This simple paragraph embodies what I dislike most about life in America:

Whatever virtue this bad-tasting Z-grade atrocity once contained derived from its exemplification of a set of certain cherished American fables—immigrant ingenuity, the cultural melting pot, old things combining into new things—and has now been totally swamped and consumed by different and infinitely uglier American realities: the commodification of culture; the transmutation of authentic artifacts of human life into hollow corporate brand divisions; the willingness of Americans to slop any horrible goddamn thing into their fucking mouths if it claims to contain some byproduct of a cow and comes buried beneath a pyramid of shredded, waxy, safety-cone-orange “cheese.”

Now, obviously he’s talking about food here, Cincinnati-style chili to be precise, but it also captures the homogenization of American culture that I detest.  Everywhere I go it’s just more of the same.  Chain restaurants, impersonal franchised bars, strip malls, ugly signage, and other non-distinct urban clutter.  We’ve lost what once made us diverse and unique.  Even regional accents are fading away.  Alas.

Anyway, this rant is brought to you courtesy of this state-by-state ranking of the culinary delicacies that the natives claim as their own.  South Carolina came in second with shrimp and grits.  And I detest grits.  Which outs me as a non-native more often than I like.  Anyway, it’s a fun read.

Bon appetit!

Hat Tip: Althouse

…but I am!  More or less.

It’s the first of the month and that means payday!  Not sure if the shutdown will affect next month’s pension check, but I’ll worry about that, well, next month.

So it was off to my credit union to pull out some cash.  And seeing as how the credit union is right next door to Sam’s Club, we dropped in to do some buying in bulk.  And given that Sam’s Club is in the vicinity of the Korean market, I took Jee Yeun there to restock her supply of kimchi, noodles, and various and assorted other items.  Over a hundred bucks worth!

Returned home and drafted up some rules and bylaws for the Columbia Area Darts Association.  Tried to keep it simple and straightforward.  Still took 8 pages to say what I felt was the minimum to say.

Having worked up an appetite, I cooked up a nice taco salad for my first meal of the day.  Well, I didn’t cook the lettuce, but you get my meaning.

Having satiated my hunger, I had the energy to write this post.  And now I’m fixin’ (damn, I’ve been in South Carolina too long!) to head out for an evening of darts.

And that’s where things stand in my neck of the woods.

Portrait of the blogger at work.

It occurs to me that I ought to be posting something here at LTG.  The problem is every time I sit down to share the juicy details of my most interesting life here in the USA I have to face the sad fact that there aren’t any.  I’ve been working on a political post for a few days, but frankly I’m in so much despair about the state of our nation that I just can’t bring myself to finish it.  It’s not that I don’t care, it’s that I care too much.  Ah well.

My biggest fear when I retired and moved back to the states was that I would get sucked into the mundane and vanilla lifestyle that is so uniquely American.  I had hoped to counter that inevitability by spending significant parts of the year back in Korea.  Unfortunately, Uncle Sam has illogically tied my departure to coincide with with the issuance of my wife’s green card.  Last I heard from the government they advised it would likely be February before a decision was made.  And of course given the dysfunction of the bureaucracy that’s probably optimistic.

Which is not to say that I haven’t been making the best of things during my sojourn in the United States.  I’ve been working hard at building a vibrant darting community here in my hometown of Columbia.  I’ve got things to the point where I can now play four times a week (versus the previous one) without leaving the Midlands.  That was pretty much my darting schedule in Korea, so I reckon I’m generally satisfied.  And I guess I’ve made some new friends and acquaintances along the way, so I’m happy about that.

But I’m missing my Korea life quite a lot and can’t help but feeling sometimes like the world is passing me by while I’m stuck here in South Carolina.  To be sure, there are worse places to be stuck. It’s just not in my nature to be happy about being stuck anywhere I suppose.

There you have it.  A post about nothing noteworthy.  Which certainly is in keeping with the fine tradition I’ve established here at LTG.