In the 1979 film “Meatballs” Tripper Harrison (played by Bill Murray) is a camp councilor. The camp loses every competition to a rival camp. The next big game is coming up and Tripper gives his opinion of the rivalry and the camp’s chances: “Sure, Mohawk has beaten us twelve years in a row. Sure, they’re […]
Dead Presidents
In the late 1970s I loved watching a television series called Meeting of the Minds. It was the “brain child” of Steve Allen. It was a make believe round table discussion by historical figures. There were no housewives from Atlanta; there were no comic book heroes; there were no viking intrigues. Meeting of the Minds […]
Moby Dick; or The Scale . . .
The book “Moby Dick” “is sailor Ishmael’s narrative of the obsessive quest of Ahab, captain of the whaling ship Pequod, for revenge on Moby Dick, the white whale that on the ship’s previous voyage bit off Ahab’s leg at the knee . . . Its reputation as a ‘Great American Novel”‘ was established only in […]
Left-over Lamb Tacos
Left-overs are either something you eat because you already paid for them or they are an opportunity to lift a meal up to a new level of enjoyment. We had some left-over lamb kabobs from a lunch at It’s Greek to Me in Tacoma. A taco is an easy fix for many left-overs. It is […]
Off-Leash Dog Parks
Having a dog, means taking responsibility for your pet. They need to go on regular walks. Dogs are very social. They love to interact with humans and other dogs. They like to explore and exercise. Let them run around on their own in your back yard just doesn’t make it. “Proper exercise is an important […]
The Last Soup of Winter
My favorite soups . . . While traveling to Spain with friends a few years ago, Peg and I had the most wonderful melon gazpacho in Barcelona. The cantaloupe puree with a touch of chicken broth and perfectly pan-fried scallops live on in my mind. One of these days we’ll have to make our own […]
Old Stories, Lost Connections, and Disappearing Opportunities
The week before my father died, he told stories I had never heard before. He told about families in turmoil from the great depression and he mentioned as a Lt.J.G. watching from the bridge as torpedoes ran silently toward his oil tanker in the South Pacific during World War II. He told me about renting […]
Self-Reliance and Solving Problems
I was sitting in the emergency room at Tacoma General reading an article by Joanna Nesbit about raising children to be problem solvers*. Her high school son had gone to study with a friend. She didn’t realize until later that the friend lived more than twenty-five miles away. She was amazed that he carried a […]
A Little Night Music – Tacoma Little Theatre Review
The first thing that caught Peg’s eye were the floating tree images that formed the backdrop and passage ways on the stage. The were made of 1/8th inch thick wood with cut outs to represent the birch forest. There was a continuance of the birch theme with a whole birch cutout on each side of […]