Is This Truly The Decade From Hell?

The most current Time magazine has a feature story that discusses how bad this last decade has been and the title on the cover reads, "The Decade From Hell." I heard on CNBC recently that the original title was, "The Worst Decade Ever."
Whatever the title you roll with, the point is pretty clear.

Do you believe this? Looking forward to discussion.

Put Your Own Spin On Thanksgiving!

While I remember coloring pictures of turkeys, pilgrims with buckled shoes and a handful of their Native American guests as a child - cornucopias and all the other hoopla that surrounded Thanksgiving was not enough to allow full ownership of this annual holiday in my grade school student's heart...

So it was with considerable surprise that I finally found some genuine fall harvest spirit this year in connection with working up an origami mock-up of a Asian-American inspired harvest craft project to introduce to families at Wing Luke Asian Museum.

Taking inspiration from a arty little origami box and folded paper ball, I put together a 3-dimensional spin on the traditional cornucopia theme which oddly enough fully resonates with the disconnect I've felt about Thanksgiving decor since my early youth.

Perhaps it pleases that part of my ancestry which includes hardworking farmers from Japan's Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyushu whose celebrated staff of life was rice rather than corn or wheat back in my grandma and grandpa's day. So the cornucopia has been transformed into a elegant folded paper box, and bread into folded paper gohan balls.

If you or younger family members might be interested in participating in this exercise, consider yourself cordially invited to a free make n' take arts and crafts presentation during a Family Day at the WING with Mizu Sugimura, from 1-3 p.m. tomorrow afternoon at the museum located at 719 S. King Street in the heart of Seattle's Chinatown/International District.

While strict traditionalists may balk at this departure from conventional archetypes, as an artist I'm particularly interested in nurturing the idea that creative improvisation can always be welcomed if it plays any part in bringing more of these long-observed anchors of American life closer to the hearts and minds of us all.

And while we may prefer as individuals or communities to take different roads and personalize the holiday with our own take on the celebrations it is possible as a nation to arrive at the same destination if our fundamental goals are truly shared.

For more details and directions to the museum click here.

Below: (l-r) Mary Shifton proudly displays the paper fan she made at a previous make n'take session during a "Family Day at the WING" in August 2008 with Federal Way paper artist Mizu Sugimura .

Am I The Only One Who Likes Thanksgiving?

It still, after all these years, blows my mind, when the Christmas decorations come out at nearly the same time as the Halloween ones. And then there's the little pitiful Thanksgiving display, that gets smaller and smaller each year. Poor Thanksgiving: misunderstood and overlooked.

I love Halloween and Christmas, but I love Thanksgiving too. I am blessed because I have the ability to celebrate it with a loving family and food. I like the whole meal prep, getting together for a meal, the fall decor, the bounty, the smells, and the cozy feeling. I've participated in all kinds of Thanksgivings. Small crowds, large crowds, immediate family, immediate and extended family, family and friends, and just friends. I've eaten traditional fare, unusual fare (taco salad anyone?), and I even prepared an entire vegan feast. I've been home for the holiday and out of state. I've had Thanksgiving on vacation (my favorite away Thanksgiving was when the kids were really young and the four of us had a Hawaiian style dinner in Kona in our condo we rented and one kid was in her diaper only and the other one in his underwear. Rick and I were in bathing suits for the meal). Memories....

However, a lot of folks that I know, don't care about Thanksgiving and thinks it's too much, over-hyped, a pain, a waste, and so on.

But unlike the other two big holidays in the fall, Thanksgiving is so flexible. You can do it however you like. Sure there are customs and traditions I suppose, but you can tweak them a lot easier than you can the other ones. There's no pressure for material gifts, just the gift of your time.

Thoughts?

Tacoma Mainstay Restaurants A Big Let Down

Maybe it was remnants of Friday the 13th. Or some weird full moon. Or some bad karma. But my husband and I had two separate and miserable restaurant experiences within 24 hours of each other at two different, favorite, and reliable restaurants in Tacoma. We've been long time customers of both establishments and always put in a good word or a plug for each. Now they've let us down. Here's the scoop.

Restaurant number one (The Hub): my husband took my son out for dinner. The restaurant was busy, but not overwhelmingly so. To start, the server accidentally spilled an entire beer all over my son. My son was a good sport, accidents happen, and my husband's beer was on the house. Okay? Nope. The service was turtle slow after that, inattentive, and they got the wrong order to boot. Folks that sat down well over 30 minutes AFTER they arrived were eating their food. My husband had had it with the wait. He advised the manager, they took a little off the bill, but still my husband was upset. He is very good at delivering feedback, so it wasn't as if he was a jerk or anything.

Restaurant number two (Primo Grill): I took my mom out to a performance at the Pantages and we decided to dine prior. This restaurant was bustling actually, but it seemed like their were quite a number of staff members. Our server really struggled (as she seemed to be doing bartending duties as well). She didn't seem to know the menu very well nor did she really know how to mix my mom's drink (she actually asked US what it was and how to do it--we thought it was a fairly common drink). Then the food took forever (others were getting served that came in quite later than us). Our poor server seemed to be walking around in circles aimlessly (we tried to have empathy but were getting frustrated because we had a show to catch and parking to contend with). When we got our order, part of mine was inedible (like eating a tablespoon of kosher salt) and my mom got the totally wrong order. Other folks at nearby tables were having similar experiences (one had worse food luck than us--ice cold, inedible pork that was so dry you could hear it crack off the bone). My mom and I recognized one of the owners (who very warmly welcomed us at arrival). Mom decided to go share her concerns (as our server was no where to be found). I overheard my mom and she was very nice, yet gave constructive feedback. The owner scowled, didn't say a word, rung up our check, and slammed it on the table and walked away. We were SHOCKED (as were the other patrons, who too were having problems). No offer to discount the meal, no offer to make things right.

So, what gives?

The restaurant business is a tough business indeed. It always has been. Compounded by a bad economy, it's worse. But COME ON. These restaurants let my family and I down. I am sorry if it's a bad night, if there are employee issues, or whatever, but folks, you've got to step up. Tacoma has a wonderful culinary/restaurant scene, which I hate to see sullied by this terrible service.

Readers, bloggers: tell me, what would you do? How would you move forward? Share your bad restaurant experiences HERE.

Sharpen your poison pencils and let 'er rip!

P.S. Thanks to the last two comments--they made some excellent points and gave me the
guts to name the offenders. Hub, Primo, you guys are off your game. Kim

Gig Harbor High School presents the Miracle Worker

If you love theater, but are watching your pennies I highly recommend high school productions. Gig Harbor High School is in its final week of The Miracle Worker. Teacher/director Kristin Zetterstrom never fails to give the community a professional theatrical experience at bargain basement prices. Tickets are $8.00 for adults, $6.00 for children/students.

A Rambling Rose

Reader’s who followed the posts I put up for Pat Kurz, Tacoman and Gig Harbor High School teacher, who spent a semester during the 2007-08 school year teaching in China, will be happy to know that Pat has continued to write. I am here to introduce her blog, Roseman’s Ramblings. Among her talents as teacher, writer and gamer, Pat is a gardener, particularly of roses (hence the name), but in her blog she examines life as a Baby Boomer in a new century. She’s eclectic and gritty. She tells it like it is.

Remembering Veteran's Day at Tahoma National Cemetery

My father was a survivor of Pearl Harbor and the Battle of Midway. He served his country as a civilian aeronautical engineer during Operations Red Wing and Hardtack. The plaque that memorializes him is a thousand miles away in the Missouri Ozarks. I can’t take him flowers for Veteran’s Day, but since both my husband and I have the day off from work and like to do something meaningful to honor those who have served (so did my husband in peace time) we decided we would attend the ceremony at Tahoma National Cemetery in Covington, WA where the father and brother of my best friend are buried. Our families have known each other since we were very little girls and I knew she could not attend herself as she lives and works in Oregon. She did not get the day off.

I hate the fact that commercial enterprises turn Memorial Day and Veteran’s Day into sale days meant to line their pockets. I sent Amazon a nasty email at Memorial Day because of that and emailed the History Channel complaining because they turned Memorial Weekend into a Monster Quest marathon. Having said that, I was disappointed to find that Safeway had not made up any very patriotic looking bouquets and had them cobble together a bouquet of red carnations and one of baby’s breath into two, which the floral department clerk tied with red and white ribbon. It would have to do.

My girlfriend had suggested that I wear red, white and blue for the occasion which proved a problem since nearly everything in my closet is purple. I dug out my red jumper, generally reserved for Christmas and Valentine’s Day, and a white blouse. Carefully I pinned the WWII Sweetheart pin my mother wore onto my red sweater. No matter that they divorced when I was 18. For me it symbolizes my love and honor for my father.

Because it had been extremely rainy all week I asked my daughter-in-law to help me find my good umbrella. The sun was out, but I wanted to ensure that it would stay out. It turned out that it was a wonderful day for a drive and to wander around Tahoma National Cemetery. With my girlfriends directions we found first her father’s grave and then her brothers. People are buried in the order they arrive at Tahoma. Spouses can be buried together, but there are no “family plots.” After we had placed our flowers and taken pictures we walked to the flag area where there were formal ceremonies going on. When a cloud obscured the sun and the ceremonies were winding down we moved toward the car.

On our way out of the cemetery we stopped to pay our respects to Dave's friend from the FAA, Chris Beal. Chris emigrated to the United States right out of school and joined the U.S. Army. He fought in Vietnam, became a citizen, and made the Army a career. His second career was the FAA where he also retired before his death in 2007. He was a charming man and we miss him much.

Back in Tacoma we went out for a late lunch in Old Towne. The ladies went to the Hawthorn Tearoom and the fellas across the street to the Spar for fish and chips. Our timing was perfect in that we all finished at the same time and the weather was deteriorating by the time we got in the car to head home to Gig Harbor. It was satisfying to have participated in the ritual of taking flowers to soldiers and to remember my father, even if he is buried so far away. I still have some of my father’s ashes that I’d intended to take to Pearl Harbor, but am now thinking of asking the VA if we can put them at Tahoma. Then his family would have someplace closer at hand to go for Veteran’s Days.