Interesting factoid learned while doing legal research today:
Use of the term ‘spam’ as Internet jargon for this seemingly ubiquitous junk e-mail arose out of a skit by the British comedy troupe Monty Python, in which a waitress can offer a patron no single menu item that does not include Spam . . . Hormel Food Corporation, which deputed its SPAM luncheon meat in 1937, has dropped any defensiveness about this use of the term and now celebrates its product with a website.
Announced to a flight full of people whose original flight from San Francisco was cancelled and who were rebooked on a flight which left an hour later, “Thank you for flying with us today. We are happy to inform you that we have arrived 12 minutes early.”
In airline-speak, if your original flight is cancelled and the new, later flight arrives early, you are early. And don’t you believe anything else!
A friend from Ohio had occasion to work in Los Angeles for a summer a few years back. When I visited with her half way through her stint, I asked her what she had observed about my hometown.
She mentioned all of the westside restaurants she’d gone to and the fabulous homes she’d seen, but noted with interest that she was most impressed by the purple trees.
As we drove around Pasadena, she couldn’t get over the color these trees added and couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d been missing out on something her whole life because she’d gone 30 years without seeing such a tree.
Well, it’s that season again. Here are the jacarandas and a picture of how they make it look like California has purple snow in the summertime (ok, you can’t exactly make snow angels, but the flowers do cover up the grass nicely).
I know how to deal with roosters in the neighborhood. Woodpeckers–not so much.
Enlarged:
I don’t know if it’s the expected reaction to the trend El Chavo spotted a few months ago or a teenage girl’s way of making her quinceañera green. In either event, I don’t like being behind it for two miles on Florence while the girl gets to St. Matthias.
I am day late on this question of the day, but here it is:
In five words or less, who are you?
the President decided to use his constitutional pardon power to pardon all undocumented people living in the United States as of today? Can you imagine the use of that power to better the state of human rights in the U.S.? Can you imagine this president having that as his legacy?
This is the poem on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty:
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
The added emphasis is mine, because the words seem appropriate to call out these days.
I am not the “let’s see who eats the most chicken wings” kind of person.
I also don’t particularly care for being the “world’s most prolific Nathan’s hot dog eater.”
But there are two things for which I will binge.
The first is carne asada. I don’t care if I’m 5’6″ and female. I will take on my 6′ 2″, former football player, brother-in-law in a carne asada-fest any day. I always lose, but that just means I train for next year’s attempt at the “Who Can Eat The Most Poundage” title.
The second is sushi or sashimi. I didn’t start eating either until law school, when my college roommate (who was also living in New York) introduced me to the wonders of 50% off night.
“Sushi Deluxe!” Kelly and I delighted in saying. And everytime, as the 14 pieces were placed before us, a mysterious force reminded us to pace ourselves so we could enjoy a few solid hours of good food and amusing conversation.
Well, I’m all grown up now and have been perfecting my bulk eating habits. So last night, when the menu at Sambi’s of Tokyo (in Downey) came, I knew what had to happen.
ICE BOAT FOR THREE!!!
(aerial view)
(side view)
I think the Royal Caribbean of sashimi boats had 56 pieces of sashimi on it, and although I’d like to say that I ate it all myself, I didn’t. My good friend, Bill, helped me out. We had every last piece, although one piece of yellowfish tried to prevent its fate by casting itself overboard.
I’d also like to believe that we made the other entrees at the table feel puny and inferior (including the one ordered by our boss, who’s promotion we happened to be celebrating).
Take that boss man!
A friend celebrated her 70-something birthday recently, and a group of us took her out to brunch, with mariachis included.
Again I was reminded of how much I enjoy watching people listen to mariachi music. Yes, I did say “enjoy watching people listen.” I’m not a mariachi expert by any stretch of the imagination. I’ve got the couple of songs I like, but I don’t know the repertoire. It is a fault I try to address by committing to memory new songs whenever I can remember them.
But at the brunch, I watched my friend enjoy the mariachis. She listened to the music, and smiled, not an “I’m enjoying this moment now” smile, but a smile that revealed she was in a different place in time. It could have been a dance in her pueblo, surrounded by sisters and friends. It could have been a morning birthday serenade of her youth.
It was definitely a time before the U.S., before kids, when she was (I’m sure) mischievous and a great dancer.
The whole scene just reminded me how much I enjoying watching music and made me wonder if I get the same funny look on my face when anything 80s plays.
Three tunes got me through today’s workout:
Mexican Mother’s Day is always May 10. American Mother’s Day is May 13, this year. My mother is Mexican, but has spent most of her life in America. The duality of her cultural experience, and the fact that she raised us on her own, makes her feel entitled to two full Mother’s Days. I don’t dispute that she deserves (at least) two days in her honor and so, we’ll celebrate the second day tomorrow. Since some of you have read stories about my mom, here, here, and here, I thought I’d add some photos for you to put with the tales.
So I’ll admit it, my favorite channel is the Food Network. I’ll watch “Good Eats,” “Unwrapped,” and any other show detailing the history of food for hours every couple of days.
Perhaps that’s why I found the potato chip saga at Your Daily Awesome so wonderful.
The hills above Los Angeles are burning tonight. Here’s what they looked like (from the northeast) at sunset.
I taught about a quarter mile from the fire that burned through Pasadena’s Kineloa Canyon over a decade ago. At one point, the teacher in the room next door to me came into my classroom and said, “Can you watch my class, I have to go home. I just saw my husband on tv and he announced that our home had just burned.”
I hope the winds don’t shift tonight and force that experience on someone else.
© Laura Genao 2007
I’m not sure why, but lately this line from “What’s Happening?” has been running around in my head.
“No Roger, no Rerun, no rent! No Roger, no Rerun, no rent!” From the episode teaching the power of economic boycotts.
I loved that show. My sister thought she was Dee. I thought she was Rerun.
© Laura Genao 2007
The elevators at work are being replaced. The first couple (of 12) were put in service about a month ago. Today I noticed that, off in a corner, the new elevators contain at least one button that the old ones did not. That button just doesn’t bode well for the future of those riding in these cars.
© Laura Genao 2007
If you grew up bilingual, you know the amusement that comes from words and concepts that get mangled in the language divide.
Among my favorites:
© Laura Genao 2007
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Lo Que Dijeron