Yogi Berra, the long time Yankee icon and oft-quoted catcher and left fielder, has passed. His teams won 10 World Series during his career, which is an astoundingly high amount of championships. It's more than Babe Ruth, more than Lou Gehrig, more than Joe DiMaggio, more than Mickey Mantle, and more than Derek Jeter, the most recent Yankee legend. No one in baseball won more championships, and in American sports, only Bill Russel of the Boston Celtics won more as a player.
Joe DiMaggio died a few years back, and I'm not even sure what I was doing. The last Yankee legend who died before that, Mickey Mantle, was in 1995, and that I do remember pretty well. I was even thinking about it this past week as I thought about Yogi.
It was 1995 and I remember being on the phone with a girl I liked, and being an awkward kind of guy as a teenager, that phone call was an awkward kind of thing. I remember desperately wanting to talk about something real, something meaningful in which we both had interest, but, like the sentence said, I was awkward.
As the conversation lagged, I mentioned Mickey Mantle had died. "Aww," she said in manner that told me she wasn't really baseball savvy. "He played...baseball?"
I chuckled slightly but non-derisively, "Yeah, on the Yankees back in the day. He was...pretty good."
She, being a cool chick, tried to find some common ground. "Well, Jerry Garcia died."
"Aww," I mirrored. "He, uh...he played guitar?"
"Yeah," she chuckled in the same manner that I had, "for the Grateful Dead. He was pretty good, too."
Yogi Berra played catcher for over half his career, but he also played in the outfield for a sizable chunk. Bill James ranked him as the best catcher ever, as of 2000, just ahead of Johnny Bench. Much of his value, according to James, came from being a left fielder, but, as he says, the players have to go somewhere.
Who could possibly be better? Piazza? Joe Mauer? Pudge Rodriguez? (Didn't Pudge get busted for 'roids?) If it's not Yogi or Bench, who could it be?
Anyway, the game lost a classic ambassador, and I got to reminisce about being an awkward teenager.
You'll be missed, Yogi...
Tuesday, September 29, 2015
Wednesday, September 23, 2015
Et tu, Peppercorner?
(Sigh)
Last December it was the Dollar Bookstore, this September...
If you can read the writing on the poster you'd see that it apologizes for the inconvenience, but the Peppercorner will be closing forever, and they thank everyone for the support over the years.
This restaurantis was around the corner from our apartment, priced incredibly well, and not overrun with annoying elements of the neighborhood. It's a place Corrie and I have visited an average of 30 times a year, which is a little under once a weekend.
We were regulars for sure. they knew which restaurant I worked at in Orange County; they knew when I busted my leg; they knew when Corrie was studying for her exams; they were on top of my back-to-school-ness. It was a nice little family atmosphere.
The Peppercorner, though, would be closed for stretches during the summer, or spring, sporadically over the years. A poster would be up stating that the owners were on vacation. The owners of our pizza joint on Malcolm X Blvd in Bed-Stuy did the same thing, so this was nothing too out of the ordinary.
Just a few weeks back it was closed. Another vacation I figured, since there was no note this time. I got back from Oklahoma City and had breakfast there one of the days before work started again.
That day turned out to be the date listed on the sign as the last day they'd be open.
A few days back I started researching---trying to find anything that I could about the closing.
Whoa.
It turns out that all those "vacations" were forced shutdowns for health code violations. Dirty meat slicers; roaches, both dead and alive; unlabeled chemicals like de-greaser and other various poisons; slime in the ice machine...the list went on, as did my brain:
Roaches, while disgusting, are as ubiquitous in downtown Long Beach as the black and white cats of Brooklyn: they are everywhere. And huge. And, for me, not the crazy deal breaker if they're near the doors: they're seriously everywhere down here. Over 20 dead and nearly a dozen living? Oh my...
The meat slicer needs to be cleaned regularly...same thing with the ice machine.
Neither Corrie nor I ever got sick from the place, and the inside, what the public saw (aside from the train-wreck of a bathroom) was always clean and nice, never betraying the reality behind the scenes. Plenty of other restaurants in this neighborhood are way dirtier inside than the Peppercorner was.
That leads to our next issue: where to eat now? There's the Long Beach Cafe, the closest thing to resembling the Peppercorner: a dive-ish diner. But the coffee is super-weak, the sausage isn't that great, and it's more expensive.
A tiny bit closer than the Cafe is the Breakfast Bar, a restaurant that makes decent food, but isn't a "local dive-y diner," and has the unfortunate case of being overrun with hipsters. Maybe that's changed, but we've yet to see.
There's the "close" far place, Potholders. The food and ambiance are definitely agreeable, and the walk isn't so bad at nearly a mile, so a bike ride isn't out of the question. But it's BUSY, so, for us, we're looking at arriving before 10 am at least, which isn't always that easy.
The next most likely place we'll head is called Park Pantry, and it's a little over a mile, but in the opposite direction from Potholders. It's right across the street from Bluff Park, and the prices are even better than the Peppercorner's were. Also, it's a mandatory bike ride, and, because of the prices and neighborhood density, it's a mandatory pre-10 am arrival. Better shot closer to 9, really.
Ahh...the problems of the childless adult: where's the best diner for me to melt away in?
Last December it was the Dollar Bookstore, this September...
If you can read the writing on the poster you'd see that it apologizes for the inconvenience, but the Peppercorner will be closing forever, and they thank everyone for the support over the years.
This restaurant
We were regulars for sure. they knew which restaurant I worked at in Orange County; they knew when I busted my leg; they knew when Corrie was studying for her exams; they were on top of my back-to-school-ness. It was a nice little family atmosphere.
The Peppercorner, though, would be closed for stretches during the summer, or spring, sporadically over the years. A poster would be up stating that the owners were on vacation. The owners of our pizza joint on Malcolm X Blvd in Bed-Stuy did the same thing, so this was nothing too out of the ordinary.
Just a few weeks back it was closed. Another vacation I figured, since there was no note this time. I got back from Oklahoma City and had breakfast there one of the days before work started again.
That day turned out to be the date listed on the sign as the last day they'd be open.
A few days back I started researching---trying to find anything that I could about the closing.
Whoa.
It turns out that all those "vacations" were forced shutdowns for health code violations. Dirty meat slicers; roaches, both dead and alive; unlabeled chemicals like de-greaser and other various poisons; slime in the ice machine...the list went on, as did my brain:
Roaches, while disgusting, are as ubiquitous in downtown Long Beach as the black and white cats of Brooklyn: they are everywhere. And huge. And, for me, not the crazy deal breaker if they're near the doors: they're seriously everywhere down here. Over 20 dead and nearly a dozen living? Oh my...
The meat slicer needs to be cleaned regularly...same thing with the ice machine.
Neither Corrie nor I ever got sick from the place, and the inside, what the public saw (aside from the train-wreck of a bathroom) was always clean and nice, never betraying the reality behind the scenes. Plenty of other restaurants in this neighborhood are way dirtier inside than the Peppercorner was.
That leads to our next issue: where to eat now? There's the Long Beach Cafe, the closest thing to resembling the Peppercorner: a dive-ish diner. But the coffee is super-weak, the sausage isn't that great, and it's more expensive.
A tiny bit closer than the Cafe is the Breakfast Bar, a restaurant that makes decent food, but isn't a "local dive-y diner," and has the unfortunate case of being overrun with hipsters. Maybe that's changed, but we've yet to see.
There's the "close" far place, Potholders. The food and ambiance are definitely agreeable, and the walk isn't so bad at nearly a mile, so a bike ride isn't out of the question. But it's BUSY, so, for us, we're looking at arriving before 10 am at least, which isn't always that easy.
The next most likely place we'll head is called Park Pantry, and it's a little over a mile, but in the opposite direction from Potholders. It's right across the street from Bluff Park, and the prices are even better than the Peppercorner's were. Also, it's a mandatory bike ride, and, because of the prices and neighborhood density, it's a mandatory pre-10 am arrival. Better shot closer to 9, really.
Ahh...the problems of the childless adult: where's the best diner for me to melt away in?
Sunday, September 13, 2015
To the Bible Belt and Back
Is calling Oklahoma a "plains state" more accurate than "bible belt"? I think their state slogan is "Native America" or "the real Native America", which is certainly cooler and better than either previously mentioned descriptors.
I used to take my camera on wanderings around Brooklyn and snap pictures of the massive churches and cathedrals that speckle the borough once known as "the borough of churches". Now, Brooklyn may still have many houses of worship, but it's the east coast, it's one of the most worldly places on earth, and no one would ever mistake it for something referred to as "the bible belt."
Oklahoma is a place that lives up to that descriptive title.
There are churches dotting the landscape, which is fine and dandy, but this metropolis, if Oklahoma City can be called a metropolis, is wildly sprawling and spread out. I believe that along with Houston, OKC is one of the two cities with a metro population above a million people with a population density less than 1000 people per-square mile.
Driving around the city has this effect: lots of space---building or strip mall---lots of space---building or strip mall---you get the idea.
I only bring it up because the churches represent the most dynamic buildings residents get to look at. Not all of them, of course. Here's a set that catches my attention every time we visit, and only this trip did I take a picture:
It's a former strip mall that went under and was bought out by the Victory church organization. It's very peculiar.
Anyway...
My father-in-law Ron and my brother-in-law Peter were having birthdays a week apart book-ending Labor Day weekend. Since Pete was turning the big Three-Oh there was to be a party bus celebration. Corrie and I were coming to town, as was the youngest of their siblings, Stephanie, in from Austin with her boyfriend Michael. Mary, Corrie's middle sister, was the organizer of said party bus, and with Corrie coming to town, we were able to peel Rob, the eldest of the Dolman siblings, away from his own life and come out with us.
Robbie and I looked around the mostly full bus early on, as we chugged water the entire time, and joked that we were easily the oldest heads on the bus. I also finally got to meet Jake, Mary's boyfriend. He's been around for a while, but I always seem to miss him.
It was very nice to have all five siblings together---Rob, Corrie, Peter, Mary, and Stephanie---and after examining memory banks, we realized that it was the first time all five had been together for three consecutive days since our Mexico wedding seven years ago.
Another awesome surprise for Ron (that we were able to keep a lid on) was Carol's brother, Pete, was going to be driving in from Buffalo, NY, on his new Harley.
Corrie and I arrived in Oklahoma City after lunch local time, were picked up by Ron, grabbed some food, and met Peter at the spring company where he is the young spring-king in making. Having grown up in the spring factory watching Ron work for a number of years, Peter took to it like the mechanical genius he is, and seems likely being groomed for the eventual takeover in a decades time. I love talking to experts in any field, and spring-making is definitely one. Peter didn't go to college for mechanical engineering, but knows wire and metal so well that he can explain why an engineer's specs won't work in practice every single time it's the case.
After seeing all the cool stuff Peter and the spring company are working on, we headed back to the Dolman house to meet with the Daniel and Lola, the growing-up-so-fast pair that helped me realize the reality of "Uncle Pat". We'd only have a few minutes to hang out since they were headed to a family reunion on their mom's side of the family.
Friday was a traditional family favorite for dinner, with everyone hanging out next to the oil cauldrons. The name escapes my memory, but, from what I do what remember, it was a Swedish deal they picked up while in the military: vats of oil are set to low in those electric pancake griddles, seasoned with garlic and anchovies, and the meat and vegetables are put inside. After a few minutes, while the food cooks, people chat and visit, eventually spooning the cooked goodies over sliced French bread, the seasoned oil making the bread taste great.
It was quite good, but I may have had grease sweats for a few hours.
Saturday was fajitas and then off to Pete and Sherri's to get ready for the bus.
Then the bus. We visited a handful of bars while also being able to drink on the bus, but, as I said earlier, Robbie and I kept to the water. Kids were getting on pretty well around us as we tried to talk about office dynamics, kids, and education. Corrie was busy documenting the whole thing with her camera and talking with her sisters and their friends. Rob and I were the grey-beards excitedly talking about adult things.
I did get a chance to talk with Cece, a friend of Mary and Steph's, and the family as well, whom I met originally in 2004 at the Farm. She was smart kid, like Mary and Steph, back then, and now she's doing well with a cute daughter and a nice gig at a veterinarians.
We even got to see Joey, Corrie's lone friend from high school, and our host back when we visited Chicago in 2009.
Sunday was another family favorite dinner: pizza. See, they do pizza in a special manner. Carol makes four or five extra-large pizza-dough shells, and everyone gets to use whatever toppings they want on their little sections. Pizzas go into the over one at a time, and you can nosh on your own quarter when it finally cools. This is a pretty neat way to let everyone do what they want.
And the next day my time was all done. Uncle Pete Brown left on his Harley at six am Monday, and I left after a late breakfast. The flight was direct (always appreciated), my seat partner was a gruff good ol' boy who wouldn't move his elbow for a plane crash. I read pretty much the entire flight, trying to finish Mo Yan's Life and Death are Wearing Me Out.
The cabbie wouldn't tell me the price from LAX back to Long Beach until I got in, and once he $80, I jumped out of the moving car. Eventually he heeded my command, "You better pull this car over," and after trying to catch a shuttle home, I settled on taking the subway. At 4:00 on the 405 from LAX to Long Beach? The trains were faster than any car or van could possibly be.
Corrie remained in OKC, then headed west to the Farm, then headed south-east to Austin, and is due home tomorrow.
Trips to Oklahoma City are a surreal experience for me. Seeing the family is always so much fun...
I used to take my camera on wanderings around Brooklyn and snap pictures of the massive churches and cathedrals that speckle the borough once known as "the borough of churches". Now, Brooklyn may still have many houses of worship, but it's the east coast, it's one of the most worldly places on earth, and no one would ever mistake it for something referred to as "the bible belt."
Oklahoma is a place that lives up to that descriptive title.
There are churches dotting the landscape, which is fine and dandy, but this metropolis, if Oklahoma City can be called a metropolis, is wildly sprawling and spread out. I believe that along with Houston, OKC is one of the two cities with a metro population above a million people with a population density less than 1000 people per-square mile.
Driving around the city has this effect: lots of space---building or strip mall---lots of space---building or strip mall---you get the idea.
I only bring it up because the churches represent the most dynamic buildings residents get to look at. Not all of them, of course. Here's a set that catches my attention every time we visit, and only this trip did I take a picture:
It's a former strip mall that went under and was bought out by the Victory church organization. It's very peculiar.
Anyway...
My father-in-law Ron and my brother-in-law Peter were having birthdays a week apart book-ending Labor Day weekend. Since Pete was turning the big Three-Oh there was to be a party bus celebration. Corrie and I were coming to town, as was the youngest of their siblings, Stephanie, in from Austin with her boyfriend Michael. Mary, Corrie's middle sister, was the organizer of said party bus, and with Corrie coming to town, we were able to peel Rob, the eldest of the Dolman siblings, away from his own life and come out with us.
Robbie and I looked around the mostly full bus early on, as we chugged water the entire time, and joked that we were easily the oldest heads on the bus. I also finally got to meet Jake, Mary's boyfriend. He's been around for a while, but I always seem to miss him.
It was very nice to have all five siblings together---Rob, Corrie, Peter, Mary, and Stephanie---and after examining memory banks, we realized that it was the first time all five had been together for three consecutive days since our Mexico wedding seven years ago.
Another awesome surprise for Ron (that we were able to keep a lid on) was Carol's brother, Pete, was going to be driving in from Buffalo, NY, on his new Harley.
Corrie and I arrived in Oklahoma City after lunch local time, were picked up by Ron, grabbed some food, and met Peter at the spring company where he is the young spring-king in making. Having grown up in the spring factory watching Ron work for a number of years, Peter took to it like the mechanical genius he is, and seems likely being groomed for the eventual takeover in a decades time. I love talking to experts in any field, and spring-making is definitely one. Peter didn't go to college for mechanical engineering, but knows wire and metal so well that he can explain why an engineer's specs won't work in practice every single time it's the case.
After seeing all the cool stuff Peter and the spring company are working on, we headed back to the Dolman house to meet with the Daniel and Lola, the growing-up-so-fast pair that helped me realize the reality of "Uncle Pat". We'd only have a few minutes to hang out since they were headed to a family reunion on their mom's side of the family.
Friday was a traditional family favorite for dinner, with everyone hanging out next to the oil cauldrons. The name escapes my memory, but, from what I do what remember, it was a Swedish deal they picked up while in the military: vats of oil are set to low in those electric pancake griddles, seasoned with garlic and anchovies, and the meat and vegetables are put inside. After a few minutes, while the food cooks, people chat and visit, eventually spooning the cooked goodies over sliced French bread, the seasoned oil making the bread taste great.
It was quite good, but I may have had grease sweats for a few hours.
Saturday was fajitas and then off to Pete and Sherri's to get ready for the bus.
Then the bus. We visited a handful of bars while also being able to drink on the bus, but, as I said earlier, Robbie and I kept to the water. Kids were getting on pretty well around us as we tried to talk about office dynamics, kids, and education. Corrie was busy documenting the whole thing with her camera and talking with her sisters and their friends. Rob and I were the grey-beards excitedly talking about adult things.
I did get a chance to talk with Cece, a friend of Mary and Steph's, and the family as well, whom I met originally in 2004 at the Farm. She was smart kid, like Mary and Steph, back then, and now she's doing well with a cute daughter and a nice gig at a veterinarians.
We even got to see Joey, Corrie's lone friend from high school, and our host back when we visited Chicago in 2009.
Sunday was another family favorite dinner: pizza. See, they do pizza in a special manner. Carol makes four or five extra-large pizza-dough shells, and everyone gets to use whatever toppings they want on their little sections. Pizzas go into the over one at a time, and you can nosh on your own quarter when it finally cools. This is a pretty neat way to let everyone do what they want.
And the next day my time was all done. Uncle Pete Brown left on his Harley at six am Monday, and I left after a late breakfast. The flight was direct (always appreciated), my seat partner was a gruff good ol' boy who wouldn't move his elbow for a plane crash. I read pretty much the entire flight, trying to finish Mo Yan's Life and Death are Wearing Me Out.
The cabbie wouldn't tell me the price from LAX back to Long Beach until I got in, and once he $80, I jumped out of the moving car. Eventually he heeded my command, "You better pull this car over," and after trying to catch a shuttle home, I settled on taking the subway. At 4:00 on the 405 from LAX to Long Beach? The trains were faster than any car or van could possibly be.
Corrie remained in OKC, then headed west to the Farm, then headed south-east to Austin, and is due home tomorrow.
Trips to Oklahoma City are a surreal experience for me. Seeing the family is always so much fun...
Wednesday, September 2, 2015
Labor Day in Oklahoma
The strands of ideas flutter from my hand like invisible threads in the wind. The write up of the trip to Upper California (and, briefly, to southern Oregon) has been shelved for the time being. Maybe this weekend (we have four days off!) would have served the perfect time to get that material down, and eventually I may still get to it, but...
...But, as has been planned for some time, Corrie and I will be heading to her family's place in the great plains state of Oklahoma.
My time, as of three weeks ago, has been full of teenagers at work and Corrie's professional excitement at home.
I once posted a congratulatory post about her having passed her first test on her road to gaining her architectural license. Over the course of the past five years, I have lagged on posting those congrats-esque posts, partly because I've been busy, but also largely because THERE ARE SEVEN TESTS AND AN EIGHTH CALIFORNIA SUPPLEMENTAL EXAM. None are free, or free from stress and studying.
Even after she passed her last exam, she had to wait to call herself an architect until her license number was achieved and remitted to her.
And because she's badass and Corrie, within a week of obtaining her license number---officially becoming an architect---she had her first client, her first signed contract, and her first check. It's not humongous, of course, but she's working with a client that has a piece of property in Compton and wants to do a socially responsible project that will start the long process of improving an, until just recently (Thanks Cube and Dre!), largely forgotten city.
We joked that she couldn't have written or even dreamed up a better scenario for her first gig.
Congratulations, baby, you're my inspiration and I'm so very proud of you. I'm pleased beyond words that I've been able to run the background while you finished.
So, now, Labor Day and a trip to Oklahoma are in the works for tomorrow morning. The crunch of the hours left are beginning to sound on my ears. Boarding passes printed; shuttle for 5:30 am (YIKES) booked; Tux's fancy prescription dry food attained; my wards will be ready for tomorrow; and Corrie's off to an evening final exam for one of the classes she's taking for her construction administration certificate (to go along with her architectural license).
Still need to take out the trash, finish the dishes, feed the cats, get their food machine set up for the few upcoming days, and pack. AND pour a stiff gin and tonic...
Happy Labor Day, whenever it really happens...
...But, as has been planned for some time, Corrie and I will be heading to her family's place in the great plains state of Oklahoma.
My time, as of three weeks ago, has been full of teenagers at work and Corrie's professional excitement at home.
I once posted a congratulatory post about her having passed her first test on her road to gaining her architectural license. Over the course of the past five years, I have lagged on posting those congrats-esque posts, partly because I've been busy, but also largely because THERE ARE SEVEN TESTS AND AN EIGHTH CALIFORNIA SUPPLEMENTAL EXAM. None are free, or free from stress and studying.
Even after she passed her last exam, she had to wait to call herself an architect until her license number was achieved and remitted to her.
And because she's badass and Corrie, within a week of obtaining her license number---officially becoming an architect---she had her first client, her first signed contract, and her first check. It's not humongous, of course, but she's working with a client that has a piece of property in Compton and wants to do a socially responsible project that will start the long process of improving an, until just recently (Thanks Cube and Dre!), largely forgotten city.
We joked that she couldn't have written or even dreamed up a better scenario for her first gig.
Congratulations, baby, you're my inspiration and I'm so very proud of you. I'm pleased beyond words that I've been able to run the background while you finished.
So, now, Labor Day and a trip to Oklahoma are in the works for tomorrow morning. The crunch of the hours left are beginning to sound on my ears. Boarding passes printed; shuttle for 5:30 am (YIKES) booked; Tux's fancy prescription dry food attained; my wards will be ready for tomorrow; and Corrie's off to an evening final exam for one of the classes she's taking for her construction administration certificate (to go along with her architectural license).
Still need to take out the trash, finish the dishes, feed the cats, get their food machine set up for the few upcoming days, and pack. AND pour a stiff gin and tonic...
Happy Labor Day, whenever it really happens...
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