asteroid 612b

2011-04-24T17:47:00.000-07:00

I'm using it somewhat differently, but I've been posting on my Tumblr lately; please check it out.

New years and old cameras

2011-01-24T21:49:00.000-08:00

It's shameful how long it's been.

I won't bore you with the details and excuses of "there's been a lot going on in my life blah blah blah." Suffice it to say, grad school applications are in, job changes are in the works, and pretty much everything is up in the air. I'm hoping to take this time to "reorganize" my house, garden, life etc; but we all know how that goes, especially at this time of year.

Shortly before Christmas I randomly purchased a Minolta film SLR camera, and a couple lenses, on a whim. It's been fun to play with. I'm waiting on another roll to be developed, but I did get a couple decent (or at least interesting) shots from the first roll.

Here are some photos of tasty food we've cooked lately. The Star Wars cookie cutters were a gift I got my boyfriend for Christmas. We had lots of fun cutting, decorating, and eating the cookies!

Star Wars cookies!

Preparing dough for the Star Wars cookies

Blackened salmon, collard greens, and salt-cooked potatoes

Fried tilapia with corn salsa and spinach & avocado salad

Red quinoa, Quorn 'chicken,' mixed greens

Eventually I hope to start using this blog for actual writing-- imagine that!

A California Thanksgiving

2010-11-26T13:39:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a happy and food-filled holiday, however you celebrate it! So far I've heard everything from traditional turkey to Indian buffet..

For me, Thanksgiving in California has come to mean one thing: first-of-the-season crab! Originally we thought about doing cedar-plank salmon this year, but with Dungeness crab at $6 a pound, that seemed like the obvious choice. The sides were more traditional: pumpkin bread, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce. All of which go surprisingly well with crab!

Pumpkin bread

Crab meat, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole, pumpkin bread,
cranberry sauce, and Firestone 14

Somehow the cooking process this year was unusually easy and short, but we also don't have a lot of leftovers. I guess that's the trade-off.

I made the green bean casserole from scratch, really just meaning using a roux and broth instead of canned mushroom soup. I haven't had this dish a lot, so I don't have much to compare it to, but it was pretty well received. I used this recipe at For the Love of Cooking.
The cranberry sauce is one of my favourite Thanksgiving foods, and I love making it. It's so simple, so variable, and makes the kitchen smell awesome.

Fresh Cranberry Sauce

1 cup sugar (I used half brown sugar and half turbinado)

1 cup water

12 oz cranberries (1 package, usually)

the fun part: orange zest or peel, chopped walnuts or pecans, chopped dried apricots or other fruit, cinammon, nutmeg, etc.

Dissolve sugar into boiling water

Add cranberries, bring to a boil; reduce heat, stir occasionally

When cranberries begin to pop, stir in additional ingredients

Continue to simmer until it is no longer 'soupy'

Remove from heat, cool at room temperature, then chill in fridge before serving

The beer was Firestone 14, a special annual blend from Firestone Walker. It's a tasty beer but the alcohol taste comes on a little strong. Mark is aging a second bottle, we'll see if it mellows out.
All in all, a relatively low-stress, high-carb Thanksgiving-- as it should be! Happy holidays!

Kale and Pecorino Salad

2010-10-23T21:13:00.000-07:00

I found this recipe in Heidi Swanson's 101 Cookbooks blog, and it reminded me of a wonderful kale salad I had a while ago at Animal (that's right, they serve kale). I love kale. I love its curly leaves and bright green color. I love its earthy but not dirt-y flavor. I'm a big fan of kale chips, despite the meticulous cleaning, drying, and dipping required.

Garlic, olive oil, red wine vinegar, red pepper flakes, lemon juice, salt, pepper

This salad is a great use of fresh raw or lightly steamed kale. Very simply, it's shredded kale, cannellini beans, shaved pecorino romano, and a lemony dressing. I steamed my kale for a couple minutes since it wasn't a particularly tender variety, then tossed it with the other ingredients. It's nothing spectacular to look at, but the flavors of the kale, pecorino, and lemon come together perfectly. Try it, I promise you'll be pleasantly surprised!

Camarones con Ajo

2010-10-03T00:10:00.000-07:00

I'm tearing myself away from watching Daria episodes to post tonight's super easy and delicious meal.

Somehow the lighting in my kitchen doesn't lend itself to good food photography. It frustrates me every time. I even tried to use a lamp for extra light, but I still get a weird yellowish hue. I'm trying my best though.

After much thought and consideration of my dangerously low bank account, I decided to forgo my initial idea of trying to make steamed buns/bao tonight (which I needed a few ingredients for) and came up with a Cuban-ish garlicky shrimp with black beans and rice instead. I substituted the traditional sour orange juice in mojo with grapefruit since that's what was in the fridge, and sautéed the shrimp instead of serving them swimming in garlic oil like so many Cuban restaurants do (not that it isn't delicious, but I'd like to live past 40).

Ingredients:

4 large shrimp (this was just for myself)
1 head garlic
olive oil
1 tbsp grapefruit juice (in lieu of sour orange mojo)
1 can black beans, drained
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 cup rice
3 cups water
cumin
bay leaf
salt
pepper

Preparation:

In a heavy pot, combine rice and 2 cups water. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce to a simmer.
Slice the garlic thinly. Reserve some for use in the black beans.
Combine shrimp, garlic, olive oil, grapefruit juice, salt, and pepper in a plastic bag or container. Mix so that the ingredients coat the shrimp evenly. Refrigerate.
Heat another pot, add olive oil. When hot, add onions; sweat for a few minutes, then add garlic. Add beans and one cup water or stock, as well as cumin and bay leaf. Let simmer.
Heat a heavy skillet. Add shrimp and garlic mixture. Cook briefly on each side (1-2 minutes), or to taste - always be wary of overcooking shrimp.
Serve shrimp on top of rice and beans. Garnish with fresh cilantro.

Granada

2010-09-26T20:10:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to flex my writing muscle - admittedly in part due to a somewhat disappointing performance on the AW section of the GRE - and since I never properly blogged my Central America trip, I'd like to start posting bits and pieces.

I'll begin with this piece on Granada, Nicaragua - our fourth stop, about two weeks into our six month journey. I'll go back to Costa Rica and my first impressions soon, especially since I kept the most rigorous notes, as usual, at the beginning. However, aside from the incomparable Guatemala, Granada is where I spent the most time and became most comfortable. I haven't finished this entry, but wanted to post the first part to motivate myself.

We pull into the bus station, still greener than we’d like to admit to the whole backpacking thing, not knowing exactly what to expect, and wary considering our less-than-favorable impression of our previous Nicaraguan stop.

Granada is, for those familiar with Guatemala, a less sterile Antigua. It retains all the colonial charm but hasn’t been quite as sanitized by the tourist dollar (or euro). A grandly dilapidated building between the bus stop and the main square houses the market, rife with the usual tomatoes, corn, chayote squash, bananas, soap, dog food, what have you. In my two weeks of “living” in Granada (I am loath to claim living somewhere for such a short period), the market became an almost daily fixture for the shamefully cheap produce, beans, and spices that made up most of our home-cooked meals. Not to mention fruit with impossibly fresh flavor, flip flops when mine inevitably broke or got lost, and DVDs about the Nicaraguan Revolution.

The town follows typical Spanish construction, with a central park surrounded by a church and government buildings. Practically every colonial city in Latin America is set up this way; why mess with a good thing, I suppose? The churches face the right way for religious reasons, tourists can see all the major sights in one quick tour that won’t wear out their new Tevas, and everyone’s happy.

A tour group in the central plaza

Once you resign yourself to the languid heat and learn to appreciate the cool breeze coming off of Lake Nicaragua (a breeze which you’ll beg for once you hit the mercilessly hot pavement of Leon), the city comes into focus. The central cathedral, doubtlessly plastered on ninety percent of Nicaragua postcards, towers above the plaza with its striking yellow and orange dome.

We arrived just in time for an international poetry festival that filled the plaza with booths selling crafts and books, and stages for poetry readings dotted the town. It’s incredibly surreal to see people in the middle of a crowded market, full of puddles and furtive dogs, stop their bargaining over second-hand shoes to listen to freeform poetry.

[to be continued..]

How does my garden grow..

2010-08-02T23:12:00.000-07:00

I finally have a minute for a post.. or at least a hastily constructed photo post. Presenting the fruits of my labor- literally.

Peas! These grew incredibly fast. Definitely a keeper.

This cute little guy is currently about an inch long. Probably headed for a pickle jar. Yum.

Cilantro flowers- you're supposed to trim back the flowers to encourage leaf growth, but they're so pretty!

So.. I decided to let them grow and harvest the seeds for coriander.

Ballona Wetlands and the Beach

2010-06-27T21:12:00.000-07:00

On a whim, I visited the Ballona Freshwater Marsh today.. I've driven by, but never stopped and walked around the little trail they've set up. For as close as it is to Lincoln Boulevard and awful Playa del Rey, it looks pretty nice! And I saw a lot of wildlife. It's going to look even nicer in a few years, once the little trees that are supposed to shield it from the street grow bigger.

The beach just south of Marina del Rey. Free parking!

On the way home, I noticed the new Sprouts Farmers Market in Culver City! Apparently it was the last day of their grand opening sale, so I picked up a few things and generally wandered around to get a feel for the store. It's pretty cool- kind of a mix of Whole Foods and Trader Joe's in size and style of products; lots of awesome bulk products (dried fruit, nuts, beans, rice, grains, etc), great-smelling coffee (lots of Fair Trade, organic, shade grown), produce (some local, some not), pretty much every category of grocery. The seafood selection was not great sustainability-wise, or very big. They did have lots of tasty cheeses- I'm enjoying a smoked Gouda right now.

As much as I love Trader Joe's, it's nice to have an alternative, and this place is a lot bigger and can serve more needs. I can't really speak for the prices yet because their opening sale obviously made things significantly cheaper than normal. We'll see. It's probably no further from me than the nearest Whole Foods, so I'll definitely be shopping here on occasion.

75%(ish) Farmers' Market Meal

2010-06-25T16:21:00.000-07:00

Grilled snapper with mango salsa, black beans, squash and bell peppers

Last Tuesday I stopped at the Culver City Farmers' Market on my way home, with no list or specific items in mind. I love how ingredients sometimes come together perfectly of their own accord. On days like this I usually weave a path through the market, eyeing what new produce is available this week and munching on free samples. I take a look at the seafood board, scanning the list for good deals. The fish guy is one of my favorite market people- New York accent, really friendly and helpful, always joking around with the French cheese guy(whose wares unfortunately I can rarely afford). Having decided on the snapper, I stroll around and pick up other stuff- Rainier cherries, onions and garlic, Yukon Gold potatoes, some salad greens. It turns out the greens people are getting pretty tired of the guy who plays kids' reggae right in front of their booth every week. Fair enough, but it does seem to keep the kids occupied and in one spot so I don't have to trip over them.

For the above-pictured meal, this is what I picked up at the market:

Fresh snapper: $7/pound; I spent $5.50 on enough for 2 people
Squash and bell peppers: one bag of each for $3 total
Onions, garlic, cilantro: a couple dollars
Mandarin oranges: 5lb sack for ~$5

Non-market additions: black beans(canned, ~$1) and mango(from our little local Latin market, ~$1).

No real recipe, as usual, but here's a quick breakdown, in order of how things were prepared:

Grilled Snapper with Mango Salsa and Veggies

-Mango salsa: chop mango, onions, garlic, cilantro, chile if desired; mix together, add salt and pepper, let it marinate in the fridge while you prepare everything else.
-Black beans: sautee onions, peppers, and garlic; add beans(I used canned) and broth or water and seasonings(cumin, bay leaves, etc), simmer indefinitely; just make sure to check the water level so they don't dry out.
-Squash and peppers: slice, add salt and pepper(and chili powder if desired), sautee in olive oil for a few minutes. I like to keep veggies crunchy, for flavor and nutrition.
-Snapper: remove bones if you can, rub with chili powder, grill on a hot cast iron skillet to taste, no more than 8 or so minutes. Taste a little piece to check done-ness. With fish, you never want to overcook it! Undercook ALWAYS. Raw fish isn't just for sushi, don't fear it!

"smells like freshly ground heaven"

2010-06-19T20:47:00.000-07:00

Home coffee roasting. My newest passion and frustration.
Until I scrape together the couple hundred bucks to buy a roasting machine, which will vastly improve the quality of my roast, I've been using a stovetop popcorn popper. At first I attempted to use the popper's hand crank, but today I just gave up on it and decided to hand-stir it like I saw it done in Nicaragua. I felt like I got a much more even roast that way.

The insanely high temperatures required.

My very simple setup.

During roasting.

Finished product!

Sprout Evolution

2010-06-06T14:54:00.000-07:00

My little lettuce sprouts coming in! (mid-left)

Same lettuce, later.

The squirrel who occasionally disturbs my plants.

Folding some 100+ homemade bowties.. an oddly meditative task.

Quick Tangent..

2010-05-21T19:06:00.000-07:00

Predictions for next year's NBC shows:

Community: Jeff and Annie will date secretly over the summer, then awkwardly have to figure out how to deal with him being 15 years older than her. The Britta/Slater thing(which by the way was out of character for both of them and sort of embarrassing to watch) can't be resolved in real time.. who would wait 3 months to sort that out? I still think Modern Warfare would've been a better season finale.

Parks & Rec: They'll drag out Andy/April for a few episodes..why is Rashida Jones always the other woman?? I hope it's resolved quickly, but I wouldn't bet on it. Rob Lowe won't be around long, Leslie and the new guy will hook up. Mark will make an appearance later in the season, hopefully his company will be building the park or something like that.

The Office: Holly!! I missed Amy Ryan. Not much else to predict, I guess..

30 Rock: Matt Damon won't stay around long, even though I thought it was a brilliant performance and thoroughly enjoyable to watch (so was Michael Sheen). Elizabeth Banks already had a pregnancy plot in Scrubs.. she's either lying about it or something else will happen to break up her and Jack. I'm still hoping for the Liz/Jack hookup but I think it's a long way away.

Modern Family wrapped up pretty neatly.. it's following a much more "everything reverts to normal by the end of the episode" pattern. So, no predictions for that..

I'll revisit this in the fall!

Growing My Own

2010-05-07T22:23:00.000-07:00

After months of allowing assorted plants to languish in too-small containers and fall prey to aphids and mischievous squirrels, I'm finally putting together my home garden.

Above, the materials for my self-watering planter, per the instructions in Fresh Food From Small Spaces. A plastic container and its top, a plastic basket, and a small length of pipe was pretty much the extent of the planter itself. Also pictured: organic fertilizer(mm, chicken manure!), spade, seed packets.

I put it together about a week ago and recently introduced it to some plants. Transferred my strawberry and squash plants, and planted some carrot and lettuce seeds. However, I did end up overwatering a bit and need to make some modifications to my planter. I'll be working on that this weekend.

I'm really excited about the prospect of growing my own food, even though realistically it won't replace a significant percentage of our consumption anytime soon. My grandparents always grew a lot of fruits and vegetables and no matter how fresh things are at the farmers' market, there's just something about a fruit truly just off the vine. Plus, I'll be gaining at least some knowledge for possible future WWOOFing.. and the plants will create a nice layer between our small balcony and the building's driveway.

Strawberries in their seedling pot

And now some pictures of food!

20-Minute(ish) Veggie Shepherd's Pie
Improvised this a few days ago when I was hungry and tired, and it turned out better than some things I've spent way more time and effort on: mashed potatoes + sauteed mushrooms, peas, carrots + veggieburger. Maya Ik hot sauce. Done.

Tonight: fish and chips!

I can't take credit for cooking this one- thanks Trader Joe's frozen section!

Rough sketch of Friday night

2010-04-25T01:03:00.000-07:00

Springtime!

2010-04-15T19:40:00.000-07:00

I love spring, for all the reasons anyone likes spring. In Los Angeles, the effect is not nearly as strong as somewhere with, say, actual seasons. But nonetheless, I enjoy the colorful burst of new fruits and veggies popping up at the farmers' markets after several months of mostly leafy greens and root vegetables. At left, today's haul: tomatoes, asparagus($2), artichokes($2), spinach, strawberries($5 for 3 baskets!), pita bread, oranges($6 for the 10 lb bag), and rum and carrot cakes. Not pictured: feta cheese & sundried tomato dip, tabbouleh, and trout($5/lb). Pretty awesome deals.

In other recent news from my culinary world: I harvested the first strawberry from my little strawberry plant! It was delicious. For some reason it grew and ripened much faster than the other three, but they're all coming along nicely.

Quick meal idea: Thai noodle salad

I made this salad the other night because we had Thai noodles lying around. I added shredded cabbage and carrots, bell peppers, cashews, cilantro, shallots, sesame seeds, and for Mark, sesame marinated chicken.

For dressing, I mixed soy sauce, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, fish sauce, Marie Sharp's grapefruit habanero hot sauce, lime juice, garlic, and sesame seeds.

Quick, easy, and filling- a perfect weeknight meal. I love food that is colorful, and this certainly fits that bill. If you like Thai food, I highly recommend stocking up on the basic ingredients like fish sauce and curry paste- the recipes are super easy once you've got those staples in your pantry.

Baked Brie Night

2010-01-24T23:27:00.001-08:00

Easy to make, incredibly versatile, and deliciously filling-- I can't believe I've never tried baked brie before!

I used chopped dates and walnuts, simmered with brown sugar and barleywine. I've seen recipes with other fruits as well as savory ingredients. I used five sheets of phyllo dough and had some leakage-- possibly due to the brie I chose being too soft, although someone at Wally's recommended it, so that's on them.

The end result was a melange of textures and flavors- crunchy phyllo, creamy cheese; the sweetness of the date mixture balanced by the mild taste of the cheese, served on sourdough toasts and pita chips. The leftovers were surprisingly good cold! It was then possible to cut it into neat little slices and eat it that way.

Homemade Noodles

2010-01-18T18:43:00.000-08:00

Having recently swiped my mom's never-used hand cranked pasta machine, I made my first fresh noodles today. So much easier than you think--

1. Lay out parchment paper or use clean wooden surface; flour lightly

2. Make a mound of 2 cups of flour, with a crater in the middle

3. Break 3 eggs into the flour crater

4. Using a fork, break the yolks and mix the eggs together before starting to incorporate flour; then slowly start adding in the flour

5. When you can no longer use the fork, use your hands to incorporate the rest of the flour and start kneading the dough; I did this for about 6-7 minutes.

6. Wrap dough in plastic wrap or foil and let it stand 15-20 minutes.

7. Use the pasta machine to roll out dough, starting from the widest setting(1) and working your way up to the thinnest(10 or wherever you choose to stop; I felt my pasta was thin enough at 6). You'll want to break the dough into smaller pieces and/or cut the dough after rolling so it's manageable.

8. Use the linguini or spaghetti side of the machine to cut the pasta; or use a pizza cutter, ravioli cutter, or other method for the pasta shape you prefer. I chose linguini.

9. Lay out cut noodles on floured parchment paper, sprinkle with a small amount of flour(through a sieve if available)

10. I cooked them immediately and they were al dente in 4-5 minutes.

I served this pasta with a TJ's marinara sauce simmered with onions and garlic, sauteed mushrooms, as well as an arugula and tomato salad with balsamic vinaigrette and red wine.

Through bursts of craftiness..

2010-01-17T22:26:00.000-08:00

I've finished knitting a scarf! Very simple pattern that grew out of my practice swatch. I've started another one.. just in time for spring. Great.

Next project: gardening. Just waiting for some money to buy a few supplies. I've already experimented with growing a small amount of lentil sprouts in a jar- super simple!

Little exciting culinary news recently. Tonight was a tasty terrific Trader Joe's dinner-- roasted red pepper and tomato soup, oyster crackers, and cheese/garlic/mushroom souffle. And Two Buck Chuck. Little to no effort on our part.

Salad of the Day

2010-01-13T21:57:00.001-08:00

Wild arugula and mixed baby lettuces with Fuji apples, toasted walnuts, lentil sprouts, and white wine raspberry vinaigrette. Optional sauteed mushrooms.
Forgot to take a picture before eating it!

Culinary discovery of the day: gulab jamun. I don't know why I've bypassed them on my previous 2374573665 trips to Indian restaurants.. but I finally grabbed some as I was getting food at the new Samosa House East. A little expensive, but amazing, tender, and syrupy. They really were off the hook.

2010-01-10T10:25:00.000-08:00

I recently decided, for however long it will last, to write/'blog' more. And I thought, what to blog about?

What do I love more than anything?

What do I spend hours upon hours researching, reading about, planning, shopping for, growing, making, and enjoying?

What have I been around my whole life, and have no intention of giving up?

Food, of course!

For my first topic: the glorious homage to California and local foods that was tonight's dinner. Pretty much all the ingredients were purchased at the Culver City farmers' market:

Sand dabs($5/pound!)-- considering that Long Beach brings in the most sand dabs, there's a high chance that these were really local. We fried and battered them in panko breadcrumbs.
Artichokes-- iconic California vegetable!
Napa chardonnay-- specifically, Smoking Loon
mashed potatoes-- local Yukon Gold potatoes, California butter and cream

Delicious, wholesome-ish, local, organic, and cheap for a seafood dinner. We served the artichokes steamed with some melted butter, and the sand dabs breaded with panko breadcrumbs and pan-fried, with lemon wedges and buttery, creamy mashed potatoes. I never said this was a diet meal..

2010 so far..

2010-01-07T21:15:00.000-08:00

First book of 2010: The God of Small Things - Arundhati Roy
First craft project that I'm doing because it was gifted to me: knitting
First ambitious project: container gardening- at least herbs, sprouts, and small fruits. I received Fresh Food From Small Spaces for Xmas and am really excited to start growing some new plants to join my one lonely basil on the balcony.
First new farmers' market: South La Cienega on Thursdays
First new play I've seen: An Oak Tree at the Odyssey.

Books of 2009

2009-11-27T00:28:00.000-08:00

Some I bought, some I plucked out of some Central American book exchange(regrettably otherwise full of Sue Grafton), some just showed up. The lovely life cycle of books.

The House of the Spirits - I. Allende
Slaughterhouse Five - K. Vonnegut
Hell's Angels - H. S. Thompson
Bad Samaritans - H. J. Chang
Born in Blood & Fire
The Alchemist - P. Coelho
Down and Out in Paris and London - G. Orwell
Reminiscences of the Cuban Revolutionary War - E. C. Guevara
Three Cups of Tea - G. Mortenson
Things Fall Apart - C. Achebe
Romania- L. Boia
Mother Courage and Her Children - B. Brecht
Baal - B. Brecht

Reacclimation

2009-11-26T20:30:00.000-08:00

So.. after six months of traveling, I figured being back in the USA would just feel surreal and awkward. But more than that, it also felt kind of like I never left. The whole trip almost felt like a dream, and Mark and I repeatedly asked each other "Did we just do that?"
I'm contemplating blogging my somewhat sporadic journal entries from the trip, but I'm not sure what the best way would be- logging entries with their actual dates, or one long entry with everything. I'll get on that sometime..

Soon after returning to LA I flew off again, this time to visit my family in Romania. I'm really glad I had the opportunity to make this trip, reconnect with my family, and see some parts of Romania I hadn't had the chance to visit yet. I'm really looking forward to a much longer trip in that region.

From Romania

The rest of the last couple months has been spent decorating our new apartment, looking for jobs, endless interviewing, and half-assed pursuit of various discarded hobbies-- exercise, painting, random fabric crafts, and most recently my violin. I hope to keep practicing this time. We'll see. I've also been walking little dogs for a rescue group. For me, nothing compares to the love and gratitude of a puppy. I'm aware of all the social issues in the world, of all the larger problems that need work, but there's nothing I'm as passionate about as animals. I hope to have the opportunity to work with animals often, at least on and off. Right now, I need to take everything slowly-- find work, save up money, and along the way figure out the next step in the journey.

Very comfortably full from a snow crab Thanksgiving feast.
Happy holidays!

Central America, February-August!

2009-02-08T00:09:00.000-08:00

"That's the way: trot around and see things, and when you've seen all you want, lie down and die--that's all!"
~"Makar Chudra," Maxim Gorky

What Would Darwin Say?

2008-11-26T13:21:00.000-08:00

I often hear people quote Social Darwinism as a justification for ruthless capitalist exploitation. First of all, this is a misappropriation of Darwin. "Survival of the fittest" was not even a phrase coined by Darwin, but by an economist. In the scientific community, the term is hardly utilized. Social Darwinism led to dangerous ideas like eugenics. Darwin, on reading these theories, cautioned "if we were intentionally to neglect the weak and helpless, it could only be for a contingent benefit, with an overwhelming present evil."
Secondly, his theory of competition applies to species rather than individuals of the same species. Communities of the same species of animals develop traits like cooperation and mutual aid in order to thrive and outsurvive other similar species. I would argue that these traits have evolved in humans in order to allow us to form cohesive communities on a massive scale that are not primarily based on kinship ties. Cooperation and mutual aid is what has moved human societies forward, not competition. While the military-industrial complex does create a lot of money, in general war serves to destroy infrastructure, halt productive industries, and set back a society's development.

2008-11-26T13:04:00.000-08:00

When you start to look at everything as a social scientist, things seem a lot less significant. Viewing everything as a social construct, as a product of a particular society in a particular period, frees you to explore ideas more deeply and analyze the roots of seemingly inevitable occurrences and sacred values. Religion is a good example of this, as once you begin to delve into its history and the way humans have constructed religions from the beginning of social life, it becomes clear that it can be nothing but a product of our imagination as it struggles to navigate the natural world. Deeply ingrained cultural characteristics reveal themselves as bonding agents of a particular group. Increased knowledge of various societies and their organization throughout history reveals the temporal nature of any era's superficial values and standards and the magnitude of world history-- in essence, it helps us realize our own smallness and the relative insignificance of our any one individual or group in relation to the immense tapestry of cultures and peoples on earth.

[to be continued..]

Does Marching Matter?

2008-11-14T19:03:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow, November 15, massive marches are planned at city halls across the state and the country to protest the passage of Prop 8 and the repudiation of gay rights in several states. While I'll definitely be in downtown LA with everyone else, I always struggle with the actual effects of marches and protests. I often hear people argue that they only alienate the more moderate and people from the other side of the fence. Have they worked well historically? It's difficult to tell when marches are generally part of much wider movements and broader-based campaigns against the establishment. But they have certainly been associated with some of the most transformative social movements of modern history. Gandhi's march to the sea, the marches for women's suffrage, civil rights, and an end to the Vietnam War in the U.S. demonstrate the power that marches can have in their own time and in the subsequent popular imagination. Alienating or not, they ultimately succeeded in winning their goal. Would so many historical movements have succeeded had the visible protest element been removed? Why else do authoritarian governments work so hard and spend so much to suppress media and information?
Does marching matter? I believe ultimately it keeps the issue in the public eye-- whether it changes any minds is debatable. But the expression of support, passion, and, in this particular instance, frustration that can be seen in the mass gathering of people doubtlessly aids the internal solidarity of the movement and preserves the energy and passion of its supporters.

Collective Insanity

2008-11-09T10:29:00.000-08:00

With all this furor over Prop 8's sad passage, religion, especially the LDS church, is becoming a hot topic these days. I think it's a good opportunity for all of us to break open the much larger topic of religion in general and its replete influence on politics and law in this country. In a modern scientific society, is it not time for us to analyze our beliefs and bring a critical eye to ideas that, all too often, hold back progress and deny rights over one's own body and mind? Considering that the aggregate divorce rate is 22% higher in Bible Belt states than in 'blue states,' how is religion helping regulate morality and preserve marriage? I just think it's sad to amble blindly through life believing, as almost 40% of Red-Staters do, that Jonah was actually swallowed by a whale..

In 2007 I caught a few minutes of the American Atheists Convention on television, and something former SNL cast member Julia Sweeney said really drew my attention. She said when you're an atheist, you have a stronger belief in your morals, because you have to think logically about your actions. Instead of thinking, "I shouldn't steal because the bible says so," a serious ethical argument takes place elucidating the moral reasons why stealing is detrimental to society and human relations. The temptation to "sin" becomes weaker when confronted with a strong, thoughtful argument rather than an archaic dogma.

The following definition of Atheism was given to the Supreme Court of the United States in the case of Murray v. Curlett, 374 U.S. 203, 83 S. Ct. 1560, 10 L.Ed.2d (MD, 1963), to remove reverential Bible reading and oral unison recitation of the Lord's Prayer in the public schools. It illuminates the humanist tendencies of atheists and their emphasis on improving the earthly world rather than relying on a possible afterlife.

“Your petitioners are Atheists and they define their beliefs as follows. An Atheist loves his fellow man instead of god. An Atheist believes that heaven is something for which we should work now – here on earth for all men together to enjoy.

An Atheist believes that he can get no help through prayer but that he must find in himself the inner conviction, and strength to meet life, to grapple with it, to subdue it and enjoy it.

An Atheist believes that only in a knowledge of himself and a knowledge of his fellow man can he find the understanding that will help to a life of fulfillment.

He seeks to know himself and his fellow man rather than to know a god. An Atheist believes that a hospital should be built instead of a church. An Atheist believes that a deed must be done instead of a prayer said. An Atheist strives for involvement in life and not escape into death. He wants disease conquered, poverty vanquished, war eliminated. He wants man to understand and love man.

He wants an ethical way of life. He believes that we cannot rely on a god or channel action into prayer nor hope for an end of troubles in a hereafter.

He believes that we are our brother's keepers; and are keepers of our own lives; that we are responsible persons and the job is here and the time is now.”

Meet the new boss.... ?

2008-11-05T13:46:00.000-08:00

As historic and momentous last night's Obama victory is, I can't help but have the sinking feeling that it means much more on a symbolic level than in terms of any tangible change. At least, on some very important issues that are never brought up during political campaigns. For starters, rumor has it that Rahm Emanuel, a former IDF volunteer and prominent Jewish congressman, will be Obama's chief of staff. This news doesn't bode well for Palestinian activists and those of us who hoped for a fairer U.S. position on the Middle East. Moreover, Obama has consistently supported the continued disbursement of agricultural subsidies to American agrobusiness, which leads to the flooding of foreign markets with cheap goods and drives local producers out of business, preventing the growth of markets and industries in the developing world. While large transnational corporations benefit from the boom in (what are often misleading and inefficient) biofuels, poor farmers and producers in Africa continue to struggle to find a way to market their products and must contend with rising food prices and the threat of even more widespread famine.
As for the immigration reform that was briefly bandied about at the beginning of this campaign (remember?), it seems to have slipped quietly away, and the status of so many undocumented workers will most likely remain in the same legal limbo.
What about homelessness? While this issue is constantly relevant for Angelenos, the entire country should be ashamed that millions of people are found in this dire situation in the richest nation in the world, a nation supposedly full of hope and opportunity. What has been said about this demographic on the campaign trail?
And while the country rightfully celebrated a historic step for equality, several states took two sad steps back as they approved bans on gay marriage in Arizona, Florida, and, most disappointing of all, California. Clearly the rhetoric touting equality and individual freedom has not taken hold everywhere, and the contingent of people willing to put effort into taking away the rights of others is stronger than expected.
A long, long road still lies ahead if we want to see real and lasting, not only symbolic, change.

"A Man's A Man"

2008-11-01T19:42:00.000-07:00

Taking advantage of the free ticket Mark was able to get me since he works backstage, last night I went to see the Odyssey Theatre's "A Man's A Man." This new production of the ensemble's first play back in 1969 remains a relevant and timely critique of war and the military lifestyle. Brecht's emphasis on theatricality, such as the actors' use of white(and yellow) face, prevents the audience from suspending disbelief at the same time as it draws you deeper into the plot. In a show described as "shockingly theatrical," the protagonist stops at one point to address the audience, explaining "What Mr. Brecht is trying to say.." Taken in the context of the dominant realist plays of Eugene O'Neill and others popular at the time, it is easy to see how Brecht's onstage audacities created a unique niche in theatre, one which to this day is filled mostly by Brecht himself. Epic theatre concerns itself with philosophic ideas rather than stories, archetypes rather than real people, moral arguments rather than entertainment. Rather than affect audiences emotionally, Brecht attempts to reach viewers intellectually. "A Man's A Man" traces an impressionable packer's inadvertent transformation into a soldier of the British army as he is compelled by the members of a machine-gun unit to replace their missing fourth man. The progressive madness and uncertainty that pervades Galy Gay's reality and transforms him is portrayed with sensitivity and nuance by Beth Hogan. The play not only deals with a change in Galy Gay's occupation, but in his entire identity, as he grows to deny his old self and grow into the role of the soldier he is replacing. Burlesque song and dance anchors the key message (one man is no different than any other, and ultimately none are worth very much) and lends Widow Begbick's canteen a dark, brooding atmosphere.
The technical elements of "A Man's A Man" provide an illuminating introduction to Brecht's devices and conventions of stagecraft and allow the viewer to critically and circumspectly analyze the ideas he presents. Although emotion is by no means absent from the show, it serves to emphasize moral and intellectual propositions, leaving you to ponder the implications of the play long after its conclusion.