Monthly Archive for January, 2007
My computer is not importing photos lately, so I always end up saving them up and then posting them all at once from school. And then I have to write a big, rambly blog entry. But whatever.
Last week it was Kaya’s birthday and I made Falafel for her birthday dinner. Everything from scratch: fresh Falafel, fresh pitas, tahini sauce, tzadziki sauce, plus fresh tomatoes, lettuce, and onions. Pretty much the same recipe as we made at Emily’s in Cambridge, except that this time Kensy brough his special favorite yoghurt. The photos sort of speak for themselves, but it was really tasty, and I think Kaya was really happy that we did something special for her, and I was really happy to see her smiling.
Last weekend I went down to Punta Banda, Mexico. I guess you already know that from the video I posted. That was the primary output of the weekend, I suppose. But it was also fantastic to get to spend some time with Josh and Aaron. Aaron lives down there and works for the organic produce distributor his Aunt and Uncle own.
We had a great time. There was some drinking, there was some cooking, there was some visiting of amazing taquerias. The taqueria down there is a totally different experience. You order things directly from the guy at the grill, and he whips tacos together like lightning. You can order a bunch and then sit and eat, but a lot of people just stand there, ordering and eating things as they feel. It’s fast enough you don’t need to plan ahead.
And I should mention the content, which is delicious cilantro and onions and salsa and chicken on tasty, chewy grilled corn tortillas. We walked past a tortilleria in the market, and it was amazing! These women were shepherding bits of dough into this amazing greasy black Rube Goldberg machine that pressed them into perfect circles, send them along a conveyor belt, dropped them onto a big round griddle, which rotated around to a contraption that flipped them.
The tortillas were coming off so fresh and fragrant and toasty and puffy. Man. I really need to get back into making tortillas. I feel like there is so much more art for me to master.
The one other thing I want to mention is the dinner co-op I am starting. I think I blogged about it a few weeks ago, but this week Kensy and Kaya signed on emotionally to support the idea, and it was off like a flash. The three of us ate on Tuesday (stir fry!) and we decided to do it every Tuesday and Thursday. Last night we had indian at my place. Kensy and I cooked up Aloo Saag and Chana Masala, and invited a handful of hillcrest people who we know. I was really excited that my friend Matthew who I know through the women’s center came and brought his roommates. They were totally fun to meet.
The food and camraderie was great, as was the ensuing debauchery and the going out and dancing and the coming home at 2am to an enormous pile of dishes. But one of the nicest moments of the evening for me was talking to Matthew about the art project I’m working on. I’ve been going through some rough emotional spots for the last month or two. One of my friendships which is one of the most important to me in the world has been a real struggle recently, for a ton of tough reasons. And my approach to these things is really to try to understand them deeply and to explore my thoughts and emotions until I feel like I can see a clear picture. But for some reason in this case that’s been super hard. So it’s been a struggle.
But I had a totally cathartic moment on Thursday. Something changed in me, and I felt like all the sudden, instead of sinking I was heading up to the surface for air. And I don’t think I’m quite at the point where I’m taking in that first big gulp of breath, but the feeling of moving up is wonderful. And I think expressing where I’m at through art is going to be really therapeutic. And Matthew was really supportive of that, and his support meant a lot a lot to me.
Also, my dad gives good advice about love.
Is love a feeling or a process? Is being crazy about someone love? Or is love something that grows out of an ongoing relationship… an ongoing material entaglement? Does true love come from things you feel and know or things you’ve done and lived?
Among the many things which came of my trip to Punta Banda, Mexico this weekend:
Researchers at the University of Alberta have found that an old drug, dichloroacetate (DCA), causes regression in several cancers, including lung, breast, and brain tumors. They’ve tried it in test tubes with human tumors, and in animals. Now they need to run clinical trials in real people. DCA has been used for years to treat people with mitochondrial disorders. We already know it’s safe for people. And the patents have run out, which means that it can be produced by generic drug makers for cheap.
In other words, it’s a cheap, safe, cancer cure.
Unfortunately, because no drug company holds the patents on DCA, no drug company is going to pay for clinical trials, doctor education, and marketing. Which means government, university, and charitable sources need to step in. If you’d like to help make that happen please spread the word about this story on your blog or whatever.
Thanks Leo for the heads up.
Over the last, probably 5 years or so, I’ve been becoming increasingly aware of the way that conversations get dominated by men. It doesn’t take much… I’ve seen in happen in groups with fifteen women and two men. I’ve seen it happen in groups of three men and one woman.
And I’ve been learning how to push back in the opposite direction. There are little things you can do, like continue to make eye contact with a woman who is being interrupted, instead of looking to the man who is interrupting her. Or, shifting the conversation back to topics that a woman was pursuing after the conversation has been shifted by a man in a different direction. Or, simply, asking a question of a woman who has given up and stopped trying to open her mouth.
I think this is probably a pretty feminist set of strategies, but something about the whole notion of me facilitating women’s entry or re-entry into the discussion feels anti-feminist. Like it takes a man to let a women into the boys club, or something.
Maybe that’s just a necessary consequence of living in a chauvanist culture. Many women (some of my favorite women) already seize their strong voices and let themselves be heard amongst men, without the help or approval of any man. But much of our culture is pushing back in the opposite direction, which means men need to take notice and do what they can to change it. If we do, and if our feminist sisters keep on doing the same, maybe at some point we won’t have to.
Here’s a bit of a recap, with photos.
Dinner tonight: Aloo Gobi
It was quite a weekend. Friday was the Cognitive Science Happy Hour, wherein we stood outside in the freezing cold making small talk. Met some new folks from Sociology I think. These things run together…
Saturday morning woke up at 5:00am, Paul picked me up and we swung up to get Matthew in La Jolla, and were on the road to Big Bear for a day of snowboarding. That “day” turned into a half day, as we got lost, had to buy chains for the car (parts of california require chains even if there’s no snow on the road. Sissies), had the engine overheat, and then finally, at 11:30, waited a half an hour to get the half day discount.
ooh, drama
Snowboarding was wonderful. It was only my second time, but it was much faster to pick up this time around. I did a couple runs on the kiddie slope, until I felt like I could at least make a reasonable turn on both front and back edges. I then took the lift half way up the mountain, was soundly schooled by gravity on the intermediate slopes, and quickly went back to the kiddie slopes, tail between my legs, to practice some more.
Snow outside the car window calms my soul
It’s kind of nice on the kiddie slopes. People are forgiving when you crash in burn a few feet above them. They know you subjected yourself to that pain in order to avoid smashing into them, and they are thankful. Folks on the lift are chatty, and we’re all quick to point out how terrible we are and laugh about it. The slope isn’t steep, which makes for a lot of waiting for your board to Just. Start. Moving! but after a few runs you start feeling ambitious again.
When I traversed over to another half-mountain lift, this one with green circles all the way down, I caught up with Matthew and Paul, and that was a nice coincidence. We took a couple runs, and everything started coming together for me. I was slaloming, back and forth… inside edge, outside edge, inside edge, outside edge, avoiding people well and having a blast. I was having so much fun I snuck on the last lift up at 4:30 as Paul and Matthew were heading into the lodge, so I could get one more run in.
Sunset at the Getty
We got back around 10:00 on Saturday night, after a gluttonous dinner at the New China Buffet. Dartmouth-style Pong was in effect at my apartment. Kerry and her friends, boozing it up in the awesomest possible way, not a man in sight. I took a shower, debated sticking around to play a round of Pong myself, but then, feeling shy, snuck out the back and took a cab to Kensy’s.
Cupcakes on the patio
The party was great fun. I performed the beer bottle party trick, for a crowd of about 30. If you haven’t seen it, ask me the next time you see me and there’s a beer bottle nearby. Most of my friends have seen me on YouTube, which means people sometimes agitate to get me on the dance floor. Lauren, Anna and I are generally pretty good at getting the dance party going, and this was no exception. Rumps were shook.
Boutique cupcakes
After some late night antics, and a lazy Sunday morning, Kensy re-invited me to take an afternoon road trip with him, Anna and Leo up to L.A. I was in the mood to hang out with people I felt pretty comfortable with, so I went. Debate about genetic engineering raged in the car. Cupcakes from boutique bakery “Sprinkles” were purchased. We went to the Getty, which is one of the most stunning buildings I’ve ever seen, and ate our cupcakes on the patio overlooking the gardens, high above L.A., with the ocean in the distance.
Leftovers: greens, red peppers, cashews
I’ve been spending a lot of energy lately worrying about romance and about my life plan, and it was good medicine to have a weekend where I was surrounded by people who were excited about our future together and appreciative to be around me. There was a little adventure, a little learning, a bit of decadence, some romance, some snow, some sun, and a decent helping of relaxation. A pretty good weekend.
There was a pretty shocking story on Google News today: A 28-year old mother of three died just after a radio show promotional event, called “Wee for a Wii” in which she and other contestants competed to see who could hold out the longest without peeing, while drinking gallons of water.
Jennifer Lea Strange died of water intoxication, which is the result of an imbalance of salts in your bloodstream caused by drinking too much water. The contest organizers probably didn’t know about water intoxication, but apparently a nurse called in to the radio show to warn the station of the risks and was ignored. Either way, the contestants were not warned of the health risks, and I imagine the contest organizers will be held liable for negligence in the courts, and possibly criminally charged.
The risks could’ve easily been mitigated by having contestants drink Gatorade or eat salty foods while drinking. EMTs should’ve been on hand. And contestants certainly should’ve been informed of the danger they were getting themselves into.
The article got me thinking about sports drinks and how I really ought to incorporate them more in my workouts. I’ve often brought salt with me on long runs, to choke down periodically, and I’ll often eat potato chips or salted nuts at races. But there’s no way in hell that I’m going to spend $2-10 on Gatorade just for a long training run. And buying the bulk powder is not a hell of a lot of savings.
I poked around on the net, found a recipe for a homemade sports drink, and tried it out. Sort of.
I followed the recipe as indicated, except I am saving my lemon for tahini sauce, so I left it out. The end result tasted like salty sugar water. Probably because it was salty sugar water. It wasn’t heinous, per say, but I wasn’t dying to gulp it down during the run. That’s probably a bad thing, so I’ll probably grab some lemon juice the next time I’m at Trader Joe’s. Although since trader Joe’s is about 10 blocks away, that might be never. I’m that lazy.
In which case, keep an eye out for a bearded man in Balboa park raising a bottle of salty sugar water to his sweaty lips.
P.S. The sugar and acids in sports drinks can contribute to tooth decay. But we need ‘em to exercise healthily, so just drinking water isn’t a great option. The best thing is to brush your teeth twice a day, as normal, and flush your mouth by drinking a glass of plain water (with swishing action!) after exercising. Brushing your teeth right after will apparently exacerbate enamel damage.
O, yes,
I say it plain,
America never was America to me,
And yet I swear this oath–
America will be!
That’s Langston Hughes, quoted in this speech of Martin Luther King Jr.’s.
I’ve got a post about my weekend queued up, waiting for me to add some photos. But right now I’m spending the last little bit of Martin Luther King day reading some of the things King said, and realizing how far I have to go in my quest to be a truly good global citizen, realizing how powerful his contribution was, given that it is still changing hearts today, and thinking about exactly what next step I must take to help the world get just a little closer to his ideal.
King won the Nobel Peace Prize at 35, and was killed at 39. Most days I ask myself, “what is holding me back from making a contribution to the world like that.” I don’t think it’s prideful to want to try, I think it’s the purpose of the human spirit. When King received the Peace Prize in 1964, he didn’t consider an award, he considered it a commission, “a commission to work harder than [he] had ever worked before for ‘the brotherhood of man.’”
There was a spark there; an unending desire to work until the job was done, continuing through failures, and continuing through successes. Many of us are happy to be good and do good within the context we were born. Being a good person–within your station in life, within your culture, within your habits, within your niche–a valuable contribution to the world. It’s something to feel good about.
But there are those who are not satisfied until a job is done, and aren’t satisfied pushing on the doors nearest to them. They climb out of thei niche and seek out a way to change the system, and work at it until it’s done. Those people should take comfort in King’s story. He showed us that we can find those places where they can cause the world to shift, where the great boulders of our culture can be moved.
And it gives me great comfort to know that there are people out there who can never stop working on King’s vision, searching stubbornly for a point of leverage uniquely suited to them, where they can shift the world his way.