Irish Twins and Japanese Lunch with an American Citizen

My good friend/brother-in-arms and I had lunch today to celebrate him being a newly minted citizen of the US after having lived, studied and worked in this country for some years now. What better way to celebrate obtaining U.S. citizenship? Why a Japanese lunch of course! He had never tried this kind of food before, so I was worried, and we were trying a place that I had passed by for years and years but never took the time to scout and see if it was any good. Thankfully for us, the gods were smiling on Las Tunas Dr. today, and the place/food turned out to be really good (in addition to the good conversations we had this afternoon... all around good and motivating experience regarding future career and artistic plans). If I have done nothing else productive for these past few weeks since being "seasonally laid off", I have at least been good about reaching out and discussing with my closest and most beloved friends about how I am going to go about applying for PhD programs and how to market myself. Perhaps it's a good thing that I'm not a "self-starter" in the traditional sense, because then I'd be more likely to tackle things alone with no counsel/support system to inform me, reassure me, and just be there with me. Love in abundance the past two days, and I am very grateful to have that; being a lonewolf may seem attractive to and work for some, but I've learned that is not compatible with my true nature--I dig community, and I need it, much like how I need to blog more regularly.

But I digress; so we're having lunch and I am pleased that he is happy with the unscouted choice we made on a whim. He had a hot curry with chicken over rice and some pickled ginger on the side while I had a tonkatsu (breaded pork cutlet) with rice, a salad, and a broth soup--this is what I love about Japanese food: it's very minimalist and simple in both presentation and sometimes flavor, but it works, absolutely. However, this post is not so much about food, although that factored in to what was going on, and I could probably write a whole other post about the merits of Japanese cuisine, culture, aesthetics, etc. Anyhoo, how do Irish twins figure into this whole scenario? Well, first, let me give you a rough definition of what Irish twins means since I'm fairly certain that most people don't get the references or idioms that I make/use, which, as my friend told me, are almost always entertaining and informative (especially for him given that he grew up in Lebanon and spent time in France before moving here, so his cultural touchstones and experiences were different from mine; in a way, I'm his local guide to the area we both live in [it is my hometown after all] and to navigating the waters of now being a citizen [given our talk about jury duty service later on]).

Definition time! Brought to you by Urban Dictionary:

"The roots of the idea behind the term are actually quite old, although no one knows when, exactly, people first began to talk about Irish twins. In both England and the United States, a massive influx of Irish immigration in the 1800s led to a negative connotation with Irish people and society. This often happens when a large immigrant group begins to settle in mass numbers in a new country. The Irish were accused of being backwards and uncultured, and it was assumed that they were uneducated, dirty, and a general pox on society. As a result, the use of the word “Irish” began to be pejorative.

A number of derogatory terms incorporating stereotypes about the Irish began to emerge, including “Irish confetti” for thrown bricks and “Irish kiss” for a slap. Irish twins fits into this vernacular, and is actually insulting on multiple levels.

Firstly, the term pokes fun at the stereotypical fertility of Irish Catholic families, which traditionally do not use birth control. In addition, it implies that the Irish lack the ability to plan ahead or control themselves, having children in quick succession rather than responsibly spacing them. Finally, it suggests that the Irish do not understand the medical definition of twins, which involves two children conceived and born together."

Minimalistically, however, is the way I was using the term, to simply imply closeness of age between siblings, something we were discussing seemingly in passing about before I brought up the term "Irish Twins" as way to describe siblings born 9-12 months apart. The last paragraph of the above definition was kind of the Freudian reasoning by my use of the word, but I didn't mean it to only point at the Irish, but just as an idiom to describe the social phenomenon of siblings being so close in age. Now I remember, it was when my friend was discussing his nephew being 1 year and 4 months older than his soon-to-be-born niece. I used the term in a loving way, but now I realize all the negative connotations that such an idiom implies. Wow, I'm kind of a jerk if you think of it that way! But I am aware and sharing, putting it out there now, so I guess this is some kind of redemption.

Anyhoo, peace and love, peace and love; thanks for reading! :)

Travelling through the Dark by William Stafford

Traveling through the dark I found a deer

dead on the edge of the Wilson River road.

It is usually best to roll them into the canyon:

that road is narrow; to swerve might make more dead.

By glow of the tail-light I stumbled back of the car   

and stood by the heap, a doe, a recent killing;   

she had stiffened already, almost cold.

I dragged her off; she was large in the belly.

My fingers touching her side brought me the reason—

her side was warm; her fawn lay there waiting,   

alive, still, never to be born.

Beside that mountain road I hesitated.

The car aimed ahead its lowered parking lights;   

under the hood purred the steady engine.

I stood in the glare of the warm exhaust turning red;   

around our group I could hear the wilderness listen.

I thought hard for us all—my only swerving—,   

then pushed her over the edge into the river.