dis-n-dat (friends edition)

Pursuit of Happiness: Making Tamales

2010-11-01T21:28:00.003-04:00

(1) pan-roasted corn, delicata squash, string beans, tomatoes, peas, potatoes, carrots, scallions and garlic seasoned with smoked sea salt, oregano, cumin, red chili flakes and lime juice; chopping vegetables is better than any sedative.
(2) meseca flour is not like corn meal; rolling tamales is like rolling maki.
(
3) beautiful bundles of dough and pan-roasted vegetables in a lovely corn husk sheath. i no longer have to pine for the pasteles gifts from my washington heights neighbors.
(4) making tamales in pursuit of happiness. powerful tamales! food is a powerful way to connect with spirit and others. showing off my tamale and blue mani.

are you happy?

S my name is Soup on a Sunday

2010-10-20T07:42:00.000-04:00

This is the last week of my Food Project CSA http://thefoodproject.org/. For 21 incredible weeks I've enjoyed fresh, local and varied vegetables. I'm trying mightily to revel in the joy the season brought rather than despair about what lies ahead -- the sameness of broccoli and string beans.

I'm remembering with fondness that it was 90 degrees in September. One luscious night when I went to pick up my vegetables I spied a yolk-colored moon lying heavy low in the sky. The sight made my heart ache a little. The night was of full of flying things and hopeful spiders -- I burst through many webs on my short walk. Crickets hummed the hairs on my arms to attention. The air smelled like earth and pungent, peppery basil.

More recently the nights have been chilly. Too cool to detect scents. Crawling and flying things are battening down the hatches. It's so silent. There's been an abundance of fat bottomed butternut squashes radiating in crates in the dark. I've resurrected a gravy spattered recipe from my cupboard for Curried Butternut Corn Chowder, Pam's favorite. I've made the soup three weekends in a row -- we eat three and I freeze one (in anticipation of the return to broccoli and string beans.

Last week the farmers gifted us with celeriac -- a strange alien root that I've come to love and associate with the dawn of autumn. Here's what my CSA newsletter editor, Celia, had to say about it:

It is believed that celeriac was introduced to Europe via Egypt and Alexandria. Now celeriac is a highly prized vegetable in France and other European countries where it is eaten both raw and cooked. Celeriac might look intimidating but once you try a warm bowl of celeriac puree you’ll see that beauty is clearly on the inside. While this ugly duckling of the vegetable world takes longer than average to grow, it is very hardy and will store for months making it a great winter root. Its beautiful crown of green stalks can be used as fresh celery. Once peeled celery root lends itself well to roasting, boiling, and marinating, as in coleslaw.

I found this lovely recipe in Deborah Madison's Vegetable Soups cook book. The mise en place is the best part (after eating it, of course). There's nothing more grounding on a Sunday afternoon then meditatively chopping, dicing, slicing and mincing with a couple of good knives in hand and the Carolina Chocolate Drops on the iPod. "Snowden's Jig" is my new favorite. Take a listen, gentle reader: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFFIOVCfvBs, then try this at home:

White Bean and Black Kale Minestra

2 cups of white beans, soaked overnight

aromatics: 2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed, a few sage leaves, a bay leaf, 4 branches of parsely

1 1/2 tsp sea salt

1 cup buckwheat, covered with cold water for at least one hour

2 - 4 tbs fruity olive oil

2 cups finely diced onion

4 mdm carrots

1 large head of celeriac

3/4 tsp oregano

3/4 tsp thyme

2 garlic cloves, crushed and chopped

1 tbs tomato paste

splash of red wine (and a glass to sip while you're chopping. only cook with wine you would drink!)

4 cups shredded kale

sea salt and freshly ground pepper

one 15-ounce diced tomatoes with their liquid

drain and rinse beans and put them in a pot with 10 cups of water and the aromatics. bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cook, covered for an hour. add 1 1/2 tsp slat and continue cooking until beans are tender (at least 30 minutes maybe more). pick out aromatics. drain the beans and reserve the liquid. listen to summer's prayers then say good night.

heat oil in a wide soup pot. add onion, carrot, celeriac, herbs, and garlic. cook over medium heat, giving the contents a stir every so often until softened. aromatic and golden about 15 minutes. stir in tomato paste and continue cooking for 5 minutes or until there's a glaze on the bottom of the pan then add a splash of wine. sip some too while reading a poem: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poem.html?id=177231

add the kale, the buckwheat, 1 tsp salt and 1 cup water. after a few minutes, when the kale has wilted, add the tomatoes and the beans and their liquid. bring to a boil then reduce to low, cover pot and simmer slowly until the buckwheat is plump and tender, about 25 minutes. dance with a loved one.

taste for salt and serve with freshly ground pepper, a spoonful of good olive oil and a grating of pecorino romano and a shower of gigantor homemade croutons, if you wish. chow-dee-dow-dow-down, gentle reader.

WTF?

Celeriac - so ugly it's cute

Celeriac tamed

White Bean and Black Kale Minestra

Me celebrating with summer's harvest, an almost 1,700 lb pumpkin at the topsfield fair

Food glorious food, mi hermana and my cup o joy is brimmin'

2010-07-16T09:12:00.001-04:00

Hands down this past week's most interesting food was chef Nadine Nelson's blueberry pesto with goat cheese served at the "Berries in the 'Bury" tea at the Shirley Eustis House hosted by Discover Roxbury (Check out their fabulous programming: http://www.discoverroxbury.org/)

It was savory not sweet, complex, surprising and blue! We need more blue food! My palate hasn't been this excited since La Mar in San Francisco this past April (if you get there try the ceviche flight. Trust you won't be disappointed. http://www.lamarcebicheria.com/web/index.php.

I hope I can recapture one pinkie digit of Nadine's dish by trying this internet-found recipe at home:

Ingredients
2 cups fresh blueberries, washed
1 cup parsley, cleaned and packed
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1/2 cup toasted walnuts
1/4 cup olive oil
4 cloves garlic
8 oz. goat cheese

Directions
In a blender, process all ingredients, except for goat cheese, until a paste forms. Spoon the blueberry pesto over the goat cheese, enough to cover and drip down sides. Garnish with fresh blueberries.

I plan to serve it with Iggy's Parmesan Toasts http://www.iggysbread.com/main.html an amazing farmer's market find AND I intend to eat it while listening to Ahmad Jamal's Spartacus Love Theme http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFv7uVXJgp4 I'm just saying!

By far the past week's most interesting looking dish was the Moroccan veggie couscous topped with a cumulus cloud of hummus and encircled in a basil olive oil infusion at Cafe Gitane where I dined with my sister of 48 years, Monique, and my sister of 15 minutes, Nicole. There's a long story here but the bottom line is this: I have another sister, y'all. How strange and wonderful to see my face in an unfamiliar face, to be the big sister to another! I knew my family was a Modern Family http://abc.go.com/watch/modern-family/235331 when we gathered at my son's CCNY graduation this May (Go, Cyrano!). It could have been ugly but it was hella-wonderful. Picture me, my wife, Pam, my ex-husband, Chuck, his main squeeze, Lizette, my mother, Carmen, my father, Billy, my father's wife/my step-mum, Connie, my sister, Monique, her fiance, Jacques, Mo's ex-husband, Ken. I neveh in my life see sich a sight* AND it was all good. Now there's Nicole, her hubby Jimmy and her babies Phoebe and Astrid. Welcome to the family, you crazy kids!

Shameless plug: Nicole is an amazing artist. Check her out: http://www.nicolewillis.com/news.html

*I borrowed this line from Paul Laurence Dunbar's poem The Party. If you haven't read his work, well then, you absolutely must. He's too too wonderful!

Here's a taste of "When de Co'n Pones Hot"

Dey is times in life when Nature
Seems to slip a cog an' go,
Jes' a-rattlin' down creation,
Lak an ocean's overflow;
When de worl' jes' stahts a-spinnin'
Lak a picaninny's top,
An' yo' cup o' joy is brimmin'
'Twell it seems about to slop,
An' you feel jes' lak a racah,
Dat is trainin' fu' to trot—
When yo' mammy says de blessin'
An' de co'n pone's hot.

Read more at http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poem.html?id=173468
What's a "racah"? Oh well, I'll figure it out.

Mantra for the week: Dream more. Dream bigger. I love you for reading.

Chef Nadine Nelson and lady Fulani's hat

Ladies and their hats at "Berries in the 'Bury"

Veggie couscous with cloud of hummus, a basil olive oil infusion and roasted red pepper toasts (sausage extra) at Cafe Gitane -- a little bit of Cuba in NYC's West Village.

Lovely Nicole and an equally lovely black lentil and smoked trout salad.

Las hermanas

The modern family, for real though

Pone starts with corn. Hahahahahahaha.

Lady Gaga's Alejandro, Kettlebells Transformation and Fresh, Local Foods

2010-06-14T07:34:00.000-04:00

Has anyone seen Lady Gaga's video Alejandro? When she's on screen I can't look away. Check her out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niqrrmev4mA%3D As Cathy Horyn says in this week's Sunday NY Times "I like that Gaga continues to explore style whether she is backtracking through Madonna country or making more abstract connections to art and film". She's strange and I like it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUgsmsvSYow

Gaga is unusually pale and thin. Who is built this way? Certainly not the gorgeous women in Vogue Curvy that I've been reading to reinforce thickerer positivity http://www.vogue.it/en/vogue-curvy. Still I can't resist the urge to tighten things up.

Over the next eight weeks I'm adding weights to my fitness routine so that I can transform my body into my life style's version of Dara Torres;-) . Last week I began to make the best of my insomnia by getting up to take a 6:00 AM Kettle Bell class at the Roxbury YMCA (side bar: oh, how I love working out with the peoples of Roxbury-- that's what's up!).

Here's the promise: Add kettlebells to your workout, and you’ll reboot a sagging metabolism, lose weight and have a better shape—all in just a few weeks. I'll keep you posted, gentle reader

Week 2 of the Food Project CSA http://thefoodproject.org/csa-farm-share This week: garlic scapes (that I added to a white bean soup in place of garlic cloves) and spinach (that I used to make lemon garlic spinach with sauteed chickpeas) and lots of beautiful greens. I found the most lovely strawberries at the Morse Elementary School Saturday farmer's market in Central Square. I brought a quart to share with my compadres in Afro-Haitian dance (thank you for the privilege of dancing with you, dancers!) and another quart to make home-made dairy-free ice cream. There's nothing fresher than the farmer's market. There's nothing more local than my kitchen. Try this at home:

2 cups soy creamer
1 cup soy milk
2 cups strawberries
2 tablespoon arrowroot
3/4 cup sugar... See More
1 tablespoon vanilla

(1) mix 1/4 cup soy milk with 2 tbs arrowroot; set aside;
(2) puree 1 cup strawberries with soy creamer, remaining 3/4 cup soy milk, sugar;
(3) heat strawberry mixture until it boils; remove from heat;
(4) add arrowroot and creamer (mixture will noticeably thicken); add vanilla then chill for 2-3 hours
(5) add to your ice cream maker (follow manufacturer directions); fold in remaining strawberries during last minutes of freezing;
(6) eat

Feel free to embellish with sliced strawberries OR chiffonade of mint picked from your window box.

Dara Torres has good muscles

Shaped like a metal cannonball with a handle, the kettlebell, which has been used in Russia for hundreds of years, has recently become popular on the U.S. fitness scene—so popular, in fact, that kettlebells-only gyms have opened across the country.

Carrot white bean soup w/ grilled cheese toast

Lemon garlic spinach with sauteed chickpeas

Saturday at the Dance Complex from 1:30 to 3:00 PM. Off the chain!

Vegan strawberry ice cream under a little mountain of strawberries

Here's the anatomy lesson: Garlic and its relatives in the allium family, (leeks, chives, onions) grows underground, where the bulb begins its journey, soft and onion-like. As the bulb gets harder (and more like the garlic we know), a shoot pokes its way through the ground. Chlorophyll- green like a scallion (maybe even greener), the shoot is long and thin and pliable enough to curl into gorgeous tendrils.

Won't you celebrate with me? May 23, 2010

2010-06-14T07:33:00.000-04:00

Poem by Lucile Clifton

won't you celebrate with me
what i have shaped into
a kind of life? i had no model.
born in babylon
both nonwhite and woman
what did i see to be except myself?
i made it up
here on this bridge between/ starshine and clay
my one hand holding tight
my other hand; come celebrate
with me that everyday
something has tried to kill me
and has failed.

Didn't make it to the farmer's market this weekend but it was fantastic and full just the same. My sons visited (oh how I adore them!). Spent a hot minute with the hardest working woman in show business. Her name is LISA. Watched my men be boys at the skate park (I alternated between shouting "Hercules, Hercules" and "Oh no, baby are you all right?!" I got in a little dancing (Jean and Nailah: you keep me young, cherie). Picked up White Teeth by Zadie Smith from the library http://www.randomhouse.com/boldtype/0700/smith/interview.html. Admired my baby's garden. Dreamed and made plans for the future with her too. And I cooked!

Food highlights: grilled red white and blue potatoes; savored strawberries as big as a child's fist; gobbled down black bean, tomato, roasted red pepper and corn salad and nibbled on oven baked espresso/cinnamon french toast.

As I am sharing poetry with you (rest in peace, dear Lucille) my son, Cyrano, hipped me to a Hudson Valley poet, Saul Williams. Check him out hipsters: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDMtaIcrfQ0

Shell's Strawberry Goodness: wash well in cold water a quart of strawberries, pat dry, put in a pretty handmade ceramic bowl then eat with the stems still on. not entirely necessary but if you like pair w/ Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc (deliciosa).

Won't you celebrate with me?

self portrait of mi familia; me, my shorty and the fellas.

rhodies and allium past peak in miss pamela's garden. my grandmother was a master gardener like my wife and mother-in-law. it's funny how we recreate familiar patterns in relationships (friends i'm channeling alice power, my maternal grandmother, through pamela denise waterman:-)

flatblasted the rollerblading casualty with the jammie home healing

red white and blues on the barbey. a grill and potatoes are beautiful thangs.

pamela's garden in the early stages (it's gonna be good).

cyrano at the hallway gallery; my son's graduating from college this week, y'all! buttons burstin!

sole ingredient in Shell's Strawberry Goodness

The First Taste (May 16, 2010)

2010-06-14T07:30:00.000-04:00

Blazing blue sky, sun beaming down, slight breeze, people milling all about, Ghetto-Child by the Spinner's playing in my head, the Rodster talking garden stuff. Walking past a stand of neatly stacked greens, our eyes locked. His farmer's hands thrust a package filled to overflowing with tender tendrils of pea shoots towards me. Pea tendril? he offered.

Today was the opening weekend for the SOWA market. Has anyone else been eagerly anticipating the return of the farmer's market? My excitement started building a couple of weeks ago when the Fiddleheads (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiddlehead_fern) appeared in Whole Foods Market. These odd "at-sign"-shaped veggies are only available two weeks out of the year. Nothing says local and now like Fiddleheads. Oh boy! Among all the beautiful handcrafted jewelry (I particularly loved: http://www.etsy.com/shop/LOOKAjewelry) and DIY stuff I found a gorgeous crusty french baguette from When Pigs Fly bakery http://www.sendbread.com/, hydroponic tomatoes and pea tendrils.

I plopped one of the tendrils in my mouth. OMG. Memories of shucking peas with my South Carolina grandmother rushed back through my taste buds. The leaves had the mouth feel of watercress but tasted like lovely sweet peas. I forked over my four dollars and farmer man suggested I lightly saute them in olive oil.

Instead I composed a lusty tomato and bread salad with large chunks of Pecorino Romano on a bed of raw tendrils (next time I will saute them). I served it with a pugnacious 2007 Shiraz that Pam said came from among the "good stuff". You hear that Elizabeth? I’m coming to join you, honey http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5dHXzmV24U I'm still sipping as I write this. Gentle reader, life doesn't get any better, or does it?

I heart summer. I heart farmer's markets. I heart Pamela Waterman and tomato and bread salad. Try this at home:

* 1 tablespoon sherry-wine vinegar
* 1 garlic clove, minced and mashed to a paste with a pinch salt
* 1/4 cup red onions, slivered
* 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
* 2 cups 3/4-inch cubes crusty bread
* 1 pound vine-ripened red tomatoes
* 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, washed well, spun dry, and chopped fine (I used flat parsley)
* 1 tablespoon freshly cracked pepper
* 1 teaspoon of smoky sea salt (I found it in St. Helen's Olive Oil Co. in Napa; it tastes like bacon!)

Preparation

In a bowl whisk together vinegar, garlic paste, and pepper to taste and whisk in oil until emulsified. Add remaining ingredients and salt to taste and toss to combine well. Let salad stand at room temperature 15 minutes to allow bread to soak up some dressing.

sweet pea tendrils

Tomatoes as the sun goes down 5/16/10

SOWA market

hydroponic tomatoes and tomato and bread salad. 5/16/10

i'se married now! Wedding Day 10/10/04.

Neo-African Americans, the end of suffering and beautiful things

2009-08-08T11:05:00.005-04:00

Last week I volunteered for the 11th Roxbury Film Festival where I saw an amazing thought provoking docu-film “The Neo-African Americans” (Check out brother Kobina Aidoo’s work at http://neoafricanamericans.wordpress.com/) and spent a hot minute in Dudley Square. I ask you: What could be better than tipping into a dark theater on a swelteringly hot August day for a cool-down and a mind-tickle with films that celebrate people of color?

Beautiful, historic Dudley reminds of the interstices of 125th Street Harlem which I used to pass through daily on my way to and from work. This black urban Mecca teems with life – street vendors, old school players, suited ladies from Freedom Hall prophesizing to AWAKE!, average-working Joes, crack heads and other chemical-dependents, shoppers in search of Aliiyah black velvet paintings, three-card Monty hustlers, bored/tense Five-Ohs, disciples of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad and more. Walking through this peculiar madness is a bit like being jettisoned into the twilight zone and Dudley Square rests squarely in this zone. I had no idea!

Tasha, the Hibernian Hall site leader at the fest, sent me to Haley House on a lunch run. The Haley House’s food is fresh and fantastic, the vibe is copasetic and their mission is on-point. Support: http://www.haleyhouse.org/cafe/home.htm

I haven’t needed to don my “don’t-start-none-won’t-be

-none” face” in a long time. Fortunately I was able to pull it out instinctively as I walked though the streets of Dudley Square. I was not in danger, mind you, but the area demands a certain sort of armored alertness. Maybe it was the old whore in the skin-tight, camel-toed hot pants with the I-Dream-of-Jeannie clip on pony tail whose posture exuded ‘Love for Sale’ while she anxiously pulled a pretty man-child behind her? She was searching for something. Maybe it was the Night-of-the-Living Dead couple who seemed so in love and so high while they nodded with ballet-like grace towards one another in defiance of the laws of physics? Or the familiar Tally’s Corner poppas pontificating at the bus stop with their brown-bagged-bottles (http://www.amazon.com/Tallys-Corner-Streetcorner-Legacies-Thought/dp/0742528960)? Or was it brother-man cutting his drugs with a razor on the stone chess-board table in the Hibernian hall park in the afternoon sun? He gave me a shout-out. Pink! Pink! I like you in that dress! I did look good y'all. LOL. There was nothing else to say but thank you. The last sad straw was listening to an elder sister sitting in the same park as brother-man shouting “I’m just a N, I’m just a N”. ‘cept she was not saying “N”. I blamed it on the a-a-a-a-alcohol and I don't know what else that seemed to be coursing through her blood stream. Notice a pattern?

I guess this made me ripe for this week’s NY Times/Style of the Times/Modern Love essay in which Laura Munson wrote that she’d committed herself to a non-negotiable understanding to end self-induced suffering. Munson helped me to think about the ways that I habitually suffer. I wonder what would happen if we all committed to the hard work of ending self-induced suffering? What would happen if we fought to, as Munson writes, "exile the voices in our heads that tell us our personal happiness is only as good as our outward success, rooted in things that are often outside our control? What would happen if we all worked to see the insanity of this equation and decided to take responsibility for our own happiness?” (Check out her essay: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/02/fashion/02love.html?_r=1).

What would the world look like indeed? A couple of times this week I tested the waters by refusing to engage in power struggles, making myself vulnerable and believing I deserved a place at “the” table. I wasn't always successful (you can't break lifetime habits in one week!) but I was happier. Not ecstatic, not reborn but more peaceful and grounded. I was reminded of Langston Hughes’ poem “Mother to Son” http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poem.html?id=177021...Life ain't been no crystal stair but I appreciate the struggle and beautiful things like Garden Girl’s farm fresh eggs, purple cherry tomatoes and the good friends God has blessed me to have.

Gooseberries, race matters and Rosie's Place

2009-08-08T10:50:00.006-04:00

This afternoon I left work early to go to high tea at the Shirley-Eustis (SE) House in Roxbury as part of the "Discover Roxbury" food series. The house is the only remaining country house in America built by a British Royal Colonial Governor. The missus and I were wed there. Check it out: http://www.shirleyeustishouse.org. HEADS-UP: the grounds are covered with fruit trees that can be harvested by anyone. Apricots are due in a couple of weeks.

High tea is distinguished by low tea by the time of day it's served -- 4:00 - 6:00 and sometimes there's alcohol (low is earlier and dry). Gooseberries were passed for us to sample as Chef Nadine Nelson who prepared our bites described the menu and the locally grown treats (of which gooseberries were one). Gooseberries look like vintage grape-green marbles with soft grey/brown striations. Their skins are tight like plum skins and their flesh feels like green tomato. They burst in your mouth with tart and citrus goodness. If you can find them, try them.

Andrea Taafe is the Executive Director of the house. She talked at length about the importance of neighborliness -- residents connecting with institutions and vice versa. It got me to thinking about Professor Gates (Who isn't thinking about him these days?) and the mission of Discover Roxbury. How we all work so hard to dismantle perceptions.

I had a fascinating conversation with a colleague, who is white and shared what she described as the "pervasive liberal white perspective" on the matter: Professor Gates is arrogant, got what he deserved and is trying to promote his next book/project. I was stunned (and she was too)! Not the uppity-n-word accusation!

What can we do about this? How did Gates' neighbor manage to mistake him for a robber? How does one get pulled out of their house and arrested for peaceful discontent? I saw an article on NPR.org today that said the Cambridge cop that arrested Gates is a diversity expert on the force. See: http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=122053508216&h=46Ids&u=f4Aof&ref=nf Does this excuse him? Are we supposed to swallow the "he's bias-free" pablum? It fascinating how our particular lens shapes our view of this situation.

I'm no victim but not a single day goes by without me being reminded of my race. Sometimes it's the demoralizing billboard ads featured in my neighborhood. Other times it's white colleagues diminishing my ideas then word-smithing them and claiming them for their own. I struggle with how to behave. "Should I Tom?", "Should I finger-wag, eye and neck roll?" or "Should pretend like I'm a wise mammy and teach the pretty-not-black-babies?" The shit is deep, sad and frankly, tiresome.

Most days I focus the hazel browns on my listener (what?!) and serve up a big dose of me. HEADS-UP: The good thing about getting older: You don't worry so much about what others think:0)

I employed this technique rather effectively last night at Rosie's Place where Pam and I are responsible for dinner preparations as part of Trinity Church's service ministries one night (sometimes two) per month (Interested in serving? Find your passion: http://www.nationalservice.gov/Default.asp

I was slightly intimidated by the white professionals I was charged to lead: a college professor whose spouse is a dean, a lawyer, a public policy wonk, a pediatric intensive care nurse and more! I had to force myself to remember that we were all there to work and I was the leader (along with Pam, of course). I took a deep breath and got busy: "X (aka Dr. X), please wash the potatoes (40 pounds of' em y'all) . Y, Esq and Nurse Z please help X. So glad to see you again this month! When you're done, guys, we need to chop like nobody's business. The potatoes must be in the oven by 4:45 PM. Questions? Thank you! You are awesome!"

I was wracked with excess energy by the end of the meal so danced it off with Michelle Bach-Coulibaly at the Dance Complex. It was fantastic. Check her out at: http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Theatre_Speech_Dance/people/bach-coulibaly.html).

You know what made it all good? The seconds line. Guests of every race, creed, color, age and sexual orientation were on it (Funny? Hunger doesn't discriminate). They wanted more and I was, in part, responsible (the menu: salmon burgers on a whole wheat bun, herb-roasted potatoes, fresh salad and watermelon). I sat with Natasha, a guest, when I finally got to sit down (it's important to me to talk to the ladies we cook for at meal time plus the dogs were barking). Natasha told me everything was great and she emphasized this by ditching me and my small talk to get seconds.

There is one elder though who describes herself as "picky". She said the meal was "so-so". My goal is for her tell me: "I loved it". It's a tall order but hey you gotta reach. Right? I have a year to work on it. Wish me luck.

the Ultimate Root Soup, my roots and Black Jesus

2009-08-08T10:45:00.005-04:00

My challenge ingredient this week: beets.

My earliest memory of beets: dinner circa 1968 mid-town Manhattan East-side in the apartment of a woman who reminded me of "That Girl" -- except she was Russian and a friend of my mother. This was also one of my earliest memories of being in a white person's home. Life was pretty segregated in the 60's. We played Clue. I was Colonel Mustard. She served borscht which needless to say went gracelessly uneaten.

Fast forward to 1999. I awoke one day with an inexplicable taste for dirt. I thought beets would help and they didn't disappoint:-) When I eat beets it triggers a reaction in my brain that makes it think I'm digging my toes in the dirt during a sun shower on hot day.

This week's CSA food stuffs: beets, carrots, cabbage, potatoes. There was nothing else to be done except to make borscht as my Brooklynite-living-in-Bost

on friend Jamie reminded me. It's part of my Jewish heritage which as a New Yorker I feel perfectly comfortable claiming.

Composing this soup forced me to go zen -- my mediation: I deserve to love me (yes, I went there!). I made stock from vegetable peels and other stuff I normally send gleefully down the disposal. I shredded, minced, diced and chopped for over an hour. I was rewarded with a fragrant (even Pam said it smelled good though she's threatening not to eat it) jewel-colored soup. And lots of it! Borscht, my darlings?

on a not totally unrelated note: regarding the Brooklynite-living-in-Boston thing. I've lived in this city for nine years. New York will always be my city (and it's the best damned city on earth. Yankees rule!) but Boston is where I've chosen to lay down my roots. Provincial, slow, up-tight Boston has made me love it. Boston is home.

Last night I was chatting with my friend, Derek (who is the Program and Marketing Manager for Discover Roxbury. Thanks to him I'm discovering Roxbury and you can too. Go to: http://www.discoverroxbury.org/), about Boston treasures and he hipped me to the Roxbury Black Jesus. Apparently the brown people in his MIssion Hill aka Roxbury neighborhood decided the Jesus that looked down on them e'ry day needed to look like them. In an act of communal rebellion they painted white Jesus brown.

Wow, Jesus is black and beautiful. Repeat after me: I deserve to love me.

Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't.

2009-08-08T10:33:00.005-04:00

Shout out to Amanda for the bok choy and tofu recipe. It was delish and I'd eat it again!

For a hot minute, I thought I should resist eating meat as part of my food journey. I said "no" to the steak and mushrooms at Pasquale's Rigoletto at my nephew's graduation dinner. I convinced myself that a sober chicken cutlet was the better choice. It wasn't. But I did feel morally superior for denying myself the pleasure of meat.

On my way home tonight I thought "What am I going to put on all that damned lettuce I've got in the 'frig? Cod encrusted with panko? no. Sword steak seared with sesame seeds? No. Shrimp grilled on the barby?" NO. The choice was simple, really, an organic black Angus Sirloin -- grilled medium rare with sea salt and black pepper.

I sauteed garlic scrapes and mushrooms in enough butter to make gravy. Made a cilantro chimichurri sauce instead of salad dressing (giant handful of cilantro minced, a clove of garlic minced, the juice of half a lemon, equal part olive oil, a little salt and red chili pepper to taste). Ah....bouefgasmic!

After several minutes in omnivore heaven I took pictures and have no regrets, burp;-).

My curious relationship with food

2009-08-08T10:27:00.002-04:00

Have been recently rethinking my relationship with food. Two important things have happened to me (to those that know me well: uncle, uncle re: buying cookbooks! I'm down to one per month. I'm not hurting anyone!).

Living La Vida Local
I've signed up for a community-supported-agricu

ltural share (for more info see: http://www.thefoodproject.org/buy/internal1.asp?ID=137) BY MYSELF. In past years, I've buffered myself from the experience by sharing my box with friends or neighbors. If food went to waste, I didn't have enough to justify a second thought.

Spurned on in part by Pamelasitas no meat/no poultry diet I've gone hard core. The box is mine alone. I can count on Pam to take a bite of most everything I make but honestly all them vegetables are on me.

To make matters worse, I'm a farmer's market junkie. I often buy food just because it's gorgeous -- not because I intend to eat it. With the box I'm forced to stop my wasteful ways and focus on eating the food God, by way of the Food Project, has given me.

Last week I had bouquets of scallions (I stored them in a vase for a day or so). I made pad thai noodles and scallion pancakes. BAM.

Week 4 -- I definitely had to step up my game. Our groceries have practically doubled as mother nature is ramping up. I've decided to meet the challenge by resisting unnecessary consumption and to frame all of my meals with the box foods.

Lovely nubile carrots: Indian spiced carrot soup with ginger (http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Indian-Spiced-Carrot-Soup-with-Ginger-241886). Gigantor zucchini: zucchini-pineapple-walnut bread and rice-zucchini frittata.

There were some wonderful loopy garlic shoots in the box too -- they look like curly scallions. I'm using them where ever there onions and garlic are called for. This is what I enjoy about the box: it gets me out of my food comfort zone. I eat what's in season and I'm eating things I would never buy. Like my grandparents used to do. Red swiss chard, watch out!

Don't Compare Your Life to Others. You Have No Idea What Their Journey Is All About.
Pam and I have been asked to lead Trinity Church's Rosie's Place ministry. This involves cooking a meal for 130 people one night per month.

I'm blown away by the face of hunger. Whatever you think hungry people look like -- rewind! There are mothers with their school-aged children, grandmamma's, girls-nite-out women, old hermit-like ladies, addicts, trannies, back-packing students, bejeweled ladies who've fallen on hard times, mentally ill people, butches, femmes, Chinese, Haitian, Dominican, Af/Am, White, Eastern European, Indian, Jamaican, and people that look like you and me. In short: e'rybody.

What I love about working at Rosie's Place: composing the meal, competing with other fast choppers, passing with the King's English (there are very few people of color volunteering), stirring/sauteeing/mixing big vats of food, listening to people's stories, flirting with the women (it's not about sex. It's mostly about: hey baby, I see you) and feeling real.

Sort of related: visited my dad in Brooklyn last week: he and my step-mom, Conchetta, grow tomatoes and use them to make home made sauce.

Cape Town Highlights

2009-02-07T07:36:00.012-05:00

entrance to Robben Island (where Mandela was jailed)
Mandela's cell
View from Robben Island to Cape Town and Table Top Mountain

Michelle on Robben Island with Table Mountain in distance
View from top of Table Mountain into waterfront
Downtown Cape Town
C

Cape Town Housing

2009-02-07T06:38:00.022-05:00

January 30, 2009

all of these dwellings are within a mile of one another. my perspective on race/class has shifted in a profound way with my visit to south africa. you want social disparities? you want racial invisibility? visit beautiful cape town south africa where squatter towns border all white gated communities and all colored communities. millions of blacks live without running water, toilets, unemployment ranges between 60 - 70%, TB rates crest at 45% and 1 out of 4 are HIV+.

pam's cousin, a black american telecomm professional, lives in a mostly-white community. his 3000+ sq ft condo is nestled in a bay with table mountain behind and the indian ocean in the front. we sat by the pool drinking a fabulous pinotage that is produced locally. as we watched the moon settle in the horizon i couldn't help but acknowledge "life is damned good" even as i was sobered by the doom of apartheid's legacy.

in nigeria, my african colleagues told me that i am not black but rather muzengi, that is, foreigner. there are very few mixed race peoples. you're either a dark skinned black or you're a white. i'm not soul sister number one in abuja, i'm vanilla cha (WTF?).

then there's south africa....where the shit gets deep and raw. racial categories: white, coloured, asian, black. i, apparently, am coloured and it comes with privileges! in education, employment and housing. people that pass the paper bag test still mostly marry one another or whites/asians exclusively (you can be outed in the newspaper for going black!). they've created generations of light skinned people who proudly call themselves coloured (WTF?). american blacks don't know disparites. when SCIENTIFIC data are presented, coloured is a racial category. my social standing has improved in cape town. it's fucking scary.

segregation is alive and well in this "post-racial" Mandela society, NOT. thousands upon thousands live in shanty towns with no running water, bootleg electricity and no toilets. unemployment ranges from 60 - 70%. eduation is severely under resourced. there's a raging "tik" (crystal meth) epidemic. there are NO recreational facilities, parks, supermarkets in these communities. these people are dooomed (and it's mostly black people).

more scary is that everyone says shit like "ja, it's a shame but what can you do?" i say burn the mother fucker, BURN IT!

email from reggie:
OMG! Shug, thanks so much for sharing this! I can't imagine what that must feel like. Honestly, I think that's why my research focuses on domestic issues as the international ones seem too insurmountable. Although the domestic issues usually make me angry, the international ones make me feel angry and guilty. There was a student in my doctoral program (Cassandra O.) who usually put all of our African American complaining into perspective too. Whenever we (black students) would be sitting around complaing about how hard we had it growing up..she would chime in..where I grew up in Nigeria we didn't have a roof (game over! none of us had anything else to say after that...). I heard something at a recent conference where someone said that "race is a cohort experience" (that is race is experienced by our parent's cohort very differently from the way our age cohort experiences it) and it appears we should add that it is also a country specific experience as well.

email from carmen

Darling few Americans know the reality of life around the world. Even those who travel, rarely travel to where the indigenous people live or have a clue as to what day-to-day survival really means. We worry about our economy while others worry about having food to eat and clean drinking water. Africa probably is the worse because the contrasts are so great and divided along color lines, but India, China, the Middle East, South America, Central America, it is hardly different except that the divisions aren't based on color. This is the reality as hard as it must be on you to see it so blatantly in action. It takes travel and I don't mean tourist vacations to get an understanding about life and I'm glad you are able to do it. It's not pretty, but in spite of it, people still can smile, be welcoming and loving. It is the life they know, not necessarily the life they want to live and certainly not the life that an American - no matter how poor - could even fathom.

email from joanne
I always find that when I travel extensively as you are doing now I feel more grounded and connected. Outside of the US I've been to Morocco, Spain, Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panama, St. Lucia, Ecuador, Chile, and a few other countries. There is not one year of my "formal education" that compares to one month in any of these countries. Living in the US we are raised to believe how big we are. We believe everything going on here and now is the center of the universe. I believe it myself most of the time unless I purposefully stop the spiral. Then it takes something major (health/sickness of a loved one, an inspirational trip, some other hippy-dippy self-actualizing moment) for me to be catapulted back to reality and remember what matters. Looking at people as individuals with perspectives that are both deeply rooted and fluid. Realizing that everybody has something to teach.

January 31, 2009

i'm trying not to be judgmental because in spite of this system i recognize ours is quite imperfect. america after all has doomed its indigenous people to reservations -- which are hardly better than these shanty towns.

the good news is that there are many people, influential powerful people, who understand their responsibility and obligation to change and not in the remote sense. we had breakfast today with the rector of stellenbosch university (i think this is equivalent to the president of the university -- the role larry somers played and that drew faust is now playing at harvard, impressive). he was hired in 2007 and has increased the enrollment of blacks at the university from less than 20% to just under 40% (and has a goal to increase it to 50% by 2011). they purposefully seek rural and urban poor blacks to cultivate (and fund their entire education as well as providing other aggressive support. this is due in no small measure to the fact that the stellenbosch is housed on land that the blacks were ousted from).

good work is being done. it's just stunning to see the disparity. especially when ignorance lulled me into thinking Mandela's freedom liberated the blacks.

like Obama's election, we've still got serious work to do.

Where we went and why we were there

2009-02-06T06:57:00.026-05:00

Powerpoint presentation created by Dr. Michelle Holmes.

Tanzania (Excursion to Rufiji)

2009-02-05T07:24:00.013-05:00

Heading to Rufiji district, David, Shona, Michelle and school boy (first leg on a ferry leaving Dar es Salaam)Heading to Rufiji district (first leg on a ferry leaving Dar es Salaam)

Rural Tanzania, Rufiji district

Town of Ikewiriri, Rufiji district Tanzania

Ikewiriri dwelling

Leaving the rest stop facilities

The rest stop facilities (this was actually taken at the health center we visited. The rest stop facilities were adorned with hornet nests, lizards and many cobwebs. Charming!)

January 27, 2009
Notes on Tanzania
email message from sister Monique to mother, Carmen, describing our telephone conversation.

"I just hung up from Miss Shelly!

She is in Tanzania where the life expectancy is 47. The locals call her a "Muzenge" which means foreigner. She stands out like a sore thumb; because the locals either look African or European, but the blended folk come from somewhere else. They are working her from morning to night. Meetings begin at 8 in the morning, proceed non-stop throughout the day. She has no alone time as the entire group regroups for dinner. It was after 11pm when I spoke to her. They are 8 hours ahead and she was just getting ready for bed. She called me b/c she couldn't reach Pam. I am so glad to have to receive her call!

She described her experience of using the bathroom at a state of the art hospital. The toilet facilities are separate from the main structure; it was an outhouse covered in cob webs and populated by lizards and spiders and flies. They have been coached to carry their own toilet paper. Inside the outhouse, there was a hole in the floor. That was it. A hole, where she had to squat and aim. There was no running water, not to flush, or wash so she had to get it right the first time or she would be wearing it to the rest of her meetings throughout the day. I won't describe the process of trying to make it go down, you can use your imagination. We remarked how lucky she is to be traveling for work rather than born into those circumstances.

She sounded like she was in good spirits. She is flying to her third country tomorrow. Not sure where to; At $2.40 a minute on her global phone, I am sure that we will find out by email."

Abuja: The National Mosque

2009-02-03T08:49:00.006-05:00

January 24, 2009

To learn more see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigerian_National_Mosque

Friday night and the mosque is jumping!

View from the National Christian Center

Women must be veiled in order to enter mosque grounds.

The exterior of the Nigerian National Mosque.

We visited the National Mosque during our last morning in Abuja. It was an amazing sight -- best described through pictures. The women in our group had to veil themselves to enter the grounds of the mosque. It was a hot dusty day. My polyester scarf soon began to feel like a plastic bag entombing my head. I do not mind dressing modestly but veiling is too much. How chauvanistic! How oppressive!

There's a traveler's advisory warning travelers to show extreme caution when traveling in Nigeria (the Delta region is the worst. It's where oil is produced). Lagos has a reputation too for street crime. In my less than 24 hours experiene Lagos is notorious indeed, for its traffic. If Obama thinks we suffer from infrastructure deficiency -- he ain't seen nothing yet! Highways are woefully unsuitable for this bustling urban center. Our host told us that the capital was relocated to Abuja because of the bad traffic. The city is in constant gridlock.

Petrol is cheap. Car dealerships are on every corner (Purchases are on a cash and carry basis. ATMs were introduced less than 3 years ago but the economy is largely based on cash. Hence, we settled our hotel bills in cash). The roads can not acommodate the number of drivers. Corruption has left many roads unfinished and in some cases unstarted. But the industrious Nigerian has developed an entire thriving economy based on stopped traffic.

You can literally set-up house just sitting in traffic. There's the usual fare: gum (orbits), sacks of fruit, bags of water, bootleg CDs and phone cards. More unusual: bathroom accessories, sandals, sunglasses, clothing, live pheasants bound at the feet and mouse glue traps (?). And there are squegee boys too.

Driving, as usual in Africa, is risky business. The road rule: Survival of the fittest. You must wear your seatbelt at all times even as a taxi passenger. Cars are riddled with dings and dents from frequent fender benders. Settlements are negotiated quickly. No one waits for the police because it will only result in both parties being "shaken down". Whatever it costs fo repair damages is settled on the spot. $10,000 naira? $50,000 naira? Bam, cash is rendered on the spot. (1 U.S. dollar = $140 naira)

Adabo for now.

Abuja: The Nigerian National Christian Center

2009-02-03T08:18:00.010-05:00

January 24, 2009

To learn more see:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigerian_National_Christian_Centre

The HSPH African Cohort team, from left to right: Michelle Holmes, Hans-Olov Adami, Clemente Adebemowo (Nigeria lead scientist and host) Michelle Coleman, Doug Dockery, Shona Dalal, David Havelick, Juan Jose Buerza, Adejumo (IHV Nigeria colleague)

A little video of the exterior (sorry I don't know how to orient this correctly).

A video of the interior.

Abuja, Nigeria Third Day

2009-02-03T07:36:00.006-05:00

Wusi market butchers.

Foreground: dried shrimp.

Curlicues: dried cow skin

Black rings are dried fish (a wire is run thru the fish and its dried in a circle so that the fish looks like its swallowing its own tail (first imported from Iceland during the Biafran conflict to provide much needed protein supplementation in the local diets. Now it's a delicacy)

Live chickens with proprietor taking a break on top of cages.

January 24, 2009
Today, our last day in Abuja (day three), we visited the Wusi market. The scientific justification I think was to get a sense of local customs, diet and culture. And did we ever. I'm sort of starting at the end of my Abuja experience but it was pretty fascinating.

Imagine a market packed with stalls with bags filled to overflowing with snow white millet, sunshine yellow ground cassava, black eyed peas, red orange and yellow scotch bonnets, ripe plum tomatoes, tiny dried caramel colored shrimp so strongly scented they made your mouth water, periwinkle colored snails the size of your thumb pad, huge grey/brown snails the size of a small foot, canned goods stacked 10 feet high, cages packed with live auburn feathered chickens with bright red combs, cages of rabbits and guinea pigs and pheasants, bunches of spinach, bottled water, pineapple, plums, green and red grapes, tiny apples, fruits with the skin of papaya but the size of a lime, drums of palm oil (a red very viscous oil that's used in abundance in local food preparation), canola oil, tubs filled with live catfish the size of carnival baseball bats and very little water and more! Not to mention the people...brown faces everywhere!

Everything was in close proximity to everything else -- only enough room for two adults to pass one another. Children followed us as if we were the pied pipers. Some watching the mysterious whites, other trying to sell us stuff and some just asking us to "snap" them (take my picture).

I "accidently" wandered into the slaughter house section of the market where I was met with headless skinned goats and piles of blood and entrails and other recently hacked animal parts. It was revolting but I couldn't turn away. The air was thick with the sweet metallic smell of blood and rotting meat. I had to sip the air to breath. There was no mistaking this was local at it's truest and purest. It's permanently changed my perception of the farmer's market.

The vendors, as you can imagine, were an enterprising bunch. When they realized we weren't there to buy but to watch and snap. They angrily said "no buy, no snap!" I couldn't blame them. I have so much more to say about the day but there is a queue for the one computer in this hotel (I am now in boogie down Lagos -- it has a well deserved reputation but that's another story). I'll write soon to tell you about my first time veiling , visiting the national mosque, the Lagos highways and more!

Did you know that Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa boasting 14M? One in every black in the world is of Nigerian descent?

E'che. Yoruba for thank you, for reading my story.

Abuja, Nigeria First Day (Impressions and Street Scences)

2009-02-03T07:04:00.009-05:00

January 22, 2009
Arrived in Abuja (love the ripeness of this word when it rolls off my tongue) this morning about 5:30 AM. We had a little excitement at check-in -- our rooms weren't ready. This wouldn't have been so terrible had not the desk person tried to jack up the price of our rooms by ~100% when she saw we were foreigners. We'd been warned in advance that credit cards weren't accepted. But we weren't prepared to pay 565 for a two night stay).

Given my jet laggedness I seriously considered yeilding and bunking with David (Hans-Olov's assistant). I was in desperate need of ZZZZs. We called our host who quickly settled everything. Our room rates were reduced to ~$150/night and we got free breakfast. Hans-Olov, who is usually slow to anger, was pissed. He kept grumpbling about Nigeria's corruption souring the deal. I was assigned a room about 11 AM. I slept until about 1 then was off to my first meeting at the Institute of Human Virology.

I site-visited the facility solamente (which I wasn't prepared to do but hey, it felt good to fake being a grown-up). I met their COO, CFO saw all of their core facilities, met their internal auditors, IT team, media relations team and senior managers. It was pretty interesting. I discovered a small flaw in their operation which is that they're an entity of University of Maryland. Any project we would propose would have to be vetted by their scientists and administrators. Not sure anyone on my team knows this). Also, like in the other African countries we visited all the resouces flow HIV/AIDS. The CFO assured me, when I asked, that the Institute was prepared to take on other initiatives. As an example he cited they were able to "drop everything" to manage an Avian Flu crisis in 2007. He told meother health priorities were managing non-communicable diseases like hypertension and diabetes. I like I earned the trip gleaning these simple facts.

The CFO divides his time between Baltimore and Nigeria. I'm a little like a fish out of water without Pam and now without my team but I'm enjoying this unsettled feeling. It's challenging to walk in this new world. And to be able to speak admin speak with surety. I even took notes!

The city is modern what little I've seen of it, very 70s. With small industrial complexes everywhere. It's not unlike other African metropolis' (signs of agrilife are everywhere). It's very brown. Lots of bad drivers who toot their horns non-stop for no apparent reason. You're just as likely to see veiled women with black chadors as women in colorful native turbans with matching dresses as women in tank tops and skin tight jeans. On the way to the Institute I saw two huge edifices -- the national mosque and the national church, side by side. The visual symbolism of the balance between Muslims and Christians is very interesting.

Barack does "Single Ladies" spoof

2009-01-24T12:14:00.001-05:00

New Year's Resolutions

2008-12-30T23:11:00.002-05:00

It's that time of year again -- resolutions.

I'm incredibly blessed with health, love, purpose, employment, family and friends. Barack Obama's win helped me to realize that I have power as an individual and its spurred me to make the world better. To this end, my year end donations have gone to Wesleyan University, The Greater Boston Food Bank, WBUR (my local NPR radio station) and fulfilling the wish list of a family in transition. I remember this was one of the earliest lessons I learned from grandma Alice. She gave to e'rybody. She sheltered and fed many needy people.

Have taken a scan (physically, emotionally and spiritually). Am thinking that my intention for 2009 is to stop imposing my script on others. Everyone has their own unique set of challenges and experiences. I will work to let others walk their own path without my judgement.

Behind-the-scenes video of Barack & Michelle

2008-10-10T23:40:00.000-04:00

The Love/Avon Army of Women

2008-10-02T11:39:00.003-04:00

I saw Dr. Susan Love on the Today Show yesterday, talking about her next focus: identifying the causes of breast cancer so one day, we can have a vaccination like exists for cervical cancer. Dr. Love is committed to enrolling 1 million women who are not breast cancer survivors to participate in clinical research. Leona & I just signed up...thought you all might be interested too.

Here's the official blurb from the organization:

The Love/Avon Army of Women offers women the opportunity to partner with the scientists who are conducting research that will end this disease--once and for all.

Breast cancer has been around for decades, but it does not have to be our future. We can be the generation that stops breast cancer once and for all by figuring out what causes this disease and how to prevent it!

Sign up for your sister, mother, daughter, granddaughter, best friend, and the woman you met last week. This is YOUR chance to be part of the research that will end breast cancer.

It takes a just a minute to join. But the impact we will have will last a lifetime.

Please Join Me in Being One in a Million!

Gay Marriage Is As Old As History: When Marriage Between Gays Was a Rite

2008-08-26T00:10:00.004-04:00

This is really interesting! I was reminded of Professor Boswell's research when reading a story this evening posted on one of my gay Blogs and felt compelled to share it with you all. I actually have this book but have not read it yet so if you want to read it let me know. Click HERE for a synopsis of what this book is about provided by GayChristian101.com

great new post on J&J Politics from MoveOn.org

2008-08-20T19:38:00.000-04:00

http://www.jackandjillpolitics.com/2008/08/excellent-moveonorg-video-about-obama-v-mccain/

BUY ITALIAN VOGUE-BLACK MODEL ISSUE

2008-08-14T03:16:00.001-04:00

Hey ya'll...did you hear about the July 2008 issue of Italian Vogue? They used all black models. Folks in the industry were saying that "black" models don't sell very well and that is why we don't see more black women (and I suspect this is the excuse used for all women of color) on the cover of fashion magazines. Did anyone buy the July issue?

Harvard College is one of the "greenest" in America

2008-08-09T12:23:00.004-04:00

Who knew mother Harvard had a "caring" or "environmentally conscious/green" bone in it's money hoarding, real estate-greedy body? :-) According to the latest survey by the Princeton Review, Havard was among the top 11 (which included Yale) of "The greenest colleges in America" that all achieved perfect scores. This article is actually quite interesting because it shows some really ingenious solutions to typical campus problems. Of course the bulk of the top 11 are in New England/mid-Atlantic, 2 in the Northwest, 1 in the Southwest, and 1 in the Southeast. Click HERE for more info.

Code Language in the Presidential Campaign

2008-08-04T23:06:00.003-04:00

hey y'all..i hate to bump ms. CeCe's picture..she is too adorable :)

Here is a news chat from ABC. I agree with David Gergen here. There is a lot of code language going on in the presidential campaign.

Miss Celia

2008-07-30T01:23:00.003-04:00

Could she BE any more adorable and precious? Look at those cheeks and that little button nose! As Shug says, "I just wanna eat her up!" :>)

Top 25 Disappearing Things

2008-07-21T21:54:00.001-04:00

http://www.walletpop.com/specials/top-25-things-vanishing-from-america?photo=2

JMH Sued Over Access To Dying Gay Partner

2008-07-19T09:57:00.001-04:00

This story is so infuriating and so scary at the same time. It seems that no matter what precautions we take or what legal documents we sign and/or carry with us to "prove" we are married and therefore entitled to the rights of any other immediate family member, others in states like Florida can deny those rights indiscriminately. The background story can be found at http://www.lesbiatopia.com/2008/07/lesbian-partner-sues-hospital-story.html
You can also watch the video, which is heartbreaking as the surviving partner tries to explain how difficult it was to wait in the waiting room for more than 8 hours as her partner lay dying alone. By the time she was permitted to see her partner (for only 5 minutes, mind you), she was already brain-dead...

jill scott

2008-07-14T01:22:00.002-04:00

I just love Jill Scott..however, nothing has been as good as that ""Who is Jill Scott?" CD. I think based on that CD she could get on stage and just sing "blah, blah,blah" and I would still love her..oh, and I also love that she is serving up the girls in this vid ;)

Black opposition to gay marriage remains strong

2008-07-11T11:24:00.001-04:00

Despite growing support for same-sex marriage in the United States as measured by several recent polls, black Americans remain steadfastly opposed to gay unions.According to research conducted by the National Black Justice Coalition and several other organizations, as many as two-thirds of black Americans are against gay marriage. Although the numbers vary by poll, research shows most blacks oppose both gay marriage and civil unions. Click HERE for the full story.

Top 10 oddballs of the animal world

2008-07-10T23:03:00.003-04:00

Ok, is this not the ugliest animal you've ever seen in your life? It's called the "star-nosed mole" but that's not what I'd call it! : ) Check out the pics of these bizarre animals: Click HERE for the full story.

Heinz: A for Effort, D for Courage

2008-06-25T22:09:00.008-04:00

Check this out: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=kAKYpUo18wU

Heinz pulled this commercial from the air after it received complaints.

I love this commercial. It's clever, charming and fun. What could better? At first I thought: boycott Heinz for not standing up. But I've softened my position. Shame on you, Heinz, for kowtowing to the ignorant masses!

When It Comes To Michelle Obama, Where Are The Feminists?

2008-06-24T21:31:00.009-04:00

Reg sent this link to me and I thought it might be worthy of comment on dis-n-dat (fe). Here's the link: http://www.jackandjillpolitics.com/2008/06/when-it-comes-to-michelle-obama-where.html

To me, the Washington Post op-ed piece offers even more evidence of how the supposedly "gay rights" (e.g., HRC) or "women's rights" (e.g., NOW) organizations are all REALLY just about advocating for issues meaningful/pertinent to white gays and white women only. Their hypocrisy is so blatant and indefensible yet each offending organization refuses to recognize the truth and is quick to cry, "foul!" How can they possibly be called, "non-inclusive"? All you have to do is look at their marketing materials and you can see how committed they are to diversity, right? Well, someone needs to tell them that putting pictures of people of color in brochures and on web sites is nothing more than window dressing to create the illusion of inclusion. To use a phrase shouted at the recent Michigan-Florida delegate debate, this is akin to "putting lipstick on a pig!" In other words, the organization might look slightly more attractive [inclusive], but in the end it's still just a pig with lipstick on (kinda like Geraldine Ferraro, huh?).

If one scratches the surface of how gay rights and women's rights organizations have responded to relevant issues involving people of color (such as the recent events involving Michelle Obama), it becomes clear that mere "lip service" has been (and continues to be) paid to the notion of true inclusion/representation. Until organizations such as HRC and NOW acknowledge that mistakes have been made (to put it mildly) and avow to right these wrongs and begin to stand up for ALL their members, then it will be hard for me (and the rest of America) to take them seriously.

"Obama Pride!" 2008

2008-06-15T14:12:00.005-04:00

Pam and I had a fabulous time yesterday at Boston Gay Pride staffing the Obama Pride booth. Although there were a few bitter, hateful a-holes (aka former Hillary supporters) who went out of their way to be rude, by and large, the response from the LGBT crowd was positive.

Today is Loving Day!

2008-06-12T07:35:00.006-04:00

Fooled you with the picture?! It's not, as the name implies, the June version of Valentine's Day. According to the lovingday.org website "the name comes from Loving v. Virginia (1967), the landmark Supreme Court decision that legalized interracial marriage in the United States. Loving Day celebrations commemorate the anniversary of the Loving decision every year on or around June 12th."

Raise your glasses to legal recognition of interracial couples, ya'll. Today is the 41st anniversary of that decision.

It's hard to believe that >16 states embedded in their constitutions the illegalization of interracial marriage -- even as I look back and recall living a segregated life. Look how far we've come! Barack Obama, the native son of such a union, is likely to be our next president. We have made a lot of progress.

I'm hopeful that one day we'll see this same progress with regard to laws and attitudes towards same sex couples. Now that will be a truly loving day.

Let's all take a trip to "LezTown" and stay in "Lesbiatopia"!

2008-06-06T00:22:00.009-04:00

Ok, these sites caught my eye when I was reading a gay news story this evening and I felt compelled to share them.

The first is called "LezTown," where you can learn about "Lez Events," "Lez Poets," or "Lez Mami's" among other things: http://www.leztown.com/

The second is "Lesbiatopia," where visitors are welcomed to "lesbian paradise": http://www.lesbiatopia.com/

Enjoy!

Cayman Dancehall April 2008

2008-05-31T15:34:00.001-04:00

So it's not ok for two people of the same sex to kiss in the Cayman Islands but it's ok for two (or more) people of the opposite sex to simulate intercourse in public??? Fast-forward the video about 2 or 3 minutes and you'll see some shocking behaviour by these young men and women (the young lady in the white pants, in particular. Her mama would be mortified if she saw this video!).

Can a Morehouse College Man be Openly Gay?

2008-05-30T23:27:00.002-04:00

This is not a very well-written piece but it does touch an interesting topic. Click HERE for the full story.

Eco-Friendly Wines For Under $25 and Organic Beers

2008-05-29T12:17:00.008-04:00

Hey, now we can get drunk AND save the planet! : )

Click HERE to see the eco-friendly wines

Click HERE to see the organic beers

To find out what makes a wine "eco-friendly" click HERE.

Gay black political group forms

2008-05-17T14:16:00.003-04:00

A new political group for LGBTQ African Americans named the Bayard Rustin LGBTQ Coalition has been formed by Co-Chairs Robert W. Williams III (left) and Andrea Shorter. Membership costs $25 a year and is open to anyone, however, only African American members have the right to vote.
To join or for more information, call Shorter at (415) 786-7779 or Williams at (510) 272-2965. Here's the link to the story: http://www.ebar.com/news/article.php?sec=news&article=2990

Pat Buchanan on Hardball

2008-05-16T00:11:00.001-04:00

I try not to use the word "hate" very often...but I really hate that Pat Buchanan...

see this clip on YouTube with Pat Buchanan on Chris Matthew's Hardball:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlxvJ30Jduc

Beauty at all costs?

2008-05-12T11:47:00.006-04:00

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/04/25/celebrity-plastic-surgery-what-not-to-do/?WT.mc_id=HL-D-I-NYT-MOD-MOD-M042-OP-0408-HDR&WT.mc_ev=click&mkt=HL-D-I-NYT-MOD-MOD-M042-OP-0408-HDR

Manufactured beauty isn't beautiful. As is attested in this article on "What not to do during cosmetic surgery". My boss said something interesting last week that he attributed to Sir Richard Dahl: Die young at the highest possible age. To me this is about living as fully as you can, treating yourself as well as you can, loving yourself and others as well as you can. And not wasting time on creating illusions.

Take a look at the celebrity slide show on "How celebrities are aging". It's entertaining (and in some cases, scary). http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23359042/from/ET/

And on an unrelated note, read more on Clinton's inelegance:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/10/opinion/10herbert.html?ex=1211256000&en=1c5fe340a5e46bb3&ei=5070&emc=eta1

Virtual Persona

2008-05-07T22:53:00.006-04:00

Was talking to a dance buddy last weekend about an experience she had last Saturday night. She met friends in an upscale coffee shop in the early evening. Everyone there was hooked up to a laptop and/or an MP3 player. They were also mostly alone. She and her friends were the only ones there to enjoy face-to-face contact. She said it was sad to see so many people not engaged in "real connections".

As I sit here in my bed next to Pamela, tapping on my laptop I wonder: What are we seeking with our online interactions? Who are we when we're veiled by our fiber optic cloak? Why are our electronic personas trumping our flesh personas?

And on a completely unrelated note, see this site for some fun faux shizzle (alcohol-free drink) recipes: http://www.sheckys.com/Boston/nightlife/faux_shizzle_non_45_alcoholic_drinks_5489.asp

Lyrics to Calabria

2008-05-03T13:27:00.003-04:00

Here's the lyrics to Enur's song, "Calabria," which I got from the link Reg provided in his comment on the video below.

Easy now no need fi(as in for) go down,
easy now no need fi go down,
rock that run that, this where we from (repeat 2x)
Whoop Whoop
When you run come around,
Cu(z) I kno ur the talk of the town yea (repeat 4x)
Easy now no need fi go down
Just walk it gently and no break nah bone,
Cool end-it-ly, you have a style of your own,
Me never kno you saw ya master the saxsaphone
cause u sound like the talk of the town yea,
imma lock u when u run come around yea,
make me wobble, make me whole body bubble,
an me no say ya trouble, when ya ready for the double,
and n u hit that,
no ti-na the mickle (as in nothing in the middle)
play with it a lickle (as in little), why you so na tickle
I'm tellin' you to, hit that
no ti-na the mickle (as in nothing in the middle)
stay with it a lickle (as in little), why you so na tickle
I'm feelin' them (whoop whoop)
easy now no need fi go down,
easy now no need fi go down,
walk it gently and no break nah bone
Whoop Whoop!
When you run come around,
Cu(z) I kno ur the talk of the town yea (repeat 4x)
Best shown overall, shiny and tall,
One touch make a gal climb whoever you are,
Brass hat, hatter (as in hotter) than fireball
Whoop Whoop!
You not small you not lickle (as in little) at all
Dat touch, just dip on me mind yea
The good feelin dip on rewind yea
make me wobble, make me whole body bubble,
an me no say ya trouble, when ya ready for the double,
and n u hit that,
no ti-na the mickle (as in nothing in the middle)
play with it a lickle (as in little), why you so na tickle
I'm tellin' you to, hit that
no ti-na the mickle (as in nothing in the middle)
stay with it a lickle (as in little), why you so na tickle
I'm feelin' them
Walk it gently and no break nah bone
easy now no need fi go down,
easy now no need fi go down,
rock that run that, this where we from (repeat 2x)
Whoop Whoop
When you run come around,
Cu(z) I kno ur the talk of the town yea (repeat 8x)
Whooop Whooop!!!

Girlicious: Like Me

2008-05-03T01:51:00.001-04:00

Get Me Bodied (Miss Girrrrrl Style!)

2008-05-03T01:01:00.000-04:00

Check out this video: Get Me Bodied (Breakdown)

Add to My Profile | More Videos

Hot Music Video! Enur: Calabria

2008-04-26T17:19:00.001-04:00

Great gift idea for Mother's Day

2008-04-26T13:16:00.002-04:00

Check out this site called, "TasteBook.com" which allows you to custom create your own cookbook with your favorite recipes: http://www.tastebook.com/

I think I might make one just so I can have all my favorite dishes in one place...

Video posted on Jack and Jill Politics

2008-04-23T10:43:00.002-04:00

I know this is long but listen to the whole thing...I love the statement, "It is interesting to me that when white people criticize America, they're critical. When black people criticize America, they're haters of America."...and I love when he tells the reporter that Martin Luther King was more than the one-liner related to judging folks by the content of their character and not the color of their skin....I am less familiar with Louis Farrakhan so I don't know the accuracy of those statements. Nevertheless, I like how the minister challenges the reporter and presents a more nuanced argument about race and racism in America.

Walk the Walk

2008-04-21T21:59:00.011-04:00

Walkable neighborhoods offer surprising benefits to our health, the environment, and our communities.

There are a lot of interesting little tidbits in this week's NYTimes magazine. It focuses on bold steps we can take to make our carbon footprint smaller. See: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/magazine/20Act-t.html?_r=1&oref=slogin There's a particularly compelling piece on choosing neighbors to live in with a high walk score -- that is, neighbors that you can live in with out a car.

Why Walking Matters*:
Better health: A study in Washington State found that the average resident of a pedestrian-friendly neighborhood weighs 7 pounds less than someone who lives in a sprawling neighborhood1. Residents of walkable neighborhoods drive less and suffer fewer car accidents, a leading cause of death between the ages of 15 - 45.

Reduction in greenhouse gas: Cars are a leading cause of global warming. Your feet are zero pollution transportation machines. More transportation options: Compact neighborhoods tend to have higher population density, which leads to more public transportation options and bicycle infrastructure. Not only is taking the bus cheaper than driving, but riding a bus is ten times safer than driving a car2!

Increased social capital: Walking increases social capital by promoting face-to-face interaction with your neighbors. Studies have shown that for each 10 minutes a person spends in a daily car commute, time spent in community activities falls by 10 percent3.

Stronger local businesses: Dense, walkable neighborhoods provide local businesses with the foot traffic they need to thrive. It's easier for pedestrians to shop at many stores on one trip, since they don't need to drive between destinations.

I compared the walk score of my previous house in Walden, NY to my current house in JP, MA-- it's 11 to 60. In Walden if you were without a car you were *@#! out of luck. A good walk score should be >70 (hey, I'm getting better!).

* Source: www.walkscore.com

Greenest Cars of 2008: Twelve vehicles with the lightest environmental impact.

2008-04-14T19:39:00.004-04:00

If you want to drive the most environmentally friendly or "greenest" vehicle, you need to think small or think hybrid. According to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), one third of the top 12 vehicles that rank as the greenest of 2008 feature hybrid powertrains. These vehicles combine an internal-combustion engine with an electric motor for improved fuel economy and reduced emissions.
A nonprofit organization, the ACEEE is dedicated to advancing energy efficiency as a means of protecting the environment and strengthening the economy. Each year the ACEEE publishes the Green Book, listing the Green Scores and environmental information about vehicles available in the new model year, as well as a list of the 12 "greenest" vehicles available that year. Click HERE for the full article.

QuoD: Which of the 12 is YOUR favorite car and why?

The Other Obama

2008-03-29T08:26:00.007-04:00

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/03/10/080310fa_fact_collins

Michelle Obama is Barack's not so secret weapon. The more I read and hear about her the greater my admiration and enthusiasm for what the Obama's are trying to do -- shift American politics away from business as usual.

Check out this profile in the New Yorker. She's a bad mama jamma!

Grateful?? OR Pat Buchanan has lost his mind!

2008-03-27T01:08:00.001-04:00

I have a "bee in my bonnet" and I wanted to share it with all of you:

http://buchanan.org/blog/?p=969

High-Tech Housewares: Compact new housewares designed to please — and to ease your daily life.

2008-03-22T23:15:00.004-04:00

Some of this stuff is so cool! A few of my favorites from this list include these cute re-useable shopping bags called MiniMaxi Shoppers by Reisenthel. Who knew "being green" could be so fashionable? : ) I also liked the Lotus Sanitizing System by Tersano, which rids food of toxins and can even be used to clean your house: all from WATER ONLY! The system uses ozone to clean things (I know, weird, huh?). Anyhoo, just thought I'd share. Click HERE for the full story.

5 Ways to Defend Your Online Reputation

2008-03-22T01:11:00.004-04:00

Hey everyone, you HAVE to check out this article and tell everyone you care about to look at it, as well. I consider myself pretty Web-savvy but I had never heard of some of the sites this guy mentions that could potentially have bad information about you or info that you probably would NOT want the whole world to see or read. For me, one of the best tips was this one site called ProQuo that let's you opt out of a ton of marketing firms' mailing lists for free. Anyway, see for yourself: http://tech.msn.com/howto/articlepcw.aspx?cp-documentid=6392723

This is OUR America

2008-03-18T23:07:00.002-04:00

I was genuinely moved by his speech. I had tears in my eyes at the end of it! The notion that a politician is actually talking about history and anger and the legacy of slavery and the immigrant experience and linking it ALL to OUR America is refreshing, inspiring, and brilliant!

Are you "Fierce" or a "Tranny" or a "Hot Mess"?

2008-03-11T01:06:00.001-04:00

Are you an unclutterer or a cleaner?

2008-03-08T18:58:00.004-05:00

Un·clut·ter·er ənklətərər noun
1. One who seeks to get rid of clutter and distractions that create barriers to or hinder the formation of a remarkable life.
2. One who unclutters.

After reading this article, I learned that although I aspire to be an unclutterer, (and if I'm being honest, I even aspire to be a mere cleaner), I'm a pack-rat and a "put-it-off-'til-later"-er so things tend to pile up. Maybe when Reg and I get a house and have room to put things I can try some of the stuff this guy does (who, by the way, has a blog dedicated to uncluttering your life: http://unclutterer.com/). So which one are YOU? A cleaner or an unclutterer?

Click HERE for the full story.

Face Book Mania

2008-03-01T10:45:00.004-05:00

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1019065072

Dear Dis-n-Dat-ers,
I've recently discovered facebook and have been obsessed with all the masturbatory activities it offers. It's sort of strange and wonderful. Check it out! Challenge me to a game of Scrabble.
Smooches,
M

Nikky Finney - Poet Supreme

2008-02-16T11:47:00.009-05:00

The Afterbirth, 1931

by Nikky Finney

We were a Colored Clan of Kinfolk

Who threw soil not salt

Over our shoulders

Who tendered close the bible

Who grew and passed around the almanac at night

So we would know

What to plant at first light

Black soil and sweet brown sorghum

From the every morning biscuits

Mama Susan fixed

Dripping and mixing

Up under our fingernails

A secret salve

Just like any other

Living simple

And keeping to our proud selves

Quite aware of night riders

Quite aware of men with

Politicious smiles

Cologned with kerosene and match

Aware of just whose feet

Walked across our tin roofs at night

We were such light sleepers

Such long distance believers

We were a family pregnant

Whose water had broke

And for once there was ham money

‘Bacca money

So we thought to do better by ourselves

To begin our next row

We would go and get him

Because he was medically degreed in baby bringing

Because he was young and white and handsome

And because of that

Had been neighbor to more knowledge

Than us way back behind

The country’s proud but inferior lines

And because he came with his papers in his pocket

So convincing so soon

After his ivy graduation

Asking us hadn’t we heard

Telling us times had changed

And the midwife wasn’t safe anymore

Even though we had all been caught

By tried and true Black Grannies

Who lay ax blade sharp side up

And water pan underneath the bed

To cut the pain

To cool the fever

We were a Pregnant Clan of Kinfolk

Caught with water running down our legs

Old family say they remember

Going to fetch him

Telling him that it was time

That he should come now

But he didn’t show right away

Not right away

But came when he wanted

The next day

After his breakfast

But what more

Could we colored country folk ever want

Even if we had to watch the road all night for him

Even if we had to not let her push too hard

When he finally came

He had his papers on him

Something with one of those pretty shiny seals

Old family say they can remember

Somethin’ just wasn’t right

But we opened the screen for him anyway

Trusting

And tendering close what the Good Book

Had told us all our lives to do

Then we made him a path

Where he put his hand up then inside

My grandmother’s womb

Her precious private pleasing place

Somewhere he probably didn’t want to touch

Then he pulled my daddy through

Somebody he probably didn’t care to reach for

And from the first he pulled him wrong

And wrong

Shattered his collarbone

And snapped his soft baby foot in half

And smashed the cartilage in his infant hand

Wringing

Their own sun baked arms

Old timey family

Remember him well

Say they knew somethin’ wasn’t right

As he came through the door

A day later

His breakfast digested now

Somethin’ just wasn’t right

How he had two waters on him

One sweet one sour-mash

One trying to throw snow quilt over the other

As he un-carefully

As drunkenly

He with his papers on him still

Stood there turning a brown baby into blue

Un-magically

And right before our eyes

Hope and Pray

Then he packed his bag and left

With all of his official training

And gathered up gold stars left

The Virginia land of Cumberland County

He left and forgot

He left and didn’t remember

The afterbirth inside

Carlene Godwin Finney

To clabber

Gangrene

Close down

Her place

Her precious private pleasing place

To fill the house to the rafters

Up past the dimpled tin roof

With a rotting smell

That stayed for nine days

That mortgaged a room

In our memories

And did not die with her

We were a Brown and Pregnant Family

And he would’ve remembered his schoolin’

And left his bottle

Recollected his manners

And brought his right mind

Had another klan called him to their bedside

He would’ve come right away

He would’ve never had liquor on his breath

If the color of my daddy’s broken limbs

Had matched the color of his own but

We were a Colored Clan of Kinfolk

We should’ve met him at the door

Should’ve told him lean first into the rusty screen

Made him open up his mouth and blow

Breathe out right there

Into all of our brown and lined up faces

In wait of his worthiness

Then just for good measure

Should’ve made him blow once again

Into Papa Josh’s truth telling jar

Just to be sure

Should’ve let Mama Sally

Then Aunt Nanny

Then lastly Aunt Mary

Give him the final once over

And hold his sterile hands

Down to the firelight to check

Just like she checked our own every night

Before supper

Before we were allowed to sit

At her very particular table

We could’ve let Aunt Ira clutch him by his chin

Enter and leave through her eyes

Just like how she came and went through us

Everyday at her leisure

She would’ve took care to notice

As she traveled all up and through him

Any shaking any sweating

And caught his incapable belligerent incompetence

In time

Oh Jesus

We should’ve let Grandpop Robert

Have him from the first

Should’ve let him pick him up

By the back of his pants

And swirl him around

Just like he picked us up

And swirled us around

Anytime he caught us lying or lazy

Or being less than what we were

We should’ve let Grandpop

Loose on him from the start

And he would’ve held him up

High eye to the sun

And looked straight through him

Just like he held us up

And then we would have known first

Like he always knew first

And brought to us

The very map of his heart

Then we would have known

Just what his intentions were

With our Carlene

Before we knew his name

Or cared about his many degrees

Before he dared reach up then inside

Our family’s brown globe

While we stood there

Some of us throwing good black soil

With one hand

Some of us tending close

The Good Book with the other

Believing and trusting

We were doing better

By this one

Standing there

Waterfalls running

Screaming whitewater rapids

Down our pants legs

Down our pantaloons

To our many selves

All the while

Praying hard

That maybe we were wrong

(please make us wrong)

One hundred proof

smelled the same as

Isopropyl

Did you know that black women poets are experiencing a renaissance? Listen to this story: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?sotryId=16404387. Ms. Finney is one of my favorite poets. Her work mainlines my emotional reservoir. It's all the more haunting when you experience it as she's reading it. See what I mean: http://www.spelman.edu/bush-hewlett/linked/nikkyfinneypoem.html).

I had the pleasure of experiencing her at a writer's conference a few years ago. I was deeply affected. Learn more about her at: http://www.kykernel.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticle&ustory_id=4d5371a5-4b72-4a56-87ff-a0c4a5c86fae
Poetry is a bit like air to me -- I need it. If you're like me and in need of a daily dose check out the Writer's Almanac at ~8:55 am on NPR.

Homeland Insecurity

2008-02-15T07:13:00.004-05:00

Yesterday there was a shooting at Northern Illinois University (See NYT headline: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/15/us/15shoot.html?hp) -- according to NPR it was the fourth such shooting in the past week. WTF?

As our president attempts to expand anti-terrorism laws that will effectively whittle down our basic constitutional rights (See NPR headline: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=19055472), has anyone asked the question: What about the terrorists within our borders? Last week a woman distinguished herself by being the first female shooter in recent history (fact check). Ironically, President Bush is planning a trip to Tanzania (mama Africa, hi!). I heard on the news this morning he's threatening to delay his travel plans if Democrats don't get on board and sign the security bill.

I've always been sort of silent on the issue of gun control but I'm writing to my elected officials. Why should citizens have the right to bear arms in this day and age? What's the point? Why are our leaders obsessively focused on the car bombers in Pakistan and Iran when there are gun toting Billy Bobs and Betty Sues in our own backyards?

Soul Train Gone Wrong! This is pretty funny...

2008-02-11T23:17:00.000-05:00

Michael from Goodtimes, singing and dancing??

2008-02-11T23:10:00.000-05:00

Toni Morrison's letter to Barack Obama

2008-02-05T19:07:00.000-05:00

I wish had the command of the language as Toni Morrison...i guess if I did I would have a nobel prize too ;)

http://joehawkins.blogspot.com/2008/02/toni-morrisons-letter-to-barack-obama.html#links

New Reading Material

2008-01-31T12:10:00.001-05:00

Hey there, friends, just wanted to let you know that the Washington Post, Newsweek & Slate Magazine have started a new online magazine that looks pretty interesting (it launched this week).

http://www.theroot.com/

It's like Tell Me More does Slate Magazine...pretty interesting so far, so I'm keeping my eye on it for now...

Notes from Africa (Tanzania January 24, 2008)

2008-01-29T07:12:00.000-05:00

View from the Muhumbili University of Health Allied Sciences/Dar es Saalam City Council/Harvard University (MDH) partnership rooftop.

Satellite dish on the roof of the MDH partnership site.

The Harvard delegation visiting Muhumbili University laboratories.
Muhumbili University building.

January 24, 2008
I was hoping I'd semi-starve to jump start weight loss. No such luck! Even in resource poor Uganda the eating was good for the fat Americans. One night in Uganda I ordered a whole Tilapia -- it reminded of Power Friday night (Friday night dinners at my grandfather's house). The head was on, the skin was rubbed with peppery spices, the eyes were milky white and there were so many bones I had to roll up my sleeves. By the end only a sucked dry carcass remained on my plate. I wasn't playing! There's lots of Mediterraen food choices (hummus, baga ganoush, falafel, grilled lamb/chicken, feta etc.). Today, for the first time, I forced myself to moderate my eating and exercise (did my Forrest yoga tape since there's a DVD player in my room and I went for a swim on the rooftop pool:-/

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania is full of contradictions. When we arrived I was reminded of New Orleans. It's bordered by the Indian Ocean -- and very hot (102 yesterday!). The air smells like water (it's very developed. There are no burning smells though I see did people burning cook fires on the beach). The streets are wide and traffic-filled. The city is old with lots of wrought iron facades and balconies. There are mid-day traffic jams that easily rival any US metropolis.

We visited a premiere clinic yesterday funded by our tax dollars, literally (and our President's promises: PEPFAR). It was absolutely incredible -- better than any clinic I've seen anywhere (Bellevue can learn a thing or two). In the center of the building there was an open-air garden surrounded by wait room seating canopied by an overhanging roof (so that clients don't have to get wet when there's a spontaneous rain shower). The treatment, counseling, reception, data entry etc rooms are on the perimeter - all air conditioned (highly inefficient one of the workers commented to me during lunch). The rooms are walled with frosted glass so there's a lot of light everywhere. The only sadness are the faces of the clients who are managing their illness. But here's the contradiction: only HIV/AIDS diagnoses get these resources.

If should find yourself with cancer (or any other chronic disease) -- kiss your ass goodbye. Seriously, find a gun and end it. There's one radiotherapy machine per 2,000,000 people (compared with one per 150,000 people in the US). Cancer care in Tanzania is palliative -- and this descriptor is generous. Opiates are banned in Tanzania (as in most of Africa) for complicated reasons. Families not resourceful enough to smuggle morphine in must settle for two Tylenols when their loved are writhing in pain as their bodies rot from the inside out (which we witnessed when we toured the Oceanside Cancer Institute today - THE premiere cancer treatment center).

30% of their cases are women with cervical cancer who present (that is, come to the hospital) at the point of no return. To give you an idea of what this means: NO ONE in the Western world dies of cervical cancer! We get annual pap smears to detect changes. Our daughters get HPV vaccinations before they bloom (the human pappiloma virus which is sexually transmitted is the number one cause of cervical cancer).

I refused to go into the men's ward during our tour today because I could see from beyond the glass doors that there were men lying on pads on the floor in immense pain in an overcrowded un-air conditioned, unlighted room with their loved ones sleeping beside them (or tending their needs). There were no nurses. I was sort of rope a doped into entering the children's ward. I cried. Deformed children with massive tumors growing on the sides of their heads, eyes missing, bandages in unlikely places, again tired mother's lying beside them. No nurses. No painkillers. No cure. The director of the Center said they must ration care. 50% of the people get nothing other than Tylenol to treat their cancer.

None of the great HIV/AIDS machinery can be used to treat these other horrible diseases. Just miles away there are state of the art laboratories (and clinics) for HIV/AIDS because of our government gives (but only to HIV/AIDS). Antiretroviral drugs are completely free but no one can get antimalaria medication for free (which is much more pervasive). Or simple antibiotics for that matter. It's strange and sad.

Notes from Africa (Tanzania January 23, 2008)

2008-01-29T06:47:00.000-05:00

Pam in the lion's mouth in front of the Kiliminjaro Kempinksi Hotel.
A view of the pool on the roof deck of the Kempinski.
Michelle in the pool.
A glimpse of out hotel suite in the Kempinski.

Jambo!
We arrived in Tanzania this morning (took the red eye from Uganda). We haven't done/seen much but freshen up for an afternoon of introductory meetings. I got a chance to peek at Mt Kilamanjaro on the way to Tanzania. It was an amazing snow-capped thrusting of earth. Tanzania is arid and much hotter than Uganda (102 degrees today in Tanzania vs. 80 degrees yesterday in Uganda). These east African countries are so different.

The earth in Uganda is rust colored clay and densely overgrown with intensely green tropical trees (acacia trees, banana trees, coffee trees, palm trees, etc.). Tanzania, in contrast, has lots of low scrabble trees and bushes in muted greens and is sandy and beige.

We're in Dar es Salaam -- the capital. I'm ashamed to say we're in five star hotel in a suite with two flat screens and over-the-top amenities.

P.S. 1/29/08 Am realizing after 24 hours of being back in the States how liberating it was to be where everyone is black and brown in spite of the intense poverty. All the advertisements, all the authority figures, all the service people -- all the faces: black and brown. For two glorious weeks I had a reprieve from the hard, hostile, fearful, face shrugs that some white folks try to pass off as smiles. I was openly gawked at throughout Uganda and Tanzani but the looks were curious, affirming and friendly. Everywhere I was greeted with: Karibou (Welcome!) and Jambo (Hello!). Am saddened by the condescending looks I get here in my library, in Trader Joe's, at check-out counters and on the walk to work. Racism is so tiring.

Notes from Africa (Uganda January 22, 2008)

2008-01-28T06:50:00.001-05:00

A glimpse of Kampala, Uganda.

Makerere and Harvard colleagues.

Children enjoying their school vacation.

Apparently bouncing and behaving hair is important everywhere!

A glimpse of Kampala.
Views of town life on the outskirts of the Kampala.

January 22, 2008

it's hard to imagine we're on the same planet since the NE is experiencing sub zero weather. it's warm but not hot in uganda (maybe 75 -80 degrees) -- very tropical. pam says it feels like barbados circa 1970. but the colors and the smells are very different.

the earth is a rich red color. the trees are dark dark green (and everywhere there is something growing. interestingly it's not as overgrown/land of the giants as in hawaii (where you can probably get a stone to bud). the air often smells burnt. many live without indoor cooking facilities and have outdoor cook fires enclosed in a hut made with with hand-made red dirt bricks, sticks for framing and mud. socio-economic status can be revealed by the roof -- those with grass thatched are lowest on the rung, tin a few steps up, brick even higher.

these structures as you can imagine are not permanent. there are collapsed huts everywhere returning from whence they came -- to the earth. but because the materials are easily accesible, families simply rebuild. i'm trying hard not to judge. fundamentally we share the same core values: we pray for the health and well being of our families and we want to live a purposeful life.

fires are also constantly going in the rural areas. the farmers burn the land to clear it for sowing:-( leeching the land of it's sustainability for short term gain. who's to say i wouldn't do the same if i had many hungry mouths to feed and no money to buy it. the average woman bears 6.9 children. uganda has the fastest growing population on the planet. there's no such thing as birth control here and in non christian families men can have up to 4 wives.

kerosene is a popular transport fuel so it always smells like kerosene in the urban areas (also almost nobody uses deodorant:-( i'm stealing a few moments to be alone with my thoughts. our group is meeting for dinner at 7 pm. even though i am eternally grateful for this experience i want to be alone and quiet. i pulled one of our hosts aside to insist that he schedule some time for shopping today. he agreed to 30 minutes at the end of the day before our dinner meeting so far our days begin at 8 am and end at 11 pm.

the place we shopped today was a craft market where there were 25 or so booths of things of variable quality. i'm not convinced i couldn't have found most of the things on the streets of NYC (for quadruple the price). i was hoping to find a beaded watch band that i saw one of the scientists wearing (no luck!). it was difficult to fully appreciate the wares given the short time alloted (but i made do). now i'm acting out by not showing up for dinner on-time:-)

today i met with my couterparts at makerere university. i was truly impressed with them particularly since i've been warned again and again how incompetent "the administration" is. they are career administrators like myself wondering mostly how to make a dollar out of fifty cents (and how to gain the cooperation of their faculty -- sound familiar?). i gave them a few ideas on how to stretch their resources and how to streamline. they seemed truly grateful. after our break out session we returned to the larger group. my colleague presented a summary of our discussion in an eloquent, energized and cogent way. again, i was impressed.

there were two scientific break out groups who presented their findings too. i was bored stiff! am hopeful something with come of it. this ends our uganda trip. tomorrow we're tanzania bound. our flight leaves at 5 am:-/

Notes from Africa (Uganda January 20, 2008)

2008-01-28T05:49:00.000-05:00

Map of the Nile.

Michelle at the Source of the Nile.

Wild monkey feasting on jackfruit (I tasted it -- has the mouth feel of calamari and the flavor of papaya).

Pam with Makmoud first wife.
Makmoud house geocoded.

Typical rural Ugandan home (framed with wood branches, secured with mud, roofs made of tin denote higher SES).

Colewaters with Makmoud family and some village children.

The trip is as expected in one respect - meeting filled! Our colleagues in Uganda are clamouring for what I know (as well as what the faculty have to offer). Tomorrow I'll be facilitating a session on grants management/administration (Pam will help!).

Today we visited a hospital and a demographic surveillance site (DSS) in rural Uganda. The need in that hospital quieted me to the core. There was only one doctor servicing 100s of people in the entire hospital. Deep despair was simmering in many of the faces. I didn't want to pretend the people were invisible as we toured the facility but I couldn't smile either. I tried to look at everyone purposefully and with respect as if to say: I see you! The air was thick, hot and rank with human body odor. For a time I tuned out so as to remain conscious (the sickness and the stench made me think I was going to pass out).

This is all exacerbated by the fact that we are staying at a four+ star hotel on the Source of the Nile in Jinja. We slept with mosquito nets last night out of necessity. As we were walking around the compound last night I was delighted to see a few turquoise blue-balled monkeys. They were like the deer in the Poconos and the pigenons in NY -- at once endearing then gross in their lazy meandering.

This afternoon we visited a DSS in Ianga -- here they collect data on families (births, pregnancies, deaths (including verbal autopsies -- medical autopsies are unheard of, illness, marriages, migration, socioeconomic status, number of people in households, etc). This data is coded and assigned a geocode based on the longitude and latitude of the family's house. Then the household is tracked every four months (sort of like a detailed census). Each reported house has a number painted on the front of it (so that surveillance workers know who lives there and all their business). We then went out into the country side to visit one of the tracked households.

There we met the Makmoud (sp?) family headed by a Muslim man of about 70 (who was quite handsome and in good health). He was from Busoka, of the Basoka people and spoke Lusoka (this is a common linguistic practice in Uganda - Bu=region, Ba=people and Lu=language). He had three wives and thirty children! We were welcomed to sit on wooden benches in the red dirt courtyard in front of their compound (a series of mud and brick structures with no electricity or running water). His wife sat behind him on her knees, the second wife sat behind her and so on. The girl children sat behind and around them as he spoke through a translator. The sons sat on benches that encircled the courtyard along with us. Immediately I was overwhelmed with emotion at the sight of these beautiful, very different women, men and children. I couldn't help it -- I began to cry!

Our "delegation" numbers about 10 -- we introduced ourselves to the family after the father introduced his wives, his head daughter (the eldest unmarried daughter) and his sons. When it was my turn to speak again I was overwhelmed with emotion and became a little weepy. Mostly out of gratitude to have the opportunity to experience this family in such a genuinely open way.

Al Gore supports gay marriage

2008-01-23T19:21:00.000-05:00

click HERE for the full story.

Trace your ancestry

2008-01-20T03:24:00.000-05:00

With the Cole-Waters traveling abroad I have been thinking a lot about ancestry...Has anyone here traced their ancestry?? Here is a website I am considering using later when I am finally a grown up with a grown up job to trace my ancestry: http://www.africanancestry.com/index.html

VERY interesting debate-race and gender in politics

2008-01-18T00:44:00.000-05:00

did you all read the NYTimes editorial by Gloria Steinem? Well, it has caused quite the uproar...here is a link to a debate between Ms. Steinem and a professor from Princeton. I saw the link on Jack and Jill politics..read the whole thing..very interesting perspectives presented.

http://www.democracynow.org/2008/1/14/race_and_gender_in_presidential_politics

Dare to Hope the World Can Be Different

2008-01-08T21:12:00.000-05:00

Who would have thought we'd be wondering who's won the New Hasmpshire Democratic Primay: a black man or a white woman? Things have changed! I'm beginning to permit a seed of hope sprout: maybe the the citizenry don't have their heads buried in the sand.

Read this interesting commentary in this Sunday's NY Times:
"Whether the results of the Iowa caucuses on Thursday will be seen by future generations as a threshold moment of change or a footnote to a story yet unwritten is anyone’s guess, of course. The victories by Barack Obama, the Democratic senator from Illinois, and former Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, a Republican not in the traditional mold, are tiny steps on a long road that may not lead to the White House for either man.

But there’s no doubt that for one night, in one state, Americans dramatically changed the subject. Race didn’t matter — even though Mr. Obama was an African-American running in a nearly all-white state — but talk of unity and common ground did, as Mr. Obama galvanized his supporters by promising to toss historical and political division aside."

See more at: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/06/weekinreview/06johnson.html?scp=1&sq=negro+

Do you think we can turn the political scene around?

Power!

2008-01-04T16:50:00.000-05:00

OK, I don't mean to whine about California's winter weather (how can I when I've got a good 40 degrees on you guys today??), but jeez, these people don't have a clue how to deal!

We've got a big winter storm hitting today (big for us means lots and lots of rain--7" in Napa Valley & expecting 10 ft of snow in the Sierras), and everyone's freaking out and hunkering down in their homes.

Honestly, I would be too, except I have a call to do & we have no power at home. How inconvenient!

Stay warm!

Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway

2008-01-01T19:58:00.000-05:00

We challenged ourselves to take a flying trapeze lesson on New Year's Eve. Here's a photo of Miss Pamela flying with our instructor, Scout. It was an exhilarating experience. Each time I stepped on the platform to prepare for my flight I was terrified. My fear never dissipated -- but I did find it easier to face. With each jump I felt myself becoming strong with the knowledge that I could face my fear and succeed by flying.

I've been telling myself for years that fear is a normal part of life. It's constant work to permit myself to be afraid and to move forward anyway. The smile on Pam's face reminds me that facing fear can be joyful, exhilarating and empowering.

New Year's Resolutions

2007-12-30T08:07:00.000-05:00

I made progress with last year's resolutions and will continue to work on them in the upcoming year:
(1) added yoga to my body work. One of my fierce/strong dance buddies suggested I practice yoga to improve my overall physicality and de-stress. I now practice 2Xs per week and recently decided to do more on my own. In the beginning I experienced very intense emotions like fear during the class but I pushed past this. I've always been flexible but now I'm now able to move in new ways and I'm stronger. In the upcoming year I want to develop the discipline to quiet my mind practice own my own;
(2) I was determined in 2007 to begin to invest independent of my employee tax deferred annuity AND independent of the Mrs. I opened a money market account. I've made modest gains and I've proven to myself that I can;
(3)remained conscious of my weight AND refused to hate my body even as it changes.

In 2008 I plan to:
(1) strengthen my back. My lower back holds my body's stress. It's stiffened a bit this past year. I'm not able to ripple it in dance class as I used to. I'm determined to see how fluid and strong it will become with purposeful work. I also want to drop and do 25 GI Jane push-ups without breaking a sweat;
(2) help someone other than myself (that is, go beyond writing checks). It's been two years since the Princess/Big Sister debacle. My calling may not be mentoring young girls but I'm ready to try something again.

Rob Brezsney's has some interesting, wheel-greasing advice http://www.freewillastrology.com/horoscopes/allsigns.html

Addendum: Sociologist's advice on how to honor our resolutions: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17759821

What's on your mind for 2008?

Warning about Hillary from a PFLAG leader: Her position on same-sex parenting is "dangerous"

2007-12-28T03:03:00.000-05:00

Democratic candidates were recently asked if they approved of learning material in public schools which depict same-sex parents. Obama and Edwards stated they are for it. Hillary, on the other hand, said she believes its up to parents to decide how to handle such topics. And this is the same position as the conservative group called the Family Research Institute. Greater Boston PFLAG President, Stan Griffith says, "Hillary's GLBT advisers need to help her get it right. And if they don't get her to issue a clarification then they should resign."

Does Hillary ever have any genuine opinions of her own? Sounds like she's just another puppet legislator ruled by the opinions of the highest bidder and not by what she believes is just and true. What do you think, dis-n-dat-ers?

Click HERE for the full story.

Also, click HERE for Edwards' and Obama's Comments on the same topic.

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-22T23:03:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas! (I embedded it -- old dog likeses new tricks)

Lesbians' stress levels higher than straight women's during holidays

2007-12-19T21:40:00.000-05:00

SUMMARY: A study has found that lesbians experience more stress and depression around the holidays than straight women do [click link to read news story].

Pray tell, what's stressing y'all out so much, sweet daughters of Sappho from the isle of Lesbos? : )

Kicking the Habit: BAD Habits (and how to kick 'em)

2007-12-19T17:16:00.000-05:00

Are you a nail-biter (emeesee)? Midnight snacker? Emotional eater? Let the editors of Prevention magazine help you say goodbye to common bad health habits. Click on this link for the full story: Prevention Magazine

10 year old singer

2007-12-19T11:37:00.001-05:00

here is a little 10-year old...i can't believe she is 10...

Bomb diggitty golden corn chowder

2007-12-16T09:37:00.000-05:00

Ingredients

6 jalapeño peppers
3 cups cubed peeled Yukon gold or red potato (about 1 pound)
2 tablespoons butter or stick margarine
1 cup chopped onion
2/3 cup diced orange or yellow bell pepper
3 tablespoons chopped celery
3 cups fresh corn kernels (about 4 ears)
3 cups 1% low-fat milk
2 cups chopped seeded yellow tomato (about 1 pound)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
6 tablespoons (1 1/2 ounces) shredded reduced-fat Monterey Jack cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
Preparation
Preheat broiler.

Place jalapeño peppers on a foil-lined baking sheet; broil 10 minutes or until blackened, turning occasionally. Place in a zip-top plastic bag; seal. Let stand 15 minutes. Peel peppers; cut in half lengthwise, discarding seeds and membranes. Finely chop jalapeño peppers; set aside.

Place potato in a medium saucepan, and cover with water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes or until tender. Drain; partially mash potato with a potato masher.

Melt butter in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion, bell pepper, and celery; cook 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add jalapeño peppers, potato, corn, milk, tomato, salt, and white pepper; cook until thick (about 30 minutes), stirring occasionally. Ladle soup into each of 6 bowls, and sprinkle with cheese and cilantro.
Yield

6 servings (serving size: 1 1/3 cups soup, 1 tablespoon cheese, and 1 teaspoon cilantro)
Nutritional Information

CALORIES 265(26% from fat); FAT 7.8g (sat 4.2g,mono 2.3g,poly 0.8g); PROTEIN 11.4g; CHOLESTEROL 20mg; CALCIUM 230mg; SODIUM 466mg; FIBER 5.4g; IRON 1.8mg; CARBOHYDRATE 41.5g

source: cooking light september 1999

how to post a video

2007-12-16T00:30:00.001-05:00

hey there friends...to post a video, when you copy the "link" for a video you may be given the option to copy the "link" or to "embed" the video...so choose the "embed" option instead of the "link" option...

Mary J. Blige Sacks 'Scared' Homophobes

2007-12-13T19:00:00.000-05:00

ONE MORE REASON TO LOVE MARY:

Mary J. Blige fires assistants who make homophobic remarks because she insists they can't be counted upon. The R&B diva is a fervent gay rights activist and refuses to tolerate people who have issues with homosexuality. She tells gay magazine The Advocate, "I've heard a couple of guys say foul things, and those guys are not around me anymore.

"When they say things like that, I'm looking at them like, 'What makes you so scared? You don't know who you are?' "I don't dislike them or anything, it just makes me wonder about them period... If you're not sure about that, then you ain't sure about a lotta things."

http://www.topix.net/news/gay/2007/12/mary-j-blige-sacks-scared-homophobes

Best line in "Stomp the Yard"

2007-12-13T06:57:00.000-05:00

The film was largely predictable (bad boy meets good girl; bad boy indoctrinated in the ways of the fraternity, blah, blah, blah) Watch it on mute except when they're stepping and crunking. The dance is exceptional and this line made the two hour ride worth all the bad dialogue.

Science is still fun! Gendering in the Discovery store...

2007-12-08T11:38:00.000-05:00

Piggy-backing on Reg's posting from The View, here's an interesting story about how the Discovery Channel Store "genderizes" its toys. Check out how the boys' stuff is packaged and marketed vs. the girls' stuff. What do y'all think? Here's the link:

http://shakespearessister.blogspot.com/2007/12/science-is-still-fun.html

Interesting "View"

2007-12-06T00:21:00.000-05:00

I hope this works...it is a YouTube video from "The View"...Ms. Sherry Shephard has been raising a few eyebrows with some of her views...curious to know what ya'll think...I have an opinion, but i don't have children (nor a desire to have them) so my opinion is only a theoretical one and could possibly differ if I really had kids that had to navigate a public school environment....

Honk Honk!

2007-12-03T22:22:00.000-05:00

Clarence Thomas says his colleagues should "shut up."

http://www.slate.com/id/2178798/nav/tap3/

'nuff said...

You find $1,000 in your recycling bin. What would you do with it?

2007-12-02T10:30:00.000-05:00

Here's what I'd do with it:

$250 to Wesleyan University (This is my alma mater. I would like to participate in giving this experience to another kid. Learn more at: http://www.wesleyan.edu/);
$250 to the Food Project (sustainable agriculture in the City. This organization rocks. Learn more at: http://www.thefoodproject.org/);
$50 to Planned Parenthood (even tho my eggs have turned to dust we gotta keep choice legal);
$50 to ACT Roxbury (support arts, culture and trade in Roxbury. Learn more at: http://act.xbuild.com/);
$200 to Cyrano's, youngest son, student loans;
$100 to the rainy day fund (a girl's gotta be prepared);
$100 would disappear unaccounted for.

P.S. I'm not normally this altruistic -- it's the season for giving so I'm in the mode.

Hello Lover

2007-11-28T23:50:00.001-05:00

went to the car show tonite expecting to be completely unimpressed. then i spied this beauty. i've never felt this way about leather and steel before (at once delighted, then enchanted, then totally captivated). oh mini, sweet mini you make my heart sing. how i wish...

Yet another reason to love Jill Scott

2007-11-28T11:49:00.000-05:00

OK, so part of my infosnacking is to check out afrobella.com every day. The woman who writes it is great, talks about life, politics and beauty products. I read it to tell Leona what to do for her hair as she grows it out (seriously...).

Yesterday she posted this entry (http://afrobella.com/?p=387) about a Jill Scott interview...you gotta read it. I will always, always, always love Jill Scott for this story & am adding it to my bag o' tricks.

Big smooches to you all in Boston.
xoxo

Merry Christmas

2007-11-20T22:06:00.000-05:00

well Oprah introduced her favorite things for 2007...so, in case you can't think of what to get that special someone Oprah has a few VERY expensive ideas. however, some of the items are reasonably priced. I like the refrigerator (#13) but since we still rent I guess that is a bit unreasonable to expect Santa to bring me that. Oh, and i heard that the Cole-Waters love to play scrabble..Oprah recommends a nice little scrabble board....here is the link:

http://www.oprah.com/presents/2007/holiday/gifts/gifts_oft_350_101.jhtml

BEOWULF

2007-11-18T19:09:00.001-05:00

Am i the only one who wants to see BEOWULF in IMAX?? Has anyone else seen the advertisements for this new flick?? I feel so butch :)

Girls Talk

2007-11-12T22:18:00.000-05:00

Visited my friends at Lady Grace (lingerie store with old saleswoman that fit you for a brassiere by getting up close and personal in the dressing room) this weekend. My mum gently pointed out last week that gravity has begun to wrest control (and that a good bra would fix it).

There's no modesty at Lady Grace. Standing shirtless while your "tissue" is manipulated from left to right is not for the feint of heart. I felt a surprising level of comfort once I accepted my sales woman's commanding non-sexual touch. I would soon win the battle against nature (at least while clothed).

As luck would have it, today I went in for my 6-month mammogram to make sure that the girls were healthy. There were inconclusive findings during my previous two exams and my doc ordered a series of 6-month check-ins.

My radiologist ordered a second round of tests today during which my technician told me I was in the lab for women with "problems". Apparently, she cheerily informed me, there's a whole other facility in the hospital for women undergoing routine tests (and I was not there).

I was forced to wonder Have I lived the life I'd intended? Am I ready to fight if I have cancer? Am I ready to relinquish a breast? As the panic rose and the tears welled I wondered at my fallibility. Was I truly not an Amazon?

I texted Ms. Pamela to come hold my hand. She insisted on working out in a nearby gym (my shero). Thankfully, my radiologist called me in before Pam arrived and gave me good news. The calcification was unchanged. They just needed to be sure.

So there you have it, friends -- I'll live! I can still strut around pretending to be an amazon. My breasts will be adorned with beautiful new brassieres that lift and separate (hey, I even bought naughty-girl red number:-). Sweet.

Time to get on with the business of living the life I intended.

Holiday Cookin'

2007-11-11T23:30:00.000-05:00

I've been home for a couple of weeks, which means that I have had time to start obsessing about Thanksgiving Dinner...We don't do anything too big, just us and maybe a friend or two (this year, our pal Shaboo from Charlotte is coming), but I like to cook it up like there's no tomorrow.

The typical Thanksgiving includes me running around Oakland and Berkeley the Wednesday before, trying to find that last container of buttermilk for my knock-'em-dead biscuits (let's just say they were a hit with Leona's sister-in-law in Atlanta...), and then I cook all Thursday so that by the time dinner is ready my tongue is hanging out & I can't enjoy a thing.

I've got a new plan for this year--buying non-perishables last week and this coming week, and then I plan to hit the grocery story around 10:30 am on Tuesday before Thanksgiving to get the fresh stuff. And I'm going to start cooking & baking early too, so that there's just a minimum of preparations needed on Thursday itself.

Here's our menu:
* Game hens (with stuffing, if I get my way, Leona's not that excited about that prospect)
* Collard greens
* Mashed sweet potatoes
* Mac-n-cheese (an awesome recipe--so delicious I could eat the whole pan)
* Buttermilk biscuits
* Pecan pie
* Pumpkin cream cookies (a new recipe from Real Simple--it looks awesome)

Wish me luck!

ok, I LOVE Savage Lov Podcast

2007-11-06T21:18:00.000-05:00

Thanks Kathy for suggesting it and thanks Shug for including on your blog list!!

love it!!

time waits for no woman

2007-11-03T08:59:00.000-04:00

just noticed this week -- i'm old but no worries, i'm digging it. i'm rolling with the punches!

we had a halloween party in my office this week. my staff organized it. it was a happening! those youngins' turned off the lights, hung up orange x-mas lights, covered the windows with black and orange translucent paper, projected a halloween-themed screen saver on the wall and pumped up the jam with a cd mix of rock, rap, r&b, and alternative. there were witches, pirates, ninja turtles, a serial killer (a person wearing several boxes of cereal with knives thrust into them) and more.

there was a bartender serving champagne , sparkling cider and seltzer (i authorized this:-). everyone brought home-made goodies and candy and we jointly rocked (i baked vegan red velvet cupcakes -- they were the bomb!). it was a great party with a completely fresh, unique tone. as i watched my co-workers, faculty and students socialize i thought "gee, when did i get so old?" i ambled over to the bartender for a bit of the bubbly correcting everyone who asked "are you an angel?" "no, i'm a fairy! i was wearing sequin dusted wings with purple roses and ribbons (some people understood the double meaning...hey, i still got it!