Open Thread - Rants, Muses, Books & Music (and Some Cooking Too).
It's good to see you. Come on in, leave your shoes in the hallway, we've got fire on the stove preparing lunch for later. In the meantime, browse the bookshelves and plunk down on the sofa with one, or pick out some tunes from the music library or come in to the kitchen to help with the cooking. Our special blend of tea is steeping and will be right up.
Make yourself at home...
Last week was kind of a busy one here. In-laws in town for a couple of days at the end of the week, and by the time they left, our slowly malfunctioning refrigerator had gone on the fritz almost completely. Sunday, I was hustling big bags full of almost thawed soups, broths, sauces, frozen beans, etc. to our dear friend's apartment on the corner. Luckily, he had us right over and was able to store quite a bit of our reserves. Just before that, we had pulled out a cooler from the garage, cleaned it out and filled it with a bag of ice from the supermarket to keep cool the perishables in the refrigerator, such as milk for the baby, yogurt, etc. We're expecting a new fridge today after the landlord agreed to buy one, even after our email statement said by accepting it we were not agreeing to a rent increase.
As with most everything in life, a crisis or a bind opens up other doors if you look clearly enough. For us, looking at a freezer full of mushy vegetables and seafood and thawing beans, gave us initial grief. We had to throw lots of stuff out. It certainly pained one who has learned as a working musician to abide a modicum of frugality and anti-materialism in most of his daily life, probably learned from his grandmother's Depression-era ethics and values.
To me, most "home-cooking," if not all, came out of a sense of resourcefulness borne of conditions when there wasn't a lot to work with. These, I'd argue, are some of our favorite foods (i.e. chicken soup, soul food, pizza, etc). With the thawed black and kidney beans I made a Mexican-style stew, with cumin and coriander and a little stub of vegan chorizo that needed to be used added some spice, along with loads of caramelized onions, some shredded cabbage and carrots already cut up and in the fridge, and some celery. Made an amazing guacamole to accompany it. Dinner, done. The wife looked at the limp bag of frozen peaches and made a cobbler. Desert, done. For lunch, I made the recipe below and to my delight our infant son devoured three wedges of the baked tofu with gusto.
My temporary travails weren't over just yet. Yesterday, in the middle of the day after Skype wouldn't let me in and suddenly asked for a new password, and Yahoo responding by doing the same (who can follow all this stuff, all the corresponding linkage to different websites/devices/pairing, etc?). Having just read an email from my partner about a check owed to the band I decided to go have a look at our joint account - and wham! There was a big, scary red message seizing up my computer - and, a totally disorienting voiceover message that repeated a warning of that computer appears to have been taken over by hackers and now has a Trojan virus. The safari internet browser on my Macbook Air totally froze up and it all seemed dire. After a few moments of wondering what to do, I decided in desperation to try the number, while texting my wife, who is much better acquainted with such things and is an expert, even-keeled problem solver, for advise.
The "representative" from Microsoft, who sounded like he was from India or Bangladesh, reassured me they were there to help. "Who," I asked, "are you?" How do you even know what happened to my computer here? Said they have the ISP numbers of computers and are there to help. I told him I didn't have a Microsoft computer. He said, we can get you to an Apple rep. After a quick moment, it sounded like the same guy, or maybe my skepticism was on high alert and it was just someone similar. Either way, it just sounded fishy. I knew it was when I mentioned I would like to first call a friend who was more versed in IT, and the reply was "why would you do that?" Alarm bells went off and I said I'd call back if I wanted them to rectify it, and hung up.
After I hung up, I thought, this is the vaunted "free market," in which Buyer Beware rules the land and anybody with a scam is an acceptable "businessman," given cover by the fine print culture devised by corrupt lawyers well-versed in drawing up obfuscating legalese mumbo jumbo - all exalted in the dark and nefarious underbelly of the laissez faire Capitalist behemoth. "If it makes profit there's room for you in this office, son - have a seat, we'll get you a desk right away. (Come in here, dear boy, Have A Cigar, you're gonna go far)." Daytime tv and awful websites are just rife with this kind of predatory garbage. There are shell companies cold calling people and wrongfully impersonating an agency offering help, shysters posing as bankers offering to lower your mortgage payment, and collection agency goons threatening people over $40 worth of default or late charges, real or imagined. My blood boils when I think of the elderly getting preyed upon like this, already confused by the rapid pace of technology in a world absolutely transforming at the speed of light.
So, I'm "Standing In the Shower, Thinking." Many times it's as simple as, "man, I'm just grateful for this hot water right now. Isn't it a wonder of human ingenuity, a fantastic marvel, that every house and apartment has this luxury?"
When it really gets down to it, what more does one need than hot water for a shower, a simple, good and sustaining meal with some friends and loved ones, music and a good book?
True story, Word of Honor:
Joseph Heller, an important and funny writer
now dead,
and I were at a party given by a billionaire
on Shelter Island.I said, “Joe, how does it make you feel
to know that our host only yesterday
may have made more money
than your novel ‘Catch-22’
has earned in its entire history?”And Joe said, “I’ve got something he can never have.”
And I said, “What on earth could that be, Joe?”
And Joe said, “The knowledge that I’ve got enough.”
Not bad! Rest in peace!
- Kurt Vonnegut
"Enough is Enough," as Bernie Sanders said frequently on the campaign trail.
I think it applies here too.
Speaking of the Democratic Socialist from Vermont, Rock N Roll Hall of Fame inductee Chuck D of rap group Public Enemy and friends put together a track that many of us still feel:
"Bernie Got Berned"
With all of you here too, I've got more than enough. Feel the bounty, folks!
Back in the kitchen we're listening to:
(Having grown up a hard rock kid in the 70's/80's weened first on 50's and 60's hits, there are some genres to which I came late. New Orleans Jazz is one. With each subsequent trip there over the years I found the brilliant, lively, humorous, celebratory music to be a reflection of all the things I loved about R&R: a rebel spirit, amazing grooves and swing, an outcast quality and a spiritual rambunctiousness that I identified with. King Oliver was Louis Armstrong's musical mentor.)
So, what's going on with you?
Reading List:
"The Nation: 1865-1990," by Katrina Vanden Heuval
"Ancient Gonzo Wisdom: Interviews with Hunter S. Thompson," edited by Anita Thompson
"The Dwarf," by Par Lagerkvist
"Imagine: Living In A Socialist USA," edited by Frances Goldin, Debby Smith and Michael Steven Smith
for fun:
"My Mark Twain," by William Dean Howells
Baked Tofu Sandwich w/ Pesto, Cumin Roasted Sweet Potatoes & Cole Slaw (an adaptation of the recipe in the Angelika Kitchen cookbook)
Marinate sliced tofu triangles in: olive oil, squeeze of fresh lemon juice, teaspoon each of balsamic vinegar and soy sauce, sprinkle crushed white pepper and a palm-full of chopped rosemary. Bake on 375 until slightly crisp.
Use your favorite pesto recipe (sometimes for this sandwich condiment we use olive paste). We also sometimes substitute cilantro or parsley for basil, and walnuts for pine nuts.
Slice sweet potato into fingerling fries style. Toss in bowl with olive oil and lots of cumin, then less hot chili powder, paprika, turmeric. Bake until soft by slightly crisp.
Shred purple and green cabbage and carrots. Add fresh chopped dill and caraway seeds, toss with apple cider vinegar and olive oil.
Lemongrass Chai Blend
heaping scoop of dried Thai lemongrass
shards of cinnamon bark
a few cardamom pods
a few black peppercorns
A few cloves
fresh chopped ginger
Comments
The Boy and I are in the kitchen, eating some Scottish
oatmeal - which seems fitting on such a rainy day here.
We've got the radio off so we can listen to the patter, while we wait for the new fridge to arrive. I always find myself welcoming the rain. It's relaxing and restorative on any day, but especially because I was still standing in the rock club at 2AM this morning.
Of the many virtues of the rainy day for me, not the least of which is that it also keeps the assholes at bay. As a city dweller that's no small thing for which to be grateful.
"If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph:
THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDED
FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
WAS MUSIC"
- Kurt Vonnegut
Rain
Listening to a slow steady rain gives one a nice feeling. I like a little fog mixed in with it also. I especially like the way rain and fog bring the moss, liverworts, and lichens on trees and rocks to life.
"The justness of individual land right is not justifiable to those to whom the land by right of first claim collectively belonged"
Rain and a little fog is perfect.
Like your description, duckpin.
Here we've mostly got the sounds of rain pricking rooftops, car tops and fire escapes, then most landing on asphalt of some kind. Still relaxing: the grey skies, hustle and bustle minimized, a tucked-in feeling. A walk in the park across the street might get me closer to there.
"If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph:
THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDED
FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
WAS MUSIC"
- Kurt Vonnegut
Thanks. One of my favorite photos of Jack Kerouac
is Jack standing on an NYC fire escape, dragging on a cigarette, with his writing notebook showing from his jacket pocket.
"The justness of individual land right is not justifiable to those to whom the land by right of first claim collectively belonged"
Thanks you two
for touchingly descriptive images of rain and fog.
You're welcome & thank you
We used to live on the eastern continental divide at 3000 feet in the southern mountains. We were on the ridge and part of our property drained into the Gulf of Mexico and part eventually ended up in the Atlantic ocean. We had good views of the piedmont at 800 feet elevation.
It must have been one of the foggier places in the USA. With a steady NE wind, within 24 hours a think fog would set in - visibility 100 feet or less - and persist until the wind shifted. There were also fogs from rain and low clouds, etc. Anyway, the trees and rocks were covered in lichens and moss with leafy liverworts growing inside trees, like Sassafras, that had bark with deep fissures. Moss have perfected the art of drying out and staying alive and the ability to resume photosynthesis as soon as there is moisture. They take in water and nutrients through their leaves. I got so I could identify them down to the genus level with the aid of books - often to get to the species it would take a view through a dissecting microscope and I never got into that.
I thought the fog gave a feeling of peace to the area and liked to walk in it. We had a nice trail down to our spring in the hollow and that was a good area for my dog and me to walk.
Not so much fog - none really - down where we live now but we do have 2 acres of unlogged 100+ foot beeches, oaks & hickories on a north facing slope down to the lake which makes it humid and a good place for Bryophytes & lichens.
"The justness of individual land right is not justifiable to those to whom the land by right of first claim collectively belonged"
Thank you for the glimpse
into what you’ve enjoyed witnessing in nature. I enjoy reading it. Once, many years ago I spent a week in The Blue Ridge Mountain area, and what I enjoyed most, at the higher elevations, was the fog and hoar frost, chilly and thick become illumined by the rising sun. The light was beautiful there. I also enjoyed Stone Mountain very much. Growing up in the NE I had seen many and varied outcroppings of granite, but I had never seen anything like the formations at Stone Mountain.
Where I live now, I sometimes (not very often) see a fog bank that travels off the ocean, rolling across the lower elevation of the mountains that I view. More often, and which is my favourite atmospheric condition, is the gentle mist that often forms and is described by the light. It’s quite etherial looking.
Enjoy the mature trees and lichens they house.
Good morning all
Really foggy here this AM. I went to Trade Day, but very few vendors were set up. Ran a few errands but still back home early.
Your computer story makes me wonder if the digital world enriches or diminishes our lives. It used to be knowing which book to look in was key to finding certain information. Now it is which search engine and what website. None the less it sure is nice to swing back here to the computer and ask some obscure question and find an answer.
Good sounding recipes. Good luck with the new fridge. I was hoping the new models would be quieter, but alas not the one we bought a year or so ago. So stay cool!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Thanks Lookout. Scams are a big component of capitalism,
as long as profit > people.
Whenever I hear that someone's "a good businessman," I think of this George Carlin bit:
"If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph:
THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDED
FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
WAS MUSIC"
- Kurt Vonnegut
oh my, when did George Carlin perform this on stage live?
... it's quite descriptive...
I still read and reread Hedges piece Make America Ungovernable and found another quote in there from Goethe:
“The evil which you fear becomes a certainty by what you do,” (OMG what am I doing?)
and
"Im Deutschen lügt man, wenn man höflich ist" (In German one lies, when one is polite)
I guess that's why Germans always think Americans lie, because they are very polite so often.
oh, for the first time I read the comment thread to Hedge's article. I'll never do that again.
Blog life would be wonderful, if there weren't comments ... right? ... Nah, I like your comments a lot, honestly. Have a good day, all.
https://www.euronews.com/live
What a brilliant Vonnegut quote. Joseph Heller wasn't a mental
lightweight either. I've lived that way all my life. My family was very successful, high-tech middle class. To me 'less is more' made (common) sense. Guess I was born that way. LOL. Good luck with your new fridge. The scammers never change, regardless of the century. I avoid the boob tubes, and we have several in our casa. Anywho, rec'd!!
Inner and Outer Space: the Final Frontiers.
Thanks orlbucfan.
As a humanist and socialist, Vonnegut had such brilliant takes on the foibles of the people on this planet. Heller wasn't too shabby either.
Like these from Vonnegut too:
"If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph:
THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDED
FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
WAS MUSIC"
- Kurt Vonnegut
Good morning, everyone!
Thanks for the OT, Mark - I always find your writing so interesting, perhaps because it is down to earth and about real stuff. My computer has had a message for two years and I cannot bring myself to give it the $100 it wants to get going again. I think I should take it to someone for a second opinion to see if I can find out if it is a scam, thus not paying the money, or if it is legit and I should pay. I'll pay if it's legit - I'd love to have my laptop back. Working on an iPad is not the greatest substitute. Did you get resolution?
Love the recipe. Although I'm a pescatarian, I do love tofu and would love to try some recipies. I'm not good at tofu, but I haven't really stuck with it after failure, either. I have all the ingredients for the red sauce you published a couple weeks ago - this weekend, I'm going to make it!
Give that kiddo an extra big hug today!
Have a beautiful day, folks!
"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11
My favourite tofu dish ...
In blender:
- equal amounts soy sauce (or tamari) and water
- some toasted sesame oil
- a little brown sugar (optional)
- small amount of garlic
- tons of gingeroot and fresh cilantro
(chili not necessary with lots of ginger)
Pour over sliced tofu, slightly browned in a pan with a little olive or coconut oil.
Hope you had a beautiful day also.
Thanks, Janis!
I'll give it a try!
"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11
I don't think you'll regret trying.
And, it quick and easy.
Thanks for such a nice comment, RA.
the day here completely got away from me. By early evening after spending 10 hours with the infant on maybe 4 hours or so of sleep and with a computer that kept freezing up, all I could do was to veg out, turn on Netflix (watched travel show dallasdoc suggested) and order in.
I was on the verge of considering giving info to a scammer who it seems, after hearing from the wife, that it was the intent of the message to get one to give up personal computer info only so they could sell you back something to remove it. Sounds like what may have happened to you.
Happy to hear of you making the puttanesca this weekend. If you can find smoked paprika it's gonna blow your mind. Janis has a nice recipe for tofu also. Try baking in oven til crisp. Frequent criticism heard about tofu is the softness of the texture. I don't mind it, but for those who do baking till browned could be the difference.
Hug given, thanks...now one back to you!
"If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph:
THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDED
FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
WAS MUSIC"
- Kurt Vonnegut
Yes, the days do get away from one -
happens to me quite frequently! So, I'm taking my computer in for a second opinion. Time to get it resolved!
I'll pick up some smoked paprika for the recipe. I'll let you know how it turns out in next week's OT!
Have a great week!
"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11
I am not sure about peg leg pirates, but w/broken foot in
The Boot, not sure about that, either. Getting practice with doing stairs @ home, inward sideways clomp to negotiate Down seems to work. Less that 24 hours. From those stupid pain level charts, for me, better done now with 'can you think?' Puts me at 6-7. My brain says 3-4. High pain tolerance. Bed and books good. Need to call orthopod, should see the foot man this week (order). the x-rays were hard to read, even by the radiologist. NP saw the vague dark areas indicating cracks. Boots need winter tread. There will be rub spots, but inserts were given.
ANd in the dark of morning had to pee. Limped, bootless, into bathroom, and heard a noise, TP was missing. Found in shreds later, dog luvs her paper products. I forgot her birthday on the 5th. A one year-old. With horns. Terrier.
Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.
Down=sideways right, up=sideways left
so far makes me feel steady-ish. And it's raining, temps remaining steady at 36F.
Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.
Thanks for letting us rant this fine day
Had to change my SIG again. The 'money quote' from the essay 'The Line' - https://umairhaque.com/the-line-3bf6d924eec3#.4di7u8a54
Re-posted here for your reading pleasure(?).
I want a Pony!
looking out the window, snow. SNOW!!??!
a very screwy winter here in Portland. For the last several years we had virtually no snow at all.
Books I'm reading:
"1491", Charles Mann. Wherein he tries to get a sense of what it was like in the Americas before Columbus arrived.
"All the Stories of Muriel Spark". Short stories by a writer I only recently discovered. Unfortunately it's too late for me to write her a fan letter.
@Shahryar It snowed a little here
It snowed a little here this morning too. Thankfully it didn't stick and it is now just rain.
Thanks for the OT, Mark. Vonnegut no doubt knew, but did not
say, that his stance was totally subversive. Being satisfied with what you have is anathema in our economy because the endless lust for more power and wealth that possesses the elites requires that the masses be sucked into endlessly craving ever more and more stuff to drive the false ecomomic "growth" that provides their power and wealth.
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Back in NC
We got back to NC last night, which meant I had a walking partner today. She and I went over six miles on my favorite route, out to the music center and back with few side routes. It is always beautiful and we get some steep hills in too. I let her set the routes since she was walking before I asked if I could join her. I suspect she will drag me up the mountain tomorrow.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
we're jealous of your walking
we need to get out. We've used the weather, colds, busy schedule to avoid getting out. We used to have a nice coffee shop about two miles away. We'd walk there and back but now it's a bar. Yes, we could still make the walk and we probably shouldn't stop anyway.
Once it's a little warmer....well, it's no excuse, is it? The "mountain" is still there. I could still run up to it and get as high up as the mud allows.
Hey folks, a little late in getting back today...
Fridge is in; but there's a sink full of condiments, bottles and jars ready to be rinsed and put back in, as well as the contents of the cooler on the fire escape.
Good to see you all.
"If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph:
THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDED
FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
WAS MUSIC"
- Kurt Vonnegut
Good morning everyone
Nice OT, thanks Mark. I am trying to cut down time spent on the internet. It's freaky watching the aftermath of this surreal farce of an election. Talk about scammers. Dueling 'news' sources proclaiming the truth from every direction. The trouble is that most come from the Ministry of Truth regardless of facts that they are checking. Insulting double speak which assumes you have amnesia and don't remember what happened last week, month, year, decade.
I just heard Shah who listens to Thom Hartman on the radio downstairs while eating breakfast cursing, his style, at Thom. 'You blank, blank' says Shah. Hartman apparently was going on about what a racket health insurance is and why should we have to pay the middleman. Like the Democratic ACA was affordable. Like Hillary and the Dems. would have implemented single payer or reined in the health extortion industry. We're self employed, a self-proprietorship btb and uninsured. We checked it out and any pool or subsidy does not make it affordable in fact it would cost monthly more then our mortgage. We would be homeless and out of business. Brazil, the movie, has become reality. Living on the fringes of the cruel viscous 'free market' economy.
Thanks for the recipes and the slice of a good life. I'm sticking to community based activism and do believe I've had enough of the politics of fear, blame/shame and loathing. Full circle and back to being an anarchistic fringe dweller who doesn't believe that there is any truth to be found in the pages of the WaPo or NYT. Maybe people can come together in solidarity and shake off this beast.
Well, he hands you a nickel
He hands you a dime
He asks you with a grin
If you're havin' a good time
Then he fines you every time you slam the door
One of my friends used to say that we are materially challenged and not good cappies. Seems to me that's an asset as we're more capable of really living on the edges of this scam they call the inevitable global economy. We still have to pay the trolls to walk over the bridges or the travel on the net. I'm grateful that we can eat healthy food and have enough for the mod cons like light, hot water, heat and a roof that no longer leaks over our heads. Being married to a musician is a bonus as I have music free of charge. I need to do some art, for arts sake.
Thanks for "Nothing to Nothing"
[video:https://youtu.be/mpenVBKfzXU?list=PLcbyi-g-sYBxnKTbk0q17FS2Wg7JtEEmZ]
Thanks for the great comment, Shaz.
Good advice to cut down on being online so much and being preoccupied with keeping up with the insanity. It's a drag, spiritually, for one thing.
.
Yup. I'm hearing you loud and clear. Thanks again.
"If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph:
THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDED
FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
WAS MUSIC"
- Kurt Vonnegut
You're right, Mark
Enough is enough. Today is a good day. I have enough money to pay my staggeringly high heat bill and still eat this month. That makes me a happy woman.
I hope the new frig is a nifty one with plenty of freezer space.
All life's little and big problems are addressed in my favorite
book, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Life, death, love, fear, hate, prejudice, racism, religion, society, that book has it all. Every time Huck and Jim left the safety of their raft and tied up on the river bank something (usually a not-so-good something), always happened. Apply it to today. Every time you leave your house and step out into the big wide world, it's a crap shoot. Is your little foray into society going to be a good or bad experience? Who and what do you believe of those telling you they have your best interests at heart? And what us their agenda? Is there an ulterior motive being pushed and who benefits? Twain dealt with all that in Huck Finn.
It also was responsible for me having to read'The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner' because my English teacher said she 'knew' I cheated because my term paper was 'too good' to have been written by me. The truth is my paper was that 'good' because that book laid out the human condition and what shits and angels we can all be and it did that it a way that was perfectly illustrative of the way people act. It also just happen to be great literature. The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner sucked. Since I was going to a private, all girls, Catholic boarding school I suppose that (as freaking always) there was supposed to be some big moral lesson buried in there somewhere but I missed it, whatever it was. The only lesson I got out of it was that the English teacher was a jackass.
I'm tired of this back-slapping "Isn't humanity neat?" bullshit. We're a virus with shoes, okay? That's all we are. - Bill Hicks
Politics is the entertainment branch of industry. - Frank Zappa
Thank you for Mark Twains communication to Howells,
and Hemingway's insight. Very interesting.
This is a very welcoming
This is a very welcoming invitation, and essay to read. Thank you.
Although never welcome is the failure of a necessary appliance, it’s probably good that your fridge survived the visit with family. The dishes you salvaged sounded delicious. I would have enjoyed both. The caramelised onions in the Mexican bean is not something I’ve ever tried, but will. I’m glad your son was delighted with the tofu. If your son likes mashed sweet potatoes, but you want something spicier, add wasabi to yours.
I really enjoy how you combine the maddening with the promising in your writing. It’s very satisfying.
Thanks also for the Vonnegut True Story.
Have you read The Road by Cormac McCarthy?
Thanks janis.
Funny you mentioned "The Road."
Had been hearing about it for years and picked it up 2nd hand a few months ago. Every time I went to it with intent to begin, I remembered our neighbor downstairs, who is a really great artist who has been covered in the NY Times, mentioning that he read it when his first son was being born and it was a pretty dark book for that moment in his life.
Did you like it?
May have to delve in, though I fear my darker side will really relate to the tale, as I understand it, of father and son on a survival mission after society falls apart.
Thanks for the kind words, Janis.
"If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph:
THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDED
FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
WAS MUSIC"
- Kurt Vonnegut
It’s dark, and what you intuit,
but it’s more strongly lit with the love between father and son. I liked it so much, that it sits on the top-ten shelf of my limited library.
So many beloved authors call back to ones before
and in America, the same names resonate. Do not forget Ernie Pyle, an embedded journalist by choice, who wrote truth and named names of the Americans fighting in Europe on our behalf. And mostly clueless why. He died there. A Hoosier, as me.
Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.