Insert Witty Title Here

I'm now 45.

My baby sister is cancer free and has a restructured boob.

Christmas is here, which means it is time for my annual Meaning Of Christmas sermon.

Hi.

I will be 45 in less than month. My beautiful wife just turned 48. My equally beautiful and vivacious and outrageous baby sister is 38, and has breast cancer. She's having a mastectomy done on 11/18.

38 - healthy lifestyle (other than being a workaholic) - no history of breast cancer in the family - and here we go.

That's the way the world turns, folks.

By popular demand, I'm back with a rambling update. Let's start, shall we?

Election 2008
Once again I "wasted my vote" by not voting for either of the two major party candidates. Neither was an acceptable choice for me, and I refuse to accept that I have only a choice of two.

No, I do not think everyone should get out and vote. If you don't know the names of the candidates and their running mates, if you don't know your state senators, if you don't know how much income tax you paid last year, you should just stay home. "Disenfranchised"? No, but frankly, those who are too lazy or stupid to know how we're being governed shouldn't have a say in how we're governed.

Website
It is time for another overhaul of my website. Time to move it from a vanity site to show off my photography and towards trying to make a few bucks from this hobby of mine.

Photography
November is booked solid once again, and I'm leaving December open for family and Christmas.

Family
My baby sister - all of 36 years old - has been diagnosed with breast cancer. She has done all the due diligence, tested, checked, re-tested, re-checked, and she will have a mastectomy later this month. Those of you who have met my sister know that she got the looks in the family.

This past weekend I got into a political discussion with a family member (who I will call R). I'm not one to turn away from talks of sex, politics, or religion, so I encouraged R to speak his views on the current presidential race.

It was a good discussion. He accused me of throwing away my vote by refusing to vote for either of the two major party candidates. I retorted with a well-thought out argument why supporting third party candidates is good for the process, etc. Then, R pulls this out, "If you don't vote for McCain, and Obama wins, you will be directly responsible for allowing a Muslim terrorist to become president."

That brought the intelligent discourse to a grinding halt. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"It is a well known and documented fact that Obama was groomed by radical Muslims to be exactly where he is."

"A 'Manchurian Candidate'?"

"No, a Muslim president of a Christian nation. If Obama becomes president, he will have accomplished exactly what the same terrorist groups who infiltrated our pilot schools and airlines set out to do."

At this point I was aghast. From intelligent debate to outright lunacy! Of course, I asked him to back up his assertions, and he started to rattle off such things as Obama's name, which "should be obvious to anyone," to his father being a member of a radical Islamic group, to his grandmother stating stating she was a proud Muslim, and on and on. R believes, as many people in US of A, that being a Muslim automatically makes a person an enemy America, and all Muslims are murderers and terrorists waiting for their orders to commit jihad.

There comes a point in any discussion/debate/argument when you may realize that the person with whom you are engaging has a point of view that is so far removed from reality that the discussion/debate/argument becomes futile. That's where I was with R. Instead of trying to debunk his conspiratorial points (which, I confess, at the time I had no reply for), I simply said, "You should see what football look like in HD."

Monday, R sent me his list of "proofs" that Obama was a sleeper awakened. I immediately went to my favorite fact checking website, and found the documented rebuttals for the points in R's forwarded forward of a forwarded forward of an email.

On Tuesday morning, he replied, "What makes you think your source is more reliable than mine? Obama is a terrorist who will destroy America and make us into a Muslim nation."

No amount of evidence will ever change the mind of a True Believer, and it truly frightens me that otherwise intelligent people such as R have formed opinions based on unsubstantiated scribblings from anonymous sources.

My political views tend to lean more towards the Republican side of things. I favor a small, decentralized government that rarely meddles in the day-to-day affairs of the citizens. I prefer to keep more of my income instead of handing it over to the government in the form of taxes (not just income taxes!). I own at least one firearm. I don't think everyone should vote. I would even be in favor of a "poll test" before you can vote - you have to name the senators from your state, the three branches of government, and know how much income tax you paid in the previous tax year. I am in favor of developing our own supplies of available oil, and I don't mind if the oil companies make outrageous profits from their work.

On the flip side, I'm pro-choice, pro-gay marriage, fierce about free speech and separation of church and state. I want and expanded national (and state) park system that protects undeveloped and environmentally sensitive lands from rampant, uncontrolled development. I favor alternative energy sources. I'm opposed to the war on drugs. I support an open-border policy. I am tired of the never-ending war in Iraq and Afghanistan, and am ready for our involvement to be dramatically reduced.

Yes, I am damn sick and tired of George W. Bush. Whatever good he did in the first 5 years of his presidency have been diluted by the train wreck of the last 3.

Where is my candidate? McCain? Close, but no. He's been in the Washington Power Factory for too long. I admire the system-bucker he used to be, but he's been towing that typical right-wing line and probably owes too many people too many favors.

Obama? Oh hell no. I would love to be friends with a man like him - drink beer together in St. John, maybe listen to the new James Hunter album, and discuss our political views. But the man wants my money, wants more intrusion into my life, etc., etc.. And in spite of what many think, he is just another well-connected white man in politics. Remember, his black father abandoned him and his white mother who moved to Kansas where he grew up with his white grandparents. He's more middle-class white than working-class black.

So here comes another election year with just 2 viable choices. No candidate to represent my views. No one in power who thinks/believes as I do. Looks like another write in for Kermit The Frog for me.

I have an account on Flickr, and I discovered I can send pictures from my phone to Flickr. So here's a shot of the digital picture frame on my desk. That's Magen's Bay in St. Thomas, USVI - the place that inspired, or bewitched, Talisa and me to take this upcoming week long and decadent vacation.

There are about 20 pictures that rotate thru the frame reminding me of where we're heading, and to remind me that this awaits in just a little over a month.

Make your own Wordle!

I guess the "need" to post a journal doesn't really exist much anymore - either that or I'm just too busy to post. The most likely reason, however, is that I don't have much to say anymore. But here's a drive-by of my life.
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It is the July 4th weekend! Grills will be fired up. Fireworks will be meted, and meat will be grilled. From the mountains to the prairies, the smell of charcoal smoke will fill the air wafting from the backyards and driveways of white and black, country folk and city folk. And most of them will say they are having a bar-b-que.

As a Georgia born and raised Southerner, I feel it is my duty to step in and correct most of you.

Any outdoor cooking over an open fire, is not a BBQ. It is, simply, and rightly, and deliciously "grilling" or "cooking out". I recall some years ago a few friends of mine - transplants from Ohio - invited me over to their house, a 3rd story walk-up condo, for a "BBQ". When I arrived, carrying a big gallon of freshly made sweetea [sic], I discovered that they were cooking hot dogs on a grill. My friends, that is not a BBQ.

A true BBQ involves cuts of meat slowly, and I mean SLOWLY, cooked over low heat with a balanced dose of hardwood smoke. One cannot BBQ a hot dog or hamburger. There is no such thing as a BBQ pork chop, and you will never ever have a BBQ steak.

BBQ is never wet. BBQ is dry. Spices are rubbed onto the meat (brisket, ribs, pork butt or shoulder only - chicken, while best cooked the BBQ way, can't be true BBQ - don't argue with me - you won't win), and the rubbed meat sits for at least a half day absorbing those spices.

A fire is started with hardwood or hardwood charcoal. That stuff that comes out of the bag at the grocery store should only be used as the base for the fire, on which you will put hardwood. No BBQ fire is lit with lighter fluid. In fact, no good grill fire should be lit with that crap either. I will go far as to say that lighter fluids are only used by people who can't build a fire in a fireplace without a gas starter and use a camp stove to cook hot dogs when (if) they go camping.

The rubbed meat is put on the part of the grill that doesn't have fire under it, and slowly -- slowly -- s l o w l y cooked. (A person who can cook good BBQ will be a great lover because she/he understands the importance of a good rub and cooking slow.) The hardwood is a matter of preference, but mesquite should be avoided for authentic Southern or even Kansas BBQ. Hickory, oak, pecan, even apple, are my favorite hardwoods for BBQ.

Well BBQed meat will be dark on the outside and have a sub-layer of pinkish meat just under the outside. That's the smoke ring. If someone serves you unchopped BBQ that doesn't have that pink ring, it isn't BBQ. It may taste good, and have a good sauce, but it isn't BBQ. That ring only happens when the meat is slowly cooked and smoked.

BBQ should be good without adding sauce, but BBQ will be GREAT with a good sauce. The arguments can be made over mustard-based sauces versus tomato based sauces, sweet sauce versus hot sauce. I won't venture into that debate; however, I will say that most mega-mart pre-bottled sauces are horrid. Avoid anything from Kraft or Hellmans or Heinz. If you must buy a sauce, look for the boutique or specialty sauces. Bone Sucking Sauce and Stubb's Sauce are two of my favorites. No matter what sauce you prefer, it should go onto the meat last! Yes, you can baste with the sauce, but you do that near the end of the cooking.

So now that you've cooked your BBQ the right way, you have to eat it the right way. Under no circumstances should wine be served with BBQ. The only alcoholic beverage suitable for BBQ is beer, and though it pains me to say, the only suitable beer with BBQ is a pale lager. Dark beers and BBQ don't mix. But the best drink to have with BBQ is sweetea - one word. There is no substitute.

For side dishes, cole slaw, baked beans, corn on the cob, even mac & cheese, are perfect. The best side dish is Brunswick stew, or just "stew". The perfect stew is another entry itself, but if you have to use a spoon to eat it, don't bother.

The only music suitable for BBQ is blues or country, or a hybrid.

If you don't want to venture into the hallowed ground of cooking your own BBQ (and I can't blame you for that!), and are going to buy it from a BBQ joint, remember this, if there isn't the smell of real wood smoke coming from the place, it isn't real BBQ. There are a number of so-called BBQ places around Georgia that don't even have a fire box. They simply roast or grill the meat, then drown it in sauce. Blech!

Best BBQ I've had in Georgia (in no particular order):

• Fat Matt's Rib Shack, Atlanta - great ribs and blues!


• Amos's, Ball Ground - a converted old small country house. They have a mountain of hardwood in front of the place. The fried apple sticks are really good.


• Sconyers, Augusta - they don't serve stew, but they have a hash dish that angels sing about. Order a regular plate. Even I, a large guy, couldn't finish the regular plate.


• Slopes, yeah, a chain - they may be a franchise, but they cook a good BBQ.


• Col. Poole's, Ellijay - that's the place with the pigs everywhere. So far, the best BBQ I've had in Georgia.


• Some road-side place, Eastman - I wish this place had a name and a location. It was this old black man serving BBQ pork sandwiches from his big smoker in an empty lot off the side of a country highway. $3 got me a big sandwich, home-made sauce, and large sweetea. He said he "jest goes ever-where I is allowed to set up."


Have great weekend - and have some good BBQ!

I'm still alive - still kicking - I apologize for being gone, but, frankly, LJ just hasn't been high on my list of Sites To Visit. So here is a VERY LONG ramble about where I've been and what I've been up to....
( Prepare to be bored )

le sigh....

mmmmmmmmm

One of my Hall Of Fame women is 52 today, and still on my List.

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So my wife and I are talking about a vacation. We would like to go to Yellowstone. She's never been there, and I was 16 when I first saw it.

It is an amazingly mysteriously beautiful place. The geysers, mudpots, and mineral springs are scary and wonderful. Going back there with my camera rig in tow this time, combined with my wife's proclivity for art would be a perfect vacation.

So what's stopping us?

After preliminary shopping for a one week vacation, it will cost us close to $1200 just to fly out and back. Then add in another $1200 for an average place to stay, another $30-$50/day for car rental, yet another $60-$100/day for meals, plus park fees - you get the picture. It is too expensive to go.

We can go on a week long cruise for half that, or an all inclusive week long vacation in the Virgin Island for about the same price.

I never begrudge folks making money; however, it really shouldn't cost less to leave the country for vacation.

St. Thomas is looking appealing....

Last night, my one month away from being 19 year old son told me that he is moving out. He and his girlfriend and one other person have decided to rent a little 2 bedroom 1 bath house.

I told him that he's doing it on his own - that as long as he stays in school we'll take care of his cell phone, his car insurance, and his health insurance, but that's all the assistance I can give him.

The house is, fortunately, close by. He's less than 15 minutes away, and he wants me to help him move this weekend.

Here's how I see it - I haven't seen him display enough maturity to live on his own, but we all have to start somewhere at some time. I've always been the kind of parent who let my son get hurt, but not injured. Touching a hot stove hurts, and teaches you to test the stove first. Grabbing a glowing red broiler element injures.

I can't tell my son what to do anymore. He's on his own for most things now. It is now time for him to suffer the consequences of his choices and actions, and to learn from those consequences.

I told him last night, "I'm not happy with your decision, but there isn't much I can do about it anymore. You will be on your own with this, kiddo, but the front door will be open if you need."

My boy gave me a hug and said, "I was hoping that's what you would say."

Thanks to honeywine01 for making me decide to put something here. This isn't a personal post, however. It is an essay about ( road signs )

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

How've you been? I'm still here, I promise - and soon, I'll post something of substance. Until then, here's something sad:

( It's that time of year again - time for my Christmas sermonizing... )

My son has mono.

If you have ever had it, will you please tell me how long it took you to recover. He's concerned that he'll lose his job if he's out too long, and that he'll be contagious and/or too sick to be part of the family Christmas celebrations.

Thanks.

Let's see - ummm - not much happening.

okay - I guess that does it then.... I know, I'm boring, but waddayagunna do?

So my darling lovely wife and I have Christmas Eve to ourselves. I have promised to cook her an epic and glorious meal - one she will tell our grand-children about - one that will set the standard for dining out from now on.

So I need some ideas.

I'm a capable kitchen technician. I have the right gear for a good meal (missing only an electric mixer, so no complex pastries, please). My personal style is homey, grilled, comfort food.

I KNOW some of my LJ friends are foodies, so help me with some menu ideas.