but when it comes to food, some things should be off limits.

They ran out of sour cream, so the guy put mayonaise on his burrito. That’s just sick.

Dont you just have to wonder about some people? I know I’m strange, and people tell me so, more or less, but things like that are just not right.

I couldnt tell you the strangest thing I’ve ever done, or the most stupid. At the same time, I cant really name the smartest or the thing I’m most proud of either. There are some really embarrassing things, but I wont share them now.

Robin Cheers Painting

 This is one of the most enjoyable things I’ve done. It’s a sketch for a painting by Robin Cheers. She lives near the ocean, in Texas and when I saw this little sketch, I just had to get it. Expensive? Perhaps, but no more than some people would spend on a dress or new shoes.

Who was it that said,”A thing of beauty is a joy forever.”? Frost or Shakespeare, maybe Alice Cooper. The thing is, I will be enjoying this lovely thing far longer than any shoes or clothes I’ll ever buy. I have other pieces in my home, as well, and they all bring me a joy that I wouldnt trade for anything. Perhaps I’ll post some lo-res photos another time.

I am plagued by beauty. If given the opportunity, I will gaze, even stare at a thing until it’s embarrassing. It  can be almost like a trance for me to look at a thing, or listen to a voice or well played instrument. I remember the first time I heard Sylvia McNair’s recording of the Pie Jesu from Faure’s requiem. It gave me goosebumps. I played it for an ex-priest and he wept for the beauty of it. (I dont know why he was “ex”, but that isnt important to this story.) What about Rostropovich’s recording of the Bach cello suites! Is there anything more beautiful?

Even food can be an ethereal experience. There is a little restaurant, not far from our home, where they make the best chilaquiles. I can never eat it all, but I chew slowly, letting each bite rest on my tongue for a moment, enjoying all the wonderful layers of flavor.

What about poetry? or writing in general? I love it. William Carlos Williams rocks! Naomi Shihab Nye, Elizabeth Knies, or Seamus Heaney can say things so simply, yet with such dexterity of vocabulary that I find myself thinking about their words long after I’ve put the book down. One of my favorite books is Annie Dillard’s Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. Sure it’s old and odd, but so am I.

Then there are movies – films, if you prefer. Some strike a deep chord while others just entertain, but I am addicted. From last years Ironman to classics from Bergman, Hughes and Ford, there are many that I have to watch over and over.

Who can disregard the internal struggle of Gary Cooper in High Noon? Or Ingrid Thulin as she tries to grasp true faith in Nattvardsgästerna (Winter Light)? Think of the visual beauty of Tran Anh Hung’s Mua he chieu thang dung (Vertical Ray of the Sun)! Of course, there’s the struggle of a man trying to come to terms with limited immortality in Groundhog Day. (Did I just put Groundhog Day in a list of beautiful things? Well, it does feature Andie McDowell and that has to count for something.)