14
October
2013
Tags: Madonna, Music
No comments

The Madonna Timeline: Song #99 ~ ‘I’m A Sinner’ – Summer 2012

{Note: The Madonna Timeline is an ongoing feature, where I put the iPod on shuffle, and write a little anecdote on whatever was going on in my life when that Madonna song was released and/or came to prominence in my mind.}

Like the sun, like the light, like a flame
Like the storm I burn through everything
Like a bomb in the night, Like a train
Thundering through the hills, Let it rain…
I’m a sinner, I like it that way…

Another highlight off Madonna’s most recent album ‘MDNA‘, this is the joyously unrepentant ‘I’m A Sinner’. It’s got the guitar-heavy William Orbit touches that made the ‘Ray of Light’ album such an organic, grounded experience, and some cheeky religious references to give it a classic Madonna edge. It’s also a fun sing-a-long, and one of the more merry bits of the MDNA Tour. In that performance, she mashes it up with an unlikely B-side, ‘Cyberraga’, in a genius melding that must be seen to be believed.

All the boys, all the boys and girls
Wanna be like us tonight
All the boys, all the boys and girls
Ride the magic bus tonight
I’m a sinner, I’m a sinner,
I’m a sinner, I like it that way
I’m a sinner, I’m a sinner,
I’m a sinner, I like it that way…
Like a moon with no light of my own
Search the sky for a place to call home
I woke up with my head in the fire
Get my kicks when I’m walking the wire
I’m a sinner, I like it that way…
All the boys, all the boys and girls
Wanna be like us tonight
All the boys, all the boys and girls
Ride the magic bus tonight
I’m a sinner, I’m a sinner,
I’m a sinner, I like it that way
I’m a sinner, I’m a sinner,
I’m a sinner, I like it that way…

For my part, this song was one of the first I danced to with my niece and nephew. They were two at the time, but already bouncing about and parading around the dining room. They won’t remember that, but I will.

Outside, the summer day shifted the shadow of the house over the lawn. The red wagon in which I’d pull them around the block sat waiting for the next ride. Inside, the carpet was soft against our bare feet, and we were dancing to Madonna. I was their silly Uncle, acting like a kid again, and it was like a dream and a prayer and the innocence of childhood all over again.

Hail Mary, full of grace
Get down on your knees and pray
Jesus Christ, hanging on the cross
Died for our sins, it’s such a loss
Saint Christopher, found my way
I’ll be coming home one day
Saint Sebastian, don’t you cry
Let those poison arrows fly…
Saint Anthony, lost and found
Thomas Aquinas, stand your ground
All the saints and holy men
Catch me before I sin again.

We were supposedly born with original sin thrust upon us, erased only with the magic of baptism, but how soon we soil ourselves again. One can’t get through childhood without getting a little dirty. For some of us, it’s more than a little. But dancing with a couple of two-year-olds, even at my ripe old age, I feel clean again, and pure, and I can say that I’m a sinner, that we’re all sinners, and revel in it with no shame.

My niece and nephew don’t yet know or care about sin. Their only concerns are that I can bring them around in their wagon, or dance like a lunatic in the dining room, or read them a story when they tire out. The worst atrocities they can commit are a few thrown toys and the occasional temper tantrum, but nothing that rises to anything remotely sinful.

That miraculous live version…

I’m a sinner, I’m a sinner,
I’m a sinner, I like it that way
I’m a sinner, I’m a sinner,
I’m a sinner, I like it that way
You’re a sinner, you’re a sinner
You’re a sinner, you like it that way
We’re all sinners, we’re all sinners
We’re all sinners
Song #99: ‘I’m A Sinner’ ~ Summer 2012
Continue reading ...
13
October
2013
Tags: Writing
No comments

10:13

‘War Veteran.’ I cringed at the words and the blatant disregard for privacy. Scribbled in pencil across the top of the resume, they’d been written by my boss, who handed me the paper so dismissively that I knew the interview was a meaningless exercise.

He smelled of motor oil, and there was dirt darkening the undersides of his fingernails. His crinkly smile had been stained by the sun – the skin was prematurely wrinkled, giving the grizzled look of someone nearer forty than his actual twenty-something age. As he extended a rough hand, I noticed the tattoo on his forearm – striking against the pale skin there – of a skull backed by wisps of night ~ a black wind.

I’d been informed that he’d had a “rough time of it” during his tour. When caught in a burning tank, he simply froze – had to be dragged out through the flames. So much for privacy. I was also told he didn’t want to talk about his time there, which was fine with me.

The weathered lines of his forehead ~ those deep creases, furrowed by wind and sun and flying sand, will be with him from now on, but they do not mar his face as they might others. Despite these lines, he’s still a kid – barely old enough to sit in a bar, yet he’s seen more people die than most octogenarians. One moment he was sheepish, shy, withdrawn – the next outgoing, outspoken, almost inappropriately exuberant. I wondered if this was an effect of the war.

I liked him immediately – not for his history, nor his open friendliness, but for his mere existence – for having gone there, for having the fortitude – untested or not – to accept and meet his orders, and especially for having been unable to deal with it. There is no cowardice in that. If anything, there is something greater for those who can’t abide.

His earnest hope moved me. Just a few years younger, he retained that hopeful outlook, even after having lived through all of that.

He sat slightly hunched over for the whole of our interview. After giving the introductory spiel, some small talk banter, and a few requisite smiles, my boss launched into his short list of questions. I watched the man work out his answers,

When challenged, he retreats, choosing flight over fight, and killing his chances with the company. I almost cringe at his hasty withdrawal, sensing the otherwise-imperceptible shift in my boss to my left as he quietly ends the interview then and there. The rest is cordial formality. The soldier has sealed his fate, and all of his fighting has been for naught.

He doesn’t know this, can’t read the boss like I can, and that’s the way it’s been designed. This young man, in spite of his possible capability, will never work for us. I know that, the boss knows that, only the soldier is unaware. His fight goes on, his is the only fight that goes on.

When he shakes my hand on his departure, I wonder if maybe he does know, as his smile is sadder, his grip a bit more desperate, and his eyes are wild with hope – ignited fervor from a prayer – and somehow resigned – dejectedly accepting of his fate, as fallen soldier, as failed hero, combat disaster.

A few weeks later I run into him again on the street, shamefully averting my eyes and pretending I don’t see him. The company has hired someone else – a kid fresh out of college, with a sharp suit and tie, and a briefcase that he never opened.

—————————————————————————————————————–

{See also 1:13, 2:13, 3:13, 4:13, 5:13, 6:13, 7:13, 8:13 & 9:13.}

Continue reading ...
11
October
2013
Tags: Ogunquit
No comments

Ogunquit Rewind

Last year’s fall trip to Ogunquit, Maine was documented here, and since I’m in Maine as this is being posted, I invite you to revisit some old haunts, where I may be as you’re reading this.

Rather than go back a year, let’s rewind to that first weekend in Ogunquit of this year – in May – when a cool rain started things off. It was nothing a yellow raincoat and some seafood couldn’t make better. And at the end of the wet spell, the sunny relief was that much more welcome.

There are still a few spots of seclusion, despite the growing popularity of this Beautiful Place by the Sea, namely this rarely-tread path. Back in May it was all spring flowers and verdant grass.

The best part of that first trip of the year to Ogunquit is the back-pocket notion that there will be another one. That’s what’s missing this time around, as it’s the last one this year. But we’ll make the most of it…

Continue reading ...
11
October
2013
Tags: General
No comments

A Rainbow in a Strange Sky

After a day of ferocious winds, pounding rain, and threats of tornadoes, a sign of forgiveness – the rainbow – appeared in a strange evening sky. The sun gave one final flash of brilliance, setting the tips of the fall-colored foliage aflame against a darkening sky, and igniting that magical band of color through the prismatic alchemy of water and light.

As a child, I remember reading a book about a rainbow and a unicorn and a frightening serpent. There was some sort of religious parable in it, I’m sure, but at the time I was only mesmerized by the purity and beauty of the unicorn, rushing past the pages of that treacherous, ugly serpent, but secretly peering at the thing, transfixed in a different way.

On the opposite end of the sky from the rainbow, was this color scheme – a rainbow unto itself, on a grander if more subtle scale.

Continue reading ...
10
October
2013
Tags: General
No comments

Back to Beauty

At the moment this is scheduled to be posted, Andy and I should be en route to Ogunquit, Maine for our annual Columbus Day weekend vacation. My parents are joining us this time, which will be nice, since we seem to be seeing them less and less these days. While our fall trip is not as exciting as the opening season salvo of Memorial Day (when all is hope and the promise of summer stretches out before you)  it usually comes with its own enchantments, like colorful mosses and leaves, gnarled gourds and perfect pumpkins, and cozy cider to take the chill off.

Continue reading ...
10
October
2013
Tags: Cologne, Tom Ford
No comments

Tom Ford by Way of the Desert

With its golden perfume bottle and lingering smokiness, Tom Ford‘s Sahara Noir channels a desert of amber tones, sparkling sand, and spiraling plumes of incense. Settling somewhere between his Private Blends and mainstream fragrances (both in style and price-point), it’s also decidedly straddling the feminine and masculine (much like this wearer). To that end, I had to get a bottle, even if it comes dangerously close to the Amber Absolute Private Blend that I favor at this time of the year. Sahara Noir is lighter than that though, and a better fit for everyday wear. Where Amber Absolute smolders, Sahara Noir simply glows, its embers settling nicely into a smoky incense-like romp through the fall nights.

Continue reading ...
09
October
2013
Tags: Music
No comments

Dreaming Wide Awake

The miraculous Lizz Wright knows her way around a song, knows the way around an evocative musical phrase. Her voice knows love, and pain, bewilderment and heartache, bliss and contentment. She sings in the deepest night, at the break of dawn, on the rainiest afternoon – and somehow she makes it all bearable again. If such beauty and art can come from a love that smolders deep within, then there is hope in this world, there is happiness waiting to be uncovered… somewhere.

My eyes burn
I have seen the glory of a brighter sun
My heart aches
It has felt the peace of perfect love
My mind fails
As I try to recall the bliss of a glorious day
When I was sleeping, eyes wide open
Dreaming wide awake

A song like ‘Dreaming Wide Awake’ reminds me of that first flush of romance, that first ache of passion ~ the rites of love. When everything is new and unknown, wondrous and impossible, and the odds are long but there’s no other way. Already you know you cannot live without it, already there is a hole in your heart where so-and-so will remain, where such-and-such will live, where you can mark the day your life changed forever.

Who are you, stranger
To come here, and answer all my prayers?
Where are you from, angel?
You saved my life and disappeared
How do I find you?
Will you come when I need you?
Oh, how I´d love,
I´d love to be sleeping, eyes wide open
Dreaming wide awake
Continue reading ...
09
October
2013
Tags: Food
No comments

Thai One On

The recipe I used for this chicken coconut dish is actually intended to be a soup, but I spooned it instead over a bed of steamed rice and it worked out just as well. It’s a joy to have fresh lemongrass from the backyard for Thai food, but the season is quickly coming to its close. I harvested most of the stems from the three large clumps I planted this year, freezing them in small batches and Ziploc freezer bags in the hopes of having them through the winter.

The lemongrass and ginger were to be cut roughly, then mashed with the back of a cleaver. Being that I’m not allowed to have a cleaver in the house, I used a meat tenderizer instead. Same end result. The coconut milk, fish sauce and a pair of red chili peppers form the basis of many Thai recipes. The chicken stock (which we didn’t have on hand) makes it soupy and rich (I substituted a vegetable stock because no one was going out to the market in the rain) and the strips of chicken turn more tender the longer you can simmer them. I didn’t have the patience for that, so when the rice was ready I spooned the soup over it and went to Thai-town.

Continue reading ...
08
October
2013
Tags: General
No comments

Starfruits Were Meant to Fly

Not be confused with a chocolate starfish, this is the starfruit. Aptly named from its appearance after being cut cross-wise, it’s a fun bit of fruit, slightly similar to an apple, but juicier and softer. The skin is edible as well, and it’s a good thing, as peeling such a geometric design would prove problematic for someone like me, who sometimes has trouble peeling an orange.

Continue reading ...
08
October
2013
Tags: Boston
No comments

Rainy Sunday in Boston

Sunday morning. Gray light through the half-closed blinds. When I awoke, the drops had not yet started hitting the air conditioner, so I thought we’d be safe to walk around the city for a bit. After a cup of tea, and some morning chit-chat with Kira, I stepped into a hot shower, but by the time I finished drying off, the cadence of water was already beating rhythmically on the metal unit.

We stalled at the front table, looking out onto the street. Above the John Hancock Tower, the light grew brighter. Maybe the day would turn around after all. These were the moments I loved – the extra time with a dear friend, unexpected and welcome – and I put my usual plans to make an early departure on hold.

There were honey sticks to find, and honey to go along with them, at the SoWa Market. There was a brunch to be had at Cinquecento, and lavender water to locate afterward. There was a red umbrella held over both our heads, and a quick change into new boots for Kira and her open-toed shoes. As the day got progressively worse, and the wind and rain toyed with our shared umbrella, we ducked into hotels and shops, drying off between wind-blown wetness, partaking of bits of sustenance here and there, but mostly just browsing and enjoying the time together.

Slowly, I’m learning to embrace the moment, even in the rain, and even if it only delays the inevitable good-bye.

Continue reading ...
07
October
2013
Tags: Madonna
No comments

Madonna Bazaar

Madonna graces the new cover of Harper’s Bazaar magazine, as only she can. In a way, this spectacular shoot reminds me of some of her iconic magazine shoots of the 90’s – the ones that could almost be considered projects of their own. It’s a nice jolt to the mostly-lackluster and uninspiring “work” of today’s starlets. No offense, Miley. I also love how it references one of her greatest moments: the 2012 Superbowl performance. All hail our Woman Warrier, and woe to those who dare question her relevance.

Continue reading ...
07
October
2013
Tags: General
No comments

Rainy Recap

After a weekend in Boston, I find myself drinking a cup of green tea on a rainy Sunday night, and conjuring a quick recap. This week is a short one, work-wise, as we’ll be making our annual Columbus Day excursion to Ogunquit. Basically, that’s where my head will be at for the next few days, so things here may be even kookier than they usually are. But before that, a look back at the turn into October.

Rather than go back a month, I thought it was more interesting to go back a whole year and see where things were in September 2012.

I’m still addicted to Madonna.

FaceBook had its moments, and I had mine. (Yes, I will go full-frontal. Wait for it.)

Keeping things warm as we closed the book on September was the parade of Hunks, that continued with triple-threat Sam Harris, the naked backside of Chris Hemsworth, all three Jonas brothers, and Paco Leon.

Fall is a time for food – snacks, and full-fledged dinners of sea bass. And zucchini.

Two words that say hot and sexy: David Beckham.

Continue reading ...
06
October
2013
Tags: Bulge, David Beckham, Shirtless Male Celebrities, Underwear
No comments

David Beckham, In Brief

Whilst I’m in travel status, a revisiting of some past David Beckham posts, to see how good he looks almost all of the time.

David looks splendid changing out of his shorts in the middle of a soccer game.

David looks amazing when he dons a simple pair of white briefs.

David looks intriguing when putting his snake out for all the world to see.

David looks fit running around in his boxer briefs.

David looks hot in black and white and shades of gray.

David looks good even when the underwear is boring.

David looks hunky when he’s the Hunk of the Day.

David looks cute when talking in that sexy accent.

David looks serious when going bulge-to-bulge with Ben Cohen.

David looks amazing when caught on video in his underwear (and battling Mario Lopez.)

David looks better in pants than Tom Daley does out of them.

David looks decent in retirement.

David looks striking in nothing but his cologne.

David looks sporty in this locker room.

David looks best going back to front, or front to back.

Continue reading ...
06
October
2013
Tags: Food
No comments

Super Bass

There’s something about a reduction that is pure magic. When citrus is a part of it, it’s even better. In this instance, a citrus and soy sauce combination gets reduced to a thick and delicious topping for a sea bass that turned out simply super. Served with a broccoli and spinach stir fry (in a hoisin sauce) and some lime herbed rice (made with whatever was left in the garden – parsley, grapefruit mint, a bit of basil, some cilantro, and the juice of one lime) – this was so good that I must share the recipe with you. It was online, so I don’t know its origin, but whoever came up with it has my hearty praise.

By the way, I wasn’t sure how well I’d like steamed fish, having grown accustomed to the dense flavor and texture of having it grilled so often this summer, but it turned out better than anticipated, thanks in large part to the reduction. I also liked how (obviously) moist it remained. This one is definitely worth a try.

 

Sea Bass with Citrus Soy Sauce Reduction

 

INGREDIENTS

½ cup pineapple juice

1/2 cup orange juice

1/3 cup soy sauce

3 tablespoons finely-chopped peeled fresh ginger

2 tablespoons sesame oil

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

4 6-ounce sea bass fillets

Chopped green onions

 

 

PREPARATION

 

Mix first 6 ingredients in 8x8x2-inch glass baking dish. Add fish; turn to coat. Chill 2 hours, turning fish occasionally.

 

Place steamer rack in large skillet. Arrange fish on rack. Pour marinade into skillet under rack and bring to boil. Cover skillet and steam fish until just opaque in center, about 8 minutes. Transfer fish to plates. Remove steamer rack from skillet. Boil marinade until reduced enough to coat spoon, about 6 minutes; spoon over fish. Top with green onions.

 

Continue reading ...
05
October
2013
Tags: General
No comments

Panda Loving

Sometimes, even on a  Saturday night, one needs a little panda pick-me-up.

Continue reading ...