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Wednesday, September 17. 2008

Today's Japanglish - 4

We were at Michael's, a small restaurant near Concord's Nine-Acre Corner. The waitress took Marii's burger order first and then turned to May.

"I'll want the crab," she said.

The waitress looked puzzled, and began to scan the menu over May's shoulder. "I didn't know we had crab. Can you point it out, dear?"

My cue to jump in. "She wants a Club sandwich," I told the woman, "The Cheeseburger Club."

The waitress laughed with us, kindly. "Don't worry," she said, trying to console May, "It just takes time."

Posted by Bill Lambert in Japanglish at 10:12 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

Monday, September 15. 2008

Another Year Sneaks Past Me

Eighteen sweet years and counting for May and me... thank you so much, Sweetie.

We were married at the Fujisawa Catholic Church by an Irish priest on September 15, 1990. May sought out an english-speaking priest so that the ceremony could be in my native tongue and I would know what I was promising. The priest had been in Japan so long, however, he forgot the english words and kept lapsing into Japanese.

The ceremony took place while the eye of a typhoon passed above the seaside city.

Most of the day, it rained wan-chan tô nekko-chan.

Fujisawa Catholic Church, September 15, 1990.

Posted by Bill Lambert in Straight Zen at 11:45 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

Friday, September 12. 2008

Seven Years and Counting

On the day after the Twin Towers fell, I tried to find a thread of optimism to hang onto, some small hope that, despite the horror, some Holy Phoenix of Peace might rise from the dark ash.

If nothing else, I thought at the time, people would seek to understand each other across their cultural dividers... perhaps a dialogue might bloom that could bring the Muslim and Christian worlds together with better understanding and mutual tolerance.

I always hope for the best and keeep an eye out for the worst, but even I underestimated the capability of George and his band of Military/Industrial Strength pinheads to screw things up.

After that awful day, we had the good will and heartfelt sympathy the rest of the world. Hearing only the drumbeats of war and calls for revenge, the Bush administration cynically used the Nine-Eleven tragedy for its bizarre political ends.

America has never been the same since... economically, for sure, but also spirituality.

Land of the Free and Home of the Brave rings hollow when your bombing people, holding them without due process or even torturing them. It didn't have to be that way... it was a choice, and a bad one.

Everyone should love us because we're the Greatest Country in the World™, but we're now a Sweet Land of Liberty used to be, wandering lost in a world without pity.

You get what you deserve when you elect a lightweight. The boneheads are always an easy choice, a convenient out.

Keep that in mind in November when you cast your vote.

Like this woman on the day of the WTC attacks, America has been lost, not only searching for answers, but also the right questions.

I consider September 11, 2001 the day I 'officially' started my first novel, Travel, though it didn't have a name then. I thought I would write a book that would be part of this great change, this new age of international understanding that would surely come after such an act that shocked the world.

All that never happened and the seeds of peace never bore fruit. I'll have to find my own way now. There is no one anywhere on earth to follow.

Posted by Bill Lambert in Straight Zen at 10:41 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

Thursday, August 21. 2008

Blog Vacation

Just a quick note to my fan...

I haven't put up a blog entry for a about a week and a half, but it isn't because I didn't want to. S/Sgt. Matt was home from Butt Ugly, North Dakota and my nephew Joseph was staying with us for a while.

Mostly, I've been busy fighting with relatives and feeding hungry kids.

We will now return you to our regularly scheduled programming.

Posted by Bill Lambert in Straight Zen at 18:28 | Comment (1) | Trackbacks (0)

Friday, August 8. 2008

Hardest Things I've Ever Done

My mother asked me to give the eulogy at my sister's funeral, which was yesterday. I said the words for my father eight years ago, at the time the most difficult thing I've ever done.

Reluctantly, but dutifully, I agreed to speak for my sister and it turned out to be at least as hard. Difficult to write, for one thing... thanks to Creation I got a lot of my crying done then. When I learned my slot for "The Remembrance" (some new-age weasel word) would come right off the bat, I really freaked... an outbreak of overcharged nerves.

Afterwards, a number of folks commented that a few words from a family member at the outset of the ceremony was a great idea. Too often, the parish priests don't know the deceased or the family, they observed. 'Thanks for coming', spoken by a loved one is more meaningful and helps puts every one at ease.

Why didn't I think of that?

My sister Ann sure as hell didn't know the priest... not unless he was a former customer at the bank.

In some ways, speaking for my sister was even worse than speaking for my Dad. Joe was in his late-seventies and lived a full life. We were thankful he held on for four years, after the whichever-doctors told us to think no more than one. My sister was a young woman, her kids barely young adults and the youngest still in high school.

I couldn't look at them without losing it. Of course, I needed to look at them. It was a struggle.

I did my best.

Posted by Bill Lambert in Straight Zen at 10:21 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

Monday, August 4. 2008

In Memory of Annie, our Fave...

My baby sister passed away last night--at the age of 49, a vibrant young woman stricken with cancer just a year-and-a-half ago.

She was the daughter my parents always wanted, after three boys, and the apple of our late father's eye. A few weeks ago, she said he visited her in his dreams and told her everything would be alright.

At that time she was much further down that lonely road we all must travel. I could never say she was wrong. It was the last time I saw her smile.

Ann Marie leaves two great kids, still making their way at 18 and 22. Most of all, I grieve for them.

There is another hole in our lives, she loved our daughter so. Much loved, she will be much missed.