fort wayne...

found myself spending a month, last week, in fort wayne, indiana, the result of being enjoined as an expert witness in a federal trial there...
but, unfortunately, there is no there, there...
while supposedly the second largest city in the state, it is an unusually vacuous place, devoid of anything of interest - well, johnny appleseed is buried there, so that must count for something, right???
and amazingly enough, no starbucks in the downtown area at all (not that that in itself is important, but it is a clear indicator of the lack of progress inherent in the area - even our little coastal town of 7000 population has a starbucks)...
there were, however, an inordinate amount of vacuum cleaner and shoe repair shops, which are almost extinct in california, and add to that, there was no live theatre that weekend, in the whole town - and, more insult to injury, everyone smokes there, in restaurants, stores, everywhere, no rules or concerns about second-hand smoke - big tobacco must love this town/state...
these people will be dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century, or not...
and the weather??? - don't get me started - it was snowing in the last week of april - and when it's not snowing, it's overcast and raining - what is it about spring that is so hard to understand???
the town, geographically, is tucked in the northeast corner of the state, close to both the ohio and michigan borders - this is amish country and those one-horse buggies can still be spotted cruising along the country roads (they can move along with surprising velocity!!!)
our local attorney shared an appropriate tidbit regarding a magazine that had recently designated fort wayne as the dumbest city in america, based on some criteria including sat scores, number of college degrees, etc...
while there was nothing apparent to validate that notion, there was also nothing to invalidate it - instead, considering it has no soul, it might better be honored as the dullest city in america...
other than testifying at the trial, the only high point was an excellent restaurant, the oyster bar, dating back to 1888, which served superb dinners and generous drinks, which becomes even more important if you ever find yourself stuck in this cultural backwater...
there are no pictures to post only because there were no subjects worthy of photo-documentation...

henri...

henri the heron has been hanging around the point lately, snagging fish and gophers equally (a diet to envy??? I think not!!!) with stealthy efficiency - this is no vegetarian - and this skinny little guy can really put it away - managed a shot of him with telephoto lens the other day - hard to get close to him as he is very edgy and his sight and hearing are nothing short of remarkable - and he's competing with the cat for gopher tidbits which doesn't earn him a lot compassion from
mr zeus...

sweet...

dodger stadium
how sweet it is!!!
baseball at it's best!!!
the dodgers vanquished the hated giants yesterday afternoon, in the home season opener at dodger stadium, and did so by overcoming a three-run deficit in the bottom of the ninth inning, with a four-run rally against the giants new 21 million dollar closer...
go blue!!!

it just doesn't get any better than that!!!
(well, except for the kirk gibson walk-off home run against the athletics in the '88 world series)
assuredly, professional sports have become less gratifying in the last ten years, with the exception of the NFL and MLB - college sports seem so much cleaner, more emotional, less predictable...
however baseball, at all it's levels (pro, minors, college, little league) has somehow become more enjoyable at this stage of life, and, for a number of reasons; starting with a more complete understanding of it's complexities and nuances, the statistics, the solo nature of batter vs. pitcher (mano y mano so to speak), the informal social nature of attending a game with friends (a baseball game in summer, with beer and hot dogs - a high-grade adventure), the sportsmanship qualities that seem so sorely lacking in other sports, the relatively limited number of self-absorbed, spoiled, ego-centric jerks (though we still have barry bonds), the pure american nature of it's roots, and the list goes on...

in addition, there is a certain perverse thrill/joy in being a contrarian here in northern california, being the LA guy amongst all the giant, 49er, cal and stanford fans, totally outnumbered and surrounded by them - but what a terrific venue from which to torment their misguided little success-starved souls...

zeus...

zeus (10 years old - 4 of 9 lives remaining)

don't start - I know it's a cat, and cats are not guy things, dogs are guy animals; cats are most often associated with females, though god knows why - I mean really, who can fathom why women love cats - cats are independent, they don't listen, they don't come in when you call, they like to stay out all night, come home and expect to be fed and stroked, then want to be left alone and sleep - in other words, every quality that women hate in a man, they love in a cat...
from a male standpoint however, the physical skills of a cat can be appreciated; their speed, strength, eyesight, hearing, tree-climbing ability, indiscriminate and random sexual prowness, primal killer-instinct, and ever-present attitude...
so why write about this particular cat??? well, this is an unusual cat, very cool, very large (about 25#'s), a real hunter and gopher-killer extraordinaire, makes very little noise, is somewhat trainable, at least to a relative degree that any tomcat is trainable, an excellent listener, and he happens to live here...
we have millions of gophers out here and even with his remarkable skills, he will never catch up, let alone make a dent in the overall population, yet he continues to try - and he actually eats the whole gopher (after an appropriate period of playful rodent torture) with the exception of the liver - bites off the head first, and then feasts on the rest, crunching away, usually right outside the dining room window, right about dinnertime, which, of course, adds to the ambiance of the humans dining experience...
he is also generally self-supporting, meaning he can be left for the weekend outside, and will fend for himself - this is an improvement over other pets or small children, which have to be either provided for or taken with you when you travel...
however, he can also be incredibly lazy, eating and sleeping all day, after assumedly partying all night...
which brings up an old polish proverb:
dogs have owners; cats have staff...

reunion...

high school highlights...
time for another walk down memory lane... time to revisit those formative years...time to wax nostalgic...
time for another high school reunion!!!
ah, if we only knew then what we know now - how many times has that thought crossed our minds in the intervening years??? perhaps the only consolation being that those were the years of discovery that led to what we know now??? however, that's surely not much of a consolation prize, is it???
anyway, there was this idea to create an online book of memories - primarily focused on those crazy high school years - maybe even including a detailed recounting of those lurid adventures surrounding the discovery of beer and chicks, hastings drive-in, bob's, victoria cove, and amber falls - and then again, maybe not...
time, space and the matter of taste are arguing to preclude that exposition - so for now, simplicity is the key because complexity isn't...
anyway, the class that molded and subsequently produced the author is planning another reunion, for fall of 2006...my guess is that we have done this with enough frequency that we have finally learned the advantages of advance planning - we may learn slow (certainly none of the teachers of that period would disagree) but perhaps we learn well??? and no danger of contradictory opinions now as most of those same teachers are currently residing at that great chalkboard in the sky...

ambush...

the ultimate ambush...
K, so I just discovered blogging, right??? and then I get this email from my long-lost new york daughter...about her new blog site!!!
how did this happen??? how did my thirty-something daughter and I find such a common link...on the INTERNET!!! (well, maybe I'm being a little harsh here...at least we're not sharing porn sites...right???)
I've spent many years educating her on her inevitable polish roots, and now here we are, full circle, in polish land, blogging right along together...holy toledo!!!...is this the new bonding for the millenium???
are thirty-somethings allowed their opinions on the world wide web??? shouldn't they get a license or something and agree to adult supervision??? is it good for their tender egos to be pontificating all day??? isn't the keyboard hard on their delicate little fingers???
daughter...are you reading this???
get a new hobby!!! bearing children is nice for your people...after all, your older brother has been carrying the grandkid production load all these years...
how about starbucks in the village, bagels at murray's on 6th, chocolates at marcolinis, some japanese-brazilian fare at vela on 21st, walking the dogs in washington square park, good morning america, oprah, maxing out your credit cards at prada, banana republic, gap, old navy, circuit city and petsRus, dwarf-tossing, book publishing, ethnic food prep, yoga???
what do other thirty-somethings do???

I really don't want my sentences to read "yah...the other day my daughter and I were blogging...and she ticked me off so we blog-fought...but then we kissed and blogged up."

authors note: if you have discovered just a touch of plagarism here, think parody, and keep a lid on it...

nena's

under the influence of converging circumstances, found myself back in the central valley last week (does CCR's "stuck in lodi again" sound appropriate???), and so took the opportunity, as I always do, to visit...

nena's mexican restaurant, stockton, ca

when it comes to authentic mexican food, and this is the real deal, (as opposed to the wimpy, garden-variety, americanized fare found in most chains and many other mexican cafes) this little establishment in stockton, california, may be the paramount mexican restaurant in all of northern california, if not the whole state...
understandably, one might find few reasons to venture into this gritty valley city, but this optimal dining experience would merit such an adventure...
here you can partake in a extensive menu of traditional items, but the premier don't-leave-without-trying specialities are the homemade flour tortillas (as you watch, these are actually made to order on an open grill by the tortilla lady), the chiles relleno with cream sauce (her forte), birria, pork burrito, soft chicken tacos, bistec toluqueno, and a very special flan...
singling out a few items doesn't do justice to the ample menu, but time and space constraints limit reviewing every element - rest assured, everything is terrific and everything is very authentic (not for the tenuous diner, you will know you had mexican once you've finished your plate)...

maria elena reyes
going on twenty years now, the owner, maria elena "nena" reyes, source of all those great recipies, consistently greets her customers with a warm, sparkling smile and a big hug (and the hugs are good)...
she is invariably at the front reception area and hustles around the restaurant, assisting with all of the operational chores, from bussing tables to delivering orders, taking special requests and making sure her customers are treated like royalty...
so, the next time you find yourself in the great central valley around mealtime, craving a mexican breakfast, lunch or dinner, check the link at the top of the first picture and treat yourself to the best...

p.s. did I mention "hearty portions"???

toddspoint...

toddspoint, mendocino coast, california

here we are, secluded, well-off the beaten path, a headlands bluff on the pacific ocean, about halfway between san francisco and the oregon border, bordered by the ocean on the north, west and south, and the coastline highway (hwy 1 at top of picture) on the east, blessed with an incredibly temperate climate (our best-kept secret) that rarely dips below 40 degrees on the coldest night of winter and just as rarely approaches 80 degrees on the hottest day of summer, and with an elevation of about 25-30 feet above the ocean, we are relatively tsunami-proof...
indigenous wildlife abound, some welcome, some not; in the welcome category are the quail, hawks, osprey, and henri the heron; in the nuisance class are the myriad of gophers, wild turkeys (who seemingly disappear around thanksgiving only to return in the spring to coat your wooden decks with disgusting turkey turds) and deer (who are really very tall rodents, eating every type of desirable vegetation)...
in addition, we even have our own weather station and resident weather wizard, and a great local supermarket (harvest market) is only a half-mile away...

...off on a tangent...
however, in this island of relatively normal and sane occupants, we find ourselves sandwiched between two eerily dissimilar towns;
we are just south of fort bragg; a redneck mill town (although the mill closed a few years ago) with ample liquor dispensaries (read "bars") and populated by looney-tune luddites, social system freeloaders, a few minor-league anarchists, a varying degree of nitwits, edge-of-the-earth truants from mainstream society as well as ambition-challenged dead-enders of infinite variety...
and we are just north of the village of mendocino; a blue town in a blue county in a blue state, inhabited by radical revolutionary agitators, over-the-hill hippie activists, communists, peaceniks, tree-huggers, atheists, obstructionists, alarmists, and one of every other politically correct arrogant condescending variety of whackos and total nutcases commonly found in northern california - you have to experience the mendocino fourth of july parade to get the real flavor of these screwball fanatics...
what these two areas have in common, besides it's only industry which revolves around lightening tourist's wallets, is a complete disconnect from the reality of life on many levels - it's like a parallel universe, maybe even another galaxy...

an old polish proverb applies here:

too many freaks, not enough circuses...

...end of tangent...

in the meantime, we are secure in our own little domain - so secure, that the toddspoint militia (self-appointed military and local governing body) declared a few years ago that we were seceding from the county, state and nation to become the republic of toddspoint, and immediately applied for foreign aid...
our citizens are remarkably not diverse, and in addition to the militia there is the marching band and chowder society, the yacht club and even a chapter of USC alumni (membership, two), an uncommon occurence in this area which contains way too many berkeley (come for the protests, stay for the panhandling) sympathizers...

bottom line; it is quiet here on the point, peaceful, and life is good...

not again!!!

here we go again!!!

see blogger block...

reminds me of an old polish proverb:

originality is the art of concealing your sources...

saint paddy's day...

just in time for st. patricks day!!!

irish fables abound this time of year - lots of good stories, jokes, etc., all excellent generic portrayals of our favorite micks - and these always "politically incorrect" stereotypes consistently revolve around the local pub - but the following is the best one yet - a little edgy, and too good not to post!!! - so here we go!!!

Sean O'Reilly hoisted his beer and said, "Here's to spending the rest of me life, between the legs of me randy wife!" That won him the top prize at the local pub for the best toast of the night!

He went home and told his wife, Mary, "I won the prize for the best toast of the night. "She said, "Aye, did ye now. And what was your toast?" Sean said, "Here's to spending the rest of me life, sitting in church beside me wife." "Oh, that is very nice indeed, Sean!" Mary said.

The next day, Mary ran into one of Sean's drinking buddies on the streetcorner. The man chuckled leeringly and said, "Sean won the prize the other night at the pub with a toast about you, Mary.

"She said, "Aye, he told me, and I was a bit surprised meself. You know, he's only been there twice in the last four years. Once he fell asleep, and the other time I had to pull him by the ears to make him come."

so, gather up your friends, especially the bushmills and the jamesons, have a few toddys, some irish stew and corned beef and cabbage, sing danny boy, the unicorn, and be particularly careful not to step on any leprechauns!!! (unless they are the notre dame kind - then feel free to stomp the living shit out of them!!!))

ides of march...

Beware the Ides of March - Julius Caesar ignored that warning and you know what happened to him!!!
however, in today's world, few pay heed to march 15th anymore, other than coming to the realization you only have one month left before taxes are due, so it would be prudent to get started on that particular undertaking, no pun intended...
for the author, the date has always remained in the deep recesses of memory, from school days most likely, or maybe from shakespeare, but every march 15th, the dire warning surfaces, and so far, without any undue circumstances...
on a positive note, the author received two new bionic knees last year on this date, a procedure which went extremely smoothly, the dreaded rehab even smoother, and so this year am finding it a more celebratory anniversary occasion than one of caution...

seems fitting to honor this sequel with, of course, a caesar salad!!!
(proceeded by a smoky single-malt scotch and along with a nice filet mignon with broiled mushrooms)

yogi...

Yogi's smarter than the average bear,

At a picnic table you will find him there,

Scarfing more goodies than your ordinary bear,

And living in his world without a care.

He will sleep 'till noon but before it's dark,

He'll have every picnic basket in Jellystone Park,

Yes, Yogi has it better than a millionaire ,

That's because he's smarter than the average bear.

yogi bear; a happy, mischievous carnivore, a cartoon character and a befitting nickname for the author, starting out as just "bear", but at some point during high school, a notable personage added a porkpie hat and it evolved into "yogibear"...

looking back on that period, our friends all had nicknames - it was, I guess, "cool" at the time - these luminary designations included such appellations as:

moose (aka dirty moose or beef), weed (a bony dude who has subsequently morphed into a not-so-skinny guy), roach (boy-urologist), bruiser, K6THL (aka sam), pudding chef (aka AOTY), hernando, faux (as in faux of wall street), peterrabbitt, fubar, AMOTH, rabbi (aka phantom), rancid stain (rock star wannabe), emperor, roacharito (son of roach), pw (as in pussy-whipped), turkey breath, brick, beetle, weasel, smurf, shrub, bankerbear, toad, bubba, do-ron, clawed, bulletbob, voyeur, rubberduck, fasteddie, floatboy, jimbob, graziano, spook, captain, snowsnake, running dumb, bucky, fraggle, PP, GG, JJ, PJ, JP, halftrack, limeybob, stinky, wizard, smokeybear, duck, pops, cyberchan, oddjob, private (a defrocked general), pato, and zoomer...

some, but not many females:

precious, princess di, dwarf, thelma, nen, hillary, shorty, bajabrat, bettylou, peggysue, bo, birdie, mzmolly, foo, and #8...

inter-family monikers include dirtball, dishrag, aunttrash, gilhuna, banana slug, toat, big-t, geoffy, the babe, meatball, drewski, frog, durwood, peewee, xmas, unclebuck, abalone, rugrats, greyghost, and yoro...

stories leading to the actual assignment of such labels are too lengthy to divulge here, but, trust me, they all know who they are and how they came about...

p.e.t.a.

gotcha!!!
you thought this piece was about that radical group called people for the ethical treatment of animals, but it's not - rather, a newer, more progressive organization called people eating tasty animals!!!
we're talking carnivores here, traditional, red-blooded american gourmets...

it was only a matter of time before someone spoke up for our dietary favorites - maybe the influence of those seemingly wimpy vegetarians, or vegans, (who knows or cares what the difference is - maybe vegans are french vegetarians???), is finally waning, and the pendulum is swinging back to the good ole boy diet...
and not a moment too soon!!! the things these people eat; turnips, hummus, brussel sprouts, eggplant, cabbage - not long ago, my youngest daughter, a sometimes vegetarian (and a full-time tree-hugger) brought some tofurky (tofu-turkey, get it???) to our thanksgiving dinner - disgusting!!! - like molded library paste...

so, remember, "vegetarian" is an old indian word meaning "lousy hunter" , which, if you think about it, explains a lot!!!

perhaps the advent of the low-carb diets have also been a factor in this current rebirth of carnivorous connoisseurs...
maybe, and this is still a longshot, we're not politically incorrect anymore!!! stranger things have happened!!!
don't get me wrong, veggies have their place - like some nice sauteed mushrooms and mashed potatoes to go with that filet, garlic with lamb chops, applesauce with pork roast, dill for wild salmon, onion rings with cheeseburgers, cranberry sauce with the thanksgiving turkey, horseradish with your prime rib, lemon on lobster, sauerkraut with sausage (and my personal favorite - fried okra with spotted owl) and the list goes on...
(with the exception of tofu, which doesn't belong on anyone's list)
the point, if there is one, is that veggies are simply accoutrements, not a misguided substitute for a lifestyle of epicurean dining pleasures...

old polish proverb: it's lonely at the top, but you eat better...

a caveat...
the downside to all of this, of course, is another old polish proverb:
heart attacks are god's punishment for eating his animal friends...

a polish holiday...

wonders never cease!!! I just found out today that we have a polish holiday here in america - who knew???

Casimir Pulaski Day-The 1st Monday in March

this is news to me - all these years, no clue - perhaps if one lives in chicago or new york city where they even actually have parades for this event, it is not a surprise - but for us left-coasters, nothing...

clearly, this is a call to action - there is no reason this holiday shouldn't rival any other ethnic/special interest holiday such as st. patricks day, cinco de mayo, gay pride day, kwanzaa, yom kippur, columbus day, boxer day, ramadan, veterans day, st. lucia day, bastille day, ochi day, or even groundhog day...

and not to lobby for just an ordinary holiday, but one with a day off work!!!

so, there we go - a cause to work on...

for all you teachers who want to inform your classes of this event, the following site explains general pulaski and his impact on the american revolution - we need to get these young minds involved in their formative stages if our day-off-work goal is to be achieved...

http://www.chipublib.org/003cpl/pulaskibiog.html

break out the good vodka, plan a local parade, contact your congressman, notify all your friends, make this coming monday, march 7th, a day to remember!!!

blogger block...

this is harder than it looks, this blogging exercise - it has it's dark side...
when I started out, with a lot of good intentions, (see earlier "intent" blog), I even made myself a list of provacative topics to cover, which, when exposed to the light of day, proved to be universally lame - so plan B was to comment on current issues and events that moved me - lamer still - apparently, the verdict is in - I officially am self-diagnosed with...

...blogger block...

one might ask, since this is supposed to be as stream-of-consciousness thing, how can one be blocked??? (unless you are unconscious, of course)
I think the problem lies with the unexpected, underlying pressure to publish, on an regular, if not almost daily basis, something of an interesting or entertaining nature...
this assidious, unrelenting force is exterior in format, coming from things like the expectations of friends, who for god knows what reason, claim to look forward to the next posting, and from the myriad of other cyber-authors who regularly post exceptional pieces, therefore setting the bar very high...

the readers say, "excuses, excuses"...

the author replies, "excuses are one of my strong points!!!"

bottom line: this program is under serious review, and the author is attempting a internal motivational re-organization to come up with a digestible content plan, that might even entail some regularity of publication, and hopefully will result in a complete exorcism of this dreaded condition of "blogger block"...

only time will tell, so stay tuned for further episodes!!!

on grandkids...

grandkids are god's reward for not killing your teenagers...

barry balco

looks like the bay area will have to suffer another year of barry bonds and his insufferable attitude/personality - why the fans in northern california are so hard up for heros that they put up with his act year after year is beyond imagination...
after watching his interview on espn, jose canseco's on fox news, and jason giambi's on espn, it seems clear the steroid issue is not going to die anytime soon - and maybe it shouldn't. It is equally clear that giambi is the class act in handling this issue...
barry balco's attitude will never change - he will continue to be in denial about steroids, their effect on performance and on the game, on the media, and most importantly on his own responsibility for the situation he finds himself in - he will always be the bay area's prime example of the spoiled professional athlete, totally self-absorbed, giving little back to the game, trying to hold on to a rapidly diminishing legacy that will be forever tinted by the steroid issue. It is cheating, plain and simple, and his unbelievable arrogance is displayed anew with his claim that he didn't know the stuff was steroids - give us a break here!!! - does anyone but the most deluded giants fan believe that??? clearly he thinks we are all idiots...
those same delusional fans also probably believe that a skinny little leadoff hitter turns into a record-setting power hitter late in his career, the singular result of "hard work"...
then, yesterday he went on to explain that steroids don't improve the eye/hand coordination to technically hit a baseball, but left out the obvious, that it's the extra strength that steroids provides that turn hits into home runs and home runs in to mvp trophies - no one would argue that he is a great hitter, but one could easily argue that any recent home run records should be asterisked as under the influence of chemical enhancement - furthermore, it can be argued that the extra power can also be responsible for turning mere outs into singles and doubles and increasing ones batting average...
and then, the lowest point of the day, he plays the race card, insinuating that american public has a problem with him passing babe ruth, a white player - how absurd!!! - there may be a few rednecks somewhere with that problem, but then they would be as ignorant as barry, in denial of the fact that henry aaron, a black player, passed babe ruth many years ago - get a clue, barry, it's already been done!!! and when it comes to the time when you are approaching aaron's record, who will you blame for the public apathy then??? the race card won't fly at that point, but there's always the media, and those pesky fans down at dodger stadium!!!

intent

it seems appropriate to start out with a blog plan, or letter of intent, to set out the editorial parameters of this exercise...not that they can't or won't change with time, but as a starting place...to that end, let's just say that this is intended to be a simple compilation of opinions and perceptions of the author (who, by the way, is half polish) on items of interest to said author, and that may, or may not, be of interest to the readers...

these items may include, but are not necessarily limited to, sports, current events, movies, restaurant reviews, family, friends, the rigors of life on the northcoast, and maybe even some daily journal entries...

restaurants personally experienced will be reviewed subject to the tastes and opinions of the author, and will focus on the northcoast of California, and other traveled areas as they come into play...

the sports arena will most likely focus on college football and professional baseball, with emphasis on the USC Trojans and the Los Angeles Dodgers, respectively...

and most all rules regarding the use of uppercase or capital letters are subsequently ignored...

note: fair and balanced and/or politically correct are not journalistic considerations here...

(as an aside, this blogging enterprise was inspired by one of my son's friends down in the bay area, who many years ago I respectfully dubbed "cyberchan"...)

startup

initial entry - more later...