We all want what's His

"Well, God is in His heaven
And we all want what's His
But power and greed and corruptible seed
Seem to be all that there is"

- Bob Dylan, Blind Willie McTell

John Steinbeck rolls over in his grave

It was a picture perfect day at the National Steinbeck Center in Salinas, California.

The walk through the John Steinbeck Exhibition Hall was awe inspiring. I was beating myself up over having read only The Grapes of Wrath, which left me unable to fully appreciate and enjoy the wonderful exhibits showcasing the richness of his writings and characters from his other masterpieces such as Cannery Row, East of Eden, Of Mice and Men and The Winter of Our Discontent, just to mention a few.

Then we walked over the Robobank Agriculture Museum which is also housed inside the Center. The pamphlet promises "the stories of the Salinas Valley 'from field to fork.'"

Couldn't hurt to learn more about the birthplace of one of the world's greatest literary giants, could it? Besides, he was one of our very own, California's native son. Take that, Charles Dickens!

Here is a blurb about the role of telegraph back in the day. It reads (emphasis mine), "there were more Western Union messagaes sent from Salinas."



You know, the man this museum is said to honor was only a Nobel Prize winner in Literature, not the national spelling bee contest winner.

A couple of more gems for you here.



It should read, "most produce," not product. And what is the deal with the incomplete sentence?

As I said, the man the Center is named after was only a Nobel Prize winner in Literature, not in Proofreading.

Here is a picture of an exhibit in Spanish. I am sure it is riddled with typos. Give me a few weeks to brush up on my Spanish. I'll find them for you.

A new word coined

How does a blogger know if his "blogging friends" truly value him?

Invent a new word, submit it to urbandictionary.com, promote it on your blog, and beseech your so-called blogging friends to give it a thumbs up.

Back in March 2007, I did just that, and announced the births of two new words coined by yours truly. It has been almost a year and a half and the words "e-enemy" and "blogamy" have garnered a whopping 23 and 26 thumbs up votes respectively.

I will not confirm nor deny that all of the votes came from me.

Here is a new urbandictionary.com submittal which I hope drop everything to give a huge thumbs up. Vote early and vote often.

gomorrah

To treat guests with disrespect and inhospitality.

According to popular belief, rampant homosexuality in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah incurred God's wrath and the subsequent destruction of the cities. However, according to liberal scholars of the Bible, whether homosexuality was the primary reason remains debatable. Arguing from Ezekiel 16:49-50 and Matthew 10:14-15, they assert that inhospitality played a significant role.

They have a point. Nowhere in the Bible explicitly states that homosexuality prompted God to set off a divine nuclear explosion on the two cities. The Bible doesn't say it, and I don't adhere to the school of that-goes-without-saying any more. I will leave that to the upstanding citizens of the Westboro Baptist Church. Moreover, the aforementioned passages do explicitly mention the cities' failure to "help the needy and poor" as one of the main reasons.

But, I can see where people on the conservative side of the debate are coming from.

You may recall the ugly incident in Genesis in which a mob of men surrounded Lot's house and called out his guests, so they might "have relations with them."

Think about it. If a bunch of men attempted to force me into (how should I say this) a boinking fest, "inhospitality" wouldn't be my choice to describe the ordeal. That's just me.

Also how left out would you feel if you were a citizen of Gomorrah? How come only Sodom has played a prominent etymological role for words depicting homosexuality, leaving Gomorrah to play second fiddle?

Besides, even if newly uncovered evidence placed the blame squarely on inhospitality as the primary reason behind God's judgment on the cities, it would be too late to abolish the words derived from Sodom.

I cannot picture myself of accusing my buddies of "sodomizing" me just because they are too lazy to stock up the refrigerator with my favorite brands of beer.

(I cannot believe I just wrote that.)

Hence the proposal to use Gomorrah to describe inhospitality. This will hopefully placate the concerns raised by the liberal side of the debate while conservatives still have the city of Sodom to kick around and unleash their homophobic indignation on.

Throw Gomorrah under the bus! It is long overdue. The inhospitable scumbags of Gomorrah have been spared from our self-righteous condemnation for too long!

Usage Example:

You are cordially invited to a dinner party at David Cho's residence. You should come because David will NOT gomorrah you.

PS: Do you notice "hospitals" aren't all that "hospitable" especially if you have an HMO insurance? When was the last time your doctor brought you a coffee and a bagel before putting on those dreaded latex gloves on? Yikes.