Mail Call: Part 2

It's after 3 in the morning and I still can't sleep, so I figure I should try to accomplish something rather than just staring at the ceiling for hours.

Before I get to the post thing, I just wanted to throw it out there that I watched Food Revolution episode three yesterday afternoon and was, once again, impressed. This time I watched over at hulu.com and that seemed to work far better for me - not as many annoying repeat ads and better streaming. So check it out if you haven't.

So the following cards are, once again, cards that I really like. These ones all sort of have to do with other places. I'm really desperate to get out of my city lately, so every card I get from some place else looks really interesting to me. But these ones were particularly fun.

This card was sent from Kuala Lumpur and the building is actually the railway station there.

This is Lake Louise in Banff National Park in Canada. Such a gorgeous view - really wouldn't mind seeing it in person!

I really like cities and all the bright lights they have to offer at night. I think I'd like to visit all of Australia, not just Brisbane.

My mind keeps wandering to California a lot lately. I'm 100% positive I'll get out there in the next couple of years.

This is an old ad card sort of thing for a motel in Biloxi, Miss. Nothing super special to most people, I'm sure, but I really like it.

I can't decide where I want to be lately. I've really got no idea. But I don't particularly want to be where I am now. I guess I just kind of want to see stuff. And I've got a passport that expires in 2014, so I'm kind of itching to get out of the country a little bit. Who knows...maybe something will come up in the next year or so.

Mail Call: Part 1

I haven't shared my mail in awhile, but that doesn't mean I haven't been putting it aside for such things. I scanned in a bunch of postcards this morning and thought I'd share my favorites over the next couple of days. Today's cards are all handmade.

This photo was taken in an independent bookstore in Oslo by the sender. The postcard came from Leisha in Norway.

Yet another fun card from Carroll. She said the card was made a week before she found out she'd be sending to me. The universe just played another little trick!

This card came from Grant in Taiwan as a thank you for a card I sent him. What it says is the opposite of how I feel - I can express myself, but I can't draw my way out of a paper bag.

This one's from Alexis in Canada. The polaroid on the front is a real one.

In which I fail to be graceful and elegant...

So I had a gift certificate for a certain online shop and I used it to buy a really cute pair of ballet flat-ish shoes. They're a pale lavender color and are possibly the most comfortable shoes I own now. Shoes by Blowfish are always comfortable as far as I can tell. Anyway, they arrived yesterday afternoon and I immediately ripped them out of the box in a whirlwind of tissue paper and cardboard.

Anyway, I tried them on and they fit perfectly and I wanted to take a picture to share in my joy over this simple little event. After I took this picture, I promptly kicked the shoes off (who am I kidding - I took them off carefully and placed them back into their safe little box), put my flip-flops on, and walked into the bathroom so I could get ready to meet a friend for dinner. Upon exiting the bathroom, I gracefully kicked into the edge of the bathroom door. I'm like at least 125% positive that I broke at least two toes. Possibly like 3. Or two and a half.

I'm sure I've probably broken a toe before, just from being clumsy and/or reckless. But I've never had lasting pain due to it. Is it weird that I have pain radiating up through the top of my foot to my ankle? Anybody an expert on these things?

It's About Time

Yesterday, I had some time available and took it upon myself to watch the first two episodes of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. I'm actually really glad I did this. You might not be though, because now you get to listen to me talk about it! This is going to be a very long entry, and I know not everyone will read it, but I hope that someone will find it of interest.

I'm sure most people these days have at least a vague idea of who Jamie Oliver is. He made his leap into fame with his first television show, The Naked Chef, in which he taught viewers how to make stripped down meals using only a few quality ingredients. Since then, he's hosted several shows, published several cookbooks, opened some restaurants, and begun his crusade to make the world a slightly healthier place.

I've always enjoyed watching Jamie do his thing. Although much of his food is not at all up my alley, I think he is a very talented chef and I enjoy his personality and approach to cooking. So when the Jamie's School Dinners program popped up (I still lived at home then), I of course tuned in to see what it was all about.

This program began with the idea of changing the food standards of schools in Great Britain. Jamie was of the opinion that the foods were unhealthy (never fresh, but processed) and unbalanced, and that this was unfair to the kids because they had no choice in the matter. They were eating what was fed to them, without hesitation, and it was setting them up poorly to be able to manage their dietary health in the future.

Now let's take a break. I understand that you can't go around telling people what to eat/do/say/think. I get that. But children don't know any better. And in the circumstance that existed when this program began, the people that should have been teaching them (i.e., teachers and other school officials, and the parents) weren't - either because they didn't care or they were ill-informed themselves. Being healthy is important. I will argue that until my dying day - a stable, healthy diet and exercise are just priceless. I understand that everyone can make his/her own individual choice as to whether or not to be healthy. I don't understand why anyone would actively choose to be unhealthy, but it happens - because being healthy is difficult. It takes work, and even costs more. Bottom line is, whether one chooses to make decisions to better his/her life is not my business, but I feel that people should at least have the education necessary to understand the choices that they're making for themselves and their children.

Jamie experienced great success with his program to improve school food systems in Great Britain. And this is how we have reached the current day, where Jamie's Food Revolution begins.

The Food Revolution series begins in the town of Huntingdon, West Virginia. This city is one of the unhealthiest cities in America, a statistic based on death rates and other factors I don't understand (I don't work for the government, but I'm sure they've published some more information on this somewhere). Upon his arrival in the town, Jamie is met with much opposition and skepticism. He is given no respect and no appreciation for his efforts. This, although upsetting, is the world we live in - people don't like change initiated from outside sources. We are wired to assume that if someone is trying to change us, whether for better or for worse, it must mean that we're not doing a good enough job on our own, that we're incompetent, lazy, stupid, or just plain incapable.

It seems that Jamie spends a lot of his time trying to reassure the locals that he's trying to help and that he doesn't mean any disrespect to them. I can understand both sides of the situation. But I think it's admirable of someone to leave their home and their family for months to try to help others that are just strangers.

In the first two episodes, we see a week of Chef Oliver trying to get kids in a school to actually eat the healthy meals he's prepared while jumping through hoops to make sure he is preparing them to meet the USDA school lunch standards. There is a very disconcerting scene in which, while trying to get the kids excited about healthy food, Jamie holds up various vegetables in front of a class of first graders. A child identifies a bunch of tomatoes as "potatoes", another an eggplant as a pear, and after a hint "egg salad", and so on. It was terrifying to think that, not only aren't these kids learning these things in school, but they're not learning them at home either.

Jamie also takes the time to visit a family (we only see one on the show so far, but he says there were a few) in an effort to help out with health at home too. The family that he visited, the Edwards, had a freezer stacked full of frozen pizzas, and a little fryer on their countertop which was used at nearly every meal. They made all of the food they would normally cook in a week and piled it onto the kitchen table. It was a huge pile of golden brown. Nothing in the pile was fresh or colorful. The mother of the family was upset when she saw it all in one place and agreed to try to change the situation. They had a funeral for the fryer, and vowed to start anew. Jamie took them shopping, and ended up leaving them with a week's recipes for simple, healthy dishes. He also spoke to one of the sons in the family before he left. The boy was very overweight and often teased at school. He stated that he wanted to change his weight and knew that the food choices his family was making were not the right ones. He even let it slip that he wanted to learn how to cook and maybe to become a chef one day. Later in the show, Jamie gives him some private lessons at a kitchen set up specifically for the show, where any of the townspeople can visit for free cooking lessons or a square meal.

In the second episode, Jamie returns to the Edwards home, where the family says they've been cooking the recipes and loving them, only to find way too many leftover ingredients and a daughter who let's slip that they had "pizza" (not one of the meals in the recipe plan). Jamie takes the family to the hospital for check-ups, which the children have not had in years. The boy who wanted to learn to cook has a diabetes scare - he is showing signs but does not test positive. This seems to be a turning point for the family, when the doctor tells them that a change needs to occur for their son's sake and it needs to occur now.

The second episode ends with the school superintendent and the woman in charge of enforcing USDA standards give Jamie permission to spend a few more weeks in the school, and declare his first week successful.

>> INTERMISSION <<

Okay. So I'm sure that if anybody has made it this far, they're curious as to why I'm waffling on and on about how great this guy is and blah blah blah. And while I do think Oliver's a good guy, it's not him that I'm so pleased with, it's the initiative. While I was watching yesterday, on more than one occasion, I felt tears start to well up. I cry at movies all the time, but I can't recall instances of television tears. And it wasn't watching other people cry that upset me - it was the poor kids. They have been set up for failure, and it kills me. And I know that it's not only in Huntingdon, it's all over the U.S.A., and I'm sure in some other countries as well. And I'm also upset by the lack of willingness to stop it.

If I were in the place of one of the parents of a child at this school, and I were to not have any food knowledge AT ALL, at the very least my jaw would be hitting the floor when some of the information was revealed to me. I would be demanding change or creating it on my own. It's just shocking to me that people see their weight approaching ridiculously high numbers and don't feel the need to change it. I know sometimes there are external circumstances for folks being overweight, but there aren't enough of those external circumstances in the world to justify the obesity in American society.

This cause is a cause I really believe in. As life expectancies are dropping and weights are rising across the country, we should be welcome change in with open arms. The generation of children in primary school now is the first generation whose parents are expected to outlive them, according to a statistic given on the show. I can't verify this "statistic", but I believe it. All signs point to yes.

I'm lucky enough to have the means and the information to live a mostly healthy life right now - I'm not perfect, but I try to do things that are generally good for me and try to keep myself mostly in check. Not everyone is as lucky. I can't give them millions of dollars to shop at Whole Foods and buy all natural and fresh ingredients for their meals. But I can do my best to inform those who will listen, and I can give my support to someone, in this case Jamie Oliver, who has a far wider reach than I ever will and who isn't willing to accept failure.

So I'm done ranting and carrying on. I really encourage everybody to watch the show if possible, just once, and give it a chance. The information is really shocking, and even if you already understand the problem, it's an interesting program. It's on Friday nights on ABC, or you can watch it for free at abc.com like I did.

And lastly, if you believe in this cause and you feel so inclined, sign the petition. I'm not typically a petition type of girl, but this is one change I'd like to see happen.

I'll Stop Soon, Promise

I have to - this takes a toll on my body...

Last night, through some old channels, I was able to acquire tickets to see Mat Kearney & Ingrid Michaelson at the Music Farm here in Charleston. It wasn't a planned outing, but rather something that sort of came together at the last minute and worked out well.

Staci and I grabbed early dinner at Taste of India west of the Ashley. I haven't been there in a long time, but it was about as good as I remembered. Our usual Indian restaurant, Nirlep, isn't open on Mondays. Coincidentally, we usually want Indian food on Mondays.

Anyway, after that, we killed some time downtown at Kudu coffee. We kind of disrupted the illegal music sharing session of two people sitting in the same little nook we decided to occupy for a bit. The girl of this pair left and the guy was left to awkwardly listen in on our conversations. Every now and then, I caught him barely smiling out of the corner of my eye. Staci complimented his shoes - Vans slip-ons with dinosaurs on them, actually kind of fun - in an attempt to make conversation and take him out of the awkward listener stage, but he seemed very shy and was not into keeping up long-term conversation with us.

After an hour or so, we headed to the venue. We didn't get there ridiculously early, but somehow still ended up in the front row. Somebody is looking out for my short little self.

The concert was co-billed between Ingrid and Mat, and the opener was Cara Salimando. I've never heard of her before. She has a good voice but came off as being very young to me. Maybe she's not - but her material just seemed very young. It was a bit naive, but I didn't hate it.

Mat Kearney was up after that. He put on a good show, full of energy and interesting sidebars. Staci and I got chastised for making an inside joke while he had the audience clapping along - our joke disrupted the clapping and he stared us down and showed us how to do it right. I felt like I'd been slapped on the knuckles by a nun. He kept making very long eye contact with me and I thought it was kind of awkward, but figured it was just something he does. However, after his set, two girls approached me and started grilling me with questions. It went something like this: "Do you know Mat Kearney? - No. - Well I think you do now! - Why? - He kept staring at you. - Yes, I noticed. - We thought you were friends with him or his sister or something. - No..no. - Well, you are lucky!" I don't know why that makes me lucky. I guess it's the groupie thing - some girls want the attention of stars and want to be adored by them. I don't really care. Yes, it's kind of a fun little anecdote, but I'm not going to be like "OooHHhh he thinks I'm pretty!" or whatever. I figured I'd be bored on stage and find one person to fixate on too. At the end of the day, stars are people, and I still judge them on whether or not they're assholes - just like normal folks.

Ingrid Michaelson wrapped up the night. I knew most of her material going in, but I'm more of a casual listener, so it was interesting to hear her playing songs I wasn't SO overly familiar with. I like her attitude - she says things similar to things I say and seems to have the same sense of humor. That could be a stage thing, but it made me smile. I have a constant paranoia of people not getting me at all, so even if someone fake understands, that's cool. Her show involved lots of fun little bits. At the end of one song, all of the band members switched to a different instrument, and the bassist resumed singing the song. There was also some choreography and the encore boasted a cover of Death Cab for Cutie's "I Will Follow You Into The Dark", beginning with only Mat and Ingrid on stage, but then bringing in all the members from all the bands.

Anyway, it was an interesting show. I didn't intend upon going, but I knew that by the end of the week, I'd be bored and dying to get out of the apartment with nowhere to go. So I figured I should seize the opportunity while I had it.

Saturday night I drove to Savannah, GA to see She & Him play at the Trustees' Theater as part of the Savannah Music Festival. I like Savannah and the drive there is fairly short but they don't usually have concerts worth seeing.

I had an extra ticket because a friend canceled on me, so I ended up selling it when I got there to a student from SCAD. She got stuck sitting next to me for the night, but she was nice enough so it was okay. We talked for about an hour before the show began.

There was no opening act, so the show was much shorter than I'm used to. Zooey Deschanel walked out on stage wearing a smile and a gorgeous pink dress. I love her mannerisms - she just carries herself very well. And I'm pretty sure she's the most beautiful woman alive. I was surprised by her voice live. It was by no means bad, just a little different in tone from on the album. But she projects well, and was very fun to watch.

They played a good mix of songs from their first album and also the second, which was just released a few days ago. Zooey, of course, was accompanied by m.ward (the "Him" in She & Him), and also by a band consisting of a drummer, rhythm guitarist, bassist, and two backup vocalists who also played some percussion and keys. Surprisingly, though, m.ward sort of hung out of to the side of the stage, very rarely interjecting himself into Zooey's stage show.

The crowd at the concert was fairly mixed - about half and half between SCAD students and older folks, some of which were very obviously wealthy, high society types who probably attended every event of the Festival. I don't hate old people, it was just weird to see them milling around in suits and fancy dresses like they were at the opera or a gallery opening or something.

I wish I had pictures or video to share, but per the artist's request, such things were not allowed. I don't typically break that rule - especially not in a small venue. As far as I can tell, only one video has surfaced so far on YouTube, and it's not so worth seeing.

Anyway, it was a good time and I'm glad I had the opportunity to go. And as always, I enjoyed Savannah - such a nice little city. I'd never want to live there, but I'm sure I'll visit it a few more times before I leave the South.

from the interwebs

Food Cravings. Gah.

I am a person who is very in tune to what I'm eating, considering I don't eat much. Every season brings a change in the type of food I'm eating, and since it's starting to warm up, the cravings for fresh, light food are showing up too.

Tomatoes are always the first thing I start thinking about. They're simple enough to come by, usually, so I've already taken care of that. But for the past week or so I've been thinking about this dish I had while visiting a friend in New York. There's an Indian restaurant near his place called Spice Village and they have the most kick-ass mango salad ever. I don't remember what exactly is even in it other than mangoes, but I can't forget the flavor. It's sweet and spicy at the same time, and very fresh and juicy. I'm pretty sure that up close, it looked like this:

om nom nom...

So I think before this weekend rolls around, if I can get some nice mangoes, I'm going to attempt to make this. I'm sure there has to be a similar recipe online somewhere!

That's really it. I didn't have anything of importance to say, just am fixating on fooood. Anybody else? Weird cravings?

SPOON

I like spoon - the utensil, the activity of, and the band. So naturally, this entry makes sense.

This past Saturday, Staci and I went to see Spoon play in Atlanta. I've always really liked this band and I had missed two previous chances to see them play, so when I saw tickets on sale for this time around, I couldn't pass it up.

There were two openers. The Strange Boys started the night off. They're a band out of Austin, TX. I wasn't really sure how I felt about them. I thought they had some talent - was impressed with the music, but just felt like in some instances the songs didn't pull together well. And the singer's voice just wasn't my favorite thing in the entire world. It could just be my picky opinion though - I've definitely heard worse opening acts before.

The second band on was Deerhunter. They hail from Marietta, GA, which is right outside of Atlanta. I was very impressed with them. The name sounded familiar, but I had never heard any of their material before. They put on a good show and I was happy to get the chance to see them.

Spoon came on at around 10:30. Their stage set was interesting, with various light installations. Britt Daniel walked onto the stage with a smile on his face and the crowd just lost it - I don't think the Tabernacle was so packed the last time I was there. Britt's smile carried through for the rest of the night. He really seemed to be enjoying himself on stage and it definitely made a difference in the show. It was enjoyable to watch and listen to. I was impressed by their performance, and judging by the bouncing floor underneath my feet and the screaming and singing of the people around me, so was everyone else. I definitely hope to see the band play again in the future.

I don't have a set list this time around, but I have a few videos over on YouTube (click pleeeease) and I have some pictures as well:

Happy Spring!

Aside from today, it's been fairly warm here in Charleston. I'm enjoying the nice weather and am very happy to have more daylight in the evening. It also seems that as Spring starts to kick in, things in my life start to pick up a little bit. I've been having some personal issues that I need to sort out, but otherwise things are going alright.

My life is sort of up in the air. I'm stuck in a situation that I don't really like, as far as school and the city I live in and all of that stuff goes. I've been having a lot more back pain and headaches lately, and struggling with school because of it. It's sort of made me question if I'm doing the right thing, or if there's some other direction in which I should be pushing my life. I've been thinking a lot about culinary school recently. It's something I've always wanted to do and I think it'd make me very happy. Needless to say, I've got a lot of decisions to make and they're not as easy as I'd like them to be.

Saturday, Staci and I went to Atlanta to see Spoon at the Tabernacle. It was the longest drive ever (both ways), but we had a good time and laughed a lot. I'll post more about that tomorrow.

I'm trying to clean out my life - to get rid of all the stuff that sits around in closets. I need the money and I would like to have a less cluttered life. Some things, it's been easy for me to part with. But others are really hard. The two main things that fall into the latter category are my bike and a piece of art. I can't ride bike so often where I live - I'm in between 2 busy, busy highways and there is not a shoulder for me to ride on. I know, many people just take a chunk out of the road because "Share The Road" and all of that business. I'm just not into that - I'd prefer to be at least 95% safe. The piece of art is one that I purchased during a relationship which has since ended. It's all mushy and sentimental, but I'm having a hard time letting it go - not because of the ties to that relationship, but because it was my first "real" piece of art that I purchased. It's a Brian Andreas sculpture. See?

Today, I helped my friend, Trisha, with another photo shoot that she had to do for a school project. It's always a fun time, and always good to catch up with her. Although, today we were in the studio at her college and it's a very weird feeling to be at a college that's not the one you attend. I felt like a freshman all over again! She said she'd share those shots with me when she uploads them, so maybe I'll have some to share.

Not much else is new. I've rearranged my living room furniture and ended up with a more open and flowy layout. I've also been moving my plants around to sort of add some life to this place. And bringing flowers in. They really make a difference in the place.

Meh

This past week has not been a fantastic one for me. I made far more visits to various doctors' offices and pharmacies than I care to in an entire year. Everything's okay, just having some issues that are really mucking around with my normal life.

Highlight of the week was Friday night. I went with Staci (who else - she is probably so sick of me!) to the Music Farm downtown to see Henry Rollins. It was weird walking into that venue and seeing rows of chairs - makes the place look much smaller. As expected, a good time was had by all. As Staci so eloquently said, it was "entertaining and insightful". Also the crowd was much less annoying than the usual Music Farm audience, so that was a plus. I didn't take as many photos because I was actually paying attention, and as it were, it's very hard to get a photo of someone who moves around so much. Soooo here's a nice blurry picture:

I'm on spring break this week and it will be nice to rest and sort of catch up on things. I had hoped to go somewhere, but my financial situation doesn't allow it. Maybe I'll be able to get out and about somewhere local, but I'm just really honestly tired after this past week. So..we'll see.

I had a job interview on Tuesday. No word back on whether I got the job or not, but I'm really hoping so. The hiring manager figured they'd be prepared to make a decision by the middle of this week, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. It'll be mildly hard work, but the pay will be decent and that's what I need at the moment.

In other news, it seems that the vegan "blogosphere" is abuzz with pancake recipes. I'm not a big fan of pancakes. Never have been. But for the past couple of weeks, I keep thinking about them. So...this week, I'm going to make pancakes. And I'm going to enjoy them, dammit.