It ain't over til the fat lady sings and I ain't singing yet!

So...the good thing about the money game for me is that I said I would get my teeth fixed and that I would pay off my insurance premiums. Thinking about those things made me realize that I didn't have to wait for found money in order to execute those things and so I did them. Of course, with the $4,000 that I discovered in a defunct bank account, I can continue to have work done on my teeth (++++)!

Found money (second day)

Bank error in my favor! My account's been credited $2,000. Whoopee.

• $500 to the rainy day fund;
• $1,000 to Mr. Visa (and/or other short term debt);
• $500 for a weekend getaway with the missus.
  

Found money (first day)

If I found $1,000 in my recycling bin here's what I'd do with it:

• $250 to Wesleyan University (I would like to participate in giving that experience to another kid);
• $250 to the Food Project (sustainable agriculture in the city rocks);
• $50 to Planned Parenthood (even tho my eggs have turned to dust we gotta keep choice legal);
• $50 to ACT Roxbury (support arts initiatives for black folks in Roxbury);
• $200 to Cyrano's student loans;
• $100 to the rainy day fund (a girl's gotta be prepared);
• $100 would disappear on a night out with the Breakfast club (pictured above).

P.S. I'm not usually this altruistic -- this is the season for giving (so I've collected a bunch of gift receipts for my favorite charities). At any other time it would go towards random, untraceable junk

The Feast

If eating is akin to giving thanks, we outdid ourselves. Our bacchanalian feast was superb and the lack of leftovers was a welcome testament that all was well appreciated. (Of course, we can attribute a lot to j being there as well; next time I'll just give him a platter because even my oversized plates weren't big enough for him.) Nonetheless the menu is worth documenting for posterity. First I think the culinary collaboration worked! The melding of tastes, textures and colors made for an exquisite collection of treats offered up by the supercooks: roast turkey laced with herb butter, stuffing & gravy, sliced ham, baked mac, stuffed mushrooms and homemade cranberry sauce from LalaMama; baked squash with sweet potatoes, stir-fried brocolli with walnuts, garlic/romano cheese drenched green beans plus fabulous citrus-laden salads from emmy; collards with smoked turkey and sundried tomatoes, slamming pomegranate sangria, corn pudding, pumpkin and plum/cherry pies from mocomo AND flowing nectar of the gods - red&white WINE, WINE, WINE from everyone. Praise to everybody who contributed, now get busy and exercise it all off! I swam last nite, did hi-impact aerobics this a.m. and plan to swim this afternoon.

FIRKIN FICTION FIND

Interesting how serendipidity in life leads you thru unknown but meaningful paths, and the internet is a marvelous tool for armchair adventurers. At JBs celebration, I was rushed by another guest who is a department chair emeritus of a ny university. We'd met at jb's place up here and began an email correspondence because we recognized a creative spark we shared. He was excited about having discovered www.answers.com and had planned to email me about it. We both are inveterate learners.

Anyway I decided to look up the word 'ekphastic' which has bugged me for several months and for which I could find no definition. Not only do I now understand it, but have engaged in it and discovered a website that interests me www.firkinfiction.com , a blogspot I may participate in and learned about firkin :-)

Girls Talk 2

Now that I've adorned my boobies it's time to make sure they're okay. Tomorrow I'm returning for my second six-month mammogram. Let's hope that the debris they found last year has remained unchanged so that my thoughts can return to breast beauty.

GIRLS TALK

OK y'all let's have a frank discussion about 'our girls,' the ones that we follow everywhere we go and that advertise our comings to everyone else we encounter. I'm talking about the appearance of our breasties at least in our clothing, I won't even talk about how they look when we let them loose when we're at home. Now there is no lack of styles to choose from and thanks to Oprah, we know that professional fitting is a plus. There 's no reason for them gals to be drooping in our clothes, especially if you like to wear sweaters. Them gals should be standing at attention at all times, not competing with the rolls around our waists and hint, hint - wearing sweater sets don't hide the fact. There lots of formed bras that keep their shape under clothing and define your breasts as a separate component of your body. So come to attention and bring dem gals up to attention because believe me, they do get attention from everybody else :-).

New Product Alert!

Just discovered a yummy new food bar -- Larabar is the manufacturer. Here's their website: https://www.larabar.com/secure/index_.php Just tried "Cherry Pie" -- it was divine. Tart dried cherries full to overflowing with almonds.

DIS-N-DAT

• I just heard the nyc health commisioner say that the death of a child due to MRSA occurs one in a million, after a 12-year old black boy in IS211 contracted it and died. Strangely, a death occurred in Pa recently to a student. MRSA is the antibiotic resistant staph infection that Jerry contracted last year. In fact, there have been several reports of staph infection in schools here. I can only urge you all to caution your children about washing their hands and carrying hand washes on them at all times. It seems schools, gyms, hospitals and I'm sure public transportion are highly susceptible to carrying infectius diseases. This is nothing you haven't heard before, it's just a reminder to my loved ones.
• Interesting how it's already been determined that the air quality in California is bad due to the fires, but 911 rescuers in NYC are still dying and sueing because the EPA declared the air safe.
• Who is the only minority governor in the US and the youngest: it's Republican Bobby Jindal, 36, Indian-American governor-elect of Louisiana (Indian as in India).
• Today is Hillary's 60th birthday.
• Anybody doing anything for Hollow-Weenie?
• Oh where, oh where have mocomo and pdw gone???

IS IT JUST ME OR BAD LEADERSHIP

It's truly a shame what's happening with the fires in California. Many people's lives have been disrupted and we now learn it may have been started by arsonists and fanned by nature. The already bad housing and credit market will only compound the misery for some.

That said, watching cnn around the clock shows a massive, coordinated efficient effort to provide basic necessities to those affected, even down to providing entertainment for the kids to get them thru this tragedy. I never once heard the media refer to them as refugees. Not only the National Guard are supplementing efforts but active duty military. I remember when Florida had severe hurricanes, again the people were well cared for during the emergency and FEMA was throwing money at people whether they lost their homes or not.

So my question is - what happened in Louisiana during Katrina - an event that was predicted. The surprise was how quickly the levees devastated New Orleans but even that was known ahead of time, that they would never sustain a major hurricane. We all saw the bloated bodies floating down the street and people on rooftops begging for help, the thousands sequestered in the SuperDome without food, water or toilet facilities and the head of FEMA said he didn't know but got "you're doing a great job Brownie" from the president.

Maybe I'm being too cynical but the disparities appear blatant to me. Is the difference leadership in the different states, but what happened with the federal government's response? New Orleanians are scattered throughout the US or living in toxic trailers and there still is controversy about reconstruction, not to mention they hoards of people who either did not have insurance or did, but were not reimbursed thru loopholes. I've heard Californians interviewed in the last few days who've stated they had no insurance but I'm sure we'll never know 'the rest of the story.'

Knowing Your Value (and Thanksgiving Dinner)

It's not nice to admit this but I don't have empathy for women that don't value themselves. Life has taught me that you must value yourself before you can expect anyone else to value you.

A few of my bad relationships have been a careful study in "what not to do". What not to do: beg/whine/weedle for respect, reinvent yourself in someone else's image, put your needs at the bottom of the list, soothe with food/drugs/alcohol, remain steadfastly unchanged, avoid truth, and give others the responsibility for making you ________ (fill in the blank; including but not limited to whole/happy/successful/fulfilled).

Self value determines how you walk in the world. You can smell when someone values themselves (and doesn't). It's not lip service. Traveling though life as a victim encourages people to kick us, figuratively and literally.

It's our responsibility to shift this -- by creating situations in which we succeed, are validated and feel our strength. This may mean seeking professional therapy, reading, exercising, daring to speak when we are "normally" silent, avoiding or reducing our exposure to toxic lovers and friends AND accepting that fear is normal and pushing through it.

How we are valued starts with knowing our value...the universe is conspiring to shower us with blessings. See what Rob Brezsney has to say: http://www.freewillastrology.com/beauty/pronoia.therapy.html

Next subject: we all agree that we want to improve the quality of this year's Thanksgiving meal.
May I suggest we plan a menu?

What I'd like bring: butternut squash and sweet potatoes; quinoa, edamame, tart cherry salad and a dessert (probably cupcakes). I suggested cornish hens but I don't think this is do-able (organic hens are 8-10 bucks each). Your ideas?

OK Y'ALL......

WOW WEEKENDS

I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend. I really enjoyed mine with Miles. I hope he does well on his psat's.

It was a beautiful weather weekend and I'm hoping to remember all this good weather after the change comes.

Believe it or not Miles is a pretty good conversationalist - actually both boys are, but i know Bradley better than I do Miles. I don't know his interests (Miles). I learned that he does photography for the school newspaper, which surprised me. He described some of his best shots, but we forgot after we got home for him to show some to me. I'm interested in his writing desires and will encourage him to continue. I tried to encourage him with his art as I think he is pretty good. He told me his art teacher said he could come in and use the materials whenever he likes (providing it's not during another class, I'm sure.)

I'd like to bond more with him and let him know that he is welcome to visit anytime he wishes. My next email will be to him.

CONGRATS TO EMMY WHO'S GOING TO TANZINIA/UGANDA

I now have something else to concentrate on and will research it for you. It's so exciting and I hope you will request a laptop to take with you so you can keep a journal and allow us to vicariously share in your experience,

BLACKTACTIX

Why is it that incidents such as the Jena 6 affair don't warrant a slew of psychologists and grief counselors flooding into schools to administer to black children. Time after time, the media reports on such tactics immediately occurring after incidents that occur in other schools. In fact, there was the closing of an old catholic school up here which had been announced a year ahead of the actual closing. However, when it occurred there was around-the-clock coverage of grieving parents and students pulling their hair out (on camera) and bordering on hysteria. A cadre of grief counselors descended on the school to counsel them..."don't despair, there's a brand new modern public school down the street..." "this school is old and unsafe...it's crumbling around you and there's no money to fix it..."

Recently a troubled kid named Asa Coon (probably the original source of his troubles) shot up his school and killed himself. I saw black students crying and visibly upset after the shooting and the media concentrated on the fact that the one security guard was there exclusively to protect the administration. The aftermath of the story was that the school installed metal detectors thru which everyone would have to pass to gain entry into the school. No grief counselors. I can't imagine that the black students at the Louisiana school weren't upset seeing nooses swinging from the trees on school grounds. Possibly if professional counselors had been brought in immediately, the subsequent escalations would not have occurred.

Is it a testament to the resiliance of black people that they can witness any horror and just 'keep on keeping on' or will they, in time, become the serial killers, child predators, mercenaries, mass murderers, etc. like the pampered, dominant society in this country?

I hope you guys won't think I'm becoming obsessed with the negative aspects of things. It's just that I'm exposed to more of it since I'm more exposed to the media. Think I'll go take photos before all the autumn colors disappear.

LET'S TALK TURKEY

Recently your House of Representatives passed a non-binding resolution (toothless but irksome) to classify the massacres of Armenians in 1915 Turkey (which occurred under cover of WWI during the Ottomon Empire) as genocide. The Turkish have always been skittish over this dark period of its history and predictably are outraged by this resolution which has been bantered about by congress for nearly the last hundred years. So the question has to be asked: Why Now??

Considering the gamesmanship of our politicians, in my opinion, it's a back-handed swipe at the administration. Despite the overwhelming objection of the Turkish people, Bush was successful in getting air rights to fly from and/or over Turkey (which borders Iraq, Iran and Syria) get the strategic picture? Turkey refused to send troops into Iraq to participate in the coalition of the willing but has its own beef with the kurds in northern Iraq. So far it has been restraining itself against the kurds who seemingly have been emboldened by the American occupation and taking swipes at the Turks. If you remember K&A went to Turkey maybe two years ago. Shortly thereafter there were a series of random bombings about which I have never heard anything further. Also last week, several Turkish civilians were pulled from a bus (killed?) allegedly by marauding kurds. Turkey's dilemma has been that it's been trying desperately to be accepted into the European Union and therefore on its best behavior. All of that may be going out the window with the introduction of this resolution. Bush needs Turkey and has been trying to smooth over the slap in the face to Turkey and to let the American people know that antagonizing Turkey equates to not supporting our troops.

I mention all this because aside from the many current issues our politicians could be spending their time on, they dredge up what to most Americans is an obscure issue that does not involve America. Would it not be more understandable if they stood on principle by officially acknowledging the decimation of Native Americans and the occupation of their lands for the last four hundred or so years, as well as the slave trade? There is a new book which calculates the number of Africans caught up in the slave trade, based on the manifests of slaveship captains, at twelve million twice the number in the holacaust of WWII. The documented number of Armenians slaughtered was 1.5 million.

The Slave Ship: A Human History (Hardcover)by Marcus Rediker (Author)
(1 customer review)

I realize you folks don't have time to involve yourselves in such issues, but it can't hurt for you to have some knowledge of current events.

small batch baking: angel food cake

these cakes have authentic homemade flavor and are lowfat, just like the full-size versions. so when you are watching your weight, these little angels will become your standby dessert. you can dress them up by serving fresh berries with them instead of a glaze -- or use both.

the standard angel food cake, cooked in a tube pan, is placed upside down over a bottle to cool so it will maintain it's height while it cools. we do the same thing here with the muffin pan, so you'll need to position two or three soft drink or water bottles on the counter to hold the inverted pan as the cakes cool.

makes 2 cakes; serves 2

3 tbs sifted caked flour
4 tbs superfine sugar (see note)
dash of ground nutmeg
whites of 2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp cream of tartar

pan required: 1 jumbo muffin pan (3/4 cup capacity; don't use a nonstick pan)

1. place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. set aside an ungreased jumbo muffin pan.
2. place flour, 2 tbs superfine sugar and the nutmeg in a small bowl and whisk to blend well.
3. place the egg whites, slat and vanilla in a medium-size bowl mixing bowl and beat with a hand-held electric mixer on medium speed until the whites are frothy, about 5 seconds. sprinkle cream of tartar over the whites and beat until soft peaks fold over when the mixer is turned off and the beaters are lifted, 20 - 30 seconds. with the mixer running, gradually sprinkle the remaining 2 tbs superfine sugar over hte whites and beat on high speed until the egg whites are glossy about 45 seconds; they should form stiff peaks when the mixer is turned off and the beaters are lifted.
4. sift half of the flour mixture over the egg whites and fold it in gently with a rubber spatula. fold in the remaining flour mixture. spoon the better into 2 of the ungreased muffin cups, dividing it evenly between them. the cups will completely filled. fill the empty muffin cups halfway with water to prevent them from scorching.
5. bake the cakes for 15 minutes. then drape a piece of aluminum foil over the cakes to prevent them from browning too much, and continue baking until the tops are golden and spring back when lightly touched in the center, another 5 to 10 minutes.
6. remove the muffin pan from the oven. carefully pour the water out of the muffin cups and then turn the pan upside down and place it on bottles to cool completely (place the tops of a couple liter bottles into empty muffin cups so that the pan is greased, the cakes won't fall out).
7. to remove the cakes from the muffin pan, loosen the edges with a small rubber spatula or a table knife, pulling the edges away from the sides of the muffin cups. place the cakess on serving plates.
note: if you can't find superfine sugar you can make it: simply process 1/3 cup granulated sugar in a blender until it is ground superfine -- pulsing it about 6 times. then measure out 1/4 cup.

p.s. see earlier recipe with quinoa (it has tart cherries -- yum!).

PICK YOUR PROSE INSTEAD OF YOUR NOSE

I saw a brief interview with Charlie Rose and Doris Lessing who just was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. She is 88 and I found her alert, intelligent and delightful. It occurred to me that I've never read anything by her and so went to amazon. Interestingly, I got mixed feelings on the reviews of her works,specifically THE CLEFTS, a mythic novel of a society that got its beginnings under a matriachy. Has anyone read any of her books?

The most engaging book that I'm currently reading is by Chaim Potok, THE CHOSEN, a coming of age story about two 15-year old boys, one the son of a Hasidim rabbi who is expected to succeed his father but who wants to be a psychologist and the other, the product of a reformed rabbi who wants to be a rabbi but whose father wants him to be a mathematician. Both boys are scholars, who meet while competing against one another in a neighborhood baseball game where the Hasidim hits the ball directly at the other's head almost knocking out his eye. They ultimately become the best of friends when the Hasidim visits the other in the hospital and find they have more in common than not. There is an enmity between the two groups akin to the light-skin/black-skin dichotomy or the sunni/shia schism.

It takes place in Brooklyn and depicts alot of Jewish culture. One thing that particularly struck me was the vehemance of the Hasidic, who is a sixth generation leader of his people, regarding the establishment of Israel. He is positively against it and zionism. I remember as a child my father railing against the same thing. He was not anti-Jewish but anti-zionist. It was surprising to me to read a book by a jew writing about jews who depicts that same thought. The book is not new, but reading it today in the light of dispensation, Christian Zionisim and the state of Israel is interesting.

Anybody reading anything interesting these days?

ABSURD REALITIES

TODAY, ANY ABSURDITY BECOMES A REAL POSSIBILITY

Look around you, what would have been unthinkable ten years ago or so is becoming commonplace today - from school shootings to americans terrorizing and torturing others to Britney/Paris sluts commanding headlines to water being privatized to illegal immigrants demanding rights to our food/medicines/toys and now lipsticks being contaminated to yadayadayada, and the list goes on and on and on. Feel free to add to your own thoughts to the list.

al gore wins nobel peace prize y'all (lala mama via emmy)

The chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Ole Danbolt Mjoes, in Oslo, Norway, announcing the winners today. The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Al Gore and to a United Nations panel for their work on global warming.

Listen Up Y'All: AL GORE WON THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE. Congratulations I say; regardless of whether it is junk science or not, countries need to address the relentless polluting of the planet for profit. I also think it would be a strategic coup on his part if he entered the '08 political race. I think he's grown up over the last six years and would be a formidable candidate. I believe I told you earlier this year (maybe it was vana), I'd like to see Al Gore and Wesley Clarke in the White House. I stick by that regardless of the Nobel Peace Prize. On the other hand, I'd like to urge you to watch C-SPAN at 9pm tonite to learn about Congressman Ron Paul of Texas, who is a libertarian running as a republican presidential candidate as a constitutionalist. Despite being shut out, for the most part by mainstream media, he is getting thru to 'the people' and I wish him luck. I've watched him for years in the House of Representatives and when he's allowed to be heard, he makes a lot of sense. TGIF

Things That Don't Suck

mocomo and emmy at 2007 b'day bash

Here are a few of the "Things That Don't Suck" listed in an article in "The Wave" newspaper: "Eating someone else's food out of the refrigerator and not getting sick. Buying someone a great gift and keeping it for yourself. Losing your virginity to someone completely out of your league." Make your own list of ten Things That Don't Suck.

(1) being the same age as my baby sister for one month of every year...

Try this yummy recipe from Cooking Light:

Chicken with Lime Sauce
Ingredients
4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons olive oil
Cooking spray
3/4 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon brown sugar
3 tablespoons lime juice, divided
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard 2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon butter

PreparationPlace each chicken breast half between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap; pound to 1/4-inch thickness using a meat mallet or small heavy skillet. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook 4 minutes on each side or until browned. Remove from pan; keep warm.
Add chicken broth, sugar, 2 tablespoons juice, and mustard to pan; cook over medium heat, scraping pan to loosen browned bits.

Combine water and cornstarch in a small bowl. Add cornstarch mixture to pan; stir well with a whisk. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; cook 1 minute or until sauce thickens slightly. Whisk in remaining 1 tablespoon lime juice and butter, stirring until butter melts. Return chicken to pan; simmer 2 minutes or until chicken is thoroughly heated.

Yield4 servings (serving size: 1 chicken breast half and 2 tablespoons sauce)

Nutritional Information
CALORIES 260(26% from fat); FAT 7.5g (sat 2.7g,mono 3.1g,poly 0.8g); PROTEIN 40.7g; CHOLESTEROL 106mg; CALCIUM 32mg; SODIUM 382mg; FIBER 0.1g; IRON 1.8mg; CARBOHYDRATE 5.4g

two yummy vegan recipes

butternut squash, sweet potato and sage
1/2 mdm-sized butternut squash (cut into 1 inch dice)
three sweet potato (cut into 1 inch dice)
salt & pepper
fresh sage
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp cider vinegar

peel squash and sweet potato, cut into 1 inch dice; toss with oil & season with salt & pepper; roast in hot 350 degree oven; cook until fork tender ~30 minutes; allow to cool; toss with shredded sage, mustard, vinegar and remaining oil.

quinoa & edamame salad
1 1/2 cups quinoa
1/4 cup roasted red pepper
1 cup edamame
1/4 cup red onion, minced
1/4 cup dried tart cherries

cook quinoa, cool and toss with red pepper, edamame, onion, and dried tart cherries.

white wine vinegarette dressing
2 tbs olive oil
2 tbs white wine vinegar
1 tsp dijon mustard
pinch sugar
salt & pepper to taste
2 tbs sunflower seeds, shelled

whisk olive oil, white wine vinegar, dijon mustard and sugar. add salt and pepper. mix into salad and sprinkly with 2 tbs shelled sunflower seeds.

marching to different drummer

It was so wonderful to see Nancy the other day. She hasn't aged one iota! Who knew she was a Boston gal? I'll never forget the weekend that she invited us to her place in the Hudson Valley. That visit restored me (even though Chicky's pork gave me the grunting roils). I needed a retreat then badly. I had an aha moment watching Nancy revel in those very modest country accommodations. Happiness isn't about keeping up with the Joneses. If Nancy could be unashamedly happy in a trailer maybe I could be happy in an unexpected way too. Maybe I could write my own script? Maybe I could think about marching to a different drummer; though it would be years before I actually did anything. Thanks to Mistah for the great picture.

new frontiers

Last night I experienced a new art form -- Sonata for Violin and Turntables performed by Daniel Bernard Roumain and DJ Scientific at the Institute for Contemporary Art (fast becoming my all-time favorite museum; trumping even the Cooper-Hewitt!).

As an aside: Daniel aka DBR reminded me so much of Miles -- the way he spoke and moved his body. It was freaky. I wonder if music might be a way to channel his restless spirit.

To the point: Am amazed that there are still so many new frontiers, forms of expression and unexpected intersections. DBR rocked it out on a souped up violin (at times plucking it like a guitar, channeling Jimi Hendrix, then giving us classical then hip-hop) while DJ Scientific spit beats on his laptop, turntable and synthesizer. Very cool! Experience them for yourselves: http://www.dbrmusic.com/eve/fayetteville.mp3

For more see: http://www.dbrmusic.com/ and http://www.elanvytal.com/

words to live by

The sentiments expressed in these quotations resonate with me more and more as I inch towards 50 years of age:

In spite of illness, in spite even of the archenemy sorrow, one can remain alive long past the usual date of disintegration if one is unafraid of change, insatiable in intellectual curiosity, interested in big things, and happy in small ways.

Edith Wharton

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edith_Wharton

US novelist

I deserve to love me.
Mo'Nique
http://www.1monique.com/
Comedienne & Fabulous Feminist

How to keep it fresh, funky and self-affirming -- that's our challenge. Discuss.