RANDOM TUESDAY THOUGHTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I'm sorry, was I shouting?)
Gretchen = Geek Example #1 -
I'm dying to go here - Dickens World. It's a Charles Dickens theme park in Chatham, UK!
You can walk through the dank corridors of Marshalsea Prison or take the Great Expectations Boat Ride. It's like an English Major Dream Vacation!
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Is anybody else sick and tired of the Johnny Depp/Tim Burton collaboration? I mean, I have absolutely ZERO interest in this new Dark Shadows movie.
He keeps playing the same silly, freaky character over...
and over...
and over...
and over...
Enough already!
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The other day, Jude and I were driving in the car, discussing his upcoming birthday. He's decided that he doesn't want to have a big theme birthday this year. Which makes me both sad (he's growing up) and happy (WHEW!). Anyway, we haven't really planned it yet, but I think he's going to have just a few pals over for a sleepover and that's it. I asked him if they wanted to do anything special, maybe play a game or watch a movie, and he said no. Then about a beat later he said "When I'm in high school, and have parties, we'll play a game called Spin the Bottle."
I am a reeky, clay-brained, canker-blosson! What are you?
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This is NOT written by my child, but stolen off the internet. Enjoy...
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Gretchen = Geek Example #3 -
I desperately wish for this sign every time certain children are dropped off at a Cub Scout meeting and left for others mind...
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And on a quick serious note:
Two noteworthy events this week which gave me pause -
1. The 20th anniversary of the LA Riots. I will never forget them. A few sad, angry, frightening, tragic days, when the straw broke the camels back, and people went temporarily insane.
2. The One World Trade Center, which is the tower they are building to replace the World Trade Center has officially reached the height that surpasses the Empire State Bldg. and makes it the tallest building in NYC.
May it forever stand proud. And may Jude never force me to go to the top of it (I know he will!)
Miraculously, I have found TWO new network tv shows that I like...
Awake - When last I raved about sexy, brooding, Brit actor Jason Isaacs, I was watching the BBC mystery show Case Histories, and marveling that he was the same actor who played the evil Lucius Malfoy. Well now he's on NBC's Awake, and he's equally sexy and brooding, only now he's rocking an excellent American accent. I'm really enjoying the show so far, it's of the Lost/what-the-hell's-going-on-here vein. Too complicated for me to try to explain here. So you should watch it yourselves because it's fun. You can catch up on the first episodes at the NBC website here.
Missing - Ashley Judd as a middle-aged woman who KICKS SOME BUTT! I am loving this show because a) She's a middle-aged woman who actually looks like a middle-aged woman. and b) She kicks some butt, and looks good doing it. She's a widowed ex-CIA agent whose son is kidnapped. She's searching the world to find her boy so she can serve up a big load of whoop-ass on whoever took him. I'd do the same, wouldn't you? If you missed the first episode you can catch it on the ABC website here. ALL MIDDLE-AGED WOMEN MUST WATCH THIS SHOW OUT OF SOLIDARITY. Plus, Ashley Judd has the same haircut that I do!
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Well now, this is simply brilliant, and an excellent idea for a party...According to this article, the wine director of Auberge du Soleil Hotel in Napa, CA has put together a list of Girl Scout Cookie wine pairings. I know it's a question you've all been worrying about, and now we have the answers! What to serve with a box of Do-Si-Dos? They suggest a 2009 Schloss Gobelsburg Gobelsburger Zweigelt. "The light-bodied and fruity Zweigelt paired with the Do-Si-Dos brings home the flavors of peanut butter & jelly." Bought one too many boxes of Savannah Smiles? Try serving it with a 2010 Dr. Loosen “Bernkasteler Lay” Riesling-Kabinett. “The lemon notes and powdered sugar create an amazing match with this off-dry, high- acid white wine.” And of course, both of the chocolaty faves, Thin Mints and Samoas, are best paired with a nice Tawny Port.
Don't say I've never taught you anything.
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Oh dear God, it was tasty! Yesterday morning I took the leftover St. Patrick's Day Corned Beef and Potatoes, fried it up, and poached an egg on top. I should have taken a picture because it was so GORGEOUS, but I gobbled it up before the thought occurred to me. And I should give you a recipe, but I just stuck it all in a skillet and fried it up so... no recipe. You'll just have to trust me that it was outrageously good. Mmmmm. Next year, I must remember to make more corned beef just for the LEFTOVERS!
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So stinking cute...
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I fear that this is true...
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The other day on the radio I heard a study that said that 51% of men say they are the primary grocery shoppers in their families. PRIMARY. Could that be true?!! Do 51% of y'all let your men do the majority of the shopping?! Really?! I mean, can 51% of people's husbands actually cook? Jimmy's abilities are limited to what I describe as "weird eggs". Or is it that 51% of you trust your husband to actually buy the right stuff? Because I'd say that Jimmy shops for about 1% of our groceries, and out of that I'd say he gets about 10% of the purchased items right. So...well you can do the math yourself, but it's pretty damned pathetic. Please, PLEASE tell me that I am not the only one whose husband is this useless in this area.
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Okay that's it. Pretty please visit Stacy and read the other Ransom Thinkers.
In 7th Grade, my English teacher, Mrs. Dahlquist, decided that a groovy way to get us interested in poetry analysis would be to have us analyze a contemporary song. I chose Killing Me Softly With His Song, by Roberta Flack.
Though I was a straight A student in English, I remember this being a humiliating experience. I somehow completely misunderstood the song. I'm afraid that poetry and song interpretation is not my thing, and frightens me. In situations like this I tend to get a wee bit over-analytical, and sound slightly officious, even though I don't have any idea what I'm talking about. Looking at the lyrics now, I can't imagine how I could have gotten things wrong, but I remember the very kind Mrs. Dahlquist writing a rather lengthy explanation when she graded it. I did NOT get an A.
And so, in an attempt to right my failure from the past, I, a middle-aged white woman, will now analyze a contemporary song for you.
I have chosen Young, Wild & Free, by Wiz Khalifa and Snoop Dogg.
Young, Wild & Free
Written by: Wiz Khalifa and Snoop Dogg
"Young, Wild & Free" by Wiz Khalifa and Snoop Dogg is an American rap song, which is, on the surface, a drug anthem, a celebration of teenage drug use, specifically the use of cannabis. But through the clever use of repetition, structure, diction, simile and irony is a paean to the carefree days of a lost youth.
The song lyrics are divided between two very different men. The first, voiced by Wiz Khalifa, aka Cameron Thomas, is very young and enthusiastic about his freedom and joie de vivre. His repeated use of the phrase "So what?" indicates a lack of adherence to cultural expectations. He is clearly reveling in his simplistic life, "When you live like this you’re supposed to party, roll one, smoke one, and we all just having fun." Living a relaxed, carefree time with his dear friends and having fun with the ladies ("Keep it real with my n-ggas, keep it player for the hoes.") while partaking in large quantities of illegal drugs.
The second man, voiced by veteran rapper Snoop Dogg, aka Calvin Broadus, is a much older man, looking back with fondness and longing upon a youth spent in the same vapid endeavors as the first man, but with the knowledge that his led a pathetic life during which he killed too many of his brain cells. The fact that Mr. Dogg is decidedly not young (he is 40), nor wild (he is a married father of three) and often not free (he has been arrested 7 times for marijuana possession, most recently on January 7, 2012) leads me to theorize that this part of the song is meant to be ironic.
Through a clever use of rhyme and simile, the older man laments the loss of his youth ("It’s like I’m 17 again, peach fuzz on my face.") and the squandering of money ("Dippin’ away, time keep slippin’ away, zippin' the safe, flippin’ for pay, tippin’ like I’m drippin’ in paint.") And with the line "Oh my god, I’m on the chase, Chevy, It's gettin’ kinda heavy" the writer is clearly commenting on the man's advanced years by referencing Chevy Chase, a cultural icon of the '70s, and well-known pot user.
Throughout the song, the use of the simplistic, inane, irritatingly repetitive chorus effectively illustrates the influence of longterm marijuana use on the human brain.
In the end, the two men come together, while the older man sings of...a lot of things with initials ("T-H-C, M-A-C, D-E-V, H-D-3"), clearly representative of...the initialness of our world. And then they become resigned to their life of stonedness and choose to "roll one, smoke one, When you live like this you’re supposed to party, Roll one, smoke one, and we all just having fun." Which must certainly be interpreted as an analogy for the meaningless nature of the modern American teen culture.
Maybe I should have stuck with Roberta Flack.
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Afterthought...
The other day, when this song came on the radio while Jude was in the car, I quickly changed the channel, wanting to protect him from lyrics such as "So what we get drunk? So what we smoke weed?" Actually thinking the sentence "These young people and this terrible rap music!" inside my head. Later that night, when we were all sitting down to eat dinner, Jude started singing in a loud, happy voice "Everybody must get stoned!" Yep, Daddy had been listening to Dylan with him!
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This post influenced by...
Prompt #2 - Analyze a popular song you heard on the radio…what exactly does it all mean?
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If you missed this yesterday, PLEASE take a moment to take my SURVEY. I'm working on some changed to upgrade The Spin Cycle, and could REALLY use your input. Thank you SO much!!
To my husband, Jimmy, movies work like a balm to his soul. He may be in a dark, miserable mood, but turning on a favorite movie will completely shift his view of the world. He reacts to a beloved movie in a passionate, visceral way.
The films on this list are not necessarily Jimmy's picks for the best movies ever made (though some of them certainly qualify). They are the movies that he most loves and connects with on a deep, personal level. These are the movies that, though he's seen them each a hundred times, if he's channel surfing and happens upon them, he can’t turn them off, and he ends up sitting and watching the whole thing. They are all extremely personal for him, and served as seminal moments in his life.
I tried to make this a top 10 list, but he had such a hard time wheedling the list down, that I let him go with 11, or 12 if you count the Godfathers separately. And the quotes are pure Jimmy. Here they are in alphabetical order...
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948 - Directed by Charles Barton, Starring Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney, Jr.)
A favorite of Jimmy's since childhood. Part comedy, part classic horror movie, Jimmy says this movie still always manages to make him laugh and scare him to death. For him, it's serves as a movie version of comfort food. Sweetly, the thing that Jimmy says has always touched him most about this movie is Abbott and Costello's friendship, that "amongst all the monsters, they always tried to help and take care of each other." When he was a kid, the part when Abbott goes back to save Costello always made him cry - "they were best friends even in the face of death".
Casablanca (1942 - Directed by Michael Curtiz, Starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman)
Aside from simply being great film, Jimmy loves that it's hopelessly romantic. Romantic with a capital R. Not just the romantic love story, but also Victor Laszlo's heroic conviction to his cause, and Bogie's sacrifice for the greater good. This movie also happens to be Pop's favorite movie of all time.
The Godfather, Parts 1 & 2 (1972, 1974 - Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, Starring Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Robert De Niro)
Both movies sweep you up and into the world of the Corleones. Coppola created a combination of sounds, smells and images that bombard you every moment. The thing that gets Jimmy is the beautiful paradox at the core of the films, that the story is really about a family like any family, they eat together and laugh together, but they're murderous gangsters, which sets them apart from the rest of the world. The tragedy of Michael Corleone was that his life could have gone another way, but it didn’t. His father meant to do well, he tried to do everything for Michael, but in the end, he made him someone just like himself. Vito Corleone wasn’t a vicious man, and yet he was a murderer. We knew what he was doing was wrong, and yet here was a gentle man who loved and cared for his family. The beauty about Brando was that he had so much pathos about him, and that made the viewer confused. Brando brought that to it. "Any other actor wouldn’t have brought that to it, but that cat? Come on."
GoodFellas (1990, Directed by Martin Scorcese, Starring Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci)
Jimmy's first reaction when thinking about this movie was a deep exhalation. "Edgy. GoodFellas is edgy, it’s sharp, scary, sexy." It has a similar family element like The Godfather, they all stuck together and took care of each other. But in GoodFellas,"these people weren’t family, they behaved like a family because of their business, because of money. And when you realize that at the end of the movie, when they all start to rat on each other, as an audience member it destroyed me. Because you thought that their life was just grand. But they were vicious, vicious people." Unlike the poetic Don Corleone, these people had no pathos, they were cold-blooded killers and didn’t pretend otherwise. And yet, "Scorcese did it again. He made such a great film, that you can’t stop watching it."
In the Heat of the Night (1967 - Directed by Norman Jewison, Starring Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger)
"Explosive. Great acting. Great story." Poitier and Steiger's performances are "an acting lesson", they were both at the peak of their talents.
La Dolce Vita - (1960, Directed by Federico Fellini, Starring Marcello Mastroianni, Anita Ekberg)
A brilliant Fantasy. "Marcello Mastroianni is poetry in motion." The dream sequence is "one of the most brilliant and frightening scenes I’ve ever seen on film". Watching Fellini’s film "was like going to Coney Island."
Last Tango in Paris (1972 - Directed by Bernardo Bertolucci, Starring Marlon Brando, Maria Schneider)
"Tragic. Romantically tragic. Sexually tragic. Psychologically tragic." And yet, there was a beauty underneath the whole film. "The score really lit up the beauty, and heightened the emotional life of the characters." Beautiful and sad and raw. A journey into the human conditions. It's always fascinated me that when Jimmy was 16, Pop and Mommy took Jimmy and his friend Scott to see this movie, which was, at the time, notoriously rated X. After the first scene, when Brando and Schneider meet and have sex, Pop leaned over to Jimmy and told him "You and Scott. Other side of the theater." Apparently, Pop didn't mind him watching the movie, just not watching the movie while sitting with his mother!
"When Annie Hall came out, it was ground-breaking in that nobody had ever seen a movie like that, and nobody expected Woody Allen to make a film like that . Then, with Manhattan, he took it to another level. It has a class to it, a maturity." He matured as a director and in the subject matter. Manhattan hit a deep spot in me about how we can take loved ones for granted in relationships and not realize what you might have. "The intellectuals on the Upper East Side with all their problems fascinated me." It was extremely funny, and very sad. "Mariel Hemingway was a gem. I met her right before they did the pizza scene but I didn’t know who she was. My cousin Aurelio was an actor in the scene, he played the pizza parlor guy and I went to visit him the day they shot it at John’s Pizza in the Village. I hung out there all day. And I’m sitting on the ground, talking to this girl and I thought 'Oh what a cool chick.' and then all of a sudden one of the grips came over and said 'Mariel, we’re back on the set now.' And she left. We rapped for about 20 minutes.'"
Raging Bull (1980 - Directed by Martin Scorcese, Starring Robert De Niro, Cathy Moriarty, Joe Pesci)
Scorcese brilliantly captured the violence of these people. Not just in Jake LaMotta and his brother, but in the whole culture. "Just really scary and upsetting , but it was beautiful violence. The violence itself wasn’t beautiful, of course, but the artistry of the film made it beautiful. The photography was exquisite. As was the editing and the acting. You can only watch Raging Bull maybe once or twice a year tops because it’s too disturbing."
Swept Away (By an Unusual Destiny in the Blue Sea of August) (1974 - Directed by Lina Wertmuller, Starring Giancarlo Giannini, Mariangela Melato
Life-changing. It was a "special era" in Jimmy's life. In the summer of 1975, HBO was just coming onto the scene, and Swept Away was one of the first movies they showed. "It blew everybody’s minds and I turned everybody on to it that summer – Swept Away summer was a golden summer. A lot of romance in the air. Like we were just waiting for it, and it was perfect timing." The film was voted the most controversial film of the seventies. People were talking about it around the dinner table. From Manhattan all the way to the suburbs of Long Island, where Jimmy was. "I fell in love with Giancarlo and Mariangela Melato. Everybody had a crush on her after this movie. You wanted to fuck her and slap her at the same time. It was sexy watching this movie. It was hot."
[Jimmy wants me to make it clear that he is NO WAY condoning the horrible Madonna remake of this film. "It was disgusting. She ruined a masterpiece. A fart must have got into her brain. I can’t even discuss it, it’s so horrible what she did!"]
The Third Man (1949 - Directed by Carol Reed, Starring Joseph Cotten, Orson Welles)
Sinister. Filled with "intrigue and style." Anton Karas' zither music was "darkly romantic and fit the movie like a glove – genius."
Okay, I expect you all to go immediately to Netflix and line up the ones you haven't seen in your queue!
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Please do the polite thing and visit all of this week's spins on the topic "The Movies"...
This is what I'd call the definition of "a big drag, man".
Two years ago, I wrote this post, telling y'all that Becky the Suburban Matron had been diagnosed with breast cancer, and I asked you all to start praying in an attempt to surround her with a "big, bloggy bubble of love".
Since that time, Becky endured a mastectomy, radiation, reconstruction, chemotherapy, hair loss, a wig named Codi and performing on stage with me at BlogHer.
Becky survived...no, TRIUMPHED over all this with tremendous grace and humor, proving herself to be the Jane Austen of the blogging world. Hell, in the middle of it she even finished up her PhD! So that makes her Dr. Becky. Oh yeah.
Well now this.
Becky's beautiful, darling, funny, brilliant sister Amy, the Matron Down Under, has been diagnosed with...breast cancer.
I know, I know, I know.
For those of you who don't know/read Amy, you should, but if you don't, Amy and her husband, Jason, are ministers who are pastors at a church in Sydney, Australia. They have 3 of the cutest children you've ever seen.
Amy is every bit as gracious and funny as Becky. I guess that makes her Jane Austen's sister. Wait, did Jane Austen have a sister?...Wikipedia...Yes, Cassandra Austen. No wait, Cassandra never wrote anything. So I guess they're more like the Brontes. But I don't really think of the Brontes as witty. More like the Mitford sisters Yeah. The Mitford Sisters works. Sorry...I just went off on a wee tangent. Sigh...here I am trying to be funny when we're talking cancer.
Anyway, Amy IS funny, evidenced by her posts revealing her new-found cancer - here and here. She's one of the few bloggers I read who always makes me laugh with her self-deprecating charm and wit. She is also a woman of tremendous faith and courage.
And her prognosis looks great. They have found the tumor VERY early, through what Becky described as a "for-the-heck-of-it" ultrasound. Because of the early diagnosis Amy will only need to have a lumpectomy, followed by radiation treatment. She won't know until after the surgery if she will need chemotherapy - there's a good chance she won't. Though if she does, I'm sure Becky will be happy to lend her Codi.
I am completely sickened by the injustice of this all. How is it that while the national statistics are that 1 in 8 women will get breast cancer, in their amazing family it's 2 in 2. It's just so unfair.
But really, if there's a family who can survive and triumph over such a mess, it's these guys. I've never known a family filled with more love and humor and intelligence. The whole bunch of them are amazing. I have previously mentioned my desire to be adopted by their parents, but I don't think they think I'm serious. But I am. I would very much like to be their big sister.
Don't you LOVE that picture? It's Becky and Amy and their brother Dave back when they were kids. It's kind of perfect, isn't it? I like to think that I'm the one in that boat in the background, their older sister who is supposed to be babysitting but instead, is drinking beer and "fishing" with her boyfriend. But I'm digressing once again...
So here's what we're gonna do. We're all going to start praying for Amy and her family. Just like we did for Becky. If we all start praying (or sending healing energy or white light or whatever) in her direction, we will create another big bloggy bubble of love and support to help her kick the cancer out of her body and tell it never to come back. Only this time the bubble is going to have to reach all the way to Australia, so PRAY HARD. I firmly believe in the power of prayer, and I know that Amy does as well. So DO IT!
Start...NOW.
Oh, and if Amy's parents happen to read this, now would be an excellent time for this adoption, as you could probably use a little help. And there were three Bronte sisters. I'm a good cook, and willing to take care of you in your golden years. And I come cheap, you didn't have to pay for my college or my wedding. A good deal, I think. Consider it.
Are y'all praying? Well DO it.
Oh, and FEEL YOUR BOOBIES. Here's a post I wrote a while back with detailed instructions.
I really was. All primped and polished. All the time. I had an actual "beauty routine".
Every morning -
Shower
Wash/Condition hair (Bumble & Bumble Seaweed)
Wash face (Clarins Cleansing Milk)
Shave my legs/armpits
Toner (Clarins Toning Lotion)
Moisturize face (Annemarie Borlind LL Regeneration Day Cream)
Lotion entire body (L'Occitane Body Cream with Shea Butter)
Blow hair straight
Put on makeup
Put on perfume
Every night -
Take a bath
Moisturize face (Annemarie Borlind LL Regeneration Night Cream)
Lotion entire body (L'Occitane)
Apply cream to hands and feet at bedtime (L'Occitane Hand Cream)
Apply Vaseline to lips and laugh lines at bedtime
Once a week -
Exfoliate body with a scrub (mixed it up, but loved Fresh Brown Sugar Body Polish)
Exfoliate face (Lancome Exfoliance Clarte)
Once a month -
Manicure/Pedicure
Regularly every few months -
Bikini wax
Eyebrow shaping/wax
Haircut
Massage
Facial
Spa treatment (scrub or such thing)
5 days a week -
Workout
I was fabulous.
But over the last 8 years, since Jude was born, this routine has...devolved. Drastically.
My current beauty routine is as such:
Every day at some point -
Shower
Wash face (whatever is within reach - soap, my shampoo, my kid's shampoo, whatever)
Moisturize face (whatever's on sale at the grocery store)
When it starts looking kind of skanky -
Wash/Condition hair (whatever's on sale at the grocery store)
When I remember -
Exfoliate face (by rubbing it with a washrag)
Moisturize entire body
Put on perfume.
When somebody's gonna be looking -
Shave legs/armpits
Put on makeup
When I get around to it -
Haircut
Bikini wax
Workout
Seldom to Never -
Manicure/pedicure
Blowdry hair
Exfoliate body with a scrub
Massage
Eyebrow shape/wax
Spa treatment
Facial
It's a pretty sad state of affairs.
This drastic drop in my personal hygiene and upkeep is due to a combination of circumstances, mainly a lack of time and our dwindled finances. But also because of my general apathy.
Often, I just don't feel like anybody cares what I look like. This is particularly sad because I am an actress, and technically, people DO care what I look like. But I guess that very often I don't care what I look like.
There. That would be the problem. I don't care what I look like. If I really cared, I would make the time. I would find the money, or find ways to do it on a budget.
How did this happen? When did this happen? Is it just because I'm older? I'm no longer the woman who all the men turn to look at when I enter a room, so I've just given up?
Or maybe I'm just smarter and more evolved? I'm more focused on what's inside rather than what's outside? Nah.
I think this probably happens to most women after they've had a child. Unless you are wealthy enough to pay someone to do the pampering to you, you just stop making the effort, and the money ends up going for things for your kids. Your priorities shift. Taking care of yourself seems like so much trouble. And the truth is, we just don't consider ourselves and our needs a priority like we used to.
I remember looking at my girlfriends who had kids long before me, shaking my head sadly and thinking "She could still be pretty. She should really do a little something something about herself!"
And now, that is ME!
And so... I have decided to attempt a beauty comeback. I have been making the effort to do a little something something about myself. My new motto is "Just Do It".
I have been shaving every morning whether I'm wearing a skirt or not. I have been moisturizing my entire body every time I get out of the shower. I have been putting on makeup and perfume every morning, whether I'm seeing anybody I deem important or not.
And I'm thinking that if I'm smart, I can figure out which things I should spend a little money on, and where I can cut back.
I have invested a little bit of cash which we don't have in some of my old products that I LOVE. The products that I really believe make a difference. I found my Annemarie Borlind creams for a better price on Amazon. I can't express how happy it makes me to have my good creams back. Annemarie Borlind products really are special. I'll slather that precious fluid on my face and I can just feel my skin soaking it up and saying "Aaaaahhh".
I've learned that I can buy an inexpensive shampoo/conditioner (I've been using a Trader Joe's shampoo, and it's great) if I spend a little bit on good styling products (Aveda's Be Curly is outrageous for making my frizzies go away).
Good ole Cetaphil Facial Cleanser is every bit as good as all that Clarins stuff I used to buy. Neutrogena makes a delicious Sugar Scrub for a third of the price of the Fresh scrub.
Oil of Olay makes a Skin Smoothing Cream Scrub that works really well, and is a quarter of the price of the Lancome. And even though L'Occitane Body Cream with Shea Butter is a little bit of heaven in a jar, plain old Vaseline Intensive Care lotion does the job just as well. Maybe better.
Groupon offers outrageous deals on spa and pampering services. I just bought a Paraffin Treatment Manicure and Pedicure for $29, which is less than half price. They always offer deals on massages and facials. I have a girlfriend who has been doing laser hair removal to her whole body one Groupon half-price deal at a time!
And one thing that REALLY makes my face look more "together" is taking care of my eyebrows. I think it's a great idea for every woman to get her eyebrows professionally shaped at least once. And then you can keep them that way by yourself just following the arch created by the professional. I do, however, suggest investing in a Tweezerman, the best tweezers ever. It makes ALL the difference in the world.
So, do I think all this "doing a little something" has helped? Well, while I still don't think anybody is looking at me, and I'm sure nobody has noticed... I do feel prettier. More like myself. Cared for. You know?
And I like to think that in the words of Billy Crystal's Fernando character "To look good is to feel good." And if this doesn't work, I guess there's always that wacky "focusing on what's inside" thing.
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...in response to the question "What are your beauty resolutions this year? How do you plan to shake up and streamline your routine? What are the good habits you are committing to developing?"
About a year ago I wrote THIS POST in which I debunked 10 popular kitchen myths. But I think one can never have too much debunking, so I'm going to debunk some MORE, y'all. I still just love that word...debunked. Makes me giggle. Don't know why.
So here we go again...
1. The eye of the potato is poisonous.
Not reeeeaaallly. But they are kinda poisonous.
I'm afraid that my dear Mama, though a brilliant homemaker, was a somewhat poor housekeeper. She often kept what I always thought of as "science projects" in her kitchen. Opening Tupperware containers that had been shoved to the back of the fridge was often a frightening and sometimes traumatizing experience. She always kept her potatoes in a bag under the sink, and being sent under there to fetch a potato for her was often a scary task - potatoes would have crazy roots growing out of them, little buds sprouting out of their eyes and sometimes they were sort of green and mushy. Mama would then make me peel the dang things, and cut out the eyes, but I'm afraid that we weren't particularly careful about this, and we ate them anyway.
The truth is, that potatoes are, in fact, part of the nightshade, also known as belladonna, family. Which is, of course, what the evil Locusta used to kill the Emperor Claudius. And all nightshades contain a bit of a naturally occurring chemical called solanine, which is toxic. And the eye contains a higher concentration of this solanine stuff. If potatoes age and/or are exposed to too much light, they turn all green and mushy and the amount of solamine they contain increases.
But apparently, a 200-lb person would have to eat 2 pounds of potato eyes/roots/green bits in a single day to receive a toxic dose. Which would be not only gross, but possibly psychotic. And I feel that my very existence, after a childhood of eating Mama's green and eye-ridden potatoes proves my point.
Bottom line - You should cut the eyes out because they're nasty and taste bitter, but if you leave one in, you won't kill anybody.
2. If you soak the chicken in a little lemon juice it kills the bacteria.
This is a...Mommyism. You know, I should probably write another post and title it "Mommy Debunked", because my precious mother-in-law Mommy has some wacky notions. She is also, as I have mentioned many times before, a germ freak. I suspect that if she thought it would taste okay, she would soak the chicken in Lysol. But since that's insane, she always insists on soaking chicken in a bowl of cold water and a little lemon juice.
Now, while lemon juice is, in fact, a great disinfectant, and will kill some bacteria, something called COOKING is an even better disinfectant, and will kill even more bacteria. So the soak is a bit...redundant. And lemon juice isn't a powerful enough disinfectant to kill salmonella.
On the other hand, lemon does work as a tenderizer, and it tastes damned good so...what the hell. I'll let Mommy continue with her soaking.
And while I'm talking Mommyisms...
3. Garlic lasts longer if you store it in the refrigerator.
While this is, technically, true, the cold temperature also spoils the taste and the texture of the garlic. It also makes it about 100 times harder to peel, which I tell Mommy every time I have to cook at her house, but she never listens to me. Even though the woman goes through garlic so quickly, there's no way in hell it would ever rot before she got to it no matter where she kept it. And even though the head of garlic costs all of about $.28, and God forbid she would ever have throw 3 cents of garlic away...I'm sorry, was I ranting?
The best place to store garlic is in a cool, dry place. Like the pantry.
4. You should crack an egg on the edge of a bowl or countertop.
This was Cooking 101 in my house growing up. Mama cracked every egg she ever cracked in her life against the edge of her bowl.
But apparently, if you crack them on a flat surface, your chances for a clean break are much better, and you'll be less likely to get little bits of shell in the bowl. I have been experimenting with this life-changing theory for the last couple of days and I believe it to be true.
I know! The axis of my world has shifted slightly. Live and learn.
5. The only alcohol that is good for your heart is red wine.
Oh my, this one makes me so happy I could spit.
Red wine, white wine, pink wine, beer and hard liquor all have the SAME health benefits!
Apparently, this confusion was brought about by something called the French Paradox - researchers believed that it was the antioxidants in red wine which protected all those butter and cheese loving French people from heart disease.
But more recent research has shown that antioxidants aren't the reason at all. It's the alcohol itself - ethanol - that raises the levels of HDL (good cholesterol), which helps protect arteries from plaque buildup which leads to heart attacks and strokes. So any alcohol will do the trick.
Unfortunately, researchers qualify this brilliant notion with the phrase "in moderation", which really takes all the fun out of it.
6. The microwave will give you cancer.
Okay, here's the deal. The radio waves produced by a microwave, which are absorbed by the food, do produce a type of radiation. But there are two main types of radiation - ionizing and non-ionizing.
Ionizing radiation is the kind of radiation that's used in...oh...nuclear power plants. This type of radiation can be dangerous if you receive large doses of it because it has the ability to change your DNA and cause cancer. Which is bad.
But microwaves produce non-ionizing radiation. It can't change your DNA or give you cancer.
That's not to say you shouldn't be careful with microwaves. You don't want to be sticking your face in there when it's going. And you don't want to be using an old, leaky microwave either. And you especially don't want your kids messing with the microwave, since their bodies absorb radiation more easily than adults’.
So...don't microwave your head, do microwave your potato.
7. You should add a little olive oil to the water when you boil pasta so the pasta won't stick together.
I must admit, I did this for about the first half of my life. But all of my many years surrounded by Jimmy's Italian-American family have taught me that this is a poor idea. A little oil in the pot will probably keep the pot from boiling over. And tossing some oil on the pasta after you've drained it will keep the strands from sticking. But it also keeps everything else from sticking to the pasta - things like...sauce.
Every Italian cook I've met just tosses a spoonful or two of sauce into the pasta (or the "macaroni" as Mommy calls it) and stirs it up - that's all you need to keep it from sticking.
And while I'm defending Mommy...
8. If you boil your vegetables too long they lose all their nutrients.
Please, PLEASE don't tell Mommy this. This has been my argument with her for years in my attempt to keep her from boiling the vegetables until they dissolve into mush and lose all resemblance to their original selves.
But the truth is that yes, the broccoli boiled until it dissolves into a puree may have lost many of it's nutrients - mostly vitamins, which are water soluble. But important minerals like iron and potassium don’t break down that easily in water. So...DON'T TELL MOMMY!
9. Eating turkey makes you drowsy.
While tryptophan, an amino acid present in turkey, is a mild sedative, tryptophan doesn't act on the brain unless it is taken on an empty stomach and no protein is present. And since turkey is a source of protein, and most of us believe this to be true on Thanksgiving ...
That sleepy, lethargic feeling one feels after eating Thanksgiving dinner is more likely due to overeating a massive amount of carbohydrates and drinking a bunch of booze. That, and the fact that a tremendous amount of your blood has rushed away from your brain and into your abdomen to aid with digestion.
Bring on that football game.
10. A watched pot never boils.
As hard believe as it is, this is not true. The pot will eventually boil, though if you watch it long enough, your time perception may skew, and it will seem to be a very, very long time.
Okay, this one is just silly, but I couldn't think of a tenth myth and I like nice even numbers.
Well there you have it. Lots more debunking. Don't ever say I never taught you anything.
I am not, generally, a particularly political person.
I'm a registered Democrat, and tend to define myself as a liberal, but really? I'm pretty moderate. I have always had a peculiar ability to see and respect all sides of an issue. Maybe it's genetic, since both of my grandfathers were judges. Or maybe I'm just wishy-washy, and basically hate to argue.
I've done volunteer work for various candidates over the years, and have been known to slap on a bumper sticker or hammer in a yard sign. But...that's about it.
But during the 2008 election, I took up a cause.
I not only took up a cause, I started an organization, created a website and sent out newsletters.
On the ballot in California during that election was something called Proposition 8. In early 2008, the California Supreme Court had issued a ruling giving gay and lesbian couples a constitutional right to equality under the state marriage laws. Proposition 8 was intended to overturn the Supreme Court ruling, and actually change the California State Constitution to state that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid and recognized in California. In other words, voting "Yes" on Proposition 8 would have made gay marriage in California illegal again. A "No" vote meant that you were FOR gay marriage. I know. It confused everyone.
I am in favor of gay marriage. And as the campaign heated up, I quickly noticed that all of the "No on Prop 8" ads were filled with super-liberal celebrities. I felt that this was preaching to the choir. In order for Proposition 8 to be defeated, I believed that moderate Californians needed to be convinced. The "Yes on 8" campaign promoted themselves as the side of wholesome, family values, and the "No on 8" campaign as a bunch of liberal, anti-family, anti-children sinners.
And so, California Mothers for Marriage was born. It was meant to put a friendly, wholesome face to the No on Prop 8 campaign. To quote my own press release - "Please join us in protecting the rights and defending the freedom of our children by voting NO on Proposition 8. Our nation was founded on the principle that all people should be treated equally. We believe that it's time to stand up and take action to protect this principle for our children and their generation. Regardless of how anyone feels about same-sex marriage, no one should be singled out for unfair treatment under the laws of our state."
My dear old friend David created a website for me, and I set to work. I recruited members, I sent out newsletters, I started a Facebook page. By the time of the election, we had several hundred members.
Please indulge me a bit of my own propaganda...
Proponents of Proposition 8 claim they are protecting California's children. We find this offensive and manipulative and we question their intention and motives. Are the supporters of Proposition 8 really trying to protect marriage? Or are they simply trying to take away the civil rights of a group of people whose lifestyle they don't understand? We don't agree that marriage between two people of the same sex somehow diminishes the institution of marriage between a man and a woman. Why would anyone determine the value of their own marriage based on who else has taken vows? On the contrary, we believe that recognizing same-sex marriage strengthens the sanctity of marriage by making it available to all who are willing to make a lifetime commitment to love each other .
As mothers, we love all of our children equally, and want them all to have equal rights and an equal opportunity for happiness. We hope that by taking a stand we can show our children the difference between right and wrong. That human rights need to be fought for and protected. We hope that they will be able to look back on our fight with pride and respect, the same way we look back on our mothers' fight for civil rights and our grandmothers' fight for suffrage.
People kept asking me why on earth I became so passionate about this issue. I'm not gay. I don't have a sibling/child/parent who is gay. I do have many gay friends. But why did this issue touch me so deeply?
I have defined my reasoning as the "Horton Hears a Who Syndrome".
Jude is not easily frightened by movies/books. He is absolutely fine with watching violence or scary/intense situations. Aside from the occasional "Voldemort's in the closet" dreams, he wasn't scared or freaked out by any of the Harry Potter stuff. What makes Jude lose it is what I have come to define as "issues of social justice".
When Jude was 4, I took him to see "Horton Hears a Who". Toward the end of the movie, there's a scene when the mean kangaroo and her minions have tied up Horton, and are trying to make him drop the clover on which he claims the Who's are living into a vat of boiling oil, or some such thing. At this point in the movie, Jude started sobbing uncontrollably. The child couldn't be consoled. On and on he cried. He cried through the rest of the movie, all the way to the car, and all the way home. He kept saying over and over "But Mama, they were so mean to Horton, he just was what he was. He didn't do anything wrong! They just don't understand him!"
And that, in a nutshell, is the way I feel about gay marriage. They just are what they are. They haven't done anything wrong. People just don't understand them. And for someone to be unable to marry the person they love just because some people don't understand them absolutely breaks my heart.
So I guess I truly am a "bleeding heart" liberal. If it touches my heart, it's got me. I don't so much vote over issues like the debt ceiling, the size of government or tax breaks for the wealthy. But if somebody's mean to somebody - I'm gonna try to do something about it.
Of course, anybody who keeps up with this kind of stuff knows that my cause did NOT win. Proposition 8 was voted into effect, and same-sex marriage is no longer legal in California. I was heartbroken. But far less heartbroken than I would have been if I had done nothing, and failed to take a stand. At some point over the next few years, California will, no doubt, once again try to make gay marriage legal, and I will, no doubt, once again take up the cause.
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Please EVERYBODY check out all the spinners who stepped up on their soapboxes and spoke out for something they believe in!
It's January. The start of a new year, and the perfect time to set some work goals. So I'm thinking we should try going all "The Secret" and think about that perfect job that has somehow eluded us thusfar. Maybe if we think on it hard enough we will achieve perfect by December!
What job do you believe would fulfill your every dream? Want to be your own boss? Start your own company? Work from home? Travel? Or maybe it's a dream job for your spouse? Or your kid?
Maybe you had the perfect job and lost it. Yikes. Maybe your friend has the perfect job and you'd like to snag it from them.
Or maybe you already have to perfect job and want to tell us all about it.
And btw, SAHM is a job. Just saying.
It doesn't have to be practical or reasonable. Reach for the unattainable! Astronaut? Rock Star? Generalissimo of your own small country? Why not?
New to The Spin Cycle? Check out the guidelines by clicking on that little Spin Cycle tab up there. And don't forget to include the stylish and trendy button created by the brilliant Keely.
Spin it up!
Share your spin! Highlight the code. Copy to your HTML. Et voila! Linked!
To my calculation, I have, as of this year, cooked and hosted Thanksgiving dinner in my home 20 times. Which is a hell of a lot of Thanksgivings.
Therefore, I feel that I have learned a thing or two about how to make it work, and perhaps I should share some of my accumulated knowledge with all of you, dear readers. Feel free to disagree with my opinions. But I am right.
1. Preparation = Freedom. I believe this truism applies to most things in life. I plan the whole day down to the tiniest detail. I prep chronological lists of things to do. "Prep appetizer. Make dressing. Brine turkey." I like to think of an elaborate dinner party as a play, with me as the playwright, director and star. If everything is planned out, it's like having a script, and all I have to do is follow it, and it will all fall into place. And I must say, that about the time the guests arrive, I like to pour myself a big, fat 7 & 7 and enjoy myself while the aforementioned falling into place occurs.
2. It's easier just to do it yourself. Years back, I used to ask friends to bring a dish. Everybody had some favorite traditional food that they just HAD to have, so I'd let them bring it. This means that at the crucial hour when your guests are arriving, and you're spinning around your kitchen making gravy and rolls, a bunch of folks show up with stuff that they expect you to heat up, and usually they have some last minute thing they have to do to their dish, which usually entails taking up counter space, refrigerator space, and your personal space. It's EASIER to just do it yourself, and have your guests arrive and stay OUT OF THE KITCHEN. Also, the planning (See 1.) is totally screwed if folks show up and rock your world.
3. Don't let anybody bring a dish unless you really, really, really, truly trust that they'll do it right. I do, on occassion, allow someone to bring a dish - usually a dessert. Okay, I may, perhaps, be a teensy bit of a control freak. And I want everything served at my Thanksgiving dinner to be of high quality. And I hate to say it, but most people don't do high quality. So when most people say to you "Can I bring something?" You must say "Liquor." Which most people don't screw up.
4. Tradition/Schmadition. I realize that this may be considered radical, but I truly think that most "traditional" Thanksgiving dishes are extremely mediocre. And most people only want them because they've come to expect them, and their grandmother used to make them. But honestly? It's not that hard to make some simple improvements. You know what I mean? Sweet potato casserole with the marshmallows? I don't do it. Green bean casserole? Nope. And the truth is that, as long as you prepare delicious, seasonal foods, nobody misses the stuff that involves Cream of Mushroom soup. Now I'm not saying to go all freaky and make a...Tofurkey meatloaf or...quinoa dressing, I just mean that it's possible to make your own traditions. For years and years, I would dutifully make a pumpkin pie, a pecan pie, and a chocolate cream pie. The chocolate cream, though not traditional Thanksgiving fare, is Jimmy's absolute favorite (and my great-grandmother's recipe). Guess what everybody ate. That's right, the chocolate cream. Nobody ate the pumpkin or the pecan, but the chocolate cream was wiped out. So now, chocolate cream pie is our Thanksgiving tradition.
5. Nobody gives a damn about green vegetables. For years, I would insist on making a nice green vegetable. One year, I even made a salad. NOBODY EATS IT. They want bird, carbs and gravy. I will be making one green vegetable this year, but it involves bacon, so it might not count. If you insist on going the Green Bean Casserole route, PLEASE try Jan's Green Bean Casserole, which takes it to a whole new level of fabulousness (she makes homemade french-fried onions to go on top).
6. Lots of stuff can be made ahead of time. Mashed Potatoes? The day before. Sweet Potato Soup (oooo, that intrigued you, didn't it?) Two days before. Dressing? The day before. I used to think that I should make it all at the last moment so it was...fresh. Nah. Day before. And speaking of dressing. It's probably a good idea to explain the difference between stuffing and dressing. The aforementioned Jan did it very well here. Stuffing is what Northerners make. It's generally made from stale bread and/or biscuits, sometimes involves peculiar things like oysters, and is stuffed into the bird and cooked. Dressing is what Southerners make. It's generally made from stale cornbread, and is cooked outside the bird, in a separate dish. It's also far superior to that Northern version - oops, did I say that? My poor Mama always had to make TWO dressings, because she stubbornly insisted on making a white bread stuffing (what Daddy called “Yankee dressing” – Mama never could convince him that being from SOUTH DAKOTA didn’t make her a Yankee) and stuffing it into the bird, and Daddy stubbornly insisted she also make his mama’s cornbread dressing and cook it outside the bird. And I should note that we were a tiny family of 3. So the leftovers were plentiful. Amen.
7. Schedule it for dinner time. I know, I know, most people eat Thanksgiving at about 1:00 or 2:00, stuff themselves, then watch football for the rest of the day. But several years ago, I decided to turn the whole meal into a more civilized affair, and moved it to dinnertime. Guests show up about 4:00 - 4:30, enjoy their cocktails and appetizers, then move to the table. It's night time, so you can light candles at the table, and have a glass of wine with the meal without it feeling sad. And the big bonus? You don't have to get up at the stinking crack of stinking dawn to put the bird in the oven. You can get up...have your coffee...enjoy a little Macy's parade...then put the bird in.
8. Add a course. This too is a bit radical, I know. But, being married to an Italian, I have come to understand the value of the course. Of serving the food in stages, with brief intermezzos between each course. Now, of course, traditionally, Thanksgiving is served all at once as The Big Feed. It all comes out to the table, everybody gorges themselves silly, then retires to the den to sleep it off. It all takes about 45 minutes. Sad. But how to add a course to this traditional meal? I could add a salad course, but...See 5. So I have started making a Sweet Potato Soup, and serving it as a first course. It's really damned good. And it satisfies the need for the sweet potato. Here's the recipe:
Roasted Sweet Potato Soup
4 lbs. sweet potatoes, peeled and cut up
3 carrots, peeled and cut up
1 large onion, thinly sliced
1 stick butter
10 cups chicken broth
6 tsp. brown sugar
3/4 tsp. ground mace
3/4 tsp. ground ginger
pinch of cayenne pepper
salt to taste
Creme fraiche (or plain yogurt) for garnish
Caramelized pecans for garnish (you can either make them yourself or buy them at the Trader Joe's - which is acceptable)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place the sweet potatoes, carrots and onion in a shallow roasting pan. Cut up the stick of butter, and arrange the bits all around the vegetables. Roast until vegies are soft, and slightly browned, about 30 minutes, stirring once during cooking time. Remove from the oven, and cool. Place the roasted vegetables in a large stock pot, along with the butter they cooked in. Add the broth, brown sugar and spices. Stir well, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for about 10 minutes. Puree the soup, in batches, in a blender or food processor until smooth.
At this point, you can refrigerate it for up to two days. Reheat just before serving, and garnish with a dollop of creme fraiche and a couple of caramelized pecans.
9. Make a buttload of gravy. Because, who doesn't love gravy? And you're going to need it for your leftovers. I always start Thanksgiving morning by making a big stock pot of giblet broth. Chicken broth, giblets, onion, celery, bay leaf. Then I let it simmer for hours until it's really rich. Mmmm...that's the makings of some good gravy. I'm telling you.
10. Rubber gloves. One of the great Thanksgiving dilemmas is how the hell to get the bird out of the roasting pan and onto the carving board without tearing half the skin off the bird, giving yourself a second degree burn or juggling three spatulas and two forks. That turkey is heavy, and it's always a cumbersome issue. I have two words for you. Rubber. Gloves.
Stick your hands in a pair of clean, new rubber gloves, and just pick the turkey up with your hands. Brilliant. It works. You're welcome.
11. Give thanks. I find that it's a good idea to actually give thanks on Thanksgiving. I know it may seem a little hokey, but I like going around the table and making everybody name something they're thankful for. Kind of makes all the hullabaloo meaningful.
Okay, do you have any helpful hints for me? I'll listen to opinions, even if you are wrong.
Jude and I had an adventure this weekend. Maybe this will get you in the mood...
No? Too "Don't ask, don't tell."?
Okay, how about this...
Yeah, boy, that should have got you all worked up and patriotic!
Jude and I spent the night with the Cub Scouts aboard the USS Midway Aircraft Carrier.
Cool, right?
The USS Midway was decommissioned after Operation Desert Storm, and has been anchored in San Diego, and converted into a museum. If you're a history buff, or even if you just enjoy a man in uniform, like me, you should definitely check it out if you're ever in San Diego.
Our Cub Scout pack signed up for what they call a "Live it, Learn it" overnight stay. The idea is that if you actually live the experience of a bunch of sailors living on a boat, you'll learn a thing or two, and appreciate how really very hard it must be to serve in the military. And I must say, if that was the plan, it WORKED. This was EXHAUSTING, people. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Jude and I teamed up with his BFF A.J. and his mom Ronda...
...and drove down to beautiful San Diego on Friday afternoon after their school's early dismissal.
As per my usual luck, Friday turned out to be one of the only 35 days of measurable rainfall in Southern California. It rained buckets. Crazy, man.
In fact, the exact moment that we parked, got out of the car with our gear and started walking toward the Midway, the heavens actually opened up and dumped on us. And my pathetic, seldom needed umbrella (it was a cute pink one, which should count for something), actually did that thing you see in cartoons, when a gust of blustery wind turns it inside out and it flies up in the air. I swear. It was apparently quite funny to others who were watching, not so much to me. Soaked...
The weekend was led by a group of volunteers, all ex-military, and I have to say they were really wonderful. Mostly crusty old guys who loved talking about the Navy and loved kids.
Here's our event itinerary in brief:
1700 (this is military time, y'all): Welcome Aboard, sailors! Single file lines. Much saluting.
1720: We're marched in to the berthing area, so we can locate our racks.
View from inside my rack...
1725: Muster; Roll call.
1730: Marched to the mess for some really mediocre chow.
Notice my pathetic attempt to Weight Watcherify my chow by stealing the uneaten lettuce, tomato and pickles off several little boys burgers and making a sad little burger salad.
1745: Free time to explore the Hanger Bay. The boys climbed in and out of restored WWII and Vietnam aircraft, and got to go in a simulator which recreates what it was like to take off from an aircraft carrier and fly into Desert Storm. Apparently, very cool. I chose not to indulge myself after eating all that chow.
1900: Muster in the Hanger Bay.
1920: Evening events began. We were divided into little "squadrons" and lead on a tour around the entire ship. Through endless halls and up and down endless ladders...
From the bridge...
...to the engine room...
We learned a whole, whole, whole lotta stuff, and according to one of the leader guys, walked about 5 miles.
2240: Muster in the Hanger Bay.
2300: Taps. Lights out.
That's 11:00, people. Which for both little boys and old moms is LATE. And no shenanigans here. We were expected to hustle our butts into our sleeping clothes, brush our teeth (I did manage to put on a little cream, thanks be to God) and climb into our racks in 20 minutes. No hanging out, drinking with the dads on this trip.
It is at this point that I should point out that these "racks" are designed to sleep 18-year old boys. Not 50-year old women. Or, for that matter, whiny little boys. Jude climbed into his sleeping bag and announced "Yep. This is even more of a slab than the bed at Grandmas." Which is bad, I'm telling you. Between the mattress and the weird ship noises and the snoring, I think I slept a total of 2 hours. Actually, the snoring wasn't as bad as I'd feared (all those men, all that metal). My friend Anthony's theory was that nobody snored because nobody slept enough to actually reach that REM level. Probably true.
0600: Reveille. Really. I swear. Jude rolled out of his rack, rubbed his eyes groggily and muttered "I've gotta hit the head." He loved all the Navy jargon.
0620: Muster in the Hanger Bay. Gear packed and carried with you. Really. I swear. Time for teeth brushing, but not for a little cream.
0630: Marched to the mess for even more mediocre chow. I have now experienced powdered eggs. Not an experience worth repeating. I must say, however, that Navy Joe is pretty damned good. The Navy is where they started calling coffee Joe in the first place. But I will let you Google it yourself if you're actually interested in hearing the story.
0700: Marched to the Flight Deck for more learning.
Sunrise over San Diego Harbor was pretty damned beautiful, I must say. Here we saw the giant catapults they used to launch the fighter jets into the air and the giant cables that the jets caught with their tailhooks when they landed. We heard some cool war stories.
And explored some jets.
0900: Muster in the Hanger Bay.
0930: Dismissed.
Whew. That was a lot of Live it and Learn iting.
Jude and I both hereby have a new appreciation of our US military, and what they go through.
I'm not sure if I would have been cut out for military life. I was much happier just playing it on tv. I fear that I need a nice mattress. And a good shower. And...a little cream. Though a ship full of all those men might have been enjoyable. And I think I would have liked being a fighter pilot. Or at least to have played one on tv.
My favorite thing about all this is that I think Jude has a tiny bit of understanding now about this man...
That's my precious Daddy when he was a sailor during WWII. I even caught Jude telling one of the leader guys that his grandpa that died before he was born was in the Navy in World War II. And I guess that's worth all the marching and bad chow.
