For Europeans This Is Preaching to the Choir

More Thoughts on Parenting from the Childless

Every morning across the street from me a really fancy bus picks up a group of kids for some private school somewhere and every morning the parents accompany them for the wait. When they board the bus you would think from all of the emotional farewells that the kids were being sent off for a modern-day Children’s Crusade or they are making Sophie's choice.  I remember that on my first day of kindergarten I wouldn’t allow my mother to walk the three blocks with me. “I got this, mom,” I told her, or something to that effect, and I walked sans chaperon to school with my best friend who would also be my classmate.

What is Comedy?

I wasn’t a big fan of the movies but this is one of the best sight gags of all times (from The Pink Panther Strikes Again). I know all of you are busy but if you can spare 17 seconds you should check this out. I laugh every time I watch it.

What Does it all Mean?

The first USB memory device I bought I think had a whopping 256 megabyte capacity. At the time it was expensive but a wonder in the computer world because now I didn’t have to copy information to a CD which was always a clumsy format. I just bought a new external hard drive the other day with a 1.5 terabyte capacity. How long before my amazement at this technological leap seems quaint? How long will it be before you can have one small device that contains every movie ever filmed, every song ever recorded, and every book ever published? The more important question is what will this mean for humanity?

With my new eBook reader I no longer have a need for a public library as this new technology serves me better than any public library I have ever visited. I have access to any book I care to read without leaving my desk. I can carry my new library anywhere. I read a lot but I must admit that I don’t plow through as many books as I used to years ago. I lived by a small library in Florida and I’d go there at least once a week and return with a stack of books that I would put on my kitchen table. I’ve never read as much as I did during these years of my life. I had nothing in the way of distractions at home except the occasional movie I’d rent from the local video outlet.

That was before the internet. Now I have quite a few more things vying for my attention. A long time ago I lived in Greece for three years during which time I only talked on the phone to my mother on a handful of occasions. I wrote letters but probably no more than one or two a week, if that many. Today I send at least a half a dozen emails every day, most of them longer (and better written) than my correspondence from yesteryear. I can watch TV series in Spanish, French, and English. I have every movie at my disposal. I still read a hell of a lot but a quiet night at home no longer means only a book.

The good news for gypsies like me is that moving no longer means leaving your books behind or going broke shipping the old technology of paper books. Books are an enormous burden when you move and represent one of the heaviest and bulkiest of household items. I have a houseful of books after eight years in Spain so if I decide to move to the other side of the planet again I won’t be quite as heartbroken to leave behind my library of physical books.

I have to say that my lust for buying paper books is waning very rapidly. In Valencia it takes a true bloodhound to sniff out the best places to buy used books. I still make the rounds of the second hand stores and pawn shops where I find used books but not as much as I did in my pre-eBook reader phase. I have to admit that I now prefer reading on my device; it’s just a lot easier to use than the technology it is quickly replacing.

And to all those screeching about how eBooks are destroying reading I say this. Get stuffed! What are important are the words on the page, not the technology used to deliver them. When the printing pressed rolled in, the ancient scribes howled about that technology as well. Plus ça change plus c’est la même chose.

So what does it all mean? It simply has to mean more than just convenience, that your next move will be easier because all of your media now fit in an area smaller than a pack of cigarettes. It is up to each and every one of us to take responsibility for our own enlightenment and edification by using this glorious new technology instead of just sitting back and watching old episodes of The Brady Bunch or whatever. I don’t think that’s what the minds responsible for this technological leap had in mind.

Too good not to share:

The Right Tool for the Job

To make a really good tortilla it’s best to start with a really good pan. This enameled fry pan is perfect but I don’t want to give you the impression that a normal slob like yourself can make a tortilla like mine simply because you have a good fry pan. That would just be cruel on my part.

P.S. Just in case people still think that we have crappy food in the USA I present Exhibit A, a take-out pizza from Washington. I would kill for a pizza like this here in Valencia.

Potato and Zucchini Soup

I wanted to try a new soup recipe. I was determined to make only a few servings instead of my usual “Feed an Army” strategy until I passed through the vegetable aisle at the supermarket and they had bags of great looking potatoes in bags of five kilos for less than 2€. If you think that I'm capable of walking away from a deal like that then you don’t know me at all. So it looks like I’ll have soup for at least 20 people.

It’s a simple enough recipe. Boil some potatoes with an onion and garlic. Add zucchini and when it is all cooked pour off some of the water and liquefy. Add some stock, either beef or chicken and you can add some cream (I added Greek yogurt) to thicken it up. I added browned onions cooked with the bacon I just cured. The only seasoning I used was salt and pepper.