Kurt R.A. Giambastiani's Blog, page 41

At the Limit

I walk the wavering limit of sand and sea, the Pacific’s grey serrated edge.The wind, flavored with salt and sun-driedkelp, pushes me, smudging my glasses with briny thumbs. A foam-white gull hunkers down against the wind. It glares at me with a yellow eye, wary but unwilling to move as long as I keep my […]

A Change in Heart

My world has become meaner, of late, and I’m guessing yours has, too. Mean, in the sense of “harsh, spiteful, and cruel,”but also in the sense of “crude, lowly, or ignoble.” Work, politics, society, and even somerelationships have taken on a more callous, retributive aspect. People don’t want to listen —They don’t even want tocare.— […]

Too Late

Cats have their signs. The twitching tail. The flattened ears. So do I. Know me? You’ll see them. Esteem me? You’ll heed them. Else No fireworks. No tirades. No hiss and lashing claws. Just silence And the snick of the closing door. Too late. Too late. Call it what you want. I no longer care. […]

Plum Chipotle Chutney

Want to bring a little pizzazz to that sandwich? Want to add some zip to that cold-cut platter? Here’s a suggestion. A complex mix of flavors — earthy, sweet, tangy, spicy— designed to enhance rather than smother. Cook up a batch of this, set it in the fridge for a couple of weeks to mellow, […]

Recipe

Fewer pictures. More memories. Fewer films. More books. Fewer chores. More hobbies. Fewer gulps. More sips. Fewertexts. More talks. Fewer LOLs. More laughs. Fewer shoulds. More wants. Fewer Seeyas. More I Love Yous. Fewer worries. More dreams.

Seattle Rejoices

On September 1, Seattle breathed a collective sigh of relief. After weeks of dry, sun-sopped, over-warm weather, we awoke to grey skies, moist air, cool winds, and the hiss of rain. It’s back! The rain is back! Visitors and recent transplants grumble and curse, but for most natives and for almost all who, like me, […]

The Writing of the Hand

Several articles have crossed my desk recently about the removal of penmanship— specifically writing in cursive— from the curricula of public schools and the Death of Modern Civilization that will naturally follow. Piffle. Cursive is as relevant and useful today as is Secretary Hand (pictured right), and those who decry its elimination are merely holding […]

GLenwood 6

I don’t know what got me thinking of this, but my fellow old farts will remember these things… Ring me. Get off the line! Dial thenumber. Hang up. I wonder how puzzling these phrasesare to younger folks? The phones of the mid-20th century were so different from what we have now, when having a “land […]

Old Man Gamer: NMS First Fortnight

Because A.J. wanted a follow-up… KRAG’s Law of Hype Lensing: The Perceptionof an Object is distorted by the sum of the object’s anticipatory Hype and the engagement levelof the observer’s Imagination. The hype for No Man’s Sky was intense. As if three years of visionary promises and a truly groundbreaking approachweren’t enough, whenSony opened up […]

Bumper Crop

Knife in hand, I begin my work. The plums are warm from their rest in the summer sun. I selectone. Its dark skin, freshly washed, stretchestaut over soft flesh. I slice down its back, then prize itopen like a clam, revealing the yellow-green flesh and the hard, brown stone within. With a twist, I free […]