I haven’t watched this yet but I wanted to share it without any bias. Imagine recreating a centuries-old recipe? For some reason, this is exciting to me. I mean sure, I make lau lau but this is different. I wonder how it’ll turn out.

I got caught up in this video. No idea why. Could be the drugs. There are a few dishes being prepared here that I wouldn’t eat but yet, I am fascinated by the process. I do so admire their dedication to presenting this kind of meal.

Update….

I am home and I am alive.

Definitely my insides have been chopped up a lot and oddly enough I can feel how. The surgery went better than they thought it would and they also spent a considerable amount of time removing tons of scar tissue from my interior. That part was also easier than they expected so while the surgery went very long, everyone involved is quite optimistic about the outcome.

Now I have to concentrate on doing nothing and healing up. The pain medication doesn’t really take care of all of it but it’s enough to deal with the major parts. I will not be able to lift anything for quite some time and I have been forbidden to drive. I also have to be better about taking mid-day naps because I have been avoiding doing that.

I do have a lot of tubes coming out of me and they are not very comfortable. But thank God for coffee.

I actually want to talk about a book that I consider one of my favorites of all time… Courtship Rite by Donald Kingsbury.

It is both fantasy with a dash of science fiction but more importantly it is a spartanly written yet lush book about interesting characters, family dynamics, dynastic ambitions, and a little bit of intrigue. Some of it very violent.

For some people it is a hard read because of the content about a society struggling to survive but the reader actually joins this society when it is fairly far along on its course and along the way there is a subtle understory that eventually unfolds in bits and pieces for the reader to knit together. It doesn’t really very vital for key to the main stories but it does lend a rich undercurrent to a back story that is left untold and it is almost like a treasure hunt for the reader to figure out how these people ended up where they are and how they came to be in the society that they’ve built.

Obviously I won’t go into it much further because if somebody does want to read this I don’t want to spoil them.

Read its Wikipedia for more information (without spoilers): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courtship_Rite

It was written back in the 19 eighties and I can tell you that the brilliance of Kingsbury’s writing still holds up today. There is really so much I’d like to talk about but I have to pick through bits and pieces to figure out what I could say and what I can’t. The book follows the social evolution of a family consisting of three brothers and their two wives with the catalyst of the story being the leader of their clan ordering them to marry a religious heretic when they have already promised to marry someone else. The members of the family act in their own specific ways… Some are trying to figure out a way to make it work while others are against the whole thing.

Their society is based on the political weight of how many people you speak for and this heretic has a huge following that the leader wants to bring into the fold. It is a complicated story but told simply and I how several copies of the book because if I have a friend I think will enjoy it, I gifted to them. I’m sure every single person that I’ve given it to so far has been — what the fuck is wrong with this person that I know?

I can accept that.

I wish I could write as well as Kingsbury and I wish I could craft world is tightly knit as his. Probably a lot of my fondness for this book has to do with my admiration for his skill and how he approaches the viewpoint of his writing. He writes with brash intelligence and never assumes the reader can’t keep up. He respects the readers’ intelligence and crafts the story in such a way that every time it is read, the reader discover something new or see something in a different light.

But when it is all said and done — it’s just an enjoyable book.

Some books are available on Amazon. If you do plunge in, let me know how you do! https://www.amazon.com/Courtship-Rite-Donald-Kingsbury/dp/067145224X/

I haven’t thought about these in years. To be honest I don’t think I was ever sure about what they were called other than brown sugar Mochi balls but you used to be able to get them some of the small mom-and-pop stores in Hawai’i. They were usually sold alongside of the sweet steamed rice cake which is also kind of difficult to find these days because as an old-school treat, they are not very fancy and they don’t photograph well so not much to show on social media. But they are fantastic to eat and it is always good to see people resurrecting favorites that generations of people have enjoyed. I think too often the culture is too focused on finding the next great thing and we lose sight of some of the smaller special tidbits that are cultural foundations.

I am very happy to see a pushback against people denigrating other cultures’ food. Not everything is going to be someone’s taste but usually there is something that is adjacent in the repertoire of a culture’s culinary offerings that someone can enjoy.

If you have the chance and the inclination, I would say try to make dau lau and see if you like it. I have also had it with brown sugar and peanut butter inside of it and that is something I highly recommend if you like that kind of thing.

I just wanted to drop in and give a update about life in general. There is actually not much going on because I am waiting for surgery in March so that sort of dominates the whole landscape. I am doing this speech to text so please excuse the typos and such.

Mostly I have been focused on trying to stay warm and dry amid the rainstorms that we have been having which of course we do need. Drought in California is a real thing and it’s good to see the reservoirs and lakes filled up as much as they are so that is a positive. The downside with that comes from of course increased growth in the canyons which leads to the promise of a very dangerous wildfire season later on but that is something that everyone will watch for. I was surprised to find out that we had a tornado warning in a neighborhood not far from mine. No tornado but just conditions were good for them. And mind you it was also very cold while this was happening so I was surprised we did not get hail.

The cats have all been little shits because Goji is a chaos demon so she terrorizes the house and the other to respond in kind.

A couple of days ago became the year of the dragon and since it is my birth year, I am grateful to see it. (See https://chinesenewyear.net/zodiac/). I know a lot of people are saying that if it is your year you will be facing a lot of obstacles but honestly I have lived through quite a few dragon years and that has not been the case so I’m hoping that will continue to hold. I’ve already had a lot of crappy years recently and dammit, this will not be one of them.

So I hope all of you are doing well and I will keep you updated about the surgery that will be happening in March. And maybe I’ll be able to get some writing news as well.

Let me leave you with a very long video featuring an udon restaurant in Japan. I do really like to watch these because not only does it explore food variations but also there is something relaxing about someone cooking.

Trust me. Hold through the beginning. Hear him out.

“I refuse to let my sons play with dolls…”

I miss being able to grab fresh poke from the seafood counter. Actual poke.

A phone call with my mother revealed something interesting… I believe she thinks I’m an atheist.

I am not. I just don’t think organized religion is set up to do a lot beyond keeping the organization alive and profitable.

And I know there are exceptions. Small churches, temples, and such with a focus on bringing comfort and healing to their flock. Groups who seek out an understanding of the world and its people. People who are determined to stoke the good in humanity through their works and generous spirits.

I don’t deny the power of the Universe and its Creation. I just think a lot of organizations are like political parties… do anything you can to keep the machine going even though there are people within the organization who truly want to do good. They are often blocked or stymied by those who view service to humanity as “Well, we have ours and that’s all that matters.”

Do I believe that once we are done we leave this existence to go back and be cradled by the Universe? Of course I do. There’s a kind of science about that. We are energy and matter. We have a consciousness that is greater than bits of electricity going through spongy grey meat. Energy has to go somewhere. It doesn’t just cease to exist. Same with matter. All matter… water, flesh, chemicals… all of that. It doesn’t disappear. It is all absorbed back into the Universe around it and where does a consciousness go? No idea but that is a great mystery of Life and one we all should ponder on.

I believe in doing good because that’s what you do. I don’t need a Hell to make me dance like a dog in heels. That doesn’t make sense. Free will means we choose to be who we are, what we are. And to also decide the actions of those around us does not mean we act in the same manner. Even when the little voices in your head tells you to bite their faces off.

Oh, that little voice.

So yeah, here I am. Just trying to not bring shit and filth with me when I go back into the Universe.