Remote Crowding

      Happy Mount Everest Day! It’s also Alligator Day, Biscuit Day, Digestive Health Day, Paper Clip Day, Coq Au Vin Day, Composting Day, and my favorite: Put A Pillow On Your Fridge Day. There are many more, but those stuck out, and were about all of my 1,000 words I’m willing to allocate. After last week’s post, I became curious, and went down the rabbit hole. There are more days, and months than anyone needs to know. I did not look them all up, but I do find it curious, and hence, will be making you, and myself, aware as we go, until I get bored with the idea. Which may not happen for a while, since it is a perfect alternative to staring at the cursor, hoping something magical will happen. With that many options, there is bound to be something to say. For example: I did not learn this today, but recently I heard: They are now restricting the number of climbing passes for Mount Everest. Apparently, so many people are wanting to climb it, that there have been “traffic jams” up on the mountain. I saw a movie about it, not too long ago, and thought it was being blown out of proportion. People died, and usually, especially if a movie is being made, drama increases the horribleness. However, come to find out, it is a real thing. Not only are there so many people trying to climb it, but, and this is the weird part to me, they’re not all good at it! There are people taking novices up there, who have no idea what they’re doing! That struck me as odd. Are there people out there so delusional that they think: “Oh, I’m just going to climb Mount Everest. How hard could it be?” And, other people willing to take money from them? It sounds dangerous. But then again, I already thought it did. So, now they’re vetting people to reduce crowding, and make sure the people are actually good climbers.

     I guess it makes sense. But I would imagine the guides would have done that already. Who would want to take a group of rookies up the biggest mountain in the world!? Anything for a buck, I guess. Oh well, I’ve got no desire to do that, so, to each their own. But I have trouble imagining there are that many people wishing to climb it. It seems bizarre. Too many people at the most remote place on Earth!? How!? Why!? Realizing I will never get those answers, it is probably time to move on. It just makes me wonder: If Mount Everest is getting overpopulated, what chance do the rest of us have? It already feels like most of us are living on top of one another. Then, I’ll watch the news, and see these stories of towns with a population of 500! They have no idea what traffic is like! No wonder when they come on vacation it seems like they’ve never been in a crowd before. They haven’t! It’s odd to me that we have extremes like that. Some people are living where they can’t see their neighbor, and others of us are living on top of one another. Small towns claim to “know everyone,” while those of us living on top of one another, rarely speak to each other. That is a big gap. No wonder they’re fearful of strangers, they’ve never seen one. I remember a couple of times, when I was in the Navy, I met people who had never seen a “real” black person before. I thought they were lying. Until I heard it more than once. My mind was blown! Some took well to their new information, and some did not. It was confusing. I guess my globally living existence naivety popped up again. I am unable to think we’ve all had similar upbringings, even though my mind often wants it to be true. I am just always so excited when I encounter something unfamiliar to me, I can’t imagine it causing fear in others.

     Memorial Day Weekend went pretty well. Friday, we entertained ourselves. Then on Saturday, we went over to spend time with my parents. Which, as you may know by now, includes my sister. We got over there in the afternoon, so I could spend time preparing dinner. They had a ham bone leftover from Easter. They wanted me to make Split Pea Soup. I’ve made it a few times. Apparently, it made an impression on them. This is now the third or fourth time it’s been requested. I usually don’t like to repeat myself, but, hey, if I’m making something people like that much, how can I refuse? I smoked the bone, along with some chicken wings. I’ve got to tell you, without breaking my arm, it was awesome! Maybe the best batch I ever did! Maybe I should repeat more often. How can I get better, if I don’t do it again? I just had some more last night. I almost cried! The wings were delicious too. I really hit it out of the park on Saturday. I left my parents half the soup. I hope they eat it. I’ll be very disappointed to find out it went to waste, when I could’ve eaten it! Now I’m all worked up. I’m sure they’ll eat it. We stayed the night, and left after breakfast on Sunday. We usually just have fruit and a muffin. But for some reason, my dad decided to make everyone waffles. I can’t tell you the last time I had a waffle. It was several years ago. I don’t really like sweets, and I really don’t like large breakfasts. Especially if I have anything to do that day. Which we did. Our friends were having a party Sunday, and we were to be there by 1. Luckily, I didn’t eat so much that it was an issue. I only ate half the waffle. I felt bad, but I didn’t like it. Neither did Susan. But he had an idea, and he seemed so proud of himself, that I just took it in stride, and tried not to act like I was in the Twilight Zone.

Awareness Days

      Happy Sherlock Holmes Day! I didn’t even know that was a thing, let alone how to celebrate it. I think I’ll pass on this one. It makes me wonder, not enough to look it up, but wonder, how many things are a “Day” on each day? I only even know about the Sherlock thing because the little icon on my laptop showed me. I wouldn’t have had any idea. I didn’t even see anything about it on social media. Hence, I thought I should mention it, because, it is something that I did not know. And, anytime I find out something I did not know, I automatically assume there are other people who don’t know either. I apologize if I’m telling you something you already knew. That is the danger in assuming, it does something to both of us. Anyway, I’m into fun facts, and that is one, as ridiculous as it may seem. My interest is in how these things gain momentum. And how some get more exposure than others. Even the months have multiple meanings now. I’m pretty sure May is Asian American and Pacific Islander awareness month, and Mental Health awareness month. That’s a lot of awareness, and those are the only two I’ve heard of. Who knows what else we’re supposed to be aware of. I’m very into awareness, but sometimes it seems a bit much. But I put personal awareness, and the awareness of the All, in a different category than social, or organizational awareness. I’m not sure which month it is, you can look it up if interested, but there is a Breast Cancer awareness month. Is there really anyone who is not aware that breast cancer is a thing? I suppose it’s a good time to remind people to get their self-exams done, but in general, I’m pretty sure we’re all aware that it is a thing. I’m pretty sure we’re all aware that Asians and Pacific Islanders exist. Is it just our annual reminder to have Asian food?

     I don’t need reminded, I eat Asian food all the time. Well, not all the time, but very often. My memory starts in Japan, my first food thoughts are from Japan. I eat more Japanese, and Mexican food than any other “type” of food. Maybe because I grew up globally, I don’t feel the need to be made aware of things I am already aware of. Is there anybody out there who’s like: “You mean to tell me that there are islands in the Pacific, and people live there?” Are there people like: “What do you mean Asians?” I don’t know, after seeing some interviews with Trump supporters, there may be. Okay, okay, I’m not going there, it was just a thought. But, it all seems a little silly to me. Silly and sad. It’s sad to think that some people feel that their way of life is so foreign to others that they need to be made aware of it. I suppose there is the possibility that someone has not tried pancit or lumpia, and perhaps going to one of these gatherings could be a life-changing experience for them. Maybe they didn’t grow up in a military town, and have never been exposed to these things. I was around Filipinos for half my life. My wife, having gone to Catholic school, also had plenty of exposure. But, now that I’m in this mode, I may have talked myself out of thinking it’s silly. Some people may not know. Okay, okay, I may have had a mind change. IRL! IRT! This is obviously not where I thought I was going today, but it is where I went, and I have a deeper appreciation now, than I did when I started. Which is progress. And all because I wanted to know what the little icon on my laptop was all about. And also, because I didn’t try to stop myself from starting with something just for the sake of starting. I’m probably not going to be reading any Sherlock Holmes today, but I’m certainly hungry for Loco Moco.

     Well, that surely took up more time than I expected. All for the better! I didn’t really have anything much to write about anyway. Now I’m sitting here staring at the cursor. Like it holds some power over the infinite wisdom I hope to unleash. But no. It just sits there, blinking sometimes, and holding at others. All the while I’m wondering if the show I went to last Sunday is even worth the mention. It was okay. I had never heard of the first band, The New Dystopians. They were pretty good, I imagine I’ll run into them again. The next band isn’t worth mentioning. They weren’t even a rock band. It was weird that they got on the bill. I have “friends” in The Experiments, which is who we went to see. They don’t play that often, so I try to support them. Plus, the whole event was a fundraiser put on by the bass player’s wife, so we had to support. It was for abortion access rights. I didn’t really read that much into it, but I do know that if you don’t want to give birth, you shouldn’t. The last thing we need is more unwanted people. The last band was called the Wookalars. If you don’t know what a Wookalar is, look it up, it’s from one of my favorite movies, and it’s pretty funny. Just the fact that they are using this reference made me interested. Plus, I know people who like them, and have been telling me: “I have to see them.” So, this seemed like the perfect opportunity. A daytime show, where I’ll already be!? Perfect! But, I wasn’t really into it. They are good musicians, but they’re a two-piece, drums and guitar. It felt empty. They just got nominated for a San Diego Music Award. Perhaps they record better than they play live? I’ve been in, and seen, some interesting two-pieces with drums and bass, but this was “eh.” I’m glad I saw them, and the curiosity has faded. I’d audition if they wanted a bass player.

Helping The Helpers

      Halfway through May! How is that even possible? Oh well, it is. This has been kind of an odd week. Mother’s Day was great. It seemed like we picked the perfect time to have lunch. There was another large group, along with us, and that was about it. I’m sure they were glad for the business. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. With a group of 9, it’s hard to be a part of all the conversations, but we definitely felt like a unit. I tried my best to participate as much as I could, but I mostly just conversated with my parents and sister. We were at one end of a long table, with myself and my wife in the middle. It seemed to work out. I had something outstanding! I don’t know if you ever do this, but when we go out sometimes, especially if we’re trying new things, we kind of take a vote on whose food looked, or tasted, the best. I was the obvious winner. Most of them just ordered typical combos. I’m not sure if I mentioned it was a Mexican restaurant, so, now you know. Lots of beans and rice, and things covered in cheese. My dad got the fajitas. They looked and smelled amazing. I had to keep myself from grabbing one of his shrimps. It was a showstopper. He was next to last, and it seemed to make some of us jealous. Then they brought mine out. People’s mouths were open. None of us had ever seen anything like it before. I noticed it on their “specials” board as we entered. It sounded good, so I got it. It was amazing! It was called Pollo Relleno. It was a chicken breast stuffed with picadillo and cheese, wrapped in bacon, and then covered with more picadillo. When they brought that thing out, every conversation ended. My wife and I go there about once a month for brunch. I hope it makes it to the menu. I would definitely like to have that again. Yum!

     I guess I should back it up a bit. Mother’s Day is kind of in the middle of what I should say. Sorry for not going chronologically. Last Friday, Susan’s sister Emily came into town from Arizona. Well, technically it was Thursday night, but it was late, and we didn’t see them until Friday. Apparently, Emily had to work on Mother’s Day, but still wanted to see her mom, so she visited early. She brought her husband, and two smaller children. I was surprised, her husband almost never makes the trip, but I was glad to see them together. Susan gets off early on Fridays, so we got over to their mom’s house as soon as we could. Technically, as I mentioned earlier, this was for Mother’s Day, but the two sisters wanted to maximize their time together. And, my wife wanted to spend as much time as possible with her nephews. They’re starting to be a little bit more fun, now that they’re getting older. My wife loves being Auntie Sue. And she gets a big kick out of the fact that the older child, Leonard, has taken to calling me Donald. We don’t know where he got that from. He made it up himself, he has never heard anyone call me that. He’s 6 now, and barely verbal, and for some reason, in his mind, I’m Donald. I don’t mind. He can’t be corrected anyway. Plus, my wife really thinks it’s cute for some reason. And, they all get a kick out of the fact that he just took it upon himself to do so. His parents swear they have no idea where he got it from. They also swore that he wouldn’t stop talking about getting to see me. Susan loves the fact that he recognizes us now. We had some pizza, and left around bedtime. Then we went right back over the next morning at 11. We hung out for a bit, had some lunch, and then they got back on the road around 2. Just a quick trip. A 6-hour drive! But I guess family’s worth it.

     We left around the same time. We decided to go to a local brewery that has been having punk rock bands recently. It’s called Burning Beard, and they keep having shows that I think’ll be interesting. However, I had not gone yet. But, since we had time, and we were out, with no other existing plans, we decided to give it a try. I knew some of the guys playing, and thought it would be a good chance to check it out. However, it was the hottest day of the year! In a parking lot! There were a few sunshades, but people were trying to huddle in their shade, luckily it wasn’t too crowded. Plus, the sun was setting right in our faces! It was a nice place. I heard the food was good, but we had just eaten, and I didn’t know they had food. The menu looked awesome! We will definitely be going back to try some of that. I was a little bummed, because the band I wanted to see was going on last, but online, I was led to believe they were starting. So, after 2 bands neither one of us cared for, we were beered out, and decided to make it home safely. The next day was Mother’s Day, which I already told you about. My mother-in-law had foot surgery on Wednesday. She flew her sister in to help take care of things while she recovers. However, come Tuesday, Karen wasn’t sure about David, or her sister, and wanted my wife to come spend the night, and get her to the hospital by 6 am on Wednesday! Then, after they got her home, Karen wanted my wife to stay and help things get organized, because the other “helpers” are old and slow. (Then why were they chosen to help!?) So, basically, I’ve been living the bachelor’s life for the week. I’m glad my wife is in a position to help, it just seemed so “last minute.” It’s made me wonder if there was some issue going on that the rest of us don’t know about.

Getting "All Caught Up"

      We’ve got a new pope already! Wow. As mentioned before, I don’t really care, but it seems to be all the news, so I thought I’d include it. The first American Pope. I guess that’s cool. It does seem a bit strange, with all of the other tumultuous stuff going on, but hey, I guess it’s about time. He’s the 267^th! Let that sink in for a moment… We’re only at 47 Presidents. 267 in over 2,000 years!? That math doesn’t seem right to me. Well, it is. I just checked before I continued. That gives the average Pope about 7.5 years. It works out. But still, all things considered, for some reason, it doesn’t seem like that many. When I first saw the number, my initial thought was: That’s all? I guess if you’re into it, it’s pretty remarkable. 2,025 years seems like a long time, but 267 Popes doesn’t seem like that many, go figure. My math may be off by a little but not much, since they weren’t calling them “Popes” when it started. I also found it interesting that when they were talking about who the next Pope might be, on the news, they mentioned some gentleman, but said he was thought to be too young to be Pope. He was not a young person to me. It made me wonder why they prefer an older person. Is it so they can’t be in charge that long? At an average of 7.5 years per Pope, none of them were Pope very long. However, in my memory, Pope John Paul II was Pope forever. I know that’s not true, but almost my entire adolescence. I just looked it up: He was in charge from 1978 to 2005. 27 years. Apparently, some Popes didn’t get their full 7.5. Even the Pope just after him served 8. Which was also strange, because he was one of the only ones who quit. Everyone else waited until their death took them from office. I do like history, and I do like numbers, but, other than that, I really couldn’t care less.

     I’m kind of excited because a project I’ve been working on for years is finally “all caught up.” The Eruption started in 2004. It began to start in early 2004, and by November 2004, we had our first show. We record every practice. And, at every practice, from the beginning, we’ve started with an improvisational jam. Sometimes 2 or 3. I saved all of those recordings. Back then, we were using tape. So, while I was practicing writing, back in 2012, I would listen to the tapes, and make copies of the jams. Each tape was 45 minutes per side. Back then, I was considering each side of the tape 1 Jam. I got up to 24 Jams before I started using digital technology. So, then, I had to digitize the first 24. The idea being, that if we ever needed material, we would have this wealth to pull from. However, at some point, I got this idea for an instrumental album. I knew the album would be in the “future.” So, then the idea became to go through the jams, collecting ones that might make for good material for the instrumental album. As of last week’s practice, we finished Jams 69! That’s nearly 69 hours of original improvised music. Even though technology changed since I began this project, I kept the jams at around 45 minutes. 1) to keep integrity with the first 24, and 2) to keep it to a digestible amount. After that much time, things tend to blur together. So, about a year ago I started a database, so that we can retrieve our jams easier. I had to find out what keys we were playing in, and make them sound standard, since most of the time we spent “getting our sound right.” And I am happy to say, that after 21 years, and several starts, I have gone through all 69 jams, with the keys, and the notes telling me, and my bandmates, which of the instrumental songs I think they’d fit with! Yay!

     That was quite an undertaking. I know if left to others, it would never have been done. I feel accomplished. I created a database! Now we can just punch in a key, or an emotion, and the songs will come up. I can not believe it! Now I have to go through all of the possible song choices, but step 1 is done! I can’t get over it. But I have to. I still have about 300 words left, and I don’t want it to be like this for the rest of the paragraph. It’s okay that I’m excited, but I’m moving on. Mother’s Day is on Sunday. It kind of snuck up on me this year. The 11^th seems too early, but the math checked out. I knew it was bad when my sister sent me a text message, asking if I had any plans. Usually, I’m the one who starts those kinds of chats, so when she initiated, I knew it wasn’t just me. We’re going to a small local restaurant. My wife and I go there for brunch occasionally. It’s good, and not very crowded, so I knew we’d get in. We’re not trying to get into the newest, fanciest, places around. We just want to be together, and not have our mothers cook. It’s usually nice. Both of our mothers will be there. Plus, my mother-in-law’s boyfriend’s mother is also coming. From now on I’m going to call him David. That is his name, I’m not trying to protect anyone, except myself, from having to type out that long description. His mother is Barbara, I’ll use her name too. This is the 3^rd or 4^th family event that Barbara will be joining us for. As I mentioned at Easter, she is nice. Her husband has recently died, and I think she’s really glad to have a family to be a part of. She even said so much, as she asked her son: “Why did it take so long for you to include me? I love this family.” That’s good to hear.  

May Day

      Mayday, mayday! I’ve always known they called today that, I just wasn’t ever really sure why. I did a brief little look-up, and it seemed too much to get into. I just find it interesting that people say “mayday” when things aren’t going well, like plane crashes, boating issues, and other such catastrophic events, but also use it to reference today. I think I remember something about it referring to the Russian Revolution, but my quick scroll did not reveal that. It did mention a type of “Labor Day,” so I’m going with that. The quick search revealed 2 things: 1) A European festival to mark the start of Summer. Which we know is not actually true. 2) I mentioned a little bit ago. That’s the one I’m going with. And, I suppose, if the working party is about to boycott work, it may seem like a catastrophe. Hence the reason I’m going with that one. I can’t imagine any of the schools I went to, informing me about a European Summer Festival. But now I’m curious which came first, “mayday” as a distress signal, or “May Day” as the worker’s revolt. Okay, I lost where I was going and couldn’t help myself. I didn’t want to continue on in ignorance, so I did a little deeper dive. I figure if I want to write about it, and am curious, I “may” as well look it up:) I took some time and: It has nothing to do with Russia. It does seem to have something to do with Communists. It seems to have something to do with the 8-hour workday. And from what I could tell, by my brief research, it goes back to the 1880’s. Whereas “mayday” started in the 1920’s, has a French origin, and seemingly nothing to do with May Day. There, I feel better now. I learned something, shared something, had to change the spelling of a few words, refused to change what I wrote, and now can gleefully move on with my head held high.

     Last week I got a little more involved with the death of the Pope than I thought I was going to get into. Well, I didn’t think I was going to get into it at all, but you saw what happened. Almost as soon as I was done, I realized that I never got into Easter. Not that Easter was that big of a thing, but I noticed having missed it. In case you care: As just mentioned, Easter was not that big of a thing. It was nice. However, it almost seemed like it wasn’t going to happen. I know a significant amount of people think of it as the day Jesus came back to life. Although they don’t necessarily act like it. I feel that more of us celebrate it as a Spring celebration. I take Easter as seriously as I take Thanksgiving. Which is to say: fairly serious. Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, I expect a feast. Any other meal, out of the entire year, could just be “nice,” and I’d be fine with that. But those three are in my brain as feasts! So, I was a little caught off guard when my mother-in-law, asked if we’d be okay with Sandwiches. Sandwiches!? My parents, and sister were invited, as usual. They accepted. Apparently, my wife, her mother, my mother, and I don’t know who else, all had a chat going about what to bring. My family has traditionally had ham for Easter. So, my mother offered to bring ham. My mother-in-law had already planned on having turkey, so they decided to have both. For some reason, this gave my mother-in-law the idea that we should just have sandwiches. Sandwiches!? She asked my wife what she thought. My wife told her “No.” “If we’re having people over for a celebration, we should have a typical feast.” My wife thought she “may” have been trying to get out of doing a lot of work. Which I kind of get. But, if you don’t want to do the work, then don’t invite people over. We can do other things.

     If you’re like me, you “may” have read some of that last bit and thought: A turkey, and a ham? And I would say “Yes.” Then you “may” have thought: That seems like a lot of food. And you’d be right! That’s a lot of damn food! We didn’t know until the day of, but my mother-in-law’s boyfriend’s mother was coming. This was only the second time I’ve seen her. She seems nice enough. But that is 1 extra person. And, none of us knew until the day of, so, it’s not like anyone was planning on extra people. Or that 1 more person would mean a whole other animal dish. I made this cheesy cauliflower casserole, that went over pretty well. It was my first time, and apparently, the first for everyone else as well, since no one seemed to know what it was. I guess I was unaware of how much moisture is in cauliflower, so it was mushier than I had hoped, but everyone seemed to enjoy it. Anyway: that was the most eaten thing. I usually bring home half of my green bean casserole, but the cheesy cauliflower casserole was practically gone. It felt good. But, then I had to go to my parent’s house on Tuesday to pick up the ham no one ate. Obviously, some people had some, but there was practically a whole ham left! My parents said they wouldn’t use the leftovers, and asked if I would. Hell yes I would! That’s the whole reason for making a ham, leftovers! My wife and I ate like royalty all week, and we still have half a ham in the freezer. We were not offered turkey from her mom, or we would have taken that too. They did give us the cheesy potatoes though, almost no one ate any, but we took them, and have turned them into something we’d gladly eat. There were au gratin potatoes and mashed potatoes! Literally too much! Seeing everyone was nice, but we didn’t need two meals!