"You Have a Good One!"

What has happened with contemporary language in these United States? For some time, I have been compiling a list of words or phrases that have the same effect on me as a fingernail scraping a chalkboard. And now, through the magic of the internets, you get to share in my frustration!

1. "You have a good one." A good what? I thought this one had gone away, but I heard it just yesterday.
2. "Dawg" or "Dawg Pound." Commonly used by Randy Jackson on "American Idol." Didn't this go away with the Arsenio Hall show?
3. "Like." If you go to, like, the grocery, did you go to the grocery or a market that is similar to a grocery?
4. "Yo, yo, yo." Egads.
5. "Check it Out." Huh?
6. "Dude." Uhm, Keanu Reeves is making more grown-up films now.
7. "Know what I'm saying?" No, but, I pray thee, do tell!
8. "Absolutely." Overused.
9. "It is what it is." No kidding?
10. "Ya." As in, "how ya doing?" Please complete a sentence. "How are you doing?"

That's enough soapbox for today. Book and restaurant reviews coming soon!

Straddling the Fence

I first got excited about it in 1992. I was just a couple of miles north of Skagen, Denmark. Actually, I was at the very edge of Denmark! I had one foot in the North Sea and the other foot in the Baltic Sea. I thought that was the neatest thing.

Ever since then, I have tried to find places where I could have each foot in a different body of water, simultaneously. It's not as easy as it sounds. Sometimes you have to decide whether bodies of water really are different, or just the same. Standing on the tip of Florida, you can have one foot in the Gulf of Mexico and one foot in the Atlantic Ocean. Are they the same or different? When you are at the southernmost point of New Jersey, do you consider the Delaware Bay to be distinct from the Atlantic Ocean? You get the idea. And when you are standing where rivers meet, such as the Ohio and the Mississippi, do you get to count each one?

Regardless of the questions about what constitutes distinct bodies of water, I get to decide because as far as I know, I am the only one participating in this--what must be a result of some mental deviation. But I enjoy it. And I will continue to enjoy it every chance I get.

Unanimous Anonymity

Welcome. This is a new blog, and let's say it's in honor of St. Patrick's Day. I've read many stories of bloggers losing jobs or being threatened with job loss, so I am choosing to remain anonymous.

One of the benefits of anonymity is an opportunity to censor what I say much less. I would never hurt anyone intentionally, and I shall continue to be careful about that in this new blog. I have found that blogs replaced emails which replaced paper letters for people who want to keep up with friends and loved ones.

One of my favorite things in this new blog will be to discuss books, music, pop culture, politics, and, perhaps most importantly, restaurant reviews (and maybe bar/drink reviews) wherever I encounter restaurants and bars.

I invite you to return. I invite you to email me. And I hope that in some way, some day, you may find at least a piece of joy or entertainment in what you read.