I [HAIKU] NY

 

Wow! It's National Poetry Month!  How'd I miss it?!?  
Hello, Billy Collins, Mary Oliver, Margaret Atwood.
Urban poetry lover that I am, THIS inspired me to blog again.

Once again the NYTimes nails it by inviting readers to write a haiku about the Big Apple. Five/Seven/Five syllables. 
Evoking nature. 
Quiet. 
Japanese. 
Haiku is my favorite poetry form.

Here are some simple beauties:

morning Q commute
has the best smell of the day:
coffee and shampoo
                     —Vanessa Vichit-Vadakan, 43, Berkeley, Calif.

Riding through the park
no daffodils blooming yet
— but unbuttoned coats.
                  —Sharon Rousseau, 50, Manhattan

“Insufficient fare!”
But, without saying a word,
stranger swipes me in.
                   —Janet Gottlieb, 59, Brooklyn

If the “F” comes now,
I could get there, right on time.
But I’m still in bed.
            —Jill Helene, 34, Manhattan

On the 6 to Spring
two cops help a tourist whose
map is upside down
            —Frances Richey, 63, Manhattan

****Themes were kindness, strangers, 6am, commute, the island, and solitude.  Thus, a few train references. :-)

Not guilty

Happy to say, I'm not guilty of any of the cliches of good taste as reported in this NYTimes article and slide show.

No vintage typewriter ,monogrammed towels or taxidermy in my house!

Details, details...

File under Major Blindspots - this article describes a study that finds the IUD the most effective method of emergency contraception, with a failure rate of 1 in 1000.  Great, but for emergency contraception (post-facto-ooops birth control)  the morning after pill does just fine for my money with a low 1 to 3% failure rate. The article states, despite the IUD's efficacy and safety, it is rarely recommended by clinicians for emergency contraception.  The reasons cited - it is not covered by insurance and it is not readily available.  Frankly, I'd add invasive to the list of why it's not a great option as a back-up option.  You have to get an IUD inserted through the vagina into the uterus.  A great long-term contraceptive method, but not super-appealing morning after plan B.

Didn't we just go through this in Virginia?

Please consider a donation to Planned Parenthood.

Music, movement, breath, beauty

Wow.  Isn't this gorgeous?  This interactive media feature in the New York Times shows how conducting works with the musical director of the New York Philharmonic.  With very cool videographics from the Movement Lab, we can see the invisible lines and waves he makes with the tips of his fingers and the swoops of his hands.  We see him crouch and lift, bend and nod, as he explains what he his trying to draw out of two classical pieces.  I especially like the way he explains the draw of the note (how it finishes) and anticipating the arrival of a new instrument.

Classical music can be so  supremely beautiful.  At my trip to the Kennedy Center last month to see a special concert of the National Symphony Orchestra, I was so enchanted with how classical music just holds you.  There is something in classical music where the individual sounds of the dozens of instruments and an odd hundred musicians swirl in the air, blend, and become one beautiful sound.  I remember trying to just listen for the strings or the woodwinds, and it is a difficult task, as they become indistinct from one another as they fill each corner of that magnificent hall.

London!

I'm very much looking forward to having Dear Daughter join me on my upcoming business trip to London at the end of the month.  The trip has been on the work radar for a while.  At one point, it included Paris, but that became too complicated and expensive.  Only recently, did Dearest Mommy aka Grandma decide to join us, making it actually feasible to both work and sightsee, and extending the 3 days of business meetings into a 6-day working holiday.

And what a pleasure it's been to read the guidebooks and children's literature accounts of London, and hitting YouTube and the Mary Poppins DVD for more inspiration.  I'm so psyched she'll get to see some of my favorites - the Tate Modern (and the entire funky Southbank), Big Ben (and the princely Houses of Parliament and Westminster), Mayfair's staid offices (and my falafel and fresh juice lunch shop), the thrilling, one-of-a-kind, London Eye (that pretty much triggers an anxiety attack in me that I must actively manage with deep breathing. But, whatever, SO worth it).  We'll make it to the Globe Theatre (or else I'll never get the free pass from the Shakespeare-obsesses teacher for the days out of school), and other London icons like St.Paul's Cathedral and the Tower of London.  At some point we'll pass through the dreaded Picadilly Circus and Covent Garden going from somewhere and to somewhere.  We'll breeze throughTrafalgar Square, because its lovely St. Martin-in-the-Fields hosts daily free concerts, and is the architectural model for our beloved home church, All Souls.

No trip is complete for me without the food teasers. I was delighted to see today's New York Times article by my crush Mark Bittman, "In London, Flavors of India without the Fuss."   Such a difficult choice among four delectable restaurant descriptions.  I was first tempted by the 70's decor and the incredible descriptions of dishes at Cafe Spice Namaste.  I was also momentarily seduced by Sitaaray, and its Bollywood theme (this and other pictures at the NYTimes slide show).  But, we have decided quite happily to check out Chor Bizarre in Mayfair, just a few blocks from our London offices.  I like its irreverent and self-depracating allusions to pick-pockets and pawn shops, it's cheesy antiques decor, and its Delhi-London pedigree.  The black lentil daal sounds amazing, as does the Bhagare Baingan - see full mouth-watering menu here.  

I'm so excited to speak British English - I'm teaching Dear Daughter to say 'loo,' 'lift,' and 'lorry' - and to travel by tube, taxi, and doubledecker bus.  It's all such a grand adventure isn't it?

The 45 Places to Go in 2012

Bali:  Eat, pray, love.

Another favorite annual feature in the New York Times, "The 45 Places to Go in 2012" gets the juices flowing with some enticing travel destinations to go to now and why.

Of those, I've already been to Panama, London (UK), Tanzania, Glasgow (UK), Florence (Italy), Wales (UK), Vienna (Austria), and Uganda.  Lucky me!

Of the others on the list, there are several that are especially appealing.

Helsinki (Finland) -  for the design and architecture, but not for the herring.

Havana (Cuba) - because one day its gonna be just a bunch of beach resorts with a faux Cuba backdrop.

Chatttanooga, TN because that sounds, tastes and feels like the Deep South, and I'd like to make a go of it.

and Dalarna, Sweden - Midsommer!  Need I say more?  Nordic countries really appeal to me for so many reasons - the design, the quality of life, the natural landscape, winter nights, and summer joy.  I have a friend in Copenhagen to visit on my list!

The real travel plans of this year for work and for play might end up quite enviable, if I do say so myself - New York (of course, and in multiples), London, Paris, Massachusetts, Senegal, Thailand, and Bali (!).  If I pull it off, it will be a minor miracle, though all are in the works in some capacity.  The Thailand-Bali trip is starting to look and feel a little like the idea was hatched among two friends drinking too much prosecco at a bar at Christmastime - and it was!

Perfect summer evening

Our neighbor gave me a eggplant from her lush summer garden, and I prepared this gorgeous recipe from the NY Times. Served with oven-warmed pita, and thick, tangy Greek yogurt, it made a delish veg meal - perfectly accompanied by a nice glass of Spanish red for mom and seltzer with lingonberry syrup for Dear Daughter.

Later, we took our bikes to the new gelato place near Eastern Market, where I had a mix of Sicilian almond and chocolat noir, while she chose chocolate chip and strawberry.

Just about every part of this post has something I love about my life. Neighbors, garden vegetables, good food, Turkish-style braised eggplant, anything from Turkey, yogurt, anything from Greece, the New York Times, eating well, red wine, anything from Spain, lingonberry syrup, anything from Sweden, Dear Daughter, bikes, Capitol Hill, cities, ice cream, gelato, anything from Italy, almonds, chocolate, local, community, summer light,  and summer evenings.  Bliss.

Desert Design Nirvana

Sigh...I love the desert.  While I generally thrive in the urban habitat, I think the desert might be my favorite landscape.  I find total beauty in its starkness.  I love the big sky, the limitless terrain, and its muted colors.   I love that it is quiet and empty, and the way life springs up in such inhospitable conditions.  Some of my favorite outdoor moments among a long and wonderful lifetime have been hiking in Red Rocks (Nevada);  exploring in and around Santa Fe, New Mexico; marveling at the striated hues of time - thousands of years of it - in the Painted Desert (Arizona); making day trips to Joshua Tree National Park, and riding on the back of those cute Peace Corps boys' motorcycles to the top of the buttes in Niger's moonscape.

And this amazing house built in the middle of the desertscape somewhere in Nevada featured in the New York Times.  Somewhere in Nevada is actually Scotty's Junction, about 125 miles north of Las Vegas on the edge of Death Valley.  But even with all that orienting, it's still Somewhere, Nevada to me.  At 1200 square feet, its relatively small footprint is sparse, simple, and efficient. It reminds me of some of the fabulous pre-fab, eco houses built and highligted in the Solar Decathalon,  This one, Lumenhaus,  I wrote about in a previous blogpost.


The NYTimes slideshow is gorgeous.  I can walk into every picture, and imagine myself writing by the window...soaking in the spring fed hot tub...sitting on the porch looking at the sky change....cooking in the kitchen (or just getting lost in my thoughts while gazing out its window)...taking a shower in the sage-green tiled bathroom....or watching the planetarium spin its show outside the corner bedroom windows while drifting off to sleep...x

The owner and family is Italian, and the design aesthetic shows.  Their personal style sense shows, too, here in the family shot (hello, Grandma!)  But the furniture is functional and affordable from Ikea and CB2.  In fact, the overall house is affordable, custom built for $290,000.  With a bordello and an abandoned chapel as the nearest neighbors, I'm imagining that it is not prime real estate either...yet.  My increasingly green sensibilities are offended by the energy it must take to drive in and out of here - car-dependent to the max.  But I'm comforted by the fact that there is no air con, just ceiling fans, and presumably smart window placement and indoor and outdoor shades.

I do wonder what all that space and closeness means when I take the romanticism away.  Would I go stir crazy there?  Alone?  While often an introvert, too much time with myself makes me batty.  Together, would we drive each other crazy?  Would it be disturbing at first, only to turn more blissful with each passing day?  Or the other way around?  I'm willing to try it...are you?

OBL - Metrics

Osama bin Laden was killed this week by US forces.  I have many thoughts about this and other things - some blog posts rattling around my head that may never find this outlet because I'm busy and living life fully!  But I did appreciate this interactive, graphic, polling tool from the NYTimes that plots both significance of his death in the war on terror and emotional response response of the event.  Neither scientific, nor representative - it does allow for some additional insight of the pulse of readers.

Cool tool!

I [HEART] Mark Bittman (2)

The Minimalist is no more.  After thirteen years of weekly food columns in the NYTimes, Mark Bittman is retiring The Minimalist.  I'm sad.   It's like the end of an era.  The Minimalist was formative and transformative to my cooking, eating and media consumption life.  I mean for as long as I can remember I've turned to The Minimalist for easy - time, technique and ingredients - recipe inspirations. At first, I just sort of stumbled across the column every once in a while with newly discovered pleasure each time (these were the days before I knew that reading a cookbook by the pool for fun next to all those chicks reading People magazine made me sort of an odd duck). Later, I'd actively seek it out, and turn first  to The Minimalist in my freshly delivered copies of the Times.  Still later, I'd forage it out on the web.  I'd eat up his special editions "101 Simple Appetizers in 20 Minutes or Less" and "101 Simple Salads for the Season,"  - simply sensational with just a little of this, a little of that approach..  And these last few years, I've become hungrier and hungrier earlier and earlier for newest installments of The Minimalist videos on NY Times premium content - here's the whole video link catalog, 200 of them!  (I'm drooling on my keyboard).   And I've paid homage to him here in a previous post under the same name.  Perhaps you're still not sure who I'm talking about.  But if you've ever had No-Knead Bread, then you've eaten him, and loved it.

I devour Mark Bittman's other outlets. He is a Whole Man, not just The Minimalist.  I have his books such as How to Cook Everything and How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. I was a regular viewer of that PBS food show where Mark Bittman, Mario Batali traveled in a sporty convertible around Spain with Gwyneth Paltrow and some hot Spanish model-chick eating, drinking and cooking. (It was all a little annoying - unless, of course you're the one in the little yellow Benz, traveling around eating ceviche and rioja, washing it down with a glass of cava and a little dulce, and then heading back to the inn for a good shag, in which case it's not annoying at all, and hard to understand why the rest of the world isn't totally glued to your amazing adventure).

Bittman will continue to write for the Times - in a foodie capacity in the NYTimes Sunday magazine and in a regular blog.  He will also be writing in the Opinion section on the politics and politics of food - on topics such as fresh, local unprocessed foods, obesity and farming - hopefully using his insight and his influence for a new sustainable food movement.  (Amen).  This is a good thing.

I suppose I shouldn't be so sad that The Minimalist is gone, when indeed Mark Bittman is still very much around and thriving.  But it is sort of like the simple Minimalist found weekly in black and white newsprint, is now the Maxi-Multimedia Millionaire Magnate talking about simple cooking and traditional farm practices.  It's all good, just please don't read his blog on your iPad while trying to have a nice meal at home together.

Here's The Minimalist's twenty-five favorite recipe columns to remember him by.  Bon Appetit. And a lovely Minimalist Champagne Cocktail.  Cheers!

Wanderlust

I'm a traveller. I recently tallied that I've been to a total of 46 countries since my first trip abroad when I was 15. Another travelling friend said she aimed for the same number of countries as her age - so I can slow down my pace a bit to reach 50 by 50. In fact, I wouldn't mind slowing down the pace - visiting a bit more of the US and cutting down on grueling long-haul flights. But no doubt, I have a little wanderlust in my blood. As soon as I land in a foreign place, my senses are stimulated, and the adrenaline kicks up. And while I talk about being 'done' with the travel, I think I'd still like to get to Egypt, Vietnam and Turkey and so many other places, so I suppose as long as I have the opportunity I'll keep getting on planes.

This NYTimes article, 41 Places to Go in 2011, is an annual feature, and got my blood pumping again. A few picks tickled my fancy...

Tlemcen, Algeria; Oualidia, Morocco; and Tozeur, Tunisia were three destinations on the list. I don't have a particular favorite, but I'm drawn to northern Africa by its geocultural junctures of Islam, Africa, the Middle East, the Sahara desert and the Mediterranean Sea.

Salonika, Greece I've never been to Greece, and I'm not a beach person, but I've lately found myself thinking it would be an awfully nice vacation - sailing, exploring pristine and remote coasts, ancient history and amazing food. Enough to do to accompany a good chillax. Direct flights from London on BA...

Erzurum, Turkey I'm not psyched that Erzuram is a winter sports capital, but this mention reminded me that I'd like to go to Turkey sometime, and definitely go to Istanbul and well beyond.

Koh Samui, Thailand My good friend Michele's move to Thailand next month makes it all the more likely that I'll try to go there for a visit. Bangkok for sure - been there, love it! - and this place is called a lower-key Phuket, with a focus on wellness and food (no need to say more...). And when in Thailand, hopefully get to Cambodia or Vietnam.

And closer to home... Fogo Island, Newfoundland I'm finding "remote and rugged" more and more appealing these days (if it can't be Paris). This place sounds blissfull. The NYTimes tagline? An art colony blooms on remote and rugged shores....Take me away, I'm yours.

Other destinations in the article are appealing in some way or another  - Milan, Melbourne, Estonia, Iceland, Spain, Portugal, the San Juan Islands - but these just captured my imagination. As for the US, I totally want to explore more here...and don't know where to start. Perhaps some national parks, New England or the Blue Ridge mountains....

As for me for real, the current travel I've got possibly teed up - New York and Guatemala in February, London, Geneva and...Disney World (!) in March.

Take that NYTimes!

As much as I LOVE the NYTimes, this highly insulting article is totally dismissive of the DC, specifically Capitol Hill, dining scene.  It pretty much says that every recent restaurant opening up on the Hill is some version of junk food for simpletons!  I won't take it!

But this blogger from my local blogsite,The Hill is Home, says it best, New York Also Thinks DC Looks Fat In Those Pants!

Social Science Palooza

Weird science!  I'm WAY behind on my writing - but this cool article by NYTimes columnist, David Brooks, summarizes the (bizarre) results of recent social science research.

People are strange and complicated creatures.  At least that's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it!

2010 Year in Ideas

My favorite issue of the New York Times magazine is out! The Year in Ideas presents some of the best innovation, ingenuity and imagination concepts of the year in various disciplines - medicine to design.  I just eat this issue up...and here are a few ideas that tickled my fancy:

Relaxation Drinks - With the energy drink market saturated for products like Red Bull , it makes sense that the next frontier in the specialty soft drink business would be relaxation drinks.  These drinks are loaded with natural relaxation agents like Valerian, Kava, and Melatonin.  As much as I actively seek ways to chill out, I'm not a likely consumer.

Youth Condom - After learning that many young people were doing it with condoms that didn't quite fit, a snugger (let's not say smaller, shall we?) condom, Hotshot, is marketed to 13 to 15 year olds.   I'm not that psyched that fourteen-year-olds are having sex - but a good 13% of them have been sexually active by age 15, and I want them to be safe, so I'm a fan.

Turbine-Free Wind Power - These wind powers vibrate from a passing breeze, and can convert the wind vibration to energy.  Since they take up little space and require less air area than wind turbines, they are well suited for urban spaces like the sides of buildings and rooftops.  I think wind farms are beautiful, but apparently, if I were better acquainted with them, I'd know they are noisy and cause danger to wildlife.  These oscillating panels are a step in the right direction for greener power.  I think the green innovation of this era is awesome!

The Train that Never Stops - A high-speed intercity train in China loses 45 minutes during its journey just because of 3-minute station stops along the way.  But this invention would save that precious time. Passengers enter and exit through pods that attach to the top of the train as it speeds through the station, and enter the train through a roof hatch.  Makes EZ Pass look old-fashioned!

Like.

Who are the people in your neighborhood?

Mind-blowing!!

This wonderful NYTimes feature, Mapping America: Every City, Every Block depicts 2010 census data through powerful color density graphics for every block.  Maps show race and ethnicity, income, education, housing, and families stats for any zip code and the specific census tracts of each - in my urban area this is about .25 square mile.  Go ahead, plug in your zip, zoom in, and get insight to the demographic composition of your own neighborhood.

I could have played with this for hours, but for now, I've learned some fascinating statistics for my little corner of the world, Census Tract 6802:

Real Science

The New York Times has a fascinating article, "Voices: What's Next in Science" which gives ten predictions from leading scientists from a variety of disciplines - biology to genomics.  These are near-term predictions, based on the directions the field is going.  And quite-frankly, some of them are mind-blowing.

My personal favorite is from Steven Strogatz, Professor of Applied Mathematics at Cornell University:

“We’re going to see scientific results that are correct, that are predictive, but are without explanation. We may be able to do science without insight, and we may have to learn to live without it. Science will still progress, but computers will tell us things that are true, and we won’t understand them.”

If I understand this correctly, it means computers will tell us things that are correct, and that even if we cannot understand them we will just have to trust.  Sounds more like Faith than Science.  And yes, this is science, not science fiction.  Amazing! - check out the other predictions at the link above.

Fabulous real estate!!

Once again, the NYTimes has written an article just for me - Who Lives There - Making a Home in a Pyramid 462 Feet Above Seattle.  This one is on the space and its inhabitants of a 2-story, 1700+ ft2 pyramid apartment atop the Smith Building in downtown Seattle.

The common living space - LR, DR, K - sits on the second floor of the apartment, while the nook-like bedrooms sit on the first floor.    Built-in shelves and window seats house books and eclectic collectibles (like empty bottles of Moet & Chandon from the last party with U2) or a small child reading on cushions framed in a cathedral-like window.  Smallish, triangular windows dot the sloping walls, letting in light, and each one frames a unique cityscape.  Structural innards are exposed.  A catwalk and narrow spiral staircase lead to the "Globe" - a glass enclosed observation room with a 365-degree view of the city from 40 stories high!  Here's the slide show.

Quite quirky - and no thanks, I wouldn't live there - but fun to imagine nonetheless.

A few of my favorite things: design, food, public health

Today's NYTImes Op-Ed includes a graphic, Lunch Line Redesign,  that illustrates how some simple design tweaks lead to better, healthier choices in the school cafeteria.  Design tweaks like fruit in a large fruit bowl, rather than a flat metal pan, increased sales.  An ice cream freezer with a closed opaque top reduced ice cream sales.  And an express line for healthy lunches (no chips or dessert) doubled sales for healthy sandwiches.

All of this is indeed very cool, as the US faces an obesity epidemic, and healthy fresh food options must find their way into our behavioral choices.  If these design fixes can help subtly influence these choices - not just our nutritional knowledge alone - then all the better.

Recently, I've found myself in two sandwich chains - Au Bon Pain and Panera Bread Company - which post calorie counts on the billboard menus from which I ordered.  On each occasion, I subconsciously considered the 2 or 3 most appealing selections, and then steered toward the lowest calorie option of those.  I made some assumptions in these choices - for example, that the calories were relatively equal in nutritional value - protein, fiber, Vitamin A or iron content, etc.  I also assumed that the calorie counts were wrong (having been tested in some food lab somewhere, and likely varied slightly, and likely for the worse, by food preparer).  Still, I assumed the relative calorie counts among the various choices still held true.  All this, in the flash of a few milliseconds of decision-making in the mind of a relatively well-informed, health conscious person.

Lots of disciplines melded here - and I appreciate the interdisciplinary application of design, public health, behavioral psychology, and economics.  I wonder how all this plays out in other choices we make - spending decisions, condom use, working out, etc.  I also wonder if school lunches are any less gross than they used to be.    

Words We Love Too Much

The NYTimes has a fabulous blog on English grammar, usage, and style.  This post on Words We Love Too Much discusses the Times' overuse and misuse of the word "epononymous."  Epononymous is hardly a word that rolls off the tongue, and it certainly slows down the fingers on the keyboard, yet the Times used this highfalutin word 64 times in the last year!

Highfalutin, on the other hand, does seem more commonly used in every-week-or-so language, yet I certainly had no clue how to spell it until I just checked.  The more commonly used "highbrow" is probably in daily use.

I love words, language, grammar, and punctuation (the last being my weakness).  One of my favorite books is Eats Shoots and Leaves  on how punctuation use and misuse can really alter the meaning and intent of a written sentence, often to humorous (to a nerd) effect.

A panda walks into a café. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and proceeds to fire it at the other patrons. 'Why?' asks the confused, surviving waiter amidst the carnage, as the panda makes towards the exit. The panda produces a badly punctuated wildlife manual and tosses it over his shoulder. 'Well, I'm a panda,' he says, at the door. 'Look it up.' The waiter turns to the relevant entry in the manual and, sure enough, finds an explanation. 'Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves.'

Eats Shoots and Leaves has been adapted to a younger audience, intended for those in grades 1 to 3.  Here, "Eat here, and get gas," or "Eat here and get gas"  really illustrates the critical importance of proper comma use!

OMG! Here's an excellent quiz on world religion

From the Pew Research Center national survey on religious knowledge, we learned that Americans don't actually know an awful lot about it - not about their own self-professed religion, and certainly less about anyone else's.  Self-identified atheists scored highest.

Here's a pop quiz from NYTimes  columnist Nicholas Kristof.  Admittedly, I did not do so well - 3 or 4 correct answers out of 13. And I hardly count those because I was either guessing or trying to psych out the test objective.  The quiz focuses on more extremist views of social and moral values, and it illustrates that religious tenets are more complicated and nuanced than one might be led to believe from the geopolitical bent of media and crazy, uninformed religious and political extremists....(Grrrrr....don't get me started).  I like that several questions on the quiz have more than one correct response.  Well-researched and provocative, it makes one stop and think.  Too bad, so many people don't bother doing so.