Porchside Musings.

During the 2016 presidential election one candidate made a comment about some people favoring her opponent as being "deplorable". It was a comment that was intended to follow up another earlier presidential candidate's comment, in part saying, "They get bitter, they cling to guns or religion...". The deplorable comment really hit home and not in a positive way for the woman from New York by way of Arkansas and Illinois. I'm quite sure it cost her Wisconsin along with several other states. She's been in a petulant snit ever since, claiming she was robbed of the office she believes she was entitled to. What both candidates failed to understand is people do cling to religion and have a strong tie to owning firearms. It's not a weakness or some throwback attitude, but basic American philosophy. By trying to denigrate those attitudes they triggered a backlash so massive that years later they're still blinking and saying to themselves, "What h

As a child I was what some would call a bookworm. My mom insisted from a very early time that you had to wash your hands before handling any of the books in the house. Well, anything that required that much effort by a kid just had to be good, so wash up and read I did in earnest. There were coffee table books, books on travel, old history books, music books, medical texts and technical books. I got caught smuggling books to school because the selection in the school library had been exhausted. Countless hours were spent at our city library. Soon the children's section had been picked over too. The library staff decided that I was mature enough, so they gave me access to the rest of the stacks at the tender age of eleven. Mom thought I was reading too many technical books and effectively ordered that I try something else, hoping I'd bring home some fiction. That week I came home with my usual armload of books, some of the works were fiction. Science fiction. Of cou

I mentioned in my first posting here that I once worked as a chef. It was a fascinating experience working at that little eatery. I did more than just prepare meals. I waited on tables, bussed the dinnerware, washed dishes, did the daily book-keeping, help secure a renovation loan, set and grout floor tile, moved a staircase, and helped make the heavy decision to let some go. That last task convinced me that I never want to be a manager. Leading a team, yes. But no more. In a restaurant setting I could run the line and service staff. Let another more qualified person handle the hiring and firing as well as other managerial chores. I still enjoy cooking. When I start describing the preparation of a meal it's practically certain that the listener will soon complain that I'm making them hungry. Many of my creations are what I call heart-friendly .  I won't go into that category of heart-healthy. Many of those dishes are frankly boring, they have gone so far into "health