List of things my son will eat

Meat: Chicken Rizek(Schnitzel--breaded and fried chicken breast.)

Vegetables: n/a

fruit: n/a but will occasionally eat apple or strawberry presnidavka(puree with added sugar--something like applesauce.)

Grains: potatoes occasionally. boiled rice. No flavoring. French fries.

Dairy: Milk. White cheese as long as it doesn't have holes in it. Chocolate chip or vanilla yogurt.

Any sweets as long as the sweets do not contain any fruit in them.

Rohlik (long thin roll, like a hot dog bun, but not soft. about 200 calories of carbs.) with butter or peanut butter.

Toast with butter.

Rice cake with peanut butter. (hardly ever unless I'm around to give it to him.

Pasta(no flavoring, no butter, no cheese.)



That's it. Doctor says in two years he's gained 1.5 kilos.

Why do many Americans make jokes about Canada

I have a good friend who is Canadian. And I respect Canada a lot. It's one of the greatest countries in the world and everybody knows that. 

So I've actually given this question an unusual (and probably thorougly unnecessary) amount of thought : why do Americans joke about Canadians?

The conclusion I've come to is actually very simple. 

Americans find Canada funny because of one thing: to America, Canada seems like AMERICA WITHOUT THE PROBLEMS.

This is a bit confusing because I think that problems are part of the American psyche. RAcial problems, money problems, health care problems,, guns on the streets, , an old-fashioned inefficient form of government, civil liberty problems, constant wars and tears, an obesity epidemic probably greater than Canada's(as far as I know.).

AT the same time we can boast  some pretty kick-ass movies that the world flocks to see(even if they don't like to admit it; the greatest literature of the 20th century (opinion!), and our culture has been a well-spring and inspiration of musical forms  the world over for over a century; we put a man on the moon! We rule the oceans! Our big cities serve awesome cuisine from all corners of the globe!   And so on.
 Americans are dramatic by nature; we like overcoming obstacles and surviving difficult situations and enduring suffering. Our stories and literature and even history, the very mythology that shapes our national psyche is filled with startling triumphs and crushing, humiliating defeats and failures. Heroes and bad, bad villains.

 And most of the Americans I know tend to dramatize their lives and paint them in these terms.  

So to think of an America without the problems...its' just bizarre. It's like an oxymoron. The problems America has are something that actually define America and we BROADCAST THEM FAR AND WIDE FOR ALL THE WORLD TO SEE AND JUDGE. It's hard to imagine living in a society without these deep seated, seemingly unsolvable problems twisted into the fabric of said society and still be 'like America.' there's something funny about it. 

Now I know, of course, that no country is really problem-free. But most developed countries do not broadcast their problems with the vigor and enthusiasm like the USA does. So I don't know what problems Canada has. And truly caring about them...well, that would be...un-American.

BAck to Blood by Tom Wolfe

I mean, sure, he's a bit of a bitch about other writers; and he's apparently a political conservative and that's a turn off for some people. 

But I enjoy the hell out of his stories and have since Bonfire of the Vanities in the 80s. Maybe I'm not a big critic because I read other criticisms that are well written and thoughtful, but I just don't see it that way.

This latest one has a lot in common with that book, as well as the other books he's written since. The same laser journalistic eye exposing the hypocrisy and absurdity of modern American institutions and social milieux; the ego-centric, self-characters veering from insecurity to arrogant confidence in seconds flat; themes of corruption, wealth, poverty, race and power; the everyday power struggles and assertions of dominance we all go through; the same laugh-out-loud comic, almost cartoonish scenes of depravity, lust and insecurity...all told in a rich prose dripping with wit and wordplay.

Here Wolfe applies his eye to the world of billionaire art collectors; Russian mafiosos; Haitian, Cuban and Russian immigrants and the overall racial tensions presided over by ambitious cops and a muscular(and largely Cuban) police force; Jewish retirees; and the city of Miami itself, both it's high-life and it's low-life. And he does it all in typically hilarious fashion in a story centered around earnest Cuban-American cop/body builder/secret detective Nestor Comacho. 

One of the things I like about this book--and indeed about most Tom Wolfe books is how it seems to encroach on my own reality. One minute I'm laughing at these ridiculously macho, ridiculously insecure characters; and the next minute I realize, 'My God, they are just like me.'. 

I'm left wondering...what would an enlightened being seem like in these books? Then I realized that Nestor Comacho, in duty mode, does achieve a sort of...purity of mind...that lifts him above the male ego that so contols him at other times. This purity is something new and rather nice in a Tom Wolfe book. It takes a bit of the edge off of the bitter-if-funny cynicism that I felt did add some unnecessary weight to Charlotte Simmons--the humor got lost a bit in that one.
Criticisms? Oh, I suppose a few bits could have been cut; a few sharply-drawn characters that don't really go anywhere, a subplot that seems profound but then just meanders out. But it all made sense to me. And if the character of the Haitian(or, ahem, French sil vous plait) character doesn't really do much, it made sense to me to show him as a detail in the overall  mosaic of modern, 21st century Miami.

I was really prepared to like this book, but I thought that it's poor sales(one of the biggest commercial flops ever, apparently) would probably mean it was a step below his's other stories. But I loved it. In fact, I found it, ultimately more accessible and (slightly) less cynical overall than some of the novels of the past. And while some people don't like his wordy, witty style, I love it and always have. I highly recommend it. A good story with some profound spot-on observations. The funniest book I've read in a long time. 

The Greek Situation.

dential Campaign

 

 

e Imagine going to dinner with someone. In the past you borrowed money and behaved very foolishly and now you're broke. You go out to lunch with a bunch of rich people--but you owe the rich people money.

The rich people generously lend you more money which you give to them and they use it buy lunch for themselves. They give you a bite of it. Then they say, now you owe us even more money. They have sex with your wife in front of you.

So you ask for more money to pay off your debts. The rich people generously lend you more money, which you give back to them. They use it to buy themselves lunch. They give you a crumb. And they add it to your bill. They take your house and throw you on the street.

At this point you are seriously getting hungry. You haven't eaten for a long time. Your hair is falling out and your blood pressure is skyrocketing because you can't afford to buy medicine. Your skin is breaking out in a rash. Lice have made their home in your nether regions. You have tapeworms in yndour belly.

Finally you say: enough. I can't pay you back. I must get something to eat, must take some medicine.

The rich people stare at you for a long long time. You are shaking...you can't breathe. You have a pain in your chest. You get on your knees and say...PLEASE. I need help.

The Rich people continue to stare at you.

You throw up. Surely they can see the desperate straits you're in.

They just stare at you.

Finally you break down...even a crumb is better than nothing. 'Please...' you whisper....'Lend me some money. I'll do anything you want." The rich people stare at you. Then one of htem lifts his boot towards you. You lick the bottom of it.

THe rich people lend you more money. You give it to them. They buy another lunch and give you a few bites. They sodomize your children.

And they add it to your bill. And talk to themselves about what a lazy asshole you are.

Greece is you. The rich guys are the EU