Thursday, July 30, 2009
An Answer...
...to the question, "What are you doing in Mexico?" (from Karen's StoryPeople download):
There are things you do because they feel right & they may make no sense & they may make no money & it may be the real reason we are here: to love each other & to eat each other's cooking & say it was good.
Now That We're Back
Today Garrison Keillor wrote a tribute of sorts to choreographer Merce Cunningham who died a couple of days ago. Having recently returned from our Grand Adventure, I was taken by his last paragraph:
Travel is the art form available to Everyman. You sit in the coffee shop in a strange city and nobody knows who you are, or cares, and so you shed your checkered past and your motley credentials and you face the day unarmed, as the great Merce did. Bravery! Adventure! Defeat! Survival! And onward we go and some day in the distant future, we will stop and turn around in astonishment to see all the places we've been and the heroes we were.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Slovenia Revisited
Since I couldn't figure out how to align photos with the appropriate text within this blog format, I thought I'd share a couple of shots to give you a flavor of the place. One was taken near sunset as we about to enter the Slovenian Alps. The other is of Lake Bled, in the middle of which sits a castle-crowned island reachable only by boat. Enjoy!
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
Musings on Marriage
Last week Karen's folks celebrated their 64th wedding anniversary. 64 years! Can you imagine?
We're closing in on a 38th anniversary ourselves, but sadly, over the years we've watched a boatload of marriages fall by the wayside. And the norm for our kids growing up was very much the two household extended family.
Here's what I found interesting. The key distinction they came to recognize was not between married and divorced parents, but between amicable divorced parents and angry, resentful divorced parents. No divorce, I suspect, is easy. But Karen and I have marveled at a number of divorced friends who've managed to move past the trauma of separation -- sometimes for the kids and sometimes for other karmic reasons -- and forged a new relationship with one another, akin to friendship, filled with affection, mutual respect and a little humor. It's a gift.
Anyway, the other day I came across a sweet, candid, non-political posting from Arianna Huffington on this very subject. I thought it worth sharing.
We're closing in on a 38th anniversary ourselves, but sadly, over the years we've watched a boatload of marriages fall by the wayside. And the norm for our kids growing up was very much the two household extended family.
Here's what I found interesting. The key distinction they came to recognize was not between married and divorced parents, but between amicable divorced parents and angry, resentful divorced parents. No divorce, I suspect, is easy. But Karen and I have marveled at a number of divorced friends who've managed to move past the trauma of separation -- sometimes for the kids and sometimes for other karmic reasons -- and forged a new relationship with one another, akin to friendship, filled with affection, mutual respect and a little humor. It's a gift.
Anyway, the other day I came across a sweet, candid, non-political posting from Arianna Huffington on this very subject. I thought it worth sharing.
Sound Familiar?
I just finished a new novel about the high-end jewelry business entitled How To Sell. On page 244 I came across this nugget of insight from the protagonist Bobby Clark.
"I hated moments like this, but I noticed they were getting more common, in more than one of my relationships. It was like we were having two entirely different conversations, and each of us was talking only with ourselves. Yet along the way we managed to say enough to screw things up between each other."
"I hated moments like this, but I noticed they were getting more common, in more than one of my relationships. It was like we were having two entirely different conversations, and each of us was talking only with ourselves. Yet along the way we managed to say enough to screw things up between each other."
Friday, July 03, 2009
Prague Pissers
Yeah, Prague is, as promised, filled with one photo opp after another. Gorgeous river, bridges, churches, castles, parks, cemeteries, museums, the whole nine yards. But this funny little piece of public art, not far from our hotel, just outside the Franz Kafka museum, is probably the most memrable thing Miz and I saw during our whirlwind visit. Those wacky Czechs!
A Month (or so) of Bests
We recently returned to San Miguel after a marathon mid-year vacation, which took us to the Southeast, many locales in Central Europe (Germany, Austria, Italy, Slovenia & Croatia) and finally, New York City. As glad as we were to get back home and reconnect with friends here, the trip completely energized us and filled our brains with sights, sounds, smells and feelings we'll undoubtedly be processing for months to come. Best of all, it seems like every several days, we'd encounter something that would prompt one or the other of us to remark, "Man, that was the best _______ I've ever seen/eaten/drunk/etc." With your indulgence, I'd like to share some of those high points with y'all.
Starting in South Carolina, we've always enjoyed the mussels at 39 Rue de Jean in Charleston, and go there most every time we visit the SC coast. This time, however, the mussels in cauliflower cream was exceptionally rich and creamy, far and away the best mussels either of us have ever enjoyed anywhere.
Sticking with food, we were also lucky enough to be in Europe during their relatively short spargel (white asparagus) season, during which many restaurants in Austria and Germany feature special spargel menus. Our one night in Salzburg we stumbled into a randomly chosen pub-restaurant just before closing, and I had an extraordinary pasta dish with spargel cream sauce, which we paired with a perfectly dry, fruity Grüner Veltliner.
Croatia Istria (the Croatian penisula where we stayed), but you wine lovers ought to keep an eye for the sparkling wine: Misal Prestige Extra Brut made of 70% Chardonnay, 15% Istrian Malvasia and 15% Pinot Noir.
Our other wine highlight was inGermany Greenville
While our entire European trip was fueled with lots of doble espressos, cappucinos and lattes, at all hours of the day and night, the best coffee I had was in another place we chose for a late lunch, almost by accident, a faux-French bistro in Hamburg, Germany. It was like a Turkish coffee and had me so wired I could barely sit in the car during our ride back to Fallingbostel.
We got lucky, too, the one night we spent inPrague
New York Spain Greenwich Village gem, completely redefined sushi for me. We ordered the chef's tasting menu, called an omakase, and course after course, were blown away. I've always had a huge weakness for foie gras, but the fresh uni (sea urchin) they made that love affair seem cheap and shabby.
While we were lucky enough to stay with friends most everywhere we visited -- (starting withLarry & Pam DeMeyers ' "any sane B&B owner would kill for it" guest room in Augusta , GA Munich Europe .
Slovenia Lubjiana Vienna and Graz , in Austria Lüneborg , Germany
Lastly, we had the great good fortune to attend the best barroom concert ever -- a memorial concert for Duane Jarvis, a talented and obviously much-loved guitarist who recently succumbed to cancer at age 51. We just happened to spending Memorial Day weekend with friends outside of Nashville, who just happened to get a call from John Prine, (who was playing), inviting them to attend. Mizzy and I just tagged along. We hadn't heard of many of musicians who played that night, but every one of them was great. And the cool thing was, the entire audience (except for me and Miz) were musicians and music-industry insiders. What a treat to watch musicians make music just for and with each other. I uploaded one of my favorite numbers, sung by the amazing Rosie Flores and an all-star back-up band, to give y'all sense of what it was like.
Starting in South Carolina, we've always enjoyed the mussels at 39 Rue de Jean in Charleston, and go there most every time we visit the SC coast. This time, however, the mussels in cauliflower cream was exceptionally rich and creamy, far and away the best mussels either of us have ever enjoyed anywhere.
Sticking with food, we were also lucky enough to be in Europe during their relatively short spargel (white asparagus) season, during which many restaurants in Austria and Germany feature special spargel menus. Our one night in Salzburg we stumbled into a randomly chosen pub-restaurant just before closing, and I had an extraordinary pasta dish with spargel cream sauce, which we paired with a perfectly dry, fruity Grüner Veltliner.
Our other wine highlight was in
While our entire European trip was fueled with lots of doble espressos, cappucinos and lattes, at all hours of the day and night, the best coffee I had was in another place we chose for a late lunch, almost by accident, a faux-French bistro in Hamburg, Germany. It was like a Turkish coffee and had me so wired I could barely sit in the car during our ride back to Fallingbostel.
We got lucky, too, the one night we spent in
While we were lucky enough to stay with friends most everywhere we visited -- (starting with
Lastly, we had the great good fortune to attend the best barroom concert ever -- a memorial concert for Duane Jarvis, a talented and obviously much-loved guitarist who recently succumbed to cancer at age 51. We just happened to spending Memorial Day weekend with friends outside of Nashville, who just happened to get a call from John Prine, (who was playing), inviting them to attend. Mizzy and I just tagged along. We hadn't heard of many of musicians who played that night, but every one of them was great. And the cool thing was, the entire audience (except for me and Miz) were musicians and music-industry insiders. What a treat to watch musicians make music just for and with each other. I uploaded one of my favorite numbers, sung by the amazing Rosie Flores and an all-star back-up band, to give y'all sense of what it was like.
As We Approach July 4th
...some timely advice from Garrison Keillor:
Attend to the details. Teach your children manners. Write cogent paragraphs. Drive carefully. And make a good potato salad, one with some crunch, maybe accompanied by a fried drumstick with crackly skin -- the humble potato and the stupid chicken, ennobled by diligent cooking -- and is this not the meaning of our beautiful country, to take what is common and enable it to become beautiful? All our beautiful young people -- so diligent and focused and powered by hope -- you can't tell me those kids didn't have parents who took time to chop the celery and onions and experiment with the ratio of mayo to mustard to achieve a potato salad that is worthy of our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.
Attend to the details. Teach your children manners. Write cogent paragraphs. Drive carefully. And make a good potato salad, one with some crunch, maybe accompanied by a fried drumstick with crackly skin -- the humble potato and the stupid chicken, ennobled by diligent cooking -- and is this not the meaning of our beautiful country, to take what is common and enable it to become beautiful? All our beautiful young people -- so diligent and focused and powered by hope -- you can't tell me those kids didn't have parents who took time to chop the celery and onions and experiment with the ratio of mayo to mustard to achieve a potato salad that is worthy of our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.
Thursday, July 02, 2009
From The Week
An especially apt quote from Aldous Huxley:
"The charm of history and its enigmatic lesson consist in the fact that, from age to age, nothing changes and yet everything is completely different.”
"The charm of history and its enigmatic lesson consist in the fact that, from age to age, nothing changes and yet everything is completely different.”
