Three Beautiful Things 11-17-2025: Rice Pudding and Bach, I Was Somnolent, Swiss Steak Stew

 1. Rice pudding. 

It might have been the culprit. 

An 18th century Russian diplomat named Count Hermann Karl von Keyserlingk suffered from insomnia. 

Since Kris Kristofferson had not yet gotten around to writing "Help Me Make It Through the Night", 
J. S. Bach's first biographer wrote that Count von Keyserlingk commissioned Bach to compose pieces that would be soothing and lively enough to help the Count, well, make it through the night. 

And, so, Bach composed The Goldberg Variations. 

I wondered today if possibly rice pudding was what kept the Count awake. 

You see, when Copper and I hit the hay Sunday night after I'd enjoyed our family dinner, I couldn't sleep. 

I didn't toss and turn, in deference to Copper's insistence that I stay still through the night. 

I did read some. I did put the Classical for Sleep channel on Sirius/XM. 

Eventually, by about 2:30 or 3:00, I slept off and on until I arose. 

Looking back, I'm wondering if rice pudding kept me awake. 

Sunday night's rice pudding wasn't super sweet, but it did have sugar in it and I'm wondering if that sugar revved up my system and kept me awake. 

I'll never know, but I'm curious now if historians of Russian diplomacy dug into the culinary life of the good Count Hermann Karl von Keyserlingk, would they find that he had an insatiable desire for and could not resist eating bowls of 

RICE PUDDING?

2. Sleep deprivation shaped my day. Luckily, I wasn't crabby, so Copper and Gibbs didn't suffer any ill consequences of my lack of sleep, but for most of the day I was in a somnolent state. 

I completed Wordle, Quordle, Waffle, Connections, and Strands. 

I blogged. 

I slept. 

An afternoon nap helped lift me mostly out of my lethargy. 

I took a day off from exercising. 

3. Christy sent me home Sunday evening with some leftover Swiss steak (no rice pudding) and in my wide-eyed and bushy tailed state after my nap, I played with it. 

I sliced a half a white onion and peeled and chopped up a yam. 

I fired up some oil in the wok and cooked the onion and yam and then added in some frozen corn kernels.

I cubed the Swiss steak and added it, along with the Swiss steak sauce into the wok and thoroughly enjoyed the stew I had almost accidentally made. 

I had some leftover rice in the fridge but decided not to use it tonight in case I decide later on to make some rice pudding. 

And do an insomnia test. 

Three Beautiful Things 11-16-2025: Sunday Journeys, Swiss Steak Family Dinner, Paul Simon Seminar

 1. I left the house today! 

I went on a road trip all the way uptown to Beach Bum Bakery where I bought a delicious apple fritter and three Everything bagels. My odyssey continued when I survived the grueling drive to Smelterville for a 20 oz latte to enjoy with the fritter I bought. 

I returned home, enjoyed my sweet breakfast, and then girded my loins and went on another journey all the way to Yoke's and bought a few staples and managed to complete the circle of my journey by returning home again. 

2. Christy planned and hosted a superb dinner tonight. Paul, Carol, and I arrived at Christy's around 5:30. The family members not taking immunosuppressive drugs enjoyed a great cocktail, the Dark and Stormy. I, too, enjoyed my potable, a bottle of ginger beer. 

We snacked on vegetables and with two dips, Original Bitchin' Sauce and a spinach artichoke dip. 

Before long, it was time for the main event -- one of my favorite meals ever since I stopped eating jars of Gerber's. 

Christy fixed Swiss Steak using a sirloin tip and fixed mashed potatoes. Carol baked and toasted really satisfying homemade buttermilk bread, and I brought a mess of green beans seasoned with crispy bacon, roasted almond slivers, Everything But the Bagel seasoning, and a light coat of bacon grease. 

For dessert, Christy fixed a wonderful rice pudding. Not only did I thoroughly enjoy it, I've been thinking that with all the rice I prepare during any given week, I ought to start making rice pudding. Mostly, I tend to use leftover rice to make a rice and egg scramble. I am kind of crazy about dried fruit, though, and the prospect of fixing rice pudding with raisins or dried apricots or other dried fruits has me kind of excited. 

3. Once Carol mentioned that she had just watched a documentary movie about Paul Simon, our dinner conversation became focused on Simon's long music career, Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians, my confusion about Natalie Merchant and the 10,000 Maniacs, Mumford and Son and Jerry Douglas, the making of "We Are the World", the movie The Graduate, ABA/NBA legend Connie Hawkins, Graceland, the thorny question of cultural appropriation,  and any number of other topics inspired by the mere mention of Paul Simon. 

We did not, however, talk about any ways to leave your lover nor did we discuss how we are always slip sliding away. 

Three Beautiful Things 11-15-2025: Listening to Interviews, Gibbs is Boss, Scrounging Up a Salad

 1. I spent a couple of hours over at The Bulwark today listening to Tim Miller interview David Frum and to Sarah Longwell converse with Robert Draper. I enjoy listening to journalists, writers, and thinkers who have what I'd call flexible points of view, who have been and are still willing to adjust their outlook as warranted. I thought both Frum and Draper looked at what's been happening in the world over the last several months with an aerial view, able to see shifts (e.g. Marjorie Taylor Greene), conflicts (e.g. in the leadership space left by the assassination of Charlie Kirk and in the tensions that have arisen since Tucker Carlson's interview of Nick Fuentes), and what we might see in the future with a wide lens, with a mostly dispassionate tone and a keen sense of how complex and complicated things in our world always are and always have been. 

2. As I've written before, sometimes I think it's best for our neighborhood to bring Gibbs in the house when he goes on a barking jag in the back yard. 

For months now, he's been very good about coming to the back porch when I say his name in a quiet voice. I never yell at Gibbs. 

I lure him into the house and reward his obedience with shredded sharp cheddar cheese. 

Well, Gibbs got wise to this obey/reward strategy of mine and has created one of his own. 

Now, from time to time, he'll ask to go outside, not because he needs to, but because he wants cheese.

Within a minute or so of going out, he'll bark at the back door. I open it to let him in and he looks at me, his eyes saying:

"Uh, cheese?"

I laugh, give him some cheese, and surrender to the reality of how both of us have a degree of control over the other -- and, I have to admit, I think Gibbs might have the upper paw! 

3. Writing, listening to interviews, racking up 3000 steps, solving puzzles, including the Sunday NYTimes crossword puzzle, being bossed around by Gibbs -- well, I just didn't feel like leaving the house today (not unusual for me). I knew I needed some groceries, but I figured I could make due with what I had on hand to fix a satisfying dinner. 

I was right. 

I drained the water out of a block of tofu. I popped open a can of Trader Joe's Greek Chickpeas, and pulled vegetables out of the fridge. I sorted out the last of my garden salad mix and put it in a bowl with carrots, red pepper, celery, yellow squash, some Greek chickpeas, and a handful of tofu cubes. 

It worked. 

I enjoyed the salad and I left room inside myself for a nice bowl of popcorn about ninety minutes later. 

Three Beautiful Things 11-14-2025: I Listen to More of Leah Sottile's Podcast, Kellogg Elks Burger Night, Quick Visit to The Lounge

 1. It's a terrible situation. 

On March, 13, 2019, eighteen year old Sarah Zuber left her home in Rainier, OR to take a walk around 11 p.m. Her sister found her dead in a ditch along the road about 400 feet from their home the next morning. 

It's an unsolved death.

In season 2 of the podcast, Hush, Leah Sottile tells the story of her investigation into this unsettling story. 

I listened to the second episode today. 

The episode moves in two directions.

The first direction fascinated me. 

Leah Sottile takes her listeners into a professional quandary she's working to sort out. 

She wonders what is the difference between the work she's doing as a journalist and the writing and broadcasting others do in the genre of True Crime books and podcasts and television shows and internet videos. 

Sottile expresses her devotion to journalistic ethics and how they guide her work in substantiating stories, verifying sources, and to investigate as a way of getting as close as possible to the truth, not concerning herself with being entertaining or fitting her story into a well-established true crime story telling formula. 

The second direction this episode takes involves the work of law enforcement as they have tried to figure out what happened to Sarah Zuber that night. 

Possibly, the most riddling dimension of this part of the story is the fact that the medical examiner changed her conclusion of Sarah's death from inconclusive to saying Sarah died by alcohol consumption and hypothermia. 

I don't know where Leah Sottile will take her investigation into the law enforcement's work or if she'll return to this changed autopsy report. 

I know that in Episode 3, she investigates the public's response to Sarha Zuber's death and the investigation. 

2. There was a time, not that long ago, when I would have, as they say, binge listened to this second season of Hush, even knowing all the episodes have not been posted yet. 

I can't do that anymore, though. 

Today, I needed time to digest the two episodes I've listened to and to get away from it for a day or two.

I picked the perfect way to get some distance from this awful story. 

I met Ed and Nancy uptown at the Elks for burgers. 

I had fun listening to others' stories and doing a little yakkin' myself.

I loved my burger. 

The burgers at the Elks are the perfect size for me. I don't know if the patties are a quarter pound or smaller than that and I couldn't tell you the circumference of the bun. 

All I can say with certainty is that they aren't huge and by being such a reasonable size, the Elks burger is perfect for me. 

The size is perfect and my burger was cooked perfectly and I totally enjoyed my side of fries. 

Thanks to my pre and post-transplant caution, I hadn't been to the Kellogg Elks for a burger for quite a long time and I was very happy that it felt right and safe to return and I look forward to going back for the next Burger Night on December 12th. 

3. After enjoying our burgers, Nancy, Ed, and I skipped across the street for a short session at The Lounge. 

We had a good time joking around about different things with Bob and Tracy and yakkin' some more with each other. 

Back home, I continued to relax with a bowl of popcorn and, taking my time, I managed to complete the always challenging, but fair and gimmick-free, Saturday New York Times crossword puzzle. 

I also achieved my current goal of 3000 steps a day and just that modest number of steps helped me sleep deeply and peacefully through the night. 

Three Beautiful Things 11-13-2025: Dr. Bieber Says Things Look Great!, Friends Encourage Me to Keep Moving, Scott and Kathleen Expand My Listening Options

1. If all goes according to plan, it will be three months before I open up my laptop and write about a post-transplant visit to a doctor's office. 

I did, however, have another one today. 

I honestly couldn't hope for a more positive visit. 

Dr. Bieber confirmed my observation that my lab numbers look great. My "bad" cholesterol is down. My filtration and creatinine numbers improved. My blood pressure was solid. I'm not retaining water in my lower legs or ankles to any concerning degree. The amount of protein in my urine decreased. 

Dr. Bieber liked my news that my in-home exercising has contributed significantly to alleviating me of the discomforts I've experienced over the last four months. 

So, I'll continue to go in for labs monthly (on Winning Wednesdays!) and I see Dr. Bieber in February and return to Sacred Heart in January and April for specialty blood work and in May for my next annual exam which will mark my transplant's second anniversary. 

2.  Because of entries I made here at kelloggbloggin', I've heard from several friends over the past few days. Byrdman, Terry T, Liz, Kathy H., Carol Y.. and Rich B wrote me encouraging messages in support of my efforts to get my body moving again. 

They all have experience with improving their well-being and I will imagine them being with me, encouraging me, holding me accountable as I work to stay in motion day after day.

3. I also received two wonderful responses to having mentioned my recent plunge into the symphonies of Johannes Brahms. 

Before I mention my friends, I've been thinking a lot about when Debbie and I used to hang out at the Old Line Bistro in Beltsville, MD. A good and enjoyable crowd of people hung out there and so there was a lot of great conversation at the bar and sometimes the talking nearly drowned out the music playing over the house sound system. 

But, from time to time, I'd hear a fragment of a song by Tom Petty or The Cars or Mumford & Sons ("The Boxer" featuring Jerry Douglas), Elle King and others and I'd snap to attention to that music and immediately know the song.

That's where I want to get with Brahms, and as long as were on the subject, Beethoven. 

It all comes from familiarity and I'm trying to grow more familiar with Brahms' symphonies and Beethoven's. 

Then when someone says to me, as Scott Dalgarno did yesterday, "You take them [Brahm's symphonies] in remembering that they are following in the wake of Beethoven's 9 symphonies. Who dare write a symphony after Beethoven's #3, 5, 7 and 9? But for my money the Brahms 2 (which I heard recently with the Oregon Symphony) seems every bit as monumental." 

I would love to be able to read this sentence and immediately have themes from the Beethoven symphonies Scott mentioned as well as Brahm's second all be at the front of my mind and memory. 

They aren't. 

"Running Down a Dream" is at the front. So is "Let's Go" and Jerry Douglas' dobro solo during "The Boxer". "X's & O's" lives in my memory -- even though I don't always remember Elle King's name (sigh). 

Right now, Brahm's 4th is getting close to being a permanent resident in my memory. 

But in order to fully experience Scott's assessment of Brahm's 2 in relation to Beethoven's #3, 5, 7, and 9, I'll need to go to Spotify and play them. I have in my lifetime listened to them all -- and listened to Brahm's #2 often lately, but none of them are embedded in my mind enough to be able to call them up on the spot by memory. 

Will I ever reach that level of familiarity with these symphonies? 

Good question! 

I also heard from Kathleen Horton who wondered if I'd listened to Brahm's Schicksalslied.

I'm not sure if I have.  

SiriusXM's Symphony Hall channel plays choral music exclusively as Sunday night becomes Monday morning, and it could be that this composition of Brahm's played while I was asleep or half asleep. 

But I've never listened to it on purpose. 

Soon I will. 

As with the friends who responded to my writing about exercising, Scott and Kathleen's posts encourage me to keep listening to classical music, to continue to try to absorb it into my memory, and to learn more about it -- I know so little despite hours and hours of having it on while in college at NIC and at Whitworth and listening at home in Spokane, Eugene, Greenbelt, and Kellogg and in the car wherever I've lived. 

But Tom Petty's songs have stuck in my memory more reliably! 

As have Guy Clark's. 

And Debbie Diedrich's. 

Three Beautiful Things 11-12-2025: Don't Sit and Wait, Brahms' Symphonies, Green Salad and Elbow Macaroni

 1. Normally, when I put my mocha pot on the burner to create the black liquid gold that is the soul of my morning lattes, I go back to the living room, sit down, and continue whatever puzzle I've started or blog I have going. 

Today I decided I'm going to quit sitting down while my latte is process, while bacon fries, while potatoes or anything else cooks, while my popcorn pops, or while I wait for toast to pop out of the toaster. 

Instead, as I did today, I'll walk in place. Swing my arms. Today, I broke up the monotony of walking in place by pacing between the kitchen and living room. 

Gibbs stared at me like I'd lost my mind. 

Well, I did lose a couple of things: unsteadiness on my feet and lightheaded fogginess in my head. 

2. I really don't have analytical language to intelligently explain why I am enjoying the four symphonies of Johannes Brahms so much.  I can say that listening to these symphonies repeatedly, playing them from time to time during the day and nightly while I sleep, becoming more and more familiar with them, and experiencing new feelings as I listen to them repeatedly is giving me great pleasure. 

3. I had put together a decent green salad the other day and some of it was left over. A day or two later, I made a decent dish of macaroni and a vegetarian tomato sauce. Well, to me, it was better than decent. I liked it a lot. 

When I boiled elbow macaroni for that vegetarian dish, I had a small container of macaroni left over.

Late this afternoon, I peered into the fridge. 

I saw the left-over salad. 

I saw the left-over elbow macaroni. 

I saw a culinary marriage made in heaven.

I combined the leafy salad, having added some radish slices and yellow squash pieces, with the macaroni and dressed it with olive oil and balsamic vinegar and added a generous amount of grated parmesan cheese. 

It worked. 

Beautifully. 

Three Beautiful Things 11-11-2025: I Get Moving, Theoretical Origins of MAGA, A New Leah Sottile Podcast

1. Yesterday, I wrote about how I thought physical movement would help improve my balance and the odd sensations I feel in my head. I heard back from three different friends: Nini expressed concern about what I said about myself and hoped my doctor visit on Thursday would go well; Liz (she and I are the same age) told me she experiences the same sorts of things that I do and agreed that exercise helps diminish them; Kathleen wondered in an email if what I was experiencing was part of what comes with aging and possibly doesn't have much to do with my kidney transplant. I agree with Kathleen. The only way I connected my kidney situation to the symptoms I described yesterday was wondering if they were related to the medication Jardiance I took and to the steroid infusions from back in June. By the way, Kathleen and I are both in our 70s and she kindly told me that she, too, has experienced what I have been as she's grown older.

I focused some of my effort today on walking in place, being sure to swing my arms so my Fitbit would record my steps and walking with arm-swinging purpose around the house. 

I racked up over 3000 steps and already I am feeling a difference in my legs and some relief of the sensations in my head. (Those sensations always diminish as the day passes.)

I will continue to write myself reminder notes and make lists about everything! 

2. Yesterday, I wrote that I wanted to get back to some of the things I've enjoyed doing that I've strayed away from over the last four months. 

In that spirit, I spent time today listening to podcasts. 

Two stand out. 

I discovered that the hosts of Shield of the Republic, Eric S. Edelman and Eliot A. Cohen, conducted an interview with Laura Field discussing her new book, Furious Minds: The Making of the MAGA New Right in which Field explores the intellectual and philosophical underpinnings of MAGA and the past and current intellectuals and institutions that have shaped the political theories that have shaped what she calls the New Right. 

I've read some about Curtis Yarvin and Peter Thiel and some about the thinkers and ideas that have influenced J. D. Vance. I've also read a bit about the historian Leo Strauss and the German thinker Carl Schmitt, an intellectual supporter of German National Socialism and a participant in that movement. 

Listening to Laura Field discuss her book helped me understand better a variety of contemporary writers and professors, including Strauss and Schmitt, whose insights oppose liberalism

The podcase involved some healy lifting and I'm not sure I've got the brain power to read Laura Field's book, but I might give it a try and add to the reading I've already done about white power movements in the USA. 

Before interviewing Laura Field, Edelman and Cohen pay tribute to Dick Cheney and comment on last Tuesday's elections. 

If you'd like to listen to this podcast, here's the link:Why MAGA Loves Illiberalism | Shield of the Republic 

3. I've written quite a bit in this blog about my admiration of Leah Sottile and, in fact, it was her work investigating the Bundy family and her podcast on Timothy McVeigh that led me to read up more on what Professor Belew calls the white power movements in the USA. 

A while back, I noted in this blog that I listened to the first season of Sottile's podcast, Hush. It tells the story of Jesse Johnson, whom the state of Oregon incarcerated for twenty-five years for a murder he didn't commit. Hush tells his story and more. 

Now Leah Sottile has completed a second season of Hush entitled "Love Thy Neighbor". 

I listened to the first episode today, which begins to tell the story of the 2019 death of teenager Sarah Zuper who was found dead in a ditch just 400 feet from her front door in Rainier, OR. 

The case has never been solved and this podcast examines the circumstances surrounding her death and the factors that have contributed to the case never being solved. 

All of the episodes have not come out yet. 

You can listen to the first five episodes at Oregon Public Radio,here. 

Three Beautiful Things 11-10-2025: Pondering My Current Health, Getting Things Done, Temporary Lost Pleasures

1.  I am very cautiously optimistic about my heath right now. 

Back in June, because of inflammation in my new kidney and concern that my kidney might be showing early signs of being rejected, the pros did two things: they ordered a kidney biopsy and two infusions of steroids. 

Those procedures took some wind out of my sails and then on July 24th the team prescribed Jardiance and I started taking it. 

I don't know how much the changes in how I felt was caused by these new developments or if a change began to occur independent of the Jardiance and the biopsy/steroids. (I stopped taking Jardiance in early September.)

But I do know that over the last four months or so, I haven't felt right in my head -- maybe it's foggy brain, maybe it's lightheadedness, sometimes it's headaches -- I can't be precise. My short term memory has also been erratic, moving me to write down everything I need to do whether making lists or reminder notes. Writing down stuff has been a great help. 

My balance, especially around the house, has also been a bit wobbly -- no falls, but off and on unsteadiness. 

My day to day life has been normal while this has been going on: family dinners, trips to Winning Wednesday, a vacation at the Wildhorse Resort, taking care of Gibbs and Copper, sessions at The Lounge, cooking, listening to classical music, writing in this blog, etc. and so I have proceeded day to day unimpeded. 

I have come to think (this is me writing cautiously) that possibly physical movement counteracts the weirdness I feel in my head and the unsteadiness I experience. Even driving seems to help. It's good for me to get out of the house and I've begun an exercise routine in the house. 

So, we'll see. Most days, the weird sensations in my head diminish as the day proceeds and often by bed time, I feel fairly normal again. 

But how about if just moving around helps, whether it's walking in place, running errands, moving around the casino, or walking outdoors?

Unfortunately, over the last four months, I haven't felt very motivated to move around. 

That's got to change. 

By the way, I see Dr. Bieber on Thursday and we'll continue past conversations about these things I've described.

We'll also discuss the very good news that the blood work I had done a week ago looked very good. That new kidney is chugging right along, doing its blood filtering best to keep my system clean. 

2. I did some physical moving around today. I paid bills uptown and I took our recycling out to the transfer station. I also did a little bit of shopping at Yoke's. I did a couple short stints of walking in place at home. I enjoyed how I felt while and after competing these tasks. 

3. Over the last four months, I've fallen out of what had been some of my favorite habits and routines. I haven't been reading. I haven't been listening to some of my favorite podcasts. Tonight I started to reverse that a bit and reminded myself that Leah Sottile has a second season of Hush out and I listened to a couple of thoughtful videos posted by the Bulwark. 

Debbie used to walk in place in the basement at Adrienne's house during her stay there back in 2020-21 while watching episodes of whatever on the television. 

I realized tonight that I could watch videos like I watched tonight on my laptop on the Vizio and walk in place while watching and listening. 

Three Beautiful Things 11-09-2025: Freshening, Traveling, Cooking

1. I freshened up the homestead today with the vacuum cleaner and a broom. About time!  

2.  If government agencies will be funded this month after today's developments, maybe Debbie can make more definite plans about when to return to Kellogg. 

3. I am enjoying using the wok as a sort of soup pot. Today I stir fried chicken pieces and added vegetables, stir fried them, and added a moderate about of chicken broth, soy sauce, and Thai wheat noodles and what resulted was not a stew exactly but a mixture I ate from a bowl, but not as brothy as most soups. 

Whatever it was, it worked. 

Three Beautiful Things 11-08-2025: Copper is Aging, Abby and I Yak at The Lounge, Tim Joins Us and Later a Great Phone Call

 1.  I keep a close eye on Copper as he ages, especially regarding how much he eats. I feed him twice a day and right now he eats most of the food I put down but not all of it and I don't really know if he's eating any his dry food from the feeder at all. It's reassuring to me that he hasn't quit eating, but I wonder if his appetite is beginning to wane. 

I spent about an hour and a half with Copper today lying with him on the bed. He seemed to enjoy the attention. In a perfect world, Gibbs wouldn't bark at him and chase him if he were in the living room. I'd love to have Copper with me when I'm in other parts of the house than the bedroom or Vizio room, but that just can't happen and I accept that -- and, I think Copper does, too! 

He and Gibbs are great companions. 

2. Abby had texted me a couple of days ago to say he'd be at The Lounge this afternoon and asked me to join him. 

I did. 

We yakked for nearly three hours and covered a lot of ground -- mostly personal history in Kellogg and I learned more about Abby and how he got to know Kate and more. 

We had a superb time -- lots of information and lots of laughs.

3. About a half an hour or so before I went home to fix dinner, Tim O'Reilly strolled in. 

The great conversation Abby and I were having continued with Tim joining us. 

Tim and I were choir members together at North Idaho College and after I returned home, Tim and I continued conversations from Friday and Saturday, not in person, but on the phone. We did more than just wax nostalgic. That time at NIC was formative for both of us and it's clear from what we talked about that the impact of that school year (1972-73) is very much alive in us, each in our own way, and is a fascinating time in our life to talk together about.