You all know how much I love reading. And thus how much I love writers. Combine the two and you get great writers talking about what they read this year! Could my heart be happier? (Well, yes, that fiasco of an election could not have taken place, the genocide that is/was Aleppo could not have taken place, Alan Rickman's death could not have taken place, the SF Giants winning the World Serious COULD HAVE TAKEN PLACE, I could have won the lottery after playing almost every friggin Saturday night, Trump could have died, and on and on...... so yes, my heart could be happier.)
But we take what small joys we find, right? So in the NY Times book section is a really nice assortment of really good writers talking about what they read in 2016 and why. Or why not. And a couple actually admitted they started a book and did not finish it! Wow! They are human!
So, if you are a reader who likes writers, check it out. http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/12/19/books/review/25year-in-reading.html?_r=0
Oh, and yes, I could continue on some of the things that would make my heart happy, like ...... well, there is so much. As the year comes to its close, we all need to define those things for ourselves and the things that make our hearts, and thus ourselves, unhappy, we need to try and fix.
When there is a call for protest, for demonstration, for activism, I hope you are all with me. If it takes hitchhiking to Washington DC for a rally, if it means spending money on plane tickets, if it means buying a sleeping bag and a canteen for camping out for justice and equality and simple moral values, please be prepared to do so. I will give you a shout out when I am ready to take to the road to help ourselves be safe and whole, and I want some of you to come along. And I want you to give me that same shout out. Either here or on my email, which you probably have but if not, just ask. We owe it to the graced life we are now living and we owe it to everyone's kids who will get the dregs of what this administration leaves behind.
But on a happier note, YAY for fresh crab and champagne (thanks to all my kids for an awesome Christmas eve/morning) and YAY for this lovely weather and YAY for good friends and the love and care they share like those bubbles in that champagne, YAY for the start of a new year and maybe the start of some goodness.
Again, peace to everyone. Love. Long Time, Big Time.
Will write again on Saturday.
.
Thursday, December 29, 2016
Monday, December 26, 2016
A quick primer on the whole Jesus being born thing
We all know how atheistic I am. Jesus, the whole ball of holiness, I simply don't care. But if you haven't seen this, check it out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suowe2czxcA
I hope it comes through. If not, google "Southland Christian Church Christmas Video." (I cannot believe that I typed that.) It's the one with the kids.
Why do I like it when I don't like all the Jesus stuff? Because it takes the story back to the basics. I still don't like all the Jesus stuff but the video reminds us of the simplicity of the story and that they were poor and not in the right 'hood at the time and that they were dissed and told to go somewhere else. The basic immigrant story, as it still plays out today. And told from the kids' point of view, it works. Any story told by kids has some credence, even if it's just the cute factor. Thus this one succeeds in that realm.
Happy Holidays, and peace out. To Everyone. Believers or not. And seriously, this is from a Not.
I hope it comes through. If not, google "Southland Christian Church Christmas Video." (I cannot believe that I typed that.) It's the one with the kids.
Why do I like it when I don't like all the Jesus stuff? Because it takes the story back to the basics. I still don't like all the Jesus stuff but the video reminds us of the simplicity of the story and that they were poor and not in the right 'hood at the time and that they were dissed and told to go somewhere else. The basic immigrant story, as it still plays out today. And told from the kids' point of view, it works. Any story told by kids has some credence, even if it's just the cute factor. Thus this one succeeds in that realm.
Happy Holidays, and peace out. To Everyone. Believers or not. And seriously, this is from a Not.
Friday, December 23, 2016
Eating, Drinking, Spending, Working and one book I just read
And right now, cooking crabs for the Christmas Eve festiva!
Every year I try not to spend a lot of money for the "Day in December to Give Gifts" and I usually succeed in being cheap. This year, in the spirit of my new founded feeling of generosity and giving, I said "fuck it" to the frugal part of my soul and shouted out a huge "welcome" to the spendy part of me, a part that is not in evidence very often. This year I actually bought some things for the kids, nothing major, not a lot of money spent but it felt good and it was fun.
At work, there has been a plethora of candy and cookies and wine and more candy and it is all really good and I eaten more than my share. I lie to myself and try and justify it with the lack of big meals in the evening, but really, come on, two pieces of chocolate fudge probably equal the calories of a steak dinner, so we all know I am just kidding myself. But again, I don't care. Come January 2, the candy will be gone, salad will reappear like Baby Jesus in the manger and all will be healthy. Maybe.
Yesterday I stopped at the library to pick up a couple of books I had on hold. When I got home, after walking little Cooper, I sat on the couch and began reading "Another Brooklyn" by Jacqueline Woodson. Two hours later I had finished it. One could call it a novella, if it was in regular book size it might be 100 pages. It's quite good, the story of a young black girl growing up in the 1970's, in Brooklyn, her friends, her family, the lack of continuity in her life, the lack of love and the search for that love. The play of memory and its illusionary air when brought up against the reality of life. I would recommend it if you see it at the library.
And my last crab is about ready to come out of the pot. I have this thing about getting crabs live and cooking them myself. It's the only way you know how fresh they are, and it takes only a large pot, some salt, and a little bit of time, like 15 minutes a crab. Tomorrow is my favorite day of the year, the kids come, we have snacks, we take the dogs for a walk, we might play Scrabble, we open copious bottles of good Champagne, eventually we eat crab with bread and salad and later we open gifts. Everyone is sleeping over. In the morning we have coffee and scrambled eggs and by noon they are all off to other Christmas celebrations, I get to take a short nap and then work the afternoon shift at the hotel.
I hope you all have a happy and loving holiday. Let's hope for the best this coming year while at the same time preparing to be unsurprised by how terrible it might be.
Much love to you all. And to all a good night.
XO
Every year I try not to spend a lot of money for the "Day in December to Give Gifts" and I usually succeed in being cheap. This year, in the spirit of my new founded feeling of generosity and giving, I said "fuck it" to the frugal part of my soul and shouted out a huge "welcome" to the spendy part of me, a part that is not in evidence very often. This year I actually bought some things for the kids, nothing major, not a lot of money spent but it felt good and it was fun.
At work, there has been a plethora of candy and cookies and wine and more candy and it is all really good and I eaten more than my share. I lie to myself and try and justify it with the lack of big meals in the evening, but really, come on, two pieces of chocolate fudge probably equal the calories of a steak dinner, so we all know I am just kidding myself. But again, I don't care. Come January 2, the candy will be gone, salad will reappear like Baby Jesus in the manger and all will be healthy. Maybe.
Yesterday I stopped at the library to pick up a couple of books I had on hold. When I got home, after walking little Cooper, I sat on the couch and began reading "Another Brooklyn" by Jacqueline Woodson. Two hours later I had finished it. One could call it a novella, if it was in regular book size it might be 100 pages. It's quite good, the story of a young black girl growing up in the 1970's, in Brooklyn, her friends, her family, the lack of continuity in her life, the lack of love and the search for that love. The play of memory and its illusionary air when brought up against the reality of life. I would recommend it if you see it at the library.
And my last crab is about ready to come out of the pot. I have this thing about getting crabs live and cooking them myself. It's the only way you know how fresh they are, and it takes only a large pot, some salt, and a little bit of time, like 15 minutes a crab. Tomorrow is my favorite day of the year, the kids come, we have snacks, we take the dogs for a walk, we might play Scrabble, we open copious bottles of good Champagne, eventually we eat crab with bread and salad and later we open gifts. Everyone is sleeping over. In the morning we have coffee and scrambled eggs and by noon they are all off to other Christmas celebrations, I get to take a short nap and then work the afternoon shift at the hotel.
I hope you all have a happy and loving holiday. Let's hope for the best this coming year while at the same time preparing to be unsurprised by how terrible it might be.
Much love to you all. And to all a good night.
XO
Tuesday, December 13, 2016
Cream biscuits, 5 ingredients, wear your pearls as you make them
It's baking season, and I for one like to turn on the oven just to heat up my small living space. My place is cold. The space heater can only throw out so much heat from its small self. Gas is cheap, so having the oven on is good, and pulling out of that oven delicate, light, tasty biscuits is an added bonus.
Here's what I did last night: one cup of flour into which I stirred a half teaspoon of salt and about 3/4 tablespoon of baking powder. I had about a half cup of cream, so I stirred that into the flour, but had to add another splash of 2% milk. Stirred it all together into a softish dough. I melted about a quarter cup butter in a small pan.
Turned oven to 425. Brushed a little pie pan with some of the melted butter. Then I took a quarter of the dough and sort of patted it into a biscuit shape (by hand, no need to roll this out) and dipped into the melted butter and put it into the small pie pan. Did that a total of 4 times for 4 nice size biscuits. Brushed the rest of the melted butter over the lumps of dough. Baked for about 14 minutes until brown enough.
These are the kind of biscuits you want to serve with butter and honey, like for breakfast. They are light and delicate. They are not sturdy biscuits, but I crumbled one into a sort of chili/stew I made because why not? They are like evening biscuits, rather sophisticated, like wearing pearls. Try them, or find a recipe for them online, just google "cream biscuits" and you will see lots of them. You could add some sugar, just a bit, and then they would be good for dessert, especially split and used for strawberry shortcake. Without the sugar you can still split them and spoon chicken pot pie filling over them, sort of an upside-down chicken pot pie.
Try them. My recipe made 4, which is perfect for a trial run, but trust me when I say you will make them over and over, in quantities of 4 or 8 or 12 and your guests or your family will love you for a long time over these biscuits. I am planning on making them Christmas morning, maybe with a little sugar, cinnamon, currents stirred into the batter. How could that not be a fine Christmas morning gift?
.
Here's what I did last night: one cup of flour into which I stirred a half teaspoon of salt and about 3/4 tablespoon of baking powder. I had about a half cup of cream, so I stirred that into the flour, but had to add another splash of 2% milk. Stirred it all together into a softish dough. I melted about a quarter cup butter in a small pan.
Turned oven to 425. Brushed a little pie pan with some of the melted butter. Then I took a quarter of the dough and sort of patted it into a biscuit shape (by hand, no need to roll this out) and dipped into the melted butter and put it into the small pie pan. Did that a total of 4 times for 4 nice size biscuits. Brushed the rest of the melted butter over the lumps of dough. Baked for about 14 minutes until brown enough.
These are the kind of biscuits you want to serve with butter and honey, like for breakfast. They are light and delicate. They are not sturdy biscuits, but I crumbled one into a sort of chili/stew I made because why not? They are like evening biscuits, rather sophisticated, like wearing pearls. Try them, or find a recipe for them online, just google "cream biscuits" and you will see lots of them. You could add some sugar, just a bit, and then they would be good for dessert, especially split and used for strawberry shortcake. Without the sugar you can still split them and spoon chicken pot pie filling over them, sort of an upside-down chicken pot pie.
Try them. My recipe made 4, which is perfect for a trial run, but trust me when I say you will make them over and over, in quantities of 4 or 8 or 12 and your guests or your family will love you for a long time over these biscuits. I am planning on making them Christmas morning, maybe with a little sugar, cinnamon, currents stirred into the batter. How could that not be a fine Christmas morning gift?
.
New York, New York, it's a helluva town.......
The Bronx is up and the Battery is actually down and people do really ride in a hole in the ground. What a helluva town!
New York is amazing: crowded, fast, always awake, goofy, friendly, never a dull moment. We stayed in the East Village and I would stay there again in a heartbeat. Great bars, restaurants, bookstores, shops, close to the metro but close walking distance to lots of areas as well. We ate well, drank amazing cocktails, saw some plays, went to museums, listened to music on a grand piano in Washington Square Park on a Sunday afternoon, got pushed around by the crowds in Time Square, ate the best cheesecake in NYC, visited some dive bars, were the oldest by 30 years in several bars and restaurants, subwayed and walked and Ubered all over the place and we laughed a lot.
That's what vacation is all about, eating, drinking, getting some culture, some walking and laughing and enjoying oneself. NYC took care of all of the above. The experience reinforced my longing to be retired, to be able to have adventures and sojourns and breaks in the routine. Alas, that notion of being retired will come ..... sometime in the next ten years if I am lucky. But in the meantime, I intend to cram as many trips to as many places as I can. When the money runs out, well, then, the money ran out.
If you haven't been, just go. The beginning of December is nice because the store windows are decorated for Christmas and they go all out for those decorations. But I think the weeks earlier in November, without the decorations, might be a little less crowded and that could be a little easier. I would definitely not go from Dec. 15 - Jan 5. That's prime NY time.
The theater, the museums, the monuments, the memorials, the skyscrapers, the buskers on the street, there is so much happening all the time, it's impossible to be bored or to not be smiling a lot. I am so happy we went.
.
New York is amazing: crowded, fast, always awake, goofy, friendly, never a dull moment. We stayed in the East Village and I would stay there again in a heartbeat. Great bars, restaurants, bookstores, shops, close to the metro but close walking distance to lots of areas as well. We ate well, drank amazing cocktails, saw some plays, went to museums, listened to music on a grand piano in Washington Square Park on a Sunday afternoon, got pushed around by the crowds in Time Square, ate the best cheesecake in NYC, visited some dive bars, were the oldest by 30 years in several bars and restaurants, subwayed and walked and Ubered all over the place and we laughed a lot.
That's what vacation is all about, eating, drinking, getting some culture, some walking and laughing and enjoying oneself. NYC took care of all of the above. The experience reinforced my longing to be retired, to be able to have adventures and sojourns and breaks in the routine. Alas, that notion of being retired will come ..... sometime in the next ten years if I am lucky. But in the meantime, I intend to cram as many trips to as many places as I can. When the money runs out, well, then, the money ran out.
If you haven't been, just go. The beginning of December is nice because the store windows are decorated for Christmas and they go all out for those decorations. But I think the weeks earlier in November, without the decorations, might be a little less crowded and that could be a little easier. I would definitely not go from Dec. 15 - Jan 5. That's prime NY time.
The theater, the museums, the monuments, the memorials, the skyscrapers, the buskers on the street, there is so much happening all the time, it's impossible to be bored or to not be smiling a lot. I am so happy we went.
.
Monday, December 5, 2016
NYC again
Life in the big city continues to be eventful. We saw one play and have a couple others lined up. Found a great dive bar with great burgers and cubano sandwiches and another upscale bar with delicious drinks. Good restaurants abound, of course. Weather is cold but dry. Have visited some museums, the 911 Memorial and we are getting pretty good at the subway.
It is so very nice to be on vacation and not at work. I could get use to this lifestyle! Well, my bank account might disagree. But most things are no more expensive than S F actually.
Ok, over and out for now. Love to everyone.
Friday, December 2, 2016
NYC
In NYC but writing a blog on a tiny phone keyboard is difficult. Suffice it to say, I am having a great time. It's a crazy city but with tons of entertaining stuff to do and we are doing a lot. Good food, great bars, excellent touristy things to keep us busy. More later.
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