Author: Jim Santos
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Queen and I
We’ve gone overboard on every album. But that’s Queen.– Freddie Mercury Back in the States now, we’ve been catching up on our streaming of series and movies. One of the first movies on the list, was the Oscar-nominated Bohemian Rhapsody. In case you’ve been living under a rock since the 70’s, the movie presents some of the…
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Winter Strawberries
Rita and I recently returned to our home in Salinas on the southern Pacific Coast of Ecuador after our longest time away in the last five years. Between taking care of some business in the States, attending the International Living Boot Camp Conference in Santa Fe, and enjoying Thanksgiving with family, we were away from…
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For of Flying in Baños
There’s a moment of clarity, just before you begin, when you think calmly to yourself, “Why am I doing this?” Then the calm is shattered by sheer terror as you are flung out over the abyss. Now your brain is screaming “WHY AM I DOING THIS?!” This was my experience with the “Casa del Arbol”…
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Locked in Cages
I am an American. I was born in Annapolis Maryland, one of the oldest cities in the nation. I’ve lived and worked in her small towns, her big cities, and some of her beautiful rural lands. We own property in America, pay taxes, and are registered voters. I did tech support in the US Senate,…
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My 2nd 5th Anniversary
Today I celebrate my second fifth wedding anniversary, by which I mean the fifth year of my second marriage. It seems a good time to reflect on a few things, and I’ve been trying to sort out and identify my feelings about “the institution of marriage”. We hear a lot that the “institution” is threatened…
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What is the Shape of Water Anyway?
I saw an interesting post on Facebook over the weekend. Someone asked if anyone had seen the movie “The Shape of Water” and liked it. OP apparently did not like it at all, and wanted anyone who did enjoy the movie to explain why they liked it. I almost commented – in fact, I did…
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Confessions of a Gumbo Junkie
I could feel the urge building over the last few weeks, and then this Sunday, it finally happened. I woke up with a raging gumbo-ner. I just had to make my favorite New Orleans meal. Gumbo is not something to be taken casually. It is not one of those “one pot” dinners that you can…
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At Long Last, Yes
On April 7th 2017, a great injustice was finally rectified. The band “Yes” was finally inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. This has been long overdue. Yes, in its various combinations and incarnations, was one of the best bands going for decades. Their music was a big influence in my life, and as…
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I Hope You Don’t Meme That!
Phone the neighbors, wake the kids, it is time for another Facebook rant! Today’s topic: the misuse of memes as proof of the further dumbing down of America by Facebook. Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few decades, you have run across memes on the Internet. Technically, a meme can be…
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50 Years Ago on June 3rd – A Music Historical Event
I wonder how many people know the significance of June 3rd in the world of popular music? And this year, 2016 is the 50th anniversary of this important event. Give up? June 3, 2016 will be 50 years since Billie Joe McAllistar jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge. How many of you just heard a bunch of…
