I Think I'll Pass

Some things that I recently checked out, gave a shot, patiently tried out, but I didn’t care for and am giving a pass:

1. Modest Mouse.

In case you don’t know, this is a band. You know how you kind of hear about this or that band? I’d heard a few people mention this band over the years. So I gave a listen. What I heard, and I listened to quite a bit, sounded like a not so polished garage band trying too hard to be the Rolling Stones with stream of consciousness lyrics that make you bored before the songs end.

2. The “Dots” game.

This is a pencil and paper game, maybe you’ve played it, where there are dots all over the page. You take turns trying to make squares out of the connected dots, and whoever makes the most squares wins. Me and my kids have never finished a game. Ever. After many tries. It’s just too boring and repetitive. Maybe if you were stuck on an elevator you could have fun with this game by comparison to what else you have to do, but otherwise...

3. Marinated Mushrooms

I like mushrooms. Not the psychedelic kind, but the kind you eat because you like the taste, if you like the taste. And I like the IDEA of marinated mushrooms. Seems to make sense. So I bought some marinated with garlic, which were so garlicky that they were practically inedible. I tried cutting them up and putting them in very small doses in some things and they stood out like pieces of glass in a mouthful of egg whites. But maybe that was just a bad batch? So I tried some other marinated mushrooms, marinated in I don’t remember what, but it was the same kind of thing: over powering scent and flavor. So I’m thinking this just isn’t meant to be.

4. REALLY Cheap Toilet Paper

Cheap toilet paper. You need it after the bad marinated mushrooms and, well, it gets the job done. But REALLY cheap toilet paper? Tried it. It didn’t work out. ‘nuff said.



Peace to you.


© LW Publishing 2011

Alligator Stew

The better half and myself went away for a day with some incredible, we don't deserve them, friends to a house in the woods, near a river, somewhere north of where we already are. It’s what you do in Michigan: You go “up north.” People do it all the time. Why? ‘Cause it’s there, I guess. In New York, I suppose they’d say they’re going “up state” or something like that.

To each his own.

The nice thing about laptops and the internet is that I can do at least some of my work pretty much anywhere. Which is what I did. But it was a little hard to concentrate with all the relaxing going on around me.

I happened to bring along with us some Alligator tail that I had purchased at a store near Lansing, Michigan, called Merindorf Meats. It’s just that kind of store. They have weird meats. It’s a great store.

So I had to decide what to do with this Alligator. I had never eaten alligator before. Never cooked it. Nothing. It was just a novelty. So I put it in a pot with some tomatoes and carrots and such, adding onions and potatoes and whatever struck my fancy. Cooked it low for hours until we were finally ready for dinner, really late, around eight at night.

We ladled the stew into bowls and, for the life of me, I couldn't find the alligator. It was like aliens had beamed the alligator chunks out of the pot while we weren't looking. Who knew aliens liked alligator? But finally we realized that it had simply broken down and it was spread all throughout the stew. The alligator wasn’t as tough as you’d think an alligator would be. And it was good. It did not die in vain.

But I wonder sometimes what leads me to such things. Why did I buy alligator in the first place? Why did I pull it out for this little trip? Why did I choose to make stew? Why did it end up tasting good? I don’t know why, really. I’m just an adventure seeker, I suppose.

Some people climb mountains. Some people travel the world. I make alligator stew.

Call me reckless, I don’t care.



Peace to you.

© LW Publishing 2010