Another Year, Another Christmas List.

1. You know the hours he has spent looking at Swiss watches on Chrono24 but you also know he is way too practical for those. He just admires the workmanship, engineering, and artistry of automatic watches. Also, he is a hunter. When he's running from a wild pig because he's missed every shot and only annoyed the pig, or when he's running through brush chasing a pheasant that refuses to fly, well, he just doesn't want to worry about damaging his watch in situations like that. He needs something that can "take a licking and keep on ticking". He needs a Timex field watch.

2. Ever since he was a little boy watching KBHK TV-44 out of San Francisco on a Saturday afternoon and saw the three stooges he has wanted one of these. He bought one on eBay for his two youngest boys the first Christmas after the divorce but it was from eBay and didn't work. And a few years ago he bought one for his friend. But here he is 50 years after he first saw Moe, Larry, and Curly playing with them in old movies, and he still doesn't have one. He would, don't you think, love finding a seltzer bottle under the Christmas tree.

3. You and he have been shooting pheasants for a few years but have nothing to show for it. Yes, they were good eating and, yes, it is fun to make pate from their livers and share it at church, but the one time he tried to have a pheasant taxidermied, well, it was a very expensive horror. Wouldn't it be nice to just have a bronze statue of a pheasant to commemorate all the pheasants you and he have downed?

4. It was September of 2020 when he was last at the Indian Colony Tobacco Store. Well, guess what. That's right his can of Captain Black (the original blend with the white label) is empty. You know you love the smell so this would, really, be a present for both of you.

5. You know how he loves to make fancy food and take it to church to share at the meal after Agape Vespers on Pascha? Well, you might not know this, but he has always thought he could do better. The only problem is that he has never had all the right equpment. Yes, you gave him a KitchenAid mixer and All-Clad pans but just think of all the yummy salmon mouse the people of your parish could be eating at Pascha if only he had a fish-shaped tin(or nickel)-lined mouse mold. If you get it for him for Christmas he will, probably, use it to make you yummy good food on Twelfth Night. Oh! And when it's not being used to make food it can hang on the wall and be beautiful.

6. About 40 years ago his mother had an old black and white photo of his grandfather hand tinted and framed. She gave it to her husband on his birthday. He kept it on his desk in his office until he retired and no longer had a desk. His mother and father are dead now. But it might be the case that his oldest brother's widow or one of her children, or his sister, or his yet living brother has the photo. Maybe, if one of them does have it, they will loan it to you long enough to have a copy made.

7. The years his kids were Scouts were the happiest years of his life. He would be very happy to wear the Eagle Scout and Arrow of Light lapel pins if he had them. They commemorate the highst awards his sons earned.

8. He likes Italian tuna . He eats several cans a month. He appreciates gifts of food. You can't go wrong getting him this.

9. Since 1996 when he was living in San Francisco flop houses he has been eating Molinari Salami. He would love get one for Christmas so he can slice it up and put it on this year's Astro Weenie Christmas Tree.

10. When he goes hunting for big game he doesn't want to tote around a whole box of cartridges with him. Nor does he want to carry loose ammo in his pockets. What to do? What to do? It seems a Tourbon leather ammo wallet is ideal for situations such as this.

11. He doesn't understand it. Where do they go? Regardless of the answer, the need is real. Black socks from Gold Toe.

12. He has bought them for his kids. He had one when he was a soldier (They sold them in the uniform store and its inside was the only thing in the barraks that wasn't inspected every morning.) but he hasn't had one in many many years. And the last few voyages he was on; to the deserts of Nevada and Arizona, to Alaska and Cape Cod he really wished he'd had a leather dopp bag.

13. He wears Aramis. Not the Aramis 900 Herbal his dad switched to in 1981 but the original Aramis, the first designer fragrance for men. Maybe, delight him with a whole gift set!

14. He's had that leather club chair for a while now, and he knows you think it looks worn out. An easy way to get him to part with it would be to give him one of these for Christmas.


15. He would love to make more holodets (the old ladies at church love them) but he doesn't have enough little ramekins to ensure everyone can get some. Just imagine the glory as he walks into the hall at church bearing a platter of little holodets! (Shredded chicken breast with spicy mustard is his favorite but he knows some people who like minced ham with carrots and black pepper.)

16. Many times he has thought to himself, "Gosh, that's an amputation waiting to happen." And he is, genuinely, worried about it. That blade needs to be covered. So get him this razor head cover and ease his mind.

17. Sometimes, he has the feeling that too much of his shirt is exposed, and that his tie is having to do too much work. He really needs a vest.

18. Have you ever seen his tie fly away? He needs a tie tack. Or a tie bar. Maybe one in a duck or pheasant theme would be nice.

19. Because of that listeria problem that killed 9 people last year it has been hard to find liverwurst in stores. Thankfully, braunschweiger is still available. Imagine the joy when he makes everyone braunschweiger and red onion sandwiches with dark mustard on dense rye bread! Yummm!

20. When he was a little boy his mother and grandmother made pickles; sweet never dill. He loved those homemade sweet pickles but never really liked other pickles; not dill nor sweet. They always tasted chemically to him. But then, one day he tasted Bubbies, and WOW! That's all. Just WOW! They are the best pickles he has ever tasted and he would be thrilled to find a jar under the tree this year.

A Few Things About Architecture And Urban Planning

I. Tolkien's buildings

II. The California bungalow

III. The Arts and Crafts movement

IV. The Sears Mail-Order House

V. The 15-Minute City

VI. Bad Urban Planning

VII. Old Byzantine Architecture

IIX. New Byzantine Architecture

IX. Zoning in America

It Been A While Since I've Posted Anything, And Things Have Changed.

I have a grandson. His name is Oliver (of Ancona) Augustine (of Hippo). Kathleen and I flew to Boston and then drove to Kittery, Maine to meet him. He is beautiful.

While we were in New England we stayed at one of our time shares, The Breakers Resort on Cape Cod. We ate at three good restaurants: Red River BBQ (the best fish I had on the whole trip), The Union Oyster House (freshest and best tasting oysters I've ever had), and Parker's Restaurant in the Omni Parker House Hotel (The perfect early morning breakfast after getting off a red-eye flight from San Jose). We also took a boat out to Nantucket where we had fun, but it was not very much like what I was expecting. Everything I knew about Nantucket I learned from Moby Dick. It's not like that now. We learned that there are now 32 billionaires who have houses on the Island. Among other things we saw there, were Daniel Webster's house, Rowland Macy's house, and the whaling museum. When we first got to the island it was very early in the morning so we played chess outside the Athenaeum. Kathleen won. She played a perfect game.

We attended services at two churches while we were traveling: St. Nicholas in Portsmouth, New Hampshire and Holy Trinity in Boston (WOW What a choir! You should hear them.).

I took and passed California's Water Treatment Plant Operator test and got my T-1 licesnse in the mail. I have started applying for water treatment jobs.

I quit my job 5 days ago. I really liked it and the people I was working with but sales really dried up starting in May, and no money coupled with 60 hour work weeks just wasn't cutting it. I don't know what I'll do next but I have some good prospects.

Yesterday, Basil and I went to the county rifle range and he zeroed the .30-'06. Then last night, Kathleen and I made two peanut butter pies. One wo took over to Cyndi and Basil last night. Kathleen took the other to her Dad this morning. Right now I am applying for a job with CBP.

Yoo-Hoo

When I was 12 years old my Mom and Dad and I moved to Tampa, Florida. There was a little corner store near our house that sold Chocolate Yoo-Hoo. I had never tasted it until I moved to Florida. Once I tasted it, I think, I drank one or two bottles (YUM!) a week from 1981 to 1986, when I was old enough to join the Army.

That same corner store sold peach NeHi and blue cream NeHi. They also had a Galaga coin-op video game that spent $1 on every week. I also bought the Tampa Tribune (It seems to be out of business now.), there every morning and read it while drinking my morning coffee. Reading the Tampa Tribune - first to last page- every morning was, I think, one of the most important parts of being homeschooled. I had the BEST teen-age years.

One time, when I was home on leave from the Army, I think it was Christmas time in 1989, I was in that little corner store when a man got angry and yelled at the woman behind the counter. He left and the woman, whom I had known since I was 13, said through her tears, "Why didn't you do something?" I was ashamed for not having done "something" but I also knew that if I had done "something" one of us, either that angry man or I would not have walked out of there. I told her that but it didn't help. 40 years later I still don't know if I made the right decision. I wish I had done "something".

Memorial Day

Today Kathleen (my wife) and Basil Wenceslas (my 4th son) went with me to the cemetary in Paso Robles. We prayed the trasagion for the departed for my 1st son, Billy.

I wish son's #3 and #2 could have been there.

Where I have been

Last week I met a man who has never been out of California. I was astounded by that idea. By the time I was 16 years old I had been to more than a third of the States and to 3 foreign countries.

It is easier for me to list the States I have not been in than those I have been in. So, on my list of States to visit are: Iowa, Pennsylvania, Kansas, West Virginia, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Rhode Island, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Vermont, Connecticut, Maine, and New Hampshire.

In about a month, my grandson is going to be born at a U.S. Navy hospital in Maine, and I will be there. I'm going to fly into Boston and drive up to Maine. That means that I'll be checking New Hampshire and Maine off my list. If I have time, maybe, I'll motor over to Vermont, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, and therefore, be able to check all of New England off my list. It's weird to me, a Californian, how small those early States are.

Stock Market Picks

I have two followers who are always asking me what to invest in (I think you are nuts.) so I figure maybe other people care what I invest in. About a month ago I was kind of freaking out because of tarriffs (Since Sargon ruled Akkad we've known that tariffs, like almost all taxes, are destructive.) and sold everything except for the gold fund, GLD and iShares 1-3 year bond fund, SHY. I am still holdiing those two non-stocks but today, I went back into stocks. I am now long on the following comapnies:

1. United Airlines Holdings, Inc. (UAL)

2. Broadcom, Inc. (AVGO)

3. CSX Corp. (CSX)

4. Corning, Inc. (GLW)

5. Nvidia Corporation (NVDA)

6. The Boeing Co. (BA)

7. Qualcomm, Inc. (QCOM)

8. Curtis-Wright Corporation (CW) We'll know in a year if I made the right decision.

Of Popes

The pope of Rome died. Already, people have asked me who I think the next pope of Ronme should be. I'm Orthodox so it doesn't, really, matter to me. Seriously, the last pope of Rome who was Orthodox was Damasus II (d. 1048) so, I suppose, the person who should be the next pope of Rome is the person who will bring the RC Church back into the Orthodox Church. But that isn't going to happen. The next best thing, I think, is to have a pope of Rome who can bring the RC Church closer to Orthodoxy. As far as I can tell, there are handful of RC bishops who might do that, including Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke (former archbishop of Saint Louis), Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco, Francis Cardinal Arinze of Nigeria, Archbishop Joseph Naumann (fomerly of Kansas City), and Peter Cardinal Erdo of Hungary. Well, I doubt the Catholics will choose any of these men.

Pascha and feeling better

I have been sick. I missed three weeks of work and four weeks of church. Yesterday, Holy Saturday was my first Communion since I got sick. I finally tested negative 5 days ago and I'll go back to work tomorrow morning. I'm not sure how that is going to work since my voice has not healed, but I need to make money.

Because I was so sick I did not make paskha and kulich this year. This is the first Pascha in decades that I have not had paskha and kulich for breakfast on Pascha morning.

I did make something to take to the feast after Agape Vespers later today: I boiled a corned beef brisket this morning, and together with, rye bread, saurkraut, and mustard shall turn it into urn it into sanwiches for the feast. I hope my fellow parishoners enjoy them.

Christ is risen! Indeed he is risen!

Max's Diner

Back in the 1990s and 2000s, when I worked in the advertising industry, I used to eat pretty often, maybe twice a week, at Max's Diner on Folsom Street in San Francisco. I always had what they called the "mini-Reuben" and a Martini. The "mini-Reuben" is just a Reuben sandwich cut into 8 bite-sizes pieces and held together with toothpicks. It was perfect: A bite of of sandwich, a sip of Martini.

Max's Diner did not survive the stupidity of our government's response to the Wuhan disease, but some of Max's resuraunts did survive. Among them Max's Opera Cafe. The mini-Reuben is not on their menu but, if you ask nicely, they will make one for you. A fun thing about Max's Opera Cafe is the singing. They have a grand piano and all the waiters and waitresses can sing. One tme, many years ago, a waitress there let me join her in a duet of The Way You Look Tonight. Neither of us was as good as Faith Hill or Tony Bennet, we were more like Ethel Merman and Buddy Hackett, but it was fun.

God is not an engineer

When I was a boy I read lots and lots of apologetical books; defenseses of Creationism, mainly, that attempted to show that only God could have made the world. I believed, and still believe most of those arguments. But most of them came down to this: Only an amazing engineer could have made the universe. So, when I heard this joke I immedeately laughed hard and loud.

Three engineers got into an argument about what kind of engineer God is.
The first, says, "God is a mechanical engineer. Look at how we manipulate our arms, legs, lungs, and how blood flows through our bodies. God is a mechanical engineer."
The second says, "No. God is an electrical engineer. Our nervous system, heart, brain. Everything is run by electrical impulses. God is an electrical engineer."
The third says, "Your both wrong. God is a civil engineer. Who else would route the sewage system through the recreation area?"

But I don't think God is an engineer. I think he is an artist expressing different ideas in a theme. Just look at the primates! We are all so similar to each other. How many versions of primates did God make? Only one is man but those that are not man are still amazing. Look at the eye! Insect, fish, reptiles, birds, and mamals all have eyes and all the eyes are different. Among humans, many women have an ability to see more colors than any man. All normal human eyes see more colors that canines can see. But the mnts shrimp sees more colors and kinds of light than any other creature we know about. It's like god said, "Hey, I know what I'll do. I'll put the best eyes in the universe in a little shrimp and let human beings try to figure out why. That'll be fun!"

It was when I saw Linnea in Monet's Garden (It came as part of an eductional program I got when I was homeschooling Anselm Samuel for kindergarten.) that I first began to think about God being an artist. Specificaaly, it was Monet's paintings of the Charring Cross bridge that got me thinking about it. Its just a bridge but Monet painted it over and over again, each time higlinting something in the bridge that he thought was important. Likewise, God has made millions and millions and millions of eyes. And each eye perceives light differently from all other eyes. Maybe, like Monet wanted us to understand that the bridge is not just a means for crossing water, God wants us not to be content with using eyes to see but wants us to understand something about light.

Meatfare

I made something new for Meatfare a couple of days ago. The week after Christmas, when all the hams were on sale for a reduced price, I bought a big spiral cut ham, and stuck it in the freezer. A couple of days before Meatfare I took it out of the freezer to thaw. The day before meatfare, Kathleen gathered some rosemary and lemons from outside our front door, and brought them too me in the kitchen. I sliced the lemons while she used a Braun cofee mill to mince the rosemary. Then, between the spiral slices of the ham I stuffed feta chese, lemon slices, rosemary, oregeno, and thyme. Then I put it in the refrigerator until morning. When I woke up early on Sunday morning I put the ham in the oven and cooked it until it was done. Then we loaded it into the car and went to church. When we got to church we put it in the oven in the church kithen to keep it warm. It turned out pretty good. I think I'll do this again next year.

Holding to Truth

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you have learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the holy scriptures which are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. —2 Timothy 3:14–16

My New Job.

I dont think I've said anything on this blog about my new job. I quit being a teacher during the Christmas break. I am now a salesman for Quality First. It is such a good change. The work is fun and I am making twice the money I made in as a teacher. I think a lot of people do not understand the role of a salesman. Essentially, this is what my job is: I keep tradesmen employd, I keep factory workers employed, I improve the comfort of homeowners, I increse the value of houses, I make the world more aestheically pleasing. And that is why I am paid as much as I am paid. But, you may ask, how do I keep involved in the world of history, government, and economics? My wife still teaches all those subjects, and I write her tests. Its the best of both worlds.

The Aga Khan is Dead.

I just read the news that the Aga Khan is dead. I had heard of him, of course, many decades ago (I think it was the late 1970s) but I didn't know much about him until about 12 or 15 or 20 years ago, when driving home from the Vigil Service at Holy Trinity Cathedral one Saturday night, when I heard Christine Baranski read Thomas Meehan's Yma Dream on James Lipton's Actors Studio show on KQED. After hearing Ms. Baranski's performance of Yma Dream I looked up every name mentioned. I learned so much! And was very happy to learn that I was not the only cocktail party host to experience this kind of stress. But I am sad to learn that the Aga Khan is dead. He was an important leader for his people.

Duets

It seems to me, and maybe, it's just because of how old I am and the music I heard growing up, but the 1970s, 1980s, and early 1990s were the heyday of pop music duets.

I remember hearing the song Private Dancer sometime in the 1980s. My Mom said, "That's too bad. Tina Turner was one of my favorite rock and roll singers." I think that, propably,bthis song was in her mind when she said that. 1971 -Proud Mary - Ike and Tina Turner.

I remember hearing this song on KOIT FM back in the 1970s. What I didn't know then is that the two singers, Niel Diamond and Barbara Streisand didn't record it together. In fact their two recordings of the song were made years apart. Back about 20 years ago I met a guy on Facebook who had recently converted to Holy Orthodxy and who had been a radio DJ in, I think, North Carolina. He told me about how they splice together the two recording to make their two recordings into a duet. They probably violated all kinds of copyright laws when they did it, but the duet version was a bigger hit than the two solo versions. Here are Barbara and Niel performing the song together for the first time at the 1980 Grammy Awards.

This song was a favorite of my late brother Ken's wife. Everytime it came on the radio or teevee she would say, "Oh! Kiki Dee!" 1976 - Don't go Breaking My Heart - Elton John and KiKi Dee

I was in the 4th grade when I saw the movie Greeae. At that age (9 or 10) I didn't know what the story was about. (It was only many years later when son #3 was running the lights in his high school production of the play that I finally saw and was appallled by what it was about.) But I knew from this song that if I was ever going to have a woman like Sandi I had better "shape up". You're The One That I Want- 1978 - Olivia Newton John and John Travolta.

There is a maried couple I really want to put on this list of duets but only one of them actually sang. The other was an instrumentalist. The Capatain and Tenille had some hits in the '70s but I don't think he ever sang so I can't count them as a duet. But there is another couple who were married (Until his heroin addiction wrecked that marriage. You know there is a reason why we outlaw that drug.) This song was part of Carly Simons 1974 album Hotcakes. I remember my teacher in kindergarten teaching it to me. I didn't understand it but it was fun to sing. 1974 - Mockingbird - Carly Simon and James Taylor It is one of my favorite songs. I hope you enjoy it. And, Oh My Gosh, do you see the look of love on her face when she looks at him?

I wanted to see the movie because I was 12 years old and "in love" with Brooke Shields but my parents wouldn't let me see it. Now, having read about the film, it seems to me, thaey made the right decision. 1981 Endless Love - Lionel Ritche and Diana Ross

This song was origiinally relesased by Bob Seegar as a solo, only later was it releasd as a duet with Keny Rogers and Shiela Easton, but I din't hear it until 1985 when Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton released it. 1985 - Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers - We've Got Tonightgt

Another Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton song on this list of duets is, really, a Beegees song. (in the late 70s and early 80s I was huge Beegees fan.) This song was written by the Beegees but not recorded by them. 1983 - Islands in the Stream

in 1981 my Dad was chosen to oversee the churches of his denomination in Florida. When they first moved there I stayed in California with my sister and brother-in-law. One day I was listening to the radio and heard a song by Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warrens. I loved it from the moment I heard it. All these years later I still haven't seen the movie for which it was written but in the mid-1990s I met Cocker's protoge Phil Driscoll in at a night club in San Farancisco. That is wheen I learned, if I remember correctly, that many years ago they owned, or maybe they only perfornmed, at a burlesque therater in Canada. It is hard to remember these days. Anyway - 1982 Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warrens - Up Where We Belong

I didn't even know about the exitence of Bary White until the mid 1990s but, OH HY GOSH, what an amazing phenomonon he was. Here he is singing All Around the World with Lisa Stansfield, the authhoress of the song, 1990

TELOS of this song. Though this song had been recorded by many singers between 1980 and 1989, the fullness of this song was only revealed by Neville and Rondstadt in in 1989.

It was in the late 1980s and I was a PFC in the U.S. Army's 101sst Airborne Division when a srgeant (his name was Morrison) came in to the battlion HQ one early Monday morning and said, "PFC Karnes, you need to see Dirty Dancing. Take your wife to see it with you. That is an order." This is th on;y song I remember from that movie. 1989 Jenifer Warraens and Bill Meddly - I had the time of my life.

Finally, Beloved, I give you a duet by Al Green and Annie Lennoox. Niether claims to be ORTHODOX buth bothhave opinions of Jesus. Lennox seems to be more complicated than Green. But we should pray for the salvation of both of them. Put a Little Loe in Your Heart.

Meet the New Boss, Same as the Old Boss

In 1971 the British rock band, The Who had a big hit with their song Won't Get Fooled Again. It reminds me of the words I sing in church every week, "put not your faith in princes or sons of men, in whom there is no salvation. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; In that very day his thoughts perish." Today Donald J. Trump took over as President of the United States.

I was in a meeting when he swore the oath and when one of the men in the meeting (he was listening to a device in his ear) announced that we had a new Prsident the other 60 people in the room began clapping and cheering. (About the meeting: I quit my job as a teacher after last semester and took a job a a salesman for a general contractor. I sell roofs, windows, doors, concrete, solar energy systems, and insulation now. Much more money than teaching.) I am glad Trump is our President but I don't for a minute think he is going to usher in an age of justice and prosperity. I think he'll do less damage to us that Biden did but that is all.

I haven't been excited about a presidential candidate since Ron Paul ran for President. Although, I must admit that the last time Trump was President he did appint good judges to the U.S. courts, but I think that is mainly because he didn't have strong opinions about judges, and just asked the Federalist Society who they want him to appoint. Admittedly, that is a pretty good way to pick people to be federal judges. Gosh, It was fun campaigning for Ron Paul. It's too bad he didn't win.

David Lynch is dead

Snyder's show came on the teevee after Carson's show signed off. I first saw his show in 1980 or 81. I watched Snyder's teevee show until I was tatally surprised by Letterman's "Late Night with David Lettermn". I was 12 years old and was completely confused when Letterman said stuff about being on the air since the 1950s. Anyway, before Letterman, one of the things I liked about Snyde is that his show dealt with seious subjects. He wasn't just after a laugh like Carson and, later, Letterman were. I'm not sure I could have articulated it back the, but Snyder seemed a bit more serious than Carson or Leterman. The first time I saw David Lynch on Carson's tonight show he had with him a "bee board". It was nothing more that a pice of card board with aabout 3 dozen bees glued to to it. I saw it but can not understand wat Lynch meant by it. Was he a genius or was I a dullard? I do not know.

Small Arms in War

I was a soldier. I qualified as an "expert" with the M16A1 rifle, M16A2 rifle, and the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon (Saw gun). (I couldn't hit anything with a pistol.) My oldest son, Billy, eventually, though not at Basic Training nor at the Infantry School at Ft. Benning, qualified as an expert with the M16A2 rifle and the M60 machinegun. (He wore my "expert" badge on his uniform.) My son Anselm, a sailor, not a soldier earned the U.S. Navy's pistol marsmanship ribbon for hiss proficiency with the M9 pistol. Since I used indivual arms and my sons used or use small arms I keep up with what is going on. This video about the US Army's grenede launcher is interesting. I am especcially critical of the WAR CRIME of exploding bullets. When I was a soldier we all knew that the 30mm launched grenede was 30mm because of the laws of war. Why would they make anything smaller? Sometimes I wonder if the people in our government know what they are doing.

Movies

In the last couple of years it has come to my attention that people rarely go to the cinema to see movies anymore. I know I don't, I can count on one hand the number of movies I've seem in the last two years. It is a strange change in my life, and I guess I am thinking about it because David Lynch died three days ago. But several years before I saw my first David Lynch Film (I986, Blue Velvet, the only movie I saw after reading a review in a newspaper) I used to watch Siskel and Ebert on KQED chanel 9 out of San Francisco. It was my favotite show on the teevee. I don't think I missed a week. But my movie going memories really started years before I started watching Siskel and Ebert. The first three movies I remember seeing were Fantastic Planet at theMountain View Theather in Mountain View, California with my Brother-in-Law Dan, The Gumball Rally with my brother Mark at the Moffat Drive-in in Mountain View California, and the Swashbuckler at the Century 21 cinema in San Jose, California. All of those cinemas, the Mountain View, the Moffet Drive-in, and the Century 21 are gone now. The 1980s and early 1990s were to me the golden age of cimema for me. A Room with a View, Out of Africa, Big Trouble in Little China, Leaving Las Vegas, Remains of the Day, Romancing the Stone, Stand by Me, Howards End, Platoon, Glory, Nuch Ado about Nothing, Body Heat, and Gump were some of the best movies I ever saw. Hmmmm. Nostalgia might not be a good thing.

Left Over Ham

A ham is a big piece of meat. After you've cooked it it can last all week in your refrigerator. Yes, of course you took the bone out and made hearty ham and lentil soup but you still have all this ham meat in plastic bags in the fridge. And if your wife is not especially fond of ham, really, what are you going to do with 8 pounds of ham? Well, tonight I made something I haven't made in about 20 years. I made an Easter ham pie. It is the easiest thing.

Ingrediets
About a poud of ham, diced small
1/2 of a diced yellow onion
6 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1 cup heavy cream
sliced mozzarella chese, enough to make a 1/8"-1/4"layer in a 9 inch pie pan
1 cup ricotta chese
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon dried thyme
4 tablespoons grated Parmagiano Regiano.
1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
2 Marie calendars frozen pie crusts
2 cups baby spinich

Directions
1. bake one o the pie crusts at 350F until it is golden brown, about 30 minutes
2. while it is baking put all the onoion, all the mushrooms, 1/2 the thyme and 1/2 the garlic powder, and all of the butter in a pan over bedium heat and cook (stirring occasionally) until the onions are translucent.
3. put the eggs, cream, flour, the rest of the garlic and thyme, the black pepper, the ricotta cheese, and about three tablespoons of grated Paragiano Reggiano into a bowl, mix it up. Pour about 3/4 cup into anouther bowl to use later.
4. When the pie crust in the oven is golden brown (it is okay if it puffs up a little) take it out of the oven and put a then layer of the ham/onion/mushroom mix into the bottom of the pie crust. Make sure the bottom of the pie crust is covered. You will have a lot of ham/onion/mushroom mix left over.
5. add the remaining ham/onion mixture to the large bowl of the egg/cream/flower mixture. Mix in well.
6. the next thing to ad to the pie crust is youor sliced mazzarella cheese. totally cover the ham/mushroom/onion mix in the bottome of the crust.
7. now pour the rest of the egg/cream/ham/mushroom mix on top of that mozzarella
8. Now put the baby spinach on top of that. It will be higher that the top of the pie crust. Don't Worry. 9. Pour the little bowl (from step three) of the egg/cream mixture on top the the spinach. Try to cover all of the spinach. dont just dup it in the middle of the pie.
10. take the remaining pie crust and invet it on top of the pie.
11. sprinkle the rest of the Paragiano Regiano on top for looks more than anything else.
12. Put it in a 350F oven for 10 minutes. Raise tem to 400. Bake for 30 more minutes.
My wife, Kathleen said it is her favorite ham dish.

The Best Arrangement!

There are two Christmas songs I have loved since the first time I heard them many years ago, The Holly and the Ivy and The Holly Bears a Berry have been among my favorite Christmas carols since I was a little boy. Now I have heard this arrangement, performed by the students at three different Church of England schools and am totally blown away. Wow, what beauty!

Christ is Born!

It was a joy to visit St. Nicholas Orthodox Church in San Jose on the early morning of Christmas eve. I hadn't been there in more than a couple of years, but they were the only parish between my house and San Francisco that was serving Royal Hours. I guess, most parishes were not serving it because it followed so close on the heels of Sunday and most priests take Monday off and they were going to be super busy doing all the services later the night of the 24th. But it was beautiful being with the Greeks that morning. Excpt for the Our Father, and 1/3 of the Lord Have Mercies, every word was in Greek. It was okay. I don't understand why they use so much Greek when everyone in that parish speaks English, but after being Orthodox for 20 years I petty much know most of the services, and recognize enough Greek to know where we are in the services. So while the two priests, the two readers, and four old widows in the congregation were praying in Greek I was praying silently in English. (I love he smell of incense in the morning. It smells like victory!) Then, later that night Kathleen, her kids, and I went to the Vesperal Litrugy of St. Basil at St. Lawrence Orthodox Church in Felton. Wow, what a gorgeous choir! Every parish in America should have such a choir! They sing like they used to be Protestants.

Between services on Christmas Eve, Kathleen and I made a bunch loaves of cranberry orange bread. And After Divine Liturgy today at St. Nicholas in Saratoga we were able to give a loaf to every family in the parish and to the handful visitor who were with us. And of course all the clergy got their fruicakes. And we have one fruit cake and one orange cranberry bread left over!

When we got home Basil was waiting for us. He had been to church at another parish this moring, I think Felton or, maybe, it was St. Stephen in Campbell. I don't remember what he said. And then we opened presnts while I cooked the Christmas sausage and Kathleen cooked eggs and bacon. You know, it's funny, but ever since i was ten or eleven years old and felt ingrattitude one Christmas I have not relished the presents on Christmas. Now it seems every Christmas is haunted by the memory of that sinful thought of 45 years ago; fear that I might do it again. Bit I like watching Kathleen, Basil, Maximo, and Sophia open their presents. And it was fun seeing their happiness when I opened mine from them.

So after breakfast and presents Kathleen and her kids went to visit Kathleen's dad (I might have mentioned on this blog that is was a paratrooper and is a real knight. Seriosly, he is a knight.) while Basil and I watched A Christmas Story Christmas. It was the first Christmas movie I watched this year. At first I thought it was kind of silly, but by the end I was in tears.

I really have to thank the clergy and the faithful at all of the parishes I mentioned in this post. All of them; their love, devotion, faithfulness, and voices made the last two days beautiful.

Christ is born! Glorify him!

An Inheritance, Dinner with Family, and a Recipe.

As I mentioned a few months ago in this blog, my oldest brother died. Yesterday, I got a text message saying to go to his widow's house. When I got there my nephew opened a book and said, "My dad wanted you to have these guns." Then he opened a safe and handed me Remington 700 BDL chambered for .300 WinMag, a Stevens double barrel 12 ga shotgun, and an ancient Montgomery Ward bolt-action 20 guage shotgun with an adjustable choke. I now have more guns than can fit in my safe. I'll send my Axis .30-'06 to my son Anselm Samuel in Maine. Maybe he'll get a moose.

I picked up my son Basil and we played games at Starbucks for a few hours then we met my surviving sibliblings, their spouses, my brother's widow, one nephew, and my wife at a pretty good Mexican restaurant in Sunnyvale. It was a good time. I don't see them often enough.

Today I had work to do so I ent into school but the internet was out so I went shopping for the ingredients for the Christmas sausage, and Mama Samberg's Cranberry Relish. Then tonight Basil came over and we played some more games. I think my favorite was Bread and Beer. He won, but he's been beating me at games for about 5 years now.

Update Saturday Dec 21.
Basil came over and we made the Christmas Sausage today. Oh, what goes in our christmas sausage? pork shoulder, lamb, pork belly, garlic, orange zest, salt, black pepper, oregeno, fennel seeds, and white wine. Use about 3 lbs of pork, 1.5 pounds lamb, one pound of pork belly, 3 tablespoons of salt, 1 cup of wine, everything else to taste. grind it up. stuff it in casings, then trhow it in the freezer until Christmas eve. Take it out of the freezer on the way to church in the morning, then eat it after Divine Liturgy.

The Christmas List

My wife reminded me that I haven't published this years Christmas list. I told her I have everything I want or need but she didn't belive me. So, here it is.




1. Ladies, do your man's shirt collars look sloppy, curling up or down at the points? Then get him some of these nifty collar stays. They say they are magnetic, but I am not sure why anyone needs magetic collar stays.

2. And since we are on the topic of collars maybe your man has a job that causes him to sit at a table and talk with students all day, and he never exercises and his neck has grown an inch in circumference. If that is the case, and he doesn't want to just go out and buy a bunch of new shirts, these button expanders are an excellent thing to geive him.

3. Is your man a duck hunter but hampered by lack of a dog? Then a Started Labrador Retreiver Puppy might just be the thing he needs!

4. Does he have a beautul Smith and Wesson .357 magnum but no holster to put in in? Look no farther! There is a holster for his gun!

5. He understands why you didn't give him the cow horn chair he asked for a few years ago, but how about cow hide?

6. He really needs ball point pens in black and red.

7. You know, he really likes kippers.

8. Yes it's true, he almost never smokes his pipe anymore, but when he does wouldn't it be nice to see him earing one of these smoking hats?

Boxing, a Wreath and More Fruitcakes

Last night after work I went to a boxing tournament one of my students was competing in. I was ringside, and it was a tremendous amount of fun. I hadn't seen live boxing since 1989. I don't know why but his parents weren't there. I wonder if he has parents.

We have a wreath over our front door now, and Kathleen and I made twelve more fruit cakes this morning. It has been a pleasent, quiet day.

I love the holidays.

Thanksgiving I met my son's in-laws. On the way down to Oceanside, where they live, we passed several things I had never seen before and some things I hadn't seen since I was 8 years old. I saw Biola University, my teenage dream school. We passed by Mission San Juan Capistrano, Which I read about when I was in the fourth grade, but remember mostly from watching this cartoon. At one point I saw an exit from the freemay that said Basilone Dr. I was like, No Way! so I googled it to see if I was right. Yes, it was named for John Basilone. Almost as exciting was a few minutes later when I saw Camp Pendleton off to my left; the place where Gomer Pyle lived.

When we got to our destination I immediately loved my son's in-laws. My daughter-in-law's grandmother lives there. She is a widow and has an intese prayer rule. She prays the Caplet of Divine Mercy (Which I learned many years ago from watching Mother Angelica's TV network, 50 rosaries and a bunch of other prayers every day. Her daughter, my son's mother-in-law is Mexican so the food was out of this world: Tamales, birria, chocolate mole served over shredded chicken, plus the ham, turkey, tortilla, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, pies (including my cranberry walnut pie and pecan pie), cheese cake, and so much other stuff I didn't even taste it all. They had me pray at so many meals I was starting to feel like a priest!

The funeral of my sister's father-in-law was two days ago. He was a sailor; a tail-gunner who flew off of the U.S.S. Hornet at the Battle of Miday and several other battles. After the war he became a pastor and a Christian school administrator. Even in his 90s he was active in helping organize Christian colleges. He is an amazing man. Sadly, I could not be at the funeral so I could only send flowers, But, maybe, you can jon me in praying for Charles.

I think I might have mentinoed that I have about 20 different Christmas theme ties. I wear a different one every day and kids who aren,t even in my classes come in to see the tie of the day. One of my favorite things is that I play a Christmas Carol at the start of each period. So far they have heard O Tannenbaum (One of my Vietnamese students asked "Mr. Karnes, what do Christmas Trees Mean" Wow! What an opening! In 3 minutes I told them about St. Bonifice, an ancient Icon depicting Mary, Jesus, and a pine tree decorated with litte loaves of bread, and martin luther using a pine tree to represent the tree of life in plays he staged at Christmas.), The Holly and the Ivy (Not the sermon but only the music starting at about 5:30), Today they heard Il est ne, le divin Enfant. A student of mine from Romania asked me to play a Romanian Cristmas song tomorrow, so we'll all hear Open the Door, Christian. Also, I bought a Christmas tree for my classroom today and invited all the students to bring an ornament to hang on it.

Tonight I drove the chocolate coins and a fruit cake to my godchildren in San Francisco; tomorrow is St. Nicholas day. On the way to their hous I saw a woman step into traffic and get run over by a pick up truck. The driver of the pick up truck leaped out of his truck and went to the womans aid. Her leg was bent in the wrong direction and she was screaming. I pulled over and called 911, told them what I saw, and waited for the paramdeics and police. When the police got there I told them what happened, then went on to deliver the chocolate and the fruitcake. The woman was taken away in an ambulance. It has been an eventful day. Good night.

Pies and Poker

After work tonight My step-son and I made four pies: a pair of the cranberry walnut and a pair of pecan. While they were baking, Katleen and I taught her son how to play poker. It was fun. Also, while they were baking, I charged the fruitcakes. I'm trying Tennessee sour mash whiskey this yesr. It probably isn't too different from Bourbon whiskey. I get off work early tomorrow and will head south to somewhere near San Dieago to meet my son's parent's in law. They invited us for Thanksgiving. Taking pies and fruitcakes with me.

A Failed Hunt

I went pheasant hunting again this morning. The club I am in has dogs. The dog dog I used was uncontrolable. She would not follow commands to halt, and would flush brirds when they were 80 to 100 yards away from me (the max range of a shotgun with bird loads is 40 yards.) She would not stop moving when a pheasant was running on the ground, which means she was between mee and the pheasant. All togeher, I missed two birds because of my poor shooting, and three birds because of the dog. I'm going to be in San Diego on Thanksgiving weekend to meet my son's wife's parents). but the weekend after that I'l try again for pheasants. The best thing about today was being with Kathleen. I have hardley seen her for months because of her masters degree program but she went out into the field with me today, and after my failure to get pheasants she went with me to Black Bear Diner for breakfast (There is a "travelling" exception for all the Orthodox Church's fasts.) where I had the best club sandwich of my life.

Pheasants and an injured hip

Today is Monday. On Saturday morning Basil (son #4) and I went pheasant hunting. (I am a member of a hunting club in Birds Landing and it is a lot of fun.) The dog flushed a bird within 10 minutes but Basil missed and I couldn't shoot at it because Basil was standing between me and the bird. The next bird the dog flushed Basil shot at about 30 yards. Then the dog got distracted by something and rand off. I was whistling and calling and it was gone, chasing something. Then I stepped in a hole. It wasn't too deep, only about 5 or 6 inches, but it made me fall and hurt my hip. Agony. I could barely stand. I spent the rest of Saturday and all of Sunday in bed. I went to work today but evey step hurts. Even sitting in a chair hurts. I hope it heals quickly.

In other news, I am writing a new course based on a book titled Unhumans. I'll pitch it to the headmaster later this week.

I am enjoying the Nativity Fast. Tonight's dinner: A roasted butternut squash.

First Good Rain

I was going to go coyote hunting today but it's raining too hard. That's okay. We need the rain.

Basil was here last night. We made fruitcakes. It was a lot of fun.

I lost my election by about 900 votes, but I came in ahead of a known communist who is part of the local democratic party machine. So I'm happy I was able to keep her off the board, at least.

Life and Real Life

Life: I have met more politicians and press people and community activists than I have ever wanted to meet. And I am a politician. Everyday someone wants me to carry water for them. Everyday someone tempts me to say something I do not believe is true. Everyday the promise of votes is dangled in front of me if I will compromise. Politics is dirty. BUT the Vietnamese are with me. When I knock on their doors and tell them what I want to do they get excited and say they will vote for me. And the Indian grandfathers agree with me and say things I never expected; "America used to be verdant. Men like you can make it verdant again." But there are some groups who hate me.

I was at a meeting the other night where people were openly talking about Communism as a good thing. I did not engage them on their Satanic ideology but I stuck to my talking points: Student achievement, parental rights, and balanced budgets. The audience hated me. They blamed the state legislature for poor academic performance. They wanted to talk about how excellent it is to have Aztec dancing (The Aztecs practiced human sacrifice. Why are public school students dancing for their gods?), liberated ethnic studies, raises and housing for teachers, and community health clinics in schools. And they know that if I'm elected to the board I will work against all of that because it doesn't promote academic achievement. Over the weekend the teachers union sent out 60 precinct walkers to defeat me.

Real life: Kathleen, my son Basil, and I went to my brother's Celebration of Life. I can't describe it. I was overwhlmed and had to leave early. I am looking forward to pheasant hunting in November.

A diamond Ring, my brother, and a gun

Three days ago I looked at my hand and did not see my Dad's wedding ring. I looked all over the house and did not find it. After several hours I gave up and went to bed. As I layed down I remembered Saint Phanorious. So I asked him to help me find the ring.

The next morning I asked my wife to help me look for the ring, for I did not want to explain to my siblings that I lost our Dad's wedding ring. Within 5 minutes Kathleen saw the ring on the kitchen floor. So, today, I put it back on the 3rd finger of my left hand. If you are reading this, I beg you, pray for the salvation of the mother of Saint Phanourios's.


Earlier today my sister Rebecca, my brother Mark, and I got together at my sister's house. There were many tears. My cousins. Friends of my oldest brother from 70, 50, and 30 years ago I knew. Many other people were there. Nephews and nieces, great-nephewes (Oh, my great nephew D.J., I have hopes for him!) and great nieces, grandchidren and and friends, lovers, and... I do not know how to describe them all. All were there. I think I will see them all tomorrow when they have a "celebration of life" service.

Friends, if you have an opportunity, remember my brother Kenneth in your prayers.


My brother, Ken, before he died chose to give me one of his guns, a 300 winmag rifle. I am astonished and totally unworthy of such a magnificent gun. I imagine that it will not achieve it's telos until it is in the hands of one of my sons.