Check It Out

All. Social Functions. All

I checked the catalog at both libraries and the book is available to be checked out. 

WARNING! I'm in a Bad Mood.

I'm sort of sad about the Courthouse vote. 

I tried to occupy myself today as I thought through the implications. Traffic is going to be a nightmare as they build a new courthouse.

Mr. Big Food's Dad sent me a few little ditties that cheered me up.

Missy had a Big Day! So did Rocky!!

"Ruff."

And Speaking of Political Correctness...

Lots of grumbling out there this morning about Firefox. I like Firefox. But I like the First Amendment more.

Anywhooo...

A modern classic, wouldn't you say?

(James Finn Garner. Macmillan Publishing Company,  New York. 1994.)

When they were first written, the stories on which the following tales are based certainly served their purpose-- to entrench the patriarchy, to estrange people from their own natural impulses, to demonize "evil" and "reward" and "objective" "good." However much we might like to, we cannot blame the Brothers Grimm for their insensitivity to womyn's issues, minority cultures, and the environment. Likewise, in the self-righteous Copenhagen of Hans Christian Andersen, the inalienable rights of mermaid were hardly given a second thought.

Today, we have the opportunity-- and the obligation-- to rethink these "classic" stories so they reflect more enlightened times. To that effort I submit this humble book. 

We've taken to reading a story after supper just before we all go our separate ways for the evening.  

Portugese Chicken in a Clay Pot: A Photo

This was very good. There's a previous post about Portuguese Chicken in a Clay Pot.  We've had a lot of good food lately and I am behind on posting recipes. Expect a barrage come Monday. I've already started my list of "RECIPES NEEDED" (I tend to write in all caps) based on photographs of food for which I have not posted a recipe. I will add to it and leave it on Mr. Big Food's desk. He will look at it and keep it in mind.

Like magic (!) on Monday morning there will be an email to me from Mr. Big Food in my in box. Its subject line will be "Recipes." I have over 50 some such emails in my in box. I will open this email and open all of the attached Word docx's. I will then go find the associated photos. And I will begin to post recipes.

Please note that Monday's posting of recipes will be concurrent with Monday's replacing of belt that spins the dryer drum. Miss M had to hang her clothes on the line today. And over the picnic table. And on a little 2'x2' sweater drying contraption atop the "mint garden." Wash Day can be complicated.

I spent the day reading a crappy old book.

Civility, con't

Isn't this silly?

I mean really-- look at all of those dishes I'm going to have to do by hand tomorrow morning. And whose bright idea was it to think that when folks arrive home from school & work they'd want to just hang around a table and nibble and chat before they dress for dinner? What a crappy old idea.

But go figure! They seemed to enjoy it. (And I won't really mind doing those few dishes.)

Civilized Human Beings

You may recall that Mr. Big Food proposed we dine like civilized critters.

Yes. Those are saucers, not bread & butter plates. You make due with what you have.

Such fun! I've moved the little CD player into the dining room. Who knew Daughter C had such a stack of classical music?

We supped on potato soup and talked.

My Opinion of You, Sir, Has Changed

Last January a fellow named Jonathan Jarvis gave a public address at State. We went. Here's what I had to say about the talk and Jarvis.

"National Parks and American Values: A Field Guide"

The National Park Service is nearing its centennial! Look forward between now and 2016 to a massive advertising campaign targeting young Americans-- seems the kids from the cities just aren't going to our National Parks in droves as they once did. If that trend continues, it would spell disaster for Retailers of Gear. Remember the ads with the talking baby giving investment advise? That's from the same Madison Avenue Advertising Firm that the National Parks Service contracted to get those kids to our parks and learn a little American History and perk up sales at R.E.I.* 

~~

I don't think that was supposed to be the take-away message from Director Jonathan Jarvis' public talk at State this evening, but that's some of what I heard.  

It was a well-attended presentation. And in all seriousness, it did focus on American Values. One small quibble-- I don't think the sense of "happiness" in the good Ol' Declaration had as much to do with "fun" as Jarvis does. But he got Freedom & Liberty right! And he loves him some history! 

The discussion was good. He struck me as extremely knowledgeable about all aspects of his agency, which is, you know, something a good executive officer should be. I suspect he comes by it naturally, having climbed the Ranger ladder.  And he with only a lowly Bachelors Degree. (To be fair, he has an "honorary" Ph.D. from his alma mater.) 

My Libertarian Brain is still thinking about what I think about a National Parks Service.

More here.

How could I have been so gullible as to have assumed the Director of the National Parks Service was a director rather than just another political hack sheeple doing as he's commanded? Shame on me.

This spectacle has turned from disgraceful to frightening.  

And now... off to the book sale!

Charming

Beautiful clothes!

Girlhood's fresh beauty knows no glory like a a dashing dress that heightens the bloom on glowing cheeks and sets new stars in sparkling eyes. Nothing stirs a lover's heart like the one woman gowned with that artistry wherein every line and every tone bespeaks her own intimate and individual charm. And wise wives and mothers know the happy secret that fresh and pretty clothes hold back the years and inspire anew admiring, warm affections.

See? This is how a young woman should dress.

That is all I have to say about the vulgar young woman whose picture has been splashed all over the World Wide Web this week.

From Woman's Institute Library of Dressmaking: Harmony in Dress, Mary Brooks Picken, The Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences, Scranton, Pa., 1928.

There's Not Much to Say Except, "Rubber Chicken."

Mr. Big Food asked if I'd be blogging about the so-called "banquet" we attended this evening. That was more than an hour ago. 

Tick toc. 

Here's what I came up with in no particular order except chronological except until I loose track of the order of geniuses talking.

1. The floral center pieces were inspired and quite lovely.

2. Rubber chicken. Mr. Big Food and I had kidded about this earlier in the day while we were working around the garden. As the big event neared, I was hopeful, because I was hungry. I do like appetizers! But when we saw the big van from XYZ Caterers-- specializing in weddings, funerals, and elegant parties-- parked at the front door, my hope blew away. There were no appetizers. As I was examining the buffet table from my place in line, and saw that there were no choices other than between white or yellow salad dressing, I decided I'd better load up on roasted potatoes. And hey. You can sprinkle as much dried colorful stuff on rubber chicken as you want. It's still rubber chicken.

3. I liked the simple glass plates, and presentation is important. But the vegetable medley of broccoli, zucchini, yellow squash, and mushrooms was thoroughly overcooked and over heated and over heated again and again. Putting it on a glass plate just highlighted how much of the good stuff had been heated away.

4. We were seated at the hoo-ha table at the front of the room with very bad acoustics. (I choose to not wear my name tag, by the way.) Cool. Except that three of the eight hoo-has were absent. No doubt they were enjoying a home grilled Saturday supper on this glorious evening. The woman seated in the seat next to the vacant seat next to me told me she liked my rings. She loves rings. Thank you. That killed 10 seconds. 

5. [Aside] In fact, I can tell a funny story of history of my rings. Mr. Big Food entered into an arrangement with a former student whereby she got his microwave oven and I got her grandmother's diamond and wedding band. The big giant pink heart-shaped ring on my left middle finger? There's a story there, too. But as I said, the acoustics were bad and there was initially a marked but unclaimed seat between us. Didn't seem worth the effort.

5. Ah! In an attempt to start conversation, the guys seated next to the woman (above) began discussing Daughter C! That's killed a few minutes. For Daughter C, I can overcome bad acoustics. I love to talk about Daughter C!

6. I chose the keylime pie for dessert. 

7. The catering staff needs to learn how to produce fake smiles.

And now-- at 30 minutes into the "banquet"-- they are ready to begin talking.

And talk they did.

Do you really want me to go on? Because I can. 

But I'll cut to the chase, instead. 

Trust

Daughter C and Mr. Bow Tie went to the store this morning. (Yes. The cigarette store was open on Easter.) When they returned, Miss M said to Daughter C, "Where's my dollar?" And Daughter C handed Miss M one United States dollar.

Daughter C asked, "How did you know I had your dollar?"

"Because I knew the girl at the store would give you my dollar."

To which Daughter C replied, "That's why I love this county."

As it turns out, a couple of days ago the lady ahead of Miss M was short $1, so Miss M gave her $1 and the girl at the store told Miss M the lady was good for it and to just collect it next time she-- Miss M-- was in the store. And because Miss M and Daughter C are sisters, the girl at the store gave Miss M's $1 to Daughter C. 

They don't do this sort of thing in Starkvegas. And that's why we love our little county.

Flashlight By My Side

Here's Table One. See this post to understand seating arrangement designations.

⊢
Harper Lee
Jack Kerouac
⊣
⊤
George Carlin
Henry David Thoreau
Robert Johnson
Patrick Stewart
Quinton Terantino
Benjamin Franklin
Richard Feinman
Jesse James (bandit; A. Leland)
Lauren Becall (age 19)
Samuel Colt
John Ford
⊥
⊣
Robert E. Lee
Martin Luther King, Jr.
⊢
⊥
T. Jefferson
C.S. Lewis
Ayn Rand
Teddy Roosevelt
Neal Stephenson (Sci-fi/Spec-fi author; Kat)
John von Neumann
Lewis Carroll
Christopher Wallas
Julia Child
Gordon Ramsey
Mark Twain
⊤

Surprisingly, I did not see this commercial last night.

Tip of the Cowboy Hat to Mr. Big Food's Dad for passing this along.

Our Voting Experience in a Word

Civil.

There are three doors into our Courthouse-- and thus three parking areas. All were full so we parked across the street. 

There must have been almost two dozen cars at about 10:30!

A well dressed older black gentleman greeted us as we walked up the steps. He asked if we were there to vote and we answered, "Yes," and we exchanged, "Have a nice day."

Given the number of cars, we expected a line inside but there was none. There were also no UN monitors or Black Panthers. Our neighbor-- who finds names on the voter registration list-- welcomed us by saying, "There are my neighbors!" A old man asked me to wait for my neighbor to find my name before I signed in so that I'd sign in exactly as I was registered. And then the other lady gave me my little computer access card.

I was voter #109, Mr. Big Food, 110. There are three machines at our polling place. One was occupied by voter #108. As we voted-- and checked our votes for accuracy-- our neighbor and Mr. Big Food continued to chat. She told him business had been steady. There are just over 400 citizens registered to vote in our precinct, so one-quarter of them had voted in the first three and one-half hours. 

We hung around for a minute or two and chatted with our neighbor about our gardens as voter #111 signed in.

And then we went home.

For your afternoon coffee break

I'll be spending a large portion of my afternoon sitting at the kitchen table, watching reruns of The Waltons, and shelling blackeyed peas. What follows has nothing to do with food or the garden-- or the dogs-- but since "Big Life" is in the blog title, I have some latitude with respect to subject matter. 

From Paco Enterprises comes a story written in a style I enjoy reading. I hope you will, too. Here are a few choice bits that don't give away the ending:

Although the city sweltered under unusually high temperatures, exacerbated by power outages caused by a series of severe thunderstorms, the Titan of Industry sat in the library of his penthouse high atop Paco Tower, sipping occasionally from a glass of ice-cold lemonade in the cool air of a building having its own electrical system, the nature of which was something of a popular mystery in the neighborhood. 


[snip]


A cautious man - who, though he sometimes came very near to what one might call the “frontier” of the letter of the law, never quite seemed to find himself indisputably south of the border (so to speak) – J.P. [the Titan of Industry] was going through the document with a fine-toothed comb.


[snip]


J.P.’s happy dabbling in the many and varied uses of conditional verbs – which, as he was always quick to point out to budding financiers, makes all the difference between coining money and stamping license plates – was interrupted by three quick raps on the library door, followed by a pause and a knock, then two more quick raps, ending with a final pause and knock (a signal which experts in international Morse code will recognize as the dollar sign).

“Enter, Spurgeon.”

The pocket doors opened to reveal J.P.’s gentleman’s personal gentleman. With his unique bearing of what can best be described as magisterial deference, Spurgeon approached his employer.

“Begging your pardon, sir, but the itinerant painter you hired, Mr. Smith, has indicated that he will need another twenty gallons of paint for the living room.”


[snip]


“He has only half finished a single room, sir, and, to be brutally frank, I find his brushwork to be decidedly amateurish. On top of that, the larder seems to have been afflicted with what I believe retail executives refer to as ‘shrinkage’”. 

[snip]

Spurgeon turned to J.P. and said, “Forgive the liberty, sir,” then turned to face [Smith], drawing himself up to his full, and very intimidating, height, before uttering the following broadside.

“Hierarchy and subordination, [Mr. Smith], are the natural elements of any society. In the one in which I am privileged to live, these relationships take shape through the actions of free men acting in accordance with their own interest. ...

It gets better and better. And there's a gun involved!!  Enjoy!

FIRE! (Updated with minor edits)

The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education has awarded Mississippi State University the 'Green Light' rating for MSU's free speech policies. I'm pleased to report that That School Up North also has a FIRE green light. So here in Mississippi we have two, of only 15 colleges and universities in the United States of America, which protect-- and dare I say? promote-- free speech. 

Keep reading to see the full list. Most surprising-- to me... .* 

You can say that again.

"There is nothing more unprofessional than bending over and having your lipstick and your gun fall out of your purse," says Kate Woolstenhulme, "who launched a couture handbag line, Concealed Carry by Woolstenhulme Designer Bags."

And she's not the only one designing purses for stylish gun tottin' women. Read more at the Austin Statesman.

Tip of the hat to Mr. Big Food's Dad who also sent this photo in an email a few days ago.

Subject line: Finally! A well-dressed Wal-Mart shopper

Pot Luck Charity

If you tried to hold a series of potluck dinners where a majority brought nothing to the table, but felt entitled to eat their fill, it would probably work out badly.

So says Glenn Reynolds (a.k.a., Instapundit) in today's Washington Examine. In his article, Reynolds is commenting on  Charles Sykes new book, A Nation Of Moochers: America’s Addiction To Getting Something For Nothing.

~~

This past Friday evening our local Baptist Church held its annual "chicken, deer, quail supper." It's a pot luck thing. A handful of men coordinate the chicken, deer, and quail. Everyone else brings something or otherwise participates. (As a strategy, it works.) I knew about the Supper before I saw it in the newspaper because Nancy at the United States Post Office told me. She invited us to come. [We don't go to Church as often as we should.] She also told me that this year, the proceeds would go to benefit a late middle-aged man at the Church who has just been diagnoses with pancreatic cancer. His wife works with Nancy at the Post Office.

We've been to the chicken, deer, quail supper and we brought a dish-- broccoli corn bread if I am not mistaken. Talk about delicious (both the supper and the cornbread). The Supper is the Big Food Manual writ large! You can get carry out plates. :-)

But what with feeling badly about not having gone to Church in a while, and with Remy coming and not knowing Remy well enough then-- before Friday-- to know if  he would enjoy a chicken, deer, quail pot luck supper at the Local Baptist Church, we opted not to go.

The next time I was in the United States Post Office, I wrote out a check and gave it to Nancy. She called the Church to make sure I should make the check out to the Church, with the man's name on the notation line.

The paper came Thursday. (I know it's Sunday evening, but I'm a little behind.) Turns out, he has a lot of friends.

NCAA B'ball Blogging

Just a little something different on this Sunday morning.

Apparently, the Cross-Town Shoot Out did not end well. 

Five thoughts from No. 8 Xavier's 76-53 win over crosstown rival Cincinnati:

1. The game didn't end, literally. Nor have the repercussions.

An ugly brawl erupted with 9.4 seconds left in the game. Benches cleared, fists flew. Xavier's senior All-America guard Tu Holloway readily admitted afterward that he was taunting Cincinnati players and coaches in front of Cincinnati's bench, as the clock wound down. What ensued was a basketball brawl as ugly as any in memory. At one point, Xavier center Kenny Frease emerged from the pile on all fours, blood dripping from a gash below his left cheek, courtesy of a punch thrown by Cincinnati forward Yancy Gates.

The referees stopped the game at that point. There will be suspensions, though nothing had been announced as of 6 p.m. Saturday. Expect Holloway, Gates, Cincinnati center Cheikh Mbodj and possibly Xavier freshman forward Dez Wells to be suspended, possibly for multiple games.

Mbodj is seen in video stepping on Frease after he was down; Wells shoved a UC player early in the fight.

2. Holloway defended his actions, and those of his teammates, for their parts in the fight.

[snip]

"This is my city,'' Holloway explained. "I'm cut from a different cloth. None of them guys on their team is like me. We got disrespected. Maybe it looked bad to you (media), but this is what I'm used to. This is where I'm from. This wasn't bad.''

More Paul Daugherty here. [Miss M. took a class from Doc once.]

To repeat: 

"None of them guys on their team is like me. We got disrespected."

That was painful to type.

According to that infallible source, Wikipedia, Xavier University was ranked #42 of 100 "Best Values in Private Colleges" by Kiplinger's Personal Finance. You'd think Mr. Holloway, a student at Xavier, ... . What the hell? Who am I kidding?

Perhaps the worst food photo ever of the best steak supper ever

"Fixing" it didn't help.

Fortunately, the quality of the photograph was inversely related to the quality of the meal: Perhaps the best Friday evening steak supper ever.

Mr. Big Food whipped up Potato Casserole II while I started a fire. (Casserole recipe to follow.) I poured us a Gentleman Jack and he read aloud from The Creative Cooking Course (links after the fold). We learned that brandy is the most noble spirit of them all. And...

To speak of brandy, we have to speak of the most exquisite example of spirits of this type... Cognac. Cognac is unequivocally and universally accepted as the greatest of brandies!

Mr. Big Food grilled the steak to perfection and paired it with a very nice BV Cabernet Savignone. In due time, we enjoyed a V.S.O.P. cognac.

There is no doubt that the drinking of a fine old brandy is one of the most pleasurable ways to climax a meal. 

Indeed.

You should serve your brandy in medium-sized, narrow necked glasses called balloons or tulips. Both (especially the balloon) are shaped to deliberately "show off" the fragrance of the brandy.

Warming the brandy before drinking releases the bouquet, but the manner of warming is important to attain full pleasure. Although you may see it done in some restaurants, it is an injustice to warm your brandy over a flame. This will shock the bouquet into rapid dispersal, shortening your enjoyment. Instead, cradle the glass in both hands, "nursing" it and warming it with the warmth of your hands. Within a few minutes, you will no longer feel the glass because it and the brandy will have reached the temperature of your hands. Now you are ready to bury your nose in the matchless aroma, savor the fragrance and then sip.

[V.S.O.P. is Very Special Old Pale, aged for 18-25 years.] 

~~

It was a very luxurious grown-up supper which we were able to enjoy in no small part because we try to mind our pennies.

Keep reading for a bit more about the old cookbook, The Creative Cooking Course.

Disobedience and Misbehavior

I am working on a post titled, "The Lesson of Obedience." The main inspiration comes from Book of Good Manners by Frederick H. Martens (1923). This will be another in a "series" of posts on manners and civility. Here are the previous posts:

The Lesson of Consideration

Mind your Manners

4-Way Civility vs. Roundabout Impoliteness

Meanwhile, I ran across two examples of human misbehavior in my morning travels around the world wide web. 

Tip of the hat to Kris at Shout First, Ask Questions Later-- whose subtitle is "Politics and one mother with a keyboard. Because in front of every informed voter is a frightened politician"-- for the first example. It is a video shot by the mother of two young boys who have thrown/are throwing a five pound bag of flour all around the living room. 

Some questions come to mind. Why is she video taping this instead of disciplining them? Did she already have the camera or did she allow them to continue while she went to fetch it? When is she going to start stopping them? And why-- why??-- would she put this video on-line? This is the equivalent of me catching Rocky doing something unacceptable in the living room, taping him, and then uploading it. "Look! I can't teach Rocky not to poop inside! Aren't I cute? Oh no! Poop. What am I going to do?"

The second story takes us into a future where the two boys, above, have grown up* to become staffers for Mississippi Congressman Steve Palazzo. (H/t Majority in Mississippi) The boys and their fellows throw

a two-night party in Annapolis and tried to impersonate the Congressman after getting a call from local police.

Occupy the Condominium. From the Roll Call (at The Hill) account: