My wife and I leave today for a week in Mexico. Ajijic, to be specific. We'll stay with my brother and his wife, who moved there over a year ago...into what appears to be, from all the photos, a beautiful home. Another brother and a sister are already there, so this will be a miniature version of a family reunion. Another brother and another sister won't be there, but maybe we can try again next year.
This week between Christmas and New Year's Day is the only time of year that I can close my office and get away. I relish it.
We're busy packing and making sure we don't leave anything we need behind...but if this trip is like most, we'll leave something behind, though it's likely to be minor. I may or may not blog while I'm away on holiday respite. I'll blog about my trip when I return, though, that's a sure thing.
Monday, December 26, 2005
Sunday, December 25, 2005
Tradition
When I was much younger, in my high-school and college years, I felt disdain for tradition. The concept of tradition seemed to me to embody an unwillingness to recognize and acknowledge changes in the world around us. I did not understand then that we do not necessarily demonstrate a fear of change when we accept tradition but, rather, that in embracing tradition we honor those who have had an impact on our lives. In some respects, we honor those people by adopting their traditions.
In my family, we had a tradition of having tamales and chile con queso on Christmas eve. I'm pretty confident that our tradition was adopted from the Mexican culture around us, though not necessarily as a means of honoring that culture. Whatever the origins of that family tradition, I have continued it in my adult life. My wife and I enjoyed that tradition last night. But traditions change, too. When I was a child and a teenager and a young adult, we always found a Mexican lady who made homemade tamales as our source of pork & jalapeño tamales. When making the chile con queso, my mother used bacon fat as the oil in which onions and bell pepper were cooked until they were translucent. Today, I use corn oil instead of bacon fat to make the chile con queso. I try to find pork & jalapeño tamales, but rarely buy them from a Mexican lady who makes them at home. Instead, I usually buy them from a Mexican tortilla and tamale outlet. This year, though, I ran out of time trying to find a source of tamales...I waited until it was too late to order my tamales. So, I found another source, but had to settle for chicken & tomatillo & jalapeño tamales from a large grocery store. Fortunately, they were excellent! Traditions change, but their essence seems to stay the same.
My wife and I started a tradition several years ago on New Year's day...though it's not really an embedded tradition yet...it doesn't necessarily happen every year. Our tradition is to have an unusual ethnic luncheon or dinner...or to snack on the various canned foodstuffs we exchange as "stocking stuffers" at Christmas. That's another tradition we've developed over the years; I buy for her little delights like smoked oysters, liver paté, kipper snacks, herring, pickled herring, deviled meats, tiny pearl onions, bags of specialty potato chips, and other such snacks and then, on New Year's day, we munch on them all day long. It's an off & on tradition, but it's ours. If we don't do the "stocking stuffer" munching, we try to have what once was considered an unusual meal...but today is not unusual at all. In years past, we've had Chinese dim sum, Thai food, Indian food, and other dishes that were once exotic...the only requisite for me was that some part of the meal had to be very spicy...I had to start the year with fire in my belly!
Today is Christmas day, so when my wife wakes up, we will engage in another tradition. We will exchange our stocking stuffer gifts and we will make breakfast. We usually don't exchange major 'secret' gifts but, instead, we'll jointly decide to splurge on something. Last year, it was a double oven. This year, it's badly-needed repair work on the house. But we do exchange stocking stuffers. And this morning we'll have a breakfast of chorizo con juevos, with lots of cilantro and slices of tomatoes. My wife wants me to wake her up by 9:30...she wanted to sleep in today because we stayed up late watching a movie, Mr. & Mrs. Smith. And then, the tradition will continue!
In my family, we had a tradition of having tamales and chile con queso on Christmas eve. I'm pretty confident that our tradition was adopted from the Mexican culture around us, though not necessarily as a means of honoring that culture. Whatever the origins of that family tradition, I have continued it in my adult life. My wife and I enjoyed that tradition last night. But traditions change, too. When I was a child and a teenager and a young adult, we always found a Mexican lady who made homemade tamales as our source of pork & jalapeño tamales. When making the chile con queso, my mother used bacon fat as the oil in which onions and bell pepper were cooked until they were translucent. Today, I use corn oil instead of bacon fat to make the chile con queso. I try to find pork & jalapeño tamales, but rarely buy them from a Mexican lady who makes them at home. Instead, I usually buy them from a Mexican tortilla and tamale outlet. This year, though, I ran out of time trying to find a source of tamales...I waited until it was too late to order my tamales. So, I found another source, but had to settle for chicken & tomatillo & jalapeño tamales from a large grocery store. Fortunately, they were excellent! Traditions change, but their essence seems to stay the same.
My wife and I started a tradition several years ago on New Year's day...though it's not really an embedded tradition yet...it doesn't necessarily happen every year. Our tradition is to have an unusual ethnic luncheon or dinner...or to snack on the various canned foodstuffs we exchange as "stocking stuffers" at Christmas. That's another tradition we've developed over the years; I buy for her little delights like smoked oysters, liver paté, kipper snacks, herring, pickled herring, deviled meats, tiny pearl onions, bags of specialty potato chips, and other such snacks and then, on New Year's day, we munch on them all day long. It's an off & on tradition, but it's ours. If we don't do the "stocking stuffer" munching, we try to have what once was considered an unusual meal...but today is not unusual at all. In years past, we've had Chinese dim sum, Thai food, Indian food, and other dishes that were once exotic...the only requisite for me was that some part of the meal had to be very spicy...I had to start the year with fire in my belly!
Today is Christmas day, so when my wife wakes up, we will engage in another tradition. We will exchange our stocking stuffer gifts and we will make breakfast. We usually don't exchange major 'secret' gifts but, instead, we'll jointly decide to splurge on something. Last year, it was a double oven. This year, it's badly-needed repair work on the house. But we do exchange stocking stuffers. And this morning we'll have a breakfast of chorizo con juevos, with lots of cilantro and slices of tomatoes. My wife wants me to wake her up by 9:30...she wanted to sleep in today because we stayed up late watching a movie, Mr. & Mrs. Smith. And then, the tradition will continue!
Saturday, December 24, 2005
Late on Christmas Eve
It's just after 10:30 pm on Christmas eve. I don't feel that tonight, nor tomorrow, is a religious day, at least not for me. I know that for many people, though, this time of year is profoundly important. It's profoundly important for me in some ways, too, but not for the same reasons as my believer brethren. I think, though, that the roots of the import of this time of year for me and for others are found in the same glimmer of hope.
Some people turn to the supernatural for solice; they believe, or create, stories about people or beings that convey important concepts that should guide the way we live our lives. Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist...they all have specific ideas about the genesis of our planet and our lives and they all offer their interpretations of what those ideas mean. Ultimately, I think most religions have, at their core, a desire for mankind to treat other men with dignity and respect and to respect this planet and the universe surrounding us. The way they try to imbed that message in their followers varies dramatically. Some religions have, over time, become dangerous, instead of protective and comforting. Let me revise that; it's not some religions, it's most, if not all.
I know virtually nothing of Islam, but what I have read recently makes me believe it is dangerous. I believe Judaism is dangerous. I believe Christianity is dangerous. Buddhism, from what little I know, is mostly positive, if deluded. I haven't paid much attention to others. Lately, though, I hear from religious leaders the sort of vitriol and hatred that I thought was reserved for the insane. The concepts of tolerance and embrace seem to be disappearing.
I struggle with religion. I have no use for it, but then I wonder whether my own beliefs...we're born, we live, we die, and we should be good to people in the process...are religious. Mind you, I fail in my execution of my beliefs, or my wishes. But isn't religion a means for us to codify our moral codes? How do we give rationale to our moral codes without religion? I think I do, I just don't know how.
At this time of year, I hear Christmas carols and hymns and wishes for world peace and I am touched by them. It's hard to describe, though. I'm not touched out of my religious beliefs, but out of my desire, my wish, that the world were indeed modeled after what is considered by at least some religions as compassion. Part of my rejection of religions (aside from the primary, fundamental problem...belief in a superior being) is the fact that they preach tolerance and goodness, and then turn around and condone and promote hatred and prejudice and intolerance.
Happy holidays...Merry Christmas...however you see this world we live in, I wish for you and yours safety, happiness, closeness with those you love, and a better and more tolerant world in the days and years ahead.
Some people turn to the supernatural for solice; they believe, or create, stories about people or beings that convey important concepts that should guide the way we live our lives. Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist...they all have specific ideas about the genesis of our planet and our lives and they all offer their interpretations of what those ideas mean. Ultimately, I think most religions have, at their core, a desire for mankind to treat other men with dignity and respect and to respect this planet and the universe surrounding us. The way they try to imbed that message in their followers varies dramatically. Some religions have, over time, become dangerous, instead of protective and comforting. Let me revise that; it's not some religions, it's most, if not all.
I know virtually nothing of Islam, but what I have read recently makes me believe it is dangerous. I believe Judaism is dangerous. I believe Christianity is dangerous. Buddhism, from what little I know, is mostly positive, if deluded. I haven't paid much attention to others. Lately, though, I hear from religious leaders the sort of vitriol and hatred that I thought was reserved for the insane. The concepts of tolerance and embrace seem to be disappearing.
I struggle with religion. I have no use for it, but then I wonder whether my own beliefs...we're born, we live, we die, and we should be good to people in the process...are religious. Mind you, I fail in my execution of my beliefs, or my wishes. But isn't religion a means for us to codify our moral codes? How do we give rationale to our moral codes without religion? I think I do, I just don't know how.
At this time of year, I hear Christmas carols and hymns and wishes for world peace and I am touched by them. It's hard to describe, though. I'm not touched out of my religious beliefs, but out of my desire, my wish, that the world were indeed modeled after what is considered by at least some religions as compassion. Part of my rejection of religions (aside from the primary, fundamental problem...belief in a superior being) is the fact that they preach tolerance and goodness, and then turn around and condone and promote hatred and prejudice and intolerance.
Happy holidays...Merry Christmas...however you see this world we live in, I wish for you and yours safety, happiness, closeness with those you love, and a better and more tolerant world in the days and years ahead.
The Day Before Christmas
'Tis the Day before Christmas and the air smells of wassail and honey.
Most wallets are empty, but Bush keeps stealing our money.
Most credit cards are maxxed out, with creditors waiting,
To be paid for our gluttony and our bad credit rating.
The fascists are smiling, the self-assured scum,
They'd lied to the public, with more lies to come.
Bush in his stetson, and Cheney in his smirk,
Were settling down for a hard day of WORK,
When out in the country came a collective loud scream,
The people were rising up, or was this just a dream?
I turned on the TV to hear from Fox News,
Oh no, it was nothing, just Bush airing his views.
But I heard something different from CNN and NPR
They said people were tired and were opposing the war.
Words now were spoken against Bush and his tribes,
Those bastards who stole and who took all those bribes.
That set Bush to plotting a way to recover his crown
He'd hold his critics under water, hoping they'd drown.
He said it was legal, and that he had every right.
He'd checked in at Justice, they'd locked it up tight.
But the Senate had questions and the House wasn't sure
Whether Bush had good motives, and whether his motives were pure.
They acted right quickly, with applomb and good speed
To impeach and indict him and cause the bastard to bleed.
It was too bad and a shame it had taken so long
For the House and the Senate to see he was wrong.
But it finally happened, thank goodness I was still alive
To see the removal of George Bush in 2025.
Most wallets are empty, but Bush keeps stealing our money.
Most credit cards are maxxed out, with creditors waiting,
To be paid for our gluttony and our bad credit rating.
The fascists are smiling, the self-assured scum,
They'd lied to the public, with more lies to come.
Bush in his stetson, and Cheney in his smirk,
Were settling down for a hard day of WORK,
When out in the country came a collective loud scream,
The people were rising up, or was this just a dream?
I turned on the TV to hear from Fox News,
Oh no, it was nothing, just Bush airing his views.
But I heard something different from CNN and NPR
They said people were tired and were opposing the war.
Words now were spoken against Bush and his tribes,
Those bastards who stole and who took all those bribes.
That set Bush to plotting a way to recover his crown
He'd hold his critics under water, hoping they'd drown.
He said it was legal, and that he had every right.
He'd checked in at Justice, they'd locked it up tight.
But the Senate had questions and the House wasn't sure
Whether Bush had good motives, and whether his motives were pure.
They acted right quickly, with applomb and good speed
To impeach and indict him and cause the bastard to bleed.
It was too bad and a shame it had taken so long
For the House and the Senate to see he was wrong.
But it finally happened, thank goodness I was still alive
To see the removal of George Bush in 2025.
Friday, December 23, 2005
Sushi...Again
On December 10 (I think), my favorite wife and I went to a David Sedaris play. Afterward, we had sushi at a great little sushi place in Addison. Tonight, we went to the same place. But tonight, we pulled out all the stops. Tonight, we paid for the dinner on our corporate AMEX, knowing full well that we'll end the year with a huge deficit. Life's too short to worry about the little things!
Anyway, we had talked about going to a Greek restaurant, but tonight's sky looked more like sushi. So, we decided to revisit our sushi spot of recent adoration and this time we wanted to make it a corporate event, complete with board meeting, so we can write it off. And that we did.
We had two small bottles of sake, one made in the U.S. and the other in Japan. Both were good, but I much preferred the Japanes sake. Naturally, I have no idea what brands we were drinking.
But the food! We had a volcano roll, with a combination of scallops and crawfish in a very spicy sauce topping several nice crawfish rolls. Wonderful! And we had spicy salmon and spicy tuna rolls. And we had slices of raw salmon that was beyong belief! And an assortment of other wonderful stuff. Heaven! I do love sushi and sashimi. Fresh raw tuna is a gift from whoever is the latest god in control of the universe. This place has spectacular wasabi, too...it will clear your sinuses and cause your brain to bleed if you're not careful. Even the soy sauce is special. I guess you would be right if you guessed I like this place. I'd love to make it a regular stop on Friday evenings. My entire wife pointed out to me that most people tonight dropped in for one or two items, then left...unlike the two of us, who pretended we needed to eat enough to last us until December 2013. I think her point was that we can afford to do this more frequently...but only in moderation.
It's interesting that, just this afternoon, I was listening to an NPR program that suggested our diets and tastes in food have changed dramatically over the last 40 years because of the repeal of some law, which I didn't catch, that allowed a massive influx of migrants to the U.S. If that's the case, then I applaud the law. I probably won't applaud it forever, but in the spirit of welcoming the world and all the world can offer to lift us up and out of the darkness of Bushiness, I'll all for it.
Damn, every time I think of the fascist I get depressed...I need a quart of sake...
Anyway, we had talked about going to a Greek restaurant, but tonight's sky looked more like sushi. So, we decided to revisit our sushi spot of recent adoration and this time we wanted to make it a corporate event, complete with board meeting, so we can write it off. And that we did.
We had two small bottles of sake, one made in the U.S. and the other in Japan. Both were good, but I much preferred the Japanes sake. Naturally, I have no idea what brands we were drinking.
But the food! We had a volcano roll, with a combination of scallops and crawfish in a very spicy sauce topping several nice crawfish rolls. Wonderful! And we had spicy salmon and spicy tuna rolls. And we had slices of raw salmon that was beyong belief! And an assortment of other wonderful stuff. Heaven! I do love sushi and sashimi. Fresh raw tuna is a gift from whoever is the latest god in control of the universe. This place has spectacular wasabi, too...it will clear your sinuses and cause your brain to bleed if you're not careful. Even the soy sauce is special. I guess you would be right if you guessed I like this place. I'd love to make it a regular stop on Friday evenings. My entire wife pointed out to me that most people tonight dropped in for one or two items, then left...unlike the two of us, who pretended we needed to eat enough to last us until December 2013. I think her point was that we can afford to do this more frequently...but only in moderation.
It's interesting that, just this afternoon, I was listening to an NPR program that suggested our diets and tastes in food have changed dramatically over the last 40 years because of the repeal of some law, which I didn't catch, that allowed a massive influx of migrants to the U.S. If that's the case, then I applaud the law. I probably won't applaud it forever, but in the spirit of welcoming the world and all the world can offer to lift us up and out of the darkness of Bushiness, I'll all for it.
Damn, every time I think of the fascist I get depressed...I need a quart of sake...
New Business Possibility
I received a large envelope yesterday, full of brochures, newsletters, and other such materials from an association. Along with the literature was a request for proposal for association management. The letter noted that proposals must be received by January 3 to be considered. So, I've gotta stop blogging and work on getting, or trying to get, a new piece of business!
Thursday, December 22, 2005
Improve Texas
My niece send me a bumper sticker with the words, "IMPROVE TEXAS--WITHOUT DELAY!" printed on it. She's got the right idea!
I'm getting busy trying to decide what information I need to take with me on my trip to Mexico, so very little time to write...more later tonight if I can.
I'm getting busy trying to decide what information I need to take with me on my trip to Mexico, so very little time to write...more later tonight if I can.