Daily Entries for the week of
Sunday, June 26, 2022
through
Saturday, July 2, 2022
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It’s Saturday, July 2, 2022
Welcome to the 1,489th consecutive post to the blog
existentialautotrip.com
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Lead Picture*
The Bear
See Mail and also Short Essay just below.
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Commentary
This is the most pain I’ve felt in decades. (See Wellness just below Word for the details.)
I’ve always said that my own most likely cause of death will be as a pedestrian being struck by an automobile while I cross the street daydreaming.
Thursday was a case in point.
While crossing Tremont St. with the light, a cyclist ran the light and struck me.
I was lifted off the ground and tossed six feet in the air, landing on my side with a slight head bump as a kicker.
I did not lose consciousness as I did when I was struck by another bicycle two years ago. That time I passed out and did not feel a thing. This time, I felt every last strike in slow motion. At the last moment I saw the bike and realized I was going to be hit. I felt the strike, experienced the float, and felt every last smash on the asphalt.
BTW: When I cough or sneeze, not often, the jarring to my ribs is quite painful.
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Word of the Day: Romanticism
For definition, see below, immediately after the Short Essay
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Wellness
From being struck by the bike, I have a welt on my thigh the size of a tangerine and a serious abrasion on my arm, complete with bleeding that last twenty minutes. I have a severe pain on my right side in the area of my ribs and side. I have a split nail. But I ain’t dead yet.
I’m visiting my doctor later today to discuss the fatigue that I’ve been experiencing lately. That will be on hold while he examines my recent injuries.
And I will add to my list of complaints a lump that I’ve had on my upper inside thigh for the last twenty years. I can’t believe that I never mentioned it to a doctor during that time.
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Chuckles and Thoughts
There's a lot of people in this world who spend so much time watching their health that they haven't the time to enjoy it.
~Josh Billings
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Mail and other Conversation
We love getting mail, email, or texts.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
or text to 617.852.7192
This from the wonderful Boston-based movie critic, Tucker J.
Hi Dom,
I recently finished an 8 episode series called The Bear and was floored by how much I enjoyed it.
I wanted to share a little piece on it!
· Tucker
Blog meister responds: Read Tucker’s piece in the Short Essay section just below and you’ll rush to turn your channel.
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Dinner/Food/Recipes
I had another meal of Feijoada and then a froze a tub of it for a dinner party next week and made a bean soup with the rest of it.
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Short Essay, written by Tucker Johnson, who having binge-watched the series, was driven to express himself, to our great benefit.
The opening moments of The Bear features 2 men, one of them with the Chicago area code “773” tattooed on his left bicep, giving each other a hell of a time in front of some very Chicago signifiers: a billboard for Malört, a nearly unpalatable liquor produced in Chicago since 1930, and a illuminated sign for Vienna Beef, a famous hot dog spot. The city hovers over The Bear throughout the series, whether it’s in someone griping that the neighborhoods have become “shit” or in how many of the show’s characters with the studied attitude of the Chicago accent.
But the most blatant reference or city-as-character moment is saved until the opening of the seventh episode, when Lin Brehmer, a DJ for local radio station WXRT, introduces Sufjan Stevens’ Chicago, nothing that “while you’ve heard all roads lead to Rome, some roads lead from Chicago”. The song kicks in with heavy guitar strums and we’re hit with a montage of city life: water towers and the skyline and traffic and beautiful architecture and the L train line and side streets caught on a morning commute and even the Superdawg Drive-In. Then, it goes for it, and some of the good, the bad, and the ugly of the city’s history are tossed in: Barack Obama’s campaign, Al Capone, and the police brutality during the ’68 Democratic National Convention, to name a few.
If that all sounds a bit much, like too big of a leap for what’s ostensibly a very funny (albeit also very dark) show about the goings on in a mom-and-pop restaurant, it’s weirdly not. The Bear has that rare ability to turn tones on a dime without feeling like it’s stretching or manipulating you or unearned, where a comical bit about accidentally spiking the punch at a kids’ party one minute is followed by an emotionally guarded, extremely Chicago guy telling a teary-eyed story about a deceased family member the next.
But back to that other guy, the one with the Chicago tat. That’s Carmy. He was a white-hot chef in New York, having been dubbed the best young chef of the year by Food & Wine, as well as nabbing a James Beard Award. Now, after a shakeup in his family, he’s back in Chicago to run their restaurant, a River North staple called the Original Beef of Chicagoland. What’s more, he’s there to up their game and “elevate,” as a Food & Wine critic might write, a timeless, classless meal.
None of this sits well with his cousin—but not technically cousin—Richy, an Energizer Bunny of a friend of the family and general screw-up who has little else but the Beef to keep him steady. The Bear introduces us to nearly its entire cast by the end of the first episode including Sydney a young professionally trained chef who sees a chance to study (and build something) with Carmy. It’s the young aspiring chef’s relationship with Carmy that becomes The Bear’s focus. Like Carmy, she attended the Culinary Institute of America. Like him, she has an impressive resume, cutting her teeth at local favorites Smoque BBQ and Alinea. Like him, she’s incredibly ambitious, taking over the kitchen as sous-chef and wrangling the ragtag group of employees into a working order similar to that of a fine-dining kitchen.
The first episode of The Bear is a rare beast (no pun intended) in that it saves almost no time for exposition. it dumps you into a working environment that’s so intense and chaotic and cramped that it takes a bit of time to get your bearings and see the show and its characters beyond the chaos and flashbacks. Once you’re acclimated, The Bear becomes something of a marvel, a show with its own rhythm and with characters you generally want to be around, even as they’re losing it. That penultimate episode, the same one with the moving montage intro set to Sufjan, ends with one of the most impressive directing feats I’ve seen on television in years: a 10-minute single-shot climax that snakes through the constricted kitchen as everything falls apart and characters come to blows, this one also soundtracked by Chicago band Wilco (a wild live jam of “Spiders [Kidsmoke]”), which is perhaps fitting: This show, like that band, like that humble sandwich, can contain multitudes.
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Definition of Today’s word:
ROMANTICISM: Romanticism as a school of art was characterized by its emphasis on emotion and individualism, idealization of nature, suspicion of science and industrialization, and glorification of the past with a strong preference for the medieval rather than the classical.
* The Blog Meister selects the topics for the Lead Picture and the Short Essay and then leans heavily or exclusively on Wikipedia to provide the content. The Blog Meister usually edits the entries.
**Pictures with Captions from our community are photos sent in by our blog followers. Feel free to send in yours to domcapossela@hotmail.com
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It’s Friday, July 1, 2022
Welcome to the 1,488th consecutive post to the blog
existentialautotrip.com
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Lead Picture*
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
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Commentary
On Tuesday night I went to bed at 11.00pm. Nothing unusual going on. A regular night. At midnight I was out of bed for the last time that night. I had my breakfast at 1.30am (usual time: 5.30am). I rested on my armchair and watched several episodes of Downton Abbey. I got up and finished my Submission for the day and am working on my blog for the day.
If my eyes get tired I rest for five or ten minutes. These sleepless events occur in my life at least once a month. I tough through the day. Right now it’s 8.50am. I’ll eat an early lunch/dinner, like 11.00am with a wine of a drink and then look to nap for an hour. At 2.30pm I’ll go out for a long walk with errands.
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Screen time
I’m rewatching Downton Abbey. Julian Fellowes’s work is brilliant.
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Wellness
Have to do with sleep-deprivation for the next 18 hours.
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Chuckles and Thoughts
There are two things in life for which we are never truly prepared:
twins.
~Josh Billings
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Mail and other Conversation
We love getting mail, email, or texts.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
or text to 617.852.7192
Got a couple of emails supporting my decision to reduce my alcohol consumption.
Blog meister responds: I think it’s time to cut back.
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Dinner/Food/Recipes
I had chicken soup for dinner. It was delicious. I used my own stock as a base and used a package of chicken wings for the chicken. Of course, celery, onions, celery, carrots. Why chicken wings? I have become enamored of the sweet, juicy, tiny pieces of meat found buried among the bones and skin of the bird.
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Short Essay*
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez born October 13, 1989, also known by her initials AOC, is an American politician and activist. She has served as the U.S. representative for New York's 14th congressional district since 2019, as a member of the Democratic Party. The district includes the eastern part of the Bronx, portions of north-central Queens, and Rikers Island in New York City.
On June 26, 2018, Ocasio-Cortez drew national recognition when she won the Democratic Party's primary election for New York's 14th congressional district. She defeated Democratic Caucus Chair Joe Crowley, a 10-term incumbent, in what was widely seen as the biggest upset victory in the 2018 midterm election primaries. She easily won the November general election, defeating Republican Anthony Pappas. She was reelected in the 2020 election, defeating John Cummings.
Taking office at age 29, Ocasio-Cortez is the youngest woman ever to serve in the United States Congress.[4][5] She has been noted for her substantial social media presence relative to her fellow members of Congress.[6] Ocasio-Cortez attended Boston University, where she double-majored in international relations and economics, graduating cum laude. She was previously an activist and worked as a waitress and bartender before running for Congress in 2018.
Rashida Tlaib and Ocasio-Cortez are the first female members of the Democratic Socialists of America elected to serve in Congress. She advocates a progressive platform that includes support for workplace democracy, Medicare for All, tuition-free public college, a federal jobs guarantee, a Green New Deal, and abolishing the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
* The Blog Meister selects the topics for the Lead Picture and the Short Essay and then leans heavily or exclusively on Wikipedia to provide the content. The Blog Meister usually edits the entries.
**Pictures with Captions from our community are photos sent in by our blog followers. Feel free to send in yours to domcapossela@hotmail.com
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It’s Thursday, June 30, 2022
Welcome to the 1,487th consecutive post to the blog
existentialautotrip.com
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Lead Picture*
Paola Cabezas
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Commentary
When I drink wine with dinner, I drink 14oz, a half-bottle.
If it’s alcohol, I drink 3oz, two drinks.
I am suspecting that the quantity of alcohol is too much for my aging body.
The evidence is an unexplained, omnipresent prolonged fatigue.
Starting today, I will reduce my alcohol consumption by 25%.
And I will monitor my physical well-being.
And report to you.
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Word of the Day: tour de force
For definition, see below, immediately after the Short Essay
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Thoughts
Life consists not in holding good cards
but in playing those you hold well.
~Josh Billings
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Mail and other Conversation
We love getting mail, email, or texts.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
or text to 617.852.7192
Yesterday my new friend, , a Northeastern U student, emailed that her apartment concierge had misplaced a reasonably expensive delivery. She was in a bit of distress. So the course of a dozen emails we gathered and organized all of the pertinent information and identified three avenues of attack before filing an application for the small claims court.
Blog meister responds: She was calm when we signed off.
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Dinner/Food/Recipes
For my main meal on Monday I chose bacon and eggs.
I did have a large duck breast leftover from the roast of several days ago.
I added that to the menu.
Pretty good.
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Short Essay*
Janeth Paola Cabezas Castillo (born 4 September 1978) is an Ecuadorian former television presenter and Citizen Revolution Movement (RC) politician. She was the Governor of Esmeraldas Province from 2013 to 2016 and is a current member of Ecuador's National Assembly. Cabezas was elected leader of the largest political coalition in the 2021 National Assembly, the Union for Hope (UNES).
Early life and education
Cabezas was born in Esmeraldas on 4 September 1978[2] and grew up in Quinindé.[3] She started her radio career when she was fifteen. She graduated from the University of Guayaquil in 2008 and then studied Political Marketing at the Universidad del Salvador in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where she graduated with a master's degree.
Professional career
Cabezas worked as a radio presenter for a variety of radio stations of Esmeraldas, Quito and Guayaquil including Radio Disney of Guayaquil. In 2007 she was seen on TV as the presenter of RTS's morning TV programme. This ceased in 2009 when she was the first Afro-Ecuadorian news anchor for Ecuador TV. In 2010, she entered the public administration, where she was employed in several positions until 2013.
Political career
In 2013, Cabezas was appointed as the Governor of the northern province of Esmeraldas by Ecuador's then President Rafael Correa. She was succeeded as Governor in 2016 by the President's next appointee who was Gabriel Rivera López. After her resignation, she put pressure on the President to ensure that she was appointed to the committee overseeing the recovery from the 2016 Ecuador earthquake. Her region was one of the two most affected, and she became the only representative on the committee from Esmeraldas province in October 2016. In the parliamentary elections of 2017, she was elected a substitute MP for Augusto Espinosa in the National Assembly. In the parliamentary elections of 2021, she was elected as an MP through the political alliance Union for Hope (UNES). In May 2021 and after Sofía Espín's resignation from this position, Cabezas was elected as the new leader of the largest political coalition in the National Assembly, the UNES.
Personal life
In April 2022, Andrés Castillo, candidate for mayor of Quito, published a tweet containing a doctored image of Cabezas. Cabezas made an accusation that the tweet was offensive. The offending tweet also contained a racist aspect. The tweet was condemned by the political party RC, of which Cabezas is a member. In Ecuador, it is an offence to discriminate based on gender;[8] fines can be imposed on politicians and they can be removed from office.[
Cabezas formerly straightened her Afro-textured hair or wore a wig. However, when her niece asked in 2018 if she could get rid of her "ugly", unstraightened hair and have hair like Cabezas's, Cabezas decided from then on to wear her hair unstraightened, although it can take 45 minutes to wash.
Cabezas is the oldest of seven siblings.
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Definition of Today’s word: TOUR DE FORCE
a feat or display of strength, skill, or ingenuity
the movie is a dramatic tour de force
* The Blog Meister selects the topics for the Lead Picture and the Short Essay and then leans heavily or exclusively on Wikipedia to provide the content. The Blog Meister usually edits the entries.
**Pictures with Captions from our community are photos sent in by our blog followers. Feel free to send in yours to domcapossela@hotmail.com
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It’s Wednesday, June 29, 2022
Welcome to the 1,486th consecutive post to the blog
existentialautotrip.com
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Lead Picture*
Gongshi (Scholar's rock)
In Wenmiao temple, Shanghai
Christopher, Tania and Isabelle Luna - Flickr: P1080075
Gongshi (Scholar's rock) in Wenmiao temple, Shanghai
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Commentary
Wondering where the political turmoil is going to settle. We have personality conflicts on a non-political philosophic level. We have personality issues, like a full field of nationally known politicians, Trump predominant, then Mike Pence, Ron De Santis and Nikki Haley. We have major philosophic issues dividing us: abortion, guns. When it’s all over, will we still have a democracy?
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Writing
I’m not feeling super so I’m not catching up on my work.
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Understanding aging
I’m tired a lot. I don’t why. It feels more than just aging. Do I have covid? My temperature is 97.8 and this morning I lifted weights quite well. So I don’t think I’m getting ill. But I’m tired and I want to lie down. I don’t lie down, but I want to.
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Social Life
So I met a young woman at the airport while we waited for our plane to Washington DC. I gave her my card to use if she wanted to hang out. She texted me and the result was a lovely moment in the Chinese Gallery of Art at the MFA. We spent an hour and then I walked out to my train. She waited the 25 minutes for the train with me and waved a prolonged goodbye as my train pulled away. She promised to reach me next week for another such event. We both enjoyed the moment.
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Thoughts
Be like a postage stamp.
Stick to one thing until you get there.
~Josh Billings
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Mail and other Conversation
We love getting mail, email, or texts.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
or text to 617.852.7192
This sent to me by my daughter.
A Forbes Top Ten list.
Check out # 3 on the list.
Introducing The Forbes CMO Hall Of Fame
Blog meister responds: My son the star.
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Dinner/Food/Recipes
On Sunday I ate the Feijoada I made on Saturday. It was wonderful.
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Short Essay*
Gongshi, also known as scholar's rocks, are naturally occurring or shaped rocks which are traditionally appreciated by Chinese scholars.
Scholars' rocks can be any color, and contrasting colors are not uncommon. The size of the stone can also be quite varied: scholars' rocks can weigh hundreds of pounds or less than one pound. The term also identifies stones which are placed in traditional Chinese gardens.
In the Tang dynasty, a set of four important qualities for the rocks were recognized. They are: thinness (瘦 shòu), openness (透 tòu), perforations (漏 lòu), and wrinkling (皺 zhòu).
Gongshi influenced the development of Korean suseok and Japanese suiseki.
* The Blog Meister selects the topics for the Lead Picture and the Short Essay and then leans heavily or exclusively on Wikipedia to provide the content. The Blog Meister usually edits the entries.
**Pictures with Captions from our community are photos sent in by our blog followers. Feel free to send in yours to domcapossela@hotmail.com
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It’s Tuesday, June 28, 2022
Welcome to the 1,485th consecutive post to the blog
existentialautotrip.com
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Lead Picture*
World War I American Red Cross poster
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Commentary
So it appears that the Republican Party is getting closer to spitting into two camps, the “Trump Republicans” and the “Mitt Romney Republicans." The MRP are battling to encourage defections from Trump. And there are increasing signs that Trump is losing power, specifically, the growth in support of Mitt Romney, Mike Pence, and Ron Desantis in opposition to Trump.
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Word of the Day: CAMARADERIE
For definition, see below, immediately after the Short Essay
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Chuckles and Thoughts
Let us always meet each other with smile,
for the smile is the beginning of love.
~Mother Teresa
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Mail and other Conversation
We love getting mail, email, or texts.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
or text to 617.852.7192
We received a half-dozen emails related to a dinner party of a couple of nights ago.
Blog meister responds: Cooking together was a lovely event: we exercised companionship, camaraderie,
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Dinner/Food/Recipes
For our dinner party we snacked on a charcuterie board and jumbo shrimp cocktail and drank Champagne, with a capital C.
We sat to an al dente Spaghetti Cacio e Pepe which despite forgetfulness and other errors, came out well and drank a Chinati Riserva and a Red Valdostani.
For a meat course we loved our Chicken Braciolettine with Broccoli Rabe. We enjoyed a glass of Madeira. For dessert scoffed Tiramisu and drank Limoncello.
We made everything ourselves, including the Limoncello, and we ate everything ourselves as well.
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Short Essay*
The term "comrade" generally means 'mate', 'colleague', or 'ally', and derives from the Spanish and Portuguese, term camarada, literally meaning 'chamber mate', from Latin camera, meaning 'chamber' or 'room'. It may also specifically mean "fellow soldier". Political use of the term was inspired by the French Revolution, after which it grew into a form of address between socialists and workers. Since the Russian Revolution, popular culture in the Western world has often associated it with communism.
Upon abolishing the titles of nobility in France, and the terms monsieur and madame (literally, 'my lord' and 'my lady'), the revolutionaries employed the term citoyen for men and citoyenne for women (both meaning 'citizen') to refer to each other. The deposed King Louis XVI, for instance, was referred to as Citoyen Louis Capet to emphasize his loss of privilege.
When the socialist movement gained momentum in the mid-19th century, socialists elsewhere began to look for a similar egalitarian alternative to terms like "Mister", "Miss", or "Missus". In German, the word Kamerad had long been used as an affectionate form of address among people linked by some strong common interest, such as a sport, a college, a profession (notably as a soldier), or simply friendship. The term was often used with political overtones in the revolutions of 1848, and was subsequently borrowed by French and English. In English, the first known use of the word comrade with this meaning was in 1884 in the socialist magazine Justice.
In the late 19th century Russian Marxists and other leftist revolutionaries adopted as a translation of the word Kamerad the Russian word for tovarisch whose original meaning was "business companion" or "travel (or other adventure) mate", deriving from the noun товар (tovar, 'merchandise'). as a form of address in international (especially German) social democracy and in the associated parts of the labour movement. For instance, one might be referred to as Tovarisch Plekhanov or Tovarisch Chairman, or simply as Tovarisch. After the Russian Revolution, translations of the term in different languages were adopted by communists worldwide. However, due to its common usage in portrayals of the Soviet Union in Cold War films and books, the term became most strongly associated in public consciousness with communism as known in the Soviet Union, even though many other socialists would continue to use Comrade among themselves (e.g., German and Austrian social-democrats and, to this day, left wing members of the British Labor Party).
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Definition of Today’s word:
CAMARADERIE: the relationship of friendship and understanding that is created between colleagues at work or people who spend a lot of time or live together.
* The Blog Meister selects the topics for the Lead Picture and the Short Essay and then leans heavily or exclusively on Wikipedia to provide the content. The Blog Meister usually edits the entries.
**Pictures with Captions from our community are photos sent in by our blog followers. Feel free to send in yours to domcapossela@hotmail.com
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It’s Monday, June 27, 2022
Welcome to the 1,484th consecutive post to the blog
existentialautotrip.com
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Lead Picture*
Feijoada, Brazilian
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Commentary
Having a rewarding social life is a critical aspect of one’s well-being. Perhaps nothing is more edifying than a good marriage. Good friends are also important. And last night we had a wonderful dinner party, the culmination of weeks of bantering emails. As my comment this day, I refer our lovely readers to the email section of today’s blog.
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Writing
With an increase of socialization comes a decrease in output and I find myself a day behind my three projects: this blog, (although because I am always a day ahead, you don’t see my lag), my submissions, and my rewrite of the sequel to the completed book I am presenting.
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Screen time
Let me share a sweet foodie flickwith you. It’s a French film, called “Delicious,” or “Delicieux.” I’s a dramatic rendering of the birth of thea public dining room we call ‘restaurant.’ A lot of fun.
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Understanding aging
Contrary to what I had been told, as I am aging I seem to be needing more sleep. And getting it, too.
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Social Life
Tonight I am part of a dinner party for nine.
Tomorrow I have a date with someone I met at Logan Airport on my way to Washington, DC
She was going there as well.
We’ll visit the Weng Gallery at the MFA. She being a Chinese national I thought she would enjoy that.
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Chuckles and Thoughts
There is no revenge so complete as forgiveness.
~Josh Billings
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Mail and other Conversation
We love getting mail, email, or texts.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
or text to 617.852.7192
Here is my response to the hundred or so emails that our group exchanged to get our cook and eat group to a very successful conclusion.
Blog meister responds:
My friends,
By all accounts that was a perfect evening.
For me, perhaps the highlight of the event, was my realization of the talent in our midst named Layne Ainsworth.
I fancy myself a good cook. But, as in all endeavors, there are levels of accomplishment in the culinary arts. And I am delighted to be introduced to one in our own midst significantly finer than a simple ‘good cook’. Layne is a meister. His dedication to the art of gastronomy, to the laws of it, far exceed my own. He is genius. Thank you Layne for being you, and for sharing your accomplishments with us.
I retain, however, a significant superiority in the art of the joke. You might seriously consider retirement in that department. 😊 “And the lights came on…”
I loved the dawning of the idea, thank you Anne and Kay, the organization of the event, the Limoncello and tiramisu, thank you Kim and Layne, the able and enthusiastic participation of Gary and Ed, Vicki’s company, Dave’s quick visit the cherry on top.
And I enjoyed the emails. Helps check-off my daily ‘social contact’ line item.
So we’ll catch our breath, our hosts will work most of Sunday cleaning up, and in the next few weeks, I hope, the announcement will be made of another event. Quarterly?
God bless everyone.
Dom
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Dinner/Food/Recipes
Here is my recipe for Feijoada.
FEIJOADA
Soak beans:
9oz navy beans soaked overnight
Brown Meats in Dutch Oven and reserve:
2oz bacon
1lb spare ribs
1lb drumsticks
pig’s and chicken’s feet
4oz smoked meat
Make Aromatic Pesto:
4oz ea: onion, carrots, carrots, red bell; celery
2oz garlic
1/8t coriander
2 bay leaves
s/fgp
2 TB olive oil
chili
Simmer in meat fats for 10 minutes
Compose Stew in Dutch Oven
Add soaked Navy Beans to Dutch Oven
Add Aromatics
One can of black beans pureed in a food chopper
1lb cabbage, chopped
2 cups chicken stock
2 cups red wine
Simmer for 90 minutes or until beans are soft
Complete Stew:
Add browned meats
Add another pound of cabbage
Simmer for 90 minutes more
Prepare Plates with a bed:
Chopped Lettuce
Red onion
diced tomato
A light sprinkling of vinegar.
Feijoada ladled on top
Festoon with lots of scallions
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Short Essay*
Feijoada is a stew of beans with beef and pork. The name feijoada comes from feijão, 'bean' in Portuguese. It is widely prepared in the Portuguese-speaking world, with slight variations.
The basic ingredients of feijoada are beans and fresh pork or beef. In Brazil, it is usually made with black beans (feijoada à brasileira). The stew is best prepared over low heat in a thick clay pot.
It is usually served with rice and assorted sausages such as chouriço, morcela (blood sausage), farinheira, and others, which may or may not be cooked in the stew.
* The Blog Meister selects the topics for the Lead Picture and the Short Essay and then leans heavily or exclusively on Wikipedia to provide the content. The Blog Meister usually edits the entries.
**Pictures with Captions from our community are photos sent in by our blog followers. Feel free to send in yours to domcapossela@hotmail.com
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It’s Sunday, June 26, 2022
Welcome to the 1,483rd consecutive post to the blog
existentialautotrip.com
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Lead Picture*
March re Roe v Wade
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Commentary
Great thought from son Dom regarding one of the nights we spent in Washington, DC. This replaces our Email of the Day.
We had dinner and at 8.30pm when a bus came for us to take us on a night tour of Washington landmarks, including the heroic sculpture of Abraham Lincoln.
We were done at 10.00pm but some of the younger ones wanted to see more. The party poopers (me and others) took the bus home and left the kids to ramble.
And they did, visiting the Vietnam Memorial and others. They walked until midnight plus 30 minutes and returned to our hotels very excited.
Most noteworthy, Dom points out, that the landmarks were very well attended. They were all active.
Late at night.
Without incident.
Without an obvious police presence.
Having in mind that ALL of the landmarks, the Capitol, the White House, Abe, the National Gallery, all of them have been beautifully designed and executed, and remembering that they are all free, what a prideful moment. Makes you proud of being an American.
Blog meister responds: We must remember that even back at our republic’s founding we had traitors and scalawags among us. Even Benedict Arnold, the most shocking in our history until the arrival of you-know-who, is now a mere footnote. I am already forgetting this decade’s monstrous loser and his attempted January 6 coup. Join me.
Word of the Day: scalawag
For the definition, scroll down and look immediately below the Short Essay.
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Thoughts
Being Jewish has always been important to me.
I now have 6M tattooed on the inside of my left arm.
It's only a half-inch, but every time anyone sees it, they're reminded
of the six million who perished,
and so am I.
~Joan Rivers
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Understanding Ageing
I’m ‘feelin’ fine’ but my legs hurt when I take long walks. Everyday.
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Dinner/Food/Recipes
On Friday I had leftover roast duck.
It was as good as when I had it on Wednesday for the first time.
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Short Essay*
Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973),[1] was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States generally protects a pregnant woman's liberty to choose to have an abortion. The decision, which struck down many U.S. federal and state abortion laws,[2][3] fueled an ongoing debate in the United States about whether, or to what extent, abortion should be legal, who should decide the legality of abortion, and what the role of moral and religious views in the political sphere should be. It also shaped debate concerning which methods the Supreme Court should use in constitutional adjudication.
The case was brought by Norma McCorvey—known by the legal pseudonym "Jane Roe"—who in 1969 became pregnant with her third child. McCorvey wanted an abortion but lived in Texas, where abortion was illegal except when necessary to save the mother's life. Her attorneys, Sarah Weddington and Linda Coffee, filed a lawsuit on her behalf in U.S. federal court against her local district attorney, Henry Wade, alleging that Texas's abortion laws were unconstitutional. A three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas ruled in her favor and declared the relevant Texas abortion statutes unconstitutional.[4] The parties appealed this ruling to the Supreme Court of the United States.
On January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court issued a 7–2 decision holding that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides a fundamental "right to privacy", which protects a pregnant woman's right to an abortion. But the Court also held that the right to abortion is not absolute and must be balanced against the government's interests in protecting women's health and prenatal life.[5][6] The Court resolved these competing interests by announcing a trimester timetable to govern all abortion regulations in the United States. During the first trimester, governments could not regulate abortion at all, except to require that abortions be performed by a licensed physician. During the second trimester, governments could regulate the abortion procedure, but only for the purpose of protecting maternal health and not for protecting fetal life. After viability (which includes the third trimester of pregnancy and the last few weeks of the second trimester), abortions could be regulated and even prohibited, but only if the laws provided exceptions for abortions necessary to save the "life" or "health" of the mother.[6] The Court also classified the right to abortion as "fundamental", which required courts to evaluate challenged abortion laws under the "strict scrutiny" standard, the most stringent level of judicial review in the United States.[7]
The Supreme Court's decision in Roe was among the most controversial in U.S. history.[8][9] Anti-abortion politicians and activists sought for decades to overrule the decision. Despite criticism of Roe, the Supreme Court reaffirmed its “central holding” in its 1992 decision Planned Parenthood v. Casey,[10] although Casey overruled Roe's trimester framework and abandoned Roe's "strict scrutiny" standard in favor of a more malleable “undue burden” test.[5][11]
On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization.
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Definition of word of the day: scalawag
In United States history, the term scalawag referred to white Southerners who supported Reconstruction olicies and efforts after the conclusion of the American Civil War.
*The Blog Meister selects the topics for the Lead Picture and the Short Essay and then leans heavily or exclusively on Wikipedia to provide the content. The Blog Meister usually edits the entries.
**Community Pictures with Captions are sent in by our followers. Feel free to send in yours to domcapossela@hotmail.com
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