Friday, June 16, 2006
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Monday, June 12, 2006
Why did I eat the way I did?
A friend asked: what did you eat as a kid? Well, a lot of TV dinners.Oddly, my mom was a great cook. She knew everything. She grew up on a farm and could cut up a half a cow into various steaks. Could make everything from scratch.
So when she no longer had to?
She didn't.
We had TV trays when I was a kid.
Aluminum folding trays -- one for each of us.
We would sit in front of the TV in the frontroom and eat the TV dinners.
It was like flying first class in an airplane.
It was like being in the future.
Now, kids could make dinner.
Each person could have something different.
It was the beginning of the processed and fast foods.
No wonder that two generations after -- 63% of the population is obese with hypertension.
However, today -- thanks to the Cooking Channel and Weight Watchers, the family is eating better. We get excited about making things from scratch and seeing how much unprocessed food we can use.
Going back even further in time for a moment -- I remember when I was going through my granola period in college. I was home for some vacation and making a loaf of bread.
Mom reflected.
Her mom had made homemade bread.
She made it for lunches for my mom as she was growing up on a farm.
Mom said her childhood dream was to get sliced bread.
It was a status symbol.
Mom said, the rich city kids no longer ate homemade bread.
Now, just a generation later -- mom reflected on her college son thinking it was cool to make bread, rather than buy it.
More below on TV dinners from the History of TV Dinners:
A confluence of factors accounted for the instant popularity: the baby boom, the advent of refrigerators with big freezer compartments, and the mesmerizing nature of a new home entertainment medium.
Given that cartoons and sci-fi movies tended to be on around dinner time in the '60s, kids like me hated to tear ourselves away from that massive Motorola in the family room. What better solution than to eat in front of the TV - and what better meal than one designed to enhance our viewing pleasure?
"The original TV dinner was an interesting concept. It was something new," says Mike Donovan, a Rowan University professor of radio, television and film. "You could argue the original TV dinner broke up the family unit, but I don't think it had anything to do with it," Donovan says, noting eating in front of the television actually extended the time a family could be together.
What changed all that, he adds, was the advent of cheaper, smaller sets, which gave rise to the contemporary phenomenon of multiple sets per household. Today, a latchkey kid can take his microwaveable meal to his room "and watch MTV 24 hours a day,"
My heart is smiling today
It was my senior year in college.
My aunt and uncle were visiting me at my off-campus apartment.
I loved Adline and Kernie.
They loved me unconditionally.
So, for some reason, I thought it would be nice to "cook" them lunch at my apartment -- something I hadn't ever done.
So, I purchase some TV dinners and cooked them up.
Of course, Adline raved.
I didn't know how to plan a meal, much less cook it at that age.
Fast forward: my children are 10 and 11.
After watching informercials for months on this product -- we go to the store and buy it.
immediately, the kids are making their own smoothies.
Saturday night Kim had a meeting and the kids asked me to stay out of the kitchen so they could cook.
At the appointed hour, dinner was served.
The table was set.
Out came some cooked taquitos (from the freezer, but one of our favorites) and a special bean dip with lots of goodies ground up.
For desert, chocolate mousse.
What a delight.
Six weeks ago I began Weight Watches. Biggest thing for me was how it focuses on good nutrition. Kids have gone right along with it.
Parents always want their kids to have it better than they did.
Too often, it's easy to bring your kids material wealth that you didn't enjoy as a kid.
I think there is an important relationship between character and having it "too easy."
But here is a clear gift to my kids that is different than my childhood.
If they can plan and make a healthy dinner at 10 and 11, then I am confident when their aunt and uncle visit them in college, they will manage something better than TV dinners.
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Sunday, June 04, 2006
Saturday, June 03, 2006
Friday, June 02, 2006
How many groups can you offend in one 60 second political ad?
http://vernonrobinson.com/media/miller_mariachi.mp3
This is real -- not a put on.
"Vote republican or else we will have gays and illegals having fiestas in the street."
This is real -- not a put on.
"Vote republican or else we will have gays and illegals having fiestas in the street."
Catie gives a great speech
Catie and her 4th grade presentation
It was an exciting morning.
My daughter was so excited about her oral presentation to her 4th grade class.
She was performing an oral biography of Sacajawea
She had designed a costume, researched the life and memorized a speech.
First up was a young boy who talked about DaVinci.
He did a great job. Wonderful use of hands. (I should mention that I used to be a judge at speech tournaments.) Of course I thought his presentation was even more remarkable given his oral presentation skills in a second language.
Finally, my Catie girl got up.
She was poised.
She waited to start.
Clear.
Wonderful.
Polished.
All 5's.
Monday, May 29, 2006
Sunday, May 28, 2006
Seaside -- Memorial Day 06
Saturday, May 27, 2006
Monday, May 22, 2006
Greg as Wile E Coyote
"hey dad look, our Estes rockets!" came my son's voice from the attic.
It had been several years since we had played with the solid fuel rockets.
I loved them.
So we hauled down the box of broken rockets and pieced together one that would work.
We wandered over the to athletic field.
"Should we go all the way over to the track?"
"Nah," I said," this is far enough away."
We put the launch pad down on the fresh cut grass. It was a little uneven -- so I grabbed a handful of grass and shoved it under one of the three legs.
Good enough I thought.
I counted down as Ricky pushed the button.
Nothing.
He pushed it again.
Nothing.
So I start walking over -- then a woooooosh.
The rocket goes up 3 feet and turns towards us.
In a flash it is heading toward me and I feel a piercing pain in my leg.
I look down and the still-accelerating rocket is trying to dug deeper into my leg.
All along the rocket route, smoke is hovering.
I am in a ball.
Ricky asks, how are you?
I say, fine fine.
A half inch gash is bleeding.
What to do?
Let's try it again.
This time we go to the solid track.
WE lay flat on the ground -- less of a target if it goes off course.
During the first flight -- one of two guides broke off the rocket.
I used a loosely tied piece of string to help guide the rocket up the launch pole.
We count down.
We push the button.
The wooosh.
Sorta goes straight.
At its peak, it turns and opens the parachute -- just like it's supposed to.
Out of fuses -- we hobble home.
Our neighbor Greg is outside.
Ricky -- the detailed story-teller explains.
Greg looks at the blood dripping down my leg.
"Awesome" says he.
"So you push the button on an explosive and when it doesn't go off you get up and walk toward it? Sounds like a Wile E. Coyote cartoon."
Friday, May 19, 2006
Monday, May 15, 2006
Saturday, May 13, 2006
Destroying nests of the vermin carrying hordes
Normally peaceful mothers 'suit up' in protective gear to rid the neighborhood of the avian evil.
Thursday, May 11, 2006
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Where's the glam in movie stars these days?
Today my 11 year old son flies out for a cultural week in New York with his grandparents.
In preparing him for the trip, I told him that NY was a place where people tend to dress up more than in Oregon.
I said, you might even see a TV or movie star.
He said, "well they are always wearing jeans and t-shirts."
Gad -- am I showing my age by thinking that stars are/were well dressed?
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
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