Saturday, November 22, 2008
28,704 words in with just over 8 days to go : )
Now that they were in their apartment, there was no need to go to grammas. There was no crisis to get her there. In fact, it was really good for her father. He could come and go as he pleased since he had handed over all the responsibility to Jainnie. Everything he needed was in place. It worked for him. Jainnie started to feel trapped, though. She needed those crises to get her free. As each day went by, she felt more suffocated. She plotted to runaway. One day, she convinced her friend, Lisa, to join her in leaving their respective unhappy lives. Lisa was her only friend from school. They bonded since Lisa was willing to risk being late for school in order to wait for the candy shop to open. They would buy cinnamon oil and toothpicks and sell home-made cinnamon sticks to their fellow classmates for cheap. They were in business together. They both lived with their respective single parent and hated it. Lisa confided in Jainnie about her life at home. Jainnie didn’t disclose as much information about her life but made it clear they were in the same boat. Jainnie and her father lived across the street from the Little Sisters of the Poor. Jainnie and Lisa made a plan to runaway from their horrible lives. Certainly they knew they could make money. They had already proven that. And they had both survived in their own private hells up to this point. They knew they could make it work. On a Sunday afternoon, they left. Jainnie’s dad was passed out on the couch with the Lucille Ball show blaring in the background. He wouldn’t come around for a long time but Jainnie left through her bedroom window just to make sure he wouldn’t wake amidst her escape. Lisa met Jainnie at the corner outside her and her mother’s apartment. It took Jainnie an hour to walk to Lisa’s neighborhood. She could taste her freedom with every block she walked away from twenty-ninth street place.
They had planned only so far, though, in that they agreed they could survive and they would do it together. Past their declared self-sufficiency, however, they didn’t have a solid plan. Jainnie had more practical experience in the world and in actually being outdoors at night. She had been prepared and she wasn’t frightened. As is got darker, Lisa began to panic. She was also getting hungry. Jainnie was serious about this running away business but she soon realized her partner was in over her head. They hadn’t gotten very far past Lisa’s apartment, when Lisa realized that she didn’t really have it so bad at home with her mom but Jainnie was confident and convinced her to continue. Lisa’s nerve faded, though, with the sunlight. Jainnie understood her friend and tried to comfort her. Jainnie led them to the chapel in the Little Sister’s of the Poor, where it was quiet and Jainnie could think. Jainnie thought Lisa would feel safer there too. As they sat behind one of the pews, they wondered if the sisters would let them live there. They could explain their situations and certainly they would be welcomed to stay. The Little Sisters of the Poor was a place where the elderly were cared for, fed, and looked after because they had nobody to do it for them any longer. Jainnie and Lisa couldn’t see, with the exception of their being nine and ten years old, why their situation was any different.
Friday, November 21, 2008
BIG ASS PAELLA
*please note that the paella pan was 4 feet wide, it was one of the greatest cooking experiences of my life
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
LOCO for COCO
ok seriously, coconut milk is the new chicken broth. Yes, that's right ladies, you heard it hear first. Pinto beans, add a little coconut milk, spinach, top it off with coconut milk, eggplant, yucca, sweet potato, plantain all of it goes with coconut milk.
You could pour it all over your ass and it would taste good. I'm telling you it is no joke. And I'm talking about REAL coconut milk, as in crack open a coconut, grate, put it in a sieve and pour warm water over it and then TA DA, it's like buttah baby.
Recipes to come.
Love you both so much.
xo
You could pour it all over your ass and it would taste good. I'm telling you it is no joke. And I'm talking about REAL coconut milk, as in crack open a coconut, grate, put it in a sieve and pour warm water over it and then TA DA, it's like buttah baby.
Recipes to come.
Love you both so much.
xo
"CULTIVATE HAPPINESS IN YOUR OWN LIFE"
Nov. 5, 2008
Dear Brother Obama,
You have no idea, really, of how profound this moment is for us. Us being the black people of the Southern United States. You think you know, because you are thoughtful, and you have studied our history. But seeing you deliver the torch so many others before you carried, year after year, decade after decade, century after century, only to be struck down before igniting the flame of justice and of law, is almost more than the heart can bear. And yet, this observation is not intended to burden you, for you are of a different time, and, indeed, because of all the relay runners before you, North America is a different place. It is really only to say: Well done. We knew, through all the generations, that you were with us, in us, the best of the spirit of Africa and of the Americas. Knowing this, that you would actually appear, someday, was part of our strength. Seeing you take your rightful place, based solely on your wisdom, stamina and character, is a balm for the weary warriors of hope, previously only sung about.
I would advise you to remember that you did not create the disaster that the world is experiencing, and you alone are not responsible for bringing the world back to balance. A primary responsibility that you do have, however, is to cultivate happiness in your own life. To make a schedule that permits sufficient time of rest and play with your gorgeous wife and lovely daughters. And so on. One gathers that your family is large. We are used to seeing men in the White House soon become juiceless and as white-haired as the building; we notice their wives and children looking strained and stressed. They soon have smiles so lacking in joy that they remind us of scissors. This is no way to lead. Nor does your family deserve this fate. One way of thinking about all this is: It is so bad now that there is no excuse not to relax. From your happy, relaxed state, you can model real success, which is all that so many people in the world really want. They may buy endless cars and houses and furs and gobble up all the attention and space they can manage, or barely manage, but this is because it is not yet clear to them that success is truly an inside job. That it is within the reach of almost everyone.
I would further advise you not to take on other people's enemies. Most damage that others do to us is out of fear, humiliation and pain. Those feelings occur in all of us, not just in those of us who profess a certain religious or racial devotion. We must learn actually not to have enemies, but only confused adversaries who are ourselves in disguise. It is understood by all that you are commander in chief of the United States and are sworn to protect our beloved country; this we understand, completely. However, as my mother used to say, quoting a Bible with which I often fought, "hate the sin, but love the sinner." There must be no more crushing of whole communities, no more torture, no more dehumanizing as a means of ruling a people's spirit. This has already happened to people of color, poor people, women, children. We see where this leads, where it has led.
A good model of how to "work with the enemy" internally is presented by the Dalai Lama, in his endless caretaking of his soul as he confronts the Chinese government that invaded Tibet. Because, finally, it is the soul that must be preserved, if one is to remain a credible leader. All else might be lost; but when the soul dies, the connection to earth, to peoples, to animals, to rivers, to mountain ranges, purple and majestic, also dies. And your smile, with which we watch you do gracious battle with unjust characterizations, distortions and lies, is that expression of healthy self-worth, spirit and soul, that, kept happy and free and relaxed, can find an answering smile in all of us, lighting our way, and brightening the world.
We are the ones we have been waiting for.
In Peace and Joy,
Alice Walker
Dear Brother Obama,
You have no idea, really, of how profound this moment is for us. Us being the black people of the Southern United States. You think you know, because you are thoughtful, and you have studied our history. But seeing you deliver the torch so many others before you carried, year after year, decade after decade, century after century, only to be struck down before igniting the flame of justice and of law, is almost more than the heart can bear. And yet, this observation is not intended to burden you, for you are of a different time, and, indeed, because of all the relay runners before you, North America is a different place. It is really only to say: Well done. We knew, through all the generations, that you were with us, in us, the best of the spirit of Africa and of the Americas. Knowing this, that you would actually appear, someday, was part of our strength. Seeing you take your rightful place, based solely on your wisdom, stamina and character, is a balm for the weary warriors of hope, previously only sung about.
I would advise you to remember that you did not create the disaster that the world is experiencing, and you alone are not responsible for bringing the world back to balance. A primary responsibility that you do have, however, is to cultivate happiness in your own life. To make a schedule that permits sufficient time of rest and play with your gorgeous wife and lovely daughters. And so on. One gathers that your family is large. We are used to seeing men in the White House soon become juiceless and as white-haired as the building; we notice their wives and children looking strained and stressed. They soon have smiles so lacking in joy that they remind us of scissors. This is no way to lead. Nor does your family deserve this fate. One way of thinking about all this is: It is so bad now that there is no excuse not to relax. From your happy, relaxed state, you can model real success, which is all that so many people in the world really want. They may buy endless cars and houses and furs and gobble up all the attention and space they can manage, or barely manage, but this is because it is not yet clear to them that success is truly an inside job. That it is within the reach of almost everyone.
I would further advise you not to take on other people's enemies. Most damage that others do to us is out of fear, humiliation and pain. Those feelings occur in all of us, not just in those of us who profess a certain religious or racial devotion. We must learn actually not to have enemies, but only confused adversaries who are ourselves in disguise. It is understood by all that you are commander in chief of the United States and are sworn to protect our beloved country; this we understand, completely. However, as my mother used to say, quoting a Bible with which I often fought, "hate the sin, but love the sinner." There must be no more crushing of whole communities, no more torture, no more dehumanizing as a means of ruling a people's spirit. This has already happened to people of color, poor people, women, children. We see where this leads, where it has led.
A good model of how to "work with the enemy" internally is presented by the Dalai Lama, in his endless caretaking of his soul as he confronts the Chinese government that invaded Tibet. Because, finally, it is the soul that must be preserved, if one is to remain a credible leader. All else might be lost; but when the soul dies, the connection to earth, to peoples, to animals, to rivers, to mountain ranges, purple and majestic, also dies. And your smile, with which we watch you do gracious battle with unjust characterizations, distortions and lies, is that expression of healthy self-worth, spirit and soul, that, kept happy and free and relaxed, can find an answering smile in all of us, lighting our way, and brightening the world.
We are the ones we have been waiting for.
In Peace and Joy,
Alice Walker
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Yes We Can.
I love you my friends.
Here are our super hero costumes from Halloween.
I was reluctuctant and resistant to dress up and then I thought of the two of you.
And I did.
Because the fun I feel in my heart has always been fired by the two of you.
I love love love you.
Here are our super hero costumes from Halloween.
I was reluctuctant and resistant to dress up and then I thought of the two of you.
And I did.
Because the fun I feel in my heart has always been fired by the two of you.
I love love love you.
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