Hajinian Grocery Store

hollowolive:

Eventually, We All Work Our Way To The Top.

(via enormousorange)

kingzucchini:

A Story Of Salad

Gilberto just moved in.  To a house of Americans.  But he was Portuguese, from Lisbon, spoke no English and they spoke no Portuguese.  But they all shared the same hatred of geese and unclean kitchens.

He had left a girl in Lisbon, her name was Maya.  He hired a very expensive tag artist to tag her name and “amante” on the side of a school she passed every day on her walk to work,  And did he miss her. 

But how was he supposed to say it?  How could he express the complex thoughts inside of his head, or the aching that shook his marrow, or that he didn’t appreciate who kept stealing all his butter?  They spoke to him slowly and deliberately, as though he were retarded.

His pride endangered, his dignity wounded, he sat down and made a salad.  A tomato was his heart, “heart” he said, holding it up.  The way he cut it told them how he hurt, or why, or if, that day.  The lettuce was his work, whether it was bitter or juicy, satisfying or leaving wont.  Everything he laid the table he described deliberately so they could understand the way he truly felt.

And in this way his roommates could describe to him about their days.  And in doing this, they learned each other’s weeks, then months.  He learned their insecurities, and how they dealt with their histories popping up in their daily lives.  He did learn English, but he still preferred to conquer the language barrier with salad.

hollowolive:

Yeah, I See It.

kingzucchini:

N: “Dammit” is the greatest contraction ever created in the English language.

N: Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass” will always be more intimidating of a read than the Bible, because no one looks at the Bible and says “God, that’s a lot of poetry to wade through.”

N: Regrets are defined by the following phrase: I didn’t say anything, but here are a few scenarios I wish would have happened.

(via enormousorange)

hollowolive:

The Discovery of the Diode City.

(via enormousorange)

kingzucchini:

N: The average rainfall in Minneapolis in September is 2.5”. In August it is 3.6”. Cloud color can be described as steel blue, Davy’s grey. I have owned 4 umbrellas. My favorite was from London. It had an almost 8 ft wingspan and was pitch black, to intimidate clouds. The umbrella was invented in ancient Nineveh and Persepolis, possibly a result of parallel thinking. The collapsible umbrella was invented by Cao Wei in China, 1700 years ago. Drink umbrellas come in yellow, blue and magenta. Though there is no science behind which color umbrella go with which drink, one can argue that natural color theory applies. Complimentary colors find each other, making it likely that your yellow margarita would come with a magenta umbrella in it, and your screwdriver would come with a blue umbrella. Unless, of course, the beachside bar you’ve sidled up to has run out of them.

hollowolive:

Nice Parking.

kingzucchini:

N: Purple and green will forever, if put together, be associated with grapes.

N: Nothing rhymes with purple, silver, or orange. This makes sure that pictures will always, even to Wallace Stevens, be equal to or greater than a thousand words.

N: Signs should only encourage, never demand, that employees wash their hands. We all know people don’t like to be told what to do, but reasonable suggestions go a long way.

N: People will defend their local version of nursery rhyme to fisticuffs, but not necessarily war.

(via enormousorange)

hollowolive:

Lucy In The Sky With Bubbles

kingzucchini:

TV Round-Up

With all the channels available to us, it’s easier to find things hiding in the slipstream that carry a lot of heart but almost no production values. Maybe this is because we’ve all watched a lot of TV, and have defined tastes. Or maybe it’s because if there’s money to be made somewhere, a lot of people will try and make it. Either way, here’re some shows I’ve been enjoying lately:

Bluefin Bay.

This is a great mystery series, based in a sleepy Canadian town on a Great Lake (think suburb of Thunder Bay). In it, a Tom Selleck-esque retired fisherman just tries to enjoy his retirement, but ends up doing the right thing and solving the crimes that seem to find their way into sleepy towns. Murderers, embezzlers, rapists; they’ve all been caught by this angler. As cheesy as it sounds, my favorite part is the denouement where the fisherman invariable tells someone he’d love to help them with whatever (start their car, cat stuck in a tree), but he’s got bigger fish to fry.

Uncle Bob’s Electric Shop

Probably based on a local guy who set up a Radio Shack in the 60s, and now is still trying to keep the doors open. This show is all about obsoletes: obsolete stereotypes walk into the door every episode and the obsolete old man who reminds you of Archie Bunker’s slightly younger cousin tells them to get out using an obsolete phrase. Then, he’ll get a new product in designed to bring the young people and revenue into his store. But being obsolete, has no idea how to work it, so each demonstration goes horribly awry. This show is to the dying trades of electronics salesmen, jewelers, and cobblers what Fawlty Towers was to hoteliers.

(via enormousorange)