Archive for the ‘Living Life’ Category
It is my pleasure to introduce you to Mrs. M’s Handmade. Velda and Alley have been working on what I’ve called their nascent lotion business … and today, they make their retail premiere at the Santa Clarita Street Fair. They have a checking account. They have an official business name, website and tax ID number. It’s as real as it gets!
A future post will be talking about our experience at their first retail event, happening this weekend, 10a-5p, Saturday and Sunday. They’ll be selling their handmade lotions as well as my cheese boards and a few routed bowls that Velda is willing to part with.
So, please, join us today at the Santa Clarita Street Fair, in the parking lot of the College of the Canyons campus. If you can’t make that, then, please, go to MrsMsHandmade.com. With any luck, the website will be live, the E-commerce functions will work and you’ll be able to buy anything you like.
If it’s not working … tell me. Don’t tell Velda; she’ll blame the webmaster and that might get dicey for me. YaknowhatImean?
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Who Doesn’t Like Cheese & Crackers?
Mrs. M’s Handmade
I’ve been told that I can be culturally insensitive.
It’s not a goal, I assure you. However, as an old white guy, there are many things that I will never experience. I’ll never be arrested for Driving While Black … though, come to find out, there is a Henry Mowry that’s been arrested for driving while drunk. He skipped on his bail … and I was once briefly detained while a friendly policeman proved to his own satisfaction that I was not a drunkard from Tennessee. That was black.
Thank you, Officer.
I will observe that if I’m occasionally culturally insensitive, it’s probably because of my extremely cloistered upbringing. I grew up in a rural area of Missouri that was pure WASP … even Catholics were an extreme minority. I never met a Jew until I went to college. It’s not that I avoided contact with non-white, non-Protestant people … they simply weren’t around for the first 18 years of my life.
Here I am in blackface, with a black actor, Greg MacDonald, in whiteface. We appeared in a one act play, presented as a part of a MIzzou festival for amateur writers. The play, with a name I’ve forgotten, was a comment on racism. I submit this as an example of my cultural, uh, expansion. Circa 1975.
I am happy to report that when I went to Mizzou, I broadened my cultural horizons immensely.
I had a Jew for a roommate … and witnessed the making of homemade bagels. I went to a Jewish wedding. I worked closely with people of many heritages at the Mizzou theatre. My horizons were broadened at the land grant state university that was founded in 1839.
Thank you, Mizzou.
35+ years later, I’ve been in the cultural melting pot that is Los Angeles for … 35+ years. Though it was not a specific goal to widen my cultural horizons, that has happened.
This week, a former co-worker posted a Facebook link to a very interesting article from the Huffington Post … that uber-culturally sensitive news site.
My friend linked to an article by a multi-cultural, self-proclaimed “blendiva.” My friend also has a multi-cultural heritage, and she related completely with the Huffington Post author who was tired of strangers questioning her genetic heritage. My friend has been there, too: here’s a typical dialogue with a stranger that my friend remembers:
He: Where are you from?
She: The Bay Area.
He: No, where are your FROM?
She: Oh, you mean what nationality am I? I’m Japanese.
He: You speak English really well.
She: Good thing, ‘cuz it’s the ONLY language I speak.
And here’s another one she remembers:
He (in front of her older daughters): What are they?
She: Half Japanese and half German
He: Well, how the hell did that happen?
Andromeda Turre, from her Facebook page. She’s the author of the provocative Huffington Post article … and she’s tired of people asking “What Are You?”
I may be culturally insensitive … on rare occasion … but I would NEVER make that kind of comment to another human. I mean, c’mon, who would say something like that?
Back to the inspiration for this post, and my friend’s comments … a post on Huffington Post by a singer named Adromeda Turre. She’s a New York resident, and got tired of the online dating scene when she was consistently asked, “What Are You?”
OK. As I stated in the beginning, I have been accused of being culturally insensitive. But would I EVER ask another human that I didn’t know well … “What Are You?”
No.
Please read Andromeda’s article. The post is here.
Now, I will observe that I am interested in genealogy, and that makes me interested in where I’m from. Yes, I have investigated the heritage of my family, and the heritage of my wife’s family. I’ll fully disclose “What I Am” in an upcoming post.
For now, just know that I’m English, Irish, German, Dutch & Swiss. And I’m just getting started. My wife, on the other hand, is Serbian, German … and some other country that’s changed its name a few times. Slovack, Polish, Austria-Hungarian … something like that.
So, YES, I am interested in my family heritage. But as to what I am … that’s a little tougher. I’m from Missouri, and I definitely worked hard to become a Missouri Tiger. But as much as I identify myself as a guy from the Show Me state, I’ve lived on the Left Coast longer than I lived in the Midwest.
So, what am I? Well, it’s complicated. I can only imagine how that question might frustrate people with a heritage that’s viewed by some as “unusual.”
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Huffington Post: What Are You Is Not An Icebreaker
Another cross-country business trip … and another opportunity to really dive into my iPod. What did I discover? That my playlist designed to make me relax really did the job.
The tracks ranged from a couple from my favorite album in high school to one track from last year. Bottom line: this is a great playlist for me.
Humbly submitted for your consideration: Relax. Please tell me what I need to add, and what you can’t believe is on the list!
|          Track   |
         Artist |
    Genre |
    Date |
| Away Down the River |
Alison Krauss |
Country |
2007 |
| Ventura Highway |
America |
Rock |
1972 |
| I Can’t Make You Love Me |
Bonnie Raitt |
Rock |
1991 |
| Baby I’m a Want You |
Bread |
Pop 70s |
1972 |
| Diary |
Bread |
Pop 70s |
1972 |
| So Far Away |
Carole King |
Pop 70s |
1971 |
| You’ve Got A Friend |
Carole King |
Pop 70s |
1971 |
| No One to Sing for Me |
Cherryholmes |
Bluegrass |
2005 |
| Colour My World |
Chicago |
Pop 70s |
1971 |
| Wishing You Were Here |
Chicago |
Pop 70s |
1974 |
| The One You Love |
Glenn Frey |
Pop 80s |
1982 |
| What a Wonderful World / Over the Rainbow (Medley) |
Israel Kamakawiwo’ole |
Hawaii |
1993 |
| Carolina on My Mind |
James Taylor |
Pop 70s |
2003 |
| Fire and Rain |
James Taylor |
Pop 70s |
2003 |
| Handy Man |
James Taylor |
Pop 70s |
2003 |
| How Sweet It Is… |
James Taylor |
Pop 70s |
1975 |
| Sweet Baby James |
James Taylor |
Pop 70s |
1971 |
| Imagine |
John Lennon |
Pop 70s |
1971 |
| Pacific Time |
Kenny & Amanda Smith Band |
Bluegrass |
2005 |
| Lindy |
Kenny Chesney |
Country |
2013 |
| Carnival Town |
Norah Jones |
Pop |
2004 |
| Come Away with Me |
Norah Jones |
Jazz |
2002 |
| Don’t Miss You At All |
Norah Jones |
Pop |
2004 |
| Feelin’ the Same Way |
Norah Jones |
Jazz |
2002 |
| Feels Like Home |
Norah Jones |
Pop |
2004 |
| Love Me (The Little Willies) |
Norah Jones |
Pop 10s |
2010 |
| Nightingale |
Norah Jones |
Jazz |
2002 |
| Rosie’s Lullaby |
Norah Jones |
Jazz |
2007 |
| Ruler of My Heart (Dirty Dozen Brass Band Featuring Norah Jones and Robert Randolph) |
Norah Jones |
Pop 10s |
2010 |
| The Prettiest Thing |
Norah Jones |
Pop |
2004 |
| The Sun Doesn’t Like You |
Norah Jones |
Jazz |
2007 |
| Until the End |
Norah Jones |
Jazz |
2007 |
| What Am I To You? |
Norah Jones |
Pop |
2004 |
| You Can’t Take It with You When You Go |
Rhonda Vincent |
Bluegrass |
2003 |
| Your Love Is King |
Sade |
Pop 80s |
1985 |
| Aja |
Steely Dan |
Pop 70s |
1977 |
| On and On |
Stephen Bishop |
Pop 70s |
1977 |
| Takin’ Our Own Sweet Time |
The Kinleys |
Country |
|
| All the Stars |
The Wailin’ Jennys |
Folk |
2011 |
| Apocalypse |
The Wailin’ Jennys |
Folk |
|
| Beautiful Dawn |
The Wailin’ Jennys |
Pop 00s |
2004 |
| Bird Song |
The Wailin’ Jennys |
Folk |
2011 |
| Come All You Sailors |
The Wailin’ Jennys |
Pop 00s |
2004 |
| Old Man |
The Wailin’ Jennys |
Pop 00s |
2004 |
| Prairie Town |
The Wailin’ Jennys |
Folk |
|
| Swing Low Sail High |
The Wailin’ Jennys |
Folk |
2011 |
| Stardust |
Willie Nelson |
Country |
1978 |
| Free |
Zac Brown Band |
Country |
2008 |
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Sobbing On An Airplane
It was another creation from Velda’s kitchen … and it got me thinking. What are my favorite vegetables?
Mind you, not a conversation with self that I would have had 30 years ago. But what is age if you can’t enjoy a bit of perspective?
So what are my favorite vegetables? 30 years ago, the answer would have been easy: green beans. Today, it’s a little murkier. Still, here are my Top 10 Favorite Vegetables, in classic Top 10 style:
Number 10: Black Beans. I’m pretty sure I’d never even seen a black bean until I moved to California. No matter; they are infinitely better than pinto beans, and will always be my choice at every Mexican restaurant that gives me a choice.
Number 9: Lima Beans. This forlorn vegetable would have probably been ranked more favorably … but Velda hates them. She will condescend to make me lima beans about once every 6 months … and that means she doesn’t really put much creativity into the presentation. I really like lima beans, but Velda cooks so many other vegetables so much better, I have no choice but to rank them poorly. Yes, it’s her fault.
Salt & pepper to taste. Sprinkle with finely minced fresh parsley, if desired.
Number 8: Carrots. If you haven’t tasted her wonderful Honey Glazed Carrots, then you don’t know carrots. Try them; they will rock your world.
Number 7: Brussel Sprouts. This is actually the much-maligned vegetable that got me to thinking this evening. The recommended recipe is MrsMowry’s Brussel Sprouts. Get them fresh – not bitter – and these will do you right.
Number 6: Green Beans. No vegetable dish from Velda’s kitchen has drawn as much ire from the children as Green Bean Casserole: the only demanded vegetable on the holiday table. The kids went into open rebellion when Velda began to mess with the recipe. I really thought we’d have a violent incident the year she substituted fresh green beans for Del Monte. That was simply not acceptable. Don’t mess with the recipe: French’s Green Bean Casserole.
Number 5: Tomatoes. OK, OK. Tomatoes are a fruit. I don’t care. They are a garden vegetable, and there is nothing like flavorful, fresh tomatoes on burgers. Or with cottage cheese. Or on a salad. Tomatoes. Love’em.
Number 4: Chocolate. The kids were taught that chocolate was a vegetable by Aunt Sis, and that makes as much sense as the vegetable machinations performed by your local school system. If they can say that ketchup is a vegetable, then this makes sense. Chocolate should be a part of a balanced diet. ’nuff said.
Number 3: Green Beans. When not in a casserole, green beans should be sautèed and served with onions and bacon. Here’s the recipe: Velda’s Green Beans. You can thank me later.
Number 2: Spaghetti Squash. This must be the dark horse candidate, as this vegetable has never been mentioned in the blog before. However, its a wonderful addition to just about any meal. If only Velda served Spaghetti Squash more often, I might be able to photograph the process and share a recipe. You can only hope (with me) that I can do this some day.
Number 1: Mushrooms. This a no brainer. I’ve written about my favorite morels, in Hunting Mushrooms With Grandpa. And then, of course, there was Wild Mushroom Cobbler. Don’t deprive yourself: get you some ‘shrooms. Swiss & mushrooms are now a part of my favorite burger. Stuffed mushrooms are my favorite appetizer (and ask Velda to make them again, please, for Superbowl Sunday … and I’ll blog the recipe!).
What’s missing from my Top 10? Onions & garlic. Though they’re a part of just about every good meal … I simply could not include them in this list. In my eyes, they are flavors. Spices. Not a vegetable to be requested as a side dish.
This is a wonderful soup, but the presentation makes it better!
I probably should have included celeriac. However, since I’m in America where no one knows what the heck that is, it’s out. Americans don’t know celeriac … unless they’ve had this wonderful recipe: Velda’s Celery Root Soup. If you think it’s time for soup … make this soup. And thank me later.
MrsMowry will probably hit me in the face when she sees me next, as I’ve left potatoes off the list. Sorry, m’lady. Mashed potatoes are fabulous. Your potato pizza is the bomb. But … not a Top 10 item. Make me some and change my mind. Please.
If I missed your favorite, PLEASE add your Top 10 list below. I really want to see if any of my dear readers can find a place on their list for kale. Or okra. Or beets. Or asparagus. Or turnips. Or peppers. Or pumpkin.
So, what’s your list???
More
Monticello.org: Thomas Jefferson’s Favorite Vegetables
WashingtonPost.com: A Dietician’s Favorite Vegetables
Klat.com: Everyone’s Six Least Favorite Vegetables
TasteOfHome.com: Top 10 Grilled Vegetable Recipes
DinnerWasDelicious.com: Most Of Our Favorite Vegetables Are Not Vegetables
AVeggieVenture.com: Favorite Recipes For Thanksgiving’s Top Twelve Favorite Vegetables
I bought a new desktop computer for myself this Christmas. I saw that I was relying on a 3 year-old laptop … and I was concerned that it wouldn’t see 4 years. Too many blue screens in December. Time to be flexible.
So, I bought a new computer … an HP Envy 700. On sale today at Best Buy. 2 TB hard drive. 12 gig of RAM. Sold.
And then it proved to have a problem.
Tech Support
The computer went to sleep, even while I was copying files.
The computer would reboot every time it went to sleep.
It went to sleep, even when I told it to NEVER go to sleep.
So, I called HP’s tech support. I eventually worked through 4 different tech support reps … Sameer, Christopher, Hamid and Dhuval. They each tweaked the system. Christopher really annoyed me with his strong sales pitches for warranty extensions and in-home tech visits (I said no 4 times before he stopped pitching me.)
They each tweaked the system. After Sameer, they each told me they had fixed the problem.
And when I put the system to sleep, it automatically rebooted. When the system went to sleep automatically (it timed out) … it still rebooted.
The only solutions offered to me were more calls with tech support … or buying an extended warranty. For a new computer.
No thank you.
Customer Service
After getting frustrated with HP’s tech support, I called Best Buy … I had purchased this computer online through Best Buy.
Best Buy’s response? Take the computer back to any Best Buy, and get a new one on the spot.
My understanding is their policy is that any customer could exchange a problem computer within 30 days. I am an Elite customer (formerly Best Buy Rewards Zone), so I have 45 days to return a computer … and it was day 23.
My local store, 10 minutes from my house, had the computer in inventory. 30 minutes later, I was checking out of customer service with a new computer.
And that’s how it’s done. Am I a loyal customer with Best Buy? You bet.
Battleshots!
Many things can be said about the 15 Most Read Posts from MowryJournal in 2013. Here are 3 facts:
- Three posts involve alcohol
- Five posts involve a President
- One post involves a blood sucking parasite
Draw your own conclusions.
If you missed any of these the first time around, please enjoy!
Tequila
BattleShots!
The Perfect Sunset
Portraits: Theodore Roosevelt
Tequila
What You Must Not Say About QBs and Pretty Girls
Orange Liqueur Taste Test
Portraits: Zachary Taylor
Portraits: Theodore Roosevelt
Portraits: Woodrow Wilson
The Perfect Sunset
Portraits: Rutherford BÂ Hayes
Hawaii’s Botanical Gardens
I am an Eagle Scout
US Flag: The First
The Tick Problem
30:Â Hawaii
Portraits: John Quincy Adams
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The Best of MowryJournal: 2012
Velda had been using a Windows 98 computer – when she sat at her desk. Given that operating system was being orphaned by Microsoft, it was time for an upgrade.
I was having computer problems with the laptop. Consistency is an issue, and since I was getting an alarming number of blue screens … it was time for an upgrade.
The holidays are the perfect time for an upgrade.
I now have Velda’s computer 100% together, I believe. With no back up strategy in place, however … but she’s up, for now. As promised.
My computer, not so much. I have data spread across different hard drives. I have programs that won’t run. I have 4 computers running in my office and I’m trying to put the pieces back in the right places. I do know a few things:
1. I hate Windows 8.
2. It is always challenging to keep backups up to date and 100% reliable.
3. Your computer will die. If you don’t have all data backed up right NOW, then you’ll have a problem when your computer dies. Unexpectedly. Inconveniently. Totally.
4. I could be working with wood … but that is so last week!
The Mowry Christmas Newsletter
2013 began with family visitors … an uncommon occurrence for us. But this year … THIS YEAR … we had many visitors come through California. The Huberts (who get a GOLD STAR for visiting three different times!), plus Sarah, Grant, Ryan, Maria … all came to see us this year. It was a banner year for family visitors! Family is a rare and wonderful thing, and we were very fortunate to have so many visitors this year.
You know what happens when family comes to visit? Pizza!
Mom brought out this family heirloom during my visit. It looks like a pocket watch …
… but it’s a collapsible shot glass!
January found me traveling to northern Iowa to meet with my team at Smarts Broadcast Systems … did I mention that it was northern Iowa? -2* was there to greet me! But it was a great trip, and I began my second blog, interviewing small market broadcasters. 21 have been published so far; check them out here.
The best part of the trip was being able to visit Mom & Sis in Missouri. It was great, and those opportunities are all too rare.
February saw Velda and I take a long weekend to Phoenix, to visit Uncle Bud & Aunt Connie who were doing the snowbird thing in Arizona again. Love it! We took the opportunity to do a driving tour through a couple of state parks, including visiting Sedona’s Bell Rock. Gorgeous!
Another February event was our 2nd year hosting UCLA’s Dinner With 12 Strangers. Velda signed up to host with her good buddy, Debi, and they entertained a dozen students at our house. The food was great, the company was fun … and yes, they all did an 8-clap!
In March, Velda and I made a lifestyle change, as we stopped our gardening service, and I built an outdoor shed (woodworking project # 1), and filled it with a lawnmower and a blower. Just like a real gardener! We discovered that we enjoyed the gardening, and enjoyed having the yard and planting beds looking the way we wanted them. It just took us about 25 years to get back to that. Quick, that’s us!
The horizon from our driveway did change with the addition of our first outbuilding.
I was on the road again in April, going to the NAB convention in Las Vegas. A highlight was going to Cabo Wabo for a free margarita … only to pronounce it swill. We haven’t completed our search for the perfect margarita yet … but it’s definitely not made with Cabo Wabo’s tequila!
Michael completed his Master of Science degree from the USC Viterbi School of Engineering in June. Done with school (at least for now) … and for the first time in 27 years, no one in our family was going to school. Now, that is a big change!
As summer was upon us, it was time for woodworking project # 2: building Payton an ultimate set of blocks. It was only slightly out of control … only 246 pieces, after all!
Muir Woods National Monument
Early in July, most of the Mowry family (Christopher, Ally, Payton, Lauren, Eric, Velda and I) went camping in the sequoias for the first time in many years. We got a great site in my favorite camp, Crystal Springs, and spent July 4th weekend under the big trees. Velda and I extended our vacation from there, going farther north to visit 2 more National Parks (making 4 Parks in one week!), and one of my favorite places on earth, the Muir Woods National Monument. It was great to see that wonderful place again … and enjoy the best grilled cheese sandwich on the planet.
Back from vacation, it was time to begin woodworking project # 3: the routed bowl adventure. This one just kept growing and growing, with three rounds of production taking over the garage for four months.
And we may have been back from vacation … but Velda proved she was crazy.
Again.
An orphan was discovered in the parking lot at her facility, and she agreed to adopt this tiny 4-week old kitten, that was soon named Walter. He’s all kitten, and now, four months later he is STILL finding new ways to terrorize the older cats and cavort around the house. That is what kittens do, yes?
In November, I took on another client and joined RAIN Enterprises as Account Manager. RAIN will stage 4 Summits next year (New York, Las Vegas, Indianapolis and Europe) … plus we have a daily newsletter that covers every facet of the developing marketplace of online audio. Check it out, www.RAINNews.com.
Velda and Alley have several products, each in many fragrances that they are now offering. They have one retail outlet … a boutique in northern California’s wine country.
Velda and Alley decided to launch a homemade lotion business, called Mrs. M’s Handmade. What caused them to do this is unknown … but there is now a nascent lotion business in the family. Big talk about the future … a website may happen in 2014. Hopefully they’ll figure out what their actual expenses and sales have been sometime before they jump farther into the marketplace!
2013 has truly been a wonderful year … family, fun, a bit of adventure and new doors opening at the end of the year. Can’t wait to see 2014!
My official best photograph of 2013 … Payton discovering a flower’s shadow on her arm.
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2012: It’s A Wonderful Year
Knowing what really happened can be a sobering experience!
