The Swedish Chef in VA...

In Memoriam...

2012-11-24T18:41:00.000-08:00

I can't help myself, I feel compelled to share this with the World: Today, we lost a truly Great Man. I know he was not known or renowned Worldwide, but he SHOULD be! So I am posting this in the hopes that many will read this and take heed of what I say. George L. Barton IV passed away today. He was a real friend and mentor to both me and my daughter. "Barty" or "Grandpa" to many of us who knew him, had a wicked sharp tongue and an equally sharp sense of humor. He too NO CRAP from anyone. He never, EVER minced words. And he was one of the kindest and most giving people anyone could have hoped to know. I got to know "Grandpa" George at work at a most amazing place, Park View High School in Sterling VA. He was a distinguished teacher of English there, as well as at Northern Virginia Community College. When I had a personal or professional dilemma, Mr. Barton was one person I could always go to. When he didn't have some very useful advice (which was pretty much never!), he would be one to commiserate and empathize. He taught me that you can be nice and still not be taken advantage of. To his students, the word INSPIRATIONAL would pretty much sum him up. He put up with nothing short of your best effort. And he worked with you until you had truly achieved it. He taught his "kids" to work hard and to take pride in giving your all. He helped so many to turn their lives around, both academically and personally. To his co-workers he was a LIVING LEGEND. He could say what we could not -- and had the courage to do so. He busted his backside to get the job done right, too. And the effect he had on those he taught, was entirely positive and life-long. Life-CHANGING in many cases. He was also a veteran of the United States Army, who would share with you the painful story of lost friends and the devastation of War. Through his Service to Country, he learned that there are wonderful people the World over, and you have to give each and every one their fair chance. Throughout his life, George Barton fought to give everyone he met a fair chance. And he was not afraid to be honest and vulnerable, either. His telling of his war stories was a way of reminding us all how precious life is, and how important it is to make every moment count. It is terribly hard for me to say (write) this with these tears still in my eyes, BUT: DO NOT BE SAD AT HIS PASSING! Instead, be happy that he ever WAS. And be even happier if you were lucky enough to KNOW him! I personally count this man as one of my HEROES, and the things I have learned from him are as important as any teachings of the religious or philosophical greats. The best way to honor this man, who was a true HERO in so many respects, a bona-fide role model, an amazing friend, a proud and caring father, and an inspiration to anyone who met him... Would be to do as he did. This means that, if you knew him (or someone like him, or even aspire to know someone like him!!!!) you should: #1 -- Give, and give, and then give of yourself some more. The legacy you leave by doing this will be 1000's of times greater than the sum of your actions. The ability to touch others in a positive way is the best achievement anyone can hope for. Ask ANYONE who knew him and they will tell you that his spirit will live on well past his years, in everything they do and every life THEY touch! #2 -- Get off your ASS and do something! Life is not meant to be spent in quiet reflection, home alone. This great man was out teaching in two places, out with his students, friends and family on his boat, at the shooting range, or at IHOP, playing with his grandchildren, ans talking to or sending messages to present and former students. I can't tell you how many people have said "But he just called/texted/emailed me yesterday..." on learning of his passing today. He was more alive than anyone I knew. I am in awe of him still. And, #3 -- Don't take any CRAP from anyone. You can do this in the nicest possible way. I remember GB telling someone they were ACTING LIKE a dumbass. Not that they WERE A DUMBASS, oh no. Because he didn't spend time with anyone truly stupid. He just wouldn't put up with anyone who wasn't at the top of their game. MAKE people work for your respect, because you DESERVE it. TELL someone if they are out of line, while fully expecting that they CAN and WILL live up to your expectations. People will surprise you with their ability to rise to a challenge. And if you don't challenge them, you deprive both of you from the benefits that are there to be reaped. RIP George Barton. I love you like a member of my family. You have given so much to so many, and your legacy is HUGE. You have made the World a better place, and the fruits of your labor will live for many, many generations. I aspire to have ONE IOTA of the type of strength and honesty and integrity you exhibited in your lifetime. Our grieving for you is purely selfish, that we here on Earth have been deprived of your company from now on. I hope to overcome that selfishness and be the type of person you always challenged me to be.

Meat-Free Lettuce Wraps!

2012-09-27T19:37:00.000-07:00

Ingredients: 1lb Tempeh 1/2 medium yellow onion, minced a dash of each of sea salt & pepper 3 large cloves garlic, minced 1/2 cup shredded carrot 1/4 cup fresh ginger, peeled & minced or shredded 2 Tablespoons sesame oil 3 Tablespoons Tamari soy sauce 2 Tablespoon each water and rice vinegar 3 Tablespoon natural peanut butter 3 Tablespoons plum sauce 1 Tablespoon dried red chile flakes 6 green onions, chopped 8oz can sliced water chestnuts, drained & chopped 1/4 cup peanuts, chopped (alternately you can use 1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds) 10-12 large butter lettuce leaves, rinsed and patted dry Directions: Heat a large, non-stick skillet on high. Add 1 TBSP sesame oil, Tempeh, onion, garlic, salt & pepper, and carrot… Cook until onion is translucent, stirring often to break up the Tempeh. Add in ginger, and continue cooking 2-3 minutes. Meanwhile, in a microwave safe bowl, combine remaining sesame oil, soy sauce, water, peanut butter, rice vinegar, plum sauce, and chili flakes. Microwave for 20-30 seconds, then stir until smooth. Add into the skillet and stir to combine. Add green onion and water chestnuts into the skillet then cook for 2-3 minutes until the green onions are soft and the water chestnuts are heated through. Sprinkle with chopped peanuts, and serve with the cold lettuce leaves, to wrap filling in.

Aunt Wendy's Dippy Sauce

2012-09-27T19:30:00.000-07:00

Get yourself some pretty glass bottles somewhere like at Michaels (craft store). The bigger, the better. I favor the ones that DON'T have corks, because cork degrades... Try for the ones with the beer-style flip-open tops! Next you wash up some fresh lemons and grate the tiniest bit off the outside (so the flavor is better) and cut them into slices so thin you can see through them. ROLL the slices to fit them into one bottle. When your bottle is good and packed, pour your favorite olive oil over the lemon slices. Next for the vinegar, get some fresh tarragon (and/or oregano and/or basil) and stuff the prettiest bits in your second bottle. Top off with half balsamic and half red wine vinegar. It takes about a week for the flavors to really infuse -- but once they DO, you can pour the two over a salad and just add a touch of salt & pepper, and it's YUMMY!!! Not to mention, when the oil is gone, re-use the lemons (but just once)!!! My favorite part is this -- If you put a bottle of each in a pretty basket, you now have a lovely home-made house-warming or holiday gift for someone. Believe me, they WILL like it! The name for this recipe comes from the fact that my Aunt Wen REQUIRES this as her Christmas present... And THEN she won't put it on a salad, no... She pours a little from each bottle onto a plate, and scoops it up on bread. She says this way, you get to savor it better -- LOL! DIPPY SAUCE!

NEVER Buy Microwave Popcorn!!!

2012-06-15T18:57:00.002-07:00

Well, it has been said that the chemicals in the bags and flavorings of microwave popcorn are everything from gross to vaccine-negating to cancer-causing (try Googling perfluorooctanoic acid). I am sure almost all of us would like to cut chemicals OUT of our diets where possible...

And I am here to tell you how to do this with one of my all-time favorite snacks... AND save you money in the process!

Popcorn is naturally high in anti-oxidants, low in calories, low in fat, contains fiber, and is gluten-free and vegan. But as with many "convenience" foods that we now consider to be staples in our lives, the over-thinking and over-processing of popping corn has rendered it unfit to eat.

Well, rest easy now. Because all you need is a plain brown paper lunch-type bag and a half cup of minimally-processed popping corn, and you are on your way to eating healthier at a low cost, without sacrificing convenience!

Take your lunch bag and fill it with about a half cup of popping corn. Fold it over three times, and place on it's side in the microwave. "Nuke" this for ABOUT three minutes -- we all know microwave cooking times vary, so stay close and listen until you get the hang of this -- and enjoy!

Of course, you can still add salt and/or butter and/or hot sauce and/or your favorite toppings that will make this a less ideal but more delicious snack... My favorite is still to add a Tablespoon of melted organic butter (but a sprinkle of sea salt or parmesan is nice, too)... BUT skip the carcinogens and make a batch of popcorn for about 80% less cost than you are used to!

Where HAVE I Been???

2012-06-02T19:06:00.000-07:00

Well, I've been away from the blog for quite a long time now... But summer's here and the time is right for dancing in the street... Or something like that! I decided to ease back into the blogosphere by gifting you with a new recipe. This one is low-fat, high in both protein and fiber, is both vegan and gluten-free. As an added bonus, it is easily adapted to campfire cooking!

Hearty Savoury Lentils with Wild Rice

Add 2 cups lentils and 1/2 cup wild rice to a pan. Cover with 6 cups boiling water. Add 2 heaping TBSP Marmite or Vegemite, a palm-full of dried parsley, and if you can find it, a few pinches of summer savory. Simmer on medium-low heat for the next 25 minutes, with a loose lid, during which you can caramelize an onion.

My favorite method of this is to finely chop one medium-large yellow onion. Add it to a pan with 2 TBSP veggie oil (butter if you aren't vegan), and then cook on low heat, stirring only twice, over a period of about 20 minutes. After everything is nice and brown, I like to add a few drops of lemon or lime juice... It helps with that lovely caramel taste. Once your onion is done, set it aside for a while...

Next, add a large handful of long-grain brown or jasmine rice to your lentil mixture. Stir thoroughly. Now you have 20 more minutes to simmer with your lid on again loosely (or preferably the lid to your pot on).

When your lentils and rice are nice and cooked, add first some salt and pepper to taste -- followed by a TBSP of cornstarch. Stir vigorously to make sure the mixture thickens without lumps. When it is all thickened, add your onion and serve!

VARIATIONS:

To make a nice lentil stew, increase the water to 8 cups and the Marmite to 4 TBSP. Add chopped carrots, potatoes, and celery when adding the second part of the rice, after the first 25 minutes of cooking. These are the only changes for a nice fall stew.

Also, to take this recipe camping with you... Combine your wild rice, lentils, parsley, summer savory, some salt and pepper, 2 TBSP onion powder and 1 TBSP garlic powder, in a baggie. Put a scant 1/2 cup of jasmine rice in another baggie with your cornstarch. The Marmite is so small, there is no worry in packing it along. Cook in the same 2-step process as before, only over a fire.

If you really aren't concerned with going vegan, you can use the butter to caramelize the onions, and this recipe is actually REALLY NICE made as a stew with some added cubed goat or lamb. I would favor goat, really, as this is quite a hearty dish. Just be sure you add your goat at the very beginning, as you want it to simmer for a long time with the lentils and wild rice.

ENJOY!!!

Moan, moan, moan...

2011-08-08T20:38:00.001-07:00

You know, there is only so far one can fall into the depths of despair and not feel a little silly. Many people who know me very well, would say I've had a bit of a rough year. So many personal mishaps and dramas on so many levels. Friends have said I am strong, I will get through this tough time. People close to me say I am reacting naturally to a series of terrible situations.

Then again, I have had the great good fortune to be born into a country that is amongst the strongest, richest, and freest in the World. I can't say I haven't gone a full day hungry. I could well argue that there have been times when I didn't know how or even if I would be able to buy groceries next week, or keep the electricity on next month. These things have happened.

But I have NEVER been without a place to go, to have a meal or a shower or even nice, cool air conditioning, when things got rough.

I have never known the fear of wondering if I would wake up the next morning, because my living situation was so precarious that I could be killed at any time -- by a criminal, a terrorist, or some government agent unhappy with something I have done or said.

I was born with all my limbs intact and functional. They remain so to this day.

In fact, I was able to receive a first-rate education. I was even lucky enough to have a family that impressed upon me the importance and significance of this.

I have no known terminal diseases. And I even have access to healthcare, should I ever need it.

I have been vaccinated. I am regularly nourished. I am safe. I am sane. Well, mostly. And I have friends and family who are similarly blessed, and do not take it for granted.

The fact that I have a job and a car, I need to remind myself, are the icing on the very lovely albeit delicate confection that is the charmed life I have thus far lead.

The fact that I am free is a blessing bestowed upon me at great cost to many.

When you get right down to it, I have no reason to feel dejected, disheartened, or depressed at any time. If one lives in a safe and free World, has their health and family... Then any other problem we could be faced with, is somewhat artificial.

Not to say that we don't all feel the pain of loss at times. Not to say that it isn't very real, to lose someone close to you. But how many times have we, in the Free and Industrialized World, honestly have had to come to grips with a loss that was unjust and untimely? Can we not imagine the people living under this threat daily? Can we not see all we DO have?

I rebuke myself. It is, in fact, a wonderful life.

HEJ! to Malta!

2011-07-30T09:01:00.001-07:00

How cool is THAT, we have readers in Malta now! Can I come visit you?

Silly Questions!

2011-07-30T08:58:00.001-07:00

Someone asked me a really silly question the other day. Now, I'm not trying to toot my own horn or anything. But I guess people tend to think of me as pretty smart. And so, when you are pretty smart and have some college degrees and even some varied job experience, I suppose people wonder why you would want to make $12 an hour, working with little kids who spit up on you.

Basically, I was asked, hey, if you are so smart, why are you so POOR?

And you know, that question sort of answers itself, doesn't it?

I've had engineering jobs and I've had management jobs and I made more than the "national average" from a very young age. And you know what? It didn't make me any happier. I used to play that "get ahead" game, but the problem with that is, what IS it we are all actually trying to get ahead OF?

Most people would argue that it's the bills we want to get ahead of. But really, who MADE the bills? I would argue that, if you are trying to "get ahead", the only thing you are going to get ahead of is yourself.

You get a promotion, and a raise with it, and pretty soon, you can cover the bills fine for a few months. But then you decide that you need to replace that 10-year-old car that runs fine, because SOME day it is going to break down, and darn it, you work HARD, you deserve that new car. Then you start thinking you haven't been out to dinner vey much recently, and there is a cool new cell phone you want... Or maybe it's that you want your kids in private school, but it's always SOMETHING.

So you work even harder for that next promotion, and raise, and pretty soon you have it and you're working 60+ hours a week, you're all stressed out about the NEXT step, and you have completely forgotten, in the mean time, to LIVE YOUR LIFE.

You get caught up in watching the trees whizzing past you a mile a minute, on the highway of life. And you not only can't see the destination, but you miss all the nice stuff on the way.

No, sir, that life is not for me.

I don't need a 2000-square-foot house, a new car, fancy shoes or even high-speed internet. That isn't what makes me happy. And if I were to walk down the street in my town and have everyone look, and say "There goes that rich chick," that wouldn't be what makes me happy, either.

And when I get to the end of my life, is someone going to think: Hey, she earned lots of dollars, and boought lots of things, in her lifetime -- she was a worthy person??? Is that how it's going to go?

I surely hope not!

What I really enjoy, is being around kids. I love it when an 11-month old gives me a huge belly laugh, or a 7-month old tries to hold his own bottle for the first time. I love it when a 14-year-old suddenly says "Oh, I GET it!" about a math problem. It's a blast when your 15-year-old takes the car out for the first time with their Learner's Permit. I love to see an 8-year-old move up to cover first base, or an 11-year-old learn to spike the ball.

These are the things I have the best memories of, in the past decade or so.

Would I trade millions of dollars earned, a nicer car, a bigger home, FOR MY ENTIRE LIFE, to have these things in my life every day?

Not only would I, I would in a heartbeat. And in fact, I already HAVE.

I'm never going to amass a fortune, and I'm never going to "get ahead". I will always struggle to pay my bills. Retirement is going to be a hot mess. I OUGHT to be worried. VERY worried.

But one day I will look back and think, I helped 100's of kids to appreciate (or at least not fear) math. I helped oodles of kids have a true sense of accomplishment in learning a sport, and maybe, just maybe, some of them will lead a richer and healthier life for it. I have helped a bunch of babies on their way to things like walking and talking, and learning to share and to treat others with kindness.

It would be a little silly to think that, because I'm kinda smart, I was destined for some sort of "glory". It would be nice to win the lottery, but I know that isn't gonna happen. Really, though, who's to say this life of mine, ISN'T rather glorious?

So I have to answer a question with a question here: If YOU are so smart, why is it you keep running on the hamster wheel? Has it really helped you get where you are going? Or have you even thought about where it is you are going?

Insidious or Something Else?

2011-07-20T15:39:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time, my daughter was a 'tween. And there were times that a friend would call, that she didn't want to speak to. Or someone would invite her to something she didn't want to do. And she would say "Mom, tell them I'm not here..." or "Mom, tell them I'm not allowed to go...".

And I would patiently tell my daughter that she needed to learn to stand up for herself, or at the very least, make her own excuses.

Now, really, the kid's aim was to not have to hurt someone's feelings. Most of us find that quite a disagreeable thing. It's not like she was going to get on the phone and say "I'm tired of talking to you on the phone all the time," or "You know, I like you in small doses but a sleepover would just be too much for me...".

The thing is, we all DO tell little white lies. We do it mostly so we don't hurt someone's feelings. This salad is delicious. Your new haircut is terrific! You'll get that promotion next time. It's a valid social skill.

We all, also, have to take control of our likes and dislikes, and our schedule. We have to learn to say "NO" on occasion, firmly but nicely. Just think of the mess we would all be in if we REALLY COULDN'T SAY NO???

So I taught my daughter to do this for herself. Better, if someone was going to lie FOR her, that it BE her.

And while we learned this little coping mechanism, we tried to also learn how to be as honest as we could, in the process. We learned to say things like "I just don't feel like talking on the phone right now," and leaving out the "to you" part. Or we would respond with "I really had something else planned for that evening," and leave out the part about it being to wash the dog.

The point here being, that we also learned that if it's something really important, and not just a question of avoiding unnecessary hurt feelings, then we should do our best to tell it like it is.

Like when mom comes home from the grocery store to see you have 3 friends over, and one is puking her guts out... You say "Mom, I already called her mother, but she was drinking alcohol earlier and that's why she's so sick," instead of claiming stomach flu like your friend wanted you to say.

God forbid, that friend go home later and pass out cold and go into an alcohol-induced coma, and her mother think she's just sleeping off a flu. The odds are tiny, but the outcome is so important, you have to suck it up and say what you don't want to say.

My daughter knew this before she was a teenager. So, why is it that some adults, still don't know how to (a) tell a small but polite untruth, when it is appropriate, or (b) distinguish what is actually important, and do the RIGHT thing, even if it makes you uncomfortable?

How can it be, that there are grown adults walking around out there, who will tell you those jeans make you look fat, but then tell you there's nothing going on when the house is on fire? Can someone tell me; Is that stupidity, or something more insidious?

More about Spirituality...

2011-06-01T19:46:00.001-07:00

So, I was asked, "Do you really think there is a God? That there is some guy up there looking down on you, who is going to judge you when you die and send you to Heaven or Hell? Do you really think you have to go to Church and all that (insert expletive here)???!!?!?!??!!!". Rather incredulously I was asked, in case the punctuation lacked subtlety.

"No, I don't." was my succinct answer. When prodded, my long answer is "I prefer not to muddle my Spiritual beliefs with religion, thank you very much.". That's it. Unless you actually WANT to know what I believe -- which a curious reader who wanders over to this blog quite intentionally, might or might not. But clearly (to me), my questioner's aim was to ridicule and bait me.

So be it.

So, in case that leaves a bit of a dilemma (not in my mind)... I figured I would expound.

I studied Science, Mathematics and Engineering. I am a big fan and student of Statistics. I capitalize them all, as I do Spirituality or God... Because to me, all these are ways to find what most people seek in their lives -- Truth and Meaning.

All of these things to me, anyway, are HOLY.

Now, religion, I would capitalize if I felt the same way about. I think that what once started out as a way to seek Truth, being an invention of Man, became confused and befuddled over time, and lost quite a bit of it's original intent and purpose. In the Renaissance (proper noun, not HOLY word!), men of Art and Science were also men of Faith, in many cases. And I think that if you examine the lives of many of the great modern-day philosophers and scientists, you would find that they do not see any reason why people should assume Science precludes the existence of God.

Personally, I feel that when the two disagree, we (being mere men -- so to speak) have just gotten something wrong along the way. We've missed something. After all, to err is human, as I myself try to prove daily!

Now to me, there are a few things that point to something one might call God. For one thing, I look and marvel at our World, and the amazing and beautiful variety of nature and species it contains, and I conclude that something so magnificent, Statistically speaking, is an extreme outlier. As in, if it got here somehow by cosmic accident alone, that would be one Hell (tee hee hee) of a Statistical anomaly. Ummm, meaning that seems quite impossible to me.

Also I note that all sorts of phenomena that were previously unexplained (or incorrectly attributed), were eventually explained through Science, even though these things (like radio waves, magnetic fields, and the like) are not detectable by the human senses. We have to find the way to SEE them.

So why should I PRECLUDE anything else that might be here, on our little rock called Earth, that we simply have not found a way to detect, measure, quantify? Something implied, but beyond the reach of our (God-given??) five natural senses? If I accept that, because I personally can not see it, feel it, taste it, smell it or hear it, then it does not exist -- then does that mean the magnetic field around the Earth will disappear? I think not, therefore you are not, and POOF!

Also to me, just based on my own personal experience, it seems SUGGESTED that, as our bodies cease to function, there might still be something, some as yet "unsensed" something held within or about us, that also exists after our bodies do not (see Grandma blog?). For lack of a better word(s) I think of this as Soul or Spirit. To me (and feel free to disagree), living things have some essence that we can only glimpse but not yet quantify.

It mattes not what I call this, or if you believe. I can only say I believe this USUALLY very privately, but from personal experience. As I have said previously, I might be completely wrong. That has certainly been the case on many, many occasions. But I believe it until something happens to, in my eyes, disprove it (see Logic blog?).

Anyway, that there is something else to us, as individuals, that survives (to my way of thinking) the physical property of what WE call being alive... This suggests to me again some other force at work that we as yet do not understand. In essence, if you combine my belief that the Universe and specifically Earth and all its wonderful inhabitance possibly being NOT accidental PLUS the fact that I think we as people, as living beings, are actually POSSIBLY more than just our living beings... Well, you get a belief that perhaps there is something larger afoot in the Universe than just the piddlings of us living people.

Now, this is NOT to say I think that there is some guy up there watching us. I am really very undecided on the idea of good vs. evil, as I am on the notion of heaven or hell. I really don't think that, when we die, someone is going to place our soul, our essence, in a scale, weigh it, and send us on for our own particular eternity. If there is a God, capable of such wondrous creations, why (on Earth hahaha) would He/She have time for something so darn trivial!

And can I possibly think that either Jews, Christians, Muslims, lefties, righties, gays straights brown-eyesblue-eyeslovestowearredhats will be the only ones who are judged worthy of some reward after "death"? Ummm, again illogical, trivial, and statistically highly improbable. If there IS some sort of larger force in the Universe, it created us all. And if this entity were at some point to judge us... Let me say I will entertain you with my idea of what would happen...

We rise from our non-functioning earthly bodies and are greeted by some other-wordly entity with the power, grace and creativity to make the entire Universe work, much in the same way a fine watchmaker works... And we are -- each and every one of us -- awed and enlightened to know this Truth. And that is enough. Then, all of us enlightened, departed souls hang out or float around, or whatever it is we do, in perfect harmonious agreement, because now we all know the same secret.

Religion, on the other hand, to me at least, seems contrived and even perverted. I have to say that most of my personal experience is with Christianity, and to be honest, almost all of the people I know personally who identify themselves as Christian, really are fine decent people.

But I sure read enough to know that is not always the case. And I'm not NAIVE enough to think it's someone's particular flavor of ice cream (or religion) that MADE them that way. People everywhere, in every land and throughout time, have been capable of immense good or acts of horrifying cruelty. It is usually a matter of personal choice, in my honest opinion.

So if you recite the mantra or the Hail Mary's or toke your doobie or whip yourself, fast or keep kosher... THESE are all the trappings of Man. These are all interpretations of how people THOUGHT there might be a path, once upon a time, to Goodness and Truth. I don't think regular Church attendance MAKES you good. Certainly then, regular Church attendance at SOME PARTICULAR CHURCH, isn't going to make you "good" either. Illogical.

And just with any major organization, like government ir business, religion is a structure rife with the opportunity to do either good or harm. What makes any particular endeavor mostly "good" or mostly "bad" depends entirely on the sum of the actions of it's participants.

So, I guess all I'm saying here is, that to me my particular experience and education leads me to believe that there is some force out there that is beyond our current methods of evaluating, and that this force or entity (or entities, for all we know) are capable of some amazing and beautiful things that I feel to be pretty amazing. Awesome. Good, if you will. And I think that some part of us, when our living bodies cease to support us, might just become a part of that force or entity.

Certainly no one has provided to me, what I feel is definitive proof to the contrary (see Logic blog?).

And no, I'm not worried about heaven or hell, and I'm not particularly worried about the state of my soul or even yours, for that matter. Because I think that, in the end, it will all work itself out somehow.

Because of this, I don't feel a need to label what I think or feel, or to "convert" you to my way of thinking. After all, I said before, I have been wrong many, many times.

Even so, the Statistician in me says that my beliefs are a pretty nice way to "hedge my bets" as it were. Not to suggest that the things I believe are contrived for that purpose. I'm just saying that, if anything I believe, by some MIRACLE turns out to be correct, then hmmm, lucky me. But then again, I feel like if I didn't think this way, things would turn out fine in the end, too.

So, I'll see you ALL sometime on the other side. And you can tell me what a fool I was!

I ADMIT!!!

2011-06-01T01:03:00.000-07:00

I admit, I take "happy pills". If you have been reading me for a while, you know I "suffer" from chronic depression and sleep disorders, including but not limited to insomnia (go figure, 4am posting???)... The thing is, in general, I only take enough "happy pills" to keep the crying jags and super-sleep marathons at bay.

As a testimony to this, if I skip my "meds" for two days straight -- I am liable to have a complete reversal of my generally sunny disposition. I cry at sappy commercials, spilled milk, recipes gone awry and a dog not walked enough. This is true even though it apparently takes two weeks for these meds to build up and work in your system... I continually "push the envelope" by taking exactly as little as I can get away with, and still function as a human being. I refill my anti-anxiety meds about twice per year, instead of once per month.

Even so, one might have to wonder if my blogs aren't a little colored by medication. Do I think things are always great? Am I delusional or mentally ill? Am I looking at the World through anti-depressant-colored glasses? Do I think everything I say on here is RIGHT????

Well, luckily I've never been diagnosed as delusional. Even in the depths of depression, I have been told I am a die-hard (that was tongue-in-cheek for those of you who speak ESL or who just aren't big fans of "dark humor") realist. I have been told I'm logical to a fault, and that this contributes to my general dissatisfaction.

Apparently, if I would just have feelings and allow them to be IRRATIONAL, some very educated people think I would be happier. ILLOGICAL!!!

The thing is, everything I post on here, is subject to debate. I think, and I am logical. But I really do accept that -- not only do I not have ALL the answers -- I might well have NO ANSWERS!

The reason for this, sadly, is again my reliance on cold, hard logic. While you CAN prove something to be FALSE... You can not definitively PROVE SOMETHING TO BE TRUE. And the catch-22 here is, that just because something is proven to be true, does not necessarily mean that its (perceived) opposite is false.

Consider the statement that "all apples are red". If I bring you a green apple, you can accept that all apples are NOT red. The way you disprove something is to show a counter-example. This works brilliantly with things that are very narrowly defined -- like red and green apples.

What about 800 years ago, if you tried to prove the World was flat? Certainly for a very long time, no on had successfully circumnavigated the globe, disproving this theory. Does that mean, though, that 800 years ago -- THE WORLD WAS FLAT? Clearly most people would say NO. But can you be certain????

What about the Universe? Can we be sure of Creationism versus the Big Bang Theory? Well, if we are really to decide, FIRST we must accept that the one precludes the other. Same with Evolution. Does the existence of monkeys in the modern World disprove Evolution? Some would say yes, some no. Most definitively!

But are they truly opposites? If you say yes, how can you prove THAT to me???

PLEASE, prove to me beyond the shadow of a doubt that there is no in-between... That there is NO GOD, and that Evolution was not a part of his plan... Go on, I'm waiting....

Sometime in the near future, I am going to have to go to Court, and disprove (beyond the shadow of a doubt!!!) that a debt that was incurred is NOT mine. This defies logic! But that is how civil courts work -- on anti-logic.

If I committed assault or theft, you would have to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt, that it DID happen. And that, at least in theory, is possible. But how do you prove something DIDN'T HAPPEN??? Did a tree falling in the forest, make no noise? Even once did this NOT HAPPEN? The World may never know....

And so, no, I don't take everything I write as being "true". I live for truths to be disproven. I love to be shown a different and better way.

So I ask my dear friends and readers this: Please PROVE to me that the World was NOT flat 800, 900, or 1,000 years ago. Please PROVE to me that Evolution and Creationism are mutually exclusive. Show me a new way. But please, follow the laws of Logic as you do so.

Follow-up on Unequal Pay

2011-05-29T19:13:00.000-07:00

So, the other night, I wrote that I could almost see a real, Free-Market reason why a woman, having equal experience and education to a man, might be paid less than said man. And sadly, this would be if she were a mother.

Just like insurance companies find that men between the ages of 18 and 25 are more likely to have a car accident than any other demographic group... Sometimes you just pay more for a while, and beat the odds later.

But why women of childbearing age? Have I forgotten that most of my Engineering and Management years were spent during that age??? Why, no, I have not. And I also have not forgotten that I WAS paid less than similarly educated and experienced men, or women over the age of 45.

Here's the thing (and get ready, this is sort of reverse-dscrimination on my part) -- When I was a mom at work, no matter how brilliantly I performed, no matter how much I exceeded expectations... I was only HALF THERE while at work. The other half of my brain was a whirlwind of thoughts that went something like:

When was that deadline for swim team sign-ups? If her cough doesn't go away by tomorrow, I'm going to have to make a doctor's appointment. Is that school Bingo night tonight, or tomorrow night? Did I defrost something for dinner, or should I order a pizza on the way home? And did I ever hear back from the Science teacher, because I KNOW I didn't see her bring home the last test....

Added to this, would be the fact that I was a single mom, so if the school called and told me that the cough was worse and now she had a fever, or if Bingo night WAS in fact tonight... Well, it would be me, not my spouse, leaving work early to take care of it.

I asked my husband, does he have these thoughts while he is at work? Does he think things like "I wonder if we can really afford orthodontics for BOTH kids; am I supposed to be at the soccer game tonight, and if so is it our turn to bring the snacks; and I really can't forget to take them to buy a present for so-and-so's birthday party this weekend...". He assures me he does NOT.

A poll of one is hardly a study, so I'd LOVE to hear from the other Dads out there.

The thing is, my husband also points out that the average man thinks about sex, what, is it six times a minute, or every six minutes? Either way, he reasons, that can't make for a very efficient or effective work day, even when compared to the possible "other thoughts" of women in the workplace.

To me, that fact that a father and husband has a wife who will be the one to take care of the teachers' conferences and doctor's appointments, makes that man MORE valuable as an employee. The wife/mother's contribution isn't recognized in HER paycheck, but it is in her husbands. This might seem unfair, but only if they work for different employers!

So, what do you all think? Are men as distracted at work as women? Perhaps younger men are more distracted than Moms are? Is there any arguing that, in a truly free market, the many distractions of parenthood might make someone slightly less valuable?

Let me have it, I don't have all the answers.

Effin' Liberal Swedes!

2011-05-27T16:08:00.000-07:00

OK, so, before we got married (and even after) my husband seemed convinced that one day, I would tire of him and leave him. Don't take it the wrong way, but there is still a part of his brain that, while hoping he's wrong, thinks that our marriage might not be "forever". I, on the other hand, have always known that's not the case. And now research backs me up!

The Journal of Politics conducted a study of 5,000 married couples, and found that the similarity of their political views was the #1 thing that predicts a marriage's success. The #2 factor was the similarity in how often they attend Church. On both counts, I would have a VERY hard time finding anyone else who matched me so completely.

In fact, I am completely and totally what would be considered "socially liberal". I would say that because of this, I am FOR gay rights and gay marriage. I am FOR the legalization of marijuana. I am (legally speaking) FOR anything that anyone else could conceive of as morally wrong, as long as it doesn't harm others.

Why? Because IT IS NOT MY PLACE TO JUDGE! I get really upset when one person or another, of any political stripe, tries to take the "moral high ground" on any issue. It is simply not the place of one human being to judge another -- at least not unless they are an immediate threat to their fellow human beings.

To say that GOD says this or that is right, so YOU can't do it... Is pride in the worst form ever. GOD will judge those false moralizers as surely as he will the worst of sinners.

I also love to think of myself as what my friend Sandy calls "rabidly Constitutionalist". I am FOR the separation of Church and State, as was the intent of the Forefathers. There is not supposed to be a government body here in the US that imposes some sense of morality on the general public.

There should be nothing, and I mean NOTHING, in between us and a free-market economy.

Even though I abhor handguns, and think they should be limited... The Constitution says we have the right to bear arms... And Dad Gummit, until that Constitution is changed, that is our RIGHT. Even if I choose not to exercise that right, or don't even agree with it -- it's in the Constitution so it is THE LAW.

I believe that the Founders meant for all people to be equal, and for the law to be dynamic and change with the times. Surely SOME of our Founding Fathers envisioned that one day, people of color would be free, could own land and vote. Most did not envision this for women, but they did see that times would change, and that laws must change with them.

And I really think they would be AGHAST at the idea that people would bring prayer into our schools or government offices.

Similarly, we now know that all HUMANS, all people, regardless of race, creed, age, religion, sex, family status, health status, place of birth, sexual orientation, favorite color, number of toes, are all HUMANS. We are all PEOPLE. And unless you can categorize some entity as a "non-person", then the MUST have the same rights as anyone else, under the Law.

I believe that if I had to pick one thing that makes our Nation truly great, it would HAVE to be that we all have the right to say (and think) what we want. I could rant all day that we have to abolish nematodes, and I might be 100% wrong. But as long as I harm no one in my assertions, I can think and say as I please. And so can YOU!

As I have said before and will repeat until my final days... I may not agree with what you have to say, but I will fight to my mild discomfort, your right to say it. ALL intelligent ideas can withstand debate. So say what you really think, and support it intelligently!

Now the funny thing is (which will be a later post), I was discussing with my husband that I can see a true, Free-Market rationale that would suggest where a woman, with the same experience and education as a man, might earn less for the same work. WHAT??!!?!?!?!?!!? You say? Well, like I said that is a later post.

But be advised, I am RABIDLY Constitutionalist and RABIDLY Free-Market. And I want everyone to weigh in later with comments!

I will close by saying that, this weekend, think about how every member of our Military, past -- present -- and future -- have been willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to protect you, your children, and the rights of both you and your children. And also to bring something close to these rights, to peoples of other lands. While we might disagree with this political maneuver or that one, this politician or the other... We can't forget that we ALL benefit from the sacrifice of our Troops.

Why, some of us ask, should it be the job of the United States to carry the lion's share of the burden, for making the World a freer place? I say, read the Constitution. It's what this Nation was born to do. And the people who make that vision a reality, are the man and women of our Armed Forces!

BOM DIA to PORTUGAL!

2011-05-27T11:45:00.001-07:00

Hello and welcome to our readers from one of the loveliest countries I have had the pleasure to visit!!! Hope you will come back again :)

Comestible Insectables

2011-05-27T11:40:00.000-07:00

Our cat is a ferocious hunter, at least within the confines of our home (we're suburban, no more outdoor kitties for us!).... Which means of course that he is a Ferocius Hunter Of Bugs.

Last night, I spotted a lovely black dragonfly outside on our deck, hovering by the outdoor light. I called my husband to come see, which of course alerted all the animals that something interesting was going on. At the time, the dragonfly was hovering just about an inch above my head, well out of kitty-reach.

However, bugs being bugs, eventually he dipped down to about shoulder height -- and was immediately nabbed by our 10-month-old, 15 pound monster tabby kitten! Felix darted into the house with his booty, while I tearfully implored my darling hubby to save the poor bug before it perished.

J managed to wrest the still-quite-feisty dragonfly from the Jaws of Death, and take him out back to the deck to be set free.

About 20 minutes later, who should come strolling in from the deck but Felix, AGAIN with a live black dragonfly in his mouth! Dragonflies must have rather short memories, IMHO. What was he THINKING???

So again a rescue by Papa, and the dragonfly was set free a second time. Much to my dismay though, I found what looks remarkably like a dragonfly wing on our kitchen floor this morning. :( How does he DO that???

We have found that Felix prefers Japanese Beetles to all else. I can only imagine that it's some combination of the fact that they are crunchy on the outside, with a nice gooey center; and that they really ARE rather amusing to watch as they flounder around on their backs, unable to turn over.

Also lots of fun are moths, although it would seem the nice, young, bright green variety are not ripe yet, judging by the way I find them whole in the house in the mornings. Flies are entertaining, but a bit of a challenge, and always seem to get away before they can be properly ingested.

At first we were fascinated by stink bugs. They make an entertaining sound, and are very clumsy, non-linear fliers, a huge bonus in the entertainment factor of bug-hunting. But after just one bite, we realized these are not bugs of the comestible variety... Quite frankly, they stink!

To whit, there has been a stink bug in the dog's water dish, calmly doing the backstroke (yes, he lives still), that absolutely NO ONE will touch. We just drink around him.

Similarly, the box of Sour Cream and Onion flavored crickets that Papa bought at the beach, sits (mostly) untouched on the shelf above the sink. I think I will leave the bug eating to Felix, and the cast of the Lion King!

Weird fact...

2011-05-21T15:49:00.001-07:00

I am not very religious, but I do believe in God and I feel I'm somewhat spiritual. And if God was going to come down and judge us, as I believe might well happen some day -- although I really doubt it will be today, OR in the next 5 months -- I would like to think that I have done more good than harm in this life. I'd like to think I'm basically a kind person, and my good deeds might just outweigh my faults.

Even so, last night I prayed for hours to God to spare my daughters any suffering, should the World end. That's what I fell asleep thinking.

I could ask for so much more than that, could pray for all my family and loved ones -- there are so many! But at the end of the day (or the World!) this would be my #1 request, hands-down, 2nd place not even coming close in importance. Second place being, if the World should end, please make sure my daughters know how much I love them.

Anyway, even if you aren't the praying type, tell your children today just how much you love them. That, to me, is my Rapture.

Who is the Enemy?

2011-05-20T09:04:00.000-07:00

For years, my exceptionally wise friend (and fitness and nutrition guru) Carol has told us all, "Fat is NOT the enemy. SUGAR is the enemy!". And recently a slew of recent research is bearing this out. If you Google "skim milk makes you fat" you can see what I mean about this.

Now, we all know that carrying extra weight increases your odds of a plethora of serious health problems. These include heart disease, diabetes, and even a few cancers. But it's how we acquire that fat in our own bodies that you have to think about...

The thing is, if you think back to the most basic stuff they taught you in biology, you will remember that as we digest food, our bodies turn sugars into energy. The energy we don't use, turns into stored fat. This of course was supposed to be there for us in "lean" times, to be available as extra energy when we don't have enough to eat. But in the Western World, that really isn't something useful anymore, and we just carry that fat around, making problems for most of our vital organs.

Let me repeat myself: OUR BODIES CONVERT SUGAR INTO FAT. Our bodies do not actually convert ingested FAT into fat. In fact, if you grab a package of butter or vegetable shortening, and look at the nutritional information on the side, you will see that naturally fatty foods contain little sugar. Ergo, eating fat does not give your body something to turn into fat! Fat in your diet is NOT fat on your body!!!!

Additionally, having fat in your diet actually slows down your absorption of sugars. They sort of counteract the sugar you are eating, and thus some of the sugars you eat will pass by your blood stream and be eliminated from your body. Why did the Atkins diet work? It was full of fat, but had almost no carbs (a.k.a. sugars) in it!

What we all know already is, sometimes we just crave something nice and fatty to eat. Fat-filled foods are filling, and may help you to eat less. This is the trifecta! Fat in your food will not be turned into fat on your body; fat will slow your digestion of sugars; and fat will help you eat less.

OK, so what am I saying, eat ALL fats? Is this the beginning of an all-butter diet? No, it isn't, for several reasons. You need fiber in your diet, and fatty foods are notoriously low in fiber. They are also rather low in many vitamins, so you need your fruits and veggies. And fatty foods high in cholesterol are certainly not the way to go.

One thing we love in our house is avocados. And these have been called a "super-food" by many sources. They have natural, healthy fat in them, low sugar, and plenty of vitamins. When I want something sweet, I reach for some no-sugar-added ice cream, and NOT the low-fat kind! And we cook with olive oil almost daily here. We get our Omega-3s from salmon and nuts. And when I look online at a list of foods high in trans-fats, there is pretty much nothing there that you will see in our house!

Generally, you still want to stay away from highly processed foods -- because they always contain a ton of SUGAR!!! I have a downfall though, which is ketchup. So, kudos to Heintz, who makes a low-sugar ketchup that tastes just like the original. Be careful with your prepared tomato products, because those tend to be a source of hidden sugars.

And as a side note, I have said for years that eating "too much salt" was a bunch of baloney!!! Why is that? Well, salt, NaCl or sodium chloride, is extremely soluble in water. And our bodies are 80% water. If you consider that NaCl dissolves even better as the temperature of the water rises (say, 98.6 degrees F?) then the salt we eat is going to be almost completely dissolved in our bodies -- which means that in a healthy person, any excess salt can easily be ELIMINATED from our bodies! (Those who suffer from edema, swelling, or conditions similar, would of course want to limit salt intake.)

As a last note, it really is essential to get exercise. For those of you, like me, who have lapsed here and there, you KNOW it makes you feel better, sleep better, be trimmer and have more energy. For those of you who have never made it part of your daily routine... it makes you feel better, sleep better, be trimmer and have more energy!!! It doesn't take as much time or effort as you might think. Skip one half-hour TV program a few times a week, and go walk around the block instead. Even this little tiny bit of movement will show you results.

I will close by saying that I am now down ALMOST 20 of the 30 pound I wanted to lose. And I have done this not really by dieting, but by being a little more active and making a few smarter food choices. This actually includes MORE ICE CREAM (low sugar of course)! Can you beat that? But I have also included more fresh veggies, a new vitamin B complex, and less sitting around.

So do the research, and limit your sugar but savor your healthy fats!

Something Strange in Sterling

2011-05-18T17:40:00.000-07:00

Ever since I can remember, ever since I was a tiny child, I've had a problem with mosquitos. Now, I do in fact realize that almost no one likes mosquitos, but I had an especially bad time of them.

For one thing, mosquitos seem to prefer me to other folks. We have joked for decades that, should a lone mosquito be in a room with me and 1,000 other people, it would seem me out and bite me repeatedly. This made me very popular with respect to camping trips. If you took me along, you were virtually assured that YOU would not get even a single bite!

To make matters worse, I have always had a really bad reaction to mosquito bites. While most people will get a small, raised, itchy bump, I would get a giant red INSANELY itchy welt larger around than a quarter. And generally, they would then get infected and take weeks to heal. From April to August, I was a lumpy, bumpy, red and itchy mess.

For some odd reason, this year seems to be different. When I went to Savannah (a.k.a. Mosquito Central) last month with my husband, he was bitten repeatedly, and I received only one bite. And it barely itched at all. In fact, after just two days, I couldn't even tell exactly where I had been bitten. No huge welt, no infection, no weeks of healing.

SCORE!

Then last night, a mosquito bit the back of my arm. I noticed when it happened, and swatted it away. But I do not remember scratching at it. And today, I can't find that mosquito bite I know I received less than 24 hours ago!

This might sound like terrific news, but the allergic reaction I used to have to those pesky blood suckers, has given way to a rather severe case of hay fever, that I am now on three medications to combat. Well, at least no one can SEE my post-nasal drip. And I'm pretty sure the $50 monthly we pay AFTER insurance, is not too much more than what I used to spend on insect repellents.

So it's a bit of good news/bad news I'm playing here. It's certainly quite a strange situation for me. I might unabashedly wear shorts this summer, a bit of a foreign concept!

I hear tell that every cell in one's body regenerates over a seven year period, and that because of this, allergies can change -- not that they always do, but they CAN -- every seven years. And I was in fact allergic to shellfish, for what seems to be just about seven years, back in my 20's.

But I turned 44 this year, and that is not an integer multiple of seven. So what gives? Yes, it's a mystery wrapped in an enigma, and I can say with all certainty that something strange is going on here in Sterling, By God, Virginia.

What Choice Do I Have?

2011-05-15T10:52:00.000-07:00

OK, so, I'm out of work. I'm also middle-aged now, and my daughter who was just a tiny baby YESTERDAY is about to turn 21. I have thyroid disease, and it seems darn near impossible to watch my weight. I also have chronic anemia, so that makes it difficult to exercise. My Dad was just diagnosed with diabetes, and I worry for him. I have had three friends who died this year, and have needed a surgery myself. And to top it off, we want our kids to visit this year from Sweden, and so I'm always worried about money. And I'm completely and totally HAPPY.

Well, those statements might not seem to go together. You would think with all this going on, I might be a bit UNhappy. I might even be depressed. With so many bad things, what choice do I have but to be a bit disheartened?

I DO have the choice. I can choose to dwell on all the negatives. Surely I will miss my friends, will continue to worry about money, health, and my family. But those things, they never stop, do they? Life continually throws us these bad times. Who amongst us has all the money they could ever want, plus perfect health for themselves and all their family and friends? If this IS you, can I be adopted???

The thing is, we do have a choice to be overwhelmed or not. We can choose to let the bad times get us down, or choose not to. I can dwell on all that is lost, or choose to be happy for what I do have.

My friends who are lost to me, now suffer no more. And because they were terrific people, I realize that they would be saddened to know I was overcome by their untimely loss. It's bad enough they are gone, and will spend time with us here on Earth no more. But who would want their family and friends to become depressed and hopeless? We all hope, when we pass, that our loved ones will celebrate our life and be happy for having known us, not be sad.

Sure, my health needs constant attention, and I did not want my father to have to deal with health issues in the same way. BUT I do not have a terminal disease. I can get up and get out of bed and do the things I love, see my children and friends and even get to the gym now and again. What if I had been born to a poor family in a destitute country? I would not have survived 'til now to write this blog. That is a great bit of good fortune, right there!

And money, it's just money. We will make more, and we will spend more, and we will want more. But if you are going to worry about THAT all the time, you are going to miss out on life. I know people who are afraid to lose their jobs or homes, and I don't want to make light of that situation. Of course it's incredibly stressful and frustrating. I've been through both before. But the thing is, when I was totally stressed about losing my job and house in the same year, I came to understand that having THAT job, and THAT house, wasn't why the people I cared about loved me. I was being a bit prideful, and a bit scared of change.

Will your children still love and respect you if you have to work at Wal-Mart and move everyone into a tiny apartment? If they have to share a bedroom and wear hand-me-down clothes? I think that if you are a good parent of good children, the answer there is overwhelmingly YES. And I think that although 99% of us would worry about this exact question -- 98% of us need not worry. Our family knows we want what is best. And our kids want our time, love, and attention even more than that new Xbox game.

When I look back on my childhood, I barely remember what I wore or even what toys we played with. What I DO remember is all the fun I had fishing with my dad or camping with my mom, or going on vacation to the beach, visiting with friends, reading together... I don't even really remember being particularly disturbed on any of the occasions we had to move. And I'm 100% certain I had a good dose of hand-me-downs! If you feel the same, I bet your kids will feel the same as well.

So when bad things happen, what choice do you have but to be unhappy? You have the choice to throw pride out the window and count your blessings. You have the choice to embrace change and try to see what good might come from it. You have the choice also to lean on and take comfort from the people who care about you... They wouldn't want it any other way!

As a moral to the story... After I lost both my job and then my house, I moved in with my mother and went back to school. It gave me another adult in the house to help me look after my then teenage daughter, it allowed both me and my daughter to bond more with my mom, it saved me ooodles of money, and allowed me to start on a career change that was incredibly rewarding. Was it a "loser" thing to do? If you think so, well, I don't need your opinion! A lot of good came from this time, and I will not let you deny me that happiness :-)~

As trite as it sounds, if life hands you lemons, MAKE SOME LEMONADE! They're only gonna stay sour as long as YOU let them!

Der Tzitung, Der Totally Ridiculous!

2011-05-09T11:49:00.000-07:00

OK, so, it's time to get controversial here.

I have long had issue with the idea that women of certain faiths must cover their hair... The idea basically being that it is too lovely and too much of a temptation to show publicly. Apparently, women's tresses flowing in the sunshine might incite even the most devout of men to be overcome by unholy thoughts and actions...

REALLY? OK, so, how are these devout men coping with the fact that the MEN in their communities are walking about with their hair showing? Hair is hair, after all -- and I have met many a man with much more fetching hair than I have. Far be it from me to suggest that the males of these cultures are regularly being overcome by spasms of homosexual (and thus extremely unholy) lust on a daily basis. On the contrary, my point is, THEY ARE NOT.

Why is that not happening, you might wonder? Well, how about this: people, men and women both, are in control of their thoughts and actions. If we DECIDE that we will not be overcome by hair lust for members of the same sex, then we are not. In religious terms, you can call this Free Will. God gave it to us ALL. It's how we manage to live our lives without daily succumbing to every little impulse.

Logically speaking, if we can exercise our Free Will to keep from defiling ourselves every five minutes in ONE area of our lives, we can DECIDE to do the same in others. For those hard of understanding, I'm suggesting that the idea that women must cover their hair so as not to incite public orgy, is in fact utterly ridiculous. The solution to the hair coverage problem would be for the men in these societies to, well, MAN UP. Control yourselves, for God's sake! You have the power. You exercise self-control every single day.

So now, the Hasidic newspaper Der Tzitung has decided that they can't show photos of women, specifically our Secretary of State and our #1 in Counter-Terrorism here in the good 'ole U S of A, in their newspapers. It's too provocative, too suggestive! Imagine that!!! The Hasidic community apparently finds Hillary Clinton so overwhelmingly sexy that to publish her photo could possibly topple their entire existence! God forbid (or does He?) they publish a photo of Sarah Palin or Michelle Bachmann...

What is even more astonishing is that there is a rule in Hasidic Judaism against deceit. This rule should well cover the idea of Photoshopping out key players in a scenario of major international import. It is concerning to think that of the two evils, deceit is more palatable to this "news" institution than is admitting that they are turned on by women in positions of power.

Sounding sort of kinky to you?

It gets better, though. This so-called news organization is not in some remote part of the World. They are in Brooklyn! As in, New York City! I hope they never run into the Naked Cowboy.

So I have to wonder now, if this paper cuts all women out of photos. One would think that it's nearly impossible to accurately (and without deciet!) report the news without at least mentioning women. But you just can't document their participation in any level of our society by printing a PHOTOGRAPH of them?

Shame, shame, shame on you, Der Tzitung! It would seem that the Hasidic community of Brooklyn would be better served by being ignorant of all news. And if you buy that, I have some lovely oceanfront property in Arizona up for sale...

War with Wegmans!

2011-05-03T10:26:00.000-07:00

Well, my dad is a newly diagnosed diabetic, and is doing his best to avoid taking insulin. He of course is having to learn all sorts of new food "rules" and is trying to increase his exercise, to keep his blood sugar levels steady.

As anyone could imagine, this is quite a lot of effort. For instance, red potatoes are a little more waxy than white ones, and so their carbs break down more slowly. This makes them a pretty good choice for a diabetic, vis-a-vis regular potatoes, BUT you still have to be really careful about your portion size, and what you eat WITH those potatoes!

And pasta and bread pretty much always need to be whole-grain, again so that the carbohydrates don't break down too quickly and give you a massive rush of blood sugar.

In addition, things like tomato sauce and ketchup are just packed with added sugars, so it's important to make sure that you buy ones that have no added sugar, or use a sugar substitute.

Now THAT raises a whole other question -- what sugar substitutes are SAFE? Well, it is generally agreed that Aspartame (NutraSweet and the like) is not a great choice. Saccharine is OK, but it breaks down under heat. The American Diabetes Association, as well as many other sites, think that Sucralose (Splenda et al) is a really good choice, for health and also because it can be used in cooking and baking. I am partial to Stevia, as it seems the most natural alternative out there, and can also survive the heat.

Then there is fruit... Oh, fruit! How I love thee! And that is where Wegmans comes in to the picture....

On the Wegmans website, they have a section for diabetics. It gives you advice about what foods are GREAT choices, which are GOOD choices, and doesn't even have a third category for the so-so things... Hmmmm, if I were them, I think I'd be a little worried about a liability issue.

Well, anyway, Wegmans is in the business of selling food, regardless of who you are and what your particular needs are. And I would guess that the biggest spoilage loss for any grocer, is fresh fruits and vegetables. They can get bruised in shipment, damaged in the store by careless shoppers, and if not sold quickly enough, will go bad. So is it any wonder that the Wegmans website says, and I quote:

"All fresh fruits and vegetables are a great choice."

They do go on a little lower down, to say that you have to be careful with certain veggies like "potatoes and corn".... But that is it for their advice. ALL fresh fruits and vegetables are a GREAT choice.

Now, this concerned me. If one was newly diabetic, like my father, this really makes it sound like you can eat any and all fresh fruits and vegetables without a care in the World. Am I mistaken here??? But the reality is, many fresh fruits especially, are just so-so choices for a diabetic. And if you ate several fresh fruits and vegetables at the same sitting, it could actually lead to a dangerous blood sugar level!

Different sources tell you different things, but generally a glycemic index of under 50 is considered low, from 50 to 70 is considered medium, and over 70 is considered high. Glycemic index is not in any way a new or radical way to keep track of the food you eat, and most diabetics are very familiar with these measures of how much and how quickly your blood sugar is raised when eating certain foods.

A banana has a glycemic index of about 54. This varies with the size of the fruit of course, but also with how ripe it is... the actual glycemic index can vary +/- 5 points or so. The glycemic index of raisins or pineapple (with no added sugars), around 65. But the glycemic index of a serving of watermelon is high, at about 72. Blueberries, grapes, mangos and pears are all relatively high in their glycemic index as well.

So, I ask you... What if someone eats a fruit salad that includes watermelon, blueberries, pineapple, and grapes? What if they are out somewhere -- a restaurant or a picnic -- and aren't really paying attention to their portion size?

Well, I can tell you that for a diabetic NOT taking insulin, this could well result in a dangerous blood sugar spike. Personally, I would be in favor of calling any fruit with a LOW glycemic index (apples, strawberries, cherries, grapefruit) a GREAT choice, calling those with a medium index plain old "good", and calling those with a high GI just so-so.

So I decided of course to pop and email off to Wegmans to ask about this, and tell them that I really DO NOT think ALL fresh fruits and veggies are GREAT choices. Here is the response I received:

Hi, Susan,

We received your e-mail. We are sorry that you disagree with the information we provide on our Diabetes section ofwegmans.com. The information on these pages is maintained by our Corporate Nutrition team, all of whom are registered dietitians. Our message “All fresh fruits and vegetables are a great choice. Watch portions on fruits and starchy vegetables like potatoes and corn” is consistent with guidelines provided by the American Diabetes Association which states:

Eat lots of vegetables and fruits<http://www.diabetes.org/food-and-fitness/food/what-can-i-eat/fruits.html>. Try picking from the rainbow of colors available to maximize variety. Eat non-starchy vegetables<http://www.diabetes.org/food-and-fitness/food/what-can-i-eat/non-starchy-vegetables.html> such as spinach, carrots, broccoli or green beans with meals.

To see the full list logon to
http://www.diabetes.org/food-and-fitness/food/what-can-i-eat/making-healthy-food-choices.html

Research continues to show the benefits of eating fruits and vegetables in managing and preventing diabetes. Like all foods on a diabetic diet, it is important to factor the portion size, total number of carbohydrates, overall meal composition and timing of meals. But all fresh fruits and vegetables can be part of the a healthy, balanced diabetic diet.

We appreciate your comments and hope this information will be helpful to you. Please let us know if we may be of further assistance.

Sincerely,

Kim
Wegmans Consumer Services Specialist

OK, Kim, thank you soooo much for that canned response, and for taking great liberties with the one tiny statement culled from the vast ADA website... As if I did not do my homework before writing you! Your registered dietitians are clearly not up to speed here, and thanks for skirting the fruit issue, my main concern here, by not even mentioning watermelon or bananas along with your potatoes and corn.

So, this means war! I am now boycotting Wegmans until they mitigate this offensive and potentially dangerous material from their site, and I encourage you to do the same.

If you want to weigh in with THEM, you can send an email to comments@wegmans.com and if you want to see the offending material, the link is:

http://www.wegmans.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10052&partNumber=UNIVERSAL_3068

Be sure to scroll down, the "Produce" information is almost at the bottom, just above the (also misleading) information about "Bakery" items! And be sure to share the blog post AND comment on here! THANKS!

Need Video!

2011-04-20T17:07:00.000-07:00

I really, really, REALLY need to make you all a video blog entry soon... This one will be a bit more than the pomegranate one, I promise. The title will be something like "Inside the Home of the Mad Scientist(s)".

Yeah, you guessed it, I'd take you all on a video tour of our home, which is also the workplace for both my husband and I. Obviously introducing you all to the dog and cat would be a highlight... But for now, you will have to imagine our townhouse that, if I could, I basically would never leave.

We have everything here, and yes the Swede and I both work from home. Of course you all know I blog and write, but he and I both are "tinkerers" and are right now, involved in simultaneous prototypes of (pending) inventions. So, it's a wacky time around here.

I'd also have to show off the TWO big screens (that was an accident, about which I'm certain I'll write at a later time) just in case the hubberz and I want to watch different football games on Sundays. And my daughter would never forgive me if I didn't take you through the kitchen and expose to you all my little OCD points related to it.

But basically, I would have to show you what is on all the shelves and counters of the Mad Inventors' home, and through the (currently devastated) garage where all "heavy" work is done, and even a tour of our mail, which I'm pretty certain is VERY different from yours. It's a really bizarre and eclectic mix, our house.

Sadly, while I'm otherwise occupied with a very social week for my family, and in the middle of repainting bathrooms and bedrooms, working on writing two books, finishing my grad school application up, AND occasionally blogging -- I think this video might take a while. At least for now, I can show you a small selection of the mail from the past week, along with what usually lives on our kitchen island.

I like to think of this as the "junk island"...

A Beautiful Day

2011-04-14T10:53:00.001-07:00

Well, kids, it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood! Spring is sproinging all around us, the flowers are blooming, the air is warm, the sun is shining -- and as usual, we have already been to the beach!

Now, for those of you about to hate on us for our good beach fortune, remember that this also means both I and my Swede husband have got a lovely case of sunburn. Despite the dark hair, we both turn into lobsters when exposed to sunlight (have you read my post on random genes?)...

So, just for fun, I'm going to tell you a little about our trip to Savannah.

First off, I'm blessed with a family that keeps buying properties on the water. My mom has this cool place on Wilmington Island, which is just a few minutes to either Old Town Savannah or the beach at Tybee Island. As an added bonus, it has lovely views of the Bull River, the salt marshes, and the neighbors are really wonderful and friendly!

As an aside... My dad just went to FLA on vacation and bought a house in Palm Beach while he was there! Can't WAIT to visit that! And my step-mom has a place on Chesapeake Beach... Literally the shortest drive between us and surf/sand! It doesn't suck to be me....

Anyway, every time I tell someone I'm going to Savannah, they say "Oh! You HAVE to go to Paula Deen's restaurant, it's called Lady and Sons!". And every time, I giggle to myself. In almost as many trips to Savannah as I have fingers, I still have not gone to Lady and Sons, and I can give you many reasons...

#1 -- I cook circles around Paula Deen! There's not much challenge in making great Southern cooking, if you have access to copious amounts of butter-n-oil. It doesn't hurt if you have some good recipes as well -- but you, gentle reader, have ME to pass these along to you (see the end of this post).

#2 -- The line at Lady and Sons is generally around the block. People line up two and three hours in advance to be seated for a lovely, if overpriced, helping of good 'ole soul food (done white-person style), and then you don't even get to choose what you will eat.

#3 -- There is a place out by the mall in Savannah, it's a little low on ambiance BUT the food is AMAZING, and it's darn near impossible to rack up a tab of more than $50 for two people. The place is called Sweet Potato's, and it's where I learned to cook collard greens (see the end of this post).

Why wait in line and pay through the nose to get what Paula felt like cooking today, when you can waltz right in to SP's and order what you really want, pay next to nothing, and have the best meal you will have all year?

My other tips for Savannah trips are these:

Go in April, May, or September. It gets REALLY HOT in Savannah! I can't bear the weather there in June, July, or August. You will wilt! You could literally fry an egg on the hood of your car during summer there.

Bring lots of OFF bug spray. The local "noseeums" will eat you alive. If you can't get your hands on this bug spray, take my husband with you! The bugs there simply adore him, and will leave you mostly alone if he's within 50 yards.

Take the Ghost tour. It's pretty cool.

When you go downtown, the old Market area is great. They have a terrific cigar shop, and a place that sells top-notch knock-offs of designer perfumes for pennies on the dollar. And if you are there after 4pm, the pizza at Vinnie Van Go-Go's is worth a taste! But skip the ear jokes, they've heard them all...

Don't forget to walk up to Broughton, there is plenty of great shopping there as well. My fave is Loose Lucy's. You will dig browsing even if you've outgrown tie dyes, band tee shirts, and incense. I find it fascinating that the staff there, mostly young enough to be my children, really seem to dig the old lady who comes in with purple hair, piercings and tattoos.

There is a 24-hour Parker's near downtown (I forget the exact location!), it's on Drayton St, and you can get fresh flowers, gourmet coffees, cheeses, and gifts, beautiful jewelry, cards and wrap at all hours. Just in case you, say, forgot my birthday???

And while on Tybee, it's a bunch of fun to go to The Breakfast Club. Try to go early, though... Not only is parking on Tybee tight, but TBC tends to fill up a little like Paula Deen's. It's famous, after all! And they make their own sausages. Hmmmm.

Another bit of fun is to visit Tybee JetSki and rent yourself some kayaks. They are inexpensive, and the only place that will rent you for a half-day (6 whopping hours for $28). If you want a guide or tour, you better make a reservation. BUT, this friendly place will let you out of their sight with a kayak even if you are relatively inexperienced.

In case you are wondering -- canoeing experience DOES count! If you can paddle a canoe and not tip, a kayak is going to be a piece of cake!

Also on Tybee -- WEAR YOUR SUNSCREEN! It's a fun beach. It can be packed, but you will really get a taste of the South there. Just about everyone within two beach blankets will strike up a conversation with you. So, you don't want to get a burn, and miss a day!

Seriously, folks, go visit Savannah. It's fun, it's inexpensive, it's full of activities for the entire family.

Lemon Collards: Take a large package of frozen collards and put them in a microwave-ssafe pot. Cover them with water, then add one more cup of water, a cup of lemon juice, and a few slivers of lemon rind. Cover the pot, and microwave for 25 minutes (collards are tough, you have to cook the beejeebers out of them!). Remover the collards, drain well, then add a tablespoon of butter and two of lemon juice. Stir them up and taste -- if you have a really tough batch, you can put them back in the microwave for another 10 minutes! The lemon really brings out a nice flavor. You will enjoy these even if you don't generally like collards!

Verrrry Interrrresting...

2011-04-12T12:23:00.000-07:00

Yes, I'm a bit of a politico at heart. You might have guessed that already from my previous posts. I suppose that is why I also studied Political Science in college, but that is neither here, nor there...

I tend to watch certain news shows, and follow some on their blogs as well. I particularly like to see how the "regular people", like you and me, weigh in on the issues. And where it comes to taxes, budget cuts, and matters of money, I remain truly perplexed by some notions I see.

Now, most people seem to fault both parties for the near-Shut-Down we almost had, and I think that makes sense. But then I see people stating things like "if the current tax cuts were allowed to expire, then 98% of America would be in an uproar..." and I think, REALLY?

The "current tax cuts" aren't enough to pay a basic cable subscription in our household. It probably amounts to the grand total we spend monthly on condiments. It's not that I don't WANT that extra $28 a month, but it sure isn't making a huge difference to me.

Now, there WAS talk earlier in the year about taxing people MORE, if they earned more than $250,000 per year. And LOTS of folks seem to think this is a BAD IDEA. I mean, I can see where if you got a raise from $230,000 a year to $260,000 a year, and found that your take-home pay was actually LESS, then yeah, you should be upset. And I do agree to a certain extent that we don't want to discourage the American Dream, that no matter who you are, if you work hard and are smart, you too can get ahead.

But really, folks? Over $250,000 a year is about four times the average salary in the US. And if that still isn't palatable, how about we tax the folks more, who make $1,000,000 a year or more? Up their taxes by 2%, and they'll have to get the Maserati detailed every two months or so instead of every month...

The thing that I believe escapes people is simply this: We can't all be millionaires. I mean, if we WERE, then the cost of living will have gone up so much that millionaires would be middle-class. That's how money WORKS -- there is unlimited demand, but NOT unlimited supply.

What if the government just printed off $457 trillion to pay off all our national debt? How would THAT work out? By the same principal, there has to be an elite class of people at the top, because that's the way it always HAS worked out... And then a striving middle-class that supports almost all of the economy, thereby making the rich richer... And a lower class, that will elicit our most charitable responses, and provide those rare success stories we all thrive on.

So if there is a limited amount of money, and we all really want to fund Social Security for the middle-class and free health care for the lower-class, where do you think this money is going to come from? Well, if there is a true free-market economy, we would let everyone fend for themselves.

With a completely free market, the poor would starve, including their innocent children, and they would likely die much earlier than the rest of the population because of a lack of health care. And also, in a totally free market, there would be no public education system, ensuring that anyone born into poverty would stay there forever, as would any of their offspring that managed to survive.

The middle-class in this scenario would, 98% of the time, sink slowly out of the middle-class and into the lower-class, so that one day this too would be their fate. The other 2% would be needed to take the "leadership" roles vacated by members of an "elite" class that didn't quite produce enough "heirs" to fill all the spot necessary to "lead".

And our elite class would, of course, buy up all the education and means of production they could, ensuring that over time, they and their families would be the only ones who had a chance at being in this "elite" class. Why, you say? Isn't that awfully cynical, you ask... Well, let me put it to you this way: Would you voluntarily pay 5%, 10%, or 25% more for you groceries? For your taxes? Out of the goodness of your heart? Even if your salary was doubled???

Or would you pay off the car, take that dream vacation, refinish the kitchen and bathrooms, and put money away for your children?

Well, so would the rich.

UNLESS we have no choice. Unless we are taxed into it, we won't give up our gains willingly.

SO, the only option left to support Social Security, Medicaid, Food Stamps, public educations and the like, would be to do so through taxes. This is the only way to be sure that skill, ambition, and hard work still have the opportunity to be rewarded... You can call it Socialism if you like, BUT if you believe you deserve as much as a chance as everyone else -- it's about the only way to level the playing field.

And who better to pay for these things most all of us want, than those who are IN ABSOLUTELY NO FEAR OF GOING HUNGRY? Those who make ten or twenty TIMES as much as the average family? The money has to come from somewhere... Why NOT levy more taxes on someone who should be "set" for life, to give a chance to five or ten or twenty other people?

And let's be honest... NONE of us is going to give up even 2% if we aren't mandated to... If you think differently, start tipping your cashier at the grocery store, the gas station, the teller at the bank, everyone with whom you exchange any money -- give them back 2% for the next WEEK, an then let me know how that felt, if you are going to keep it up. :)

Hellooooooo, UKRAINE!

2011-04-08T12:18:00.001-07:00

Thanks for stopping in -- hope you enjoyed the blog, and will come back again!