Today Is ...

My paternal grandmother used to make peach pie when I was a kid in the 1960s and 1970s. She never used a top crust. She would boil the peach pits in water, remove the pits, and then add unflavored powdered gelatin and a few drops of red food coloring to the water. She would pour the hot liquid over the freshly sliced peaches in the pie shell before baking. The pie would have this, well, pinkish-white, gelatinous substance on top. I liked it.

These days, we know that peach pits, as well as the pits of cherries and plums, contain small amounts of amygdalin, a chemical that can break down into the poisonous chemical cyanide when digested, so do NOT include these boiled pits in your recipes.

August 24, 2025, at home

I occasionally like waffles, but I prefer pancakes.

August 24, 2025, at home

When my dad (R.I.P: 1934-1997) retired in the mid-1990s, he moved to Maryland, near Baltimore, from Long Island, New York. I visited him there a couple of times.

August 24, 2025, at home

Liberal Attacks

All I receive from liberals are ad hominem attacks. I invariably respond: "This has nothing to do with me."

August 23, 2025, at home

Today Is ...

I found my inner nerd (and outer nerd) as a preteen in the 1960s, playing with my chemistry set. Hey, my favorite job (1992 to 1996) was writing and researching for an international weekly magazine on the financial and technical aspects of the chemical industry based in New York City (Manhattan). I was also a member of the CB Radio Club in high school in the later 1970s. Also, I have two high school diplomas and two university degrees.

I am still in the preliminary stages of self-publishing a book of my poems. I am still writing an autobiographical novel.

My Uncle Phil has called me a nerd, and my cousin John has called me a dork. Both were quite perceptive.

August 23, 2025, at home

My dear cousin Scott introduced me to the Cuban sandwich, as well as Cuban coffee (Café con Leche), when I visited him and his brother Burt while on spring break in Miami in February 1982. They were attending the University of Miami. I was attending Villanova University near Philadelphia.

Two friends from 'Nova and I drove my car (two-seater Ford EXP, four-speed) 24 straight hours to spend a week in Florida. It was a hatchback, so we alternated who slept in the "trunk." I dropped them off in Fort Lauderdale, and then I continued south onto Miami.

(Although I am not Hispanic, I do like Cuban food.)

August 23, 2025, at home

I absolutely dislike sponge cake and pound cake, well, all cake unless there is more frosting than cake. I absolutely dislike Strawberry Shortcake. I dislike sponge cake. I dislike strawberries. I dislike whipped cream.

August 23, 2025, at home

Cackala

funny 😆😆😆

August 22, 2025, at home

Cuts To Research 🇺🇲👍

GOOD NEWS !!! This will save more than $783 million. MAGA !!! 🇺🇲👍

"Trump administration wins Supreme Court fight to slash NIH medical research grants tied to DEI, LGBTQ studies"

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-administration-wins-supreme-court-fight-slash-nih-medical-research-grants-tied-dei-lgbtq-studies

August 22, 2025, at home

Trump: Winning ... Again

GOOD NEWS !!! Tariffs DO work. They not only cause U.S. residents to purchase goods and services produced in the United States, but also encourage U.S. corporations to return their manufacturing facilities to the United States. ... and now, a third benefit: causing other countries to end their tariffs on the United States. 🇺🇲👍

August 22, 2025, at home

Today Is ...

I have eaten dim sum, but never bao.

August 22, 2025, at home

It looks somewhat good, although it's a bit plain for my taste. I really don't like cake all that much. (I have never eaten this.)

August 22, 2025, at home

I tend toward almond milk. I switched from soy milk, mainly because of the high levels of estrogen in soybeans. I have tried hemp milk; it was OK.

August 22, 2025, at home

When I was a kid in the 1960s, still with many of my baby teeth in my head, I stopped putting them under my pillow for the Tooth Fairy to leave me money. I kept my subsequent baby teeth in a small, plastic tooth that formerly contained chewing gum. I put a little cotton in the tooth container. I no longer have that container, but I have wondered, if I did, if I could get my mother to give me 25 cents a tooth.

August 22, 2025, at home

Throwback Thursday: Shop!

Throwback Thursday: Here I am seated at my former desk on my last day as an Assistant Editor on the Universal Desk of Forum Publishing Group (Sun Sentinel, Tribune Publishing) in Tamarac, Florida, on November 25, 2015, which was the day before Thanksgiving. I was an editor, writer, photographer, and page designer for five weekly community newspapers in southeastern Florida.

I worked for Forum in the same capacity several years previously, as editor for one of Forum's community newspapers, but in the office in Coral Springs, Florida.

Hundreds of Tribune employees across the United States got canned in 2015. However, this "canning" worked out quite well for me. The salary at my next job was twice as much as my salary with Tribune, and the job was far more interesting.

From February 2016 to February 2017, I was the Associate Editor (reporter, writer, editor, photographer, and photo editor) for "Retail Environments" and "Insider," the two official monthly magazines of Shop!, which is an international nonprofit association for the manufacturers of components for retail store displays, including mannequins, display cabinets, signage, lighting, shelving, flooring, architecture, etc., based in Hollywood, Florida. The main office is in Chicago, as is Tribune's main office. Another part of my job at Shop! was editing statistical analysis reports (white papers) and catalogs. I also wrote for the association's news and features website.

Shop! is the merger of two international nonprofit associations: A.R.E. / POPAI (Association for Retail Environments / Point Of Purchase Advertising International). I worked there during the merger.

I was also fortunate to travel to Las Vegas on a business trip, working at the association's trade show (more than 750 companies on display in a 715,000-square-foot convention center). This was challenging, overwhelming, and fun, mainly because, at that time, I had only been working at Shop! for about six weeks, and I had precious little background regarding retail store displays, well, practically no knowledge. I had to learn "on the fly" like almost all of my many other journalistic jobs since my start in my profession in 1982.

Here is the link to the LED lighting article that I wrote for "Retail Environments" magazine from interviews that I conducted at the trade show. I also took the photos. If you would like to read it, tap/click on each picture to increase its size. I uploaded the four articles that I wrote for Shop! online for use with my future job searches. 

https://williamsantoswritingsamples.blogspot.com/2018/01/led-retail-environments-may-june-2016.html?m=1

In the photo below, I am wearing all black in honor of the firings, as several of us were tossed from our desks at our Forum office.

I am growing a moustache in honor of "Movember," an annual international event during the month of November, when men around the world grow moustaches to raise awareness of cancers that afflict only men; male suicide prevention; and men's mental health. I have participated every November for decades.

Many thanks go to my friend/former co-worker Emily for taking this photo. She once told me as I am her mentor. That made/makes me feel exceptional happy and proud.

August 21, 2025, at home

Today Is ...

I do love spumoni, because it tastes good and (probably) because of my Italian upbringing. Spumoni is ice cream typically with fruits and nuts. It usually has flavors of ice cream to match the Italian flag in colors: pistachio (green), vanilla (white), and strawberry (red). I prefer the chocolate version (which typically replaces vanilla with chocolate). I don't like strawberry anything, but I can tolerate it if it's mixed with something else.

August 21, 2025, at home

I like the occasional IPA. I don't think I have ever tasted a hazy IPA.

August 21, 2025, at home

I am one of these.

August 21, 2025, at home

I never heard of it.

August 21, 2025, at home

R.I.P. James Dobson

"Dr. James Dobson, Focus on the Family founder and advisor to 5 presidents, dead at 89"

https://www.foxnews.com/us/dr-james-dobson-focus-family-founder-advisor-5-presidents-dead-89

August 21, 2025, at home

A Win For Texas

GOOD NEWS !!!

"Abbott scores big win in redistricting battle as Texas Democrats' blockade collapses"

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/abbott-scores-big-win-redistricting-battle-texas-democrats-blockade-collapses

August 20, 2025, at home

Today Is ...

I prefer radio to television. I particularly love the old radio shows from the 1930s and 1940s, especially the Kraft Music Hall, which aired from 1933 to 1949. I have 10 shows on five CDs of "KMH" hosted by Bing Crosby that were broadcast to the troops during World War II. I also like The Bob Hope Show from around that time; I have many of those shows on many CDs.

In the 1970s, when I was a teenager, I had a 23-channel CB radio in my bedroom. The "real" CBers had the 40-channel models who would listen to the truckers. I remember my father attaching the five-foot-long whip antenna onto the chimney of our house. I thought that he was going to fall off of the roof.

My handle (name) was "Algernon," named after the character played by Roy Kinnear in the 1965 Beatles movie "Help!." I was a member of the CB Radio Club at school.

I remember some of the "10-codes." 10-4 is "message received." 10-7 is "leaving the air." 10-20 is "your location." 10-23 is "stand by." 10-36 is "the correct time." My all-time favorite is 10-100: "I need to go to the bathroom." ... and there was the important 10-200: "police needed." Actually, Channel 9 was the emergency channel. We never went there.

My best friend John also had a CB radio in his bedroom. What's funny is that in the evenings, we would call each other on the phone to tell each other we were on our CB radios. We would hang up and then talk to each other on our radios. We could have just continued talking to each other on the phone. Yeah, but it was fun.

In the 1980s and 1990s, I used to listen to radio stations around the world on portable shortwave radios. I was once able to pick up a radio station in Fiji, when I was living on Long Island, New York. (Yeah, I'm a nerd.) The radio waves are shot into the sky and bounce off of the atmosphere to travel around the world. I received better reception on Long Island than I ever did in Florida, where I live now, mainly because of better atmospheric conditions and the massive router in New Brunswick, New Jersey, that boosted the shortwave radio waves. (I forgot the official name of the facility.) I would also listen to the Atomic Clock in Fort Collins, Colorado; digital clocks are now synced to it. These days, I can listen to world radio broadcasts online.

August 20, 2025, at home

I definitely remember eating a piece of pecan pie with a thick layer of chocolate ganache on top, but it was long ago.

August 20, 2025, at home

Well, yes, I do like bacon.

August 20, 2025, at home

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, when my age was around 7 to 10 years old, my friends and I, along with kids across the United States, maybe around the world, would engage in the stupid, dangerous practice of running behind "The Fog Man," the guy spraying the insecticide DDT (Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane), as he drove around in his pink-and-gray truck in my neighborhood in Babylon, Long Island, New York. While running, I would squeeze my nose together, and keep my mouth and eyes shut for so-called "protection." Due to harmful effects, DDT use was banned in the United States in 1972 and worldwide in 2004.

Trivia: Only female mosquitoes suck your blood.

August 20, 2025, at home

They have definitely helped me over the past several years.

August 20, 2025, at home

Young Liberal Women

August 19, 2025, at home

Superficial Females

Women will NOT even consider a man who is shorter than six feet tall. Surprise !!! Only 14.5 percent of men in the United States are six feet tall and taller. The average height of a man in the United States is 5 feet, 9 inches, which is slightly taller than the global average of 5 feet, 7.5 inches.

August 19, 2025, at home

Today Is ...

I love Carvel's chocolate soft-serve ice cream in a bowl with chocolate jimmies (sprinkles). I never liked ice cream cones.

August 19, 2025, at home

I prefer mashed potatoes, especially with a little crumbled blue cheese mixed in. I like french fries in the traditional way: dipped in mayonnaise. I sometimes use tartar sauce.

August 19, 2025, at home

Lord Krishna's Birthday

Happy (Belated) Krishna Janmashtami !!!  (August 16, 2025): Krishna Janmashtami, literally "Occasion of the birth of Lord Krishna," also known simply as Janmashtami or Gokulashtami, is an annual Hindu festival that celebrates the birth of Krishna, the eighth avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu the Sustainer. (It is on a different date every year.)

My religion is Gaudiya Vaishnavism, also known as Hare Krishna, which is a sect of Sanatana Dharma, also known as Hinduism. Lord Krishna is the main god that I worship.

August 19, 2025, at home

MSNBC Is MS NOW

I think that it's horribly sickening, but absolutely appropriate that MSNBC's new name (MS NOW) is named after a feminist magazine and a feminist organization.

August 19, 2025, at home

Seasons

August 18, 2025, at home

Detention Center Opens

GOOD NEWS !!!

"Migrant detention center at Fort Bliss officially opens"

"EL PASO, Texas (KTSM)- Camp East Montana, one of the country’s largest immigration detention centers, officially opened its doors Sunday, Aug. 17 on Fort Bliss property.

"The facility began operations with an initial capacity of about 1,000 beds, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Federal officials say the site could eventually expand to hold up to 5,000 people, which would make it one of the largest migrant detention centers in the United States."

https://www.ktsm.com/news/migrant-detention-center-at-fort-bliss-officially-opens/amp/

August 18, 2025, at home

Today Is ...

I love looking through mail order catalogs, especially food catalogs, like Harry & David and Swiss Colony. The Harriet Carter catalog is my favorite; it basically contains stuff for the household; health items; and holiday decorations. We may still receive it. I am going to request to receive it again.

I absolutely LOVE the Archie McPhee catalog of novelties, funny gifts, and funny toys. I am going to order this catalog again; I used to receive it.

https://mcphee.com/

August 18, 2025, at home

I really don't like fajitas. I need some kind of sauce on my Mexican food, preferably mole. I love Chicken Mole, which is chicken smothered in a spicy chocolate sauce.

August 18, 2025, at home

I like Italian reds, mainly Chiantis, and Austrian (not Australian) whites.

August 18, 2025, at home

I like ice cream cake, specifically Carvel. I'm not sure that I have ever eaten an ice cream pie.

August 18, 2025, at home

Sydney vs. Taylor

Sydney looks less arrogant than Taylor, meaning Sydney looks more approachable than Taylor. Sydney looks like she would be friendly and respectful toward men, while Taylor looks like she has an inherent disdain for men, meaning she would demean and belittle men. Sydney looks like she would fight for men. Taylor looks like she would fight against men. These are the main differences between conservative women (Sydney) and liberal women (Taylor).

August 17, 2025, at home

Stuffed Peppers

My wonderful wife made bell peppers stuffed with ground beef, Israeli couscous, onions sautéed in a little olive oil, garlic powder, dried basil, and ground black pepper topped with tomato sauce and shredded mozzarella cheese, and then baked. She brought some to my mom who lives nearby.

August 17, 2025, at home

Today Is ...

During my career (series of gigs) as a journalist from September 1982 to May 2017, I worked for two nonprofit associations.

In 1991, I was the Copy Editor of "RIMS," the official magazine of the Risk and Insurance Management Society, which is an international nonprofit association for corporate insurance buyers. My office was in New York City (Manhattan).

From February 2016 to February 2017, I was the Associate Editor (reporter, writer, editor, photographer, photo editor) for "Shop!," the official magazine of Shop!, which is an international nonprofit association for the manufacturers of components for retail store displays, including mannequins, lighting, shelving, flooring, architecture, etc. Part of my job was also to edit statistical analysis reports (white papers) and catalogs. While I was there, the association transformed itself after a recent merger. In October 2015, the Association for Retail Environments (A.R.E.) merged with Point of Purchase Advertising International (POPAI). My office was in Hollywood, Florida.

August 17, 2025, at home

During the 1979-1980 school year, I attended Northfield Mount Hermon School on two campuses in Northern Massachusetts. I entered the senior class as a "PG" (Post-Graduate student). I had already graduated from West Islip High School on Long Island, New York, in June 1979, when I was 18 years old, so I actually have two high school diplomas.

Later, I would receive a bachelor's degree in communications with a minor in the French language from Villanova University (December 1984) and a master's degree in journalism from the University of Missouri (May 1988).

August 17, 2025, at home

Pineapples contain the enzyme Bromelain. I used to eat pineapple slices and chunks, drink pineapple juice, and chew Bromelain tablets to help my sinus problems (and my lung issues). I also used oral and topical steroids (nasal spray). I eventually lost my sinus battle, so several years ago, I had to have surgery to remove eight polyps within my sinuses and nasal cavity, plus I had all eight of my sinuses cleaned out and expanded. The surgery took several hours. Personal Trivia: Ever since my surgery, every time I cough very hard, I start sneezing.

Pineapple juice is also used to tenderize beef when marinated because the Bromelain enzyme breaks down the muscle fibers.

August 17, 2025, at home

Due to diabetes, I have been struggling with my feet for many years. This includes diabetic ulcers (which required my podiatrist to carve both of my feet with a scalpel every two weeks for several years); Cellulitis (many skin infections within my feet and legs which required intravenous antibiotics every day for six weeks, one time causing both of my kidneys to fail, requiring me to endure six weeks of dialysis, four hours per day, seven day a week for six weeks, with a needle in a vein in my neck. Luckily, my kidneys regained functionality.); Osteomyelitis (bone infections); and peripheral neuropathy (numbness and pain in both of my feet). In recent years, I have had four surgeries on my left foot to remove decayed bone and bone fragments, and scar tissue. I even tried hyperbaric therapy many times which required me to lie down in a sealed chamber that was pumped full of high-pressure oxygen for several hours each session (twice per week for several months).

August 17, 2025, at home