Why look at that. It is San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy!
Hey Boch…what’s that you got there? Oh. Right.
The 2010 World Series Trophy.
Yeah baby!
Photo by Karen Fayeth, taken at today’s victory parade through downtown San Francisco!
Woot!
Tomorrow Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead is here again.
When all the plastic spiders and smashed pumpkins of Halloween have passed, I turn to this well known Latin American holiday to celebrate my friends and family who have passed on to the next journey.
Other cultures have similar holidays and traditions, the Bon Festival in Japan, All Saints Day in Europe, but it’s the Mexican version of Dia de los Muertos that resonates with me.
The belief, loosely, is that on this day the veil between the living and the dead is thin, and so offerings of favorite food, booze, decorations and memorabilia will be seen, enjoyed and appreciated by our deceased.
I think Dia de los Muertos appeals to me because it brings a sense of humor and fun to a painful, somber thing. It’s a chance for a community to come together and remember. To feel close to those we have lost.
Personally, just this past August, I withstood a very deep loss. Tomorrow I will remember my friend who died way too young.
I will remember my father who passed away almost six years ago. My mom will certainly remember her husband. Together, we keep his memory alive.
Grandparents, friends, family, people I hardly knew, famous people. We all deserve to be remembered by those we’ve left behind.
My grief is a slippery thing. Sometimes so overwhelming, I don’t know how I can sit up and walk through the world. Other days, it’s like a dull noise in the background. Remembering on a day like tomorrow helps keep me grounded. Keeps me sane.
Gosh. Slow day. What possibly is there to discuss?
Can’t quite figure it out.
There has to be *something* we can chat about here on my little ol’ blog.
Let me look at the local newspaper.
Upcoming elections. Sure. Whitman and Brown, running waddled neck to waddled neck.
Not much to add to that.
Volcano, earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia. Yikes. A lot of people hurt and killed. Tragic. What more can I say? My thoughts are with the people of Indonesia as they try to get their normal lives back.
Charlie Sheen trashed a hotel room while buck naked. Wish I could say that Sheen could get a normal life back, but I’m not sure he knows what that is. Can’t really get any energy to discuss that Hollywood oddity today.
Stock market is down a bit. Dollar is down a bit. Gold is up.
There is something nibbling at the edge of my mind, something I should talk about today.
Why can’t I quite put my finger on it?
Hmmmmmmmm.
Oh!
I know.
The World Series starts tonight. Game 1. San Francisco Giants vs the Texas Rangers.
THE WORLD FREAKING SERIES!
HERE IN SAN FRANCISCO!
A reward for long suffering fans like…oh…me.
Click here for Expert predictions. Here’s a sneak preview…most aren’t picking the Giants to win.
For reasons I could explain, but are banal and long winded, I’ll just cut to the chase and tell you that I’ve been thinking a lot about superheroes lately.
Good superheroes. Dark superheroes. Flawed superheroes. Just…superheroes and their super powers.
Which got me to thinking today, as I waited in the lunch line, what sort of superpowers would I like to have if I got to choose?
I think things like seeing through buildings, swinging from webs or having adamantium claws are all well and good, but realistically, are they useful?
Flashy yes, but wouldn’t something a little more down to earth be more desirable?
Here are a couple ideas on the sorts of superpowers I’d lean toward:
The ability to eat whatever I want and not gain weight
Imagine it! I could save the world from illness and obesity by eating up all the snack foods!
Mayors could simply project a cookie in the sky and I’d come a’runnin’!
“Step aside small child, let me save you from that cotton candy.”
Or how about…
The ability to sleep for only two hours but feels like I slept eight
Can you *imagine* all the good I could do for the world if I only slept a few hours but felt fully rested! I could move mountains! I could persuade world leaders! I could travel long distances and not feel sleepy!
Yeess!
Ok, maybe that’s a lame one.
So let’s try:
The ability to read small print without squinting
Zap! Pow! Ka-zam!
I shall help out senior centers by announcing, “Bring me that medicine bottle! I will read every ingredient printed in a half-point font!”
Menus will hold no sway over me!
My Kindle can be set to the smallest font available!
My browser window can be reduced back to normal size!
I can save the world, or just myself, really, from the scourge of crow’s feet!
Oh, no, ok, I got it!
The ability to endure small people with a single sigh
It’s the key to world peace, truly.
(and I don’t mean short people….)
Now…I need a cape! Time to shop!
Ok, I’m bouncing back from complete blogger lock up yesterday with the assistance of the idea generator.**
Today’s topic: Name five things in your freezer
So without further ado, here are the first five things that came to mind while sitting at my desk at work:
1. Green chile
Only a small amount, but those few bags of the good stuff make me ridiculously happy.
Roasted it myself!
2.A bag of really, really good coffee
French roast. Ground for a melitta. Just. Yum.
Honestly, I’m not really supposed to drink coffee. It doesn’t agree with me or my tummy (or my esophagus, actually).
So when I indulge, it better be the ding-dang good stuff.
And this is it.
Served with real half and half and brown sugar, if you please.
3. A bottle of Siberian vodka
Hand carried to The Good Man by our friend who grew up in Siberia and made a visit home to see family. We coddle this one bottle of the good stuff like a colicky baby. It’s deeeelicious. Smooth. Perfect.
Best when sipped straight from the freezer.
4. Frozen fruit
I’m a little bit obsessed with making smoothies. Fruit juice, almond butter, a little egg white powder for protein, and a bunch of frozen fruit.
Blend!
Totally addicted. Now…there is a LOT of sugar in there, so I have to limit it to only one or two a week. I could have a smoothie three or four times a day if I’d let myself.
Gah!
I get twitchy when we are out of frozen fruit. There is a Northwest Triple Berry Mix you can get at Costco that rocks the house. Marion berries, raspberries and blueberries.
Yes, please.
5. Several of those blue freezer thingies that you put in an ice chest.
What the hell is that blue stuff made of anyway?
Seriously. I’ve never had one break on me, but I always wonder what sort of biochemical hazard would occur if one of those bad boys was leaked out upon the world.
Hmm…maybe that’s the basis for my new blockbuster screenplay. A truck carrying a load of those blue packs overturns. Through a series of unfortunate events, thousands of the blue packs are burst open.
The blue stuff takes on the world! Freezing things on contact. Sort of “The Blob” meets Medusa meets Outer Limits.
I like it!
**The idea generator has been pretty maudlin of late. Questions of death and dying, faith, etc. It just wasn’t working for me. I need fun, silly and weird to get The Muse off the couch.