LAmom

GHOSTS

Jonathan at The Gridbook Blog writes eloquently about the images of beauty and vitality that we can see on film, preserved images of people who have long ago stopped looking the way they looked then.

This very same thought has been on my mind through this Christmas season.  During Christmas, we hear in the air all around us the voices of the dead.  They're still instantly recognized and they still feel personal, even though the owners of the voices are long gone.  Bing Crosby, Karen Carpenter, sounding so vibrant and alive, walking with you through the mall, visiting you in your bedroom.  The ghosts of holidays past.

DISHES I HAVE EATEN RECENTLY

• Sauteed zucchini
• Grilled squash
• Scrambled eggs with shredded zucchini
• Pasta with chunks of squash
• Crockpot chicken with squash
• Chicken and squash soup
• Zucchini walnut muffins
• Stuffed squash

Right now, there's a squash casserole in the oven.

IT'S MOTHER'S DAY AGAIN

This is a re-run of the Mother's Day post I wrote last year.  Sad to say, it's just as relevant now as it was then.

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Read the Mother's Day Proclamation of Julia Ward Howe, the originator of the holiday.  I'm planning to make copies of it to pass out on Mother's Day:

(excerpt)
From the voice of a devastated Earth a voice goes up with
Our own. It says: "Disarm! Disarm!
The sword of murder is not the balance of justice."
Blood does not wipe our dishonor,
Nor violence indicate possession.
As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil
At the summons of war,
Let women now leave all that may be left of home
For a great and earnest day of counsel.
Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.
Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means
Whereby the great human family can live in peace...

This weekend is all about me, right?  Mom's special day.  Thank you so much for thinking of me.  Here I am, sitting up in bed, plumped up pillows all around me, eating breakfast from a tray table with a little vase holding a red rose.  And you all want to shower me with gifts. You are so kind, really you are.  So what does LAmom want for Mother's Day?  I'm sure you'll think of something nice that will make me feel cherished . . .

• A racial truce in Los Angeles?  Oh, that would be lovely!

• A moratorium on the death penalty?  How thoughtful!

• Nuclear disarmament?  Ooh, I've wanted one of those for as long as I can remember!  I know there are a lot of newer gift ideas out there, but this one never goes out of style.  It would be prized for generations to come.

• A plan for cleaning up the mess we've made in Iraq? Hmmm, the one you gave me last year isn't working that well.  You can give me another one if you like, but what really needs to be addressed is your behavior problem.  First, you need to apologize for making the mess and apologize for lying to Mommy, OK?  When you're ready to talk, I'll be here.

• A culture of life?  I've been hearing that that's the hot gift for this year, but there are some defective models on the market.  Don't blow this!  If you decide to get me one, do take some of my friends along when you go shopping.

See?  I'm not so hard to please.

Happy Mother's Day to me and to all of the other moms out there.  I hope you get something that's on your list.

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(excerpt)
From the voice of a devastated Earth a voice goes up with
Our own. It says: "Disarm! Disarm!
The sword of murder is not the balance of justice."
Blood does not wipe our dishonor,
Nor violence indicate possession.
As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil
At the summons of war,
Let women now leave all that may be left of home
For a great and earnest day of counsel.
Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.
Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means
Whereby the great human family can live in peace...

This weekend is all about me, right?  Mom's special day.  Thank you so much for thinking of me.  Here I am, sitting up in bed, plumped up pillows all around me, eating breakfast from a tray table with a little vase holding a red rose.  And you all want to shower me with gifts. You are so kind, really you are.  So what does LAmom want for Mother's Day?  I'm sure you'll think of something nice that will make me feel cherished . . .

• A racial truce in Los Angeles?  Oh, that would be lovely!

• A moratorium on the death penalty?  How thoughtful!

• Nuclear disarmament?  Ooh, I've wanted one of those for as long as I can remember!  I know there are a lot of newer gift ideas out there, but this one never goes out of style.  It would be prized for generations to come.

• A plan for cleaning up the mess we've made in Iraq? Hmmm, the one you gave me last year isn't working that well.  You can give me another one if you like, but what really needs to be addressed is your behavior problem.  First, you need to apologize for making the mess and apologize for lying to Mommy, OK?  When you're ready to talk, I'll be here.

• A culture of life?  I've been hearing that that's the hot gift for this year, but there are some defective models on the market.  Don't blow this!  If you decide to get me one, do take some of my friends along when you go shopping.

See?  I'm not so hard to please.

Happy Mother's Day to me and to all of the other moms out there.  I hope you get something that's on your list.

REAL LOVE

When he comes home bruised and stiff from bumping into a bleacher, and you're exhausted because you spent the day driving all over town as usual, and then spent the afternoon in the emergency room with a frightened 13-year-old, and you realize that there's no way you're going to be able to do the things you had tried to plan for the evening, and you rub his bruised and aching back for him, and he sits through The Daily Show without complaining because he knows you love it even though he hates it, and then you lay down and just enjoy cuddling with him even though he smells like Ben-Gay, and you both agree that it's still been a good Valentine's Day, that's real love.

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY, DR. KING

We've all been late remembering someone's birthday at one time or another, so I'm sure you'll understand.  Real life has been getting in the way of blogging, and may continue to do so through the month of January.

But Karama at So what can I do? wrote a great post, noting that the work Dr. King was working on at the time of his murder was an anti-poverty campaign.  Her suggestion is that we remember him by picking up where he left off.

IT'S REALLY JANUARY

The traditional January rainstorms have begun.  I haven't heard, though, whether we're expecting this year's rainy season to be heavy or light.  Yesterday, we were without electricity for most of the day.  The boy's actually enjoyed it -- being in the darkened house listening to the rainfall.  After it cleared up, Hubby saw a container that had been left outside being used as a birdbath, but the rest of us missed it.

This morning, with the ground soaking wet, it was the perfect time to start preparing for this year's garden (you guys know how much I love the garden).  I really want to do it big this year.  I marked off a big section of the yard and started turning soil.  With no toddlers trying to eat dirt or pull up seedlings this time, it should be a little easier to focus.

It's time for another visit to my favorite seed source.  Squash, beans, and watermelon are calling my name.  Maybe I'll even try corn this year.  And I'm sure there will be some volunteer tomatoes that try to take over the garden (beware the Lycopersicon esculentum var. cerasiforme, give it an inch . . .).

APPROPRIATING HOLIDAYS -- HOW FAR CAN YOU GO?

I've never known much about Kwanzaa, but DL was asking me about it, so I started reading up.  I noticed on the Official Kwanzaa Website, that the biography of the holiday's founder, Maulana Karenga, read more like a resume than a bio.  Nothing about his life or background, just his achievements and his titles.  Well, it turns out that it's written that way because Karenga is a pretty bad dude, with a history of violence, mental troubles, and a strongly anti-religious viewpoint (I don't just mean non-religious, I mean ANTI-religious).  This guy holds absolutely no appeal for me.

The seven principles of Kwanzaa are Unity, Self-Determination, Collective Work and Responsibility, Cooperative Economics, Purpose, Creativity, and Faith.  These are attractive values, but Dr. Karenga interprets them in a racially divisive way.  Blacks vs. the world.

Is it possible for Kwanzaa to become mainstreamed?  To become a holiday that speaks to all people and unites instead of divides?  Dr. Karenga has already stepped back from his some of his early anti-religion pronouncements.  In 1977 he said, "Kwanzaa is not an imitation, but an alternative, in fact, an oppositional alternative to the spookism, mysticism and non-earth based practices which plague us as a people . . .", but by 1997 he was saying, "Kwanzaa was not created to give people an alternative to their own religion or religious holiday."  He must have figured out that his holiday would have no future if he alienated Christians, who are a majority of the African-American population.

But will Kwanzaa ever be expanded to have meaning for people of all races as well as religions?  I would love to see the principles discussed more, especially as they relate to geographic communities rather than racial ones.  But I doubt that Kwanzaa will be going in that direction as long as Dr. Karenga is alive and maintains his influence.  I would welcome it if the larger population did to Kwanzaa what the Christian church did to Saturnalia.  Until that happens, Kwanzaa will not be celebrated in my home.

MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYBODY!!

Hope everybody has a great Christmas.

Happy Hannukah, too!

We had a fabulous Christmas Eve with my folks.  I come from a family of seasoned choir members, so we do great carol singing, in four-part harmony.  Also, we're those annoying people who know ALL the verses to "Joy to the World" and "Silent Night".

Highlights of the gift exchange: DL and CL each got their own cell phones (on a pre-paid plan, natch).  All the kids got portable CD players from my parents (except BT, he got a cassette player).  And, of course, for JG and BT, more Rescue Heroes and more Tinkertoys.

Dinner was really great, if I may say so myself.  I never thought I would gush like this over something so simple, but this recipe absolutely lives up to its name: The Perfect Baked Potato.  They were like velvet, all the way through, and I had used really big potatoes.  The leg of lamb also rocked.

SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS PAST

Merry Christmas from my next door neighbors!
They always do it up.

 

 

Here are links to the Christmas posts I made last year:

Christmas is coming -- Links to a couple of absolutely hilarious posts from kj4ever about her experiences with store Santas.

All I want for Christmas -- Link to Drina's wish list last year.

That which is conceived in her . . . -- A post about bringing forth whatever God has put in you.

Some Christmas music -- A song from Tim Samoff, and a couple of mine.

Just for fun -- A song parody.

This year, we've been invited out to my Grandmother's house in San Bernardino on Christmas Day, so we're having my parents and brother (Greg) over for dinner and gift-exchanging on Christmas Eve (don't know if Tom and Jessica and the new baby will be able to come).  Greg missed out on the leg of lamb last year, so I'm going to make it again, along with baked potatoes, Greek salad, lemon cake and Urban Legend Cookies.

UBER STEVE ON THE CHRISTMAS WARS

Then I get to my church, which is usually a safe respite from the 700 Club Talking Points Memos, just in time to hear an admonishment to do my Christmas shopping at stores that share my values. This is the point where the absurdity of it all really hits home for me.  I've never heard anyone at any so-called mainstream Christian church admonish me not to shop at stores that exploit their workers, employ children at slave wages, use sweat shops- these are actually things that would challenge me to go beyond my own convenience and self-serving habits, and not coincidentally, they are the kinds of things that Jesus seemed to have some opinions on (if I remember correctly, He was against them). But maybe in one of those apocryphal gospels there's a passage where Jesus warns the disciples, "Oh, be wary of those who, when trying to sell you goods at cut-rate prices for a celebration that is ostensibly in my name, fail to adequately cite me as the purpose for that celebration."

Here's the whole post.