I love food!

I'm slipping! I'm trying to update this blog at least once a week and it's hard. Everything has been crazy busy lately and a little stressful, but that's okay, I thrive on stress. Writing helps me deal with it and I will try to do it more often. My DH and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary on Tuesday. We had planned on going to dinner, but instead we both spent the evening in bed, which sounds romantic until you factor in the throwing up, stomach cramps, and tears (me, not DH). Noah had recovered from his sickness the day before so he took care of us. :)

Anyhoo, bad segway, but I finally came up with my list of food that changed my perspective on food in some way or another. I will do a blog post for each of them in greater detail, otherwise this crazy post will be 20 pages long. This way I can also dig up some photos and create more of a journal! Probably boring for the person reading, but great for me! Thus, my top ten culinary epiphanies in no particular order:

1. First sushi – Wichita, KS Ebi tempura and California rolls.

2. First Japanese food – Topeka, KS Kobe’s Japanese Steakhouse

3. Spinach and artichoke ravioli with garlic shrimp from Paisano’s. Lawrence, KS

4. Fresh crab salad- Khenitra, Morocco

5. Egyptian breakfast – Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt

6. Real Chicago style deep dish pizza - Chicago, Illinois

7. Ethiopian food- Windsor, Ontario

8. Butter chicken – Right here at India Palace in good old Lawrence.

9. Raspberry coulis – Tellers, Lawrence, KS

10. Grandma Genny’s fried chicken and the gravy with the fried crispies in it.– Rossville, KS

Mmm...Still-Beating Cobra Heart.

Back to food instead of politics!  I finally finished "A Cook's Tour." Loved it! Anthony Bourdain has a really great writing style and his description of his adventures are great!  He brings to light everything that I enjoy about travelling and eating.  I love food, no surprise there, but when I travel, even if it's within my own state, I make it a point to try local specialties.  I ask the locals what they recommend.  For example, when I was working in northwest Kansas last spring, I drove through Plainville.  After I stopped to get gas, I asked the attendant where I should get lunch.  He recommended the the local livestock salebarn and he was absolutely right.  Sure, the restaurant smelled like lots and lots of cows, but my cheeseburger was extremely fresh and the steak fries were perfectly cooked and salted. One of the best I've had.  That's what I appreciate about Bourdain in this book.  As he travels through Vietnam, Cambodia, Morocco, Great Britain, Japan, and Scotland, he makes it a point to eat with the locals and to eat things that most tourists will never even have the opportunity to try if they don't make an effort to interact with the local people.  I think that's the biggest point to take away is that food is something that connects us all.  We bond with people that we eat with.  We gain insight into their culture, tradition, and everyday lives.  If you don't have the opportunity to eat at someone's home and instead just eat Western style buffets or fast food, you're really missing out.  He describes it as going to Egypt and neglecting to see the Pyramids, and I couldn't agree more.  Next time, my top culinary epiphanies... 

Chuck Norris, Darth Vader, ninjas, and France's ban on the veil

When we were in Egypt, I bought a niqab and black chador.  I thought the niqab was about the coolest thing ever and I wore it a couple of times during sandstorms to keep sand out of my face.  Inevitably, Erik would say, "Oh my God, it's a ninja!" or start humming the Imperial March signifying that Darth Vader was emerging to walk to Falfela across the street. That was his very polite way of saying that he didn't like it.  Headscarf? No problem, he liked me better without hair.  Abaya? Just enough curves to add to the mystery.  One additional piece of fabric across my face and I became an epic villain.  Thus, I come to the French...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100115/ap_on_re_eu/eu_france_forbidding_the_veil

See, the French don't like villains like ninjas* or Darth Vader because they know at any given moment that if one of these guys shows up in France that the whole country is going to fall to the Empire or a ninja crime syndicate because they will surrender.  They always surrender. The US will show up and Chewbacca will become president of France because Americans love Chewbacca!  Worse yet, if ninjas show up instead, Chuck Norris may become president and everyone knows that the chief export of Chuck Norris is pain! Thus, niqabs and burqas make the French nervous.

The fact that France is willing to limit freedom of its citizens in the name of security and preservation is a contradiction in terms.  By banning clothing such as burqas, France has already began to lose the freedom that it so desperately wants to preserve. In a way, they're just doing the opposite of what the Taliban have done in Afghanistan, except forcing women to wear less clothing.  If the French want assimilation of Muslim immigrant populations, this ban virtually guarantees that it will never happen.


So, should women be forced to take off their niqabs or burqas?  Is this simply the cost of living in a non-Muslim country, or is it fair to expect freedom of religion in a country that considers itself free?



* I've had way too much caffeine today.  I can't believe I incorporated Chuck Norris, ninjas, Darth Vader, and Chewbacca into a post about France banning niqab.

Kitchen Confidential

So I’m still on a cooking kick (okay, I’m ALWAYS on a cooking kick, but more so than usual) that is not being helped by the lingering cold. I just finished reading Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential. He is a great writer and the book, while a little repetitive towards the middle, was a very enjoyable read. What I took away from it is that while I would probably make a pretty good chef from a working point of view, I should NEVER open a restaurant because I would open a restaurant for all the reasons that he claims result in utter failure. 1) I am “passionate” about cooking and food, not business (a restaurant owner needs to be passionate about business first and foremost). 2) I just think it would be a hoot to open a patisserie and name it La Belle Aurore, just like in Casablanca, one of my favorite movies. According to Bourdain, many have tried this same variation of theme and failed on an epic scale because a snappy gimmick does not a successful menu make. I am currently reading Bourdain’s A Cook’s Tour and it is even better than Kitchen Confidential. He really came into his own as a writer in this book, in my opinion. In a way, it’s a lot like Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love, if Gilbert had just stayed in Italy, got rid of her angst and instead got addicted to drugs, and didn’t whine all the damn time. I am really enjoying it. I’m not sure I could eat a soft-boiled duck embryo or stewed calf’s head, but if it were well prepared and looked to be relatively parasite free, I’d probably try it, just because he did. I’m sure I’ll be finished reading it in no time and I’ll have to update with a full review then. In the meantime, I’m trying to come up with a list of the culinary epiphanies of my life. Hopefully, I can share them both at the same time.

I also want to offer my prayers and thoughts into the world to Haiti and those affected by yesterday’s horrific earthquake. I just read that the capital, Port au Prince, is in utter ruin. For a country to have been through so much just to suffer this is devastating. God be with them and may they find comfort and recover as quickly as possible, insh’allah.

Ways to help:
International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent www.icrc.org
Wyclef Jean's Yele Haiti: www.yele.org or text yele to 501501 and $5 will be charged to your cell bill
American Red Cross: Text HAITI" to 90999 to donate $10, also charged to your cell bill

Boeuf Bourguignon- Le style Danielle, and hello from the Central Pole!

My friend and fellow Muslim Jessica just started a blog about her life in Saudi Arabia, which as I told her, reminds me that I need to update my blog more often. It is much easier to blog when you have a little community of people that are also blogging. Everyone sending their thoughts out into the world. Of course, my blog is decidedly less exotic. However, with all the snow and cold we've had, I can just pretend that I'm blogging from the Arctic Circle. Our temps. Thursday night were actually a little colder than Bakers Lake in Nunavut, Canada and Barrow Alaska, which are both on the Arctic Circle. Today temperatures were in the double digits and I'm not kidding, it felt balmy.

Since we've been stuck indoors, I've been trying to break my cabin fever by cleaning and organizing, reading, watching movies, and cooking. I tend to get a lot more "culinarily" adventurous in the winter because I like to cook fattening, rich recipes and those types of recipes lend themselves well to being adventurous. Even if they suck, they're probably slathered in butter, which makes everything worth eating. However, I made the mistake of watching "Julie and Julia." Judging by my inability to find a copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, or any cookbook put out by the Culinary Institute of America at the library (if I don't want to wait three months) or in the bookstores, a great many other people have also made the same mistake. Since then, I have been on a hunt to find adventurous recipes that are elegant in their simplicity, yet remarkable in taste. Of course, the preeminent recipe of the film was Boeuf Bourguignon (Beef Burgundy*). I haven't tried Julia Child's recipe for one reason; I like my version, no matter how unorthodox it is. It is very good and very simple. Here it is:

Boeuf Bourguignon
1 lb. cubed steak or stew meat
1 tb extra-virgin olive oil for browning
1 onion, chopped
1 can (8 oz) of cream of mushroom soup
1 small can of mushrooms, or 1 cup of sliced fresh
1/2 cup of burgundy*
2 tb unsalted butter
Salt and pepper, to taste

Dry the stew meat with a paper towel. As Julia says, if it's not dry, it won't brown properly. Heat oil in pan just until the oil looks like it wants to start smoking. Don't crowd the cubes of meat or they also won't brown properly. Remove beef from pan and let cool on paper towels. Using the same oil with the crispies, cook onions until translucent. Add the beef back into the pan, and then add the soup, mushrooms, burgundy, and butter. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Place in an oven-safe dish and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 45 minutes. Serve over wide egg noodles (my choice), or mashed potatoes, as is traditional for Boeuf Bourguignon. Bon appetit!

*I should point out that Beef Burgundy uses Burgundy wine, and because the recipe cooks out the alcohol, I use real burgundy (yes I know, another dark mark on my soul!) However, Burgundy is very dry so just use a very dry grape juice and I suspect there will be very little difference in taste.

After a long hiatus...

Wow, I guess Michelle Malkin did me in! That was my last post, well over a year ago. I'm going to work really hard to update this blog more frequently, if for no other reason than that it is very therapeutic to send my thoughts out into the world. I've been contemplating changing the name of the blog since mid-twenty is no longer accurate. However, I'm not sure anyone even reads this blog so I think I'll leave it just the way it is...

Rachael Ray + Dunkin Donuts = Islamic Terror and Hatred of America

I read an article yesterday about Dunkin Donuts pulling an ad with Rachael Ray where she is wearing what appears to be a shredded kaffiyeh. The ad was pulled due to an article by Fox's right-wing commentator Michelle Malkin in which she stated, "''The kaffiyeh, for the clueless, is the traditional scarf of Arab men that has come to symbolize murderous Palestinian jihad...'' Speaking of being clueless! I have to respond. Attention is always paid to poor, simple Muslim women who are forced to wear hijab and be beaten by their husbands. (Okay, I'm being facetious because this is clearly not the case.) However, when one visits North Africa and the Middle East, as I have, one of the first things that one notices is that both men and women cover their head (thus the derogatory "raghead" comments). Men often wear either a red or black kaffiyeh to symbolize whether or not they have been on Hajj. It is true that you can often see men wearing kaffiyehs who are militants, but wearing a kaffiyeh is not a sign of militancy. If anything, the ad should have been pulled on the basis that a shredded kaffiyeh is disrespectful to Arab culture because it looks like the shredding of tradition. Absurd, right? Well, so are Malkin's remarks. Hey, I have an idea! Maybe rather than worrying about a Dunkin Donuts commercial, maybe Malkin should concentrate on trying to figure out a good way to get our economy out of the toilet and to bring our troops home from Iraq. She should stick to the things she knows, rather than stereotyping an entire ethnicity based on a piece of clothing. Of course, being on Fox News, the only thing that she probably knows is ignorance so maybe she should bother to educate herself by travelling to the Middle East, or heaven forbid, read a book, rather than insulting us all with her idiocy. After all, the U.S. has bigger problems than donuts and scarves.

I caucused in a livestock area!

I caucused in a livestock arena! Well, I just got back from the democratic caucus and it was utter mayhem. I was running late anyway because Noah had a playdate right after I got back from work. I swung by the house and picked Erik up. It took 45 minutes from our house to get into the Livestock Arena at the fairgrounds (ordinarily it would take about 7-10 minutes). Parking was a disaster and it hadn't even started snowing yet. There were 2,218 people who showed up and the vast majority were for Obama. (I guess the other stations were insane too, and Abe and Jakes was shut down by the fire marshal and the remaining people had to be sent elsewhere. The doors were supposed to be locked and the polling was supposed to begin at 7:00. Finally, at about 8:15 they got started. It took about an hour and it took much longer to get there and in the building than it did for the caucus to take place. It was a pretty cool experience. For anyone who doesn't know how a caucus works because the one today is the first one that we've ever had in Kansas, here's how it goes:

You go in the door and find out where your candidates supporters are gathering. You find a group of people to join and gather a group of 25. Everyone who goes in hands in a ticket. The tickets are gathered and counted to get a total number of people. After that, representatives of the candidates, in our case, elected local officials, make short speeches as to why you should vote for their candidate. (By this point, it was getting very hot and people were getting restless.) Then, since it was apparent that Obama supporters were the vast majority, they only counted Kucinich, Clinton, Richardson, and Edwards (note that several of these candidates dropped out, but they still had supporters.) To be considered a viable candidate, a candidate must get 15% of the vote. Clinton got 352 while Obama got 1,144 so she barely got 15%. Then, the supporters of the non-viable candidates "realign" and pick one of the viable candidates and delegates are awarded based on those percentages. For our station, Obama got 9 delegates and Clinton got 2.

It looks like the state as a whole is going to go to Obama, possibly because of his ties to the state. I haven't looked at the national race since I got home, but it really wasn't even a contest tonight. It was hot and miserable and I'm glad I wasn't supporting one of the non-viable candidates because Erik, Noah, and I were ready to get out of there. Noah was very patient; I think more patient than Erik who tends to get bored and destructive. Noah flirted with a pretty girl who was part of our group and kept himself pretty well entertained. He's such a pimp! Anyhoo, the process was exhausting, but very rewarding. I think I'm going to go to bed early and sleep my caucus off.

State of the Union 7: Douchebag's Last Speech

Back by popular demand, my critique of Bush's State of the Union...

Alright, we are all getting a refund, but no tax increase. Is he pulling the money out of his ass? Quit clapping douchebags, he hasn’t improved anything in the last eight years, why would he start now. What is going on? Why the one-sided clapping and all of the veto threats? Does he think we are all stupid? Apparently so. There is clearly a concerted effort by Republicans to stand up and give an ovation every time he smirks. It is very annoying. I am so sick of the clapping. Wow,he just did this thing that looked just like Barty Crouch Jr. Very snakelike. NCLB, yes everyone’s worse off than before. I wouldn’t call it an improvement at all. Faith-based initiatives? Oh yes, just what we need, a Bush’s Christian style faithbi, what are they going to teach kid’s to send other kid’s off to war and then kill innocent people under the pretext of weapon’s of mass destruction. Americans don’t want to buy thing’s made in the U.S., why should we start? Colombia, purveyors’ does he mean perverts? False populism, like he just started off his speech with? Quit clapping!!! Find new jobs, except all of the jobs are overseas, kind of like tax cuts with no tax increases. Wow, people on both sides of the aisle don’t look like they’re doing very well. NUCLEAR, not nukuler. Clean technology, China isn’t a developing country, derr. Obama quit clapping or I’m not going to your caucus. Having a free ride hasn’t been a problem these last seven years. Hilary doesn’t look like she having a good night. Yes, half of our engineers are from India. Moral boundaries? This from this man. He worries about fetuses, but has no qualms about electrocuting mentally disabled people or bombing Iraqi children. Ethical medical research, all life, I guess he only cares about Americans. No cloning? I guess he better declare war on yeast and sponges. Activist judges, look at the supreme court? Charitable choice, yikes. Mary Landrieu, good for you, you didn’t stand up

8:33 Of course, we can’t afford Medicare and benefits, deficits, etc. We could fund these programs indefinitely using the money that we spend before breakfast in Iraq

Immigration- He just completely contradicted himself, enforcement yet allow immigrants in. Republicans aren’t clapping for his immigration policy either. Advancing liberty yet regressing it at home? I think Bush must be an Islamic extremist under the guise of being a Christian, that would certainly explain his tactics. Bush doesn’t

Bush just confirmed that he is a terrorist, evil men imposing their violent rule that’s him. The military guys in uniform aren’t hardly clapping, they only did when they noticed the cameras on them. Other military guy isn’t even clapping They do not look happy. That makes me want to cry. Afghani children aren’t going to school a report just said that school attendance is down in Afghanistan b/c of the resurgence of violence.

Iraq, apparently he doesn’t understand the concept of liberty. Whoa, the soldiers are not happy? What an insult to them, to lie right in front of them. No, troops have our gratitude, Bush has their blood on his hands. Iraqis are fighting the U.S.’s fight, and they don’t have a choice. They can fight or die, but if it weren’t for Bush and Cheney, they wouldn’t be doing either, even under Saddam. Actually, I OBL said that al-Qaeda was growing stronger, solemn pledge that they would have everything they need. Five years too late, wouldn’t you say? He plans to keep troops there as long as he is in office. Marines have come home and not been replaced? That doesn’t do Derek and our family much good, does it? Why is he laughing about a drawdown? He’s not giddy; I think he’s drunk. I guess it’s not his life that’s on the line. Government sharing with the provinces, aka oil companies. Mission has been difficult, but if we don’t succeed, how will we convert all Iraqis to Christianity? Perhaps he should concentrate on Darfur and Pakistan if he is worried about terrorist bases, not Iran. Pervez Musharraf, Benazir Bhutto anyone? Palestinians may have elected Abbas, but they also elected Hamas and that should be respected. Poor Michael Chertoff, he just keeps getting thinner and thinner. Soon he will just be a skeleton sitting in the gallery. E ron, no I ran. Oooh, Iran is so scary! They are just like Iraq, with all their weapons of mass destruction, oh, wait… Iraq didn’t have any. Iran did come clean about it’s nuclear program, you just didn’t like their answer

8:54 Lawful and effective measures to protect our country. You mean like illegal wiretaps? Spying on citizens? Yeah, real legal, effective, perhaps, but at what cost? The terrorists have won. Wow, half the gallery is sitting down. Compassion, conscience, not really hallmarks of his administration. He doesn’t help Darfur, yet he condemns the genocide there. Farming in the developing world? Food and supplies aren’t the problem. Distribution is, and do you think agricultural lobbies in the U.S. are going to allow competition. They can’t afford to, and the corporate farmers aren’t going to allow the competition. Funding for veterans, too little too late? When Iraqi war veterans stop coming to soup kitchens, then perhaps they will have done something. Don’t talk to me until then. Bush is still smirking. Support for military families, um yeah, shouldn’t they already be doing that? If you want to honor military families, end the war and bring our loved ones home. Bush doesn’t trust the people, he just hopes they are hysterical enough and have a flag tied around their eyes so that they can’t see him for what he is. Goddess help us.

It’s over! Douchebag’s last State of the Union. Unless he declares himself dictator.

Come on Kathleen Sebelius, don’t make us look like a bunch of yokels! Wow, go liberal media. They are being really critical of the speech. As Bob Schieffer said, “…not one for the history books.”

This is why I love Barack Obama!

Here is Barack Obama's speech from the Iowa caucus last night, and why, in my opinion, that he should be the next president.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZtBr39yNoXE

Conditions of manifestation (We're all like sunflowers...)

It's been kind of a tough week. Erik's grandmother Ann passed away rather unexpectedly last Saturday. However, it was a painless, relatively quick death and she was surrounded by all of her kids and a few grandkids. Erik was there for her last breath and got to say goodbye. As far as deaths go, hers was the way to go. She will be sorely missed by all of us. In the roughly 12 years that I've known her, she has made me feel like a member of the family. She was also so happy when we visited. I remember making her laugh so hard when I described some person's bagpipe playing on the Campanile during one of my calculus tests as sounding like a bird being torn apart. She just thought that was so funny! I will also miss her gifts at Christmas, not because they were gifts, but because they were so thoughtful. Every single one, whether bought or homemade (usually homemade though) were so personal and thought out. She loved music and eating out when she could, her geneaology work, and most of all, her family. Grandma Ann was a truly wonderful lady and it will be difficult to go on without her. However, she was 85 and led a truly blessed life. It makes me smile when I think about how happy she probably was when she saw her husband, the twin girls that she lost, and her parents (if you believe in that stuff, of course, which I do). We love you, Grandma Ann! Godspeed.

I found this really beautiful Buddhist description of life that really touched me this week. It brought me a lot of peace. Here it is...

"When you come to visit my monastery in France in January or February you do
not see the fields of sunflowers surrounding our village. When you come to visit
Plum Village in April or May you may notice many new fields but you may not
discern that they are full of sunflower plants. When you arrive in late August you
will see all of the sunflowers blooming even though we have many types of sunflowers there.
Looking closely you will see that they are not always the same even in the
same grouping of one type of sunflowers. Each sunflower is unique if you look
closely. The energy of the sun comes from 93 million miles away and arrives to warm the planet, germinate the seeds, and help to grow our sunflowers.
Some of them are taller than others, some have deeper roots, some are broader
or more lean, while other plants may have more flower blossoms and less stems
or leaves. They are each unique.
Sometimes on a corner or on a path through the field a sunflower will be
damaged by foot traffic, high winds, or machinery, or animals. Sometimes
one of them will have their roots exposed by erosion and dry out and die.
These are all the conditions of their manifestation.
The divine or dharma (our teachings) have brought these sunflowers to be manifested at this point in time & space (or into our awareness via the dharma teachings) - in our fields for us to observe and to live with as friends.
Sometimes a perfectly beautiful sunflower dies because of an intruder, accident,
or is bent, broken, or damaged in a storm. Sometimes something may happen at night or when we are not nearby and cannot ascertain what happened to them. They die and we say that the conditions of their manifestation were not correct for their continuation. We are all co-responsible for some of these conditions but for
other factors only the divine and the dharma of that individual sunflower knows
why the conditions did not support their continuation.
This was their path that the correct conditions for their continuation were not available."
-------------Thich Nhat Nanh

KU Football, WTF???

That's my new slogan for KU. They just beat OSU a few minutes ago. Erik and I stepped outside and you could literally hear people cheering all over town (I added a few celebratory whoops just for kicks, hopefully the neighbors won't beat me up). Fireworks and everything. This is their best start since 1899. To be perfectly honest, I've always been a K-State girl, but being KU alumni and living in L-town, I can't help but get a little exhilarated by this latest win. Maybe the world is coming to an end, I mean, KU Football being good? To top it off, K-State basketball being actually ranked. I think I've entered the twilight zone. I wish the potentate weren't asleep, otherwise we could go to Mass St. and party like it's 1999, or KU football in 2007. Oh well, back to my grad. school applications. After all, that's much more exciting, right?

I'm finally back in school!

This is my first entry in over a month. I've been too busy moping over my job promotion, or lack thereof. I had hoped to become a managing editor, but apparently that is not going to happen. Oh well, that's okay because I'm finally back in school! I am taking two graduate courses, "Indigenous Perspectives of Natural Resource Management," and an independent study, both with my undergraduate advisor and consequently favorite professor. I've had several classes with him, but this one is definitely the best so far. I don't know if it is because I have the time to absorb the information or because the material is extremely interesting, but I'm really enjoying it. So law school is on the back burner for the time being, but grad school is definitely a real possibility. I am so happy! Now, what to study?

All Hallows Ball

As I posted early Saturday morning, Erik, Noah, and I went to the All Hallows Ball at Borders Friday night so that I could pick up the 7th Harry Potter Book. It was a lot of fun, but it was very crowded. Erik didn't want to dress up, but Noah and I did. I wore a long, black abaya that looks like a robe from the movie and I dressed up Noah as Draco Malfoy. (I guess that would make me Draco's mom, Narcissa, but that wasn't my intention). I drew him a little Slytherin badge and made a silver and green scarf. I know I'm biased, but he was adorable! Why Draco, you may ask? Because Noah has blonde hair and looks a lot like Draco from the films. If he had red hair, he would have been Ron, black hair Harry, etc. I met up with Becca there and after I dropped Erik off at home, I went back at 1:30. Since my wristband color had already gone, I got to go to the front of the line. After discussing the various theories with Becca and finally getting Noah to go to sleep at 2:30 in the effin' morning, I finally got to go home and read. I finally went to bed around 4:15 and made it through 83 pages. Now I am to 320 pages and am having a really hard time avoiding spoilers from the various news outlets. If I find out the beginning accidentally, I will go on a murderous rampage. I've waited much too long to have it spoiled. Books like those in this series don't come along every day. In any case, we had a lot of fun!

It's finally here!

I have, in my hands at 3:00 am July 21, 2007, the seventh Harry Potter book. Although I have been waiting a long time, I know many people have been waiting much, much longer. Before I started reading, I thought I would post something so that I can better savor the moments before I begin this final book. This is the final book of what is probably the most enjoyable series of books that I have ever read and I have to admit that I'm a little sad that I didn't discover the books sooner, and that after this, they will be finished. We went to the All Hallows Ball at Borders tonight and it had such an incredible energy. I'll post on that tomorrow. Alright, here I go...

Review of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Note: If you haven't read the book and want to be surprised at the movie, don't read any further!!!

My husband and I went on a date Saturday night for the first time since February. We went to see "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix." We also thought that was pretty exciting because the last movie that we saw in a theatre was "Revenge of the Sith" when The Potentate was five months old and he nursed himself to sleep through the first hour of the film.

We went at 6:45 and the theatre wasn't nearly as packed as we thought it would be.
Order of the Phoenix was very well done. It was kept short, which is important. The books, especially this one, are very long and extremely detailed. So much of that is Harry's angst and thoughts, which obviously can't be expressed in film. Of course, the movie-only Potter fan will miss a lot. There is no way that all of the details can be captured in the movie so my theory is, why try? Just read the books! Although I really enjoyed the last four films, they went on so long that I was hoping someone would die and it would be over. This version didn't have that problem and so it is possible to keep your attention span the entire time. The story was altered considerably more than in the other films due to the brevity of the film. Always my favorite, Alan Rickman as Professor Snape was fabulous. There definitely wasn't enough of Professor McGonagall. I am learning to tolerate the new Dumbledore. This movie was definitely a better fit for him as he grows more distant and eccentric. I don't think Dolores Umbridge was evil enough, but perhaps that was for the best. The best new and anticipated character, Bellatrix LeStrange, played by Helena Bonham Carter didn't disappoint. She was just as creepy and demented as I had hoped she would be. Ralph Fiennes as Voldemort was very good, but give him a nose already. He is the most powerful dark wizard ever, he grew an arm back for Wormtail; he can't give himself a nose? C'mon. I think the future filmmakers are going to have a difficult time explaining the storyline with Dudley, Uncle Vernon, and Aunt Petunia since it was skimped over in such great detail. There is a very strong foreshadowing in the 5th book that Aunt Petunia is a squib or a closet witch, and J.K. Rowling herself has said that there is more to Aunt Petunia than meets the eye. We'll see. The death of Sirius Black was unemotional and distant, almost exactly like the book. I was sad in the book and the movie when Cedric died. Once again, not when Sirius Black died, which leads me to believe that he will be the character that gets a reprieve in the 7th book. He was killed with a red stunning curse, not a green death curse. We'll see. Harry won't be left without any family, mark my words. Ron and Hermione rocked as always. Evanna Lynch's performance as Luna Lovegood was pure genius. The whole theatre roared with laughter when, before the infamous kiss, Harry exclaimed that the mistletoe must be filled with nargiles. It was the perfect icebreaker before a first kiss that everyone dreams about. All and all, despite the fact that the 5th book is commonly people's least favorite, the film was very entertaining and fulfilling. It is definitely worth seeing!

It's 3:00 am and I'm blogging?

I have been up trying to finish my fact sheets for Youth for Technology. They are a group that I do online volunteer work for and they are amazing. However, this week has been so busy that I haven't completed them yet. Time is of the essence because Njideka, the amazing woman who runs YTF, is leaving for Nigeria and Uganda on a working trip for several weeks on Monday and needs the fact sheets in hand. Of course, they need to be edited and then made to look "pretty."
I had planned to finish both earlier this evening but my mom made a surprise visit after work and my dear friend Allison, who recently moved to Indiana for graduate school, was in town and so I met with her and some other of my hijabi friends for dinner. Now I'm finished with the one fact sheet, and I'm gonna have to finish the other one tomorrow because it is 3:00 am and I am exhausted. The Potentate and Male are fast asleep and the only thing keeping me company is a Family Guy Marathon on Cartoon Network. I like Family Guy, but how much can a person watch?
It's really getting to my head (giggity). Alright, to bed I go...

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July to all! Once again, I haven't posted anything forever because, for one, there simply isn't anything interesting going on, and two, I have been going to Dog Days (community fitness program) every night. In June, it was only twice a week, but now that it is July it is Monday through Thursday. I've also been doing online volunteer work for a group called Youth for Technology, and of course, tending to my young potentate. There just isn't enough time in the day, ever.

My 4th was good. We went to visit the Brunin side of the family. It wasn't at the usual place, but it was a nice change. As luck would have it, we missed the tornado warning for our area. We haven't had a single severe storm this year, not one, we go out of town for one day and all hell breaks loose. I like storms so missing the only severe storm here this year is a bummer. What can I say, a love of storms runs in the family!

Of course, it wouldn't be the 4th of July if I didn't do a little Bush bashing in honor of Independence Day. Since he is about one step away from declaring himself supreme dictator, wait, let me rephrase, since Cheney is about to declare himself dictator, I figure I might as well say what I can say, while I can say it. Of course, considering that Cheney can't even figure out which branch of the government that he belongs in, maybe we needn't worry about him taking over.

As we watched the fireworks last night, with the patriotic music playing in the background, I sat by myself and reflected on what the 4th of July really means. Independence? Freedom? Fighting unjust wars that we have no hope of winning in the name of national security and the war on terrorism? Having a Marine brother fighting a war in Iraq that I have rabidly opposed since before it even began adds an entirely new perspective. I was fine until they played the Marine Hymn. I sat by myself and wept. How can a country that used to be so proud and noble have slipped to such a level? Most Americans are awakening from the patriotic fog that has surrounded them for the past several years and realizing that every time a young American dies in Iraq and Afghanistan, we as a country die a little as well. These young men and women are our future and everyone time one of them dies, it is like the future of this country dies. These are strong, noble people who believe in fighting for their country regardless of whether the mission is right or not. Military families grow a little more jaded and perhaps don't believe in democracy as much as they once did. Everyone surrounding the family questions what the young soldiers are injured, dying, or separated from their families for, and quietly lower their head in sorrow. They begin to realize that perhaps the United States isn't as just and free as it once seemed to be and little by little, their faith in this country fades away. Everyone simply accepts their fate and settles into an apathetic existence because, really, what can you do? The truth is, absolutely nothing. Sorry for the rant. I guess I just miss my brother. Happy 4th.

Too quiet for too long

It has been a beautiful and relaxing weekend, well except for a fender bender that we got in last night. There was some event at the Lied Center that was getting out when we were driving down Iowa St. last night. We driving south and came to a stop at the Armory. We had been sitting there for quite some time when we got rear-ended, which of course pushed us into the car in front of us. It was a relatively minor impact, and the people in front of us didn't even bother to check for damage. They squealed away. We're assuming they were drunk. As it turns out, the lady that hit us was drunk and got arrested. We're all okay, but our bumper is really scratched up. The good news is that there is no damage to the front of the car. No matter, if she had insurance, she can pay for it. If not, it's staying that way. On Friday night, my mom came down to visit and we went to Wa, which is a Japanese restaurant. They are arguably the best Japanese restaurant in Kansas, and the greater Kansas City area. Their Ebi tempura rolls, wasabi fish egg rolls, and Nabeyaki udon are to die for. Best of all, the prices are reasonable and the atmosphere is lovely. It's hard to beat that.

Despite that, it was a good weekend, which worries me. Things have been peaceful and quiet for far too long. When I got to thinking about it, nothing really bad has happened for a long time and I figure we are due. Whenever things go well for too long in my immediate family it seems like something horrible happens. With a young child, a brother who is a storm chaser and one who is in Iraq, something is bound to go wrong. It makes me really nervous. Oh well, maybe I'm just imagining it. It's like my therapist says, if you wait long enough, something bad will happen, and if you wait long enough, something good will happen. There's no religious or cosmic basis to it, it is just the course of life.

Junk Food Enabling

Grrrr... I am in such a mood. I just got back from Walmart, which is probably part of the problem. We needed to get groceries for the week and at this point, Walmart is the cheapest grocery store in town (except for communist Aldy's which doesn't have a very good selection). Well, at least until Walmart eliminates all of the competition, and then jacks up its prices. Every trip to Walmart is like a lesson in health and nutrition. I see more morbidly obese people riding around on motorized scooters than any other grocery store that I have ever been to. Inevitably, I see these people in the junk aisles, not the fruit and vegetable aisles, and stereotypically they are filling up the baskets on their motorized carts with things like Cocoa puffs, Doritos, Pepsi, snack foods of all varieties, and tons of processed foods. Also, let me clarify, when I say morbidly obese, I don't mean, "I'm middle aged, have three kids and/or a busy career and life, and I don't have time to properly take care of myself." I am just as guilty of letting myself go and gaining weight since I've had Noah. In this society, I think it would be more surprising if people didn't gain weight. I'm talking about obesity to the point that stomach-stapling surgery would be less risky than to stay that obese (and approximately 1 in 10 people die from complications of gastric bypass surgery). There are more and more of these people and they are becoming younger. It used to be old ladies in mumus. Now, I have seen children as young as two or three with beer bellies. Of course, their parents are seriously overweight too.

As we shopped, I observed several things. When we are in the fruit and vegetable aisle, there are probably 5 "foreign-looking" people to 1 "American-looking" person. It is almost as if Americans avoid the fruit and vegetable aisles like the plague. The cookie and pop aisles rarely had any foreign-looking people in them, yet they are congested with people who appear to be Americans. Is this a coincidence? Even if the foreign-looking people were born in America, what is it about their cultural background that causes such a difference in grocery shopping preferences?

My next observation was that junk food in all forms is significantly cheaper than healthful food. As far as I know, this is common knowledge. However, why is this usually the case? If it is organic, I understand the logistics as to why it is expensive. Yet, take for example, all-natural non-organic peanut butter. All they do is grind it into peanut butter and place it in a jar. No preservatives or chemicals, just peanuts. Shouldn't the chemicals add costs to production? Apparently not, because regular peanut butter costs $1.99 whereas the "natural" peanut butter with less work and no additives was almost $5.00 per jar. What's up with that? It doesn't make any sense. What is the motivation for buying non-processed or less processed food if you can buy a more familiar, chemically-enhanced brand for $3.00 less. If you are on a tight budget, there is really no room for comparison.

In addition to the fact that junk food is so much cheaper than healthy food, I notice that Walmart almost always has more sales on rubbish food than health food. I wonder if, in general, Walmart prices their junk food artificially low to attract consumers who make bad food choices, knowing that they will keep coming back to Walmart to get their junk food fix. After all, junk food is not as filling and you need more of it to feel full. Therefore, even though it is cheaper than healthy food, people would be more inclined to buy more of it, and in turn, keep coming back for more, thus spending more money than if the food they ate was healthy.

Despite all of the dangers of obesity, I don't think it is in the interest of businesses such as Walmart to encourage people to eat healthy. As long as people are enticed to eat junk, and healthy food remains more expensive, we are bound to remain an overweight society. I guess the most that we can hope for is that we aren't all wearing mumus and riding around Walmart on motorized carts.