Requiem for a lost warrior: Buster the cat update

Last week the great hero-cat Buster got rode out of town on a rail.  Granted living with a warrior is not easy.  Blood is shed.  Relationships can be strained.  Frequently, stitches are required.  But my mouser is gone and I am sad.  The first incident was unfortunate -- Buster attacked another cat.  But cats do fight each other. It's their nature.  The second incident was also unfortunate.  Buster sent a little white dog to the vet hospital but the stupid dog (it's my dog so I can say this) shouldn'ta oughta have chased after that particular cat.  I don't care if Buster was sitting on our front walk. The dog should have known she was out classed by a factor of 10.  Sadly, Buster left gashes on the arm of the sweet  lady who walks the beagle and animal control had enough. Buster was relocated.  My peaches got eaten by squirrels no doubt while they were singing ding dong the cat is dead in celebration of their new freedom.  Goodbye Buster.  I will miss your mad skills even if you were a menace. 

China: 5000 Years of History in 26 Days

Dear readers. Can you forgive my 30 days of silence? I can only offer the excuse that access to Blogger is blocked in China.

From July 1-26 I toured that massive country including Beijing, Xi'an and Shanghai with a group of Chinese-born teenagers including my daughter Lia and her dear friend Jenny.

During the first half of the trip our days were managed by CTS (aka China Travel Service). We luxuriated in four star hotels and gorged on scrumptious multi-course banquets. Educated, diplomatic and well-connected tour guides shepherded us to the front of endless lines as we worked our way through the sights that represent major moments in Chinese history.

Our long but comfortable march took us through Tienanmen Square, The Forbidden City, The Great Wall, The Peking Opera School, The Song and Tang Dynasties, as well as art museums, shadow puppet shows, the terracotta warriors, traditional gardens, traditional foods, traditional shops, river towns and more.... all representing what seems like an endless stream of human activity and more than 5,000 years of Chinese history.

Between sights, we traveled on first rate tour buses with good sound systems and good air conditioning--the kind of buses that are never too hot or too cold, too loud or too soft. Together with  40 wonderful fellow traveler we scratched at the surface of a country that is too big to understand in the same way that the Grand Canyon is too deep to comprehend until you get on a mule and plunge the depths.


During the second half of the trip our accommodations changed. We stayed in a Chinese boarding school--think hard beds, bad food, gasping air conditioners and guarded gates to keep us in as much as to keep others out.  Uncomfortable?  Oh yeah.  But here we were invited to pass through a massive gates that both figuratively and literally guard the guts of China and here we began to reach a deeper level of understanding about what it means to be part of the complex ancient and at the same time all new behemoth of China rising.

I hope to work through my memories and photos with you over then next few days.  Take care and thanks for your patience.

911 for a charred pot

Before: a charred mess
of a chili pot

Maybe it's my approach to cooking.  For one thing, perhaps smoking hot isn't the best temperature for every food.  For another, when food is bubbling away, maybe it would help to peek under the lid once in awhile...maybe a little stir would help.  Whatever it is, I find myself trying to repair a mess of charred crust on the bottom of my pots now and then. If you have a beloved pot with charred food on the bottom don't despair,  this no-fail method will get your pot back on the cooking line fast.

After: ready for the next fire

• Fill the ruined pot with water ... 3/4 full is a good start
• Add a generous handful of baking soda
• Cover and heat to boiling
• Turn down the heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes
• Use a heat-proof spatula to scrape the bottom while it simmers
• Empty the mess into the sink and fill with HOT water
• Scrub the remaining black crust with baking soda using a scratch-proof scrubbing pad (like the back of a blue sponge)
• Rinse and repeat if necessary.  

Broccoli for Jessica

Broccoli can be fun!  Well...maybe fun isn't exactly the right word, but it you work with this cancer fighting ninja, you can create a healthy side dish that doesn't suck.  Here's how:

• Chop a head of broccoli into small pieces (less than an inch).
• Coat them in olive oil. I use extra virgin and make sure they are.
• Throw them in a smoking hot wok or frying pan.
• Toss in a generous helping of salt and pepper.
• Sautee for 3-4 minutes.

The Real Deal: Seasoning Cast Iron Woks and Pans

Seasoning a cast iron wok

I've been singularly unimpressed by the advice on the web about seasoning cast iron pans and woks.  I guess you get what you pay for right?  Luckily enough, the good people at Cook's Illustrated  have taken matters into their capable hands in their "Summer Grilling" issue.  Adapting their technique for seasoning cast iron grills, here's the method that finally worked to give my cast iron wok a lovely indelible sheen.

1. Heat the pan as hot as possible. You're aiming for smoking hot. 
2. Dab a smidgen of cooking oil on a paper towel or rag.  Using tongs rub the oil on the hot cast iron until it turns dull.  Expect a lot of smoke... use the vent or better, do it outside on the grill.
3. Repeat
4. Repeat
5. Repeat and keep repeating until the metal stays shiny. It took me about 8 repetitions.

This method creates a sheen on the wok.  The wok becomes remarkably easy to clean... just wipe it down.  Nothing sticks.  Thank you Cooks Illustrated.  It's well worth the cost of an issue to know these things.

Bermuda Grass Update

In April I spent a few hours pulling, digging and grubbing out all the little pieces of Bermuda grass I could find in a few patches of my garden.  This included rebuilding some of my lambs ear beds.   So far the results aren't bad.  I keep after the new growth as it emerges.  The real story will be told in August when the ground gets hard and no amount of water will keep plants alive in this bay clay soil.

Garden Update June 7, 2011: The Triumph of Roses

Last year June 7th brought my first handful of green beans and I thought last year was cold... this year the weather was cold and rainy until yesterday and nothing is happy about it.  The basil is shivering, the tomatoes are slacking off.  The poor Italian lemon is bereft in a poor canopy of scraggly yellow leaves.  On the plus side, the lettuce is still growing and the strawberries pay this kind of weather no-never-mind. Also doing well are mint, chocolate mint and red chard.  And roses... the roses always seem to triumph don't they?

Great Wall of Lettuce a Year Later: Failure Report

While the Great Wall of Lettuce was a wonderful experiment.  It was a failed gardening technique.  Because I was unwilling to go the full 9 yards into hydroponics, the plants were spindly and undernourished.  I wanted to use worm tea as fertilizer but it didn't really work that well.   And while the plants got sufficient water, they lacked sufficient sun.  If I had more energy this year I would try it again in a more felicitous exposure, but I suspect that the roots would burn.  Maybe in the fall.   Maybe one of you guys is willing to try the project and report back.  I would like to find a way to make it work.  And I hear that persistence is the character trait most responsible for successful living.

Advice for Living Well

Now that I feel old, here's my list of things I use to manage my life.

(1) Don't get angry... nothing gets me off kilter more than anger.  And I've learned that nothing is worth the damage it does in terms of the impact on my family.  So whenever someone pisses me off I have learned to ask myself: it is worth it?  As a result I walk away from a lot of potential conflict.   

(2) Nothing is worth getting sick over ... nothing.  I do less at work.  I care less about volunteer positions.   I make mistakes, say I'm sorry and move on.  I blow off high maintenance people.  I define my responsibilities in a newly narrow band.  I mute a lot of emotions that would otherwise take over my life. 

(3) Yoga, garden and walk.  Limit aerobic activity to days when I feel marvelous (1x per year?). Gardening... some days it means dragging myself outside, sitting on the grass and scratching the dirt with a fork -- but touching nature is very healing for me. 

(4) Art and dream therapy... both really free me from the stranglehold of untended emotions.  When emotions get stuck in my body but don't have a path to my rational mind, art helps release them.  I draw impressionistic images that feel to me like the sensations in by body then I list words to describe what I see in the picture. 

(5) Forcing myself to stick to a routine and good sleep habits.  Up by 8am weekdays, 9:30am weekends... no matter what.  No naps.  In bed by 10pm.  No media before bedtime.  If (when) I get into a cycle of waking up at night I just get up and read or practice mindfulness meditations lying in bed.  I let go of my fear about being exhausted the next day... oh well... a slow day tomorrow... so it goes.  Pasta for dinner again.

(6) Mindfulness, forgiveness and boundaries.   Read a lot of books on these topics.  Seek out experiences that bring them into focus for me.  I really like the books "Boundaries" by "Townsend and Cloud"

(7) Speak like a preacher when necessary.... I find myself blathering a bunch of aphorisms from my youth like a mantra... They are very soothing.  Other people look at me like I'm a nut case but so what. 

(8) Get outside in the sun as often as possible even if that means sitting in a chair wrapped in a blanket.  Direct sunlight helps me regulate the body clock.

How to Draw a Tiger in Adobe Illustrator

Ed Emberley's Drawing Book of Animals inspired the instructions below where you can learn how to draw a tiger in Adobe Illustrator.

(Click image to for a larger view.)

Click to see more Ed Emberley Drawing Books

How to Draw a Tiger in Adobe Illustrator

Ding Dong Bin Laden's Dead: Munchkins rejoice at the death of the Wicked Witch

Are you a good witch or a bad witch?  Dorthy frees the Munchkins

Just as the Wicked Witch of the West terrorized Munchkinland in the Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, Osama Bin Laden has terrorized the United States and the world since the tragedy of 9/11 with the destruction of the Twin Towers, the assault on the Pentagon and the downing of flight 93 in a Pennsylvania field.  Much like the Munchkins celebrated the death of the Wicked Witch of the East, the United States is celebrating the end of this bully and the cloud of fear we lived under as a result. Ding Dong the Witch is Dead indeed. 

Bin Laden wasn't a witch.  He was a maniac and the world is well rid of him and his malicious hatred. But underneath This American Munchkin-like joy at his death, there's ambivalence too.  To quote the Colbert Report:  "I'm as giddy as a schoolgirl who just shot bin Laden in the eye... I hope I am never again this happy over someone's death."   This quote from Martin Luther King in his book Strength to Love captures my sentiments: "Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that."  But so does this quote from Clarence Darrow of Scopes Monkey Trial Fame: "I have never killed any one, but I have read some obituary notices with great satisfaction." 

The emotional reality of Bin Laden's death lies somewhere between Munchkin like joy and a Christ-like total forgiveness.

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?! 

The Day in Great Links about Marketing and Social Media

• RT @marshacollier: Excellent Social Media Guidelines from IBM http://ibm.co/e3idk3 #custserv
• RT @copyblogger: The Guaranteed Way to Radically Improve Your Copywriting - http://copy.bz/dXTm0b
• The 4 Stages Of Understanding Twitter… http://t.co/oqVaYRQ via @bitrebels @jeanettejoy:
• online advertising banner ads rewards the wrong behavior in content that is volume=more money ; volume=crap; crap =unhappy users