mycalicocat

Gruntled and I saw a car today that had:

1. A magnetic American flag sticker on the back with "support our troops" beneath it.
2. Another to match on the driver's door.
3. A blue "ribbon" magnet that said "Stop child abuse."
4. A back seat full of stuff that shouts "mom's car."
5. A bumper sticker that said "Hillary Clinton for President 2008."

It isn't exactly that I want the Senator as President. It is, pretty exactly, that there are women with flags on their cars ready to say it would be a big step up for the country, and that makes me grin.

(I am sure I know the person who owns that car, and I'll report back when Beau and I figure out who she is.)

The Queen of Sheba and I took a long ride around the countryside today. You can see the pictures (most of them by the Queen, some by me) at a new blog at ejcp.blogspot.com which I will make a link for at the left.

I ran across a website about mistaken beliefs of our childhood, and remembered this one of mine. I lost it at some point - whether through enlightenment or maturity, I don't know -- but it's still there in my head.

I was afraid of the dark -- and I thought of "the dark" and "the night" as the same thing, and that the reason closets and the places under the bed were dark during the day was that pieces of the night were stuck there. (i.e. couldn't get out to leave with the rest of the night) I don't remember thinking this out. It was just an assumption from a very early age.

Also, and I lay the blame squarely on the whole Santa Claus deal, I got the idea very early that there were some completely imaginary things that good children were supposed to believe in, and as long as you believed in them, or said you did, you were nice . (I wanted to be nice) This included Santa, the Easter Bunny, and, unfortunately, Jesus and everything in the Bible. I don't mean I was a little atheist or that I thought anybody was lying or being hypocritical. I just thought it was part of being NICE PEOPLE to believe all of the above, and that the closer a person got to apparent total belief, the nicer they were. Or maybe there was some big boinnnggg! in your head at some point, and you absolutely believed everything from that point on. I didn't know until I went to Mercer that Jesus was an historical person -- and it was like WOW! Who knew?
p.s. I just realized that I used the term Nice several times there. Nice didn't mean kind or sweet or anything like that in my mind. It meant, sort of, socially acceptable and approved-of.
Also I remain surprised that children ask questions I never asked anybody anything after a certain age because I figured I'd get laughed at (problem with being a third kid) or that -- if it was something serious, they probably didn't know the answer or they would have mentioned it already.

Maybe I was a weird kid? Or does this ring any bells?

It's Friday. I had a graduation to cover, so my day ended after 7:30 p.m. This was at Westfield and they decided that since the air-conditioner in their auditorium was so noisy, they wouldn't run it. Aiiiieeee! People were standing outside to get cool. Anyway the kids were excited and happy.

High school graduations are, in a way, a big bore until the very end when the seniors come running out and toss their caps in the air, and hug each other, and watching it, you know something they haven't quite taken in yet -- which is that high school is really over when it's over, and graduating from high school is one of the really big transitions in life.

I mean that everything the boring speakers say is TRUE!! Goodbye, childhood.

That said, my idea of a perfect Friday night is one with nothing to do but stay home and decompress.

Tomorrow, however, I'll be ready to go and Queen of Sheba and I are going adventuring, which we will tell you all about later.

In the meantime, you'll see that I've moved some of the photos. I've set up a new blog named "This is My Town", which can be found at the link to the left -- perryga.blogspot.com. I'm hoping to get others to add to this blog, and may make still another about middle Georgia.

For a lot of my life, I lived in other states, and coming home, to me, always meant something like arriving in Macon. I meant that there's a geographical area for all of us that once we're in it, is totally familiar. We know landmarks, streets, roads, like the backs of our hands. The most familiar place in the world to me is Montezuma, which has the same houses along its main street that it had when I was growing up there and many of the same downtown buildings. I think maybe it's the background to a lot of my dreams, because it always seems to me that I was just there an hour ago.
I don't even mean I want to live there. I mean it's sort of the wallpaper of my mind, and also that the farm country, the creek bridges and river bridges of MaconCounty are, to me, sort of the way the world is supposed to look -- with everything else an interesting variation.
Is there a place like that for you?

And I say delicious.
The subject is now tomatoes.
Tomorrow morning I will be working on a food story about tomatoes. Some of you were in my poll a couple of years ago about how to make a tomato sandwich.
All tomato comments are invited.
Does vine-ripened really make a difference? Do you peel your tomatoes?
What's the best way to eat a tomato. Do you like the fried green ones?
What foods do summer tomatoes enhance?
Have you ever had one for breakfast with eggs and bacon?
Do you make your own salsa? Pico de gallo?
All comments welcome. Help me get creative here.
p.s. My blitz of showing off my new camera has now come to an end with the photos below, and the blog is back to blogging. This is not to say that there won't be occasional photos, but just that enough is maybe enough.

The roadside stand is open on Sam Nunn Blvd. The Queen of Sheba will be glad to know that they're still boiling peanuts.
Mr. Green says the early peaches are good, but I am distrustful and told him that I was waiting for the Elbertas.
He said that lots of people thought they were getting Elbertas when they weren't, and I said, "Not anybody from where I came from."
He's got Vidalias and Florida tomatoes and plums and all sorts of good stuff.

We've been talking about having a "This is My Town" photography show at the Arts Center. Here's one I might want to enter. They're getting ready to hang baskets of flowers on the lampposts on Carroll Street.

My new camera arrived and by the time I got the battery charged up, went out and bought the kind of memory card it had to have, and got it figured out, the sun was going down. All the same, I went out to take some pictures and ran into Amber Hunter. I happen to know Amber because I did a story about her once. She has aplastic anemia, and the last time I saw her, her face was moon-shaped from being on prednisone, and she was one sick little girl. So it was a happy occasion to see that she was doing so well. She was at the apartment complex visiting her grandmother (and walking her grandmother's dog), so she got to be the first person to be taken a photo of with my new camera. This picture is actually so many pixels could be blown up to poster size, but if I did that I couldn't get it on the blog.Anyway, I am enjoying my new toy.

The weekend having arrived, I will suggest some good things to eat that are easy to fix.

Texas caviar
2 cups cooked black eyed peas, well-drained
1 can white shoepeg corn, well-drained
1 can black beans, well-drained
1 green bell pepper, chopped fine1 Vidalia onion, chopped fine
2 roasted garlic cloves, chopped fine
Mix all together. Pour on a small bottle of Italian dressing and toss. Chill for a couple of hours at least. Serve with corn chips. (The scoops are best)
You can mix the veggies with salsa or pico de gallo instead of the Italian dressing. This is a recipe that can be adjusted any whichway you like.


Tuna Macaroni Salad
Depending on your point of view, this is tuna salad with macaroni added, or pasta salad with tuna added. Either way, it's cheap and good.

1 (12 ounce) package macaroni
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 tablespoons sweet pickle relish
1 (12 ounce) can tuna, drained
1 tablespoon Italian dressing
Sufficient mayonnaise to hold it all together

You can, of course, use ziti or rotini or shells or whatever. I like to sprinkle a can of sliced ripe olives on top. This is best the second day, and is great with sliced Vidalia onions and sliced REAL tomatoes.

I have added links again on the left, and will be glad to add more if anybody knows of a good site to share. Queen of Sheba has some good stuff, including, at the moment a photo of some indignant cows. (perhaps even mad cows) Note that Tina's will link you to her other blogs and way down at the bottom there's a link to her flickr site, which is very nice.
Gruntled's site always has some good reading on it, and you can jump in and argue with him and the other professorial people anytime.
Also, in case you haven't noticed, we have archives going back to October.

I took this picture today at Matt Arthur Elementary School, where I was doing a story on the new policy of serving less fat and sugar to kids. It just happened that a group of Pre-Ks came in right as I was leaving, and this is their reaction to the food that the nutrition director and I had been talking about so enthusiatically. All the same, it is WAY better than my school lunchroom, which always smelled like overcooked cabbage and always had milk that was lukewarm.

I'm up late reading the blog and waiting for the dryer to stop, because I've got to take my clothes out before I go to sleep or they will all be dryer-wrinkled.

I have bought myself a present in celebration of the 50th anniversary of my high school graduation -- a digital Nikon with a big zoom lens and all the bells and whistles.

I have to get one of those big black bags now.

I wrote sporcupine a 550 word justification for this purchase before I did it, and she said it was okay.

It was still fairly scary.

Do you procrastinate and if so, what kind of thing do you put off doing? Do you have any tips for dealing with procrastination?

Along the same lines, what are some of your best work habits -- i.e. things you have learned along the way that simplify your life or help you avoid chaos.

For myself, I tend to procrastinate about ordinary medical tests -- which is not because I'm afraid of them, but because they're a bother and hard to fit into my schedule, and I tend to run like a clockwork mouse from morning to evening and not want to do non-work things during the work day. Right now I'm putting off routine bloodwork because I don't want to go over to the hospital with no coffee in my system before going to to work.

Survival habits. I am not a morning person, so I never go to bed without having determined every stitch of clothing I'm going to wear in the morning.
Also an office rule that has stood me in good stead for years is simply to fill little bits of time with little bits of work.

Okay, you've read it before, but it bears rereading every decade or so (except of course the part about gracefully surrendering the things of youth)


Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons,they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself.Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantmentit is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.
Max Ehrmann, Desiderata, Copyright 1952

Our fearless leader asked a while back what people to do to let go of work.

I myself have the biggest kind of Friday coming: the long overdue end of a job that doesnt' fit any more. While I watch the clock and tend to closing tasks, I've remembered another major tactic for keeping proportion.

Play Fleetwood Mac music loud and long. I've downloaded to iTunes on my computer, and burned CDs for the house and the car.

Thunder only happens when it's raining
Players only love you when you're playing
Women, they will come and they will go
When the rain washes you clean, you will know.

If you go down, down, down to the earlier post about Endub's art show and look near the bottom of the story, you will find a place to click here, and it will take you to a site called Deviant Art where you may view more Endub works.

Yesterday I went to the Kick-Off Barbecue for Sonny Perdue's bid for a second term. The barbecue was grrrrrreat. Chicken, pulled pork and ribs, slaw and pasta salad, cornbread, the works. I saw all sorts of people like Big Bird himself, Ed Hawkins (below), innumerable minor candidates for minor offices, my boss, and even Ralphie Reed who was quietly campaigning while the guv was gladhanding. There was a band and they played Sonny-Be-Good and other well-known hits. It was very hot. There were speeches. Did I mention that the food was great.

Here is a a picture of Ralph Reed crashing Sonny's Barbecue kick-off. Surprisingly media persons were in his immediate vicinity.

U Unidentified couple leaves the big event with a week's supply of barbecue, baked beans and pasta salad. "He's got our vote!" they proclaimed.

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