:: BerDerp™ ::

Friday my parents and I decided to grab lunch at one of the best known BBQ joints in my home town, J.R.’s. The food here is great, and the service is just as good — warm and friendly like you would expect Southern hospitality to be.

Before we paid our bill, I asked our server to let me take a picture of her shirt. Before turning around she gave us a quick story of how recently while at Wal-Mart a random stranger tapped her on the shoulder and told her “that she was doing a good job“. Initially thinking that maybe he had been a customer at J.R.’s, when he repeated his, err..*ahem*..compliment, she realized he was giving props to her own set of buns ;) Sorry guys, I promised her not to feature them in the picture below

This morning my dad & I decided to stroll out to the local Flea Market so I could find some “souvenirs” to bring back to a few people in SF. It had been years since I had set foot down these aisles. Most of the items featured at this outdoor market are simply cheap goods, e.g. tools, clothes, knick-knacks, even food. But if you look close enough, you can find some interesting antiques, Americana relics, and Jim Crow era items. Check out a few of these sightings …

I see you eyeing the shrimp can. Yeh. I thought so. I am NOT by any means condoning this, so please don’t take this posting like that. I am simply showing you what is still floating around. I would have bought this for my friend but it was priced at $100. I got home and looked this up and was able to find other similar food items . Turns out there is a Jim Crow museum in Big Rapids, Michigan. Comically enough, the manufacturer misspelled Biloxi

Tonight at my friend’s house we gobbled the last few pieces of pralines he had made a few days ago, and proceeded to prepare another batch with the leftover ingredients he had.

Now, many of you don’t know what a praline is, and that’s Ok. Southern Cooking 101 is now in session.

While this sugary confection originally started in 17th century France, the pecan-creamy version rose mainly out of the New Orleans area, and is simple & easy to make.

On another note, if you find yourself roaming around Nawleans, be sure to stop in to the Praline Connection

Praline Connection found in the French Quarter features some of the best down south creole-home-style cookin’ that you can find. period. Trust me on this one.

You can get other regional specialities there, like turnip greens, po’ boys, gumbo and some of the best french fries in the city. If you order a regular coke, it still comes in a bottle.

Today as my family & I headed through some backroads to my aunt’s house for our annual Christmas event, we found ourselves meandering through some fields. Now southern Alabama is known for several crops, but the region is widely recognized as yielding some of the biggest “bumper crops” of a plant deeply associated with a dark slice of American history — cotton.

Cotton’s presence and different varieties have been found in civilizations ranging from ancient India and Peruvian cultures going back 10 to 12,000 years ago. However, being an American, we automatically have the tendency to naturally draw images of African slave workers toiling from sunrise to sunset to cultivate this plant that literally transformed not only a region but a country.

Today as the sun rode high in the cloudless sky and a light breeze blew, I couldn’t help think of the hours upon hours that thousands of cotton pickers spent hunched over with a bag on their back. Truly an experience no one in this day and age can ever relate to.

This “white gold” was able to make the Southern states hold the 12 richest counties by 1860 exporting around 190$Million to mainly European countries. As you can imagine, this made a lot of people, not just in the South, but in the North also, a LOT of money. Interestingly enough this played a major role in fueling the beginnings of the Civil War. Many think it started over slavery, but it did not. Lincoln didn’t introduce the slavery element into the Civil War until 2 years after it started.

Okay.. history lesson is over.. read here for more info on this.

I figure that since I am travelling home soon for the holiday season, I will post some sightings and insightful stuff while I am there. The South has it’s pro’s and con’s, just like every where else. But all in all, for me, it’s still my roots

Whenever I am travelling I always like to venture off and explore things that aren’t always featured in the glossy travel brochures or found right outside of your hotel doorstep. This fall when in Bankgok, I did just that.

As I was moving up and down the Chao Phraya river I decided to pay a visit to the Pak Klong Talat, aka Flower Market, located in the Chinatown district of BKK. The Thai people have a a great appreciation for fresh flowers, both for the beauty and the fragrance. This is where those who have the time and the florists come to buy their flowers at wholesale prices, e.g. armfuls of orchids for 20 baht = less then $1 USD.

As much as the commercialism and commoditization of Christmas has overtaken Western society, I guess part of this season still appeals to me when you can feel the chemistry, people are smiling more than usual, the air is crisp and you wish somehow deep inside that this energy would last all year ’round

so…

you made it here to berderp®
.. maybe by accident of keystroke, maybe by email, maybe by word of mouth… what matters is that you’re here.

Where is Here for me?

What lies ahead..or how this will turn out, or where it will take me, or who I will meet on this journey.. well… who knows

the focus is here and now..

As Alfred Lord Tennyson said.. “Tis better to have Berderp-ed and lost than never to have Berderp-ed at all..”

so…. Berderp