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Today I woke up without power at my house and realized that I could not make coffee at home. The nearest coffee shop is one that I hadn’t been to before but I thought that this would be a good time to try it out. I walked into the shop greeted the woman behind the counter and ordered my coffee. A woman walked in a little later and ordered a coffee. I don’t know what kind because I wasn’t paying any attention until I heard the woman behind the counter ask the customer if she wanted whip cream. The woman responded by saying that she is lactose intolerant. Do we really need to know that? Wouldn’t a simple no suffice? But then here we are again at the place of defining ourselves with things that are not important. I get that people can’t have dairy. It makes them sick. But is it necessary to tell everyone at every occasion that you have the title “lactose intolerant”. Someone please help me with this absolute definition that we seem to crave in todays culture. What are we looking for that we don’t have. What is lacking that we seek to fill by these definitions and absolutes?

I recently started a graduate course in the humanities. Some people in the class have labeled themselves “elitist’s”. They seem to believe that as an elitist you should be unfamiliar with popular culture. That being someone who reads classics texts and are able to converse about philosophy at a high level makes you superior to others. And in being superior you should be unfamiliar with popular culture. One guy even went as far as to say that only people who are philosophers should talk about philosophy at all. Everyone else should leave it alone. This all came up after a conversation about the decline of American culture because people don’t read classics anymore. The discussion was also about how including some training in Socratic methods and critical thinking skills would make us a stronger society.

According to these elitists teaching these philosophical/critical thinking concepts is a silly notion. So again we have a label that people declare to make themselves feel superior to those around them. Is that really the point of being here walking the earth? To make yourself superior to others. To declare yourself whatever you declare yourself to set yourself apart? Isn’t it supposed to be about community and inclusion?

I would love to hear from others on this topic. Why do you think we have become a society of declaratives?

When did we become a country of absolutes. These days it is hard not to run across someone who says I don’t do this or that or I never do this or that. It is like we are trying so hard to define ourselves that we have become desperate. I don’t eat meat, drink coffee, shop at walmart, drink bottled water, eat french fries, drive a car, eat chicken, watch tv, eat junk food. Or the other possibility is that I only. I only eat organic, eat raw, shop at thrift stores, etc. What is even more confusing is that these same people will do exactly what they say they never do if the situation is right. Why can’t people say I rarely or I usually don’t. Is is that there is a lack of conviction or definition. In trying to lead a “good” life we all try to stay away from certain things and indulge in others. If I eat a doughnut once a year or buy bottled water occasionally but say I never do these things isn’t it a greater issue that I use language in a way that is deceptive to myself and those around me? That I am out of integrity because if I say that I never do something that I occasionally do isn’t that lying? So, I would think that lying is much worse than eating a doughnut or having an occasional shop at Walmart. Are we as a country so desperate for affiliation and definition that we risk our integrity to make these statements? What will become of us as a culture if we value the absolute over honesty?

Lar and the Real Girl is a delightful movie that makes you smile and cry. I loved the way that this movie exposes the weakness and longing for company in a way that is tender and kind. The way in which his family and his town deal with his “uniqueness” is a  little hollywood but done beautifully so you don’t see that part of it but are taken in by the tenderness and gentelness of those around him.

If you see one movie this year I suggest making it Lars and the Real Girl.

This morning as I suited up for a bike ride I thought about the shear age of most of my gear. I’ve been riding for many years and can attest to the quality of biking stuff as it seems to last forever. I know that I look like a dork but it is also a badge of honor to have gear that you can’t even buy anymore cause it is just too old. Add to this my recent cold sore out break and I knew I was down right funny looking. As I began my ride I realized that I had forgotten my hairpins that hold down the little fly aways that poke out of my helmet. Flyaways are one extremely effective way of telling the world that you are a complete and total geek. The flyaways exist as a tool for others to see you as the dork you really are. You see, they scream dorrrrkkk. So I rode and enjoyed myself and then I saw the most gorgeous creature imaginable. He was out for his morning run. I was absorbed in his handsomeness and then saw a picture of myself in my mind and started to laugh. The hair poking out of my 10 year old helmet the large cold sores on my upper lip, my strange 90’s clothing, my leg warmers and I thought to myself that I should just ride up to this Adonis and say “hey you come here often?”

Maybe its because I am from California or maybe it is just wrong but I can’t get used to men in short shorts. It just looks so seventies. Or they just look too old to wear them and they are not in style. I think mens short shorts went out of fashion with shoulder pads and double breasted suits. In Colorado I see men, older men, in short shorts all the time. Short shorts and white socks pulled halfway up the calf. This a humble request to all the women out there who have men in their lives that wear this combination - please subtly or not so subtly let your men know that they should get rid of the shorts in favor of some longer ones and if they have the comb-over this might be a good time to get it all out and suggest a short hair cut (all of them) or the ever-more common shaving of the head. These two easy fashion adjustments can make a new man out of them. So, what are you waiting for lets make short shorts and comb-overs a thing of the past.

I have been trying to research the phenomenon of the American breakfast. When I say breakfast I really mean dessert that we call breakfast. For instance, doughnuts. Really doughnuts are small cakes. Cakes as in the dessert kind of cake but now we call them breakfast. Pancakes. These are small flat cakes covered in sugar. That is breakfast? Sugar covered cereal. Breakfast? No. They are only really small cakes with sugar but they are still dessert. French toast, doughnuts, pancakes, cereal, bearclaws, chocolate donuts, pastries, and muffins. These are all dessert. Did I miss anything?

Not that I am saying that there is anything wrong with dessert its just that we should call it what it is. It is sort of like using euphemisms. We use them when we don’t want to face the truth. When we want to pretend that we are not doing what we are in fact doing. White lie is still a lie. Collateral damage usually means that someone was killed. Passed away. All euphemisms only we know what the others mean. But people really seem to think that having a chocolate covered doughnut is breakfast. That a stack of pancakes with tons of syrup is starting your day off healthy. Healthy breakfast we say. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. True but if you start with dessert then the most important meal of the day just became dangerous. Let us start an Americans for real breakfast initiative. All menus should be changed to reflect what the items really are. Breakfast with breakfast and dessert with dessert! Who will join my campaign?

Years ago while in Indonesia I joined a cycling club and we used to go one weekend rides. One ride stands out in my mind whenever I see a bottle of Coke. We had just finished a difficult mountain bike ride on a very hot and sticky jakarta day. At the end of the ride was a little shop or “warung” as they are called in that part of the world. I stopped my bike and sat down at one of the few chairs that the shop keeper had outside. Next to the chair was a cooler that had drinks in it. I asked him for a coke. He smiled and asked “a cold one”?. I said with a smile yes, cold. With a twinkle in his eye he asked “really cold”? I started to get excited and answered yes. He pulled a coke out of the cooler that began to ice up as it hit the hot air. The outside got frosty and the inside turned to a slushy consistency. I looked around to see if this was a candid camera stunt and when I was assured that it wasn’t I took the bottle from him. I am sure that I had a really stupid smile on my face as I drank that cold coke and thought that I had gone to heaven if even for the moment.

So you can call these eggs Indian scramble or Mexican scramble. Having had a similar version in both countries I just call them Spicy Scramble.

1/4 medium jalapeno

1/4 medium roma tomato

1 egg

Add a small pat of butter to a heated sauce pan. Add the sliced Jalapeno and saute for a minute then add tomato slices. Cook these on medium heat until the jalapenos brown a little. Then stir in one scrambled egg. Cook until the egg is not runny and serve over toast or with a heated tortilla.

If it is too spicy then eat more toast or tortilla. Water will only make the spiciness worse.

Bringing a little comfort from home can make a big difference. I know that to some it may seem silly but it is the little things that make me happy.

Years ago on a trip to Tibet and Nepal I had run out of shampoo and spent two days in Kathmandu trying to find something that worked. There was hair oil and a harsh shampoo but no conditioner. I finally found a small shop that had a brand of combined shampoo and conditioner that I had seen before and so purchased it. Let me tell you it was heaven to have that bit of home. Since then I always make sure to pack enough for the whole trip.