..and non-believers

President Obama (President Obama!) gave a surprising little shout-out yesterday when he said that we “live in a country of Christians and Muslims…of Jews and Hindus…and of non-believers”. The non-believers hardly ever get acknowledged; I was impressed. Of course, we are a pretty small minority. I heard last fall on NPR that about 15% of Americans describe themselves as “not religious”, so this number is often quoted as the number of atheists. But when you ask the question differently, as: “Do you believe in God?”, the number who say no drops down below 5%. It’s kind of like the difference in the number of folks who will say they are vegetarians (I want to say I have seen numbers as high as 20% in some populations), versus the number who answer “no” when asked if they have eaten any meat within the last week (it cuts the number of vegetarians at least in half).

Last week one of my students was in a serious car crash (the other driver died). This is a lovely young woman, bright and personable, and fun to have around. She has worked on my research projects as an undergraduate and I know her well. Every bone in her face was broken and her heel was crushed; she was flown to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota for the surgery on her face.

Her cousin has been posting updates on her condition on the internet. One posting reminded us that the most important thing is to praise God. Really? The most important thing is to praise God for this? How about the other driver’s family? Should they praise God, too, or not so much? I guess I have higher hopes- aren’t we all supposed to always maintain hope? Well, it’s my hope that my beloved students will not be involved in horrible car crashes. I think a religious person might say that I am angry at God, but I am not; I am not thankful to God, either. I don’t believe in God. I think shit happens, and a fair bit of it is bad. I can imagine how it would be comforting to imagine instead that shit is inflicted on us for reasons we cannot understand. But then again, I have never believed that everything happens for the best.

And I have never understood “believe in me or you will suffer forever with no chance to change your mind” as the basis for a relationship.Where I come from, that kind of thing sounds a lot like extortion.

Facebook

This week I joined Facebook. It's different than I expected, but at the same time kind of predictable. This is not to say it isn't fun. I am a bit surprised that there as many old folks like me on there as there are. I have already added several of my real life friends as Facebook friends and shared messages with them, and that is pretty enjoyable.

It is a very speedy process to gain new friends in Facebook! Would that it were so easy in real life. Most of the new friends are really acquaintances and will stay that way, but it is fun to look at the pictures other folks have posted, and to have a place to share my own pictures. The younger folks seem more able to use it as a tool to keep up with what they are all doing, and I think that's pretty neat.

One thing I have learned is this: generally, if you have drifted away from someone over time, there is probably a reason. I looked up a long-lost person with whom I used to be very close, and from perusing the Facebook page, I have a feeling that if we met now we wouldn't hit it off at all. It seems to be a sad fact of life that most friendships are somewhat situational. This may be even more true of friendships formed early, when folks aren't quite sure who they are. Thank goodness the old and new generally overlap, and that I have managed to keep at least a few good ones over time.

In other news, I made brownies from a box and they are very good. I like to bake from scratch, but I have no problem at all with mixes. It's all fun, and no harm is done.

I also managed to get a picture of all three pets at once!

Happy New Year!

Last night we celebrated Christmas and the New Year on the East Coast with the folks. One of my favorite sights is them waiting to pick me up at the airport. It’s a great feeling to know that loved ones are waiting just to see you. (After taking and viewing the picture, I was struck by the poses of the security personnel stationed to keep people from running backwards through the exit from the terminal. Evidently people seldom try to do that.)

Anyway, last night, what a night. We kicked off the evening by drinking French champagne and exchanging gifts. It would be difficult for such an exercise to go wrong, and it did not. Zach and I both received some lovely clothes and a book about American history from a new angle, discussing things one might not have known about. The Husband is reading it right now, and it looks quite interesting. (Did you know that Helen Keller was a socialist? I didn’t.)

After the gift exchange, we all went to dinner at Harry’s which was a bit loud but wonderful. I took one look at the menu and decided to order the ostrich loin with wild rice. Unfortunately, when our waiter (Mike) was taking our orders, he told me that the chef recommends it be cooked no more than medium, which means “pink throughout”. In my experience, “pink throughout” means a brown border on the edges , more or less raw, and sometimes almost chilled in the middle. No thanks. He said that the recommendation was based on the extreme leanness of the meat, which I think means it gets tough if you eat it cooked. In any case, I changed my order to gnocchi with duck. It was tasty, though I am not accustomed to the gnocchi having so much cheese flavor in the coating. The duck bits were delicious, and fully cooked. It was a small serving, but I couldn’t seem to finish. The husband stepped up and got the job done. Thank goodness, because of course I had to order dessert. I shared a Belgian chocolate very soft and moist little mini-cake with the husband (who also had cheesecake, his favorite, and a glass of port, which I find icky) and Uncle Jim, who also had a glass of cognac (good choice).

I did not order an after-dinner drink as I had been nursing a rather large vodka martini all evening. The modern fine dining approach is this: small food portions, large drinks. It does lead to a raucous good time, in the event. For a small person, one large vodka martini (after a couple glasses of bubbly at home) is more than enough to do the trick. I was almost ready to go help out the band with the LTD Feat classic, “Back in Love Again”, but fortunately was not that far gone. Miraculously, I did not end up with a hangover. The night was pretty bumpy in spots, and I definitely feel less sprightly than some mornings, but I do not have a headache and my stomach is stable. I am having a nice hot cup of tea- the folks picked up caffeinated English breakfast tea just for my visit, and it is mighty good.

In our defense, not all of yesterday’s activities were debauched. In the afternoon, Dad and The Husband and I went walking for almost an hour (!) in a local state park. The weather was sunny and not too cold, and the scenery was lovely. I do love our hometown and state in the Upper Midwest, but a little change from snow-covered flatness can also be enjoyable.