Dinner, Family and Friends

My wife and I had the pleasure to go out to dinner last week with friends. It was what going out to dinner should be, a nice comfortable restaurant, good friends that we have been much too long in spending time with, good food, and great conversation.


Going out to dinner should be like that more often. We are fortunate that we have some friends that we are able to do this with from time to time. But I’m sad to say that even for us it is the exception rather than the rule. Like most people these days we have a tendency to plan dinners out around convenience rather than enjoyment.

Food and restaurants are a huge part of my life. It’s the only work I’ve ever really done. I spent years in kitchens, starting out as a pantry person (if you know what that is you’ve been in the business a long, long time), and working my way through the hierarchy. I also attended culinary school, and was a Chef at a large Scottsdale resort for two years. In my present incarnation I’m the GM of a successful restaurant, part of a great local company.

But this isn’t a resume; it’s about dinner, family and friends. As well as the dinner out, we were at my sisters this week to celebrate my fathers 88th birthday, Happy Birthday Dad! My father and I share the same birthday, which has always made it a very special day for me. Again the nice evening was centered on a wonderful dinner made by my sister, being with family, and conversation.

Earlier in the week we were also at my wife’s parents, to celebrate birthdays, spend time together, share in family conversation and news. This one had different dishes prepared by family members. A great evening of food, conversation and fellowship. And as is right for an evening like this, there was an announcement of an egagement!
Dining is an art, very different from eating. Eating is fueling the body, dinner fuels the soul. It takes you back to shared, warm memories, provides new ones for the future to fall on, and involves you in the present.

While food was present at all of these gatherings, what was really going on was spending time with family and friends.

I’d suggest taking some time for dinner this week…..

Past, Present and Future

Past, present and future, I wander around in these time zones. As I grow older I find myself moving backwards in some parts of life, treading water in the present, and not all that concerned about the future.


A recent move to the past was the purchase a Sansui DR 5000 reel-to-reel tape recorder. It’s a beauty, and it works. Analog has a different sound than digital. Warmth is what is most often associated with analog. Music recorded through analog has a different sound, and feel than the same thing done digital. Luckily I have a beautiful old Sansui amplifier that will be powering it, and some great old Advent speakers to round out the system. Its main purpose is for self-recording my own music, original compositions and various covers.

There have been a few other acquisitions over the past year or so that have a tendency to drift towards the past. I love writing, and something that has made it more fun for me was the purchase of a couple of fountain pens. One has a fine point; the other has a medium point. I didn’t know that there is an entire community of fountain pen fanatics out there.

Fountain pens add a complete new dimension to writing. I pick up the pen and I can feel the heft of it. Varying your grip on the pen gives your handwriting a different look. Either leaving the cap on and moving it, or leaving it off gives the pen a completely different feel and form. Ink comes in various colors, and it has a slight aroma. There is also the ritual of filling the pen, a small ritual granted, but like all rituals it has a place and importance in the process. It takes writing back to a personal, emotional, planned routine. It also slows writing down, so when I use the pen there is more time to think, and plan.

I’ll continue down this path in the near future. One of my goals is to keep this blog readable, and I think a step in that direction is to also keep entries a little shorter. That’s todays plan at least, I’m sure it will change in the future.

Strange but True

There is a lot to observe these days. I’ll start with the Nobel Peace Prize, since that is the most recent bit of news to hit the wires. There is no doubt that this once respected award has pretty much taken a nosedive into oblivion. Barak Hussein Obama? The most accurate statement about him winning the prize is look at the illustrious company he is keeping as a winner, Al Gore (for publishing humorous books, and a comedy movie), Jimmy Carter another democrat who tanked the US economy, and gave away the Panama Canal, The United Nations…nuff said there, Yasar Arafat a terrorist in the middle east. I’d hate to see who didn’t make the cut some of these years.


Hollyweird and Roman Polanski have made their sterling impact on the minds of America and the world again. This is the guy who got a 13 year old girl loaded with a combination of drugs and alcohol, and then raped her. Thankfully a moral upright citizen like Woody Alan has come to his defense! And the rest of the list is accessible from this link

http://thekrays.wordpress.com/2009/10/01/free-roman-polanski-petition-signers-the-list-gets-longer/

Read it and remember it. What Hollywierd really respects is our pocketbooks, we are the ones who pay them. Let the signers of this petition know what you really think by not spending money on their works.

Remember Natalie Maines and the Dixie Chicks? She was the one who thought it best to tell their audience that “we’re ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas.” She was amazed that people were upset with her comment, and let it be known by no longer purchasing albums or concert tickets. Has anyone heard of the Dixie Chicks lately?

Have a great day!