Chocolate, Craisin, Walnut Crunch

Patty made a tray of these little puppies today. They're supposed to be for our campout this weekend. We'll see if they last.

Strange Name Changes

I got a kick out of this article:

http://www.slate.com/id/2196204/?from=rss

The 'Burbs

Our desire for big yards, big homes (based on world averages, 1000 square feet is huge), cute little communities has led to the growth of suburbs. Cheap gas has enabled it. That may be coming to an end.

This movie looks as though it may be enlightening. I'm actually quite interested to see what will happen to our far-flung suburbs as gas prices either maintain their current levels or rise. Our suburbs currently are places where people sleep and spend money. All you see there are homes, Targets, Home Depots, and such. Very few people earn their living working in the suburbs. They commute. And even when they get basic things within the suburb, such as groceries, they must drive a few miles to get to that place, too. Almost no one walks to the corner store for groceries, or to meet friends.

Psychologically and sociologically, our suburban lives are very isolating. We're isolated from how our food is made, from the people we love, from the people who run our government, and in many other ways. The debate about the pros and cons of surburban life could last interminably. I'm sure I'll post on it in the future.

This all hits home since I will likely be moving to a more distant suburb in the near future - it's all I can afford and still have a safe living environment for my family.

Some thought provoking questions about isolation on which you can feel free to comment (and about which I will likely post on in the future):

- How is your food made?

- What did he/she really think when you sent them that e-mail? (could you see their reaction, or just their terse response?)

- Would Mr./Mrs. politician be acting this way if you were looking them in the eye?

- Would you eat meat if you had to kill it with your own hands?

- How would your social life change if you didn't have to drive at least 15 minutes to see most of your friends?

- If suburbs are safe to live in, what places are not? What could be root causes of that be?

Final note:

Terrific article from NPR on home sizes: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5525283

Quote from the article:

"I always wanted a house big enough that my kids could be in their room screaming, and my wife could be in a room screaming, and I could be somewhere else and not hear any of them," he says. "And I think I have accomplished this with this house, because this house is so big that everyone has their own space."

Draw your own conclusion.

Krause Springs and Tikka Masala

We went to Krause Springs over the weekend. Great place with a great swimming hole. Excited, I once jumped from a 2-foot high rock into (unbeknownst to me) 1 foot of water. The result was shockingly only a hurt toe.

We came home and I cooked some tofu tikka masala. Turned out pretty well.

Albany

Fun times were had in Albany, NY, at our belated wedding reception. More photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/pattyandmike123/200807Albany

I Couldn't Resist

I saw this and had to add it, after I posted earlier today about our flag.

 

Nations

I watched the start of the Major League Baseball All-Star game the other night. It was the first game I've watched all year, and I'll note I didn't watch past the 4th inning or so. But I did see the National Anthem performed by Cheryl Crow. This got me thinking - should we be singing the praises of our country? What does this say about other countries? Isn't nationalism dangerous?

Let's take a look at the lyrics of the National Anthem of the United States of America (a song called "The Star Spangled Banner"):

O! say can you see by the dawn's early light

What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming.

Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,

O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming.

And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,

Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.

Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

This is only the first verse, according to wikipedia, but it's the only one anyone really knows.

Here's what I notice about the lyrics right away: it's not about our brotherhood as citizens so much as it is a love song for our country's most notable symbol - the flag (although our most notable symbol could also easily be the golden arches or a coca cola logo). We seem to have an unusual fixation upon this cloth representation of our free and brave selves. In fact, we go so far as to pledge our allegiance to this piece of cloth in the Pledge of Allegiance:

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

So we seem to favor focusing on this symbol - a flag. Symbols are very powerful things. It's certainly more hypnotic to focus on a symbol than to discuss and sing directly about brotherhood, connection, equality, and acceptance. A symbol has more mass appeal. Plus, if you focus on the symbol, then it can be imbued with whatever values the top manipulators want to give it. How many times have you heard people argue about what the USA stands for: power, freedom, independence, money, military might, homeland security, diversity, democracy, etc. Some of these values are not in alignment.

We feel so arduously about the flag that many have sought to protect it's burning over the freedom it represents. Some would imprison you for exercising your freedom by destroying a piece of red, white, and blue cloth. Talk about allegiance to the flag.

As for the Pledge, we make our children repeat this oath each day at school until it's seared into their consciousness. It may be one of the most effective examples of mass hypnosis on record. Who ever really stops to think about what they're saying here - especially when they're 8 years old? "I pledge my allegiance?" Wow! I was a practicing Catholic for 21 years and I rarely recall having to publicly state my perpetual commitment to God. I think I did it once and it was called Confirmation.

If you plan on making war as a country, or fear being warred upon, it makes sense to indoctrinate your citizens with a countlessly repeated public oath of duty to your country, but the concept seems a bit to nationalistic to me.

Hey, I love this country and the people here. We've got a good thing going, and I am all for singing about my love for the things we like about the USA. I just wish we could do it with a bit more consciousness and depth. And let's lose this Pledge thing.

Can I get an Amen?

Men Holding Hands and More

Men holding hands should not be such an alarming sight. The president can do it – you can, too! Seriously. Normally a photo of Bush would be reason for derision on my blog, but in this case I want to emphasize that we are way too homophobic in our culture.

Speaking of this, here’s an interesting article on homosexuality: http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=bisexual-species&print=true Excerpt:

Researchers are now revealing, for example, that animals may engage in same-sex
couplings to diffuse social tensions, to better protect their young or to
maintain fecundity when opposite-sex partners are unavailable—or simply because
it is fun. These observations suggest to some that bisexuality is a natural
state among animals, perhaps Homo sapiens included, despite the
sexual-orientation boundaries most people take for granted. “[In humans] the
categories of gay and straight are socially constructed,” Anderson says.

Fat vs. Carbs

The research described below settles it: 100 calories of fat = 100 calories of carbs

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20080715/hl_time/arefatcaloriesmorefatteningthancarbs

 

Now we can focus on real issues like eating crappy carbs (like the completely delicious ones found in the pizza I stuffed myself with this past weekend in New York) versus decent carbs (like whole grains).  Or we can think about eating oils and fats which require highly complex mechanical processes (cottonseed oil, for example) versus more easily isolated fats like butter or olive oil.  How the heck do you get oil out of a cotton seed anyway?  And how many cotton seeds would you need to sauté an onion using their oil?  Should we be breaking food down into its finest elements and isolating them?  I am thinking that we should not.  This is why I am wary of anything containing soy protein isolate or vital wheat gluten, soybean and wheat derivatives that are commonly used in meat substitutes.  I’ll take a naturally-raised grass-fed cow steak any day over such industrial food.*

 

* I am not perfect in my pursuit of these standards, but they are the ideal to which I aspire…

Last Pastel Class

Beachin'

Went to Padre Island Beach with the Austin Happy Campers meetup group. The weather was rainy, windy, at times chilly, and overcast almost constantly. We had a blast! There were loads of fireworks on Friday night (July 4th).

Latest Pastel Work

Pastelz

Some more drawings from our pastel class (the feet were done by me, the dog, by Patty).

Just finished reading "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan. Pretty much everyone has read this book; it seems like "The DaVinci Code" for non-fiction readers, such as myself. I found Pollan's book to be a great summary of the struggle we all face when choosing how to eat in this modern age. We face questions of ethics, health, economics (ranging from global to personal), and logistics. Pollan's writing style is very accessible and enjoyable, as well as thought provoking from a content perspective.

Men = Job Losses; Women = Job Gains

Interesting article on Yahoo! Finance: http://finance.yahoo.com/career-work/article/105040/The-Slump:-It

They eat from the same dishes and sleep in the same beds, but they seem to be operating in two different economies. From last November through this April, American women aged 20 and up gained nearly 300,000 jobs, according to the household survey of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). At the same time, American men lost nearly 700,000 jobs. You might even say American men are in recession, and American women are not.

What's going on? Simply put, men have the misfortune of being concentrated in the two sectors that are doing the worst: manufacturing and construction. Women are concentrated in sectors that are still growing, such as education and health care.

This article also goes on to address pay issues between men and women, which boil down to less pay for women.

The Fine Arts

Today we cooked a large batch of Dal, which is an Indian dish, and a large batch of escarole and beans, which is an Italian dish.

Also shown are drawings we did in our pastel class. After we drew them, we ate the strawberries. Yum!

Real Food

Been reading this book.  The premise is that we should be eating food in its natural state with no processing or minimal processing.  This means fats and oils, such as canola oil or sunflower oil, are unnatural and not healthful.  She makes a series of scientific assertions about how eating food that’s been processed means we are over-consuming nutrients which are harmful in large doses and that we are bypassing nutrients which we need – nutrients which are found in more natural sources.  Some of these natural sources include unprocessed foodstuffs such as butter, lard, eggs, olive oil, beef, chicken (skin included), etc.  Yep – she argues that butter is a superior fat to cook with compared to canola oil, for example.  She certainly makes a persuasive case.  The science I don’t really understand, but I must say it all resonates with me.  The tough thing, however, is that the generous portions of animal-based milk, beef, etc. that she recommends over a vegetarian diet is best consumed totally naturally – and that means grass-fed, pastured animal products, which can be hard to find and expensive.  I do recommend the book.

Sketching

Here's an example of some of my sketchwork lately. This was done for Patty for an art exhibit talk that she's delivering to some young people. Mostly I've been doing greeting cards for family and friends on special occasions.

Bonus Shotz

Vegetables from our garden (above). Our adoring son (below).

Reimer's Ranch / Pedernales River Hike

Patty and I went on a lovely hike yesterday with a group from meetup.com along the Pedernales River. It was at Hamilton Pool Park and/or Reimer's Ranch - not sure which, but it was gorgeous and refreshing and challenging. I took a swim in the river after the hike and it was just a great sensation feeling the cool water and the freedom of jumping into a natural body of water and not worrying about still wearing my hiking clothers. Terrific!

- Mike

Window Fixed

Window: Fixed.

Had to get a custom-cut piece of glass from Lowe's, then when I got it home, it was a bit too wide, so I used the etching tool I had from the mosaic tile mirror I did (I think it's pictured in an earlier post). I nipped the glass to size and caulked it in.