19 December 05
Geranium Photography
Geraniums aren’t my favorite plants, but here’s a way to put them to good use when you run out of film.
16 December 05
Potlucks Versus Cocktail Parties
I haven’t been to a cocktail party since I lived in Spain, which was a very long time ago. I don’t know anyone who throws cocktail parties, nor would I want to. Jut the idea of it gives me hives, people posturing about how much they make and own and stupidies like this. It’s bad enough at the Marxist Cash Bar at MLA, but at least the posturing is backed up by a reasonable amount of measurable (well, maybe not) intelligence, and the conversations certainly are interesting.
I’ve just gotten home from the office holiday party potluck. The food was excellent but even more excellent was the wine. We have a number of vets and peripherals who know wine and share it generously.
I arrived home, as I said. Awaiting me was an invitation to a cocktail party from my British university in Pacific Palisades, of all places. This is about 2-1/2 hours from here.
The only thing that will take me to Monterey toward the end of January is a good bird, so I’ll wait to RSVP…
14 December 05
Poundage
What with reducing my Santa Barbara bike commute from nine miles, the last three of it up a mountain, to three minutes, combined with the enforced inactivity of my achilles rupture, I’ve put on some weight over the past five years. Just how much weight was made searingly obvious when I went to the doctor two weeks ago for my finger tendon and they made me get on the scale.
I joined Weight Watchers the following day. I’ve never done anything like this before. So far so good. I’m enjoying rethinking what we cook, how we eat, specifically what I have grown to consider an adequate portion size.
Stay tuned…
8 December 05
Citrus Cheat-Sheet
It’s tangerine/mandarine/clementine time, and this means a lot of hassle for the checkers at the Davis Food Coop. They sell five different kinds, three of which are organic.
Our checker tonight had five small orange citrus fruits on top of his cash register. “Satsuma,” he said to us, when we plonked our five or so onto the belt.
Tomorrow I’m getting ten pounds of these things from someone who has them growing in her yard…
30 November 05
Made Up Recipe
Steam or bake equal numbers of beets and yams. Peel and cube.
Chop large handfuls of basil, tarragon, and parsely; add to bowl with vegetables.
Make a garlic vinaigrette by crushing one clove, mixing it in with a teaspoon of dijon mustard, 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar, 2 teaspoons tablespoons (or more) of extra virgin olive oil, and salt or tamari to taste.
Toss.
28 November 05
Ouch
While changing the 5-gallon water bottle at work today I somehow dropped it onto my hand. I thought it was just going to turn into a spectacular bruise but I suspect, now, I’ve done something to one of the ligaments or tendons between my fore- and middle fingers. I’m off to the doctor in the morning.
So this post will be brief. I can’t even indulge in some pen magic with the shipment of Clairefontaine paper that arrived today…
14 November 05
Tired but Home
I got back from the East Coast today. I’m tired. And I got to see Mars below a nearly-full moon before I collapse into bed…
9 November 05
Radio Ratings
We’ve both been participating in radio ratings testing for the past week. We listen to very little radio outside of baseball season… but it’s been fun to document just what snippets we do listen to in the car on the way from A to B. There was an interesting piece on the local independent station last night covering the elections.
What’s been almost staggering is that we’ve received numerous reminders in writing and by phone to complete the survey and mail it in, including a total of $4 in “incentives,” spread out over the course of a few days, to get us to do this.
I’m off to Maine tomorrow, leaving the cats in the care of Numenius. Blogging on my part may be sporadic for a few days…
21 October 05
Davis Fast For A Day
Today the city of Davis was encouraged to fast in solidarity with the Muslim community, culminating in this evening’s Iftar celebration at the Davis Senior Center. About 500 people were in attendance, a chaotic mix of voices and colors, ages, languages, starting with dates and milk and ending with baklava and almond pastries.
I fasted. I don’t do this very often; the last time I did was for Yom Kippur a few years ago. It draws you inward, making you slightly apart from the world. I went for a walk at lunchtime, enjoying the day; I felt a little misted. It’s hard to describe.
People whose tradition calls on them to fast regularly speak of this apartness, how it’s an important part of their spirituality. I can see how that would be.
Fasting has kind of gone away in Christianity, at least in the earnest form being practiced this Ramadan by students in Davis. Maybe people miss a meal on Ash Wednesday or Good Friday but mostly not; “fasting and abstinence” implies some kind of food since abstaining from food should include abstaining from meat. I’m not sure where this went, or why, but it seems an important spiritual practice in most traditions, and gets you in touch with your core pretty quickly.
And then there’s the useful reminder that the majority of people in the world fast every day, not from choice…
17 October 05
Iftar
Today was the opening event of this fall’s Campus Community Book Project, which this year is The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. The first work of fiction we’ve done, it seems to be drawing quite a different crowd than the past three. We’ll see when it’s all over just how different.
Today featured a kite-making demonstration and an introductory film about Islam followed by a panel discussion, a break-the-fast (it’s Ramadan), and delicious community meal catered by Kabul Restaurant here in Davis.
I sat next to a sociology professor who teaches at Sacramento State and a student in child development. At our table we were pretty evenly split, muslims and non-muslims, but everyone was eager to learn about each other, and about each other’s beliefs, in an atmosphere of respect and tolerance.
I think we should do this kind of thing more often. We’ll have a chance, next week. There’s a community Iftar for the whole of Davis.