The Grammy's of 2017

The outfits were too skimpy, too sparkly, too revealing, too oddly colorful, too outlandish--
what happened to just looking nice, wearing your good dress up clothes and not simply going for the outrageous look.

I can't really comment on the music as that, for the most part, left me behind two decades ago. Certainly many of the performers are talented but I can't listen to the music they make without cringing. That even goes for the new country stars--it all sounds so whiny to me. And this from someone who likes country music.

Some of the songs went on and on and on and I couldn't decipher a single word being said. Apparently several were political in tone but you couldn't prove it by me. Beyonce's thing was overblown and heavy on theatrics, less on music but the critics apparently loved it. I didn't get it.

Sometimes I feel more like an old fuddy dud than usual. And truly, while watching the Grammy Awards, I exhibited every caricature of a stuffed shirt. I tsk'd, I harrumphed, I snorted my derision, and I crowed repeatedly to my son how much better music was in "my day". I lifted my ear horn and squinted at the screen for almost two of the four hours of the show and then had had enough. Off I went to put on my nightcap and soothe myself with a little Johnny Cash. How did I get so old?

Hope in these times

For some of us, it's been tough to stay hopeful in these political times.

The rancor of the long campaign, the fear of the continued inability of congress to work together, the ongoing stoking of fear of people who practice a different religion (or none) or who weren't born here or have a different color of skin--all these weigh us down. The maddening rantings of the political commentators on both sides tire us out. Even the people who are happy with the election results continue to be angry. It can make a person want to take a Rip Van Winkle length nap.

But, I think politics are inevitable and important. I think democracy (or a republic as we have) is a superior form of government. I think these tough times are a natural part of the cycle of all societies. Our fortune in the United States is that the cycles are relatively short--our good times come around more often and our bad times don't last for decades. Sometimes when things are dark, it can be helpful to take a longer view.

These words from Melville's Moby Dick are as relevant today as when written in 1856.

"Take shelter from the storm; stay not too long in the sun. Prayer is the shelter from despair; good work for others is the obligation of joy at home."

...this life

I like cookbooks. I have too many cookbooks. I hardly ever use any of them and have never used a couple of them. And yet, like a child drawn to brightly colored cereal boxes on the lower shelves at the grocery stores, I'm drawn to them at the bookstores and I keep buying them, and like the boxes of cereal that sit on the shelf, tried but left to get stale, so do my cookbooks.

What they are is a symbol of the life I imagine I want to be living.

In my real life, the dishes are mismatched, the napkins are the cheapest I can buy, and you might have to fill your plate in the kitchen and carry it to the dining room table yourself. Most likely the meal will be one I've made a hundred, if not thousand, times before. There's a high probability it will contain ground beef and/or cream of something soup. Its a good day when I remember vegetables and a really good day when they're fresh (not canned or frozen).

I want to be a better cook. I want to produce pretty as a picture meals. I want to make each get together with friends a culinary event to remember. The cookbooks are full of possibilities. They are a subtle form of self help book -- buy this, read this, do this and this beautiful, tastefully arranged life can be yours.

Like all self help books, reading the book is enough isn't it? You don't really have to do the work.