Haute Cuisine
We had a Christmas potluck at my work yesterday. Ooof! Never since Wendy's hosted the "Superbar" have I seen such a dizzying array of nutritionally nuclear food. Deviled eggs, chicken/egg/ham salad rolls, chili, Swedish meatballs (in "gravy" of an unknown nature), cocktail weenies (swimming in same mysterious gravy), KFC popcorn chicken, broccoli salad loaded with mayo, potato salad, chicken pot pie, some egg casserole thing with other questionably edible things embedded in it (breezed right past that one with little time granted to further investigate its contents), and then another table loaded with cookies, brownies, chocolates, etc etc etc. Man, given the array of food there I could imagine opposing armies of sugar freaks and Atkins acolytes squaring off in a West Side Story style showdown.

My contribution to this culinary celebration was a Thai style ginger and lemongrass chicken in a chili peanut sauce w/ stir-fried onions, celery, carrots, red peppers, bok-choy, and bean sprouts - mixed into a bed of jasmine rice (I kid you not, this is what I brought)! Needless to say I had to call it "Chicken and Vegetables" so as to convince the rest of my co-workers to give it a whirl (the mere sight of vegetables is a definite put-off for many). Some brave souls spooned themselves servings and it was interesting to witness their expressions as they wrapped their taste-buds around untraditional pot-luck flavors. Oh well. Pass the beer nuts....

Correct Creationism
Growing up, my public schools taught us Creationism and Intelligent Design. We read stories that detailed the Creation and we pondered the wisdom and harmony evident in the Creator's design. Furthermore, there was no uproar from the public over this. The ACLU made no effort to deny the teaching of this knowledge. How was this possible? Simple. We were learning about Native American culture.

When a man does a piece of work which is admired by all we say that it is wonderful; but when we see the changes of day and night, the sun, the moon, and the stars in the sky, and the changing seasons upon the earch, with their ripening fruits, anyone must realize that it is the work of someone more powerful than man.
---Chased-by-Bears (1843-1915) Santee-Yanktonai Sioux

...everything on the earth has a purpose, every disease an herb to cure it, and every person a mission. This is the Indian theory of existence.
---Mourning Dove [Christine Quintasket] (1888-1936) Salish

"The Great Spirit is in all things. He is in the air we breathe. The Great Spirit is our Father, but the Earth is our Mother. She nourishes us.....That which we put into the ground she returns to us."
---Bedage

"Some of our chiefs make the claim that the land belongs to us. It is not what the Great Spirit told me. He told me that the lands belong to Him, that no people own the land ..."
~Kanakuk, Kickapoo~

"I do not see a delegation for the Four Footed. I see no seat for the Eagles. We forget and we consider ourselves superior. But we are after all a mere part of Creation. And we must consider to understand where we are.And we stand somewhere between the mountain and the Ant. Somewhere and only there as part and parcel of the Creation."
---Chief Oren Lyons, Oneida
---From an address to the Non-Governmental Organizations of the United Nations, Geneva, Switzerland, 1977

Great Spirit, Great Spirit, my Grandfather, all over the earth the faces of living things are all alike...Look upon these faces of children without number and with children in their arms, that they may face the winds and walk the good road to the day of the quiet.
---Black Elk (1863-1950) Oglala Sioux holy man.

I hope the Great Heavenly Father, who will look down upon us, will give all the tribes His blessing, that we may go forth in peace, and live in peace all our days, and that He will look down upon our children and finally lift us far above the earth; and that our Heavenly Father will look upon our children as His children, that all the tribes may be His children, and as we shake hands to-day upon this broad plain, we may forever live in peace.
---Red Cloud [Marpiya-Luta] (late 19th century) Oglala Sioux chief

Damages, Pain and Suffering
My wife is awesome. Several weeks ago I planned on going alone to hear Scissorfight play at a local venue. She felt bad that I was going alone, so she decided to go with me. Awesome!

Well, tonight she has duplicated this extreme act of kindness and has agreed to see ISIS play down in Boston tonight. The deal was that I would kick in for the earplugs.

My wife is awesome!