Baked "Fusillo Gigante"

This afternoon, my wonderful wife made this baked pasta: "fusillo gigante" (fusilla/fusilli); ricotta; tomato sauce (that we recently made together); and mozzarella cheese. She also made meatballs with our sauce.

January 4, 2026, at home

Epiphany

"In 2026, the Christian feast of the Epiphany, celebrating the manifestation of Jesus to the Gentiles (often marked by the visit of the Magi), falls on Sunday, January 4, 2026, in the United States and other Latin-Rite Catholic churches, moved from the traditional January 6th date to the first Sunday after January 1st. Eastern Orthodox churches, using the Julian calendar, will celebrate it later on January 19, 2026." - Google search

January 4, 2026, at home

Today Is ...

From husband Bill, January 4, 2026, at home

I graduated with a master's degree in journalism from the University of Missouri in Columbia in May 1988. The upper right photo in the picture below shows the campus in Columbia. During my three years of study there, I also worked as a scooper and manager of an ice cream shop that my father opened near the campus.

From husband Bill, January 4, 2026, at home

I grew up eating linguine, which is somewhat similar to spaghetti, but slightly flat. Actually, these days, I prefer bucatini.

Surreal Video

I created and uploaded onto my YouTube channel a rather random video with weird images, strange sounds, and odd effects ... just for fun. (length: 1'57")

surrealistic nonsense (jan. 3, 2026)

https://youtu.be/XmYLdWDcd9U?si=8_0T0Oi5cR-AcILN

January 3, 2026, at home

Today Is ...

Today is National Chocolate-Covered Cherry Day. Every Christmas for decades, my dad would give me a box of Cella's chocolate-covered cordial cherries. (They HAD to be Cella's.) After he passed away in February 1997, I continued this heartfelt tradition by purchasing a box of them and giving it to myself from my dad (as Santa) every Christmas. (They HAVE to be Cella's.) I will eat a couple of them today.

January 3, 2026, at home

I like fruitcake: the regular version; Italian panettone; and Austrian/German stollen (pronounced shh-TOH-lenn).

January 3, 2026, at home

I am quite happy that President Trump has returned plastic straws to us. Those paper straws were annoying and soggy.

January 3, 2026, at home

Today Is ...

From husband Bill, January 2, 2026, at home

I like profiteroles, as I call cream puffs, especially filled with chocolate pudding. I have enjoyed my mom's profiteroles throughout the decades, since I was a kid in the 1960s, particularly with vanilla pudding. I am not fond of them when filled with whipped cream. I don't like whipped cream in or on anything.

From husband Bill, January 2, 2026, at home

I am an introvert because I have been a writer, editor, researcher, photographer, and page designer, all for print publications and websites, from September 1982 to April 2017. I am an extrovert because I have been a reporter and a salesman; have appeared on stage twice; and continue to create videos of myself for my YouTube channel.

I performed, not read, but performed two of my original poems in February 1990 during a show as a performing member of the avant-garde troupe "The Port Jervis Poetry Society" in Port Jervis, New York. The anniversary show (poetry, folk music, and artwork) was broadcast on public-access television. I joined the troupe shortly after I wrote a story about the troupe for the Newburgh Evening News newspaper in Newburgh, New York.

My father drove about two hours from Long Island, New York, to have dinner with me and then watch me perform. After the show, I asked my dad what he thought of everyone's performance, including mine. His response was an absolutely classic. He said in a concerned, low-volume voice: "You got to get away from these people." I was soon laid off, with the newspaper becoming defunct a couple of years later, and soon secured another job in upstate New York.

In 1991, while working as a reporter for the Olean Times Herald in Olean, New York, based in the Wellsville, New York, bureau, I interviewed the director of a community-theater production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical "Cinderella." She heard my speaking voice and told me that she needed another baritone singer for the chorus. She asked if I would like to be in the musical. I said "yes," because I typically say "yes" to everything, even though I had never sung on stage before. I had three weeks to learn three songs.

I was a cobbler (shoemaker). I wore white tights; a pink-and-orange satin graduation gown with a leather toolbelt around my waist; and orange makeup on my face, neck, hands, and arms.

From husband Bill, January 2, 2026, at home

I don't particularly like buffets, especially breakfast buffets, but I do like the occasional Chinese buffet. Hint: Buffets have the cheap, filler stuff like bread, pasta, and salads at the beginning of the line so that you fill up on this stuff. So, skip this stuff, and focus on the heartier fare that is deeper down the line.

From husband Bill, January 2, 2026, at home

I am engaging in leg exercises and walking with a wheeled walker with a physical therapist at home, so, technically, I have a personal trainer.

From husband Bill, January 2, 2026, at home

When I was young(er), I was interested in science fiction: Lost in Space, Star Wars, Star Trek, The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, etc.

For many years, my favorite movie was "Time After Time" from 1979, when I was 18 years old:

"H.G. Wells (Malcolm McDowell) has built a time machine, and he plans on using it to travel to a Utopian paradise in the future. But before he can, Jack the Ripper (David Warner), on the run from the police, uses it to escape and travel to 1979. Wells follows, and enlists the help of a bank teller named Amy (Mary Steenburgen) to catch Jack before he continues his killing spree. As they work together, Wells falls for Amy, even as she has a hard time believing his wild story of time travel." - from Google search

SPOILER ALERT: My favorite line is when Wells puts Jack in the time machine, turns it on, and then Amy asks Wells where he sent him. Wells pauses and says with a serious tone, "Oblivion." I loved that when I was a teenager. As I got older, I began to realize that his response was a bit corny.

Steenburgen divorced McDowell and then married Ted Danson. That was a sad day for me. I thought Mary and Malcolm made a good couple.

Happy New Year Video

I created and uploaded a very short video onto my YouTube channel "Bill Santos: Piano & More" to wish you a Happy New Year. (length: 56 seconds)

Happy New Year (Jan. 1, 2026)

https://youtube.com/shorts/ZEjr8Wzun9Y?si=GTfZSqWCILkJKxF3

January 1, 2026, at home

New Year's Coin

Here is my lucky New Year's coin that I purchased (online) from the Austrian mint in 2001. Obverse Side: PROSIT NEUJAHR 2001 (HAPPY NEW YEAR 2001), with the lucky frog. Reverse Side: "BIN ICH AUCH NUR KLEIN UND RUND, BRING DOCH GLÜCKICH JEDE STUND," which means "I'M ONLY SMALL AND ROUND, BUT I BRING HAPPINESS EVERY HOUR." (translated from German)

January 1, 2026, at home

Bloody Mary & Hangover

January 1, 2026, at home

Calling Rita

PHOTO: Pfänder mountain in western Austria, where I proposed marriage to my wonderful wife. ... I took this photo of the spot where I proposed a few minutes later. We could see Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and Germany. 

This early evening, I called my Austrian cousin Rita in western Austria from my wife's/my home in southeastern Florida slightly after 6 p.m., Eastern Time/U.S. Rita wasn't home, so I left a message on her answering machine in English and in German. I will try again tomorrow. 

Long ago, my father created this tradition. In the early 1980s, my father and I took a trip to western Austria to visit many of our Austrian cousins, including Hans and his wife Rita. We spent New Year's Eve at Hans and Rita's house. When we returned home, my dad started a new tradition where Dad would call Hans on the phone from Dad's house on Long Island, New York, and later in Maryland, every Dec. 31 at 6 p.m. Eastern Time/U.S., which was 12 a.m./Midnight Austrian Time/Central European Time on Jan. 1. My father wanted to be one of the first people to wish Hans and Rita a Happy New Year. 

After my dad passed away in February 1997, I continued the tradition from wherever I was living. Hans passed away in November 2013, so since then, I have been calling Rita directly. 

Since the early 1980s, I have visited my Austrian cousins across Austria seven times and have gone skiing in the Austrian Alps with several of them on many of those trips. 

On April 10, 2005, I proposed marriage to my future wife on a nearby snowy mountaintop with Hans and Rita just several yards from us. The four of us went for lunch and then returned to their home to celebrate with two more Austrian cousins (Blanka, Hans' sister, R.I.P.; and her son Markus). 

My wife and I continue our trip by train to visit with more of my cousins in Salzburg and in Grinzing, near Vienna. 

We wed in southeastern Florida on February 4, 2006, and we are still married.

December 31, 2025, at home

New Year's Eve Fare

My wonderful wife made this batch of split pea soup today. New Year's Eve split pea soup is a traditional dish symbolizing wealth (green peas = money) for the coming year. I will eat some his evening, as well as creamed herring. Eating herring on New Year's Eve is a European tradition, especially in Poland, Germany, and Scandinavia, symbolizing good luck, prosperity, and abundance for the coming year because of the fish's plentiful nature, silver color (like coins), and forward-swimming movement.

December 31, 2025, at home

"Distractions"

No Interruptions Day today, specifically the last work day of the year, gives me the opportunity to share with you my favorite Paul McCartney solo song: "Distractions." I like this music video.

https://youtu.be/rGiSrVqFPDQ?si=Hdb0C5T8e-L79ymS

December 31, 2025, at home 

Today Is ...

I prefer Prosecco to Champagne.

December 31, 2025, at home

"Make Up Your Mind Day encourages us to quit wavering, to take a side, and follow through with a decision and stick to it." - National Day Calendar

December 31, 2025, at home

Cella's From Santa AKA Dad

Every Christmas for many decades, my dad would give me a box of Cella's chocolate-covered cordial cherries from Santa. (They HAD to be Cella's.) After he passed away in February 1997, I continued this heartfelt tradition by purchasing a box of them and giving it to myself from Santa (from my dad) every Christmas. (They must always be Cella's.) Here is this year's box for Christmas 2025.

December 30, 2025, at home

Today Is ...

From 1992 to 1996, I was a reporter, writer, editor, and researcher for an international weekly magazine on the financial and technical aspects of the chemical industry. We were based in the financial district of New York City, quite close to Wall Street.

In 1993, I was sent on a business trip to the town of Rifle in northwestern Colorado, near the border with Wyoming, to cover the opening of a sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) solution mine. Hot water is pumped into the ground to dissolve the bicarb, and then the solution is extracted through another hole in the ground. The solution is then dehydrated, leaving only the powdered bicarb. The factory produced six grades of baking soda for various industrial and home uses.

I remember making the mistake of wearing black patent leather shoes in the factory. When I emerged, they were covered in white powder.

That was a nice trip. I flew into Aspen on the day before the ski season officially started. I wouldn't have been able to go skiing anyway. Also, after the opening, I traveled to Denver to spend the weekend visiting with my cousin Manuel (R.I.P.) who lived there.

December 30, 2025, at home