Random Soapbox for Saturday 11/30/13

I don't mean to go off on a [final for the month] rave here, but ...

... since there is a bonus Saturday in November, I may as well stick with that which I've been doing all month long on Saturdays, and wrap up this list of things for which I'm thankful.  If you've been following along, you probably figured out my construct, but so far I've disclosed that I'm thankful for ...


Traditions.
Homecomings.
Ancestry.
New opportunities.
Knowledge.
Smart phones.
Guinness.
Independence.
Vacations.
Indiana family.
Nostalgia.
Golden Tee.

Seeing as how there aren't any more letters in the word to inspire me, I'll just close by saying that I'm also thankful to see that for which others are thankful.  And I get that it's not a competition or anything, but I'd like to give a shout-out to the thankfulnesses expressed by one Andy P, a college classmate of mine, who impressed me this month with his reflective, honest and sincere posts.  I have to say I think he set the bar this year!

Oh and since it's the last post in my theme week "It Starts with Food", I'm also thankful that my company gives its employees a paid volunteer day and that there's a session scheduled next week for the local team to help out at the Lakeview Pantry (ironically, it's scheduled on a day when I'm on vacation, so I won't be attending, but I'll be thinking about 'em).  Here's hoping that the spirit of giving about which I've been talking all week becomes a year round tradition.

And since I have this mild OCD "things in threes" condition, I'm also very thankful that I can return to RANTING next week on Saturday, as my "crotchety old man self" just seems more authentic to my "brand".

ONE LAST TIME (WELL FOR THIS WEEK) ... LOCAL FOOD BANK:
http://www.lakeviewpantry.org/

ONE LAST TIME (WELL FOR THIS WEEK) ... THE BIG LOCAL ONE:
http://www.chicagosfoodbank.org/site/PageServer

ONE LAST TIME (WELL FOR THIS WEEK) ... FIND YOUR LOCAL ONE:
http://feedingamerica.org/foodbank-results.aspx

Random Flashback for Friday 11/29/13

This will be the last picture of Smokey the cat from LVC dorm living circa 1993 that I will post.

Correction:  These will be the last pictures of Smokey the cat from LVC dorm living circa 1993 that I will post (I couldn't resist a bonus photo -- from Thanksgiving exactly twenty years ago at the Woodwards).

Further correction:  These will be the last pictures of Smokey the cat from LVC dorm living circa 1993 that I will post in this calendar year (I peeked ahead to my 1994 pictures going up each week as Friday flashbacks in 2014, and she does make a return or two ... or three.)

Additional note:  The traditional feast of thanks may be over, but my week-long attempt to drum up awareness of the hungry ones in your community isn't quite over.  As captured in this photo, please consider finding a way to share that which you have with others this season -- and all year round.

Random Thought for Thursday 11/28/13

I learned a new game, whilst driving to Baltimore and back a month ago ... a game I remembered when doing the early morning drive to my Indiana family for the Tgiving holiday (and, therefore, something that fits nicely into my ongoing "distracted driving" series that demonstrates, when it comes to those long long road trips, how my mind does randomly wander as it wonders [ooh ... working in a Christmas music reference to celebrate the holiday season ... so festive of me]).

I call it "turnpike chicken".  And let's get something out of the way right away.  My use of the qualifier "turnpike" is because I grew up in central PA.  Depending on your part of the country, you might substitute "freeway" or "toll road" or "highway" or "bypass" or "interstate" (I think you get the point).  Regardless, I'm referring to a multi-laned road where traffic is all going the same way (as opposed to the more classic game of "chicken" where you drive head first toward an approaching car to see which vehicle is the last to move out of the way), and to the fact that the po-po may or may not be in the flow of traffic ahead of you (I use the phrasing "po-po" in a desperate transparent attempt to establish some street cred, so you might substitute "state trooper", "police", "cops" or "coppers" [you know, if you're a film-noir aficionado]).

This game of "chicken" involves those drivers who are either oblivious to the fact that they are passing an unmarked vehicle (and speed past to get pulled over immediately -- we'll call them "fried chicken"), or who start out oblivious and then slam on the breaks when they put two and two together (so so obvious to all involved, so we'll call them Colonel Chicken, since KFC is the obvious chicken choice), or who "fall in line", too "chicken" to make a move, destined to drive for miles obeying the speed limit and being a good, but boring, road citizen (chicken dancers, a la the wedding classic).

In conclusion, because I've gone on too long as it is, drive safely out there this holiday weekend.  In addition to the daytime drunks (it's a holiday!), there are also crazed shoppers who didn't sleep, and the heightened presence of the po-po.  And ... Happy Thanksgiving weekend to you and yours!

ANY TIME I MENTION TURNPIKE, I THINK OF THE "ABANDONED PA TURNPIKE":
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/back1007.cfm

OH THE WIKI ... LISTS FOR EVERY SCENARIO:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_slang_terms_for_police_officers

A GUIDE TO ASSIST YOU AS YOU PLAY "TURNPIKE CHICKEN":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_slang_terms_for_police_officers

Random Wordplay for Wednesday 11/27/13

Bottom Dollar Foods.

Used in a sentence:  "Look, it's not my wordplay, but apparently there's a new grocery chain (well, new to me as it started in 2005 after I moved away from the East Coast) called Bottom Dollar Foods."

No offense to anyone who shops there, but I don't understand how that company name made it out of the focus groups.  Sure ... it's kind of like messaging "lowest price" (and having done a bit of interwebs research tonight, the place sure sounds like it is pretty much patterned after an Aldi's) ... but I just don't think that, when it comes to making your food purchases, getting your meat and perishables from a place called Bottom Dollar Foods inspires much confidence in that which you're buying.  It just makes me picture a guy in a trench coat grabbing you off the street to pull you back into the alley where there's a truck waiting with "bottom dollar" cuts of meat in it for you to get at a really great price (wink, wink, nudge, nudge).

At the opposite end of the grocery store name spectrum, there are the local Chicago establishments called Jewel (see what they did there Bottom Dollar Foods -- a name that conjures up happy images of shiny fancy things that you purchase there) ... a place I visited today on my lunch walk, and where I was happy to see that they have an easy way for customers to contribute to organizations that take care of those who are hungry this holiday season (see photo below, as I couldn't find anything on their website) ... which of course fits nicely into my theme week concept (and I'm now midway through raising awareness about how YOU can make a difference in your community as you feast with your family ... and hopefully get you thinking about starting a year round habit).

THEY ARE CLOSER THAN EVER BEFORE TO MY HOMETOWN IT SEEMS:
http://www.grocery.com/bottom-dollar-food/

I GET THAT THEY WERE GOING FOR SOME OF THIS MOJO, BUT STILL ...
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-does-bet-your-bottom-dollar-mean.htm

HELP GIVE HAM FOR THE HOLIDAYS AT THIS ESTABLISHMENT:
http://www.jewelosco.com/

Random Tune for Tuesday 11/26/13

So it's still my theme week to raise awareness about donating to your local food bank (easy to do during this time of feasting ... so I'm hoping to inspire a habit that goes year-round).

Which means a little Marvin Lee Aday should be perfect for today's random tune ... doubly so because I found a "Meatloaf" song that has another piece of food in its title (could I *be* any more clever).

To tie it all up (admittedly, a bit of stretch perhaps, but work with me here) ... should you succeed in getting your money back due to your life being a lemon, make lemonade out of the situation by donating it to an organization that feeds hungry mouths in your 'hood (bonus link below is another local one for Chitown folks, a billboard for which I saw whilst walking on my lunch break today -- but if you are out of the area, just get on the Google and search on "local food bank" to start making a difference).

IT'S DEFECTIVE!:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPjGLXYUSeY

CONSIDER DONATING AS A NEW YEAR-ROUND HABIT:
http://solvehungertoday.org/

Random Memorial for Monday 11/25/13

Gone but not forgotten:  Mr. Charlie Trotter.

To be factual, Charlie passed three weeks ago, apparently of a stroke, and after some erratic behavior with which some media had a field day.

I think I've said this before ... but I can't officially pose as a "foodie" (despite watching Top Chef and just about every competition show on the Food Network).  That being said, I am definitely an "eatie" though, and I am fully aware of his importance to my adopted hometown of Chicago.  The closest I ever got to his culinary skills was the "Trotters To Go" (pictured above), which he opened here in the 'hood on Fullerton by DePaul's campus a year before I started living here, and which was a definite treat when we wanted to reward ourselves with something fancy back in the day (and fancy food costs extra money -- don't let that simple display case fool you).

[By the way, something else open here in the 'hood -- the Lakeview Pantry (see the link below), something I'm mentioning as part of my "It Starts With Food" Theme Week to raise awareness for those places that work to meet the needs of the hungry in the community.  If you're local, check it out (my company is headed there next week for a volunteer day).  If you're not local, use the internet to find a similar organization in your 'hood.]

Purveyor of the dish I would choose had I the choice this time of year --  "Plainville Farms Turkey Breast marinated in olive oil and fresh herbs ... then spit-roasted and finished with [a] honey-rosemary glaze", you will be missed.

CELEBRATING THE LIFE OF A CHICAGO CHEF:
http://voices.suntimes.com/import/chicago/charlie-trotter-a-timeline/

THE AFOREMENTIONED TROTTERS-TO-GO MENU:
http://chicago.menupages.com/restaurants/trotters-to-go/menu

IT'S MY "IT ALL STARTS WITH FOOD" THEME WEEK:
http://www.lakeviewpantry.org/

Random Scandal Sheet for Sunday 11/24/13

What Chicago is talking about this week:

How ... it starts with food.

It feels like I haven't done a theme week of posts in forever ... but here goes seven days of daily randomness with an underlying tie-in to food, ostensibly because it's that time of year where we all partake of our Thanksgiving feasts so food is on the mind, but really so that I can plug "donating to your local food bank" seven times in a row.

Look, I don't want for food.  (If I did, I might not be on my current weight-loss journey.)  Later this week, that fact manifests itself in a table of bounty that often has multiple main dishes and so many sides that we have to add a card table just so that there's enough room for the three different kinds of stuffing.  And those of us that have excess should never forget that there are multitudes who have little.  There are many ways to contribute to the cause ... throwing a few extra items in the shopping cart that you drop off at your local food bank, making a monetary donation, volunteering your time, or even inviting someone less fortunate to your holiday feast.

Let's be clear -- it's easy to keep this front and center in your mind during this week of the year what with the holiday festivities ... but the need is year round.  Accept this challenge this week and let it become habit forming so that your food-based generosity extends throughout the months ahead.

After all ... it starts with food.

THE CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY:
http://www.chicagosfoodbank.org/site/PageServer?pagename=annual_report_food

FIND YOUR OWN LOCAL FOOD BANK:
http://feedingamerica.org/foodbank-results.aspx#

START HELPING RIGHT NOW ... FROM YOUR COMPUTER:
http://freerice.com/#/english-vocabulary/1405