of what a cynical public has long supposed about the purveyors of power. Never mind that these same power-brokers have many more intact secrets that may well exceed the imagination of public cynicism. After all, none of us wants to imagine that we might be living, not in our cherished (if mythical) democracies, but in incipient totalitarian states. Forsooth, that could never be!
Evidently those in power and their media lapdogs have failed yet again to learn from the history they have mostly used to their good advantage. It's true that the public attention span is short when it comes to public wrongdoing, whether political, religious, or financial. It's also true that the public memory is extremely long when it comes to situations where an individual (worthy or not) is sacrificed in the name of the powerful. One might cite the putative execution of a proselytizing carpenter circa 2000 years ago as a case in point.
This Assange fellow has an organization, and followers. Mirror sites already abound. These folks know how to work the Internet. If I were a betting person, I'd lay heavy odds that those in power themselves find the Internet too useful to take it down all over the world. The time appears ripe for creation of a martyr and a grass-roots mythology that will continue to nibble at the heels of those currently holding the reins and writing the cheques.
I wonder who will be first against the wall?
2010-10-30
Most enjoyable rally in ages
Only caught snippets of the rally this afternoon, among other things going on in my house, but I have to say that it looked like a fun event, the most a-political thing I've seen coming out of the USofA in Lo! these many years. And bravo to those 2 great satirists, Stewart & Colbert, for putting it on.
It's not just sanity & damping down the fear that's needed -- it's ability to laugh at one's foibles & respect one's neighbours that are so sorely missed in the jingoistic rhetoric we hear all too much of on the USAmerican media these days. If only they would stop shouting so much & listen to how ridiculous they sound.
And, if only every USAmerican citizen who attended a sanity rally today would just get out there & vote their conscience, & each drag 10 friends with them! That'd go a long way to alleviating some of the pain. When I think of our grandmothers & great-grandmothers who struggled for the vote...they'd all be ashamed of those who just can't be bothered today.
It's not just sanity & damping down the fear that's needed -- it's ability to laugh at one's foibles & respect one's neighbours that are so sorely missed in the jingoistic rhetoric we hear all too much of on the USAmerican media these days. If only they would stop shouting so much & listen to how ridiculous they sound.
And, if only every USAmerican citizen who attended a sanity rally today would just get out there & vote their conscience, & each drag 10 friends with them! That'd go a long way to alleviating some of the pain. When I think of our grandmothers & great-grandmothers who struggled for the vote...they'd all be ashamed of those who just can't be bothered today.
2010-10-16
fried green tomatoes
I must remember for next year that this recipe was NOT a success. Of all the things I've tried to do with end-of-season green tomatoes, this was in fact the least successful of all. Much better to make a green tomato chutney or mincemeat. The breading was nasty and so was the tomato inside. Very disappointing.
Tomatillos, on the other hand, make a great salsa from the green stage. I guess it's just a sad fact that green tomatoes have so little flavour it's almost impossible to do anything with them that doesn't involve mixing with a lot of other, more highly flavoured ingredients.
As I recall, I didn't think much of the movie, either...
Tomatillos, on the other hand, make a great salsa from the green stage. I guess it's just a sad fact that green tomatoes have so little flavour it's almost impossible to do anything with them that doesn't involve mixing with a lot of other, more highly flavoured ingredients.
As I recall, I didn't think much of the movie, either...
2010-09-21
Time for Writing
Again, a long gap between posts. Excuses proliferate like rabbits, or, in my garden, squirrels.
It's been a long, hot, lovely summer filled with projects, none of which involved writing, apart from some correspondence with friends. I don't expect anything much to change, except the weather. However, writing will take its place among the projects, with this blog included from time to time.
Since nobody reads it but me, how often I post doesn't matter. What does matter is that I write something on a regular basis. So, I will.
It's been a long, hot, lovely summer filled with projects, none of which involved writing, apart from some correspondence with friends. I don't expect anything much to change, except the weather. However, writing will take its place among the projects, with this blog included from time to time.
Since nobody reads it but me, how often I post doesn't matter. What does matter is that I write something on a regular basis. So, I will.
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