Thanksgiving

Quick weekly summary: Monday, I saw Shira Jacobson, an old friend from Minnesota and Caltech, and her brother Natan. Wednesday, talked to Uncle Gordon for almost an hour. Thursday, had dinner with my cousin Brian at a restaurant/bar called Joey's. Friday, Uncle Paul took me to Round Table, and he and Auntie Nancy later told me some stories. Saturday morning, I took Grandma to a hospice in Chinatown, where she volunteers every week to help patients learn more about Jesus.

This Thursday will be my first Thanksgiving in Seattle. Mom is flying up.

From Empty fridge: win!

When I was growing up, Dad had an unconventional take on Thanksgiving: we shouldn't have a feast, but rather a fast. His thinking was that we appreciate things more when we don't have them, which is true, isn't it?

Ours was not a true fast: we had oatmeal/broth for breakfast, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch, and I think maybe more PB&J for dinner. I guess the bar for Thanksgiving was set so high that PB&J seemed like deprivation.

Of course, as a kid, I wanted a big feast, like all my friends seemed to have. Imagine being at school Wednesday and having all the kids and teachers talk about the fancy food they would be eating on Thursday (turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, gravy, pumpkin pie, "fixings," green bean casserole, cranberries . . . ), and also all the relatives they would visit. (None of our relatives were close by.) Imagine eating PB&J on Thursday night *knowing* that all the other kids were breaking wishbones and getting all their wishes granted! No wishes?!! That was the most important part!

But for at least some of our Thanksgivings, the feast was merely delayed. Thursday was a fasting day, but Wednesday and Friday were fair game. I remember waiting until midnight Friday to dig into some ice cream. And we might have turkey on Friday.

In the end, I really appreciate Dad's efforts. It did make me think, and now I have fond memories of it.

Maybe those Thanksgivings laid the seed for my current eating habits. The picture above is of the fridge that Jason and I share. My half has a bottle of lemon juice, some reconstituted frozen orange juice (with calcium), and an unseen apple. Jason's half has baking soda, some peppers, and one remaining Slim Fast shake.

Both Jason and I can afford to stock more food in the fridge, but we don't. And neither of us goes out to eat very often. (This week was a nice exception for me.) Jason may have his own reasons (like he's actually in Ohio right now). For my part, I guess I am trying to simplify things. I am also reminded of how manufacturers (like computer companies like Dell and Apple) strive to the keep a small inventory. Since I still have plenty of non-perishable food (white rice, oatmeal, cereal, ramen, sardines, peanut butter, multi-vitamins), I want to use that up more before buying more food. And once I finish my apple, I will probably buy some bananas, and I should probably get some broccoli. But I don't think our fridge will ever be full, which actually makes me very happy. :-)

11th-hour sunset

I was wondering what picture I would post this week. I meant to take one of Auntie Muriel and Uncle Ron before they went back to Fresno, but I forgot.

From Gorditos

On Thursday, I had dinner with a couple of friends from grad school: Ryan (and his wife Stephanie) and Possu. We ate at an inexpensive Mexican restaurant called Gorditos. The burritos at Gorditos are so big that people compare them to babies. They even have pictures there.

The baby vs. burrito picture was funny, but I wanted something less staged. On Saturday, I took Grandma to church for a class. Outside her porch was this bok-choy plant; I like how you can tell that it has been harvested several times.

From Sunset, Seattle CBC

The partially eaten bok-choy plant was nice, but there was something better in store. The church (Seattle Chinese Baptist Church) is on a hill, and I love the view. Even though there was lots of rain early in the week, Saturday was sunny! We arrived at church to witness a sunset and a potpourri of clouds. Yes!

Will the last person leaving Seattle . . .

So Uncle Ron, Auntie Nancy and I were hanging out in her house. We were talking about the current economic crisis and how it is different from previous ones. Ron and Nancy mentioned that, once in the 1970s, Boeing laid off so many people that stores were closing all over Seattle and it felt like everyone was moving away. Someone put this billboard up in 1971, near the Seattle airport:

"Will the last person leaving SEATTLE - Turn out the lights."

It is kind of sad, but also kind of funny. And people still remember it 37 years later! (I found the picture at the Seattle Times.)

At least I haven't seen a billboard like this yet.

Auntie Muriel and Uncle Ron visit. (Also: Vote on Tuesday!)

On Wednesday, my mom flew up to visit, along with my Auntie Muriel and Uncle Ron. Muriel and Ron live in Fresno. They came to help celebrate a trio of birthdays: my Uncle Gordon's, my mom's, and my mom's mom (i.e., Grandma Fong)! My mom and Grandma actually share the same birthday, at least as far as we can tell. (Grandma was born in China before 1920, but I don't know if we have an official birth certificate for her.)

From Vegas (Video poker, Ron & Muriel)

We had a birthday party at my Uncle Paul's home, but I didn't take any pictures. The picture shown is from 2001, when Auntie Muriel, Uncle Ron, and I went to Las Vegas. They still look the same. :-)

For Daylight Savings Time (DST), I only had to change 4 clocks: Jason's microwave, range, and stereo, and my car. My cell and laptop were automatic. For some reason, I remember DST being more of a burden when I was a kid!

Election Day, including the Presidential Election, is this Tuesday, November 4. Here in Washington State, I think people are even more aware of the importance of voting and that "every vote counts." That is because the 2004 election for Governor of Washington was REALLY, *REALLY* close. The main two candidates had 48.873% and 48.869% of the vote: the difference was only 129 votes across the entire state! What if this year's election is that close?

Whatever happens in the Presidential election this year, it seems like one group will feel like a winner and one will feel like a loser. That seems very tragic to me, since everyone tries so hard, and a small difference in percent is amplified, well, infinitely. (If we compare two movies, and 54% like one better and 46% like another better, what does that really tell us?) However, the end result will be precisely what the system was designed to produce: winner take all.

At this point, my old pastor would probably remind me that God is bigger than politics.