Sparked by some recent reading: 

“A lack of opportunity does not make an individual stupid; rather it shifts intelligence to better suit survival instead of creativity.”

Unless you were visiting me here you didn’t notice that my blog went “dark” at about 7:00 p.m. and until 8:23 p.m. I finally decided it was time to upgrade to the current version of WordPress (the application that powers this site)…and, yes…crashed everything! After a few minutes of dismay, I wiped the site clean and started with a clean install of the latest WordPress (v2.04). Then I pulled out my trusty jump drive, copied the necessary back up files, restored the SQL database, and reactivated my plugins. Thank God for backups!

Got an e-mail message yesterday that a woman in Sweden found what she was looking for on Alton Brown and his new show “Feasting on Asphalt” in my post titled “When I grow up…” I find that pretty funny, as I found in the info on the Web myself. Almost like the guy who referenced my Aloha Shirt page.

Now for some interesting things that passed through my day…

“A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.” ~ Lao Tzu (Chinese taoist philosopher, founder of Taoism, 600 BC-531 BC)

“Humans are the rusty vessels into which Life pours the pure water of eternal truths.” ~ Actually, I made this up, but it was inspired by and paraphrases a comment made during a radio interview with Dr. Francis S. Collins, geneticist and former atheist, author of “The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief.”

Nothing like four hours sleep in a 40-hour period to make one feel closer to 43 years old. But that’s what an angry appendix can do. One would think that a pinkie-sized organ wouldn’t be so much trouble, but there’s no rhyme or reason behind appendicitis. My son was the unlucky soul in this case. It was a sharp pain in the so-called “lower right quadrant” that hinted at something not quite right. The resulting recommendation from a call to an advice nurse at about 2330 hours pushed us out the door. We arrived at the E.R. just about midnight. (A visit complete with some mope handcuffed to a gurney.) After blood tests, some poking by the doctor, half an IV of “Lactate’s Ringers,” a UA, a visit from a surgical resident, and three and half hours the diagnosis was made. Another three hours later Chris was wheeled into the O.R. A night to remember. And oh, I did lose two pounds between Saturday morning and Sunday noon.

Now that I’m closing in on 43 years old, I can proclaim that when I grow up I want to be Alton Brown (aka A.B.).  He is my hero.  When not creating and playing with “Good Eats,” A.B. had the time and resources to tool around our great nation last spring on a 2005 BMW 1200 LT (motorcycle) in an often hilarious month-long search of food found off the beaten path on a show called “Feasting on Asphalt” (F.O.A.).

F.O.A. offers an enthusiastic and skewed look at the burger joints, diners, drive-throughs, pizza parlors, pharmacies — yes pharmacies — and sandwich shops that fueled American’s travels during the ‘30s, ‘40s, ‘50s and ‘60s.  The rules are simple for Mr. Brown and his four companions: (1) there will be no travel on major interstates, (2) there will be no eating at major chain restaurants, (3) if they can’t locate food or lodging, they will fend for themselves via camping, and most importantly, (4) there will be no whining.

His F.O.A. compañeros include Tom Munroe (Producer, Security, Omnivore; 2001 BMW 1150GS), Jean Claude Dhien (Photographer, Motorcyclist Extraordinaire, Role Model; 2006 Triumph Speed Triple), and Michael Clark (Motorcycle Maintenance, Recon, Intelligence, 2001 BMW 1150GS).  They are all culled from the staff of Be Square Productions, the team that I think that A.B. might agree elevates “Good Eats” in every measure.  They are supported by a truck manned by Mike Clark (Sound Recordist, Mixer, Navigator), Ramon Engle (Cameraman, Protocol, Dairy Enthusiast), and Lamar Owen (Cameraman, Lighting, Wheel Man).  One of the most unique, although fleeting, aspects of this show is a sharing of the latitude and longitude of the group’s various stops, ostensibly for us GPS fiends.  Very cool.  Very A.B.

After all, how can one not like a guy who calls MacGyver his patron saint and gets “…very uptight paying more than $100 for a meal — and that’s two people — because I expect so much of it that it makes me uptight.”  Another A.B. witticism: “There are only two kinds of food: good and bad. Also, all of life’s big problems include the words ‘indictment’ or ‘inoperable.’ Everything else is small stuff.”

Almost cool.  Somewhat nerdy.  My hero.