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Good morning!
Today’s movie quote: “Our first bachelorette is a mentally abused shut-in from a kingdom far, far away. She likes sushi and hot-tubbing any time. Her hobbies include cooking and cleaning for her two evil sisters.”
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back to top99 Comments to “Whirled Views New Year’s Eve edition”
Shreak?
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Shrek? sorry no “a”.
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Do you usually shriek in the morning? How interesting for your family, I’m sure.
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#3. Am I suppose to let them lay around all day?
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Bravo to KBells for riposte #4!
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Today is the final day for voting on the nominees for the Golden Wabbys!
Best Christian:
Chas
Pauline
TJ
Best Non-Christian:
CoyoteBlue
Hamachitwo
Random Name
These people are the one’s that y’all sent the most nominations in on. There were votes for many others, but these are the six individuals who received the most nominations.
Y’all have until midnight today (Dec. 31st) to send your vote in for the winner in each category.
Send your votes to me at BugsBunny8124@yahoo.com
The winner in each category will receive a Golden Wabby on the “First Annual Wabby Awards” broadcast live on CBS.
Seriously, the awards will be handed out on “Whirled Views” on New Year’s Day.
There will also be 6 other “Golden Wabbys” (in various categories) handed out for positive contributions to the WorldMag blog in 2007. They were chosen in secret ballot by the “Society of Wascally Wabbits”.
Stay tuned – you could be a winner!
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Ugh. Those Shrek movies have aged worse than month-old milk.
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Robhays:
Right. I watched part of one last night and couldn’t stick it out.
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#4
Anlir — Are you going to tell us how many people voted? Not the tallies (that would be tacky), but the total number? I’m idly curious.
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Just a silly question, but kinda important for a personal reason.
Karen, and others from above the Mason-Dixon Line (southern border of Penn., in case you don’t know).
Do northerners eat cornbread?
I’ve heard they don’t, but I can’t imagine. We’re having it with our ham, collards, and blackeyed peas tomorrow.
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Chas, I’m a Northerner (from Maine) and I eat cornbread, though I usually have it with chili or lentil stew or something like that rather than with blackeyed peas and collard greens. My favorite recipe comes from another Mainer.
One of my least favorite cornbread experiences was at a camp in upstate New York – waaay too much baking powder!
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Chas,
I also cannot imagine not eating cornbread.
I can, however, easily imagine going an entire lifetime without eating collards or black-eyed peas. That’s one nice thing about being an adult, that one usually doesn’t have to eat such things.
Re the northern/southern distinction, I was born in Phoenix to a mom who had been born in Connecticutt…but her roots were Southern. So I spent my childhood frequently needing to explain to other children what “grits” were. Now, our family cannot have been the only one eating them, since they were sold in the grocery store, but I’m not sure I ever met anyone else who ate them! (Although my sister discovered with horror that most of her Southern-born friends make instant grits, which aren’t the same thing at all!! The non-instant only take five minutes to cook, taste much better, and cost a bit over a buck for something like 40 servings.)
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Chas — I’ve lived on both sides of the Line, and have seen no real difference in the likelihood of cornbread consumption. I’ve never seen jalapeno corn bread in the North, however. Also, I’ve never seen a Yankee crumble his cornbread into his milk and fish it out with a spoon.
Grits and cheese grits (yum) both sides, garlic cheese grits (double yum) only in the North and never for breakfast.
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My family loves cornbread. Here in Baltimore, regarding the north/south distinction, we’re considered ‘tweeners, based on our historical division during the Civil War.
Here’s a quick and easy way to make a really good corn bread – 2 packages of Jiffy mix, made according to directions, but add a small (don’t know the oz., but the tiny size) can of creamed corn and two packages of Equal. It’s probably not as good as what Chas will have tomorrow, but it’s really good.
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This northerner eats cornbread, but more like MMacmurray does. I like it with a cup of tea in the morning for breakfast as well. Sometimes I
spread a very thin coating of butter over the top and sprinkle a bit of sugar on that. Hmmmm.
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So we’re digging out this morning from another 9 inches of snow, one of the joys of living in the north.
I like these very snowy days better when I don’t have to go anywhere, and I can just admire the snow-covered roads and trees from inside my cozy house. Today, sadly, is not one of those days. 
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My favorite breakfast: Ham, eggs over medium, and a healthy serving of properly made grits. My Alabama grandma made the best grits on earth. Never instant!
On Chas’s cornbread question: I’ve seen cornbread in the north and west, but it is usually that disgusting cakey, sweet kind from a box.
StuBob! I can’t believe you would soil your grits with cheese!
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StudBob,
So far 22 people have voted. Not a lot, but given the holidays and people being gone, it’s respectable. Everyone who has voted is a WorldMag regular by the way.
Everyone who has voted should receive a confirmation e-mail from me.
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I love cornbread. We eat it with chili around here. Mrs L makes it from scratch, and it is much better than the boxed mix.
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I have lived most of my life in the South, but I still don’t care much for cornbread, and I intensely dislike grits.
I believe it’s an old tradition in the South to eat black-eyed peas on New Years Day.
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Thanks concerning the cornbread. I suspected as much. StuBob reminded me that as a kid (I grew up poor.), we often had cornbread and buttermilk for supper. You crumble cornbread in the buttermilk. Grandpa Jones wrote a song about that. When we first moved to Northern Virginia, we couldn’t buy grits in the store. My wife would stock up on them when we visited SC. Later, of course you could buy grits,and even collard greens almost anywhere.
An interesting vignette: Once, on a visit to Williamsburg, we were at a colonial garden. I overheard a visitor ask,”What are these?” I intruded into their conversation and said, “Those are collards.” I don’t know where they were from.
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No sign of a Mason/Dixon line around here but we eat cornbread. It generally goes with chili or lentil stew as Maine said. We just make it here and since I don’t recall ever eating it out of a box, I don’t know whether it is better or not.
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Sawgunner #5. I had to look up “riposte“. And I own a fencing foil.
Don’t all Northerners put sugar in the cornbread? Yuck!! The sugar goes in the iced tea.
Anlir, I voted but got an error message. I don’t know if it got through.
As for the Shrek movies. Cute kitty.
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kBells wins! Shrek is correct. Please enjoy your hot Belgian chocolate with whipped cream and a real cinnamon stick…
~~ -@0)
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Just wanted to wish Random Name a Happy Sabbatical and everyone else a Happy New Year!
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My sister (who is a very good cook, and has won second place in a Taste of Home recipe contest) has made homemade cornbread, and says Jiffy is just as good, which is good enough for me. I’m not inclined to do anything “from scratch” unless it’s really and truly better. (I personally still think boxed brownies are better than homemade–but then, I add one or two of the following ingredients anytime I make brownines: chocolate chips, walnuts, maraschino cherries, coconut, raspberry jam.)
I think cheese absolutely ruins grits. All they need is butter. I don’t even add salt, but then, I don’t add salt to anything unless I have company.
Reminds me of a story: When my sister got married, she’d only been in the South a few years and wasn’t yet fully accepted as a Southerner. (We didn’t yet know the story of our great-grandfather being a spy for the Confederacy, which generally gets us accepted as real Southerners now.) Anyway, her co-workers teased her that they would only come to her wedding if they could throw grits instead of rice. She had the last laugh. On her wedding day, she had bags of rice for most of her guests to throw, and packages of instant grits for her co-workers. (Bad news was it was sprinkling lightly as the new bride and groom left and the grits stuck to her dress.)
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#18: StudBob,. . .
I know it’s a typo, but I like it!
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Depends on what the purpose of the grits is (are?). If we’re talking breakfast, keep it simple: butter and salt. But as a side at dinner, gimme that cheese. The best grits I’ve ever made had gruyere cheese and teensy bit of white truffle oil.
I may have to make some grits this week just to remind myself how good they are.
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I’ve lived in SoCal for more than 40 years, and enjoy corn bread,usually with chili. I don’t remember having it while growing up on Long Island, but we did enjoy corn muffins, which I can’t find here. I’m not sure if there’s any real difference, though corn bread seems to disintegrate more easily than I remember corn muffins doing.
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The best cornbread: 3 cups yellow cornmeal, 1 cup flour, 4 eggs, 1 stick butter melted in cormeal mix, one stick melted in pan. Enough BUTTERMILK to mix it all together. Bake 425 for 45 minutes to an hour. (self rising cornmeal and flour–I hate baking powder)
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Grits only need cheese when you have them with shrimp.
Another vignette: Once at a nice restaurant, I was having Shrimp and Grits. During dinner, I remembered, this what the poor people in the lowcountry ate because it was all they could afford. (I think I told that before.)
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Here is some good Christian rock, one of the few times you’ll hear Ronnie James Dio — one of the best hard rock vocalists — sing about Jesus, for Kerry Livgren of Kansas fame.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pK1nky3yBHw&eurl=http://jonrowe.blogspot.com/
Livgren also had Dio sing about “who Satan really is” for the tune “Mask of the Great Deceiver,” but I don’t think that’s on YouTube.
Livgren’s lyrics and music in Kansas were often about his “spiritual” journey. He was searching for something (see “The Wall”) and — surprise surprise — eventually found something.
Though, I think his work in Kansas before he was a Christian when he was “searching” on his journey was better than what he produced after he became a born-again Christian.
But anyway this type of stuff is REAL music not the pop cr@p on American Idol or what you hear coming out of the Dance Clubs.
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I’m right there with you on the black-eyed peas, the cornbread (yum!) and maybe even the greens (if ya got enough vinegar). But grits? Uh uh….[backing away]. Not even cheese will make it better.
They remind me too much of the Hawaiian dish called “Poi”. Tasteless mush if you ask me…
Hominy grits… now that’s another story. I can make myself sick on that stuff. And have, upon occasion.
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I don’t eat grits anymore, but when the kids were young, we ate them for breakfast sometimes. We do eat cornbread (no sugar), collards, and black-eyed peas sometimes. The closest I’ve ever been to the South is Maryland.
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Chas, I was just about to mention the shrimp and grits. Good stuff!!!
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We eat cornbread in NJ. My supermarket’s bakery makes it fresh each day. Great with butter.
I have only had grits one time in my life, down south in Virginia, but occasionally my parents made collard greens. The only people I know who eat collard greens are of African-American descent, as is the case with chitlins.
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I’m a Northerner. I used to make cornbread after I was given some cornmeal. My youngest liked it the most. I liked it too, but not so my husband. I believe it did have some sugar in it, but it was not real sweet. No real corn in it, though. We used to bring my daughter, Malt-to-Meal when she first moved down south and couldn’t find it in the grocery stores. One of the wonderful things about all the new technology and travel options is the increased opportunities to try new foods. Now we can enjoy a lot of different things no matter what our backgrounds and location. When I was young, meat and potatoes was about it. We did have Spanish Rice and spaghetti. Pizza not until I was 12 or so. Kids today have much more variety.
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I was recently at an Anniversary celebration for a Northern run company in the South. They served Shrimp and grits. It was the southerners who had to be persuaded to try it. The northerners probably thought it was a typical southern dish.
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KBells,
I didn’t get your e-mail. Would you re-send it? Be sure it’s going to: BugsBunny8124@yahoo.com
Thanks!
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Make it Man,
I’m fairly sure there’s no such thing as grits that isn’t hominy grits, so now I’m confused!
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I have no idea when I first had cornbread, since I’ve moved around quite a bit, but I’ve liked it as long as I can remember. I generally make corn muffins rather than cornbread because (s Kayvee pointed out) cornbread falls apart too much. I’ve made them from scratch and from Jiffy box and decided Jiffy box was just as good and a lot easier. I often add cheddar cheese and sometimes chopped jalapenos.
I never had grits – don’t think I had even heard of them – until I got married. My first time trying them was when we went down to SC for his sister’s wedding, and they were in a buffet at the hotel. I thought they were pretty tasteless, and Jon said that was the point – they would taste like whatever you add to them. His favorite – probably only – way to eat them is with cheese and maybe a little garlic. (Of course, he thinks just about everything tastes better with cheese.)
Now that I’m thinking about it, I think I should go make a big batch of garlic cheese grits.
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Cornbread.. mmmmmm. Up here in NY, we usually make cornbread when we’re having chili. Some of us make it with jalapenos as well, and cheese… MMMMMM
I like making more from scratch, but grew up with my mom making corn-meal muffins, usually from the Jiffy mix. She also loved “corn-meal mush”, and something she calls “Phildelphia scrapple” and that never sounded very good to me.
Oh, and collard greens – I always get these when we get barbecue, and love it on days when they serve them in the cafeteria at work. Nice and tangy, with just the right amount of heat.
And I am not a big fan of things Southern (no offense), nor of vegetables in general, but I’ll also always order okra, if it’s on the menu.
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Fried okra… mmmmmm! Now that’s some good stuff! Fried green tomatoes are pretty good, but I’ll eat the okra first.
It may well be that all grits are hominy, but I’m remembering a full sized hominy, not this ground up stuff. And it was pretty tasty. I don’t know what mom did to it, but I’d probably eat grits if it tasted the same… But I’ve got a real aversion to tasteless mush. Even my oatmeal is better’n that junk.
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I’m not a Southerner (born in Ohio), but both my parents grew up in West Virginia. My mother would make cornbread occasionally and also grits. The other thing she would make, which I’m surprised I haven’t seen come up yet in this thread, is hush puppies. Aren’t hush puppies a southern thing, too?
Hard to find in Ohio: good hush puppies and good onion rings.
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I’ve noticed that more and more restaurants in the South offer you “cornbread or rolls”. It used to be just cornbread. I guess enough of us Yankees have invaded the South that they had no choice.
Sweet tea is another thing that has changed in the South. Used to be that’s all anyone served. Now many people like it un-sweetened. And lots of folk like me, ask for “half-n-half”, which is slang for half sweet/half un-sweet tea.
Fried Okra and fried corn are two other southern specialties. But there is nothing like real sweet corn from the midwest! The stuff they grow in the south is off white and bland tasting. It’s pretty good fried though.
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Anlir: Votes are due by midnight tonight. Is that midnight EST? Or midnight wherever we are?
Regarding southern food: When my Southern-California-born-and-raised little sister was in the army right out of high school, she married a fellow private from the South who was stationed at the same base in Germany. In her letter home telling us about him, she wrote:
“It looks like I’m going to have to learn to cook some new things. What are grits?”
As if any of us had a clue!
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Anlir — I think a lot of Southerners are asking for unsweet tea so they can add Equal to it. Perish the thought that people would drink tea without sweetening it somehow!
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When I went away to college in Maryland, I discovered kale. Every now and then I find it here and take it to my dad to cook for me. He calls is Yankee Collards.
Fried Okra: Beat an egg. Dip okra in egg, then Italian breadcrumbs. Fry until almost burnt.
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Chas – Yeah, I enjoy cornbread, but it must be made the northern way, with sugar.
Does any fellow northerner, possibly from Maine, know if cornbread & johnnycake are the same thing? I’m thinking they are, but I’m not sure. I think my mom said her family in Maine called their cornbread johnnycake.
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Hamachi: I was surprised to find that our discussion on Saturday’s WV thread was still going on as recently as an hour ago. I don’t want to spill it over here, but I did post another comment that I hope you’ll see.
Happy New Year!
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Pauline, how was your SOX year?
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I’m a northerner – I love cornbread! My husband doesn’t, however, so I rarely make it. Grits I can do without. I sweet tea is awful – I only drink it unsweetened! I guess it’s a good thing I was born in the norht – almost as far north as one can go in the continental US of A. Not a southerner at heart!
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I love scrapple but don’t know what “Philadelphia scrapple” is. I did find scrapple in the stores when I lived in the Philadelphia area, and I think it was pretty much the same stuff as I had growing up in CT. It was hard to find in northern MI, but one store did start carrying it. None found here in IA yet.
One of my favorite desserts as a child was Indian pudding, which is made from cornmeal. It was the only dessert my mother would eat after she gave up chocolate, and before she gave up sweets altogether. I’ve found recipes for it but it takes a long time to cook, even longer than baked grits (I just got mine in the over and now I have to wait almost an hour and a half before they’re ready!). If I were sure my family would like it, I’d try making some. But they’ve never been big on anything that has molasses.
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How is this mysterious Jiffy box easier than what Kim said in 30? And, by the way, isn’t self rising flour just flour with salt and baking soda added (presumably self rising cornmeal is the same concoction)?
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Pauline – I haven’t had it in a long time, but I, too, like Indian pudding. Lee recently made a pumpkin pie with a good amount of molasses in it, & it reminded us of the Indian pudding flavor.
I also like hermit cookies, which I believe are made with molasses.
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TL- …almost as far north as one can go in the continental US of A.
Would that be Alaska? I have never figured out why the lower 48 are Continental US, but Alaska is not, even though it is part of the continent. I call the lower 48 the Contiguous US, with Alaska part of the Continental US.
Anyway- Iced tea in the South seems to me like a little tea with the sugar. I also do not like it with so much ice. Two or three cubes, tops, and just enough sugar to take out the bitterness.
Cornbread is great with butter and honey, but sugar? No way! I forgot to mention above that Mrs L uses whole wheat in her cornbread, so it has a darker color than most prefer. I like the taste, so it could be any color, as far as I am concerned.
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KevinB,
We haven’t received the official audit report yet, but I’m told (by the manager who coordinates all SOX activities and reviews) that we passed handily. At most there might be two or three very minor items on the SAD list (summary of aggregated deficiencies). Better than last year – we passed but with 6 or 7 items on the list. We’ve never had anything serious enough to be classified as a significant deficiency or material weakness.
What did come up this year was the auditors started looking at data files. We always treated deployment of data files as pretty much a non-issue. Usually it’s a case where the user has a spreadsheet where they’ve worked up pricing or dimensions or new product codes or whatever, and they want the list loaded onto the system by a 1-shot program rather than someone having to key it all in manually (which has greater potential for keying errors, besides being time-consuming). Since it’s user data, it’s never required any review. But now suddenly the auditors are asking questions about our procedures for deploying data files, and when the manager (the one mentioned above) looked at the newly published standards, he discovered they now address data files. So now our developers have to start providing documentation to show why they are confident that deploying these data files will not introduce errors into the system. (Usually they can just say they’ve used the same 1-shot program and data format previously, or they can test in QA and do spot checking. But they’re still unhappy because it’s more work than we required before.)
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Karen O,
If Kim’s virtual birthday party goes off well this weekend, maybe we can have ours the following weekend, and introduce everyone else to Indian pudding. I’m sure it would be no trouble to make, the virtual way.
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#32: That is some good music.
Another great Christian album from an unexpected source — three actually — are Alice Cooper’s The Last Temptation of Alice Cooper, Brutal Planet and Dragontown.
They comprise a trilogy of sorts and were the first work he did after his conversion and they are excellent. Brutal Planet is probably the best of the three, but all of them are well worth hearing.
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Random Name,
You are going to be missed around here. I realize a few people have said, “good riddance,” but they are the exceptions, and I suspect they too will miss your wise and thoughtful comments when they cease to appear. Perhaps you could set up an automated bot to post a few lines of your blog along with the url each morning?
Some time ago you placed an ad seeking recruits to join you on sabbatical. I volunteered to keep you company in silence, and will. I am not sure I can or want to do 6 months, but I may be able to do 6 weeks, days, or hours. Definitely 6 minutes. I will give it a shot, at least until the next GOP scandal hits the news.
Best wishes for a safe and enjoyable 2008.
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KevinB,
Thank you for your thoughtful reply on the other page.
Initially, I read your comment in #51 incorrectly
Happy New Year to you too!
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I’m very disappointed. We had wonderful low-key plans to spend NYE with my wife’s brother’s family and watch the fireworks at the Spaceneedle. He has two sick little kids–so the plan is off! We have been invited to a swanky party across town, but I don’t enjoy wearing a tie and finding a sitter would be impossible at this point…and I don’t really want to drive far tonight. So, we’re going to pull out the fondue pot for cheese fondue, roast rack of lamb, and bake a chocolate cake. Firewood. I need some firewood! Always something. Maybe I can call my wife and she’ll pick it up. Wives are so cool!
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KevinB,
You can actually vote throughout the night, as I will not be pulling the final tally until just before posting the Wabby Awards. They’re already written, I just have to plug in the names of the winners. I don’t know what time tomorrow I will be posting them, as the Tennessee Vols game is at 11 a.m. The game won’t be over until around 3 and we’re headed to the movies after that. Will I get up before 11 a.m.? It’s doubtful! It depends on how late I am out tonight.
I probably won’t post the Wabby Awards until tomorrow evening (New Years Night).
Please send your votes in for “Best Christian” and “Best Non-Christian” to BugsBunny8124@yahoo.com (see #6 above more more information).
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Random Name,
Are you really leaving us?? I hope not, but if you are, I wish you all the best and a safe and healthy New Year! We will miss your voice around here!
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I am looking forward to a quiet evening. Big kids have all gone their respective ways, hubbie has taken the two boys to Boise for a football game, and the girls are off to a Pathfinder campin for the night. I shall take a deep breath, turn in early, and prepare for a wonderful new year.
Hamachitwo, does wife carry a chain saw in her car? Will she be splitting the wood or bringing it home in rounds where you will be splitting it? Sounds like a lovely opportunity for taking the kids to the woods. Just asking..
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Karen O, I’m not familiar with the name johnnycake, so I did a Google search for “johnnycake” and “Maine”. Apparently, johnnycake is cornbread that’s baked or fried on a griddle, according to http://www.thefreedictionary.com/johnnycake
Random Name, Happy New Year! Enjoy your sabbatical.
NYE plans: The baby likes to get up at 5:00 every morning, and my husband’s on call. It looks like a quiet evening here in terms of celebrations.
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I’ll miss you, Random Name. But will continue to visit your blog.
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Garlic cheese grits just came out of the oven.
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!
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Mumsee, enjoy the peace and quiet!
Random Name, farewell. See you in July or whenever you return.
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Mumsee,
ha! No, she would have just stopped in to the store and grabbed a couple bundles of overpriced split wood. I have some maple on the side of the house, but I’m down to the large very awkward pieces that really do need a splitter. My ax was protesting last time I split some. The problem with hardwoods… Where is some nice fir when I need it?
Also, wife was already near home when I called. She suggested I go get it myself. drats
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I tried grits once and didn’t like it. Pauline’s with garlic and cheese sounds doable though. I’d try it again.
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Yeeehaw!!!! I ordered 2 more gigs of ram on Friday and it just arrived!! Time to shut down, plug it in and see what happens
I’m really excited.
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Bye Random! I’ll keep track of you and yours by way of your blog.
I really enjoy your stories of RG etc!
Take care!
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“Time to shut down, plug it in and see what happens.”
It’s been my experience that not a lot happens…
I tripled the amount of RAM in all of our PC’s here in the office, and some of them are still dogs.
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If any of you happen to think of it I could use some prayers of support between about 6 and 9pm central as I take care of something to move into the new year. I am sick to my stomach with worry about how to best do what needs to be done. I haven’t been able to eat today (which could be good new!!!)
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2007 Roundup:
Number of movies I saw this year: 55
Number of those movies I’d recommend seeing: 10
Anlir’s Top 10 Movies of 2007
#10 – “Diehard 4″
#9 – “The Mist”
#8 – “Knocked Up”
#7 – “Eastern Promises”
#6 – “The Simpsons Movie”
#5 – “The Bourne Ultimatum”
#4 – “No Country For Old Men”
#3 – “Harry Potter-the Order of the Phoenix”
#2 – “3:10 to Yuma”
And the best movie I saw all year:
#1 – “Hot Fuzz”
Anlir’s 10 Worst Movies of 2007
#10 – “Rush Hour 3″
#9 – “Pathfinder”
#8 – “Reno 911″
#7 – “Fantastic 4″
#6 – “28 Weeks”
#5 – “We Own The Night”
#4 – “300″
#3 – “Evan Almighty”
#2 – “Balls of Fury”
And the absolute worst movie of 2007:
#1 – “Kickin it Old School”
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Pauline (#58)- Sounds like a good idea.
Anlir – Looking forward to the Wabbie Awards.
Random Name – Good bye, you Rascally Agnostic.
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Kim – Said a prayer for you. Let us know how this evening turns out, if you can.
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Kim,
Whatever it is you have to do, I wish you the best of luck.
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Kim – 75
I just prayed for you, whatever it is that is troubling you, and I will CONTINUE to pray that you will be comforted and strengthened from the LORD.
I don’t often pray on line, but in this case, I feel moved to do so;
Dear Holy Father God, I come to you in Jesus name for Kim, the need that she has, the pain that she is enduring, please comfort her with your healing power, give her strength. Bless and keep her strong, in Jesus Name, AMEN
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MIM-
It worked! My computer was already pretty fast, I just wanted more ram for video editing and photoshop. I played around a little and it is a lot faster now when opening large images in the 300Mb range, and the edits render almost immediately now which is really nice. downright zzzzzippy
It won’t make a noticeable difference in other apps like web browsers or such, but I wasn’t looking for any help there.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
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Prequel. Last 3 long gassy posts for half a year. Fill up your tank.
When he was young, my brother was something of a “babe magnet,” so he had various girl friends. I presume he had to make a “break-up speech” each time he changed to a new babe (though once in a while one of the babes made one to him first). He was also married and divorced once before his current marriage, so the end of that first marriage was another opportunity to practice his break-up lines.
As I was not a babe magnet, I married the first woman who would go to bed with me. As we are both too weird for anybody else to put up with, we decided to stay married, and so we have for 42 years. So I haven’t had that much chance to practice break-up speech speeches.
It gets complicated. Those at wmb who abhor the idea of “gay” marriages like to throw the slippery slope argument at people who want to legalize such relationships. They say things such as “If you let homosexuals marry, why not let siblings marry? Or why not marry your dog or an underage child?” Then they add, “Why not let polyamourous groups marry?”
There are perfectly good reasons (besides what it says in the Bible) not to let close relatives marry and not to let people marry others who can not give informed and adult consent.
I have known a few (not many) people in polyamourous relationships. It is way too complicated for me (one of the main reasons I have never been unfaithful to my wife), and unlikely to ever be very popular, but the idea of legalizing group unions doesn’t get my knickers in a twist.
Anyway, as you know, I am not in favor of gay marriages (marriage is seldom gay), though I am in favor of civil unions (though they are often not very civil either.
I have a complicated relationship with the people at worldmagblog. I have never removed my clothes in the presence of any of you. In fact, I am pretty sure I have never been in the presence of any of you. So I guess it’s been a “platonic” and a “distance” relationship.
As the relationship involves a variety of people, I guess it’s a polyplatonic and a very distant relationship. However, I don’t mess with platypuses.
At the very least, I am going for a trial separation. It may be permanent.
I would guess a break-up speech contains sentences such as, “I really care about you, but I don’t think we are right for each other,” and “Let’s try and stay friends.” I have a suspicion that it never gets very easy and never comes across very well.
Worldmagblog is a varied place with a wide variety of people. So I wrote two “breakup messages.” You can pick the one that irritates or offends you the most.
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Quell? I will quell myself pretty soon.
Once I had a friend who grew up in what might be called a “hillbilly” or “redneck” family, not in Appalachia, but in Southern Oregon. She told me that at one time or another every one of her male relatives had been in jail.
For whatever reason, she went to college, and then to graduate school, and ended up working for a university. For a little while she was my boss. I generally don’t get along with my bosses, but we remained friends.
She also became a traveler and went rock climbing and trekking in places like Nepal.
She had already been married and divorced by the time I met her She said the failure of the first marriage had not really been anyone’s fault. Her first husband was older and a successful writer. He was ready to settle down; she was just spreading her wings and exploring. They just weren’t right for each other at that time in their lives.
Later, while trekking in Nepal, she fell in love with a native guide and he fell in love with her. They decided to get married before they spoke much of each other’s languages. I haven’t talked with her for a while but the last time I did, they had two children and were living in Oregon. She seemed to consider herself a Buddhist. Go figure.
It’s not exactly analogous, but I feel something like that about worldmagblog. It’s been interesting to participate here and I’ve enjoyed my communications with many people here. But we’re not really a good match for each other, and it’s time for me to move on.
For example, I am a secular person and I do not respond well to arguments based on supernatural claims. We live in a world that seems to run on principles compatible with the laws of science and the laws of normal mundane cause and effect. I just don’t respond well to arguments that the world is created and operated by a God who dabbles in and out with a miracle here, a punishment there, not to mention a virgin birth and a resurrection from the dead just to make a big splash.
Then there are the family issues. My genetic family is a troubled one, and I don’t feel close to many of them. So family, to me, is more of a—dare I say the word?—spiritual relationship than one based on blood lines. Even though my granddaughter has two mommies and has no “family tree” relationship with me, I still think of her as my granddaughter with no prefixes or suffixes.
Worldmagblog is like a big family. Some of the people are likable and spiritually attractive to me, but quite a few are unpleasant and truculent, and clans tend to stick together when they meet outsiders. As a group, you’re too willing to cut the wrong people too much slack for this relationship to work for long.
I hope we can remain friends. You are welcome to drop by my blog or email me.
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Post Quel and Final Post
When I dropped out of graduate school about 40 years or so ago, I dropped into something called the “Teacher Corps.” This was during Lyndon Johnson’s “War on Poverty,” a campaign about as successful as the “War on Drugs” or the “War on Terror.”
(When you go to war on a basic condition of human existence, you can be pretty sure you are going to spend a lot of money and be fighting for a very long time.)
The idea of the program was to train recent college graduates who hadn’t thought about teaching as a career to be teachers in the ghetto. There were a lot of problems with the program, starting with the problem that most of the interns were liberal, idealistic white teachers without too many licks of common sense and most of the students were bratty little black kids who didn’t see school as an interesting and useful place and weren’t much inclined to sit still and listen long enough to discover otherwise. I suppose in the end it produced a few good ghetto teachers, but quite a few of us mostly spun our wheels.
This is not about that program, though. It’s about one of the interns. His name was Jeff. I am not talking about Jeff Stiles of wmb, or anybody else at wmb who may be named Jeff. Over the years, I’ve had a number of strange experiences with a variety of people named Jeff, but as a radical agnostic, I think that’s just a coincidence.
Jeff considered himself to be a connoisseur. He had various hobbies and interests. I remember he was into photography. He was into food. He was into music. He was into animals.
I don’t remember Jeff being especially creative. He did do a lot of photography, and developed his own pictures (in those days long before digital photography). But mostly Jeff was a consumer with a lot of exquisite taste (or so he regarded himself).
Jeff was a “one-upper.” If the conversation was about photography, his camera was better than your camera, his telephoto lens was better than your long distance lens, and his film was better than the one you used in your camera.
I don’t remember that he was a cook especially, but if you mentioned a restaurant where you had eaten and enjoyed the meal, he knew a better place to eat.
He bought records and went to concerts. If you mentioned a favorite performer, he knew a better one. If you mentioned a record, he had bought an import from Europe or Japan that was rare and superior.
If you liked cats, dogs were better. If you had a dog, his dog was a member of a better breed. If you owned the same kind of dog, his was a better specimen.
And so on. We were supposed to be learning to be teachers, and talked about various (mostly liberal) theories of education and the (mostly frustrating) experiences we had trying to put those theories into practice with real kids. I suppose Jeff had comments on those subjects as well, though I don’t remember them. I am sure he was sure he had better ideas about education as he did about everything else.
I was married, as were many of us, and quite a few of the rest were paired up with somebody. Jeff wasn’t in a relationship. I’m not sure there was room for another person in his life.
He wasn’t a bad person. I guess he did his work well enough—I never heard of any big problems with him. He wasn’t dreadful to be around, but he fairly quickly became tiresome and people tended to roll their eyes after a few minutes in his presence.
The thing was, if Jeff had been a cartoon person, one expected to see thought balloons coming out of his head that said things like:
I sure am right about everything, aren’t I?
Unfortunately, most of us would have said No, not really.
Another thought balloon would have said:
I sure am wonderful, aren’t I?
And again, most of us would have said, No, not really.
I have a similar reaction to worldmagblog. I can understand people considering themselves as conservatives, and they have some good points about the virtues of that political and economic world view, but there’s a certain smug complacency about the supposed merits and virtues of conservatives and flaws and failings of liberals that’s mostly clichés and slogans and not much observation of the real world (which is a lot more mixed up than your observations allow you to examine or admit.)
I don’t think Christians are evil as a group or the cause of all the world’s problems. I don’t think secular people are evil as a group or are the cause of all the world’s problems.
One of Charles Dickens most brilliant characterizations was his portrait of Mrs. Jellaby in Bleak House, a relentless do-gooder obsessed with saving children in Africa while she neglected her own children. She is the epitome of someone who loves humanity in general but individual people not very much.
I do not claim to love humanity. I am not an admirer of our species. My faults tend in the opposite direction. I don’t love a lot of faceless people, but I do care about a few people in my life.
In my somewhat stark heart, I only avow love for four people: my wife, my daughter, my daughter-out-of-law, and my granddaughter.
I hope my wife’s and my little house in the middle of the middle-sized woods on an island and our daughter’s and her partner’s and their 3 and 5/6 years old (as she will tell you) daughter’s little house in the middle-sized city are not bleak houses. I strive to contribute to making those dwellings something a little warmer than that.
In honesty, the best I can say outside of my barely extended family is that I have some casual affection for some of my own extended family and a few friends and acquaintances.
I wish the people at worldmagblog well, but my feelings are tepid at best.
I perceive a tension or struggle between the view of the Christians here that they (like all of us) are “fallen” and struggling with temptation and confusion like the rest of us, and a view of themselves as a little special because of their belief and adherence to Christianity and their striving to live out that belief in their lives.
Everybody will have to check their own mileage in that regard.
I wish all of you a good New Year in your spiritual and material quests.
I appreciate HamachiTwo’s comment, but I will not automate a daily blog to post opening lines to wmb. You can seek me out if your whim so moves you at my blog, modestypress.wordpress.com, though internally titled appropriately enough, “Vanity Press.” or you can email me at eman_modnar@yahoo.com
Don’t be a Michael Vick. Be kind to animals:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXCUBVS4kfQ
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Anlir and StuBob: My mother made tea that was almost syrup. She supersaturated it with sugar while it was still hot. I learned to drink tea with no sugar though because I wanted to eleminate sugar. No aspertime at all. Actually, my preference is like Anlir, half & half if I can get it. My wife drinks it sweet, but not like mother’s.
Re: Grits. I don’t see how anyone can not like grits, as (I think Pauline’s husband) someone said, they don’t have taste and that’s the point. I once explained grits to a friend from Montana.
Back before around 1950, almost all southern men had to do physical work for a living. My bowl of Cheerios would last about 30 minutes. So, they ate a couple of eggs, bacon, sausage, or ham, with biscuits and grits as filler to keep them till dinner time (lunch to you). (Similar to a sawmill breakfast at Cracker Barrel.) My wife says they used to have steak for breakfast. I never heard of that. The noon meal (dinner) was always hefty, but supper was light. (That’s the cornbread and buttermilk we talked about.)
Kim: With the others, I prayed for you, and will continue to do so until about 10:00 EST. You owe us an update. Without divulging personal information, let us know what happened.
To everyone: HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
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Random Name: We will miss you (some of us) and we wish the best for you. Lurk around occasionally.
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Post Quel and Final Post On the dubious though happy assumption that this is true, it’s time to break out the New Year champagne.
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Goodbye Random, I know you think we are just being nice to you in order to convert you, but I sincerely find you interesting. Of course, I am still obligated to pray for you.
Said a prayer for you too Kim.
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Peter – 87
To bad you and your wife live so far away, I wish you could share a glass of champagne with us. We are getting ready for the evening at our home. Fireplace is glowing, the candles will be lit in just a few hours, and then its time for Auld Lang Syne. I love everything about New Years –
ENJOY!
HAPPY NEW YEAR to you and your wife.
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Turn your speakers up for the music, the words are just below the picture -
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I have been swamped with relatives and friends since Chrismas. I’m off to make bananas Foster at a NYE party with old college friends and then will hose 25 or so for a Rose Bowl party and watch the Trojans of USC trounce the Fighting Illini.
But just had to pop in to with you all a Happy New Year and especially say good-bye to Random. I will miss your humor and–believe it or not–contraryness, so to speak. Go well my friend.
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Goodbye, Random.
I never got into your fiction, but I’ve always found your real-life postings to be extremely thoughtful and I must admit that I envy your ability to communicate your ideas. I frequently read WMB, but don’t post very much because I seldom find the words to really express my thoughts.
Kim [75] I shall keep you in prayer. The Lord knows the words even when I can’t find them.
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Victoria, thanks for the Auld Ang Syne, you’ve been a welcome,indeed marvelous, addition to the Christian stalwarts on this blog during the past year. My wife and I, after a an earlier festive dinner, are, also, happily enjoying the evening before for the fireplace.
Happy New Year to you and yours.
Yours in Christ.
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Random,
See ya around. Don’t stay gone too long. We’ll miss those objective posts no matter how rascally you are, or how much you disagree.
Kim,
We’ll be praying for you.
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Random,
Well, I can’t say I will miss you but I will probably note your absence as the scrolling will be reduced. I might have enjoyed your Cyber whatever but never got started reading it. Several have alluded to your welcome ability to lend balance to the conversation with your calm and clear comments, I did not see them as that. If you were a normal poster, it would be as you have noted: a few queries about you and then slipping off into the land of forgotten. But you are not normal and people will make comments for at least two weeks (I amy join them) and more as your six month hiatus draws to a close.
Personally, I wish you well and I encourage you in your effort to break the addiction. You will come back when you are ready or you won’t. As it should be. May you come to the point where you bend the knee to the Lord our Creator before you draw your last breath. And may you point your beloved daughter and her friend and daughter to the One Who loves them beyond their understanding. May your wife delight in the new you and come to see Him as Savior as well.
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Chas, back when I went thru army basic training breakfast was a “sit down eat up and get up” sort of deal.
I got hungry enough to eat grits then. Loaded them up with peanut butter. Seldom eat grits now. Back then I thought they were cream o’ wheat.
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Happy New Year, all!
Will serve black-eyed peas and cornbread tomorrow.
May you be abundantly blessed and be an abundant blessing in 2008.
Love and Peace
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Prayed for you Kim
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Has anyone heard from Kim?
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