Today is the 21st observance of the federal holiday honoring the life and legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr.. For many (but, by no means, all) of us OWFLers, that means a day off from work. Countless civic organizations and government entities encourage us, rather, to make it "a day on" by volunteering in our communities and breathing renewed life in to Dr. King's vision.
I went to a delightful dinner last night with a sizable DC OWFL contingent, and I spent a good chunk of time before, during, and after trying to come up with a suitable topic for today's post. The best thing I could come up with was somehow related to lunch counter sit-ins, most notably in Greensboro, North Carolina and Nashville, Tennessee in 1960, but I've gotten pretty good at recognizing when I'm stretching a tenuous connection too far. I knew I was going to somehow mishandle that project pretty badly.
While casting about for a more suitable topic, I picked up the copy of In Our Own Words: Extraordinary Speeches of the American Century that I keep here on my desk for reference and occasional inspiration. I read the MLK passages included therein out loud and was honestly surprised by the power I felt in them.
No matter how you are spending today, do yourself a favor and take seventeen and a half minutes to watch and listen to MLK's keynote speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial at the 1963 March on Washington.
Once you have basked in that for a while (and, perhaps, wondered when exactly our public leaders forgot how to read out loud, much less declaim so as to inspire an audience - without a teleprompter and, hell, departing almost entirely from written notes after the twelfth minute, which, I might add, is when the most electrifying passages show up), answer me the question that brings us together in community every day:
What's For Lunch?
23 comments:
excellent post, EQ. and hello everyone! i'm off today, so i am very happy to say that lunch will be at home since i too was at last night's lovely dinner and spent a pretty penny for delicious eats. the company was well worth it....you gotta love round tables.
i guess i'd like to honor MLK today and eat something that symbolizes his peaceful approach to justice. i could do ben's chili bowl later if anyone else is interested. anyone???? it'd have to be around 130pm since i plan on attending a yoga class at noon.
great post eq... i was wondering how you'd draw a connection between the holiday and lunch.
I guess i hadn't thought of it before but now i sit here (at work) dumbfounded at how inept our current politicians (a specific one springs to mind) are at public oration.
I'm awful...I swear I thought this post said "MILK Day"...and I was thinking..."wow, I guess earthquake really wanted to discuss Jan. 11th's Milk Day".
so, ben's? anyone? anyone? i'm gonna be hoongry after yoga.
Man, I still haven't been to Ben's. Wish I could go! Sigh! I'm probably going to wind up going to Quizno's, b/c I have a coupon and no money. Last night was great! The company! The food! The vino! I have a touch of the hangover, though. Blast! Ah well. I'll be better soon.
Politicians suck. The fuckers in Richmond are already making plans to have laws in place in the event Roe v. Wade is overturned. They just made Planned Parenthood some money from me. Argh. Fuckers, telling me how to live my life. Sorry, /end rant.
lady A will be yoga-ing with me too, so maybe she will concede to go with after class. i can't think of a better place to celebrate MLK day than ben's. it's right next to the african america civil war memorial AND everyone from snoop dogg to bill cosby has praised it. i wonder if MLK ever actually ate there? now wouldn't THAT be AWESOME?
part of me feels a bit guilty for planning to eat a chili have smoke after working out. doesn't it defeat the purpose?
oh yeah, fuck our politicians as of late. they all annoy me.
and for an institution about as rich in history as the civil rights movement, check out ben's chili bowl.
LC, stop gloating.
I'm on today. Its freakin GLOOMY in Houston. The Houston Marathon is over and the Triathlon training begins.
MLK was a leader and an orator. He was the light to Hitler's dark (pardon the punnish analogy). There will never be many people like him. I like to think that this world has balance in it. That with all the evil there is also the good. Why don't people get behind the good as easily.
As it is though, most elected people are sheep. They do not seek their own path. Think of all of the horrible bosses and co-workers taking ideas from others and readvertising it as theirs. The back-stabbers and the people not giving the due to the people that deserve it. Now you know why there are so few "Great Ones".
Maybe the Dem(s) will see one of those great ones arise from the ranks in this next election.
As if I wasn't gluttonous enough last night (good times y'all!) I'm heading out for an extended restaurant week lunch. I'm wearing my jeans w/ stretch . . .
ugh.. the quietness of national holidays that i don't get off.. sad.
so i had a lunch first today: a "Monte Cristo"
That's some twisted shit.. for those of you that don't know, it's basically a sandwich made with two pieces of french (freedom?) toast enwrapping turkey, ham and some type of cheese.
Although i am not adverse to cramming calories, fat and protein into your average lunch the sweetness (vanilla flavor?) in the french toast was slightly assaulting when paired with ham and turkey. This lunch gets two toes DOWN.
Had Deepfried Oreos last night while watching the premier of 24. Oh Jack, will they ever be able to kill you?
I would like to offer a special shout out to one of those working today - a gentleman named Nino in Comcast's Silver Spring, MD call center. You see, after quitting Verizon in a fit of rage last week, I've been trying unsuccessfully to get my comcast internet service up and running and spoke to countless idiots and even had a man come to home today, who proceeded to sneeze all over my desk and computer. After him telling me that he could not help me, I told him to leave and go get some cold meds and then called Comcast once more.
This is when I found Nino. Nino fixed my problem for me, when everyone else told me I would have to have another service person come out to my home. Nino is great - and working on a holiday, no less.
So now I can finally leave my house and go to the gym. No Ben's for me, as last night was enough with the bad food, and I wouldn't want to ruin the time spent in the gym with Ben's. Though, I am starving, but I think I'll opt for something a little less covered in chili and cheese!
I am tempted by the Ben's Chili Bowl prospect, although I'm not sold just yet.
In any event, I'm not going to eat lunch until my jeans are ready to come out of the dryer. I have no food in this house.
Yay, El Nino! It's funny how you'll get someone competent at the strangest time.
Lunch was a QUIZNO'S CHOPPED SALAD (it's been awhile since there was some hollering about the Q). I got the Cobb. It was yummy. And there were about 3 inches of chicken, bacon & bleu cheese, so I ate half of it & put the rest away for tomorrow. Oh, and I had a coupon, so I got a free small soda & chips, which are sitting in my locker for a rainy day. Oink.
Jack's the man. I'm so psyched he's back. The question is - who will die tonight?
Quake, please don't leave the house without your pants.
Nothing honors a great leader like eating a chili cheese half smoke while not wearing pants.
I had a bowl of Red Beans and rice with Cheddar and onions on top and a side of more dirty rice.
Give it up fo da south coast ya'll!
Hm. Maybe I'll make like a jambalaya or something for dinner. I know Dr. King wasn't from N'awlins, but I don't know what is a good representative food from Georgia, except for like grits or something.
Great post quake.
Lachoi I would've been down for Ben's but this is the my first foray to the blog today.
In fact the missus and I drove by Ben's around 11:45 thinking about lunch but the line was out onto the street. We then attempted to visit Florida Ave. Grill only to find that it was closed on Mondays.
We settled on a visit to Five Guys Burgers on Georgia Ave. She had a grilled cheese with tomato. I had a little cheeseburger (shrooms, onions, lt, mayo and A-1) and a little bacon cheeseburger (jalapenos, pickles, lto, mayo and bbq).
Listened to some MLK on C-Span radio during the drive and watched a little more at home between viewings of the movie The Illusionist and Prime. Kudos to the former and a big fat dunno to the latter.
Special Jo note: My birthday falls on the anniversary of MLK's assasination. I always thought this was significant somehow. Maybe not so much.
Happy MLK Day everyone.
Quick note: Did you know that the March on Washington For Jobs and Freedom was primarily organized by one of the nation's foremost leaders in organized labor and social justice? Take some time today and learn a little about A. Philip Randolph.
Jo, i did not.
Speaking of my ignorance, i watch a lot of tv... with the revival of so many of the series over the next month, what do you think about bringing that TvLunch Blog into active duty.
[insert US recruitment joke here]
TVLunch blog? Yes, please.
Expect an announcement about the TV Lunch Blog this week...
I'm dying here. They didn't turn on the a/c b/c it's a holiday & it's so hot. I'm about to fall asleep. Snooooore.
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