The Annual Christmas Letter

So. Another year. The best wishes of the various Beckers are rained upon you and yours. After some lengthy consideration regarding sending out last years Christmas letter again and seeing if anyone noticed.... here we go. We do of course have a theme and that is a year of celebration for the Beckers...perhaps too much.

It was a great year when I think about it. The family celebrated Pat’s graduation from High School, Jon’s 21st birthday and Sandy and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary. I should just end the letter there but you have to be on the edge of your seat wondering what goes on minutiae-wise over the year in a family in which the major form of showing one another affection is cooking bacon. The Becker children continue to celebrate their migration away from our smothering neglect (and our basement).

Jon celebrated the first semester on Valparaiso’s program abroad in Cambridge England. He was very brave as he was living in a house in Cambridge with two other boys and thirteen girls. Every Thursday class ended at noon and then they would travel until Sunday night or in some cases Monday morning. He has had an excellent time and although he is broke after working the summer at Arcadia I think he is grateful for the experience. He plans to go back to Arcadia as head server or wherever they tell him to work. We are also celebrating his relationship with the lovely Lydia Schaffenar.

While we worried about whether Pat would ever move out of our basemen, God has blessed him (and us) richly by taking him to Truman State in Kirksviville where he is celebrating college life and an independent life. He thinks he might major is Psychology and is also taking some drama classes. Pat made a trip to Spain and ate several things that were not officially “pizza” and I believe also bought a sword. Quite a trip. Seriously, he had a great time and it was an awesome experience for him.

Laura is celebrating still living with us although Sandy and I continue to insist that we are “empty nesters”. Although neighbors have called the Missouri Division of Children’s Services several times on neglect hotlines, she is still hanging tough. We are told that Laura is in her sophomore year at Lutheran South. She continues to play tennis and is busy with Student Council and trying not to get her cell phone taken away. Laura is frequently in love with several boys although the Arcadia boys seem to have the inside track. Laura is trying to fill up the vacuum in our basement in Pat’s absence. She turns 16 in January and has aged me significantly with practicing hitting curbs and smaller, un-tethered animals.

Sandy is working more and plans to work even more at Cummings & Ristow. She likes work and is generally smarter and more industrious then her husband. Her work is challenging but she is very diligent and focused so of course they love her. Sandy is celebrating that we bought a house in Michigan. I thought was for the whole family but was primarily it was purchased so that she would not be separated from her dogs. Sandy now has a Facebook status....”Married To Mike Becker (still)”. Although she continues to serve our Church and Community Bible Study her greatest act of Christian charity would have to be keeping the rest of the world safe from me.

Mike...Mike... what does Mike do? With the economic down turn I am busy at Hepler Broom trying to take care of his clients and not billing enough hours. The firm has been kind enough to let me stay there for another year. I have been taking a course this last year at Meramec and am considering getting a Masters Degree in something other then law. The highlight of the year for me had to be celebrating our 25th with a party and also with a trip to europe (where I had never been). We visited Jon in Cambridge (for about 20 minutes and some bad food) on our way to a week traveling around France and it was sweet. Sandy’s patience is great.

So once again, we look back, we take stock and with a couple of minor twinges... we smile gratefully at how God has blessed us. I know it is a recurring theme in these little missives but without all of you, we are poorer and sadder. So from the Beckers a big, fat, beautiful, perfect, warm and well loved Christmas, and thank you for another Blessed Year of your love and friendship.

ANOTHER YEAR!

Things I was wrong about in 2008. Well... their were quite a few of them but the big blog ones are as follows:






1. I was wrong about the troop surge. Though I still do not know what we accom plished with the whole debacle and still believe were dramatically damaged our selves economically, morally, emotionally and in every other way. History will judge Bush’s war of choice. But the surge, after 4 years of disaster, provided an exit strategy. I was wrong. Very wrong even. An idiot. there... I said it.
2. I said I would never have the opportunity to pay under $2.00 a gallon for gas again. Granted I was not predicting the worst economy since the great depres sion but still....$1.31 is what I think I paid last tank so once again... I was wrong...very, very wrong.
3. Although I did not publish it I figured my wife would finally leave me in 2008. Wrong.
4. I thought the Cubs would fold in the second half of the season. Instead they toyed with the hearts of Chicago into the post season....before folding like a cheap deck chair.
These are the big ones I am thinking of and that is not too, too bad for a humble diner reviewer. I was right about Obama being the nominee and the President. I called it hard and early.
2008 was not a particularly good year for me for some reasons which will be left unsaid. 2007 was not a banner year either so I am officially calling 2009 as the year of the diner reviewer. I am committing myself to the following things for 2009 in no particular order:
1. Having more fun.
2. Finding funny things in the year.
3. Taking slightly better care of myself.
4. Blogging consistently. (sadly the world needs The Diner Review)
5. Try and find something fulfilling to do.. or more fulfilling to do. This does not really mean a new job. In fact in this economy it definitely does not mean that.
6. Learn how to bake bread at home
7. Having more fun (did I say that?)
8. Not be wrong about anything big.
Disasters of the year in no particular order:
1. Tim Russerts Death
2. Kirkwood City Hall shootings.
3. Economic collapse
4. $4.00 a gallon gas...for a while.
That seems like plenty.
In the mean time I solicit your advice...Humbly. Do we want the focus of this thing to be on:
*Politics
*Commentary
*Diner reviews
*Book Reviews
*CD Reviews
*Concert Reviews
*Gossip
*Or What?
Help a brother out. In January we are going to be reviewing a couple of diner’s south of the border (the St. Louis County border) and doing the best of 2008 thing and then some Obama stuff. Should be a hoot. God’s Blessings in 09. Lets make it a funny, fulfilling year.

Boom Boom

Some people look at the way things are and say why.
Some People think of the way things should be and say, “why not”.
Lately I just look at things and think....what the fuck?

***
Have you ever had thoughts about things that that you have never seen but you imagine that you have seen them because they are so perfect and you cannot get them out of your head.

A horse and a flea and three blind mice

Sat on a curbstone shooting dice

The horse he slipped and fell on the flea

"Whoops," said the flea, "There's a horse on me!"

I have been having such a moment with this song and what I envision is Tom Waits at a microphone singing it.

Boom, boom, ain't it great to be crazy?

Boom, boom, ain't it great to be crazy?

Giddy and foolish the whole day through

Boom, boom, ain't it great to be crazy?

I do not know why I find this vision so totally compelling but i do know that I do. When I look around at george Bush’s America and the suffering we have wrought by our own hands it just seems...apropos.

Way down South where bananas grow

A flea stepped on an elephant's toe

The elephant cried, with tears in his eyes

"Why don't you pick on someone your own size?"

Indeed. With all of Waits naturally bent lyrics and romanticism isn’t this one that he should of covered? I mean he covered the eagles “Old 55” which was not a bad song, but it was after all just the Eagles. If he could sing the bad rhyme, “well the sun went so quickly, I went licketysplittly...” certainly he could sing this.

Boom, boom, ain't it great to be crazy?

Boom, boom, ain't it great to be crazy?

Giddy and foolish the whole day through

Boom, boom, ain't it great to be crazy?

In the current times it just seems like it would be such an awesome anthem. The bank bail out. The proposed car company bail outs... unemployment, bankruptcy, Brittany Spears coming back?

Way up North where there's ice and snow

There lived a penguin and his name was Joe

He got so tired of black and white

He wore pink slacks to the dance last night!

Blagojevich. Talk about crazy. Crazy as a shit house rat. Sociopath. And a stupid one. not crazy like a fox, at least not anymore. Just plain, stinking, stupid, crazy. A cancer on his family, his party and his state.

Boom, boom, ain't it great to be crazy?

Boom, boom, ain't it great to be crazy?

Giddy and foolish the whole day through

Boom, boom, ain't it great to be crazy?

Depression can lead to voices like this. Voices in your head just kind of overwhelmed by all the back ground noise of all the craziness. Self medicating with booze while watching MSNBC or even worse FOX as people you know buy guns to protect themselves and hoard can goods and water in their basement...



Eli, Eli had some socks

A dollar a pair and a nickel a box

The more you wear 'em the better they get

And you put 'em in the water and they don't get wet!

Wait’s has sung so many great songs. “Nighthawks At The Diner”, “Blue Valentines”, “Jersey Girl”, “Jesus Gonna be Here”, “Get Behind the Mule”. He always said that he was fascinated by the sound coming from down the hall. Leaky pipes or a crying baby. it is all music. In a crazy way.



Boom, boom, ain't it great to be crazy?

Boom, boom, ain't it great to be crazy?

Giddy and foolish the whole day through

Boom, boom, ain't it great to be crazy?

Lots of distress in the world right now. Lots of people not knowing where their next check might be coming from. In the mean time Bernie Madoff defrauds rich people and charities and banks out of 50 billion dollars. Seriously? 50 billion? Who knew until June or so of this year that there was even 50 billion dollars in the world and this guy is able to run a ponzi scheme that big?



Called myself on the telephone

Just to hear that golden tone

Asked myself out for a date

Said be ready 'bout half-past eight!

In a house of the blind the one eyed man is king. I am not sure if the same is true in a madhouse. i a slightly more sane person at an advantage or a disadvantage in a world that seems to have gone mad?



Boom, boom, ain't it great to be crazy?

Boom, boom, ain't it great to be crazy?

Giddy and foolish the whole day through

Boom, boom, ain't it great to be crazy?

In the mean time, Waits, singing this song (which he has never sung) resonating in my mind like a cancer, like a kiss. Chiding me. Soothing me. making me cry and making me smile as the gravelly voice rolls along the bottom of a smoky stream, just.... observing.



Took myself to the picture show

Sat myself on the very last row

Wrapped my arms around my waist

Got so fresh I slapped my face!

Bush, on his way out. leaving a mess of unparalleled proportions for Obama. Going to iraq and getting shoes thrown at his head. A crazy man who does not even know he is crazy. Shambling along, cannot get out of office quick enough. But it is too late. Too late for a legacy. Too late for kind words. Too late for anything but a shoe, narrowly missing a quick dodging head.



Boom, boom, ain't it great to be crazy?

Boom, boom, ain't it great to be crazy?

Giddy and foolish the whole day through

Boom, boom, ain't it great to be crazy?

I never noticed till I downloaded the lyrics that the chorus is a question. Maybe THE question.

Hiatus

While the diner seeks an appointed position the Diner Review is on Hiatus. This happens on sitcoms all the time.

Diner review: best of 2008 In Preocess

The Diner review is seeking the help of loyal readers. each year I put together a best of the diner review mix. It strikes me that putting it out in December is too late. It also strikes me that there must of have been some brilliant things out this year that i have not heard. Therefore I am publishing this mix early and accepting contributions and suggestions to modify and augment. These are not sequenced at this point so... forgive me.

Song Artist

Mansford Roof : Vampire Weekend

New York: Cat Power

Angel: The Wood Brothers

Lovecraft In Brooklyn: The Mountain Goats

“Woke up afraid of my own shadow Like, Genuinely afraid Headed for the pawnshop To buy myself a switchblade Someday somethings coming From way out beyond the stars To kill us while we stand here It will store our brains in mason jarsAnd then the girl behind the counter asks "How do you feel today?" and I say "I feel like Lovecraft in Brooklyn!"

Sausalito: Conor Oberst

Sick of Love: Takeover UK

Lost Coastlines : Okkervil River

Big Easy: Rafael Saadiq

Bitch Went Nuts : Ben Folds

Falling Down Again Buick MacKane

Paint the Rust: The Dodos

Few Words in Defense... Randy Newman

You know it kind of pisses me off. That this Supreme Court is going to outlive me. A couple of young Italian fellas and a brother on the Court now, too. But I defy you, anywhere in the world, To find me two Italians as tightassed as the two Italians we got And as for the brother, well Pluto's not a planet anymore either

Handelbars: Flobots

Souled Out: Conor Oberst

Whiskey In My Whiskey: The Felice Brothers

“I put some Whiskey, in my whiskey
I put some heartache, into my heart.
I put my boots, on the old dance floor.
I put three rounds Lord, in my 44.”

Beaumont: Haes Carll

Down Together: Colin Meloy

Emma: Emmanuel Jai

Cowboys: Counting Crows
***
Out of sadness and hopelessness I am also putting this out on Facebook. That is pathetic even for me. For God’s sake....HELP ME. Help me help you. Help America! Do not be a hater.

Post Election Erata....blah, blah, blah

Down in the mouth and not half right
but I can feel the changes comin on
bloom like flowers in bluest night
bloom like the sunlight in my song*


Sooooo... I started writing a little on election night and other then responding to some Facebook posts... I didn’t have anything I thought was meaningful to say. I mean everyone said everything and in a 24 hour news cycle they said it about180,000 times already. So I waited... I watched.... I listened. I learned nothing.
****
Lutheran kids are by a large part angry and somewhat hate filled about the election. That propbably is not fair, I am sure it is just a vocal minority to full of hate but wow. What have these kids got to be so angry about? And why hate Obama? Do their parents hate him that bad? Even if they do shouldn’t the kids be rebelling against that? And what does it say about how we are raising them up as Christians that they have so much angry bile that they are willing to lay out on the web for everyone to see.
****
Mc Cain’s speech was an excellent piece of work. Grace filled. Generous. Funny and serious. It was everything that made me and a lot of other Americans like and admire him for years. It is too bad that such a quality person had to lose. I was worried that they would allow Sarah Palin to break tradition and give her own concession speech. I would not have cared for that.
****
The post election attacks on Palin are embarrassing and unforgivable. And not on her part. I do not think she was ready to be VP much less President but there is no reason to think that she is not spenty intelligent. I have no idea what the agenda is of the poeple who are stabbing at her anonymously but they should be outed, fired and banned from election politics. really unforgivable.
****
all of the words you can't say right
burn my ass with anger to no end
I love my country so much man
like an exasperating friend *


I do not know what Obama is going to do or what he realistically can get done. Picking Rahm Emmanuel is not exactly a reaching acroiss the aisles type move. He sounds like a meticulous, dangerous guy but perhaps he is the guy who can get a job done. We are counting on Obama to surround himself with quality people. Lets hope he is one and that he turns out to be the first of many. I put a number of things on Facebook as a dream for this administration:
I have a dream that Obama gets elected and immediately does the following:
1. Offers Secretary of Defense job to John Mc Cain
2. Makes Petraus head of joint Chiefs of Staff
3. Offers Secretary of Treasury or Fed job to Warren Buffet and urges him to take it as a matter of public service.
4. Announces Hillary will fill next Supreme Court opening.
5. Shuts down our stock market for a week to retool the rules regarding program trading, hedge funds and over night trading and perhaps selling “futures” of things that are not actual commodities.
6. Consider closing the banks for a brief period to review them and open them again so that people have confidence in them.
7. Set aside 700 billion plan and start over. Do not allow the banks to have any money for mergers unless they are mergers directed by the FDIC. Use the money in a way that actually gets banks to lend.
8. Give the first great speech of this Millenium. remind the country that we are the greatest country in the world but help the country to redefine that greatness.
9. Ask Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reed to step down from their leadership positions in order to elect new leadership for our new challenges.
That is a lot.

***
I liked Obama’s speech but it was not transcendant. perhaps it did not mean to be. I was moved and not put off by Jesse Jackson’s tears.

yeah, i believe the war is wrong
don't believe that nations can be steered
lead the world by smarts and compassion
by example, not coercion, force and fear*

****
How great is it that Proposition 1 to provide mental health services to youth passed? A tax increase in a time of tremendous economic upset. That is a nice sign about people in St. Louis County and I did not expect it at all.

****
So.... where was i when Barack Obama made history? I was in my shower I believe when they called the elction for him. Granted it was a foregone conclusion before then. We sat at home all night and watched returns come in. I was looking for Indiana, Ohio or Florida to tip for Obama and that would seel it. the fact that they called Pennsylvania so quickly was a sign and the close races in Virginia, North Carolina, Indiana and Missouri which all were supposed to be Red states also boded well. When they called Florida and ohio it was over. The west coast was just gravy.
Looking at the map was a little depressing. It looked almost like a civil war map. Creepy.

****
There is of course the inevitable talk of a new alignment of politics in our country and it just seems so absurd to me. Obama won for among other reasons that the republicans have had the White House for the last eight years. He also was a tremendous campaigner, an unbelievable speaker and someone who catalyzed something in the American populace. The idea that in four years or eight years that this Democratic mandate will continue is delusional. This was a case of people being sick of the administration and having a bright young star to chose to put their hopes in. This honeymoon will likely be over even faster then prior ones, especially if the Democrats in the House have their own agenda.

****
One of the problems with the expectations and hopes people have for Obama is the obvious thing that he cannot change anything. Only we can change things by changing what we do every day. We do not want to change. We do not want to conserve. We do not want to pay more taxes. We want to elect someone to do all the hard things for us but this is America. It comes down to us. That is really annoying.

***
In any case... this is still the greatest country in the world to live and we are all blest. Pray for our leaders. They are going to need it.

*Lyrics of "Move On" by Mike Doughty

DINER REVIEW ELECTION PREVIEW 2008

Sooooo... it is election eves, eve. The talking heads say Obama is lock but Mc Cain has momentum so it is not over. I do not know how those things gibe. The say Mc Cain has to run the table but figuring they have called some of the races wrong I will say if Mc Cain loses Ohio, Pennsylvania or Florida.... he is toast.

He was hilarious on SNL last night. He can make fun of himself and he does have timing. Somehow he let the campaign run him as a grumpy old man (and that is perhaps who he is) but that seems unfair. I like John Mc Cain. I like that he fights for what he believes in. I like that he got his reputation of speaking truth to power but i am voting for Obama because:

1. Mc Cain sold out his “crossing the aisle” I am a consensus maker and builder reputation when he chose a V.P. to pander towards a base which had no where else to go and he adopted the extension of the Bush tax cuts which he had made a career of opposing.

2. The choice of Palin also was just a poor choice for this election and the way she was handled is embarrassing. I am confident that she is smart, ambitious and has the best interests of the government at heart but... the way she was rolled out and pandered to the base was a mistake for a candidate who clearly has a lot going foe her.... even if I think i hate her.

3. He did not surround himself with people who could help him make good decisions in difficult time. Surrounding yourself with people who do not have good instincts is...Bushlike. Obama clearly ran a better, smarter campaign. Perhaps running a campaign is whole lot easier then running a government but if you cannot do one...

So I will show up at 6 in Webster and cast my vote. I have predictions.

1. Voter turnout will be huge but even with a massive increase in young voters (18-25) they will not show up and make the effort to vote.
2. Obama wins in landslide with 58% of popular vote, without the youth vote.
3. He has huge electoral college win leading idiot Democrats to do the same thing Karl Rove did and predict a fundamental turn in the electorate and a permanent democratic majority. This is...idiotic. Our country is deeply polarized and politics is cyclical. It is the Dems year and it is only because Obama is a charismatic leader. With anyone else at the top of the ticket (even Hillary) this is a nail biter and they do not win all those states.
4. The Dems have 59 in the Senate.
5. Obama is one term President.
6. Obama is so wrapped up in recession/depression problems that there is no timing or funding for health care reform or almost anything else.

The Republicans could still win this election. They need to promo Sarah Palin at a 50,000 person rally in Branson to get the whole crowd chanting “Obama, Pelosi and Reed...OH MY!” to the tune of “Lions and Tigers and Bears”. That is a scary thought. That could turn the whole thing around with a few prime time TV buys and huge You Tube press. Seriously, that could do it. Instead they will try and scare people in stupid and unscary ways like Bill Ayers and “socialism”...yawn. they deserve to lose. They have no imagination and that is the unkindest thing I can say.

****

MY DREAM
I have a dream that Obama gets elected and immediately does the following:
1. Offers Secretary of Defense job to John Mc Cain
2. Makes Petraus head of joint Chiefs of Staff
3. Offers Secretary of Treasury or Fed job to Warren Buffet and urges him to take it as a matter of public service.
4. Announces Hillary will fill next Supreme Court opening.
5. Shuts down our stock market for a week to retool the rules regarding program trading, hedge funds and over night trading and perhaps selling “futures” of things that are not actual commodities.
6. Consider closing the banks for a brief period to review them and open them again so that people have confidence in them.
7. Set aside 700 billion plan and start over. Do not allow the banks to have any money for mergers unless they are mergers directed by the FDIC. Use the money in a way that actually gets banks to lend.
8. Give the first great speech of this Millenium. remind the country that we are the greatest country in the world but help the country to redefine that greatness.

****

I don’t ask for much.
God’s Blessings. Go vote.