National Pancake Day

Now that I've got your attention, it's time to talk turkey, or rather, pancakes. That revered NGO, the International House of Pancakes, tipped its hat to the United States' presidential primaries and unilaterally declared that National Pancake Day would be moved back a week so as to not detract from this most important of democratic processes.

So let's take this opportunity to sit with our friends and neighbors to discuss the future of our nation over a FREE short stack of flapjacks next Tuesday, February 12 at IHOP. That's right, free. Oh wait, it's better than free. If you pay for your pancakes like a decent human being, and you happen to be sucking down those carbs at a Seattle IHOP, all proceeds will go to support Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center's mission to prevent, treat, and eliminate pediatric disease. So go ahead, get some bacon on the side, take in that bottomless cup of coffee, and chat with your buddies about your political proclivities, your favorite new band, and what you'll do with your magic refund or lottery ticket, whichever comes first.

More sauce, less pasta

This is my credo for the new year. The literal interpretation suffices, conveying an important concept for the enjoyment of even the simplest Italian dish. When I saw Mark Bittman's video illustrating the point, I literally stood up to cheer. But there are other messages in there that resonate, yet to be revealed. In the mean time, if you see a t-shirt with my new favorite aphorism, let me know.

Feliz ano nuevo!

A quick post to wish you all a Happy New Year! I also wanted to thank everyone in my life, a few of whom read my lil' blog, for all your support, encouragement, drinks, recipes, wacky websites, and for sharing your own human experience with me. I have strong hermit tendencies, but you all remind me that the true richness of daily life is in the human contact that I'm occasionally smart enough to seek out but usually find thrust upon me, usually to my surprise and delight.

I'll also take this occasion, with only hours to spare, the Center for Disease Control's Fruit/Veggie of the Month: root vegetables! I have not yet experienced for myself what magic lies in the rutabaga, parsnip, or turnip, but if you've got a recipe to convert me, please share! But beets....ahhhh beets. I doubt I fully enjoyed a beet until adulthood, but now I'm hooked. And of course, they're good for you. Anything that stains your cutting board like that has got to have lots of cancer-fighting something in it. And since few people around me like them, I usually get to keep them all to myself.

Feliz ano nuevo, everyone! Let's work for peace, health, and other stuff that we believe in this year.

Death and pizza

I love those moments to dip a toe into the colorful, quirky cultures that surround us. I'm crazy about bars & diners in bowling alleys, ethnic markets, and bingo parlors. National observances are the informational subset of these side trips, deliberately highlighting what we're inclined to overlook in our environmental scans. This month's observances include International Drum Month (I hope that doesn't include air drumming), National Roasting Month, and National Peanut Butter Lovers Month (even though they're just fronts for retail promotion).

But it is utterly without mockery and kookiness that I stop to recognize National Hospice and Palliative Care Month. OK, before you click away thinking "ugh, death, depressing", hear me out. Death holds special interest for me, but not in a morbid train-wreck-voyeur kind of way, but instead, as a place where we're called to rethink life and what it means to be human, compassionate, and present. I was raised by an oncology social worker, who for years supported people who faced death, many of whom lived to tell about it. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross was a household name. I daily heard stories of how instructive patients and their families were to my mother. I also heard of medical professionals' wildly varying capacities for caring for dying patients with compassion and justice. Mom's retired now and channeling her considerable energies into art, but she continues to embody the values of her profession.

There are some wonderful documentaries and resources that take on the task of demystifying this universal experience of all living things:

• The Hospice Experiement: a history of the American hospice movement from American Radio Works
• Transition rites from different faiths
• The End of Life: Exploring Death in America, from NPR

OK, now, on to National Pizza with the Works Except Anchovies Day (if you're not going to eat those anchovies, give them to me!)

Technology time capsule

In the spirit of What's in Your Bag?, I offer this snapshot of the physical technologies that I use regularly. What will we be using 10 years from now? What were we using 10 years ago?

When my father-in-law equivalent gave me this Canon PowerShot S30 in 2002, it was pretty high-end for the amateur digital camera enthusiast. It still serves me very well, although it weighs in at 11 oz. with a 1 1/2 in. display. The model I've been eyeing lately weights 4.41 oz with a 2 1/2 in. display. But it aint broke, so I'm holding on to it, even though my friends make fun of me.

I had a sweet, slick little cell phone until a schmuck stole it from me at a craft fair, so I bought this refurbished phone that was a hot item way back in 2004. But considering that I couldn't be dragged into cell phone culture until this year, I suppose it's still progress.

One of my favorite gadgets is my Creative Zen Micro MP3 player, a gift from Greg (a chronic early adopter) in 2003. We bucked the iPod trend, in part, because I wanted a radio tuner. I love this thing, in spite of the nightmarish workarounds for those of us locked out of iTunes. But it satisfies my need for constant news, podcasts, and lots of Bach, Bjork, Beck, and Bartok.

Cue the 2001 theme song: my tower. Also a gift from the father-in-law, this screamer boasts 768mb RAM, 40 gig hard drive, and is close to the size of a 20-gallon aquarium. The white noise of the fan shunning cat hair soothes me as I work.

Other technologies of which I'm fond: pencils, Flickr, cash, manual transmission, toilets, library cards, turntables, Firefox, and our water filtration system.

What's in your bag?

Greens!

Announcing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Vegetable of the Month:

A few fun facts about greens, some of which are sure to be asked during the Jeopardy episode in which you are a contestant:

• Greens, such as collards and kale, are spookily cabbage-like, yet they are distinct members of the Brassica Oleracea family in that they do not form a compact head, as do cabbages and people.
  
• If you'd prefer not to get cancer, eat a lot collard greens, kale, mustard greens, Swiss chard and broccoli rabe. They're loaded with antioxidants, which, according to the National Cancer Institutue, "may protect cells from the damage caused by unstable molecules known as free radicals", and such damage may lead to cancer.
• Eating Black-eyed Peas on New Year's Day is thought to bring good luck. Eating collard greens are believed to bring wealth.

I have an unnatural fondness for "X of the Month"-type observances, the sillier or more obscure the better. PR professionals across the for- and non-profit spectrum don't hesitate to abscond with some week or month to remind us that their disease, foodstuff, or potential hazard should be foremost in our minds, at least for that prescribed period of time. I like to do my part to support their efforts. Watch this space for updates on other important agricultural products, maladies, and hobbies of which you should be aware.

For more fun, compelling information about leafy greens, check out these resources:

• Letting Leafy Greens into Your Life, from NPR
• Cruciferous Crusaders trading cards
• Will it blend?

What I did on my summer vacation

Before my memory fails, I offer a compendium of random pictures and commentary from our fabulous, fun-filled, fancy and mostly free trip to New York and New Jersey.

New York reminded me how a highly accessible, extensive public transit system can transform one from a car slug to totally mobile urban animal. I miss that. Growing up in Kansas, I was legion among the few, mainly the poor and developmentally disabled, who used public transportation (in part, because of my brother's refusal to drive me to school in effusive snowstorms. Way to go with the tough love, Kevin). Moving to Boston was a revelation, making a large city small. Today in Seattle, we're still waiting for our light rail, bitterly wistful for the monorail we voted for and didn't get, while driving to the ball park we voted down, but got anyway.




Other highlights:

*Arriving at Penn Station in New York City at 5pm. People literally ran to their trains through labyrinthine underground stations, swiftly and efficiently, without collisions, swearing, or stalling. To translate for Seattleites, it was the opposite of Bumershoot.

*The cozy, dreamy Brooklyn home of our generous hosts, Michael and Celena. I decided that we have East and West coast parallel lives, each of us with two cats, a pug, a musician, and a Latina.

*Lunch at the Oyster Bar with Greg and Celena, after a tour of the United Nations.

*Chinatown and Little Italy. Lots of foodie eye candy, knock-off handbags, tchochkes, and colorful characters.

*New York Public Library. (dorky librarian note: you can take advantage of NYPL's collections, even if you don't live there, via their fabulous digital library).

*Central Park and the Museum of the City of New York. We learned about the days when the Yankees, Dodgers, and Giants dominated baseball, and how one of the world's richest city is founded on beaver pelts.

*The Richard Serra exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art. Watch the video showing how they got huge slabs of steel in there. Note: visiting a major museum on the last days of a special exhibit is similar to the Penn Station at rush hour, but with Bumbershoot thrown in.

*The Mastrull/Greco/Sinibaldi family reunion in New Jersey. What stereotypes do you hold about New Jersey Italian-American families? Loud, ball-busting bocce players with thick accents and big appetites? Yep, and proud of it, thank you very much. They're also warm, generous, welcoming, funny as hell, and serve up large volumes of damn good food.