Welcome to my blog

You may be asking why anyone in their right mind would want to name a blog Fish Eyes and Veggies?  Years ago, I spent a some time living in the Philippine Islands on a really great adventure. While I was there, I had a teenage kid named Ruben who cooked all my meals, did all my shopping and cleaned house for just a few dollars a week. This was considered one of the best gigs in the village, since most men in the village dug ditches or hauled concrete blocks all day, making half what Ruben was making.

Ruben had a bad habit of cooking the fish with my veggies. First of all, I never like boiled fish. I prefer mine grilled or baked. But Ruben liked his fish boiled. So, in order to save gas (which also saved Ruben from making more trips to the market) he cooked the his fish and my veggies together in the same pot. No matter how many times I told him to stop doing it he still did it. He was like some 13 year old kid who just doesn't get what it means to change a bad behavior.

There were problems with cooking Ruben's fish and my veggies. First, all my veggies tasted like boiled fish. Not only was that not good, it made me want to gag. I think he did it on purpose because after about the forth time of trying to eat them and gagging my guts out, I finally gave Ruben my veggies to eat. Second, and this was the biggest issue of all, I always found the fish eyes floating in among the veggies.

Have you ever seen fish eyes that have been boiled out of the fish's head?  You just can't imagine it until actually see it. It's a rather nasty sight. You have the round fish eyes which change from a translucent clearness to a milky opaqueness. It looks kind of like a really big tapioca ball. What's worse is that attached to the eye is this nasty looking sack of jelly-like substance attached to it. I don't even know what to compare it to.  But I can tell you, it never left me with that feeling of, "Oh boy Ruben! You fixed fish eyes and veggies again. Thanks big guy!  Your my favorite house boy!!!"

Despite the nasty taste and look of the fish eyes floating in my cooked vegetables, I have thought about that experience again and again and again. I love to tell that story to my friends because it's just so weird. I have found that life seems to have a lot of those "fish eye" experiences. They seem just so bizarre, but they also fascinate us.

I hope to be able to share some of those experiences and observations that I've made in life. Some will be obviously weird while others may be inspiring and touching. This is my place to put into words what I see in the world around me. It's my sounding box. If you want to join me, come along for the ride. I'd love to have you join me. Feel free to email me and tell that I'm full of crap or that you agree with me. I have a skin so thick you could never offend me. Besides, if you get too irritating, I'll just block you. Enjoy the reading.

Steve