I'm a Writer-Dad

I got an E-mail from Zook Book Nook indicating that they will be mentioning my blog on a Tuesday Tribute. It is always an honor to be mentioned— and even more humbling to be mentioned by someone you did not know you had an impact on. Be sure to check out what they have to say http://zookbooknook.blogspot.com. And be sure to go to SevEn cLoWn CirCuS for more tributes as well.

I'll see you on the Radio

When my wife and I got cable we got hooked on many of the new channels out there. I am not sure at what point we realized that the one of the CAN (Cable Access Network) channels also played the public radio station.

The way this channel works is that there is a program which shows a listing of options that you can call a local number and enter that number you see on the screen to find out more information. Pretty slick— but since there is no sound associated with the listing, the station chooses to broadcast one of the local radio stations as background noise. What is great is that we can just turn on the TV and turn on the CAN station and listen to the public radio station.

You can find us turning on the TV on a Saturday Morning and listening to Car Talk, then Wait Wait… Don't Tell Me!— then in the evening, we'll watch/listen to Prairie Home Companion. In fact there were some times when we knew we would miss one of our favorite radio shows, so we queued up the VCR and taped the show.

Does anybody else have something like this with their TV.

F2: Corn Chowder

Welcome again to Friday's Feast. Today I'll be sharing one of my recipes. If you don't know what Friday's Feast is all about, please read the Friday's Feast page for a more detailed explanation. If you want to join in on the feast, be sure to leave a comment and include the URL to your post so I and others can know of your contribution.

Participants in this weeks Feast are as follows:

• Tony @ That one particular harbor
  Sushi… who doesn't like sushi.
• SweetPeaSurry @ A Pinch of This and a Dash of That
  Cheese… what more can I say.
• m²I @ Ca-Joh
  The other chowder recipe of mine.
• m²I @ Ca-Joh
  Something to do with those pesky potato skins.

---

With inspirations from Mrs. Mackinac…

My wife tends to correct me on this one because I tend to get it confused with Kat's Clam Chowder. I decided to write it down so that I wouldn't forget. Serves 4-6.

Corn Chowder:

3-4 Slices of Salt Pork

1-2 Medium Yellow Onions

3-4 Medium Idaho Potatoes

1 14oz can of Creamed Corn

1½C Milk

1. Cut Salt Pork into ⅛" (1cm) cubes.
   When cutting the Salt Pork, be sure to remove the rind.
2. Add the salt pork to a small frying pan over medium heat.
3. While the salt pork is cooking… peel and chop the onions into similar sized pieces as the salt pork.
4. Once the salt pork is brown, remove from the pan and set aside on a paper towl.
   Do not drain or turn off heat.
5. Add the onions to the frying pan and continue to cook until transparent.
   Remove from heat when finished.
6. Peel and dice the potatoes.
7. Add potatoes to a soup pot.
8. Add enough water to cover potatoes.
9. Cover and bring to a gentle boil, then simmer on low.
10. When potatoes are tender, add the salt pork, onions, and creamed corn.
11. Using the creamed corn can, add a can's worth of milk to the pot and continue to simmer on low.
    be sure to stir to avoid a skin

    There is no need to add salt because there is enough salt in the salt pork.

12. Enjoy

There's a new blog in Town

My apologies for putting the song New Kid in Town by the Eagles in your head…

If any of you are not aware, there is a blog feature called "He Blogs, She Blogs" currently being run by Petra @ The Wise (*Young*) Mommy, and Captain Dumbass @ Us and Them where people submit questions and they both give their unique take on the questions independently. Well, they have put their collective talents together and have combined forces to take that feature to the next level.

Both Petra and the Captain are talented writers who write with wit and humor. If you ever want to know how the other half thinks… this is a good blog to follow. Since they are just starting out, they need material to post with. Be sure to visit He Blogs, She Blogs and send them your questions.

The Older Woman

It's just a jump to the left… and then a step to the right.

As some of you already know, I am a contributor over at In The Real World Venus vs. Mars. Today I will be talking about the differences in age between my wife and I. Please stop by and read my post called Generation Gap— and while you're at it, continue to read as there are several others who contribute with great articles as well.

P.S.— I noticed that comments are not e-mailed to me from that site. So after jumping over there, be sure to leave a comment there and step back here and let me know as well.

The Long Rain

In college English class I was given an assignment to write a review. I wrote the following:

---

Have you ever wondered what it would feel like if you suddenly lost all control over your environment? So much so that you wonder if there will ever be relief?

This is what Ray Bradbury accomplishes in his short story entitled "The Long Rain". The story is about a party of men who crash land on Venus and must endure both the continuous rain on the planet, and the continuous frustration involved in finding their way to the only shelter in the 'Sun-dome'. Bradbury uses these two elements of rain and frustration simultaneously to show how the lack of control affects the characters of the story. But Bradbury also gives the reader this same feeling through his style of writing. This feeling makes the reader a victim of the same fate as the characters and adds a unique twist to the way the story is read.

Bradbury first victimizes us (the reader and the characters) with continuous rain. This is set in the first scene, abruptly and without any development like a dam breaking. After the abrupt beginning, he continues to constantly drown us in his "wet-world" throughout the story. There is always some form of reference to rain or water in every paragraph to which he never lets up to give the reader a break.

The second way Bradbury victimizes us is through the demoralizing conflicts that build up pressure throughout the story. At first the conflicts are simple fatigue and frustration from being in the rain too long; but eventually these conflicts escalate into more complex and demoralizing problems such as mutiny, insanity and even euthanasia. Once these climactic problems are reached, the reader, as well as the characters has no where else to go. And ending of relief is inevitable… or is it?

The dream-like ending Bradbury gives leaves the reader up in the air because one never knows if the party actually reached their goal, or if it is just another mirage. In my opinion, this unrealistic sense of relief further drains the reader from any remaining hope of control and leaves the reader with a need for a more solid, if not a more realistic ending.

In effect, this ending accomplishes Bradbury's initial attempt at creating a no-way-out situation, which makes this short story more of an experience in the form of literary escapism. For instead of trying to escape into the story— the reader is now trying to escape from the story. A unique twist to a unique story.

---

I indicated on my paper that I wasn't quite sure if I got the assignment right since it didn't seem like a review to me. When the professor sat down with me, they indicated that they were considering giving me an A, but decided to give me a C because they did not think that I wrote it. Pretty sad that when you think you got the assignment wrong you get it totally right— but wind up getting it wrong anyway because the teacher did not think you had it in you to write something well.

F2: Bulk Limits

Welcome again to Friday's Feast. Today I'll be telling a story about my experience with a shopping cart. If you don't know what Friday's Feast is all about, please read the Friday's Feast page for a more detailed explanation. If you want to join in on the feast, be sure to leave a comment and include the URL to your post so I and others can know of your contribution.

---

When I was a bachelor I did not have a car. Because of this I carried all of my groceries from the store to my apartment. Whenever I went shopping in the grocery store I used to have what I called my "bulk limit"— which was the point where carrying the groceries would be too much to handle if I exceeded it. Typically I would say to myself: "oh… reached my bulk limit"— then stopped shopping and proceeded to the checkout counter.

I bought a shopping cart so that I wouldn't be so tired carrying the groceries home. The first time I had my cart I hung the shopping cart on the front of the grocery cart and proceeded to do my grocery shopping. When I started reaching my usual bulk limit, I kept telling myself "I have enough room…" and continued shopping.

By the time I decided to go to the checkout counter I realized that I may have picked out too many groceries. Fortunately, one of the managers assisted in packing the groceries into my shopping cart and did an excellent job. They packed the shopping cart in layers using paper bags as a wall and built it up inside the cart. Once it was finished I had a neatly packed cart which filled the cart to the top with groceries.

When I carried my groceries I used to give a gauge such as a dollar a pound to justify the heaviness of the groceries. I'm sure I needed a new gauge for when I carted this load home. Maneuvering the cart was pretty easy overall. Most of the sidewalks did not have curbs at the end of them— but rather had a handicap slope which allowed me to roll the card onto the street. But there were some curbs which did not have those handicap slopes and I found out just how heavy the cart really was.

By the time I got to my apartment I was pretty tired— but not as tired as I would be when I finally got my groceries home. At the time I lived on the third floor of a three story walk-up. WALK-UP… do you know what that means? That means that there is NOT an elevator. That means that you have to walk up four flights of stairs to get to the top. It really meant that it took me longer to get the cart up the stairs than it did to walk the cart home from the store. I really meant that I had to lift the cart up every single stair and worried about pulling my back out after each flight. It really meant that I was never going to be ignoring my bulk limit again.