Overheard on the Aerial Tram in Palm Springs.

British guy (very British, voice dripping with disdainful smugness and a cultured pretension several centuries in the making), to the British guy next to him: They don’t really DO food in this country, do they? I mean, it’s just the same burger place one after another.

Really British? Really? Americans don’t do food? This from the nation which has provided the world with such wondrous culinary inventions as “Brown Stuff with Gray Sauce” and potatoes with sausage. Or sausage. And let’s call it a “Banger” just to make it snappy!!!! AND SPOTTED DICK!!!! Really?!?!? Maybe if there wasn’t anything except a hamburger patty drenched in off-white gravy goo…

Went to an indian casino in Palm Springs for lunch today. Paul put $2 in a deuces wild poker machine. I bet 25 cents and got dealt a straight flush and made three bucks (a profit of 1200%). I cashed out immediately and later spent my winnings on a pretty beverage at the top of the aerial tram. Hahahahaha. Stick it to the (casino) man.

Several years ago, we started writing down amusing phrases as proferred by witty friends and family. This maybe have represented a reprisal of a “Book of Funny Things” Paul made for Lori in 1998 so she could record hilarious things he said. She never wrote anything in it.

So occasionally we tack up a few good one-liners we’d like to remember on our fridge. Two for you today, only one of which requires explanation: No one in scenario the first is a racist. Someone is, though, a master of utterly random humor. C.L., I’ll delete this post if it embarrasses you.

Someone at In-N-Out (I can’t remember who) making unrequested moral judgments about C.L.’s side dish order : I don’t really like “Animal Style” fries.

C. L. : Yeah? Well I don’t really like black people.

From 4/12/2009, Paul describing I can’t really remember what:

“It’s funky…like your grandma’s monkey.”

In finishing up my preparations for the upcoming exam, I have had opportunity to realize that courage is not a trait of which I possess massive amounts. Maybe that’s the point, maybe no one comes by it easily. It’s a thing to be decided on and stuck to against your fears and against opposition. That’s what makes it, well, courageous.

But I also wonder if this isn’t a value which we hear about much less frequently in our generation and times. Authenticity, needs gratification, pluralism, and a bunch of other hyper-pychotherappy buzz words/values seem cool and acceptable, but courage rarely makes an appearance on the scene, except dressed in caricature as a reckless belligerent or fool. Courage seems gauche and, worst of all, insensitive. It dares to engage in non-PC acts such as being confident in the pursuit of an objective with which others might disagree. It dares to stop worrying about feelings, and to act according to conscience. It knows when to stop listening to the little groups of naysayers and when to make an advance.

Not sure what that has to do with test anxiety really, except to say that there’s no risk to courage. So why not be bold?

Summer adds enjoyment to things. I’m at home studying for licensure exam (T-minus 9 days) with the tiny bedroom air conditioner on, drinking a diet DP, and thinking my life ain’t half bad. As with most good things, I am never quite sure whether it is the actuality or the anticipation I enjoy more. A warm day conjures up memories of 4th of July BBQ’s (I didn’t get to attend the Yost’s last year due to internship! Am overdue), dinner on the back porch, bocce and washer toss, swimmin’ pools, days at the beach, BIKERIDES (marauding herds of beach cruisers), chats over FroYo, late night puzzle composition parties, and glasses of frosty beverages on porches. I’m realizing as I type that I didn’t just miss one BBQ last summer. In reality, we spent all of our best socializing months last year solo in SD. Lots of folks visited, but it just wasn’t the same. A worthwhile price to pay for the opportunity to finish the degree, and finish well, but it means I’ve got at least two summers’ worth of fun to have in the company of friends and family. Maybe I’m nostalgic because Pandora is playing “In the Waiting Line” by Zero 7 (you’ll recognize it, not sure from where), or maybe because–keep your hair on–this is the first summer in my entire life (if you don’t count before age 3) during which I will be completely free from the demands of school. No dissertation marring my freedom, or fall classes to haunt my relaxation. Just good clean summer. Which is a freedom and feeling I find difficult to describe, but I’m pretty sure it feels like cold lemonade by a pool. It’s summer, dammit, once and for all.

When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”

They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.

To the God who breaks bread with us, breaks our expectations, and breaks with changing power into our lives we give praise.

Am busy being dead blog recently. Have felt very little compulsion to use the internets lately. Anyone else feeling similarly? I think it’s mostly being busy–with loads of fun stuff (dancing, hanging with Jr. High students at church, etc.) and also some studying for licensure exam, which will officially be taken on April 21.

So consider this my own notification of my dead-blogness. And sorry I’m not commenting on any of your blogs.

Every time Ray goes to feed the chickens, I imagine its a little something like this.

Ray = Gonzo.

As you may know, 7-11 has been developing their name as a purveyor of fine wines and, to that end, will be sponsoring the annual California Vintner’s Association conference in Napa this spring. In order to educate and assist shoppers from all walks of life, particularly those who are new to the world of wine, in selecting the best wine to pair with a fine meal (perhaps some supreme omelette taquitos), a brief, in-store tutorial has been developed. Please enjoy.

*Please Note: The writer of this blog endorses neither the math, nor the apparent recommended serving, involved in the final photograph.

It’s been difficult for me to decide who to honor with association to those hilarious balcony critics, Statler and Waldorf. The fact that I loved their sarcasm and derision even as a young child probably suggests a great deal about my character, but lovable they are.

I have so many friends with a well-developed level of sarcasm and satire, I had a hard time choosing. After much deliberation, I think there can be no disagreement that they remind one of Robert T and his good buddy Jason B. You may not know the latter well, but you should.

The full video clip apparently exists nowhere on the internets, but the audio ain’t bad. Enjoy.