I knew from the moment I took the first bite that I shouldn't eat that sandwich.
We were out with friends in a brewpub in a nearby town. The beer was good and the conversation was better. Because I have a food sensitivity, I looked the menu over carefully. Good - they had a BLT. BLTs are always safe. This one listed a couple of extra ingredients, but not the one that I have a problem with, so I ordered it. It came, scrumptiously prepared. I bit into it.
Onions?! Who puts onions in a BLT?
Maybe it's just a tiny amount in the sauce? I took another bite. Read More
Ruminations of a Feisty Old Quaker
Fructans and Me
March 24, 2018
1 Comments
We are better people than this.
January 8, 2018
We are not so poor in material goods that we cannot share with others, nor so poor in spirit that we will refuse to share.
We are not so shallow that we care only for wealth, nor so short-sighted that we will destroy the only Earth we have to obtain it.
We are not so fearful that we must build walls against immigrants, nor so intolerant that we will shut our doors against neighbors who are not exactly like the rest of us. Read More
We are not so shallow that we care only for wealth, nor so short-sighted that we will destroy the only Earth we have to obtain it.
We are not so fearful that we must build walls against immigrants, nor so intolerant that we will shut our doors against neighbors who are not exactly like the rest of us. Read More
I'm Sticking with NoteWorthy Composer. Here's Why.
December 21, 2017
(NOTE: if you are a non-musician, you may safely ignore this post.)
(ADDITIONAL NOTE: Noteworthy did not pay me to write this.)
If you are a musician in today's world, you use music notation software. That is a given. You may still use staff paper and a pencil to write down your ideas, or even to compose whole pieces; but if you are going to share them with the world, the world will expect the scores you produce to be computer-engraved. From this it follows that, when musicians gather, sooner or later the conversation will always get around to Read More
(ADDITIONAL NOTE: Noteworthy did not pay me to write this.)
If you are a musician in today's world, you use music notation software. That is a given. You may still use staff paper and a pencil to write down your ideas, or even to compose whole pieces; but if you are going to share them with the world, the world will expect the scores you produce to be computer-engraved. From this it follows that, when musicians gather, sooner or later the conversation will always get around to Read More
Of The People, By The People, and For The People
October 27, 2017
I am a former government worker.
That's not a confession, that's a point of pride. I was a librarian; I worked for a county library system. For eighteen years, I helped people find information they needed in a collection of books and journals and other documents which they owned but Read More
That's not a confession, that's a point of pride. I was a librarian; I worked for a county library system. For eighteen years, I helped people find information they needed in a collection of books and journals and other documents which they owned but Read More
Wake-Up Call
October 12, 2017
Are we awake yet?
As I write this, there are 22 wildfires raging - that word is accurate - raging through California's Sonoma and Napa valleys and the eastern part of the Central Valley, along the base of the Sierra. At least 3500 homes and businesses have been destroyed. Thousands of people have been evacuated, including the entire city of Calistoga. Much of Santa Rosa is in rubble. The official death toll currently stands at 23, and authorities expect that to rise "significantly" when they are able to go into areas that are currently quite literally too hot to enter.
Two days ago, the smoke from those fires briefly reached my home in Oregon, 400 miles to the north, driving air pollution counts into the "unhealthy for sensitive groups" range for Read More
As I write this, there are 22 wildfires raging - that word is accurate - raging through California's Sonoma and Napa valleys and the eastern part of the Central Valley, along the base of the Sierra. At least 3500 homes and businesses have been destroyed. Thousands of people have been evacuated, including the entire city of Calistoga. Much of Santa Rosa is in rubble. The official death toll currently stands at 23, and authorities expect that to rise "significantly" when they are able to go into areas that are currently quite literally too hot to enter.
Two days ago, the smoke from those fires briefly reached my home in Oregon, 400 miles to the north, driving air pollution counts into the "unhealthy for sensitive groups" range for Read More
Smoke
September 5, 2017
As of last night, there were 1,194 wildfires burning in the United States, almost all of them in the West. Most of them are in the five states that form the western and northern border of the West: California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana. Yosemite National Park is burning. Glacier National Park is burning. Crater Lake National Park is burning. The Columbia Gorge is burning. The Columbia Gorge fire was caused by some idiots playing with fireworks, but almost all the rest have been caused by lightning. Record heat and lack of rain have turned the western forests into a tinderbox. Thunderstorms have intensified in recent years. We are currently living with the result.
More than 100 of those 1,194 wildfires are within 80 miles of my home Read More
More than 100 of those 1,194 wildfires are within 80 miles of my home Read More
Take One Consideration With Another
August 19, 2017
When a felon's not engaged in his employment,
Or maturing his felonious little plans,
His capacity for innocent enjoyment
Is just as great as any honest man's.
When the coster's finished jumping on his mother,
How he loves to lie a-basking in the sun;
Ah, take one consideration with another,
A policeman's lot is not a happy one.
-- W. S. Gilbert
The Pirates of Penzance
So Steve Bannon is out of the White House. I should be cheering. After all, I've wanted him out from the moment he walked in. The choice of a major alt.right guru like Bannon as his chief strategist was among the first indications from Donald Trump that he had no intention Read More
Love and Diarrhea
August 13, 2017
We have been dealing with a sick cat. Rosie, our Siamese-tortoiseshell mix, has been suffering from episodic diarrhea and vomiting for the last two weeks. All will be well for several days, and then she will go through eight to twelve hours of shooting from both ends. Usually in one of the carpeted areas of the house. Usually coming on too quickly for her to get to a litter box.
OK. We plan to take her to the vet tomorrow morning. But first, this story.
Saturday was one of her bad days. The messes on the carpet began appearing Read More
OK. We plan to take her to the vet tomorrow morning. But first, this story.
Saturday was one of her bad days. The messes on the carpet began appearing Read More
I Always Think there's a Band
July 6, 2017
Toward the end of the fabulous 1962 motion picture production of Meredith Willson's The Music Man, there's a line - almost a throwaway line - that brilliantly sums up the secret behind every successful con. It comes as Professor Harold Hill, the flim-flam man who's just about wrapped up one more town-load of Read More