Daniel Greene

Category: Lifestyle

My views on politics, religion, health, intimacy, and more

  • I’m NOT Addicted to Pete’s Fish & Chips

    With all the “I’m Addicted to Pete’s Fish & Chips!” bumper stickers I’ve seen around the Valley, I would have thought I was missing out on a local legend (having never been to one myself).

    I’ll tell you a little secret though: those bumper stickers are free! If people had to pay for them, I don’t think there would be so many.

    I was starving after work yesterday, and here I was sitting in the drive-thru of Pete’s on 27th Ave & Van Buren, so I thought I’d take a commemorative shot of my first time at one of the legendary Pete’s. But I’m telling you the morning after driving the food home and eating it, it’s just a greasy mess! It’s not delicious or special or anything. It’s just over-greasy rectangular slabs of fried fish on top of over-greasy shoestring fries. So, I don’t love Pete’s Fish & Chips; in fact, I don’t even like them!

  • Just Married!



    Just Married!
    Originally uploaded by Daniel Greene.

    I’m posting this on the one-week anniversary of our legal same-sex marriage in California. Since I took it with my Sidekick and uploaded it to Flickr right after our civil ceremony, it’s been viewed (as of this writing) 199 times, had received 53 comments, and 6 people call it a favorite.

    A million thanks to all who made it possible for us to get married legally!

  • The Rich Can Play Prisoner!



    Sing Sing Prison Food Tray
    Firebox.com amazing gifts

    I saw this product today at La Grande Orange, an upscale culinary boutique in Phoenix, AZ and tried to post a cellphone photo of it, but it was very poor, so I’m simply referring to a webpage that sells the same product.

    For $14, you can be the brave and free owner of this orange melamine cafeteria tray, a genuine replica of the food trays used by prisoners of Sing Sing!

    I can’t help but recognize the same irony that Michael Moore documented in his account of the prison that held a fundraiser, and for a pretty penny wealthy patrons could be locked up in a real cell by a real uniformed prison ward!

    Don’t get me wrong: it’s a cute tray, and I love melamine for its retro appeal, but we don’t need crass materialism to remind us of the gap between the haves and have-nots.

    Or do we?

  • In Memory…



    In Memory…
    Originally uploaded by Daniel Greene.

    …of all those who have died in service to the United States of America.

    I almost kept this post to just that first sentiment, “In memory of all those who have died in service to the United States of America.” But that would be too safe. And I can imagine being criticized for copping out and pandering to blind patriotism.

    Yet I know that many Americans’ patriotism is not blind at all, but rather… forgiving. I am reminded of a story my Granny Greene recounted. She spoke of a woman she had known who worked for the USO during World War II. She said, “When you walked by a young man in the canteen and he patted your fanny, you just smiled and kept on walking. That’s patriotism!”

    And that’s what many of us do– smile and keep on walking. We know that countless men, and now women, have died in battles we wish had never begun. We know that the current war is not a popular war (and I use the word “popular” not only in the sense of “well liked” but also “of the people” because many American know that this is not our war, but a war waged by politicians either we didn’t vote for or we regret voting for). And we know that some people make it hard to be proud to be an American. And yet we forgive these deaths, these wars, and these people. We smile and keep on walking. We are proud to be American not only because of everything that is American, but in spite of things we might not quite approve of.

    I believe we have more reasons to be proud of our country than to be ashamed of it. And we must always remember that no matter whether or not we believe in war, our countrymen and countrywomen who have died in wars deserve our gratitude and our honor. We cannot know what it is like to fight in wars unless we have fought in them. But we can remember the inestimable value of every human life and have the deepest respect for each individual who gave his or her life for America.

    And let us not allow patriotism to blind us to the value of each and every human life lost on the other side as well. Our enemies are not necessarily evil, at least not down to every last person who has fought us in honor of their country. We must remember the fallen not only here, but there as well. We must force ourselves to have some compassion for the mothers, fathers, wives, husbands, sisters, brothers, daughters, and sons who have lost their beloved family members to these wars.

    And we must work toward peace for our sake and for theirs.

  • Is This Extra Extra Lettuce?

    I’d like a vote: is this what you would call extra extra lettuce on a BLT (Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato) sandwich?

    I call it barely enough lettuce for a regular BLT. The first time I ordered one of these from the cafe in my office building, they served it with one thin piece of green leaf lettuce. So the second time I asked for “extra lettuce” and I got two thin leaves of green lettuce. The third time, I asked if they had any iceberg lettuce to make the sandwich wetter. They said no, so I asked for “extra extra” lettuce, and I got this: two or three leaves of thin green lettuce.

    And don’t give me any guff about being a Jew and eating bacon and kvetching about the lack of lettuce when I said I’d try to complain less. 😉 This isn’t complaining, it’s critiquing. I’m a food critic now; haven’t you heard? Of course I’m grateful to have food to eat (God knows we live in a world in which people starve to death), but I still have my wishes, and I wish for a moist BLT with lots of lettuce. Yeah! =)