World View

Liz: Can I share with you my world view?

Jack: I’d rather hear you sing Rocket Man again.

Liz: All of humankind has one thing in common. The sandwich. I belive that all anyone really wants in this life is to sit in peace and eat a sandwich.

Jack: What a surprise, you world view is food based.

            -NBC's 30 ROCK

This certainly resonates with me. I've always loved sandwiches. 

When I was about 12, my parents renovated the kitchen. Which was a big deal because my dad never fixed anything.  We ate together as a family each night and since dad had started working on the kitchen we had been eating on tv trays. My sister and I loved eating on the trays in the den. Normally this was only for special occasions. When it was near finished, as a family we decided to have a special dinner the first night we were back eating at the kitchen table. We each got to put down on paper what we wanted as that first dinner. 

Dad wrote Shrimp Creole.

Mom wrote Steak and Potatoes.

My sister, Magg, wrote Crawfish Etouffee. 

And I, I wrote sandwiches. 

I love a good sandwich. Fresh bread. Thin meats. Crunchy Iceberg lettuce. Sliced Creole tomatoes. Zippy Mayo. Dill pickle on the side. 

I'm even the crazy who puts the chips on the sandwich. It's all about the crunch. 

A good sandwich can change a person's life. Well, their day at least. 

And while it can definitely change a person's day, sandwiches have changed my life. For that fateful night in my family's renovated kitchen - my choice was pulled. And my family's never let me forget it. 

I've been away

I've been away from writing for a while. While I didn't have a j-o-b, I wrote often. Now I work. and write less.
My typical life has gone on. My life's an opera. with arias that never quite reach the top.

The holidays are around the corner and I am trying desperately hard to find some place else to be. I've somehow quickly slipped into being a family member of a family I don't want to think about. the holidays mean a few things this year (more than any other) - avoidance, drinking, and stress.  I know I'll fall into terrible twos - drinking and sleeping - and read too much David Sedaris. Oh, so much to look forward to.

I ask myself, pretty often, WHO IS THIS PERSON!? Who is this person thinking this way? Doing these things?  For I am not the same person I was last January. Have I been away from myself - or is this - myself?