Ave Maria's Grotto.

When I was a kid growing up in the sixties and seventies my dad made sure that we saw as many special things as we possibly could. Every summer trip, summer vacation, when we took one, was an eventful trip with interesting side trips. (I have since been told that we didn't take a trip every year, but in my childhood memories I believe we did.)

On one of our trips to Washington, or to the Great Smokey Mountains, we stopped in a little town in Alabama. This was on our way to or from our destination. The mind fades, I can't remember if we were coming or going. (Come to think of it, I still have that problem today.) It doesn't matter. All I remember is that we spent several special days in Alabama.

I remember arriving at Huntsville, Alabama late in the afternoon. All of my siblings and myself were extremely hungry and it was too early for dinner. My dad stopped at a little convenience store for some munchies. We all waited in the car. He returned with such a delicious desert that I have never forgotten it. He brought out these fantastic oatmeal cookie pies with a sweet marshmallow filling. That was our introduction to Little Debbie Oatmeal pies. To this day whenever I see those Little Debbie boxes in the stores I remember that afternoon in Huntsville, Alabama. Such a sweet memory.

And also, on that same trip, I remember our tour of the Ave Maria's Grotto in Cullman, Alabama. I remember being fascinated by the little structures of historical sites made painstakingly by hand. I didn't know it at the time but the memory of having gone there and toured the magnificent grounds has stayed with me for almost 40 years now. I can still picture the place in my mind.

The Grotto is the creation of Brother Joseph Zoetl, a monk at the Benedictine St. Bernard Abbey. I am thankful for the internet because now I can visit this lovely place whenever I feel like it. Check out http://www.avemariagrotto.com/ and if you are ever in the area go see it in person.

D.

A Monday kind of Depressed

I mentioned to a friend that I was tired and depressed. Just a little tired after a weekend and just a little depressed, the Monday kind of depression. You know, when you realize it is Monday morning and you played the lotto but didn't win. That kind of depressed. This friend told me this little thought:

"I had a friend tell me just the other day that we all worry about the fact that we are these bodies going around with spirits in them and we worry so about all of the little things when the truth is that we are actually all spirits using a body to get to places and touch people we are meant to get to and touch....."

Whether you believe in the spirit or not, you must feel something when you connect with another human being. Cherish that.

Commitment - A Starbucks pondering moment.

(With Apologies to Cosmo)

I have blogged on this before. My wife and I walk several days a week and we often stop at our local Starbucks' coffee shop for refreshment. I like to read when I am drinking my coffee. The Starbucks philosophy - put inspiring little quotes on the throwaway coffee cups to keep people coming back. ("The Way I See It #76 - Commitment"). Hey, they got me. I like the coffee. I ordered a skinny coffee drink. I am committed to walking. I am commtted to coffee.

Commitment. Quotes on coffee cups. Good marketing ploy. I enjoy little philosophical platitudes. Little inspirational notes to get us going...Important...gets us thinking.

Starbucks notes - "The Way I See It #76":
"The irony of commitment is that it's deeply liberating - in work, in play, in love. The act frees you from the tyranny of your internal critic, from the fear that likes to dress itself up and parade around as rational hesitation. To commit is to remove your head as the barrier to your life."

Anne Morriss (A Starbucks customer from New York City. She describes herself as an "organization builder, restless American citizen, optimist").

Note to Anne. I am impressed. What a beautiful thought. What an inspiration. March 20th, First day of Spring. Great day for a commitment. There are so many things to commit to. I am overwhelmed. So many things I want. So many things to commit to. I am committing to writing more and getting better at it. I am committed to spring; to planting a garden; to becoming a better human. Sounds like a New Year's resolution. Well, any milestone that shocks us back to reality, back to the tasks at hand is a good starting point. Personally, I need the reminders.

I shall remain committed. (Or perhaps I should be "committed"...Ha Ha. Couldn't resist.)

D.

life

He woke one day, more old than young and tried to remember how he got this far. (got this way). What happened to the plans he made? Where were his fancy cars? Where was his big house? With the valley view? And the acreage?
He knew that the work he had done had kept his family dry and secure. Warm and well nourished. Paid for their education and well being.
But what about his nourishment and well being? What about his education?

Natasha Richardson

I am deeply saddened by the death of Natasha Richardson. Such a beautiful actress. I was familiar with her work. I enjoyed her acting. I respect her family. My heart and prayers go out to her family.

Life is a precious gift and so very fragile. To quote Sgt. Esterhaus, "Let's be careful out there."

D.

A Poem

Someone commented a few days ago that they liked my poetry. They wanted me to publish more. Well, I thought I might have already published this one. Not sure. So, here it is (again?):

Bar Fight Flirtations.

Me, the contradiction.
Goodness tainted by desire,
Nervous, graceless brush with your silence.

And my pseudo-conversations
(That you found obnoxious).
my lost soul

Fleeing the numb exhaustion of rejection
Ravaged by desire,

Washed with sleep,
the little death,
Then stricken with more tragic love.

Drowning, only then to drift hopelessly away.
Unremembered.

D. Normand. C. 2006

More of my poems can be found the following site:
(you can rate my poems there if you like.)
http://www.poemhunter.com/david-normand/poems/

Thanks.
D.

World Baseball Classic...communism vs. capitalism

I was lucky enough to attend the World Baseball Classic in San Diego this past weekend. My friend, Bob and I had tickets to the premier game yesterday - Japan versus Cuba. That was an odd event. Watching hundreds of people cheer and applaud a communist country on American soil, an odd sight (to me anyway). Kind of rubbed me the wrong way. Bob said it is not the baseball player's fault they are stuck in such a country.

He is right, of course, but we still need to stand up for freedom. Japan was another story. While standing for the national anthem of Japan, Bob turned to me and said his uncle would turn over in his grave if he saw Bob doing this - standing in respect of the flag of Japan. Times change in 70 years. I guess we have grown in our global spirit. Or our memories have faded over the years. Maybe both.

Bob is 72. He rew up in a different part of the country and a different time in the century. Yet we share many of the same values. My parents instilled in me a strong work ethic. And I share that ethic with Bob. I thought it interesting the two different reactions. I was ok with our honoring the participation of Japan, yet "bothered" by the participation of Cuba. Yet Bob, only twenty years older than myself, had no problem with Cuba, but was "bothered" by Japan. I guess we just have different personal visions of the world.
D.

Note: I am still a baseball fan. I did enjoy the game on Sunday. I may have to come back and watch some major league games this year.

Update, 03/18/09: I have been informed that my little blog post is being translated into Chinese and reposted to Japan with words altered to make it look like Chinese propaganda. This was never my intent. I am a staunch anti-communist. I believe in personal freedom and liberty and I will fight for that with my dying breath. I have boycotted China (in as much as possible) for many years now. I have many Japanese electronic products scattered around my house.

I fear this may be a problem with translation or it may be intentional. Please know that I do not condone it. I was merely stating my observation of a moment shared between two friends of different generations. I apologize for any offense given.

I would like to refer to a poem I wrote lamenting the lack of freedom in China:
Http://www.ponderingdave.blogspot.com/2008/10/world-away.html

D.

Work

I am just thinking how tired I am and that I must go to bed because I have to work in the morning. I remembered these quotes:

"It's a shame that the only thing a man can do for eight hours a day is work. He can't eat for eight hours; he can't drink for eight hours; he can't make love for eight hours. The only thing a man can do for eight hours is work." William Faulkner

Colleen C. Barrett:
"When it comes to getting things done, we need fewer architects and more bricklayers."

"Work is the refuge of people who have nothing better to do"
Oscar Wilde quotes (Irish Poet, Novelist, Dramatist and Critic, 1854-1900)

Jonas Salk:
The reward for work well done is the opportunity to do more.

Frederick Douglass:
People might not get all they work for in this world, but they must certainly work for all they get.

And my own personal favorite...

Abraham Lincoln:
"My father taught me to work; he did not teach me to love it."

But believe me, I do consider myself very lucky to have a job. I enjoy the work I do. I am getting better at it (it is a new job). I am learning. And my wife and I are spending money and trying our best to keep the economy going strong. We are doing our part.

But work is such an unnatural endeavor. Ah, toil we must.

D.

Another Death in Baseball

Here we are in the Spring of the year when a young man's thoughts turn to love, and Spring Training. Ah, yes, baseball, my game. I admit, this year I have an interest, albeit a fraction of what it once was. I have tickets to the World Baseball Classic. World baseball, the Baseball World Cup. I was excited when baseball was a part of the Olympics. But that was several years ago. I am not that much of an enthusiast anymore. Baseball has become a different game.

I used to have respect for the game. Respect for the players and coaches. But in the past few years (some might say decades) the game has changed. It sometimes seems that it is more about the scandals and money than it is about the game itself. Now don't get me wrong. But I know the game is also about people. The people who play it, coach it and manage it. All of these people have stories.

One particular story caught my attention this week. There was a minor story in the sports section of my internet news page the other day the may have gone unnoticed by many sports enthusiasts. I don't remember hearing about the trade last year when it first came to light and if I did, I am sure I probably laughed about it. I can be insensitive like that. But the more I thought about it...the less funny it became.

And then, a few days ago I read this article:

"Minor Leaguer, Traded for Bats, Died of Heroin Overdose"
(Wednesday, March 04, 2009 AP/Tia Owens-Powers)

"Bat Man" or "Bat Guy" or "Bat Boy" — that's what they called him. Ask the most hard-core baseball fan about John C. Odom and most likely you'll get a blank stare. Yet millions of people have heard of the slender right-hander. He was the minor league player traded for 10 maple bats. It became a big joke last May, when word of the unusual swap jumped off the sports pages, and Odom went from pitcher to punch line."

You can read the rest of the article here: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3950464 I had tears in my eyes when I read of John Odom's death. It seemed so sad. I also wondered whether "the trade" had anything to do with it.

In the days since I read the news and today, there has been more information come to light about John Odom's "makeup" - his psyche. His current team and family and friends are stating that "the trade" had nothing to do with his death. They are stating that his death might have been the result of bad decisions while partying after the election in November. Give recent events in my life (my nephew JJ's accidental overdose) I can see how this may be the case. But I also know that there was a pain that affected my nephew. And how well can anyone ever know what is going on in another person's head and heart. May they both rest in peace.

I used to be Mr. Baseball in my family. I read the sports page everyday. I soaked up the tv news, the radio news. I listened to friends talk about baseball teams. I read minor league reports and journals. I loved it. Until the baseball player Ken Caminiti died. From my blog of May 19, 2008: "...I stated earlier that I have fallen away from baseball. The drugs and steroids scandals have really turned me off. I remember a fallen player, a once great competitor, whose skills waned a bit. He was out of baseball and died of a drug over dose. (I actually remember quite a few players that this happened to). I also remember owners and managers giving quotes to newspapers stating that they knew this one particular player (or players) was (were) using drugs but they were winning, so... " Have we lost so much of our respect for one another that we could treat another human being this way? Such a shame. So, I have weened myself off of baseball. It makes it easier, of course, now that my team is in last place. But I still miss the great ones, and I miss their stories.

If the game changes, I may be back. Until then, I wish them all well.

I hear also, that Manny Ramirez signed a $45 million contract with the Dodgers. He said he agreed to take a cut because the economy is bad. Give me a break. These people make me sick. That kind of money for playing a kids game? I have not been to a major league ball game in over two years. I may never go back. I will go if my wife or son ask me to take them. I will indulge another's desire. But for myself, I will pass. It no longer holds the same interest for me. I miss the respect for human achievement and dignity. There are a great many other issues that will have a greater and lasting affect on human culture than baseball.

Just some thoughts. Thanks for stopping by.
D.

Our Financial Mess

I read the other day where Rep. Barney Frank wants to prosecute those involved in the financial mess. I wonder if he is going to voluntarily surrender himself to Federal Prison where he and his fellow Democrats belong.

Sometime around 2003 the Bush Administration asked congress to look into regulating the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but Rep. Frank was adamant about the banking industry not needing regulation. Sam Dealey in US News and World Report had a great article about how Barney Frank was a major part of the problem. (http://www.usnews.com/blogs/sam-dealey/2008/9/10/barney-franks-fannie-and-freddie-muddle.html).

Barney Frank and his colleague, Chris Dodd, both got sweetheart deals from Countrywide, let's not forget that.

How can they get away with this? They cause a problem, or at the very least fail to do anything about it, then blame it on other people and keep their jobs. No wonder people get tired of American politics.

I also heard the other day that some small banks were told by the Feds to give questionable loans to individuals who were high risks. When the banks balked at such a practice the Feds fined them. It has long been a tenet of the Democratic party to give housing to low income groups. Since the housing projects didn't work the Democrats thought they could try home ownership. This might have worked if the markets had stayed hot. These high risk, low income borrowers could have flipped the houses for a tidy profit. But when the market collapsed, we come to where we are today. Why not let the market work?

I pay my bills. I pay my mortgage. There is no help out there to let me lower my payments. But my tax dollars are going to people who probably should not have bought a house in the first place. Am I bitter? Yeah, a little bit. The government is borrowing from my future and my kids future to get their ass out this mess. Let the bastards default. Let the banks fail. And let the people responsible in congress, the finance and banking committees, let them lose their jobs over it. D.

Just for the Fun of it.

http://www.random.org/

These are my numbers (from 1 to 100):

94 92 35 12 78 10 74 89 36 45 59 16 14 75 43 77


I was going to stop at the first single digit that randomly popped up. None did. Then I got bored.

And I looked for a random thought:

Creativity is the ability to introduce order into the randomness of nature.
—Eric Hoffer

And then, a random decision:

I am going to bed. Good night.
D.

Caught In the Darkness,

The elusive mantra stumbles,

and in its moment of weakness
I make it my own.

I drink it's nourishment
and, for a moment, I am alive again.

Ah, but then, reality returns,

and conscious thought invades.
I return to doubt.

A body feeds on meat;

it builds its flesh up strong.

What nourishes my soul?

Words of love endear

where flesh is withered and gone

What nourishes my soul?


By David Normand
February 21, 2001,
Copyright 2001

Mediterranean Marinated Shrimp

I stumbled across a blog from my local area. (http://culinarynerd.blogspot.com/) I found it on Sunday when I had a whelming craving for donuts. I passed. I need to watch my weight. I had cereal instead. Maybe next week.

I don't know if I ever mentioned it, but I used to be a chef. I worked in restaurants for 14 years, on and off. I started at a diner and worked up to a saucier at a four star hotel/restaurant in Lake Tahoe. I had a great time working in restaurants. I love cooking. I am not the greatest chef, never was, never wanted to be, but I know my way around the kitchen. I gave it up when my kids came along. I wanted to be there when they came home from school. Sometimes I miss it. But I love the web. There are so many cooking sites.

But I found this recipe in my computer files. Try it and enjoy:

Shrimp appetizer marinated with oregano and basil, olive oil, red wine vinegar and thinly sliced onions (red or yellow).

Serve with lettuce and remoulade sauce:
(1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 small clove garlic, minced
1 medium shallot, minced
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
1 anchovy, mashed
2 teaspoons drained, minced capers
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Ground white pepper or black pepper.)

Have a great meal.

D.

Lost Souls

Fleeing the numb exhaustion of rejection
And ravaged by desire,
Washed with sleep, the little death,
Then stricken with more tragic love.
Drowning, only then to drift hopelessly away.
Unremembered.

Stopped and waited for Heaven's gate.
But it was not open to me.
Learned and changed but was too late,
Lost…but only by decree.

2006, August. David Normand