We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.
He only scratches the surface of the Enlightenment ideas of individualism and individual freedom which, I have been led to believe, are Western Christian and/or Judeo-Christian notions. I don't know.
Had drinks and dinner with a long-time pal and colleague the other night. The kind of pal with whom you could happily sip whiskies, maybe enjoy a ceegar, and shoot the breeze on every sort of topic all night, from the philosophical to football.
Now this guy is in his 80s. Works at his career every day. Has more sports that he plays, and more hobbies and volunteer activities than he can handle. And his Mrs. (his age) has begun a second career after retiring. I'm lucky to get him for a supper out every quarter (which is my minimum target for close pals).
I did ask him how he dealt with awareness of his aging. "Whenever it crosses my mind, I push the thought away."
I want to become like that dude if or when it comes to pass.
Adult males rarely want much for Christmas other than the company of family and friends and a glass or two of eggnog, but one material thing they always welcome are fun socks. It takes a serious male to wear fun socks. Trust me. Black socks are to make you appear serious. They do not make you serious.
The reason for black socks is No Sock Sorting. But that is just laziness. Black socks are for mens' job interviews.
OK, let's discuss socks. In our house, we have work-out socks, tennis socks, skiing socks, hiking socks, dress socks (male), yard-work socks, etc. So do you, probably.
Nowadays, fun socks are always great for gals, and for guys they signal that you are confident enough to show some sense of fun.
A Merry Christmas and a happy holiday season to all of our readers and to all of our contributors, with thanks for being part of our humble Yankee enterprise
(No innocent trees were murdered for this card to compensate for murdering our Christmas tree)
I've been to a bunch of parties and some fancy parties this season, and heard some great music too, but the best was a neighborhood caroling get-together Friday night - adults and kids. Good food and drinks with around an hour of singing practice around the piano (divvying up the voices of the wise men, the soloist for O Holy Night, etc), then out tramping around and driving around in the dark to our target audiences. Shut-ins, an old friend and WW 2 Navy vet with Alzheimer's, guys on the job, friendly families. Mrs. BD feels that this neighborhood event is the most Christmassy thing we ever do.
I can guarantee that none of the kids who participate will ever forget it. Maybe they will pass it on when they grow up. Hope so. Fine traditions of family, friends, community, and faith do matter because they become embedded in our souls like little candlelights, lighting our dark corners through our entire lives.
O holy Child of Bethlehem Descend to us, we pray. Cast out our sin and enter in Be born in us today. We hear the Christmas angels The great glad tidings tell, O come to us, abide with us Our Lord Emmanuel.
And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
Loneliness is a tough problem. We live in a world full of all sorts of people, but connecting beyond a superficial level takes a special and complex combination of factors, circumstances, serendipity, and opportunity. Another problem is that we aren't necessarily all that appealing to many people, but we can hope we are appealing to a few people who appeal to us. We all reach out to people who we enjoy, and sometimes it works.
As the article points out, loneliness can spiral into excess neediness, or avoidance, distrust, and isolation. That's not a happy life.
I wish I were smart enough to write for them, pay or no pay. After four of five sentences, I'm done. Except for at work, of course, where I am Bartleby the Scrivener until I will prefer not to be.
Around the HQ, we stick with the un-Yankee, Southern Italian/Sicilian Christmas Eve fast, which means seafood. In past years, I have had the real 7 Fishes with fried baccala, steamed mussels, scungilli, etc etc. A wonderful fish feast which it would be a stretch to term "fasting." The Catholics are very clever with their concept of fasting.
The best-known Sicilian Primi is Pasta Con Sardi - pasta with anchovies (ie small sardines) - what I term Pasta With Minnows aka Pasta with Bait.
What is an "anchovy"? Never, ever use those tinned brown over-salted anchovies that they put on cheap pizzas. Disgusting stuff, cat food for a cat you hate. If you can't get fresh anchovies (they are white) at your local fish market, use the canned white anchovies in olive oil. Tasty. Good Italian markets have good fresh or oiled white anchovy filets.
Here's the recipe. Yes, to be authentic it needs the breadcrumbs. And here's another Vigilia favorite: Fried Baccala Balls. I've also had these with mashed potato in the cod mix to hold it all together. Nothing is more delicious.
Traditionally, you have to have Struffoli for dessert even though I find it inedible.
Truth is, in recent years we just make poached salmon with yogurt-dill sauce, to be ready to serve at room temp. after getting home from church.We typically have lots of friends over for that after-church supper.
You’ll never know exactly what a translator has done. He [or she] reads with maniacal attention to nuance and cultural implication, conscious of all the books that stand behind this one; then sets out to rewrite this impossibly complex thing in his [or her] own language, re-elaborating everything, changing everything in order that it remain the same, or as close as possible to [the translator’s] own experience of the original. In every sentence the most loyal respect must combine with the most resourceful inventiveness. Imagine shifting the Tower of Pisa into downtown Manhattan and convincing everyone it’s in the right place; that’s the scale of the task.
Aren't these two things in life we need to protect the most? Besides the future well-being of family, of course, but that's a want-to, not a need-to.
I protect my public reputation like a demon. Not because of morals so much as because my work and future depends on it. Morals too, I suppose. I have seen all too many people permanently damage their lives with just one error of judgement. Everybody talks...and few are forgiving.
Another reputational issue just has to do with a likable, engaging personality. As far as I can tell, there's not much anybody can do about that. An unpleasant or odd personality style is unfortunate in life.
When it comes to health/fitness/vigor, I can not claim to be a Maggie's paragon in that department. At this point, just an hour daily of no-intensity cardio for the past two months. Have to start somewhere, or not start at all. Flabby muscles are neither appealing nor functional.
I think I missed Columbus Day while I was in Italy. Christoforo Columbo was, of course, from the Republic of Genoa. He spoke Italian and Spanish, and, I'd like to think, Portuguese too since he had a Portuguese mistress.
Anyway, when I think about Columbus I like to remember the details of our sailing cruise (yes, with sails) in 2015 from Lisbon down the coast to Morocco and then out to the Canary Islands where Columbus always loaded up stuff for his trans-Atlantic trips.
Evert time our craft left a harbor (Lisbon, Casablanca, Agadir, Tenerife, Palmas, Gomera, etc, our Captain would blast this Vangelis piece over the ship's speakers, so it is seared - seared - into my memory. After all, this was roughly the route that Columbus took on the beginnings of his trips to the West Indies. We saw his house in the Canaries. Still there.
Met a fellow at a holiday party, and we were talking about travel. He said his travel days were long done and that he had seen enough of the world. He no longer even wants to drive to Vermont unless it's a hunting trip. His wife is headed to Petra with some friends in January, but he refuses to go with them.
I loved his story. (Details altered enough for privacy and happily OKed by the guy)
The captain discusses some of the challenges in landing on a high-altitude airport like Nairobi's. Also interesting to hear about the cargo. I love this stuff. English seems to be the international flight language.
What pilots do. Like ship captains, these guys (or gals) have to have their wits about them. What a cool job.
The very smart and thoughtful Oren Cass discusses his new book,The Once and Future Worker: A Vision for the Renewal of Work in America.
It's a podcast and a transcript. Cass is mostly concerned about the majority of Americans who do not attend college. He believes the policy emphasis on higher ed is misplaced. So do I.
Adult males rarely want much for Christmas other than the company of family and friends and a glass or two of eggnog, but one material thing they always welcome are fun socks. It takes a serious male to wear fun socks. Trust me. Black socks are to make you appear serious. They do not make you serious.
The best-known Sicilian Primi is Pasta Con Sardi - pasta with anchovies (ie small sardines) - what I term Pasta With Minnows aka Pasta with Bait.
Met a fellow at a holiday party, and we were talking about travel. He said his travel days were long done and that he had seen enough of the world. He no longer even wants to drive to Vermont unless it's a hunting trip. His wife is headed to
A book: