Eleven guys showed up last night for another poker match at the house. In my opinion, that’s about the perfect size for Texas Hold ’em. We played outside despite the heat and the earlier rains.
Rankings are as follows:
1st: Jeff
2nd: Tim
3rd: Ben
Jeff had to leave ‘early’ to go pick up Beth from the airport, so Ben took over his cards at that point. Good pick on Jeff’s end as Ben ended up defeating Tim for the pot.
I am 1/3 of the way through Jonah Goldberg’s Liberal Fascism and am enjoying it immensely. I recently read Hunter’s To Change the World and am finding Goldberg’s book a nice complement.
Goldberg’s defines fascism this way on page 23:
“Fascism is a religion of the state. It assumes the organic unity of the body politic and longs for a national leader attuned to the will of the people. It is totalitarian in that it views everything as political and holds that any action by the state is justified to achieve the common good. It takes responsibility for all aspects of life, including our health and well-being, and seeks to impose uniformity of thought and action, whether by force or through regulation and social pressure. Everything, including economy and religion, must be aligned with its objectives. Any rival identity is part of the “problem” and therefore defined as the enemy. I will argue that contemporary American liberalism embodies all of these aspects of fascism.”
I would argue American conservatism embodies the same! Speak of the wickedness of US military intervention or military worship among this group? One would be put to death by stoning.
I love Northside Wine in New York and I love that you can buy wine on the internet.
I have been touring the regions of Spain for the last year. There are a few regions I have yet to explore, but I’ve been pretty thorough. I am building up the anticipation of a wine tour of Spanish vineyards which we hope will take place Spring of 2012.
I have been amassing books over the last year at a rate unprecedented in my book-buying history. There’s little else I like to spend my time and money on and I figure if we leave the country soon, it will be a nice thing to take with me.
I have started a list of books recently obtained linked above:
Jeff, Beth, and Yun’s parents returned this morning from Honduras. They brought with them great stories and some treasure for Yun and me. Cigars, coffee, salsa, rum, house decorations, and Honduran cash!
I’ve already smoked one of the cigars and made a pot of coffee. Muy excelente!
We are now canobaptists!
It was bath day for the dogs. Tila is only supposed to have this once a year (so the books say). She was past due. As Jeff and Beth are in Honduras for the week, we also have Walcott who also joined the ranks of the recently bathed. Walcott took to the water pretty well, much unlike Tila who suffers miserably.
Yun and I love to cook together. We don’t do it as much as we’d like, but when time permits (like last weekend), we make something extraordinary. Last weekend we made beef wellingtons, mushroom risotto, and chocolate mousse. Total preparation and cook time was about 2.5 hours. Total cost of ingredients was over $60.Our inspiration was Gordon Ramsey. We love his shows. Wellingtons and risotto have been part of every episode of Hell’s Kitchen we have ever seen. It seemed like a good choice.
It might have been cheaper to go somewhere for this meal and it certainly would have been quicker, but it certainly wouldn’t have been as fun.
The video below is a 7-minute participation in the process.
Yesterday we took a trip up to Mt. Lemon. It’s only about 25 miles from the house and something we love to do, but strangely don’t do it very often. The weather temperature is so refreshing – Yun had to wear a jacket!
The scenery and smell of the pines are my favorite things.
I bought a new HD camcorder yesterday and brought it with me. It was cheap and is compact. I love it and see myself filming a lot more of life.
Stepped outside tonight to see a family of javalinas eating some weeds in the front yard. We’ve seen them a few times in this neighborhood since we’ve moved here. They are apparently as abundant as the coyotes.
When we crossed the border a couple weeks ago on our way home from Guaymas, we met Jesus while we were waiting at the border. He was selling tortillas. We crossed around 11pm on a school night. Jesus sells the tortillas his mom makes each night to support his family. He lives in the Buenos Aires district. This is a dangerous part of town. He walks home by himself each night after the tortillas are sold.
Jesus reminds me of a little 9-year-old boy we met at the border a few years back. He sold doughnuts with his younger sister all night to support his family. The little boy told us he tried to go to school during the day, but undoubtedly he won’t last in school being out all night working.
I was sitting in the back seat when I took this photo.
