Heroes

I've been thinking lately about all the people I think are amazing in the I-look-up-to-and-admire sort of way.  I guess I've been feeling so happy that there is such a glut of inspiration out there that I wanted to share.  So do not despair, ever, remembering that the following women are out in the world doing great things:

1. Elizabeth Warren, Assistant to the President and Special Advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.  Because she is committed to common sense and believes that we are in a hopeful place. http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-april-26-2011/exclusive---elizabeth-warren-extended-interview-pt--3

2. Tina Fey.  Because she is smart and funny, and smart... and funny!, and doesn't take herself too seriously, and is awesome, and I really want to read her book.

3. Amy Poehler. Because she is also smart and funny, and because she knows that girls have a lot of important things to say and need to be encouraged and listened to.  http://www.hulu.com/smart-girls-at-the-party

4. Patti Smith, because she rocks and writes poetry and I also really want to read her book.

5. M.F.K. Fisher, because she writes so beautifully of love and food and hunger and desire.  I can't stop reading her books.

6. Also Neil Gaiman.  Not a woman, obviously, but inspirational none the less, because he is an amazing writer, and an encourager of girls, and a dreamer and storyteller and a creator of worlds.

Tryin' soooo hard!

The best part is near the end where she tries to use her hands to get her feet into the correct position!

Science is Awesome: A guy with crazy hair explains nuclear reactors

All your questions about the potential nuclear reactor disaster in Japan explained by a fantastic British scientist with amazing hair.




This video is part of a series called The Periodic Table of Videos, which looks to be really fun.  I will be exploring.

Via Ta-Nehisi Coates

RIP

From Kissing

Wild Flowers

N and I made some lovely solar prints today to use on the wedding invitations.  There were some wildflowers left over from the printing that are now sitting on my kitchen counter as a lovely reminder of this one sunny spring day in the midst of rain and sad goings-on in the world.

My thoughts are with those suffering in Japan, and with N whose heart and mind is there, and with Sarah, on her birthday.

Ash Wednesday, and a poem

Yesterday I made king cake, Jambalaya, and pimiento cheese to celebrate darling JW's birthday.  Today, Lent begins. 

I am not Christian, really.  I was baptized in the Catholic Church as a baby, sent to Protestant elementary schools and a Catholic high school.  I have been more and less religious at various times in my life.  I recently considered Catholic confirmation and then at Christmas discovered that my beliefs just don't line up there.  But I still like Lent.

It comes, I'm sure, from high school.  Although at the time I declared in no uncertain terms that I Was Not Catholic and Would Not be Giving Anything Up, it always intrigued me. 

Echos of those enforced liturgies stayed with me; I love the idea of a period of meditation, of quiet contemplation--which is how Lent was presented to us in school.  We were encouraged not merely to give something up--chocolate, smoking, soda--but to commit to something for those forty days that would bring us closer to God.  Volunteering weekly at a shelter, praying daily, practicing yoga, or the more traditional abandonment of vice.  Anything that could align your body or mind with the Divine, create a space of practiced awareness of Its presence.

So, although I won't be crossed with ashes today, I'll begin a meditative period.  I'll think today about what to commit to, what conscious practice I can begin to realign with that quiet space in me, or with God.

And now a poem, from the Writers' Almanac today, because I liked it and because it felt like a quiet space.

Personal

by Irene McKinney

None of this is personal, not the way you'd think.
The moon keeps on traveling and I can see it
from my balcony each night and each night
different but it's not my own, not like we want

things to be our very own. But it sways me
nevertheless and stands in for certain losses
and gains and for even that much I'm grateful.
I stand at the back door and stare.

"Personal" by Irene McKinney, from Vivid Companion. © Vandalia Press, 2004.

I heart millet!

Millet is really yummy and has the best crunch ever! Who knew?   

Apparently Heidi did.  And thank God, or I’d have never tried these fantastic millet muffins.  I always forget how easy and quick muffins are to throw together, and these were no exception.  Melting the butter took the longest, but that’s only because we don’t have a microwave at the moment.  And I’d bake them a little less next time, but I’m still figuring out our oven (which is especially tricky given the lack of numbers on the temperature dial).

But even slightly overcooked, these muffins are fantastic.  The millet soaks up a bit of the liquid so that it’s no longer crisp, but it still has a nice crunch, and the butter makes them taste a bit decadent.  There is a hint of lemony-ness, but the grainy flavor is what really stands out.

And now, without further ado, an adaptation of the Millet Muffins from 101 Cookbooks.  Where I use kefir, Heidi used an equal amount of yogurt, and where I used kosher, she used fine-grain sea salt.  Details.

Millet Muffins

Adapted from Super Natural Everyday

By Heidi Swanson

Makes 12 muffins

10 oz (about 2 ¼ cups) whole wheat pastry flour

2 oz (about 1/3 cup) raw millet

1 tsp baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup plain kefir (I used non-fat)

2 large eggs

½ cup barely melted unsalted butter

½ cup honey

Grated zest and 2 Tablespoons juice from 1 lemon

Preheat oven to 400F.  Butter muffin cups.

Whisk together flour, millet, powder, soda, and salt in large bowl.  In another bowl, whisk together yogurt, eggs, butter, honey, lemon zest, and juice until smooth.  Add wet ingredients to dry and stir just until the flour is incorporated.

Divide batter amongst the cups (about ¼ cup per).  Bake for 15 minutes, until the tops are browned and just beginning to crack.  Let cool 5 minutes in pan, then transfer to a wire rack.

Photo from 101 Cookbooks.

The Blind Old Man

The Blind Old Man

by Robert Bly

I don't know why so much sweetness hovers around us.
Nor why the wind blows the curtains in the afternoons,
Nor why the earth mutters so much about its children.

We'll never know why the snow falls through the night,
Nor how the heron stretches her long legs,
Nor why we feel so abandoned in the morning.

We have never understood how birds manage to fly,
Nor who the genius is who makes up dreams,
Nor how heaven and earth can appear in a poem.

We don't know why the rain falls so long.
The ditchdigger turns up one shovel after another.
The herons go on stitching the heavens together.

We've never heard about the day we were conceived
Nor the doctor who helped us to be born,
Nor that blind old man who decides when we will die.

It's hard to understand why the sun rises,
And why our children are mostly fond of us,
And why the wind blows the curtains in the afternoon.

"The Blind Old Man" by Robert Bly, from Talking Into the Ear of a Donkey. © W.W. Norton & Co., 2010.

from Writer's Almanac

Lovely Day

Today is the first day that I feel our new apartment is put-together enough that I can leave it alone.  It is far from complete—the bedroom floor is covered in things not-yet-put-away, empty shelves sit waiting for their trip to Goodwill—but I can let it sit for a day or two.

A few lovely things have happened lately, and I’m happy.  I found out this past week that I’ve been accepted to both education programs I applied to, and we had our engagement photo shoot last night.

I’m over the moon about the acceptances.  I was really worried, after the Teach for America debacle, that this whole credential thing wasn’t going to happen.  But now here I sit with a choice of where to go, an embarrassment of educational riches.  It feels like sitting atop a mound of my favorite books, or like I’ve been given a palatial yet cozy room to myself in the most wondrous, winding library with a view of a forest and mountains beyond and a sunset and the sea.  I can open the windows wide to the lovely, sunshiny breeze, and I can close them up against the rain and light a fire.  Yay yay yay!

The engagement session was a lot of fun, and our photographer, Patrick Pike, is fantastic.  We wandered around the neighborhood, and Phil whispered Anchorman quotes and Gilligan’s Island lyrics into my ear as we snuggled under streetlights and giggled in corners.  (Blech!)  A few pictures are up already, and we are pretty damn cute!

So it's invitation design day today, rental booking day, wedding organization day.  Woot! Let's go!

Really cool breathing slime mold

Yellow Slime Mold Timelapse from sesotek on Vimeo.