E.J. Becker

when i was in third grade, mrs. hunt (boy was she a piece of work, but she pretty much straightened me out for the rest of my life) used to dock points from my assignments if i didn’t write my name correctly.  “e.j.”, she would write, “is spelled with periods after each letter.”

always striving to achieve (read: i got annoyed when she would take points away for stupid stuff), i quickly adapted and have not, since the third grade, written “e.j.” as “ej”.  (e.j. is not a radio name, it’s what i’ve gone by since day 1.)

what i find odd is that since coming to kansas city, i have rarely found anyone that spells my name correctly (most of the time, my name is written by someone at work).  all my name tags at work read ej.  memos ej.  emails ej. no periods.  not even a space.  the e and the j always look so crowded and uncomfortable.  i feel for them and it pains me to look.

it’s become so commonplace that i rarely if ever say anything. and i remain perplexed at how the misspelling of my name has only been an issue for the last 2.5 years and only here in the heartland.

i take from this that kc (or wherever my colleagues grew up) didn’t have a mrs. hunt (or they didn’t have a grade riding on the proper use of nominal punctuation).  or perhaps the problem lies with me.  do i need to change my approach?  instead of spelling my name “e period j period” maybe i will adapt to the times and the lingo that folks are more likely to understand today — “e dot j dot.”  i’m fine with that as long as i’m not asked to help change a flat or scrape an aminal from the road.

but i can’t help but think that either way, mrs. hunt would not be pleased.

Uncategorized, other food

something different for lunch:  a kebab…at least that’s how i know it.  some people think of a kebab as meat and veggies on a stick.  i think of it as a pita, cut open and stuffed with stuff.  and THAT’s what i’m talking about here.

out on james a. reed road in south kc, you’ll find the olive cafe & bakery.  it’s a little grocery store with all sortsa stuff from mediterranean countries and the rest of the middle east.  there’s a deli with feta and olives, fresh breads and…and a fresh lunch menu too.

so i tried the chicken in a kebab (with hummus and cucumber salad) and the kofta (spicy ground beef) served the same way.  very tasty, very rich and very, very good. it’s a little out of the way, but it’s worth the drive. each sandwich, theoretically enough for 2, but a hungry person can certainly handle a whole one.  each was just under $5.  grab a drink and sit outside…enjoy the view of the …parking lot.

but believe me, you won’t be paying attention to the view for long.

when you’re done, just up the road is the cave spring historic site and nature center.   walk off lunch on the short but very green trails.  were it not for the occasional sounds of traffic, you’d forget you’re in the middle of kc.  and somewhere back there on one of the trails, there’s a big, pretty black horse (i’m sure there’s a technical name for it, but ellen would know that).  and don’t step on the turtles.

rock’n'roll.

other food