Creativity and Conformity by Clark E. Moustakas

I’m thinking we should start a new series.  Here are the rules:

  • Take a book off your shelves.
  • Post the name of the book and author(s) in the title.
  • Open it up and post an excerpt.
  • Repeat as often as you like.
  • Feel free to take a picture of the cover.

I’ll start.

Experience is true to the person when he is himself alone⎯and not any other person or thing.  Every individual embodies and contains a uniqueness, a reality, that makes him unlike any other person or thing.  To maintain this uniqueness in the face of threats and pressures, in times of shifting patterns and moods, is the ultimate challenge and responsibility of every man.  In true experience, perception is unique and undifferentiated; there is a sense of wholeness, unity, and centeredness.  In such moments, a man is immersed in the world, exploring, spontaneously expressing himself, and finding satisfaction in being rooted to life as a whole person. (p.1)

Oh, and just for Miss Kitten, I’ll post a picture of the cover I did for the book out of an old FedEx envelope somebody sent me.  hahaha

 

Just for Kang, Kebabs!

Everybody knows that Sweden has the best, authentic kebabs.  In fact, I can’t think of anything more uniquely Swedish and worthy of a Michelin Star in itself, than a kebab.  I took this photo a few years ago, it’s me sitting at Malmö Kebab in Saluhallen, Malmö, Sweden.  Sadly the place has since closed down, much to the detriment of the Swedish culinary establishment.  If anybody knows of another good kebab place in Malmö, let me know!

Save America’s Public Broadcasting!

Sorry, that’s just how I feel folks.  I’d rather invest in public broadcasting, libraries, museums, and education than giving money to bail out banks and corporations that then give huge bonuses to the people who landed us in this mess.  Hmm, would you rather give a $1 million dollars to a Goldman Sachs executive or to a program on PBS that entertains your children?  Which choice gives the most “bang-for-the-bucks?”  Feel free to disagree, but that’s my 2 cents.

Word of the Day: the whole enchilada

Today’s word is actually a phrase. More precisely, it’s an idiom. Its meaning is basically the same as the phrases: “the whole ball of wax” and “the whole nine yards,” (among others) meaning “all of it” or “everything we’ve got.”

Finding the origins of idiomatic phrases is not always as straight-forward as one might think.  Like the phrase, “the whole ball of wax,” the origin of “the whole enchilada” is a bit of a mystery. The former phrase is so old that the original meaning has been lost over time, although there are a lot of guesses. Some think it originated with workers at Madame Tassauds, but this is not the case. It’s much older than that.

According to this website, “the whole enchilada” dates back to the 1960s, although the site doesn’t provide any references as to who originally coined it. A similar phrase, “the big enchilada” was forever immortalized when it was mentioned by John Ehrlichman on one of the infamous Watergate Tapes. He was referring to Attorney General John N. Mitchell. In this instance, “the big enchilada” means the same thing as the “the big cheese.”

PRESIDENT: Mitchell, you see, is never, never going to go in and admit perjury. I mean you can uh, talk about immunity and all the rest, but he’s never going to do that.
HALDEMAN: They won’t give him immunity anyway, I wouldn’t think, unless they figure they could get you. He is as high up as they’ve been.
EHRLICHMAN: He’s the big Enchilada

Several minutes of Googling around didn’t reveal any satisfactory explanation for the origin of “the whole enchilada.” Perhaps if I had more time I could dig a little deeper, but for now I’ll leave you with a picture of a tantalizingly delicious-looking “enchilada.”

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Yep, that’s an enchilada. Yesterday, Tobbe and I stopped to grab a bite to eat at a gatukök (Swedish kebab shop and pizzeria) which featured some Mexican dishes in addition to the usual gatukök fare. I ordered the chicken enchilada and that’s what I got. Tobbe ordered a kebab plate and this is what he got:

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That’s a proper kebab plate: a pile of french fries and shaved meat drenched in creamy sauce.

The “enchilada” I got didn’t look like any enchilada I’d ever eaten before, which is why I had to take a picture of it to show the folks back home. But it was actually really good. The sort of bread bowl it came in was crispy and delicious, but I wasn’t able to eat the whole enchilada.

Until next time.

Café Bustelo Espresso is some damned good coffee!

Ever since I got one of those Keurig K-cup, single serving coffee machines, I’ve been on a coffee drinking kick. I used to hate brewing coffee in a traditional coffee machine, I always made too much or too little coffee. You know how that goes, you brew a whole pot of coffee and you only end up drinking half of it. You then feel guilty about throwing it away. I guess you could save it for ice coffee, but I don’t drink ice coffee, so there you go.

Anyhow, the Keurig Elite Brewing System has been a real sweet ride, and it got even better after I splurged and bought the My K-Cup Reusable Filter. No longer was I dependent on Keurig and their partners for my pre-packaged coffee needs.

Today, Sharkette sent me to Kroger’s to buy some more butter.  As I went by the coffee aisle a bright yellow coffee can caught my eye.  Café Bustelo Espresso!

Intrigued by the Spanish I decided to stop and take a look.  Reading the side of the can, I was impressed at my Spanish comprehension.  I guess I did learn some Spanish during my freshman year at high school after all.  Of course the fact that the English translation was right next to the Spanish had nothing to do with my language prowess. Ha ha ha…

Okay, so I picked up the can and took it home.  I put a couple of scoops into the reusable filter and got my brew on.  A few seconds later I had a steaming hot cup of Joe at my disposal.  The aroma itself was enough to launch me into the stratosphere.  I’ve never had my taste buds tingle for coffee before, but there’s a first time for everything I guess.  Boy, were they tingling, I was salivating like the dog in that dog food commercial screaming, “bacon, bacon, BACON!”

That Café Bustelo Espresso is good coffee is an understatement.  This is fucking great coffee.  The best coffee I’ve ever had in fact, and I’ve had some damned good coffee in my time.  I spent a year in Paris drinking espresso at local bistros, and this coffee definitely took me back in time.  Do yourself a favor, mi amigo, get in your car, get on your bike, take the bus, or just plain run to your local store and pick up a can of this dope.  You will not be disappointed sipping this sweet elixir in the morning, and that’s no bullshit!

A Warning

Every time you plagiarize,
God pokes out a kitten’s eyes.
Okay, perhaps that’s a bit flawed,
For those who don’t believe in God.
But, pass some old ideas as yours,
And you’ll break out in open sores.
To cheat or not to cheat, I know,
How tempting it can be, and so,
Just understand if you get caught,
I’ve warned you quite an awful lot.
So don’t try cheating in this course,
Or you’ll be flunked with no remorse.

Danes in Afghanistan

When I first read that there were Danish soldiers fighting in Afghanistan I imagined them looking like the toy soldiers at Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen.  At first I didn’t believe that Denmark would send soldiers to Afghanistan, partly because Afghanistan is far away from Denmark, and secondly, what does Afghanistan have to do with Denmark?  I can understand the United States involvement in Afghanistan to a certain degree, with Osama bin Laden hanging out with the Taliban, the U.S. did have a hand to play at that table, but Denmark?

Maybe it’s the fact that I grew up in Skåne, Sweden, and often visited Denmark as a child, that I have some affinity for the Danish people and culture.  Skåne actually used to be part of Denmark at one time, and with the Øresund Bridge now linking Denmark with Sweden, the region and people are closer than ever.  It’s actually neat to see Danes speaking Danish with Swedes and Swedes speaking Swedish with Danes and both sets of people understanding each other.  My appreciation for Danish people is why I am so concerned with their involvement in Afghanistan.  I recognize that their membership in NATO means that they might feel an obligation to do their part for the treaty organization, but in the past such things usually meant a field hospital or a tent or two, not a contingent of combat troops fighting a grueling and exhausting ground campaign.


I first stumbled across this film when I read about it winning the grand prize at the Cannes’ International Critics Week.  Just like Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington’s documentary Restrepo, Janus Metz’s film Armadillo will leave you breathless, bruised and battered.  Armadillo “… follows a platoon of Danish soldiers on a six-month tour of Afghanistan in 2009.  An intimate, visually stunning account of both the horror and growing cynicism of modern warfare, the film premiered at the top of the box office in Denmark, provoking a national debate over government policy and the rules of engagement.”  I highly suggest you see the movie for yourself.