The mad and often disjointed rantings of a large man. Warning: Posts on this blog may not be suitable for younger readers.
In fact, a lot of my Christmas memories involve my dad. I remember how one year he didn't put the bikes together for me and my brother James ... but not because he got them late or was too lazy to do it before Christmas morning. It was so he could help us put them together.
I remember him helping his grandkids open presents, and watching him play with them, thinking that must have been how he was with us when I we were that age, his hazel eyes sparkling with laughter and delight.
Personally, I think my parents took us to Midnight Mass in an effort to get us so tired, and to bed so late, that we wouldn't be waking them up at 4 a.m., asking them if Santa came yet. LOL
Side note 2: The Mongmong Church is named after the Virgin Mary. Legend has it that a statue of Mary — made out of ironwood, which is so dense it doesn't float — floated into the bay of Merizo (a southern Guam village), about 300 years ago, escorted by two crabs that had lit votive candles on their backs. A fisherman tried to get it several times, but it kept floating away, until he fully clothed himself (cute, huh? LOL). It was kept in a shed for Chamorro canoes (proas), which is called a Camarin. So on Guam she's known as Our Lady of Camarin, or Santa Marian Kamalen in the Chamorro.
So wherever on Guam we were living, we would drive to my aunt's house around 10 p.m., dressed in our best Sunday church wear. My auntie would always have some food for us to nibble on. Around 11:30, we'd head to church to make sure we'd have a pew for the family — back then, people really flocked to Midnight Mass; it was always packed full.
Afterward, we'd go to my auntie's house, where we'd indulge in boñelos dagu (yam donuts) dipped in maple syrup. The adults would chat a bit and then it was home, for our Christmas present tradition: We could open one small present after coming home from Midnight Mass; the rest were opened on Christmas Day.
I look all over my desk. In my desk. I look in all the places in the office I'd been since getting back: the conference room; a co-worker's desk; the bathroom. Zilch. Zippo. Nada. Taya keys!
Sweet!
And yes, I'm quite aware that this has basically been self-pimpage of my blog, which you already are here reading. But I am a ham; that's a well known fact. I'm also something of a ... *hangs head in shame and mumbles* ... bragger.
The first is peanut brittle. Man this stuff is soooooooo good! Hard and crunchy and crispty and peanutty. How do you beat that? Today a box came in from mom, her Christmas present to me. She sent me some pistachios, because she knows those are one of my faves, as well as some honey roasted peanuts. PLUS ... two clear plastic boxes FILLED with peanut brittle! wooooohoooo!! I am a happy son! I will bring some into the office to hook up a few select friends.
The second is fudge. God I love fudge. It's the ultimate in chocolate, as far as I'm concerned. It's so very rich and decadent and delightful and dreamy and ... *sigh* ... mom didn't send any fudge this Christmas. It is a bit of a bitch to mail from the states, because it takes so long to get here and tends not to do well in heat. But damn ... fudgeless ... will need to score some somewhere! LOL
OK ... so I got a little over-enthusiastic with the shaving cream. It's what happens when you need to shave the ENTIRE head. LOL
• Do you twirl your spaghetti or cut it . I mostly swirl.
• What's your favorite beverage? Coffee. And Assam Black Tea (iced).
• Cartoon: Bugs Bunny. I’m old school that way.
• Thing to do in the spring: Cherry Blossom festival.
• Do you use an alarm clock? Yes, but only to make sure I get my ass out of bed when I wake up early and go back to sleep.
OK ... here's the newsroom's tree. Our theme is a 1980s Christmas, so the pics on the tree are photos of staff members that were taken in the '80s.
Here's the main spread, after it's been decimated. There was turkey, ham, sweet-and-sour spareribes, Kahlúa pig, mashed potatoes and gravy, red rice, cucumber-and-daigo spicy salad, lumpia (egg rolls), potato salad, pancit (noodles dish) and a few other dishes I can't remember off-hand.
The dessert table: Pies galore — apple, coconut cream, chocolate mousse, custard, pumpkin — plus cakes and cookies.
The amazing chocolate fountain. Dippables included: fresh pineapple, bananas, marshmallows, graham crackers, pretzels, vanilla wafers.
Oh ... and merry fucking Christmas to you, even if you don't want one!
1.5 A big credit for my reading success goes to Sesame Street, Electric Company and Mr. Rogers. Those were — and Sesame Street still is — great for teaching and encouraging kids to read. On top of reading, I also learned about numbers, what the Alligator King got from his sons, and to never walk down stairs carrying 11 ... banana ... cream ... pies ....
3. Even in first grade I can remember checking out books meant for older kids or adults. In first grade I kept checking out books on dinosaurs, as they were the coolest thing ever (thanks, Land of the Lost!). I was one of the few 6-year-old who could correctly spell and pronounce words like "Tyrannosaurus Rex," "ankylosaurus" and "bracchiosaurus." Heh.
5. I, like AAG, reread books all the time. Some of my favorite stories and books have been read dozens of times. Great authors and great writing keeps it from becoming boring. I love an author who can insert me into their stories, as if I were in the story. Realistic conversation — mixes of serious talk and subjects, fun and humor, teasing and nonsense are a must. I can't read the always-stilted shit. Some of my frequent rereads are: The Lord of the Rings trilogy, almost anything by David Gemmel, the Heralds of Valedemar and associated books by Mercedes Lackey, and almost anything by Raymond E. Feist.
6. I'm not one of those people who can fall asleep reading. I might get tired whilst perusing pages, but I have NEVER fallen asleep with a book in my hands ... unless you count course texts in college ... yawn!!
8. I learned so much real science theory from comic books that it wasn't even funny. Gamma radiation, mutation, space travel, time travel, black holes, quantum theory — I learned it all from comic books. I also initially learned about the gods of different cultures (thanks to Thor, Wonder Woman and Hercules), which led me to the library to read books on mythology — Greek, Roman, Norse, Native American, Eastern and Indian. I read the translation of the Iliad at about age 10. At 12, I found a translation of The Prose Edda. I still love reading mythological tales.
Snazzy, huh? LOL
