TedBook

FLASH FICTION FACTION... 'Little Pan Dora'

2012-03-08T19:48:00.000-08:00

She was just a girl, but she had managed to break the magician’s code. As she entered the cinderblock building, Pan almost chocked on the bile produced, not only by the smell, but the fear that was beading the sweat on her forehead. She knew her job, now she just needed to find the container. They had said it was in the shape of a bucket, that she should not open it. Barely seeing, more like feeling, Pan searched. It would have been nice to have had a torch, but then batteries cost a lot these days.

It was hard to concentrate, with one ear looking toward the door, the other searching the room for any sense of movement. The floor was greasy and made for slippery going, but at last she found a stack of what felt like buckets. Just one was needed, she was surprised at how easily it lifted.

Once outside, after adjusting for sunlight and checking for any eyes that might be about, she examined her catch. Yes, a dirty blue, as described, with just a swish of liquid inside. The others had been as easy to heft, so she had assumed they were all the same… this wasn’t just an empty bucket.

But then, her little-girlness got the better of her, and Pan had to look. Carefully prying the lid, she was almost knocked over by the giant spider shooting up through the crack at the edge. Like a Whirling Dervishe, it started rising in the air, trailing a thick web behind. The web grew so fast it finally was like a huge blimp tethered to the ground, and when the screaming inside started, she ran as fast as she could… wondering what she would tell her bosses.

Another photo prompt… this one for Flash Fiction Faction, by Quill Shiv. Thought I’d at least give some fiction a try. This is what I made up after looking at the photo. I can’t think of a title. I now have a title… thanks to a kind comment by Quill… it helps to know a real writer, and I am shamelessly using her quote.

And this is what started this fiction madness… maybe you would like to try… FLASH FICTION FACTION

Friday Fictioneers #1… SEMI-PRECIOUS GEMEMOIR

2012-03-04T17:57:00.000-08:00

The brilliant orange stone in the glassine envelope is a Padparadscha. It is man-made, as are the other stones in the photo, I suspect. The size and quality would indicate so… if natural they would be in paper packets. This photo resets many memories… from a lifetime so long ago.

The countless hours spent studying colored stones at the G.I.A. on the way to a Gemologist Degree.

The hours spent buying and selling gemstones.

For some strange reason, when I saw this photo, I thought of the day when I opened the jewelry store, to find our safe lying on it’s back with the door open…

It's funny how one thing leads to the other... I was looking at some creative writing sites, and a photo caught my eye. Having worked in the family jewelry store, before leaving to 'find myself', I read with interest. It appears the photo was a prompt to inspire writers to create a story 100 words long. Apparently they do this on Fridays... hence the name of the group Friday Fictioneers. The Headmistress is Madison Woods. She posts a photo with her story, and her followers add theirs. I enjoyed reading the different stories 'prompted' by the photo. She invited me to try, so I sparklers...did, even thought I'm not a Fictioneer. Do see Madison and check out all the different stories suggested by the pretty sparklers... http://madisonwoods.wordpress.com/2012/02/29/photo-prompt-for-100-word-flash-fridayfictioneers-20/

MAKING COOKIES... Another Milestone in Life...

2012-02-19T20:08:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I made cookies. Big deal, right? Well in a way it was, because I had never made cookies before. I guess that is technically not true, because I remember baking cookies once, a long time ago with my daughters... the chocolate chip kind you brought in a tube, and sliced up, and put on a baking sheet, and put in the oven, and baked. But I'm not really counting that as cookie making, since I didn't have anything to do with the ingredients... much like heating up a TV Dinner would qualify as cooking. So, I made Oatmeal Date Pecan Cookies... from scratch. From Scratch... now that is a term I dislike, and now I have used it. Having worked in restaurants, the wording on menus is always interesting to me. One of my pet peeves, is the use of terms like 'our own' and 'from scratch' in describing salad dressing and other items coming out of the kitchen. But that's just me, and now I have used 'from scratch'... I guess that makes my cookies all the more special. So, what's the big deal about making cookies? Well, nothing really, except it is another 'notch in the belt' of my trying new experiences.

Why Cookies?

About two or three weeks ago, I went by Ann's house, and she had made cookies. I was astonished. Ann does not bake except at Thanksgiving, when she supplies pies for the feast. So, I was surprised when she said she had made Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies... and they were really good. Ann is very accomplished at making Authentic Indian Cuisine, and is a pretty good pie maker, but, she is not a cookie baking grandmother type. So I figured if she could do it, I could also. I had long had a yen for an oatmeal cookie with dates. I once did some work for a woman who paid me in Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. They were fantastic, and when I suggested she use dates instead of raisins the next time she made them, she said "oh, they are too expensive". I got some cookies at the market, but while they were tasty, they were not all that great. So, I have had a longing for a good date cookie for some time now.

When I got serious about making the cookies, I realized I didn't have any cookie making paraphernalia. So I consulted a Cookie Expert, and who better than a yearly Blue Ribbon Winner at the San Juan County Fair... my daughter Ashley. Both of my daughters are excellent bakers. Krista is the Queen of Cakes and Ashley is the Cookie Monster. So I was in good company when she advised me on what kind of cookie sheet to buy, and lent me her mixer along with a few tips.

I decided to start simple, and use the cookie recipe under the lid of the Quaker Oats box, that Ann had showed me... I figured that if she hadn't screwed it up, I was safe to try it too. I had to buy a lot things like flour, baking soda and sugars, and got some eggs from Krista's chickens. Ashley suggested pecans would be a nice compliment with the dates, so I added pecans to the recipe, along with the dates.

So, while watching the first NASCAR race of the season, I made Oatmeal Date Pecan Cookies... they were fantastic. They were so good, I had to pause the race to go to the market to buy some vanilla ice cream. The race was a good one, and one my favorite drivers won... while I was eating some fantastic cookies.

Tuesday February 14, 2012

2012-02-14T19:48:00.000-08:00

Valentine's Day. Watching Bill and Kaci, she resplendent in a red dress, on Q13 Morning News. The usual Roving Reporter reports at florists and candy shops... pretty interesting, seeing the staging for the deliveries of flowers. And then a Doctor of Periodontics warning about catching gum disease from kissing. That was romantic... great, another STD to worry about. Listening now, to some gal blather on about how to celebrate Valentine's Day. Apparently, she runs a Dating Company called threestepdating.com. In all fairness, she did have a few 'Fun Ideas For Valentine's Day'. A lot was just common sense and good manners, but then I guess there is a shortage of that these days. But she did get me reminiscing about some ways I celebrated Valentine's Day in the past, and the fun we had. I am a romantic when it comes to taking care of 'my woman' on Valentine's Day... just not always in life, hence my current single status... but, that's how I like it these days, so no Valentine for me this year. But at one time I did plan some pretty spectacular Valentine's Day Fun.

Maybe the luckiest one was my second wife. At that time, I was running the family jewelry store with my sister, Marja. Paula, a close friend, owned an upscale dress store. Another woman I went to high school with, had opened a lingerie store with her mother. This was before Victoria's Secret... and she had some sexy things. All three women liked jewelry and we had a nice arrangement worked out... my girlfriend and future wife being the beneficiary. When we were dating, I found her in tears one night. She was in despair... she had not been able to find jeans that fit. We were going to attend a 'fancy casual dress' affair at KVIE 6, and she wanted me to be proud to have her by my side. She was quite petite, but just not shopping in the right store... so I took her to see Paula, who was the same size and had plenty of size 0 jeans. I spent a bunch of money that night, and Paula and I dried those tears. Shortly after that I made my deal with Paula and later with Diane to do a little trading.

My Mom and I always exchanged Valentine cards, but those days are gone now. I still have some of those cards. Last year, I had a Valentine's Dinner at Paragary's Bar and Oven, where I used to work... that was great.

So, this year my Valentines are my daughters and their daughters. I won't be seeing them today though, the 10 year old is scuba diving in Thailand and the 16 year old is... well 16 years old, and very busy. So, no flowers, candy, and certainly no sexy lingerie... but Thursday I will be going to the Lynnwood Mall, on the mainland, with Ashley and Isabel... so I will be buying some Valentine Soccer Cleats. I don't know what Ashley will get, but I'm buying myself a Valentine's gift at the Apple store.

MY VALENTINES...

WEDDING DAY... 1914

2012-02-10T17:31:00.000-08:00

I got an e-mail from one of my cousin's daughters recently. She is researching her genealogy and going to make a family tree. The only problem... she knew nothing about her maternal grandmother's family… the Strutz side. It seems someone had filled her head with erroneous information and now it was my job to set her straight. She had had come to the right place.

I went to one of my filing systems, the attic, and found a box of old Strutz Family photos that my father got from his father when he died, and I got from my father when he died, and one my daughters will end up someday. My dad had big plans to go through those photos and put them in order when he retired… the only thing is: he never retired. When he got too old to go down to the jewelry store everyday, I think he was around 91, he was not up to the task of tackling the photos. I don't want to really give the wrong impression here, he didn't really work all that much, mostly just annoyed the hell out of my sister Marja, who dutifully ran the store… and he could have worked on the photos there… I don't think he really wanted to do it.

But now, this treasure chest of memories has been passed on to me, or I was the one who took the box. Unlike him, though, I do have plans to share the photos. When we would look at them, I would say "Why don't you give the photos to my cousins? The ones of their parents." He would say "some day." But that 'some day' only came when he died and I got my hands on the box. I've mailed some off, and have scanned and posted some to my cousins… I'm sure some they have never seen before. It's easier for me than my dad, because he was a little too late to the 'scanner/computer party'...and I maybe feel a little more responsibility to share.

I realize I have a ready source for future stories… and this is the first:

My father's parents Theodore Edward Strutz and Dessa Averill, left Watertown, South Dakota in 1914, and headed to Alberta, Canada. My grandfather had graduated from the Stone School of Watchmaking in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1912, and Canada was giving away free land to attract settlers to help expand their country. They settled in Hanna, about 130 miles east of Calgary. He would be an Inspector for the Canadian National Railway and open a jewelry store. On Christmas Eve of that year, they were married.

Today, I was processing new books at my library for circulation... I laminate the covers of the paperback books to protect them, plus, a lot of stamping, etc. The first book I picked up was... MASTERING ONLINE GENEALOGY by W. Daniel Quillen. I thought "Hey, that's a good blog topic!".

TWO WORLD WARS AND ONE WORLD CUP

2012-02-04T10:56:00.000-08:00

This edition of TedBook has a guest author.

Ashley Strutz is a member of the wait staff in McMillan’s Dinning Room, at Roche Harbor Resort on San Juan Island. This is a memoir she wrote last year to honor her friend Lori.

Restaurant people are a strange tribe, and the members of Roche Harbor are no different. The cooks are the hardened generals, and the waitstaff are the privates and sergeants, doing battle on the culinary front-lines. We are comrades, soldiers, grunts. Constantly under the enemy fire of complaints and ten percent tips, we grow close, even when we annoy each other.

Last summer we watched as the life bled out of Lori, our friend, comrade, and fellow soldier, from stage four pancreatic cancer. We would cry in the back, standing at the Micros computer screen. We would put in food orders, wipe tears on the sleeves of our white button downs, and go back on the floor with fake smiles plastered to our faces.

At the same time there was a feeling of excitement and expectancy at Roche Harbor last summer. This was due to World Cup soccer, and the summer staff that came from all over the globe to work our short, but insane season.

South America dominated the kitchen. We had Marci and Thiago from Brazil. Hector and Caesar from Chili. Andrea and Santi from Peru. And of course the crazy Argentinians, Carla, Walter, and Alejandra. For the waitstaff we had BooBoo representing England. She is a long time islander, and one of my closest friends. She hails from London, as I once overheard her say to a table she was waiting on. There were a few Aussie’s, some Eastern Blocker’s from downstairs, and the rest of us were rooting for the U.S. Despite cultural and language differences, we all bonded last year like never before.

The World Cup became a balm against all of the chaos, pain, grief, fatigue, and stress. It was something to talk about, other than the thing that was constantly preying on our minds. A distraction, with it’s own kaleidoscope of emotional triumph and adversity. My family and I would record games during the day, and watch them late at night after work.

We wanted the U.S., and England by default since Ireland didn’t make it, and that is where my husband is from. We cheered for every African country, because talk about overcoming adversity. We loved the young, earnest Japanese team with new-wave haircuts. We loved Argentina for Diego Maradona. We hated the arrogant French, and the German’s for being a well-oiled, efficient team with no personality. We hated Portugal for being prima donnas, and poor sports. It was the most time I had spent with my husband and two teenagers in a while. It became our summer nightly ritual to wait until we were all together, so we could eat popcorn and watch hours of World Cup soccer until two in the morning. I relied on those moments like a crutch, because for a brief period I would forget I was trying not to grieve for someone who was still alive.

For an insufferable week before the Germany vs. England game, BooBoo was running around work chanting, “Two World Wars and One World Cup, Doo Da, Doo Da.” It got to the point where it was constantly looping through my brain. It even floated into my sleep, a soundtrack to my restaurant anxiety dreams. I couldn’t wait for that goddamn match to be over with, so I wouldn’t have to hear that inane chant again. It was ironic that as much as BooBoo and I talked about the World Cup that summer, it was the only game we watched together.

We were all taking turns staying with Lori as she was progressively getting sicker. Losing her fight to a bastard of a disease. BooBoo and I stayed with her after her first round of chemo. Lori was pretty out of it, and watching her suffer from the chemo crapshoot was a horrible thing to witness.

I felt like a doctor dispensing all of her medications every couple of hours, while BooBoo entertained and distracted us with trashy magazines and funny stories. She was keyed up about the big match that was on at six thirty in the morning. I knew she wanted to watch it live, but staying with her sick friend was more important. We talked in hushed whispers while Lori dozed on and off in an oxycontin stupor. Somehow, as sick as she was, Lori still managed to insist we watch the match live in the morning. She was like that.

I woke up in the dawn light, gave Lori another round of meds, made strong black tea, and woke BooBoo up at six fifteen to watch the match. We were hopeful, and BooBoo cried as the English players were led onto the field holding the hands of children. It was surreal watching this intense, emotional game while our friend was dying in front of our eyes. In my slightly delusional state from two hours of sleep, I projected this hope that if England won, Lori would miraculously be okay. But England didn’t win. BooBoo cried again when they lost, and I cried with her, but it wasn’t really England we were crying for.

Lori passed away shortly afterwards. In the photo above she is surrounded by her friends… BooBoo must have been taking the photo, because she is absent. Here is a photo of BooBoo and Ashley in happier times.

Gandalf's Gallery: Alfred Sisley - Flood at Port-Marly [1872]

2012-02-01T09:37:00.000-08:00

Gandalf's Gallery: Alfred Sisley - Flood at Port-Marly [1872]: Alfred Sisley - Flood at Port-Marly [1872] , a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr. Flooding early in the spring of 1872 drew Sisley ...

An excellent blog for those who like art.

COMFORT FOOD... Gooey Buns from SacTown

2012-01-28T12:54:00.000-08:00

The other day, my friend Diane Norton was talking about comfort food. She was looking to make 'Veal Goulash with Sauerkraut'. The recipe was in an old book called 'Luchow's German Cookbook'. My friends in New York City might remember a restaurant near Union Square in Manhattan… It had been there for 102 years, and dished-up German-Austrian food. The elegant restaurant had served as a hangout for a lot of New York's finest, even naming rooms after their favorites like Diamond Jim Brady and the actress Lillian Russell. Finally closing the door in 1984, Luchow's left behind a rich history… and a cookbook.

I have fond memories of Knackwurst and Red Cabbage from Sam's Hof Brau... 17th & J in Sacramento. In the old days... when there was a crock of horseradish and three types of mustard on every table, oh, and the barrel of free pickles to die for. Your beer came in a frosted stein, and if you wanted a larger one, it came in a goblet shaped affair that was hard to lift, even when empty. I loved that old place, and I would have loved Luchow's too.

Diane's comfort food du jour is a veal stew served over sauerkraut. The modern recipe, taken from that old cookbook, recommended using Bubbie's Sauerkraut… Bubbie's is good, but I can go one better, as my sister Mariya makes delicious sauerkraut (organic, etc of course), and a new batch is fermenting as we speak. As soon as it's ready, I'm making 'Veal Goulash with Sauerkraut'. And, Toni Franklin gave me some wonderful Smoked Paprika that will go toward making an authentic goulash.

So, I got to thinking… what is my Numero Uno comfort food. Like everyone else, I have my favorites, and who hasn't written the menu of their last meal… Mine is Garlic Sausages with Ranch Beans and Asparagus. When I was around six, my parents forced my sister and me to take swimming lessons. I didn't want to do it… I don't remember her reaction, but she was a goody~two~shoes type so probably pretended to like them. So, for what seemed like endless Saturday mornings, at 10a.m. sharp... they would try to drown me. Afterwards my Mom would take us over to my Grandmother's house for lunch. In an effort to get back in my good graces, they would always serve my favorite… Tomato soup with cut up hot dogs. I still like that, but instead of Campbell's Tomato, it's Wolfgang Puck's Tomato Basil, with a Louisiana Hot Link… I've become such a gourmet. But still not my all time favorite. That one, I've not had in a long time. It's called a Gooey Bun. I don't know where they came from, or why they are called that. I wish now, I had thought to ask my Mother the provenance.

GOOEY BUNS!!! A morsel of heavenly delight. Again, from my Grandmother Gay. I never did see her eat one though. She was funny that way. Every Thanksgiving, Gay would cook the turkey for our dinner, but she always had a slice of ham for herself… she hated turkey. Her meals were always made with a lot of love. My sisters will remember Gooey Buns, and my daughters too. I loved them! I have made them twice in my life that I can remember. Once in Sacramento when Gay had retired from Gooey Bun making, and once in Chicago.

However, I did assist in the making of Gooey Buns many times, when I was little. Gay would let me turn the crank on the meat grinder, as she fed in the Bologna Sausage. I was not allowed to do both. After the Gooey was made, the mixture was stuffed into hot dog buns, they were wrapped in tinfoil and popped into the oven. It seemed to take forever for them to cook. With the advent of the Microwave, that angst was solved.

It was almost a holiday, at least for me, when Gooey Buns would arrive at our house. We always had them at the jewelry store during the Christmas season, we worked so hard and had to grab food on the run. She made them for many years, but only occasionally … that way they were always special when I got them.

So, that is my Comfort Food… Gooey Buns! I am going to make them again. I still have that old meat grinder, although the crank has gone missing over the years, so I may have to use a food processor... it has to be chopped up just right. I don't know if you can even buy bologna sausage any more, I have some investigating to do. I may have to use sliced balogny (as my grandmother would say)… perish the thought.

But I do have that recipe card… my Comfort Food Legacy. From Gay with Love!

THE THINGS YOU SEE ON ROCHE HARBOR ROAD…

2012-01-22T21:53:00.000-08:00

Doctor Seuss would have liked Roche Harbor Road.

Anyone living on San Juan Island knows what I mean. RHR is home to some strange sights. Probably the most famous, and the only one alive, is Mona the Camel… just past San Juan Vinyards on the way out of town. Or maybe ‘Mona the Mooch’… she does like a treat, but don’t tease her. I don’t know how long Mona has been standing sentry on RHR, looking for a handout or maybe just some company. If you pull off the road and go over to the fence, Mona will come over to say hello… if she’s feeling like it. She usually is. She has to be more photographed than the Lighthouse at Lime Kiln State Park. My friend Catherine of Sacramento visited, and of course I gave them the Grand Tour. Her husband Anthony is an artist and is photographing Mona… he has just given her some grass, and she is posing. We had just been to the Lighthouse… instead of taking a pic, he painted a watercolor.Mona and Anthony

Roche Harbor Road runs from Friday Harbor to Roche Harbor, after 10 miles it ends up at the Resort, once the home to Roche Harbor Lime and Cement Company… the largest lime works west of the Mississippi… a major force on the island, a century ago.

In Second Place, has to be The Cow & The Pig. The Cow & The Pig celebrate all major holidays and have been known to make political and social comments, as Laurie sees fit to let them. I have taken a lot of photos of The Cow & The Pig.

The Cow & Pig in Autumn… The Cow & Pig at Halloween… The Cow & Pig at Christmas

RHR starts at the High School, and barely 100 feet along RHR, a guy had parked his riding lawn mower collection on his lawn for awhile… alas, I missed that photo op, I think there were six of them. I wish he would do it again sometime… there’s only one there now.

A little past The Cow & The Pig is an interesting garden, and in good weather a mannequin stands watch. She would have her outfit changed every other day or so, but I don’t think they did that as much last year. Maybe this year. I’ve taken a few pics of her.

Gardens, waiting for Spring

At about the 9 mile mark, a local artist has started to mount his sculptures, a display of his talents… kind of a visual business card.

Nicholson Studio

Just before Roche Harbor Resort is the Sculpture park, but that’s a whole different story. It’s much more mainstream… and this isn’t about mainstream.

So, I guess what started this, was while driving back to town yesterday, I spotted a new display along the side of the road. As I zipped past (45mph of course), I was struck with how amazing the minds of our RHR islanders are. I had to wait a bit for a drive to turn around in to go back to see what kind of statement was being made there. Maybe none, at least I can’t think of one, but fun to see, and quite colorful to say the least. My friend Ken Serratt warned me to "beware a gang of three year olds”.

You might enjoy this... http://youtu.be/pje29kT8H0k

Saw this bumper sticker today... thought I'd add it to the story...

WRITING IN 2012...

2012-01-19T16:39:00.000-08:00

I have been writing a blog on WordPress called TedBook. I shamelessly ripped off Mark Z. and hope they don't find out, because they will probably sue my ass. Actually, he probably wouldn't care, but you know how those corporate things go... if it was Nike they sure would! There is a dive bar in my town called Herb's Tavern... they've been there for decades, and make t-shirts to sell to the tourists. One year they made a tee with the words "Just Drink It"... Nike sued them to 'cease & desist'... they had made the mistake of putting a kind of 'swoosh' under the words. They ceased & desisted. Really... a small tavern in a little town? But, that's the way it goes I guess... you can't make exceptions. I logged a lot of hours on Herb's stools back in the day. I never met Herb and don't know if there ever was one... there must have been, but that old bar's had a lot of owners over the years. I was told the name would change, but would always go back to Herb's Tavern.

But, that's not what I was going to write about... how did I get on Herb's? Oh yes, TedBook. Like everyone else, I have a list of things I would like to try. Who hasn't thought of writing a book or creating a great work of art? Or maybe climbing Everest or going deep sea fishing. Or maybe being a great cook or trying out in a play. Those are all things someone can do if they try... maybe not reach the top or be great, but at least have the experience of doing. That is so easy to say... says the master of procrastination. But, I have a little more time on my hands these days, and finally got tired of thinking about trying to write something. I started to check into people's blogs I would see. I was getting ready. Somewhere I saw a site called Plinky, they do an 'idea a day' to get bloggers motivated ... that got me going on my first piece... My Favorite Summer Memory. That was June 28, 2010... at 10:22a.m. I was a Published Author. I thought that was pretty cool.. my name in print... the name of my blog in print... my thoughts in print! Well, I don't want to get to full here, but I was pretty proud of myself. Especially when the 2 or 3 people who read it thought it was great. Okay, they were my daughters! But, I think I am getting better... at any rate, it is fun and very satisfying. A few days later, I went out to a farm and took photos of bales of hay and a guy on a tractor, and added graphics to my blog. Now I was Big Time.

I wrote 8 Blogs in 6 months in 2010... in 2011 I wrote 1 Blog. This is it...

2010 in review

I THOUGHT THIS WAS AN INTERESTING SUMMARY TO RECEIVE, AS I NEVER KNEW IF ANYONE EVER REALLY SAW MY EFFORTS… other than my family and friends I coerce into viewing. My New Years Resolution is to make the time to do this more often. For those of you who do read TedBook.. Thank You. Thanks to WordPress for a great blogging experience. ~ TedIn Uncategorized on January 2, 2011 at 7:54 am
WordPress had sent a review of my blogging experience, and that was my lead in at the top. I was full of hope for 2011. They didn't send me a review for 2011.

A number of factors contributed to my lack of writing. Some beyond my control, and some completely within my power... of those, two stand out; facebook satisfied a lot of my creative urge, posting photos and writing little things, and the other was some kind of writer's block... and it wasn't the kind where you can't think of anything to write about. I had been wanting to do it for so long, and not doing it. I had friends writing blogs... and the only writing I was doing, was on their blogs... in the comment box.

So, on New Year's Eve I got a prompt, not from Plinky, but from Amy Winehouse.

On January 2, 2012, one year to the day, I published my next blog. I've published 3, not counting this one, so far this year. I have now moved over all my old blogs from WordPress to Blogspot and will post on both. Here's the one that brought me back...

http://tedinfridayharbor.blogspot.com/2012/01/how-amy-winehouse-saved-tedbook.html?spref=bl

Check Plinky out... http://www.plinky.com/

My Favorite Summer Memory

2012-01-19T14:21:00.000-08:00

When I was 15 my father thought it would be a great idea if I worked on a cattle ranch hauling hay… to teach me the lesson of why I should go to college. Well, I did go to college but not because hauling hay was hard work. (which it was) So, in 1958 I spent 4 glorious weeks on a cattle ranch in Modoc County near the town of Adin. Our family spent a few weeks each summer at our friends ranch… and I got an extended stay. The rancher’s wife took me to town in Alturas, and I got fitted with boots, jeans and a cowboy hat! It was Farmer’s Boot Camp for sure… they treated me as an adult and expected me to work. I learned how to do, and did, everything re: haying. I straightened and raked furrows, repaired broken bales, moved bales into rows, rode on the baler and helped fix it (seemed to break down a lot to me), worked the loader, drove a tractor and ‘bucked bales’ to load the barn.

Well, the ‘city boy’ was pretty pathetic at ‘bucking bales’ because they are damn heavy! I was the source for much amusement for the crew that summer. But, they were good guys and helped me out. I could move 1 bale while they were moving 5. I also got to feed the chickens and the pigs. I thought it was great fun and they all loved getting out of the chores.

We started at 6 a.m. and had dinner (lunch to me) at noon for 1hour. What really cracked me up was that the rancher and all the farm hands watched soap operas while we ate lunch. All these big tough guys watching ‘All My Children’ was pretty funny. Back to work till about 7 when we had supper. Everything you ever heard about farm meals is true… lots of good home cooking.

In addition to work, of course there was play. And like most 15 year olds I was pretty much of a goof-off when I could get away with it. The rancher had a 16 year old son who was a pal and a wild one. We hunted rabbits at night sitting on the hood of a Mercury with shotguns going through the fields to catch them in the headlights. Chased girls with snakes… never could figure out how that would get you laid (as if I would have known what to do then anyway). Rode a horse driving cattle about 3 miles to a new field and got to help with branding calfs… then tried to ride them. Got to milk cows too.

My lasting remembrance of that summer came when I chipped my front tooth on a beer bottle. Of course I said it was a Coke bottle to my folks. I had a patch on my tooth for 25 years before getting a new tooth. I think the thing about that summer that really made it special was that for the first time in my life I was on my own and for 1 month I was kind of an adult.

I wrote this June 28, 2010... it was my first story. I had thought of writing for a long time. One day I saw a site called Plinky. They gave a new suggestion a day to help bloggers overcome writer's block... in my case... it was Writer's Start.

DESSERT DISASTER: The Dangers of the Internet!

2012-01-19T14:15:00.000-08:00

Having been been away from home for some time, I was looking forward to a trip to the grocery store, or market as some would say, to stock up on goodies. Of course DESSERT is a must, and I had to get my favorite… Marionberry Cobbler from the Willamette Valley. And, that leads to Hand Churned French Vanilla Ice Cream to top it off! After a trip to the Frozen Food Aisle I made my way through check out and headed for home.

Leaving my grocery bag (the reusable kind of course) on the backseat, I took some artwork I am preparing for the County Fair inside the house and decided to check my e-mail… two hours later I remembered the food.

Well, I took my time putting everything away ( being involved with facebook by now), having forgot there were frozen goodies involved. By the time I dug out the cobbler and ice cream they were thoroughly melted. And, to make matters worse, the cobbler was on end… meaning it had all slid together at one end of the container. Well, in the fridge the ice cream went and I mixed the cobbler together and put it in the oven, figuring I would not cook it as long since it was no longer frozen… Hey Great!… more time to check out something on the computer. Well, I cooked it about 1/2 hr. too long and it was an interesting brown colored crust. The good thing was that the ice cream solidified enough to spoon out somewhat whole.

Tasted semi-okay and better than nothing I guess… Another example of the Dangers of the Internet!

I wrote this June 30, 2010...

THE KINGDOME…What landmark did you find disappointing when you saw it in person?

2012-01-19T14:07:00.000-08:00

Born and raised in Sacramento, I guess the first Landmark I saw was The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. A trip to ‘The City’, which we rubes in Sacto. called SF way back when, was pretty exciting for a kid, and crossing the GGB today still produces a feeling of exhilaration! I guess my next Landmark would have been The Space Needle when I visited the Worlds Fair in Seattle in 1962. My friend Rick Winn and I hopped the fence and snuck in before the fair opened, so we would not have to wait in line to go to the top. Lady Liberty standing in the harbor did not disappoint when I visited NYC and I worked in the Shadow of the Sears Tower when I lived in Chicago. Leaving my beloved Windy City to return to the West Coast I stopped to see Mount Rushmore and left in awe.

In 1995 I was living in Portland with my daughter and her family. Ashley, Declan and kids went to Ireland for Christmas to visit family, leaving me to fend for myself. I decided to take Amtrak to Seattle to see my Oakland Raiders play the Seahawks in The Kingdome. I had seen many Raiders games at the Colosseum in Oakland and the 49′ers at Candlestick, so I was looking forward to seeing my first ‘indoor’ game. The train ride was scenic and The Kingdome impressive. Pretty cool… until the game… What’s going on here??? The players look like high school kids. The field’s too close and What’s with the Rug??? The game experience was a complete disappointment. Was not football for me! Of course it didn’t help that I was surrounded by a bunch of idiots rooting for The Seahawks! The beer didn’t even taste good! I could not imagine watching the Seattle Mariners play baseball in there! I left in the third quarter and went to a bar across the street and enjoyed the rest of the game on TV… boy, did it ever look a lot better and the beer was good!

So, it wasn’t so much the Landmark that was a disappointment, but the experience associated with it. Mercifully, that Landmark ended in 2006… Seattle is better off with The Space Needle!

I wrote this on June 29, 2010

“WHAT THE HELL…???”

2012-01-19T14:00:00.000-08:00

You know how sometimes you see something so unusual you just don’t know what to say?

Yesterday, I stopped by my granddaughter’s to meet her new puppy Yoshi. She had just arrived from Oregon, and is the cutest little white ball of wooly fur… she should be following Mary to school. I thought she might have some Panda in her too, but Isabel assured me she was a dog of the Akita/Huskie variety.

While I was getting to know Yoshi I noticed a bag of water hanging over the doorway into the house… “What the Hell is that!” Ashley was quick to explain that it was a Fly Chaser… the latest scientific innovation to a fly less house. (A side note here: Ashley hates flies more than most… especially the ones that keep circling around and are impossible to kill. I can remember replacing a few window panes due to over-zealous fly killing) It seems she had seen this technique employed with much success in a dive bar in Snohomish. You know, the kind that always has flies circling around inside, but had forgotten about it… until the trip to retrieve Isabel’s new BFF. Laurie, her best friend in Portland, had a Fly Chaser over her front door, with no flies inside.

Here’s how it works:

1 ~ Zip Loc Baggie

2 ~ Some Water

3 ~ One Penny

4 ~ Some Push Pins

Instructions: Partially fill baggie with water… insert penny… tack over outside doorway

So, I would say, a very successful road trip to The Beaver State for all… Isabel gets her puppy, and Ashley’s nemesis may have met it’s match. But sometimes you just have to shake your head and say, “What the Hell…???”

“WHAT THE HELL…???” CONT.

My sister Marja in Sacramento says "What The Hell... hope it works!"

My sister Mariya in Friday Harbor tried it and says "No flies in my house!".
Krista... "ta da..."

STIR-FRY and THE WOK…Chinese Cooking Revisited

2012-01-19T13:52:00.000-08:00

You know how one thing leads to another? Well, yesterday my sister Mariya gave me some snow peas from her garden. I thought ‘what in the hell am I going to do with these’, and then remembered that I liked snow peas in a stir-fry. So I went to the grocery store and picked up some veggies to go with them. I forgot to get some tofu, and that bummed me out when I started cooking, remembering I liked tofu in my stir-fry. I used to do a lot of stir-fry!

See, when I was in the middle of my mid-life crisis in the late ’70s I figured out that a great way to score with women, was to invite them to my house and cook them dinner. I wasn’t wrong. Unfortunately I only really knew Mexican and German cooking and they were not showy or sexy enough to impress. So, I took cooking classes. (also a great place to meet women) I signed up for classes at William Glen in Sacramento. A gourmet food and cookware/lifestyle store, they held classes in a kitchen/classroom at the back of the store. Those guys were no dummies, as after class you had to pass all the merchandise to get out of the store… no easy feat to escape the cash register. The instructors were first-rate… I took Italian from Biba Caggiano and Chinese from Martin Yan. I decided that Chinese would be showy and Italian sexy. My first class was Chinese taught by a young woman just arrived from Taiwan. She lived in Chinatown in S.F. and came to town to teach the class. She was very shy but a good teacher. The recipes she gave the class were hand written and I still have them.

I took two classes from her and became quite adept at The Art of the Stir-fry, or so I thought. But, it was a lot of fun and I did like to show off.

I always served warm Sake (I know, not culturally correct) with Chinese and red wine with Italian. And, always Ambrosia for dessert. (I didn’t dress as a chef for my dates… I know you are thinking ‘What a Dork’) A funny thing… years ago after I moved to Friday Harbor, a friend invited me to dinner at her house and did a stir-fry with tofu and stole my heart. I’m thinking the tables were turned… had she heard my secret?

So yesterday I dug out my wok (which I bought on the way out of William Glen after my first class). I don’t think I have used it for 10 years and was very unpleasantly surprised to find that it was all rusty. And I don’t mean a little rusty… I mean a lotrusty. I was ready for a little cleaning, but I ended up having to sand the rust out. An hour later I had a clean if unbroken-in wok. I paired some grilled chicken with a sesame orange glaze and the meal was a success. Next up… The Mongolian Fire Pot!

So, it guess woking is a little like riding a bicycle… although I don’t remember as much food on the floor.

I wrote this in July 2012...

WHICH CELEBRITY WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE FOR A DAY?

2012-01-19T13:48:00.000-08:00

Which celebrity would I like to be for a day? Well I would have to say Warren Beatty… back in the day!
Actually, I would not want to be a celebrity, even for a day, but if I could meet just one, it would be Jennifer Garner. My friends know that my infatuation with JG is almost as famous as my fixation on Madame X (who is one celebrity I will never get a chance to meet). It all started when I saw the above photo in USA Today promoting a new TV show called ‘Alias’. I immediately loved the show and watched every episode for five years. That was when I fell in love with JG. I embarked on a crusade to watch Everything Jennifer, which I think I succeeded in doing. I loved her in ‘Hey Dude Where’s My Car’, saw her potential in ‘Rose Hill’ (an early TV movie) and was moved by her portrayal of a young woman desperate to have a child in ‘Juno’. Of course, I cried tears of joy in 2002 when Jennifer won a Golden Globe for… Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Drama. In fact, I think I escorted Jennifer that night… isn’t her dress lovely…

Oh, I could go on and on and on… well, you get the idea… But the question of celebrity intrigued me, and I could only really think of one I would really like to meet (well, maybe Jack Nicholson… he’s pretty cool) and that’s Jennifer.

I actually had a chance a few years ago… Jennifer was appearing on Broadway in Cryano de Bergerac opposite Kevin Kline. On impulse, I bought a ticket to the November 9, 2007 performance at the Richard Rogers Theatre…

I knew this would force me to go to New York City, where I would get to see JG in person, and finally get to see my one true love… Madame X!

I had a wonderful time exploring the city! What I packed into 1 week was amazing. After all, I might never get back and so many things I wanted to see… The Met of course was my first priority… Two trips were needed to get my fill of Sargent’s Masterpiece. The Frick Museum, Statue of Liberty, Top of 30 Rock, MOMA, Guggenheim, NYC Public Library, Corned Beef at Katz Deli, Central Park, GreyLine Tour, Three Broadway Shows, Riding the Subway (brought back such happy memories of my days in Chicago) and just walking the famous streets of The Big Apple.

I was never exhausted… because I was on a mission. I was lucky enough to be able to stay with a friend of Krista’s… Noted Filmmaker Greg IvanSmith and his dog Olive.

Their generous hospitality, well his anyway… Olive didn’t like me… was the Cherry on top of a wonderful week. I do hope to get back to see Madame Pierre Gautreau once again some day, but if I don’t, I have some wonderful memories of spending time with her and my trip to New York.

Cyrano was Great!!! Kevin Kline was amazing and Jennifer was wonderful… when she entered the stage my breath was taken away and I was absolutely enthralled for 2 hours.

After the show, I was too afraid to go backstage and maybe get a chance meet my idol. I felt that I didn’t want to intrude, and that she wouldn’t want to be bothered by me. I knew in my heart that would not be the case, because that’s not the kind of person she is… but that’s how I rationalized it…

I was just chicken. I did wait outside, hoping to catch a glimpse of her as she dashed to the limo that Ben would bring to take her home.But it was pouring rain and no doorways to stand in, so I went back to Greg and Olive. So, even though I didn’t get to meet My Celebrity, I did get to see her in person.

On a side note: The day after I saw the play, the Stagehands Union went out on strike closing all shows on Broadway. Someone upstairs must have been smiling on me… I got to see my two loves in NYC!

I wrote this 1 1/2 years ago... it was a question from a site called Plinkey, which helps bloggers think of subjects to write about. I't kind of fun to look at, as sometimes a story pops right into your mind. I have written 3 stories prompted by plinky...

TedBook: HOW AMY WINEHOUSE SAVED TedBook!

2012-01-18T23:32:00.000-08:00

TedBook: HOW AMY WINEHOUSE SAVED TedBook!: I never make New Years Resolutions. 1 ~ Because if you want to do something… do it. I think resolutions are a crutch to procrastinate and m...

TedBook: NIGHTMARE…

2012-01-18T23:30:00.000-08:00

TedBook: NIGHTMARE…: I just started reading ‘The Victorian Chaise-Longue’ by Marghanita Laski… it has been a long time coming. I first encountered this little b...

TINY

2012-01-18T18:46:00.000-08:00

I think this was right before we got married in 1965… I was taking a drawing class from Robert Else at Sacramento State College. We were living at 23rd and J sts. Ann was wearing a green shift and sitting in a high back chair in the kitchen while I sketched her. I painted it the following week. She never liked it. In fact, my second wife, Annie, didn’t like it either, but that was because I insisted on having it on the wall… I figured it was on the wall when she met me, etc. I always liked it and thought it was a great work of art. My first and last painting.

Ann did not know I still had it. Ann did not know I was entering it in the San Juan County Fair Art Show. I was not expecting it to win a prize, much less First Place! My daughters Krista and Ashley knew I still had the painting and was planning to put it in the fair… they thought that was pretty funny.

I just happened, by chance, to run into them as they arrived at the exhibit hall… to view the photo and art shows. I realized they both came with her to see her reaction to the painting, so I tagged along with my camera… Surprise!!!

'TINY'

I'm not sure my granddaughter shares my enthusiasm for fine art...

That Time I Lied About My Age

2012-01-18T18:44:00.000-08:00

LIE ABOUT MY AGE? Oh Hell Yes… haven't you? I think I was 16 the first time. Of course we wanted to buy beer… being in High School and all. There was a little market called Jimmy's on Fifth & Broadway… No Questions Asked, as long as you had anything resembling a fake ID. My dad had just renewed his driver's license, and threw away his temporary one. It was just a typewritten form (this was 1959) and easy to erase and retype. We got the beer!!! It also worked at The Alameda Theater, which was the burlesque house in skid row. Very grown up we had become. We decided to score some of the hard stuff, and feeling very brave with my new identity, I tried a liquor store. The clerk looked me up and down and started to laugh… "nice job on the ID, but got the date wrong". Well I couldn't get out of there fast enough. At least he gave it back to me and didn't tell my dad. We stuck to the beer after that.

I wrote this in Nov 2010...

HOW AMY WINEHOUSE SAVED TedBook!

2012-01-18T18:42:00.000-08:00

I never make New Years Resolutions. 1 ~ Because if you want to do something… do it. I think resolutions are a crutch to procrastinate and make yourself feel better… and you will never keep them. 2 ~ Because I never kept them. So this year, my New Year’s Resolution is to reopen TedBook and write something in it. I feel better already.

My friend Margie told me, “only 8% were ever kept”. I read that if you put it in writing, it may actually have a chance of happening. Okay, it’s in writing now… it’s all up to me… I want to be in that 8%! Yesterday I looked to see when the last entry in TedBook occured… yikes! January 2, 2011… one whole year of silence! Another friend, Keri, reminded me of that this morning, after I mentioned I might start blogging again.

Why the silence? No one particular reason really… I think mostly procrastination. It’s not like I didn’t have any ideas… I had many, and wrote a lot of blogs in my mind, complete with photos. But, I never got to the point of transferring them into my computer. A lot of my friends asked me where TedBook was, and why they were not seeing new blogs. I would hear… “where’s your blog”, “what happened to TedBook”, “weren’t you writing a blog”… after a while it was down to two. O’B would bug me about it when we saw each other. Louisa would mention it… in November, I got a note from her… “Why aren’t you writing?” I could tell she was disappointed in me. I thought… “I’m disappointed in me too”. I have friends with blogs… Jane in L.A., a champion fighting Autism … Aggie in Chicago who posts a quiz everyday, except Saturday when she’s shacked up with her boyfriend.

The straw that broke the camel’s back, so to speak, was when O’B started a blog! She had moved back to Sacramento, after an absence of some 30 years, and she and Anthony had bought a house in Southside Park. Southside is a downtrodden mostly Latino neighborhood, that I have a feeling is becoming Yuppified (not naming any names here). Catherine is a curious and outgoing woman, who has undertaken the chronicling of Southside. Hence her blog

Southside Park: Forty-Six City Blocks of Surprise

Join me as I explore urban living in Sacramento’s Smallest Neighborhood.

Lord knows I waste enough time on facebook and playing Words with Friends (Alec Baldwin has yet to challenge me), so I really have the time… I just have to do it. I was jealous with every new post O’B made… and she is prolific. So, that’s what had been in the back of my mind, and I don’t mind admitting I was feeling guilty. My own daughter, Ashley, was now more of a writer than me. She had taken a creative writing class, and had written some impressive pieces. I had encouraged her to start a blog… and I can’t even do my own… at least she has two teenagers to blame, or maybe just the college classes she is doing. Sure better reasons than my slacking. So, this was where I was at on New Year’s Eve.

I don’t drink Champagne or go to New Year’s Eve parties anymore. The last one I went to, about 10 years ago, my date and I snuck out early and welcomed in the New Year in private… my best New Years Party ever. This year I watched a movie, and was saying Happy New Year to my facebook friends when I saw this post.

I had been meaning to check out Amy’s latest album, ‘Lioness: Hidden Treasures’, and was glad for the reminder. I’ve always liked Amy and was saddened by her death and the loss of such a talent. After listening to “Our Day Will Come” and “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow”, I was near tears. Her day will never come, and there is no Tomorrow for Amy Winehouse. It gave me pause to think… I was lucky, I had survived my drug of choice, which like her’s, was alcohol. It’s destructive force had ruined relationships and created havoc in my life, but my biggest regret, is that I could have been and should have been a better father. Unlike Amy, I was able to change my life for the better. But, Amy made me face myself and make some choices that night. One of those is to resume my blog.

Of course I bought the album and I reopened TedBook.

NIGHTMARE…

2012-01-18T18:39:00.000-08:00

I just started reading ‘The Victorian Chaise-Longue’ by Marghanita Laski… it has been a long time coming.

I first encountered this little book, when the title caught my eye, while looking through a Persephone Books catalog about three years ago. I had seen ‘Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day’ at the Palace Theater, which I absolutely loved… such a delightful story and with Frances McDormand and Amy Adams, what’s not to love. I liked it so much, I went back the next night, and while walking to my car, I saw the book in the window of Griffin Bay Books. When I went back to buy the next day, it had been sold… apparently someone else liked the movie as much as I. GBB ordered the book and I was soon enjoying Winifred Watson’s delightful story.

Persephone Books of London, reprints neglected classics by 20th century (mostly women) writers, like Watson’s 1930 story. I ordered their catalog and that’s where I saw ‘The Victorian Chaise-Longue’. They currently have 95 books listed, and they are beautifully made. The endpapers feature a fabric print from the period the story takes place (‘the shiny cream curtains printed with huge pink roses’ p. 3). And a bookmark germane to the story (‘berlin-wool cross-stitch embroidery that sprawled in bright gigantic roses over the shabby felt’ p.13). Book #6 is described as a very scary story. It looked interesting. I tried the library… I tried the Inter-Library-Loan… I tried Amazon.com. Nowhere could I obtain the book. It was not available. So, over the last few years, when I would go to Amazon it would pop up sometimes (but never in stock… oh, there were some used copies somewhere for 35 or 40 bucks), as something I was interested in, you know, those helpful reminders. I get a new Persephone catalog twice a year, and this time I couldn’t take it any more and ordered it… it was only ₤12 plus 6 shipping, for a total of ₤18... I had no clue what that would be in $, but didn’t care and hit PayPal… it was $27.00.

‘The Victorian Chaise-Longue’, starts in 1953, and is the story of a young woman of means, who is suffering from tuberculosis and confined to bed. She is finally well enough to be allowed to move into the parlor and lay upon a chaise-longue she had purchased in an antique store right before she became stricken. She falls asleep, and when she awakes, she finds herself in a dingy gas-lit room in 1864, on the same chaise-longue… although newer looking… being cared for by a brusque sister she does not know. She thinks herself in a dream and keeps trying to wake up. When she finally realizes she is awake, the terror sets in. I’m now on page 50 of 99… my head is drooping, I’m tired, time for bed.

Now, I’m in a dream. I have never had one like this… not my usual ‘Waiter’s Dream’ where I keep forgetting to wait on my tables, and then can’t find them… or the ‘Actor’s Dream’ where I forget to go onstage. No, this one is too real. It is hard to keep going and I force myself to wake up. I realized, that near the end of the dream I had started to analyze it as if writing a blog. Great, now I’m writing in my sleep… even organizing photos.

This dream starts out as a secret report on an Eastern European war torn country, there is a triangular flag on the cover, I think red, green and yellow. Soon it shifts to Africa… the unnamed country ends in ‘ia’… and I am thinking Ethiopia. There is a rebel encampment, and in this dream a group of aid workers are lined up before the leaders. I am not there, but looking at this through newspaper or magazine photos. One photo shows them sitting in a row and the next is the same photo, but now they have a dot on their foreheads. They have been shot, and I am wondering if they will fall backward or forwards. What will the next photo be. It was terrifying. I wake up. It was 2:30 a.m., and it took a long time to go back to sleep. As I lay there thinking about this strange dream, I realized it had happened to my family. My daughter’s husband’s sister was killed in Somalia, when a bullet struck her as she was riding in a convoy to deliver aid to a remote village. Valerie was a 23 year old nurse, from Dublin, working for an Irish aid agency called Concern. A photo of her laughing, surrounded by Somali kids hangs in Ashley and Declan’s front room. Her senseless death in 1993 was of major importance to Ireland, with the President attending her funeral. It had put a face to the tragedy of what was occurring in Somalia.

I always wonder what influences dreams. Sometimes it is obvious. I don’t really have nightmares… more annoyances really, like the waiter’s dream, although those can be a bitch. Did the story taking place on the chaise-longue start this terrifying dream? I don’t know. I had not thought of Valerie in a long time, although I know Declan does. And I’m sure she was terribly missed at the Christmas Table when they were in Dublin this year.

So, I’ll finish the story of the young woman on the Chaise-Longue today, only 49 pages to go and hope I am dream free tonight.

Here is where you can find a wonderful catalog… PERSEPHONE BOOKS

SOMETIMES IT’S THE LITTLE THINGS…

2012-01-18T18:36:00.000-08:00

I made some toast today, and immediately thought of my mother, Edna. I love Orange Marmalade. I put it in a lot of things, and when I put it on my toast, I use a spreader I got from my mother. It was a spreader I grew up with. In fact it is older than I, as my mom got it from her mother. When I say I got it from my mother, that’s not exactly true. My mom died almost two years ago, and anyone that knew her knows she was very well organized. (In fact, she would put J. Edgar to shame… there were files on everyone… from me all the way down to Ula) She had made arrangements to have everything of any value, monetarily or sentimentally parceled out to her family. My sister Marja helped her organize at the end and I know my mom was very grateful for the help and maybe more importantly the company, as my Father had monopolized everyone’s time and energy, and my Mother got the short end of the stick so to speak. I will be forever grateful to Marja for that.

So, everything was pretty much decided about ‘what went where’.

As I was helping my sister’s dispose of things… giving things to our Mom’s helpers and friends and us taking some things… “Hey, I need a storage container that size!” (anyone knowing our Mom knows about storage containers!)… I came across this spreader in a drawer with about 5 other spreaders… God forbid we would run out of spreaders. My Mom had a lot of duplicates… I guess that’s what happens in 90 years of life. The cabinets were almost sagging off the walls with the weight of all the dish sets.

But, back to the Spreader… This one spreader, was one I used when I was a child and had advanced to making my own toast and sandwiches. I used it every time I went to Sacramento to visit. So, I pocketed it that day. Every time I make toast or a sandwich I think of my Mom.

Tonight, I’m going to The Palace Theater to see The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo… I will think of my Mom, as she loved to go to the movies more than anything else. I saw more movies with my mother than anyone else in my life. She would go to see anything with me. She said she wanted to see ‘Sin City’ (my daughters were aghast when they found out I had taken her to see ‘Sin City’, I said “Hey she really wanted to see it!”) so we went. But, I was the one who really wanted to see it, found out later she really didn’t like it and was just looking out for her son (I know that feeling myself), and I loved her for that… she was my Champion in life.

The perfect day for my Mom, was to go to Arden Fair Mall. Have lunch at the California Pizza Kitchen or the Cheesecake Factory… actually her favorite was to get a Polish Dog in the Food Court… then we would browse Barnes and Nobel looking at books, maybe buying a few… well always buying a few… then on to the show in the Mall or nearby Century 21. That was our day… and in the old days when she was in good health we would sometimes go to 2 shows. So I saw a lot of movies with my Mom.

Of the all things of value she wanted me to have, it is the little things that spark memories… those are the most important. Because it’s the memories that are most valuable in our lives.

I used to hear people say “I miss and think of my mother every day”… I now know what they mean. Although I may not think of her every day, there are so many little reminders, it’s hard not to.

Photos are great reminders… I have a lot of my Mom… here’s one of my favorites.

Washington, DC ~ 1942