Stuff by Dennis Watson

 Stuff

   Found a lot of scribbled notes from 2009 and 2014 – even mentioned the movie club guys as being the ones to work on it with — who knew?!

   I actually tried to impose some order in 2014 by numbering items just as they came to me, and it looked like this:

   1. What is Stuff?* Stuff defined – useful versus other? Useful: tools, cooking utensils, medical equipment, and many others. Not useful: Everything else?

   2. The burning house question and others – what do you take? What’s on your nightstand?

   3. Statistics – how much you spent on what? Clothes, TVs, computers, cameras, cars. This can go on for a long time.

   4. Toys— are toys stuff? Not toys like a Ferrari but think of some of the classic toys – yo-yos, jacks, a red rubber ball –

   5. Mementos— Photographs, traditionally – but now we have videos, movies, and the ubiquitous smartphone, which is everyone’s camera but doesn’t have anything you could hang on the wall yet –

   6. Stuff tests – are the things we can’t live without really stuff? Probably yes if it’s a kidney dialysis machine, but the complete collection of Barbie dolls or Star Wars Warriors still in their unopened boxes? We have to talk...

   7. The art of stuff— can stuff be art?

   I’ll spare you the rest of the list for now – it goes up to 26 – and leave you with my latest thought about Stuff—

   How many of us at one time or another in our lives (and maybe still) had that room or place where we put our Stuff that we didn’t know what to do with and where to put it. For me, it was the garage where I could store a lot of plastic bins—a lot—filled with Stuff. What, if any, are the psychological implications?

   I’m hoping Dave can create a Stuff bin for these miscellaneous observations to go into— thereby creating more digital stuff :-)

Stuff And The Cosmos By Mike Freeman

 Stuff And The Cosmos

By Mike Freeman

January, 2024

   “Stuff.” One of my favorite words in the English language. It is fun to pronounce, especially slow and hitting the “ff’s” hard. It is an often-used and flexible word with many meanings. For example, back in my graduate college days, I could move from one place to another with one carload of stuff using my VW Bug. The word “stuff” here is used in a collective sense which included my stereo, clothes, pots and pans plus treasured electric beer signs.

   Growing up in grade school, there were occasional fights between people and one person would kick “the stuff” out of the other. Not sure what the stuff that got kicked out is exactly or where it remains but it must be something bad for the “destuffed” person to lose. One time a girlfriend told me to “grab my stuff and get out of her life!” Stuff there meant my coat, a few beers out of the refrigerator, and a newly acquired picture showing me kissing another girl

at a recent party.

   For me, the most confusing meaning of the word "stuff” is when I receive feedback from people, mostly friends and family, saying I have issues or stuff I need to deal with. For example, I hear that I am stubborn (I prefer the word persistent), obsessed (how about the word focused?), immature (I think youthful), a poor listener (a discerning listener?), emotionally out of touch (I am thinking stoic), irresponsible (can we agree on carefree?), unethical (I like boundary tester) and selfish (let's call it selective sharer).

   All of this feedback or stuff would bother me if I didn't know and believe that God does not create junky people full of “stuff.” We are all unique in our talents, perceptions, experiences, personalities, and physical appearance. He has a plan for each of us to achieve 100% of our potential if we can discover and live it.

   Given this insight, I realize even God has junk! What about that asteroid belt circling around our solar system between Mars and Jupiter? It is a bunch of stuff including debris, minor planets, asteroids, and irregularly shaped objects. When God got done creating the universe did He just leave this mess for someone else to clean up? What is he going to do with these leftovers if there isn't enough to make one more planet? Is He like my teenage children in that He will get to it next after He is done doing whatever it is He is doing?

   There is an old joke in Africa that God made the wildebeest out of leftover animal body parts! I am sure God has a plan for that asteroid belt stuff too!

   God has stuff, I have stuff, you have stuff, everybody has stuff. Having stuff is part of existence. If we have stuff that means we are alive and living. That is a good thing and why stuff is so important.

Hot Time

It was a hot time in the old town that night.

One year for Thanksgiving my wife Paula challenged me to make a holiday feast.

I am a great fan of Racheal Ray, the TV cooking personality. One of her shows featured a one hour Turkey dinner. Perfect.

We invited 12 of our friends and relatives. The invitation read:

“You are cordially invited to a Thanksgiving feast. There is, however, a requirement to attend. Everyone will be the cook. Arrive by 3pm. We will eat at 5.”

The menu featured boneless turkey breasts. Myself and two guests were tasked with cooking the turkey. It was pan baked. I placed two breasts in each of two large cast iron skillets with salt and pepper. In a sauce pan someone combined and heated grainy mustard, maple syrup, and rosemary (from my garden). Chicken stock was poured into the frying pans and the maple rosemary glaze was poured over the turkey. Both skillets were placed in a 375° oven.

Meanwhile, the stuffing was to be Chipotle Cornbread. It was a traditional stuffing, except that instead of sage the recipe called for canned chipotle peppers. Three of our guests made the stuffing. One guest cubed the stale bread and chopped the onions, celery and garlic. It was also her job to chop the chipotle. The other two guests melted butter, prepared the frying pans and baking dishes and combined ingredients to be cooked. The stuffing was placed in the oven with the turkey.

While the turkey and stuffing were cooking two other of our guests boiled and mashed potatoes. They added melted butter, chives and garlic. Finally, a package of Boursin garlic and chives soft cheese was added. 

The whole mixture was stirred and warmed on the stovetop.

Half way through the turkey baking (30 minutes) I basted the turkey with the glaze in the skillets. Later, the gravy would be made from these drippings.

The stuffing came out of the oven a beautiful golden brown.

The turkey filled the house with a marvelous odor.

I sliced the turkey and placed it on a serving platter garnished with fruit.

Paula had made the salad. Others prepared fresh cranberry sauce.

The rest of the guests set the table. Some poured ice water and wine.

We were all seated for dinner just a hour and a half after we began cooking.

We served ourselves family style, piling turkey, maple rosemary gravy, fruit, stuffing, potatoes, cranberries and salad onto our plates. The event fell silent as everyone dug in.

From the far end of the table I heard a small moan. The exclamations rolled down the table toward me like a rogue ocean wave. People were waving at their mouths and reaching for their water. The words, “stuffing, hot, yikes, burning…” crested from the rumble and crashed onto my ears.

There was something wrong with the stuffing. I turned to the stuffing crew. They were even more distressed than the rest. The person who chopped the stuffing ingredients had a horrified look on her face.

“It’s the chipotle!” she said. “When reading the requirement for ‘one small canned chipotle pepper’, I must have seen ‘one small can of chipotle peppers’.”

Thankfully, when we recovered from the heat, we all forgave the cook and enjoyed the rest of the meal.

-rickiT 

A Place To Keep Things by Don Taco ( copyright 2014)

 A Place To Keep Things                                                                            

 by Don Taco

when I was just a child

they sent me off to grade school

my mother bought a brand new box of pencils

she was shocked

to learn before too long

I gave away the pencils

cause I was fascinated by the box

look! a place to keep things

I can put things in here

I can use this for the things I find

I can fill the box with things

I'm keeping in my pockets

I don’t think my mom and dad will mind

when we were first engaged

I scraped up a down payment

and showed a cottage to my bride to be

she could see

the kichen and the yard

had definite potential

the walk in closets captivated me

look! a place to keep things

I can put things in here

I can use this for the things I find

I can fill the closet with

the things I keep in boxes

I don’t think my family will mind

as the years went by

I filled up both garages

lined the attic space and filled that too

wouldn’t you

paved the whole back yard

bought some vans and campers

and invested in a shed or two

look! a place to keep things

I can put things in here

I can use this for the things I find

I can fill the sheds with things

I used to keep in closets

I don’t think the neighborhood will mind

now I'm old and grey and

I can’t even lift the boxes

my doctor got real solemn and he said

change your ways

he tried to scare me good, by

showing me a coffin, I

don’t think he expected me to say

look! a place to keep things

I can put things in here

I can use this for the things I find

I reject the notion

you can’t take it with you

I don’t think the man upstairs will mind

I can’t wait to see what else I find

Art Turns Romantic by Don Taco (copyright 2018 )

Art Turns Romantic 

by Don Taco

we're born alone, there's no denying that

we die alone, they say that can be tough

but in between, if we get lucky, just the way I did

there's us, there's you and me, and all our stuff

there's folks who see no value in what others have cast out

they don't see why you'd gather things and keep them lying about

I guess they've never been so poor they had to wheel and deal

or fret about what they could sell to purchase their next meal

there's no one you can bluff, the times are always tough

it's vitally important to have stuff

we die alone, no matter who's around

we're born alone, hands empty, in the buff

but in between, if we get lucky, just the way I did

there's us, there's you and me, and all our stuff

I had a carburetor once, well, part of it, at least

my neighbors turned their noses up, they just saw rust and grease

a man came by one day who was restoring salvaged tanks

he paid me ninety dollars and gave his eternal thanks

when push comes down to shove, like diamonds in the rough

it's vitally important to have stuff

we live alone, until we find a mate

a mate who fits our hand just like a glove

and after that, if we get lucky, just the way I did

there's you and me and all the stuff we love

there's folks who say the stuff we own defines us and our needs

and others who think you can have enough, they call it greed

if there's one thing I've learned, one thing I know without a doubt

you never know what's valuable until you throw it out (not that we've ever done that)

don't give me any guff, I can't say it enough

it's vitally important to have stuff

Him: your stuff or mine?

Her: how can I decide?? can't we keep both???

(They gaze longingly and embrace)

and I would share my stuff with you, my stuff could all be yours

collecting more and sorting could become our favorite chores

and you could share your stuff with me, your stuff could all be mine

and we could gather more stuff all the time

there's us, there's you and me, a couple old console teevees

a cast iron skillet just like gramma had, the handle's bad

a dozen broken stoves, some hubcaps we found by the road

the national geographics from the year mom married dad

there's us, there's you and me, aluminum fake christmas trees

the tupperware mom had when we were kids, without the lids

some things that don't have names, a lot of old bicycle frames

and bricks, enough to build the pyramids

they're trying to make us make out like we can make do with less

we have no choice, we have to call their bluff

they just don't comprehend the value of this stuff, I guess

I'm not convinced we'll ever have enough

how can they call it greed, they don't know what you'll need

you can't pursue the arts, if you don't have the parts

the times are always rough, I hope we have enough

it's vitally important to have stuff

there's only you and me against the world wth all our stuff