Category: Randomness

Joe really oughta keep these to himself, but he what the hay…

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Bottle of Tequila – Revisited

I generally do not recycle articles.  I also do not write a lot of fiction, but once a decade or so a story pops into my mind.  When I do write fiction  it is generally triggered by some story I have heard or something that has happened to me. Then my “imagination” runs wild  extrapolating on of the former. Or sometimes – according to Señora about stories of her – I just make s*** up. Generally, I am stringing all those founts together.

The broken toe from a dropped bottle of tequila actually happened to a friend of my ex when we lived in Oklahoma City.  A friend of Señora recently dropped a bottle of wine on her toe, breaking it, bringing this story back to mind. The rest of the story’s derivation is best left to the war time motto of “Loose lips, sinks ships.”

I enjoyed writing the story 12 years ago.  Hopefully, you will enjoy reading it.

Now to the story…

Bottle of Tequila

He saw me limping down the hallway and asked,”looks like you had a wonderful time, what happened?” When he said that I was instantly back to her bedroom and recalling the events of the previous evening…

We had placed a few pillows behind our backs up against the headboard.  The lights were still low.  The Coltrane CD had started back around.  Man, is he ever timeless. With the warm glow that can only be felt from energy well spent, we were both smoking cigarettes and idly chit chatting about absolutely nothing of consequence.  I noticed that we had both pulled our knees toward our chests.  The result was two well formed tents, side by side in the sheets.  Mine was a good bit taller than hers.  My mind flitted back to childhood days when my parents would take me to the circus.  I wondered which tent was more interesting.  Was it the larger one with the 3 rings of non-stop entertainment, or the smaller one with all the made up freaks and hucksters trying to separate you and your money? Laughing to myself I wondered where the “tunnel of love” was.

It was at that point I slapped myself softly and she looked at me funny.

“Just a weird thought,” I explained.

My vision drifted down to my left arm.  I realized that I had left my Rolex knock-off on.   It surprised me that she had not complained, Continue reading “Bottle of Tequila – Revisited”

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Señora in St. Charles

I had forgotten I had taken this picture of Señora in St. Charles a few years ago.  Obviously it was Christmas time. We were with a group of folks in the historic downtown district of this city sitting on the Missouri River, visiting the various quaint shops that are nestled in among restaurants, bars and monuments and references to Lewis and Clark.

Ain’t she purrrr-ttteeee?

Y’all come back now… hear!

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Hispanic Christmas Tradition – Caganers

I was working online with one of my Spanish teachers, a Venezuelan woman who has fled her country with her husband to Buenos Aires.  We were reviewing and discussing an article that listed various Christmas traditions from around the Hispanic world.

There is a tradition from the Catalonia region of Spain that we glossed over as neither of us really wanted to discuss it.  The tradition struck both of us as a little gross.  The traditional there is to place a defecating – pooping if you will – figurine discreetly?? in one corner of the Christmas Nativity scene that folks commonly put out this time of year.  Typically, this figurine has always been of a peasant in the traditional dress of the region.  And like most of these things it is supposed to bring good luck.

It has since morphed so frequently the figurines are of famous people from around the globe.  This has grown into a big international souvenir business, with the majority of the online sales going to the United States.

Fast Forward

Talking about synchronicity… Looking at the news online this morning there was an article from The Guardian: Christmas caganer figurines of Catalonia Just a warning if your are sensitive to such things, there is a bit of a yuk factor associated with the pictures in the article, but on the whole it was an interesting read, at least for me as I had touched on the subject just a couple days before. It was also amusing to see which public figures they chose to depict.

If you are curious, look up the Spanish verb cagar (the noun caganer is derived from the verb) in an online translator.  When I was young it was a word that was not used in polite company.

Oh we humans… I wonder how far we really are from the bonobos.

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Bloomsday – 16th of June


“Commemorating the life and legend of Irish writer James Joyce on Bloomsday, every June 16, we take a moment to honor and celebrate all we’ve gained from his works. The significance of June 16 is taken from his 1922 novel, Ulysses, which takes place on June 16, 1904, and follows a day in the life of the story’s protagonist (Leopold Bloom). It is also the day Joyce went on his first date with his then wife-to-be, Nora Barnacle. Either way, National Bloomsday commemorates these two occasions every year on June 16. The story of Leopold Bloom is recognized as one of Continue reading “Bloomsday – 16th of June”

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A Couple Thought Experiments

I have read a few books and watched several Wondrium courses on Mesoamerica cultures, the Mayans and the Aztecs,  among others.  Add works on the Incas, other cultures of South America,  and  the tribes of North America to this mix of education as entertainment.  On the North American tribes, I have watched a couple of courses on their early period and another one on 18th, 19th and 20th century treatment and fate of the Native Americans.  None of the sources paints Continue reading “A Couple Thought Experiments”

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June 9th: A National Day I Can Finally Get Into!

National Sex Day – June 9th

Grab your favorite love interest(s) this June 9th – or any other day – and celebrate the most wonderful of human pass times. Remember that there are many health benefits of sex, including lower blood pressure levels and a form of stress release. So, just in case you need an excuse…. doctor’s orders.

There truly is a day for everything and anything, everybody and anyone.

Laissez les bon temps roule.

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Towel Day – Thursday, May 25th

Okay, okay, okay… I am recycling this article as I am still waiting with my towel for that spaceship to pick me up – otherwise beam me up Scotty, it is too, too weird down here for me as of late.

Even a casual fan of science fiction is well aware of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and its sequels by Douglas Adams. As literature they are no great shake, but as entertainment they work very well.  They have made a movie and tried a TV series.  I generally like the books better than the movie and it holds in this case.

The basic premise is that just before earth is destroyed Continue reading “Towel Day – Thursday, May 25th”

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Cheaper than Zoloft

One of our mishpocha sent me the following article: Why birds and their songs are good for our mental health

Señora and I have a large bird feeder with 4 stations.  We also keep a humming bird feeder out during their season.   I need to to count, but we have between 10 and 15 bird houses around the yard, most of them occupied.  Oh yes, and there is a bird bath, which reminds me I need to relocate it. The number of hours of joy we have gotten from these and their tenants over the years is incalculable.

I am hear to testify… can I get an hallelujah… that when the weather is nice and we have the AC/heat unit off, the windows open, there is nothing so peaceful as waking up at dawn with the birds singing in a wonderful chorus of different songs that seem to weave together into a symphony declaring what a wonderful day is in the offing.  Get up you old sleepy head.

Why would you need Zoloft or Jim Beam or Maui Waui when you have Mother Nature stroking your forehead via your auricular pathways?

And so it goes