...and that's what makes it soul food
Holiday meals can really get you down
if you don't know how to get on down
Well, it's Thanksgiving, one of the
most darling and devious holidays on the United States Federal Calendar. I
could go into my big rant against my former favorite holiday, how we need to
transform it to accept and heal our relationship with the founding of this
nation, but instead I'll talk about actually doing that, just a little
bit.
Today was a very
wonderful day as I shared a little bit overcooked turkey with new friends and
their family. We overcooked the turkey, ignoring fate which had shut off the
stove for us (we thought we might make some one sick, but my ancestors knew
better), we had a time, me trying to show my fabulous media artist friend who
claims to have no sense of how to cook, and she trying to figure out EXACTLY
what I was doing to make things come
out.
We had to talk about
alchemy, basically because I'm crazy like that, but it seemed practical at the
time.
I told her to
measure according to her own body, HER fingers, HER hands, HER vision. This
would make it her soul's
food.
"SO basically about
3/4" thick, then?" I was stuck. We had to laugh
hard.
The Measure of Man,
as they said in the Renaissance was the basic unit before trades had to
standardize in Europe due to transcontinental trade (big ass essay, so just
follow the line here). But the Pyramids, Sun dials, and cave calendars were
measured out of the constant pulse of sun rays in relationship to objects
through which light could not pass, like human flesh. It's pretty interesting
to think about needing to speak across your own body's signature, soul to
soul.
But anyway, as the
day swung along, we soon realized that we had found a new catch phrase for
everything that is irreducible to its parts, trial after trial, or rather, a new
phrase to add to the end of each fortune in a fortune
cookie:
ME "stuffing the
turkey allows you to bond with the
carcass"
RITSU "and then that's
what makes it soul
food?"
RITSU "when do I
take it out of the oven?"
ME
"hmmm. I'll call you when it's
time."
RITSU "Are you waiting on
your ancestors to tell you when it's
done."
ME "uhh, yeah, cause I
can't smell it"
RITSU "and
that's what makes it soul
food?"
RITSU "Omigod!! I
got up this morning and the stove had shut itself off! What do I do? This has
never happened before!"
ME
"Well, I guess its done
then."
RITSU "Are you kidding?!?
I don't want people to get sick. You think your Ancestors shut off the
Stove?"
ME "Yeah, but if you are
panicked, let it keep cooking, then I'll call
you"
See earlier for
results of turkey.
My son
was showing off his karate training, and bragged that he had to touch his elbows
to his knees. "Like this," we asked, lifting our knee and sitting our elbow on
it while seated in a chair. "No," he shouted and got down on the floor to show.
"What about this," inquired Stafford, pretending to strain to squeeze his elbows
together in front of his chest. "No, that's Chinese," responded Baker, a little
too matter- of-factly. "Oh, like Colonel Zao's Wings" retorted Stafford. We
could not stop laughing.
Cause
that's what makes it soul
food.
happy rememberance day
y'all.
Posted: Thu - November 27, 2003 at 07:19 PM