Pineapple & Macadamia Breeze

SAMURAI BLOGGER

The coffee shop is always busy on Sunday morning with young folks malingering from boozing the night before but Beryl had a seat for me. I know it's more attributable to the fact that she lives alone than to my worldly effervescence but she always seems glad to see me. At her suggestion, we decided to go over to the Academy of Arts to see what movie was playing. Turned out to be a kung fu classic, "Master of the Flying Guillotine," reportedly one of Quentin Tarantino's favorites and evidently a major influence on "Kill Bill." For whatever reason, it was not the type of movie that fit our mood-of-the-moment.

There are lots of permanent exhibitions at the museum but Beryl suggested we take in the current traveling show, a collection of Japanese paintings, which covered a sampling from 1100 to 1900. Though not something I'd have sought out, I must admit that I found myself in awe at the talent. And Beryl filled me in on a lot of Japanese history along the way. She is wonderfully down-to-earth but if I live to be 200, I doubt if I'll approach her in sophistication.

While I was looking for new quotes, I ran across this:

“There are people who reshape the world by force or argument, but the cat just lies there, dozing; and the world quietly reshapes itself to suit his comfort and convenience.” -- Allen and Ivy Dodd

It made me think of my cat Cinder and Wendy’s cat Frodo. The only time I ever got mad at Cinder was the time she knocked my Faberge eggs off the shelf and broke them. Easy come, easy go.

A SATURDAY FOR THINKING

I've just finished reading The Blog of Wes after linking to it from the blog of Wendy. Whew. I don't feel equipped to expound on the theme, but will only suggest that if you haven't read them, you should.

I once overheard my mother describe me as "color-blind" to one of her co-workers. She said she didn't know what she had done right, but that she had raised a child who seemed to be completely color-blind. I was 12 or 13 at the time, and although I did discern that they were talking about "race", I honestly wasn't sure what she meant by that description of me.

Reading Wes's recent blog entries has brought home to me the complexity - and simplicity - of the whole issue. In my heart, I wish this issue would fade away from the earth. Living in Hawaii has made me aware of the cultural identity of the people native to these islands. This is very different from what Wes is talking about (if I understand him), because in this case it really IS a CULTURAL difference.

Anyway, please read Wes and Wendy's blogs and think about them.

FIELDS OF DREAMS

Amanda’s entry of a few days ago about her renewed contact with Munchausen Michelle struck a chord with me on two levels. I will confess that I’m not always great at keeping up correspondence, but hypocrite that I am, I still feel slighted when someone fails to keep in touch with me. Amanda’s experience prompted me to make an effort to contact some old friends.

The thoughts of Amanda’s cat were very funny, and made me think of Hamlet’s Cat’s Soliloquy.

During dinner breaks I often peruse whatever literature happens to be in the employees' lounge and came across an article in Sports Illustrated about how W.P. Kinsella wrote a novel called "Shoeless Joe," which would become better known in a different medium as "Field of Dreams." It all started as a short story, incorporating elements of what Kinsella knew about the (wrongly) infamous baseball player Shoeless Joe Jackson, the reclusive J.D. Salinger "who made himself conspicuous by hiding" and a couple of other characters. The short story was published in an anthology where it was read by a Houghton Mifflin editor who suggested making it into a novel. Interestingly, I thought, Kinsella loved the movie version while stating "most writers are unhappy with film adaptations of their work and rightly so." While he had no input toward the screen version, Kinsella felt the spirit of his book remained and realized added visuals and deleted words were necessary to transform a 300-page novel into an hour-and-46-minute movie.

LET US JOIN HANDS (M-F-M-F-M-F.....)

As a Roman Catholic, I am deeply offended by the number of people who are ignorant of history. Centuries ago, and defining the Dawn of Civilization by Corpus Juris Civilis (Canon Law seq.), the Church obtained a patent on Marriage. Through its great benevolence, in recognizing that some not born to the faith lack the intelligence to convert, the Church has licensed non-Catholic ilk to partake in marriage (small m). Though not sanctioned by the Church, marriages still are regulated by the original Marriage patent, with the able countenance of the Conservative Christian Coalition. This means MALE-FEMALE only - not male-male and not female-female.

I speak for most bloggers - and all educated ones - in expressing how grateful I am that with no wars, poverty, unemployment, threats, or deficits facing our Nation, President Bush can devote his time and energy to campaigning for a Constitutional Amendment that will once and for all eliminate the Gay Marriage Menace.

We must all unite in urging quick passage and ratification of this amendment and allow President Bush to move forward to the next most important priority he has established for our Country: landing a man on Mars.

BLOGGING FOR EXERCISE?

Why is it that I'm not more faithful about walking? I couldn't ask for a better place to walk. The weather is always nice and the air smells like flowers, so why do I so frequently find excuses to avoid it? Somebody please come up with an efficient way to get cardiovascular exercise while blogging.

I had coffee with Beryl again, and helped (yeah, right) with her crossword puzzle. Joan hasn't been around while I have been lately, but my curiosity is growing about the variety of late-night visitors. Her social life certainly more interesting than mine, but I try not to be nosy. Time to remind her that she offered a night on the town together.

La Belle Auteur

While I doubt if she suits the taste of most of us, Belle de Jour is a blogging favorite of my brother. With a comment that I have missed the mark and the market, he sends along this: "The blogs-to-books frenzy continues. Belle of the ball blogger Belle de Jour has, apparently, landed a book deal--a 'good deal' even. A little cursory research reveals that 'good deal' is Publisher's Marketplace parlance for a contract in the $101,000 - $250,000 price range. There's even talk of movie rights."

I find it interesting how many of the bloggers I read and enjoy have a novel in progress. This is hardly surprising as blogging is a wonderful outlet for writers, yet I wonder if it is at all beneficial to authorship as it does not require the discipline or continuity which goes into a coherent 300-page book. And unlike the blog, witing a novel is necessarily a solitary activity.

I was always intrigued with the phrase "The Great American Novel." I suppose it is intended as a mythic ideal rather than a realized novel but if you had to select a book, would you?

I can pass along some advice: "A good many young writers make the mistake of enclosing a stamped, self-addressed envelope, big enough for the manuscript to come back in. This is too much of a temptation to the editor." Ring Lardner.

VISIONS OF VALLI AND VIVALDI

I received an e-mail from Amy, to the effect that while Winter is still pretty well entrenched on much of the mainland (contiguous 48 to the geographically-challenged), an occasional day of moderating temperatures hints that Spring is just down the road and around a corner or two.

She asked if I missed the change of seasons. So far, I have not. Unquestionably, as with most of life, individual feelings on the subject would vary. Many people would never miss the color of Autumn foliage, or fresh-fallen snow or crocuses and daffodils making their way through a Winter frost. And to be sure, some idyllic moments from October to April would be outweighed by having to shovel snow, pay high heating bills, and suffer general discomfort.

So, Amy, I really don't know.

I had coffee with Beryl and told her I'd be going to Portland. If I knew it, I'd forgotten but she says Portland also has wonderful Chinese gardens.

FIGURES DON'T LIE, BUT LIARS DO

I watched Ralph Nader announcing his candidacy for President (as an Independent, not Green Party this time) and could hear the Republicans high-fiving across the country. How asinine it was for Nader to try to deny responsibility for Bush's election by saying that he was just one of several non-mainstream parties and that as he took from Gore, others took from Bush.

The facts are these: Bush won Florida by 537 votes; Nader got 97,488 votes in Florida; Buchanan (Reform Party) got 17,484 votes. If Bush got 100% of Buchanan's votes and Gore got 20% of Nader's votes, Gore would have been elected. You want the national totals? Nader - 2,834,410 votes; Buchanan - 446,743 votes. For Nader to sit there and say he was not responsible for Bush's election makes him a liar, in my opinion.

Get your head back into the daylight, Ralph. I don’t doubt your sincerity in the changes you would like to see, but by helping the Republicans gain and maintain leadership, you are working against your own causes.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

My mom tells me my cousin is getting married in Portland (Oregon) in June and that I should be there. She’s right. I should be there, but plane fare is not in my budget. It got me thinking that I need to open a savings account or get a piggy bank or something to start a fund so I could eventually make a trip back to the mainland.

I had assumed that everybody I know would be knocking on my door looking for a place to stay once I moved here, but apart from my college friends who are talking about a trip, no knocking yet.

You should all go to my cousin’s wedding if you get a chance, because Portland is a very good town. Flowers everywhere, and a really cool Japanese Garden.

PURR DEPRIVATION

Woke up with a slight case of homesickness. When I read Deb’s entry about Packy and the HPBC, my cat Cinder came to mind and I had the strongest urge to have a purring cat on my lap.

This is a great place to be and I don’t regret my decision to come here. Sometimes I feel lonely, but I don’t think it’s because I’m many miles from my family or that I don’t have a boyfriend. A person who lives within walking distance of her family and is married can still feel lonely sometimes. Am I right? Seems to me that people just sometimes feel lonely, regardless of circumstances.

But I’ve made some friends here. Of course, in Hawaii, they are ALL fair weather friends. (Snort!)

LOVE IS A SPICE WITH MANY TASTES - Newman

Now that my job has taken on a sense of routine, I've got to get out more before the aroma of pineapple-laden drinks drives me into depression. It's not quite as ambitious as Dr. Petrov's but this is what I have on my agenda so far: (1) go snorkeling; (2) visit the Pearl Harbor Memorial; (3) see Iolani Palace; (4) have a picnic in Waimea Falls Park; (5) meditate at Byodo-In Temple; (6) gain a few pounds at a luau.

Notice there are no social obligations. Those I will leave to chance. I read with great interest the dialogue that The Anonymous Blogger initiated and was carried forward by Amanda. I have nothing whatsoever to contribute to that but following the concept that Caren set forth contending that unrequited love is acceptable, I have selected two virtual beaus: Meg and 6ix

SAVE FOR REFERENCE, GALS

After 17 years of marriage, a man dumped his wife for a younger woman. He wanted to continue living in their downtown luxury apartment with his new lover so he asked his wife to move out and get another place. His wife agreed to this, provided that he would give her 3 days alone at the apartment to pack up her things. She spent the first day packing her belongings into boxes, crates and suitcases. On the second day, she had the movers come and collect her things. On the third day, she sat down for the last time at their beautiful dining table by candlelight, put on some soft background music, and feasted on a pound of shrimp and a bottle of Chardonnay. When she had finished, she went into each room and deposited a few of the half-eaten shrimp shells into the hollow of the curtain rods. She then cleaned up the kitchen and left. When the husband returned with his new girlfriend, all was bliss for the first few days. Then slowly the apartment began to smell. They tried everything; cleaning & mopping and airing the place out. Vents were checked for dead rodents, carpets were steam cleaned. Air fresheners were hung everywhere. Exterminators were brought in to set off gas canisters, during which they had to move out for a few days, and in the end they even paid to replace the expensive carpet. Finally, they could not take it any longer and decided to move. They could not find a buyer for their stinky apartment so they had to borrow a huge sum of money from the bank to purchase a new place. The moving company arrived and did a very professional packing job, taking everything to their new home ..including the curtain rods.


DO NOT MESS WITH A WOMAN!!!!!!!!

FOLLOW EVERY RAINBOW

A number of bloggers have recently commented on the building gay rights controversy and I won't attempt to repeat their opinions or even cite who has spoken lest I leave anyone out. Until a few years ago, my own provincial, naive view was not to think about "queers." This changed in a rather benign, circumspect way when my Mom - as previously noted, a musicals aficionado - had on a PBS show about Oscar Hammerstein. Naturally, it was a retrospective of songs he had written, performed by a number of artists. The finale was "Climb Every Mountain," sung by the New York Gay Men's Chorus. Yes, some were tall and some were short, and some were handsome and others were not. But "queer"? Unworthy of the same rights as heterosexuals? Whatever I thought or hadn't thought about gays, my view changed that night.

I won't point a finger but I find it strange that one of the major political parties which preaches less government cries out for laws and courts and constitutional amendments when there is an issue at odds with the societal or religious upbringing of its members. Claiming to protect this country's freedoms at the same time they are trying to invade our bedrooms and doctors' offices. Heaven help us if they think we have weapons of mass destruction.

RHAPSODY IN ORANGE

Orangerie. I love that word and I like oranges, but a book about oranges? Among my Christmas gifts was a book my brother sent called simply Oranges, written by John McPhee. I had glanced at it and set it aside, but finally picked it up again the other day and started reading. It’s a gem! I read at least half of it straight through without putting it down. I didn’t realize until well into it that it was copyrighted in 1966, which surprised me. Mine has a preface that was added in 2000.

Not having grown up in an area where citrus thrives, I knew next to nothing about oranges. For example, did you know that a Valencia tree blossoms 14 months before the fruit is picked, with the result that it will be covered with blossoms and bright orange fruit at the same time? And if you plant an orange seed, it might produce limes instead?

McPhee’s style is so engaging that he manages to keep this story of the orange’s history, botany and lore moving along almost like a novel. The list of Mr. McPhee’s work in the front of the book makes me embarrassed to admit that I was not familiar with him previously. It reminds of how far I am from winning a MacArthur Award.

COFFEE WITH CREAM AND CROSSWORDS

Got ready to start the day and realized I had forgotten to pick up half & half. For a fleeting instant I considered using the skim milk I have for cereal but an involuntary retch convinced me to head down to the nearest coffee shop. While standing at the counter getting a large to-go, I heard my name called. It was Beryl, seated at a table with coffee, a corn muffin, and working on a crossword puzzle. She invited me to join her which I happily did.

A lot of older people who live alone probably love an opportunity to talk, and Beryl is no exception. But she is really interesting, and a whiz at crossword puzzles. (She uses a PEN!)

She said she is there most mornings and I’m welcome to join her whenever I have time. I’m going to take her up on that so I can hear more of her stories about China.

CHOOSING CELIBACY?

This was forwarded to me by a friend, so I'm sharing it in honor of Valentine's Day:

Celibacy can be a choice in life, or a condition imposed by environmental encounters.

While attending a Marriage Encounter weekend, Walter and his wife Ann listened to the instructor declare, "It is essential that husbands and wives know the things that are important to each other."

He addressed the men, "Can you name and describe your wife's favorite flower?"

Walter leaned over, touched Ann's arm gently and whispered,"Pillsbury All-purpose, isn't it?"

And thus began Walter's life of celibacy.

ZONES

I seem to be wider awake than I generally am when I get home. It doesn't usually take me a long time to wind down after work and I like to get to bed as soon as I can so that my schedule is not so far removed from the average 9-5 worker's schedule. But for some reason, I'm not feeling like shutting down yet.

So I'm reading blogs instead of getting ready for bed, and it has me thinking about the time zones. Most of my favorite blogs are written by people in central or eastern time zones, so we are already 4 or 5 hours apart in our day. Then consider that most of them probably work a regular daytime shift. So I just got home from work and they are just getting up, I think. Are you as confused as I am? Must be time for bed. Good night. Or good morning.

ANY BETTER IDEAS?

According to our resident Claven, Friday the 13th gained its infamy as the Last Supper was held on a Friday with 13 in attendance. Anybody got other attributions why this day is associated with superstitions?

Received an e-mail from Barb, my mixology classmate who took a job an an upper upscale country club. She says she worked a reception for a marriage last weekend where the top tier of the cake cost more than her entire wedding.

Note to Mom And Dad: Don't discourage Amy's desire to be married in Las Vegas in a ceremony performed by an Elvis impersonator. Might actually save $$$$.

HALLMARK MOMENTS

Hallmark and its distributors and retailers are trying to make a living just like the rest of us but greeting cards sure are expensive. Fortunately, as I have no romantic Significant Other, it is not a burden he or I encounter as V-Day approaches.

When I was in 7th grade, RD sat across the aisle from me in math class, and I had a major crush on him. He was so cute and funny and he made me feel good when he talked to me. For Valentine’s Day, I decided to make a card for RD. I used a sheet of pink stationery with scalloped edges from my Mom’s desk and some red foil Christmas paper that I had saved because it was too pretty to throw away. And stickers! Lots of stickers!

It was a work of art and I even wrote a dumb poem, but I was afraid to sign my name, so I just slipped it onto his desk before he got to class. And what do you think happened?

RD thought it was from Kelli K, and the little brat let him think he was right. He turned all red, but you could tell he liked it. I’ve always wondered what would have happened if I had told him I made it for him.

THERE'S GOT TO BE A MORNING AFTER

During a break last night, I picked up a NY Times someone had left in the restaurant office and read a column by Thomas Friedman. It was not an anti-war rant; if fact he considers Iraq a just war: "It is a war of the forces of tolerance, pluralism, and decency against the forces of intolerance, bigotry and religious fascism." But realize, he says, that it is 1% of America - the soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan and their families at home - who are carrying the whole burden of the war. Friedman had gone from the Super Bowl and to Centcom, the headquarters for the people who run the war and "whose morale, professionalism, and belief in this mission are still amazingly high." He writes: "If you want the antidote to all the creeps in the Super Bowl show, spend a day at Centcom. I promise you, you will walk away with one overriding feeling. We do not deserve these people. They are so much better than the country and the administration they are fighting for. We owe them so much more respect, so much more sacrifice of our own and so much better leadership from a Bush team whose real sin is not hyping Saddam's threat, but sending Americans to remove him without a plan for the morning after."

PRIMARY CONCERNS

Hawaii's primary (or more correctly, caucus) is February 24. We don't expect any of the remaining candidates to be trolling the surf for votes.

Lacking suspense in that poll, I return to Woman's Day and responses they received to several questions. (You blogger/writers have a lot of company.)

WHAT WOULD BE YOUR DREAM JOB?
- Write a best-selling novel: 41%
- Be a stay-at-home mom: 36%
- Be a TV anchorwoman: 14%
- Serve as president of the United States: 9%

IF YOU COULD HAVE ONE WISH GRANTED, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
- Have a passionate love life: 33%
- Win $50,000: 32%
- Permanently lose 25 pounds: 24%
- Become a movie star: 11%

WHO WOULD BE YOUR ALL-TIME CHOICE FOR A FANTASY DATE?
- Your husband: 58%
- George Clooney: 21%
- Brad Pitt: 13%
- Denzel Washington: 8%

WHICH CELEBRITY COUPLE MOST RESEMBLES YOUR LOVE RELATIONSHIP?
- Hillary and Bill Clinton—have had your ups and downs: 38%
- Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt—the fire’s still burning: 35%
- Ricky and Lucy—drive each other crazy: 21%
- Bruce Willis and Demi Moore—divorced but still friends: 6%

TOESLTOEFL

I don't know if it's Teaching of English as a Second Language or as a Foreign Language but I had coffee with Joan this morning and she told me that's what Beryl is retired from. Her last gig was in China but she has taught in several other far-off corners of the globe as well.

Interesting to me is that Beryl is fluent only in English. She doesn't have to know the language of her students - only how to teach English to them. I'd love to hear some of her first-hand accounts of living in strange places. Makes me wish I'd followed my star and gone to the Steppes of Central Asia.

No it doesn't

BEATLEMANIA 40 YEARS LATER

Watching CBS Sunday Morning today got me thinking about the influences on my own musical taste. The Beatles got their start long before I joined the world, but thanks to my favorite aunt, I had lots of exposure to their music from an early age. My mom loved show tunes, so that had a big influence, and my dad is a blues man. Piano lessons got me excited about classical music for a few years. And of course Top 40 music videos and peer pressure played their part, so the result is one mixed-up collection of favorites.

THE MUSIC OF THE NIGHT

Brian said he saw several of the players who are here for tomorrow's Pro Bowl, the National Football League's All-Star Game. Obviously we don't knock anything that's good for tourism but for sports purists, so I'm told, the football season ended when Tom Brady said he was going to Disney World. For the players selected, the Pro Bowl is an honor along with an all expenses paid week in Hawaii plus a good chunk of change. For affluent folks it's a reason (or excuse) to come to Hawaii and for the less well-heeled, sufficient ambiance for raising a glass or tilting a bottle.

Stadium will attract 50,000 fans though Brian says it's more of a spectacle than a contest and according to him, if it were played tomorrow in Chicago (temp 30 degrees), it would be lucky to draw 10,000 because the game itself is meaningless. (And all the others ultimately aren't?)

Game is played at 2:30 here which puts it into evening or night on mainland - where viewers can get a different Hawaiian perspective (with lush scenery) as Pearl Harbor will be on ABC. But we all know that both will get soundly defeated ratings-wise by the Grammy Awards.

I found it interesting that Carl (my fellow dinner guest) was leaving Joan's apartment when I got home this morning. He nodded and said hello, but we didn't have a conversation. I'm pretty sure he isn't one of the two men I've seen leaving there before. She said she loves to entertain.

DINNER FOR 6

Joan is a terrific hostess as well as a good cook. I won’t embarrass myself by trying to tell you the names of the food she served, but it was all so good, from the little nibbler goodies to the spicy cake with walnuts. In between she served the best stew I’ve ever tasted, and some spinach and cheese pastry things, made with the phyllo dough. (She promised to introduce me to baklava another time.) Hey, what about those weird olives? At first taste, you sort of wonder if they’ve gone rancid, but they grow on you, don’t they?

There were six of us, counting Joan. Kelly is a pretty young woman who works with Joan. She is married to a gorgeous guy named Kas (I think). I hate to generalize, but have you noticed how good-looking the Polynesians are?

The other two guests were not there together. There was another attractive man, about my dad’s age, named Carl. And an older woman named Beryl. She is retired and lives in my neighborhood. I’m not quite sure what it is that she is retired from, but from the conversation, I gather that she has lived all over the world. I hope I get a chance to talk to her again.

DAYS OF WINE AND PHYLLO

I know wine basics pretty well but always defer to Brian when a diner is looking for a recommendation. Last night I told him I was going to a Greek dinner and said I wanted to take an appropriate wine but did not know what the main course would be. He said as lamb is common, my best bet would be a pinot noir. I picked the best bottle I could afford. I'm really excited about dinner tonight.

Now that I am used to working nights, I should plan my meals better than the hit-or-miss variety I've been doing for 3 months. Cooking for one is not easy but on the other hand, nobody will complain. Mom used to encourage Amy and me to cook with the old saw that "the way to a man's heart is through his stomach." By my junior year in high school, I figured out that men had an appetite stronger than food.

BEWARE OF GREEKS

My walking is becoming more strenuous, so I decided it’s time to work on eating habits, too. I headed for the grocery store this morning to load up on healthy stuff, and ran into Joan there, so of course I had to check out her shopping cart. The first thing I spotted was a long box of something I didn’t recognize. You should have seen her face light up when I asked about it

The box was frozen phyllo dough, which probably everyone but me knows all about. Turns out Joan is Greek and loves to cook. She said she was thinking about having some people over for dinner, and what night would I be able to come? Wow. It wasn’t like “I’m having friends over on Friday. Would you like to join us?” She is planning this event to accommodate my night off. How cool is that?

DEPENDS ON WHOM YOU ASK

Newsweek notes that CBS banned some political ads from the Super Bowl and asks "Since when is erectile dysfunction more worthy than democracy?"

Evidently also more worthy are horse flatulence and Janet Jackson's boob.

Some of my favorite blogs seem to be written by cat lovers. When I read Wendy’s description of having to sleep with her legs to one side because Frodo was settled in, I laughed right out loud, because it was so familiar. My cat is almost 14 years old now and had to stay behind with my parents when I left home, but I still miss her. Her name is Cinder (guess what color she is) and I can remember times when I would lose feeling in a limb rather than disturb Cinder.

IF AFTER 4 HOURS YOU CAN'T GET DRESSED ........

I know everyone is tired of the Super Bowl by now, including me, but I have to share my personal highlights:

Josh Groban song to commemorate the anniversary of the Columbia tragedy
(Amanda, do you know who he is now?)

Commercial for the movie "Troy," featuring Orlando Bloom (If I were the swooning type…)

All the Budweiser commercials

Versus a lot of Super Bowls, an exciting game

Did anyone else cringe at the Cialis commercial which warned: "Side effects may include headache, upset stomach, backache and muscle aches. If you have an erection that lasts more than 4 hours, seek medical attention immediately." Reaction at bar was mixture of guffaws and embarrassed silence. It wouldn’t have bothered me except that I wondered about all the pre-teen kids listening.

I wasn't paying attention and missed all the excitement during the Janet Jackson/Justin Timberlake duet, but that doesn’t keep me from having an opinion. Val thinks it was an accident, but some of the pictures look less innocent than the one she used. I’m pretty sure my opinion is very important to them, so I’ll tell them they should be ashamed of themselves.

Money wins. I came across this, with the results, from a Woman's Day survey of 16,500 readers:

Which would you rather have?

A winning $1 million lottery ticket - 61%
Mr. Right - 24%
The most exciting career in the world - 10%
Halle Berry's figure - 5%

SUPER SUNDAY

Caren has made a Super Bowl prediction but notes it is subject to revision, depending on the final outcome. Leave it to an author to invoke the right to edit.

My brother asked me to post his prediction for posterity on this blog. It's not happening. I don't want him gloating if he's correct or myself suffering dumbness by association if he's wrong.

By Tuesday morning, this will have been a long three days. Last night, everybody at the bar was an expert dissecting who would win and how. Fortunately, each was so supremely confident in his analysis that it was good-natured. But enough is enough.

I can tolerate the 3 hours of the game and thanks to the time difference, I will not have to endure the 4-hour pre-game show. But we'll have the Monday morning quarterbacks at it on Sunday night (offsetting the benefit of the afternoon time difference) and the by-then sotted patrons will review why (a) they were right in selecting the winner or (b) they did not select the winner but their analysis was right and if it hadn't been for bad play-calling, dropped passes, interceptions... Which will all be repeated by a different group on Monday night, after which we can put away the guacamole bowl.

I just hope we have many more patrons who select the winner for I predict happiness will be reflected in their tips.