~Inner Light~

In Memoriam of the life of George Harrison and the anniversary of his passing. As I wrote to him, "when the papers all say you have gone, I know you will have simply ascended to that cave high in the Himalayas and there one day I will find you sitting..."

This is my favourite Beatle George song. Appropriate for the first day of Advent.

Rest in Peace Baby Beatle George.

Betty's Cranberry Salad

For Thanksgiving I offer my recipe for this family favourite. I first got a taste of this sweetness back when I was a young working girl. Those halcyon days when I worked at Silvergate Savings in Ocean Beach. My supervisor, Betty Wilson, brought this to work one day and I think I've made it every year since. The tang of the fresh cranberries is tempered by the sweetness of the sugar and pineapple and marshmallows. Make this the night before to let the flavours marry for a delicious treat on your holiday table.

Rinse and drain the fresh cranberries.




Chop the cranberries in a food processor. Add sugar and refrigerate for one hour.



Once the sugar has macerated with the cranberries to create a lovely red syrup add the crushed pineapple (don't be a goof like me and forget to drain the pineapple - just saying).




Next stir in the sour cream and the chopped nuts. I know, you wouldn't think, but it does. Go figure.

Add the marshmallows. (My research shows that the amount of marshmallows called for is approximately two handfuls minus one mouthful. Your mileage may vary.)




Yummy!



I hope everyone has a safe and blessed Thanksgiving.


Betty’s Cranberry Salad

12 oz bag or .75 lb fresh cranberries, washed & drained
1 2/3 C. sugar
1 8 oz can crushed pineapple, drained
1 C. (or more if desired) miniature marshmallows
3/4 C. sour cream
½ C. chopped walnuts

Chop cranberries in food processor (1/2 at a time). Put in bowl and add sugar, let stand for one hour. Add pineapple, sour cream, marshmallows and nuts. Stir well. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

I just love this

Friday

A storm is blowing in. A flock of robins are enjoying the remains of a neglected grape vine in my neighbors backyard. They sense their next meal might not happen for another day or so. The cat and I watched this ballet from behind our rain speckled back door. It's quiet in my house. Fridays are like Saturdays with the man-child off of classes and me out of work. I'm really glad we've got a bit of rain coming. I'm feeling the urge to hibernate.

Sarah Palin for President...

I watched the Sarah Palin interview on Oprah yesterday. I couldn't help it. It was a train wreck waiting to happen. (I know perverse, huh?) Anyway, at the very least I expected to be entertained, and I was not let down... too much. Rest assured, I won't be buying the book, I doubt I will even read her ghost writer's purple prose and gleaning from the interview I don't expect I will miss much by giving it a pass. Anything truly revelatory will be plastered over the media anyway, so no worries there.

One thing I will give Palin a pass on is the Couric (who Palin calls "the perky one" in her Oprah interview - ahem, pot-kettle-black? but, I digress) interview. I never liked Ms. Couric from way back in her NBC days. I've always accused her of asking soft-ball questions and too often answering for or leading the very one she is supposed to be trying to elicit information from. Net = neutral.

But there is something I like about Parah Salin, I have to admit. As she is a shiny new vacuum for the American attention span I think she should get a talk show gig or something. Anything in which she does not have control over my country. Politics just doesn't suit her anyway, it's too confining for a rouge maverick such as she. I've got the perfect job for Ms. Palin! Give her the top spot at the NRA. Then she can still have the title, she can preach her passion and keep her ideology and dogma off of me and mine. (We'll save the 2nd amendment arguments for another day.)

I've nominated, can I get a second?

Where I was Thursday Night...

Ray Davies at the Warfield in San Francisco.

Here's the BritPop master singing about American bygone culture.



Always count on a good time when Ray Davies comes to town.

Thanks kingofthecastle7

Why I Wake Early
By Mary Oliver

Hello, sun in my face.
Hello, you who made the morning
and spread it over the fields
and into the faces of the tulips
and the nodding morning glories,
and into the windows of, even, the
miserable and the crotchety—

best preacher that ever was,
dear star, that just happens
to be where you are in the universe
to keep us from ever-darkness,
to ease us with warm touching,
to hold us in the great hands of light—
good morning, good morning, good morning.

Watch, now, how I start the day
in happiness, in kindness.

art link

Happy 40th Birthday Sesame Street!

Thanks for all the teachable moments.

Happy Birthday Susan Tedeschi. Here's one of my favourites.

Rolling Stones Hollywood Bowl 6 November 2005

Four years ago today, the LOML took me to the rock show. My first time to go to the Hollywood Bowl, first time to see the Stones. So many firsts. Thank you Baby.

It's a sad day.

Voters in Maine did yesterday what voters in California did last November. To me, a practising heterosexual, I am more opposed to the restriction of people's rights through the legislative process; and as a child of the 60s and a witness to the slow progress of civil rights for non-whites through the courts and the even slower progress through people's minds, the very act of diminishing the rights of tax-paying, law-abiding citizens seems quite deplorable to me. As my wise beyond his years son said, "It's not like they're forcing anyone to marry a same-gendered person."

The very act of restricting the rights of one particular segment of our society seems to be a death knell of the spirit of American democracy and of our declared freedom from oppression. And if we allow the tide to go against this segment of society how long do you think it will take before they try to take away the rights from a segment you actually care about?

Sad.

Thirty years ago today the movie "Quadrophenia" opened. The movie featured Sting, as Ace Face, and whose memoir Broken Music I am currently reading and enjoying.



The album Quadrophenia convinced me for all time of Peter Townshend's genius.