An Appetizing World All His Own: Artist Wayne Thiebaud

Twice cooked pork with leeks

Twice cooked pork

·         1 pound cooked pork (pork chops work well, but can use most anything) cut into very thin strips

·         3 large Leeks chopped

·         1 large red pepper cut into ¾ inch squares

·         2 tablespoons chili garlic sauce

·         2 tablespoons black bean paste

·         2 tablespoons soy sauce

·         Vegetable oil

Prep/cook

·         Heat oil medium high in wok or pan

·         Add red pepper and cook for about 5 minutes. Remove peppers and drain.

·         Add leaks to pan and cook/fry until soft (5 – 10 minutes). Remove and add to peppers

·         Add pork to pan and cook for a couple of minutes.

·         Add chili garlic sauce, black bean paste and soy sauce

·         Stir and cook for a couple more minutes

·         Add vegetables, cook until everything is heated through. Serve.

My Worms Done Dun Me Wrong: Where's the Nitrogen?

All these years of feeding those little suckers through rain and shine and what do they give me?  DIRT... (Granted worms gnaw at rather than technically sucking their food).  I'm not getting the nitrogen I need from my worm compost and it's breaking my achy heart.  Read some great research about the nitrogen to carbon ratio of work compost here. And now a word from our sponsor: The Worm Book: The Complete Guide to Gardening and Composting with Worms

Shine: Joni Mitchell Reports from the Collective Unconscious

Joni Mitchell has released a new multi-media project including music, ballet and art.  Reporting as always from the fringes of our consciousness her work touches on the state of the species with both clear insight and hope. 

The Real Legacy of Tiger Mom Parenting: A Report on Depression among Asian American Teens

ment

On the heels of the Tiger Mom phenomena NAMI has published a report about depression and suicide among teenage girls in the Asian American community.  It's not pretty.  Among the findings on this report:

• Asian American girls have the highest rates of depressive symptoms of any racial/ethnic or gender group;
• Young Asian American women ages 15 to 24 die from suicide at a higher rate than other racial/ethnic groups;
• Suicide is the fifth leading cause of death among Asian Americans overall, compared to the ninth leading cause of death for white Americans;
• Older Asian American women have the highest suicide rate of all women over 65; and
• Among Southeast Asians, 71 percent meet criteria for major affective disorders such as depression—with 81 percent among Cambodians and 85 percent among Hmong. 

While the NAMI report raises awareness for an important problem, it also raises more questions that it answers.  For example, assigning all Asian Americans to one group is to combine almost unimaginably diverse demographic under a single banner; do different patterns emerge when you look at various subgroups?  What makes the numbers statistically accurate?  What are the cultural patterns driving this trend?  Does it have anything to do with what has recently become known at Tiger Parenting as popularized by Amy Chua's Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother? I hope this report generates additional research to get more visibility into this topic.  You can read the NAMI report it here

More Useful Social Media Links from Twitter Today

• 5 Mistakes to Avoid when Marketing Online: http://bit.ly/hv5HEf from @peterjamesfreer
• Useful Resources and Tips for Managing Your Virtual Staff: http://bit.ly/ijr6Sr from @peterjamesfreer

No one is glamorous all the time: Even Gloria, the Modern Family Colombian bombshell

Who is this woman?  On a gray cold day even Sofia Vergara aka Modern Family's Colombian bombshell Gloria looks a tad frumpy.  Can a good makeup artist transform me like that?!