Everything Else – Page 6

Morals Adrift

As an adult, one comes to recognize events that happen, and even though they are not desirable, moral, etc. they happen. They just do. I recognize these atrocities, injustices, and moral dilemmas of others, but sometimes I just do not understand them. Do what is right. Just do.

This morning on NPR I heard a story about passengers who were bird watching aboard a Carnival cruise ship observing a fisherman aboard a small vessel without a motor waving a piece of clothing – any normal person would think they are in distress. The birdwatchers did and alerted the crew. The crew observed this and told the captain of the ship. The cruise ship did nothing to help the stranded fisherman.

Once back home, one birdwatcher followed up on the incident and was fed a story by customer service.

Later a story came out in the news about the fishermen. Three men were alive the day they saw the cruise ship. They had already been drifting for 14 days at that point. One died that night. The other 5 days later. Only 1 man was alive when help finally came another 14 days after the cruise ship spotted them.

This stuff happens. I do not understand why it does. How could someone make a call to not go help? It’s even maritime law. Sad it has to be, as people should go by compassion.

Your Heroine Is Too Fat

I love the Hunger Games. I love the books. I love the movie. I even have the cookbook. And, like a proper fan, keep up on the news about said obsession.

I love how Jennifer Lawrence portrayed Katniss Everdeen.

Then the critics got involved. One commented on her ‘lingering baby fat’, and the New York Times had no problem just laying it out there:

A few years ago Ms. Lawrence might have looked hungry enough to play Katniss, but now, at 21, her seductive, womanly figure makes a bad fit for a dystopian fantasy about a people starved into submission.

In an industry where other people make it their industry to focus on the shape, weight, etc. of women, no wonder everyone looks bone-thin and unhealthy! No wonder all of these young women in America think they’re too fat. And now this ‘Oh no, we have a strong, healthy female actress on the screen portraying the heroine from your favorite books! She’s too fat!’ What?!

I love how Jennifer Lawrence looks. I admit, I noticed her weight. I loved that she wasn’t the normal Hollywood prescription. She has the curves in the right places. Her bones are not jutting out strangely.

I love even more how honest she is about body image in UK’s Marie Claire and how it needs to change. Now young women are not just being bombarded by images in magazines, movies and on television as ‘ideal’ but being told their Katniss Everdeen come to life is not thin enough, well, what damage does that cause?

Critical Thinking from NPR

Note: Although these stories were on NPR on Friday, this post was a process over a few days due to one evil sinus infection. 🙂

The first news item that struck me was about a Spanish Lake documentary. A former resident was making a documentary about Spanish Lake. The main focus was about race and why St. Louis remains so divided. Here is a KETC piece on Spanish Lake from a few years ago.

Last month even I saw a BBC Story about St. Louis Divided. BBC. The BBC is writing about our small city and our racial division. We’ve made the news, folks, but not in a good way.

Spending much of my life in St. Louis, the division is evident. The inequality is there. I have had close family friends of non-white heritage harassed for driving through upper-class neighborhoods. It’s heartbreaking and embarrassing.

How in St. Louis are we going to get beyond this stigma? It’s not this or that race moving into the neighborhood. There are people who do crime in all races.

Let’s focus on crime. What motivates crime? Is this person angry, greedy, or maybe just hungry? Needs to pay the rent? We need to look further into what motivates individuals to do crime; was this crime just because or maybe because of family needs. Crime might be more prevalent in one particular race because the majority works hard to put them there. We work hard at our prejudice in St. Louis to be sure fewer African Americans and other minority races have fewer good paying jobs. Fewer housing opportunities. Less educational opportunities because there are fewer tax dollars to pay to schools, parents are always working and not able to focus on homework help, students might have to eventually work too shifting focus away from school. Etc. Etc.

This is a cycle. If we keep doing what we’re doing or do nothing, this will continue. It might get worse, but certainly it will not get better.

Second item to catch my attention was about bullying and even a new documentary about bullying. The one way other students can combat bullying is to not give the bully an audience and even advocate for the student being bullied. It is difficult to be the one to speak out, but sometimes it can make a huge difference.

I am glad schools are taking bullying more seriously now than they did when I was in school. Many times administrators and teachers would turn the other cheek to me being bullied, physically and verbally, and then I’d get in trouble for standing up to the bullies, physically and verbally, while they got away with it.

I even took up a habit of standing up for other students who were being bullied. The bullies backed off. The students acted like I’d done something amazing. Why shouldn’t we stand up for others?

To me, bullying was dumb. Why not just be friends? Was that so strange of a concept?

My daughter is now in kindergarten and experiencing the first tastes of bullying. Is she the bully? No. The victim? No. She’s the advocate. I am so proud of my outspoken, stubborn little 6 year-old for standing up for those other girls and asking the bully why she says mean things. I was so happy the day she came home from school frustrated because a girl who said “not nice things” to other girls wanted to be Kari’s friend, and Kari just wasn’t comfortable with that on account of her actions. No, not happy because she didn’t know how to navigate the social waters even we struggle with in adulthood, but because she at 6 years-old knew what was right, recognized the wrong, and wanted to stand up for the other person. This is what will change bullying. Teaching advocacy and that it’s ok to say you’re not ok with the behaviors of others.

Social Media As The End-All

Each day during my morning commute, the work day when not in meetings and my evening commute, I listen to NPR. Most of the stories are interesting and I wholeheartedly agree with the issues presented as being issues for society. But this morning my interest was greatly piqued.

Listen/Read: NPR Story Facebook May Not Be So Friendly For Those With Low Self-Esteem

I understand most people have lower inhibitions regarding self-disclosure via social media. This could contribute to the concept of airing dirty laundry more openly on facebook and the like. Also, the potential negative effect that the lack of reaction (like, share) by others to wall posts by those with low self-esteem could occur. With this part of the story, I agree.

The part that somewhat shocked me was from the 24 year-old law student quoted in the story. He mentions if something is posted an no one likes it or shares it, you feel your idea is worthless. He goes on to speak about pictures of events being posted where you were not included. He notes feeling deliberately excluded or forgotten, and the fact that those pictures of the exclusion are posted for all to see.

Has facebook replaced our social interactions to the point where this is the only interaction that matters? That gives us self-worth? We are social creatures and our happiness is derived from those around us (and even the social network of those who surround us), so what happens to our happiness when our interactions with those around us are limited to simply text with no diction or tagging in pictures?

Last year, I read Don’t Call Me, I Won’t Call You. At the time, I was shocked. I never thought of the phone call as a rude form of communication. I still don’t. Why? You don’t have to answer it. And if the person I am calling (intruding upon) does not answer, I leave a voice message. This is something many people do not do, and I find that awkward. Through text message, diction is lost. I am not sure how one can feel truly connected with someone through text message or liking their facebook posts.

I must be one of those dinosaurs who enjoys a coffee date, a phone call or just a good face-to-face conversation with one of my girlfriends, right? Sadly, I’m not. I’m only turning thirty this fall. And, yes, I do use facebook, just evidently not like some of my generation and younger.

Facebook and other forms of social media are wrought with miscommunication potential. Think about what the 24 year-old law student said in the NPR story: pictures posted without you in them, were you purposely not invited? Just because you were not invited to that particular event, does that mean you have no friends whatsoever? Of course not, you have 568 friends on facebook.

Are we getting to the point where we prefer passive interaction? Can relationships be retained with 140 character bursts?

Communication is Key

Communication is key.

How often have we all heard that phrase?

Now let that phrase marinate.

Why is communication so key? Communication is so important in our lives we even have a word for the times when communication goes awry. Few of us master communication, and definitely not with everyone. Why? Communication is always a transaction. Verbal. Nonverbal. Always receiving. Always responding.

I talk. You listen.

You talk. I listen.

Right?

One would hope. In written word, this seems rational; however, once we get so fixated on what we are trying to say, we forget to listen. I talk. You talk. No listen.

In reality, it’s not all about me. And it’s not all about you.

One thing I have experienced in my role as a student recently is the propensity of everyone to talk in the classroom. I left the classroom last night with my head reeling with questions not about the class topic, but human behavior. We were to work on a group project. After twenty of the thirty minutes assigned, two of the six were not budging. They allowed their personal opinions to get in the way of the research and trends. In the remaining 10 minutes, we debated, but came up with a good idea to present. Someone presented, but only presented their opinions and pieces of the project they liked. I was dashed that our project was not presented. Especially when we all had good ideas.

Everyone is so concerned with being heard. It seems as though instead of listening actively, we are all so busy thinking about our response while the other person is talking, thus not actively listening or reflecting. We will only be intelligent as a society if we act like a society. Collective knowledge benefits the whole community.

Collaboration is amazing. It happens when communication is at least roughly effective. Groups of people connect over common ideas, issues, etc. and create something. Their minds come together to create! Amazing!

Why are we all so hung up on our own ideas? Why are our experiences more important than those of others?

Yesterday Drove Me To Bake

Anyone who knows me knows if the kitchen is full of baked goods, I’ve had a bad day. Last week, I had a big, ugly bad day. Now I baked, got over my bad day, and lived to tell about it.

Recently, like everyone else, I have become so addicted to Pinterest. Being I love food, I’m always checking out the delish pins of others. And, again, if you know me, I just can’t leave a recipe well enough alone. I always am tweaking, tweaking, tweaking…

For my bad day menu, I chose yeast breads. Those are always good to get the anger out with the kneading, kneading, kneading… my mom read once that eighty-seven times is the appropriate amount to knead dough. It works just about right.

First, I decided to make these Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting.

I read the recipe and thought, “Holy Butter, Batman!” Now, while I am not in fear of eating and using butter, and do only use the real deal, I do like to conserve where I can. Here is my revised method and recipe:

Dough
1/4 cup warm water (between 112-115 degrees)
2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/2 cup milk
2 large eggs, beaten
1 cup pumpkin puree (either fresh or canned)
1/3 cup melted butter
1/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
6 cups all-purpose flour

Filling
1 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons cinnamon
2/3 cup pumpkin puree

Cream Cheese Frosting
4 ounces cream cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon milk
3 cups powdered sugar

Method
Stir yeast, 1 T sugar and 1 T flour into warm water. Allow to proof for 15 minutes. Stir in the milk, eggs, pumpkin puree, butter, salt and remaining sugar. Stir in flour 1 cup at a time until you cannot stir any longer. At this point, begin to knead. I am short so I always put my bowl on the floor and knead in a huge mixing bowl. Add the flour as you go. The dough should not stick to your hands when it is finished being kneaded – you shouldn’t need to flour or grease your hands. If it sticks, add a bit more flour a little at a time. The weather affects baking and cooking – the more moisture in the air, the more flour needed, and maybe longer baking times – the opposite for dry weather.

Place the dough into a greased bowl. Turn the dough in the bowl to coat the entire ball of dough with oil. Cover with thin towel and rise 1 hour.

Combine the brown sugar, cinnamon and pumpkin puree.

Roll dough into a 16×12″ rectangle. If you kneaded it well, this will be a very elastic dough and will fight you. But the rectangle can be done! Get your favorite rolling pin out and work it.

Now that your arms are tired, spread filling mixture onto the rectangle. You are now going to roll the dough into a log. This will be messy, but it is delicious. Roll it along the longest side. Be sure to stretch the dough slightly as you roll and it won’t be as messy.

Go grease your pans. Get 2 13×9″ pans ready. Using a very sharp knife, slice the log into the rolls. I did 1″ slices. Cover with that thin towel again and let rise another hour.

Bake in a 375° oven. Bake the rolls till they begin to brown around the edges. Mine took about 22 minutes, so set the timer for 18 minutes and do increment times after that (remember what I said about weather and baking times!).

While the rolls bake, make the cream cheese frosting! Trust me, you’ll want to have everything ready the second these rolls come out of the oven – YUM!

I softened the cream cheese in the microwave for about 45 seconds, added the vanilla and milk, and finally whisked in the powdered sugar. When the rolls are ready, cool for about 5 minutes (I know, you just can’t wait) and drizzle with the frosting with your whisk turned sideways. It’s easier to avoid the frosting pools this way.

Enjoy!

The Way the Cookie Crumbles

Cookies are my absolute favorite things to make. They make the house smell wonderful and they put smiles on my favorite faces. Here are my 2 go to recipes, which happen to be a favorite almost everywhere I take them.

One part of baking and cooking that seems to befuddle people is the science part. All items are affected by the weather – cookies included. Sometimes more flour is needed on days with higher humidity – this is why I always do a test cookie! I have modified the traditional cookie recipes just slightly. Following the bag recipes always ends in a brittle, flat, greasy, salty mess. Try these and see what you think!

Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 Eggs
3/4 c Sugar
3/4 c Brown Sugar, packed
1 c Butter, melted (note: not just softened!)
2 t Vanilla Extract
3 1/4 c Flour
1 t Baking Soda
2 c Dark Chocolate Chips (prefer Ghiradelli because they aren’t faux chocolate)

Blend together first 5 ingredients. Sift together the baking soda and flour in a separate bowl. Fold flour mixture into moist mixture. This is important because if you stir too much, your cookies will be tough! Fold in chocolate chips once flour mixture is incorporated. Use 2 teaspoons to drop cookies onto sheet – about a tablespoon quantity mounded. Bake a test cookie on an ungreased cookies sheet at 375 for 10 minutes. If the test cookie looks good, or if your husband devoured it faster than you could check it, proceed to make a full sheet of cookies spacing them a couple inches apart, but this time, start with 10 minutes for the time and add only 1 minute at a time until just golden.

For a twist, change flour to 3 cups and sift in 1/4 cup cocoa powder to the flour mixture – DOUBLE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES! Yum!

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

2 Eggs
1 t Vanilla
1/2 c Sugar
3/4 c Brown Sugar, packed
1/2 c Butter, melted (note: not just softened!)
2 c Flour
1 t Baking Soda
1 t Ground Cinnamon
3 c Oats (use the name brand, the offbrand ones are crumbs in the bag)
1 c Raisins

Blend together first 5 ingredients. Sift together the baking soda, cinnamon and flour in a separate bowl. Fold flour mixture into moist mixture. This is important because if you stir too much, your cookies will be tough! Fold in oats once flour mixture is incorporated. Fold in raisins. Use 2 teaspoons to drop cookies onto sheet – about a tablespoon quantity mounded. Bake a test cookie on an ungreased cookies sheet at 350 for 10 minutes. If the test cookie looks good, or, again, if your husband devoured it faster than you could check it, proceed to make a full sheet of cookies spacing them a couple inches apart, but this time, start with 10 minutes for the time and add only 1 minute at a time until just golden.

For a twist, change out raisins for chocolate chips and have CHOCOLATE CHIP OATMEAL COOKIES!

Preparations are Underway!

While Chris is not really excited about turning 30, at least I am excited about having a party to celebrate his birthday. With his party about a week away, I am staring to get everything ready. I’m thinking about how much food, cake, plates, forks, decorations, seating, outdoor lighting, etc.

For me, parties always bring a bit of stress – and no, not about planning, but about doing so in a green fashion. Think about it – the plates, napkins, forks, cups, etc. And if people don’t recycle, then that adds to the waste. I am already one to try to recycle anything, so I have come up with a plan to help cut down on waste for Chris’ birthday party, and those we host in the future!

First, I set out to cut down on the plastic forks, knives and spoons. My plan is to collect a mix of old silverware and dip the handles in plastic coating so they’re all unified, inexpensive, and reusable!

To start this project, I had to purchase the amount of silverware I needed ($10 at thrift stores) and 2 cans of plastic coating (found in the paint section of the home improvement store) ($10 each). This comes in different colors, or can be dyed. The only color the hardware store had was yellow, which was fine with me! Just be sure to do this project outside, not just in the garage with a fan…

Step 1: Wash the silverware with a strong dish soap, then dry completely.

Step 2: Find a cardboard box large enough to hold all of the silverware pieces on end – cut slits in box to insert forks, spoons, knives – be sure to measure your slits so they don’t fall into the box!

Step 3: Mix the plastic coating well and by holding the silverware by the utensil end (i.e. fork tines), slowly tip the utensil into the coating and slowly remove. Do not scrape or shake, rather allow any excess to drip back into the can.

Step 4: Insert utensil end into the prepared cardboard box to dry. Allow to dry 30 minutes between coats, or 4 hours before use.

While mine are not finished, here is what some look like so far:

The second project I set out to do involved child labor – lots of it to be frank. Kari and I set out to tackle outdoor lighting. There were 2 requests – eclectic, since cookie-cutter is boring to me, and child safe, meaning no candles with flames.

For the deck rails, I bought 30 (get it, 30?) glass cups, etc. from the thrift store. My plan was to put a candle in each and place around the deck railing adhered by removable putty adhesive. Kari came up with the idea of putting sand in the bottom of each.

Step 1: Collect glasses of various shapes and sizes. I personally chose to stick with simple lines and clear, non-frosted glass.

Step 2: Wash glasses with warm soapy water. Use a butter knife to pry any candle out of the glass after run under hot water for 30 seconds. For those with stickers on them from yard sales, etc. use peanut butter to remove adhesive. Any other oil can be used, but I chose peanut butter for its ability to stay put.

Step 3: Gather your supplies – canning funnel (regular will do, but it’s harder to get sand through), cup, large bowl, sand, and scissors. I say scissors because if you try to rip the bag of sand, it will end up flying all over. If you omit scissors, be sure to substitute vacuum cleaner.

Step 4: Place a portion of sand in the large bowl, and with the cup, scoop desired amount of sand into glasses using the funnel. The funnel helps the sand go straight to the bottom and not stick to the sides of the glass.

I found these LED votive candles online on Amazon for $22, and while they look cheesy in the package, they look pretty good in the glasses.

Kari had so much fun doing this project, I decided to set her up with another lighting project. This one, I hoped, to find some stronger LED lights to place in the jars in order to light up a path, but, finding ones to fit inside the jars is proving difficult. More to come!

Area 51 at Home

Chris and I live at the top of a valley between Jefferson and St. Louis counties. Jefferson County recently built a new sewer district administration building. We lived through the blasting, hammering and sawing throughout the summer and fall, and assumed the disturbance would end with construction.

Wrong.

Apparently, Jefferson County must be trying to summon spaceships with their parking lot lights. We are talking at least 10 gigantic, ballpark-type lights for a parking lot smaller than a gas station.

Chris and I, and I am sure some of our neighbors, feel the pain of the lights streaming into bedroom windows at night.

I am the type of person who wakes up with the sunrise. If it’s dark, I’m dead to the world. If it is light, I’m wide awake. So, with the lights, it’s no sleep with the drapes open. Or, if I shut the drapes, I wake up late for work – regardless of the alarm!

Today, after rolling out of bed at 7 and trying to cram an hour and a half’s worth of bed-making, dinner prep, breakfast eating, showers, dog walking, and ironing into 30 minutes, I finally had enough. I put a call in with Jefferson County. I live in St. Louis County. You can imagine where this is going.

I call. I get the automated system. No idea where to start, I dial the operator. She cannot remember a new building in North Jefferson County being built this year and transfers me to public works.

The person in public works does not understand what I want them to do, so I explain how I petitioned Gravois Bluffs shopping mecca to turn off every 2 parking lot lights at night to cut down on light pollution (because when we purchased our house 4 years ago, I could see everything BUT the Milky Way, then with Gravois Bluffs, I was lucky to see Polaris). Then I have to explain light pollution, and it’s a thing that bothers astronomers really, and, yeah. I have alienated myself already in this 5 minute phone call.

She transfers me to voting.

There, after requesting my address, and telling the lady I am not in Jefferson County, she tells me I am not in Jefferson County and need to have my counsel member call the sewer building’s counsel member. I ask to talk to the counsel member over the sewer building.

“What sewer building?!”
She consults with her colleague.
“Oh! You mean the Northeast Sewer Management District Building!”
“Yes.”
She whispers the name and number to me.

I call Don, and he was very understanding and said he would phone them right away to see if some sort of timer could be set.

Thanks, Don!

Now, hopefully, Don will get the lights toned down, and I can wake up at 6 am, leave the house at 7:30, and omit the good morning panic!

Food! Oh, Fantastic Food!

On practically a daily basis, I call my friend, Josh, neglected. In fact, he is. Unlike my delicious childhood, Josh’s experiences with homemade food were less than ideal. Think aerosol pancakes and food situations we shall just put in an ‘other’ category. Like many Americans, there are many ‘real foods’ he has never tried – or the first experience was so horrible, that path was not pursued again.

I learned most of my cooking skills from my mom. Cooking has been a passion for me from such a young age. I remember making scrambled eggs and various desserts at the age of 5. I love cooking food, eating food, and sharing food.

My parents and I would watch the cooking shows on PBS every Saturday morning. Thank goodness for the new Create channel from PBS – now I can catch the cooking shows whenever! I do have to say, one of my favorites is America’s Test Kitchen.

America’s Test Kitchen tests recipes, types of food, etc. It’s a great way to see food analysis and learn about which ingredients are quality – and how price isn’t always indicative of quality! I learned so much from their show about beef cuts (being a vegetarian, they somehow explained textures and consistency so I could understand).

Like any seasoned foodie, I have had my food flops, but I didn’t give up…not even after the crab rangoon Chris has mocked for 10 years now. After each mistake, which we all know are learning experiences, I analyze what went wrong, modify, or scrap and start over with the recipe.

Why do this? Because food is so amazing. This is one experience I wish more Americans would enjoy. We eat all throughout the day, so why not enjoy it? Why not enjoy what we are eating? Actually be passionate about cooking great food and eating great food!

How does this strange obsession with good food possibly fit into geeky-me? It does – very much so, because cooking is actually a science. Some argue an art, but the best cooking is done by understanding why things happen. My bookshelves are filled with science books, including about 5 that pertain to cooking. Here is a new one I intend to add to my shelf soon.

Get your kitchen dirty – have some fun. Make some great food. Be passionate about what you’re eating.