Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Dim Sum for Dummies


Sunday the hubby and I joined Benita and Don Giller for dim sum at Chinatown, and spent amazingly little on a sumptuous and fun meal. Since it had been too many years since I “dim summed,” I performed a little pre-research, hoping to avoid culinary faux pas. What I found was pretty interesting (to me at least), so of course I had to blog about it.

Dim sum, which literally translates to "touch the heart" or “point of the heart” (depending on the source), is a Cantonese term for a type of Chinese dish that involves small individual portions of food usually served in a small steamer basket or on a small plate. Dim sum is also inextricably tied to the experience of "yumcha" or the drinking of tea. 

The drinking of tea is as important to dim sum as the food. Thank gaud I found this out in advance. I would have probably ordered a diet coke!  It is also important to pour tea for others during dim sum before filling one's own cup, which I found to be a particularly civil and sweet ritual. And a custom unique to the Cantonese is to thank the person pouring the tea by tapping the bent index finger if you are single, or by tapping both the index and middle finger if you are married, both of which symbolize 'bowing' to them.

Writing Your Life As A Woman


This is gal-friend, Dean Lofton's writing class. 
I hope you'll consider joining. Dean's one sharp cookie and I think you'll enjoy...

A class taught in the style of journal writing workshops…
guides women to write their stories and discover their voice…
gentle encouragement in a non-academic, creative environment…
no writing experience necessary...

Summer classes:
Tuesdays, June 7 - 28, 7:00 - 9:00 pm
and
Tuesdays, July 5 - 26, 7:00 - 9:00 pm
4-week sessions meet at
Opal Divine's, 3601 S. Congress
(Penn Field, in the game room)
$70 for 4 weeks, $20 drop-in.

Dean Lofton
Writer, Publicist, Creative Strategy
Austin, Texas
512.636.1346

Look Again by Lisa Scottoline


My Memorial Day weekend goal was to read a book I wouldn’t pick out myself but which came highly recommended by someone whose opinion I respect. I achieved my goal and grudgingly enjoyed Look Again by Lisa Scottoline. You’re probably wondering what that means, or not.

The email from said-respected friend said, “Have you read, Look Again by Lisa Scottoline? If not, it's a good un' - lots of twists, a super bad guy, and a gut wrenching ethical and moral decision.” Based on that snappy one-sentence inducement, I bit and I’m glad I did, sort of.

Could I get any wishy-washier? Yes, but first let’s get the obligatory, “tell what it's about without a spoiler,” out of the way. One of those “Have You Seen This Kid” flyers arrives in single mom,  Ellen's,  mail. The age-progressed picture on the flyer looks almost exactly like her three-year-old adopted son. Things then get weird. And there’s an exciting ending. OK, back to wishy-washy:

Monday, May 30, 2011

One Hundred Things My Mother Taught Me A Million Times – Chapter 71


# 71 - “Don’t wear glasses, they make your eyes weak.” 

When writing about the one hundred things mom taught me a million times I usually research the topic de jour, and almost always find surprising scientific research supporting mom’s seemingly off-the-wall beliefs.  And then there are those days when, after looking at the Google links, I feel like I’ve strayed into the Twilight Zone! Today was one of those. Click on arrow below...


When I Googled “wearing glasses makes your eyes weak,” 83 pages of mostly wacko-to-the extreme info popped up. For example: One site claims “glasses and contact lens are merely a crutch for your eyes.” I swear, mom always said glasses are just a crutch! The site further claims, “Your eyes will therefore become lazy and weaker with time.” Mom said that too!  This site, however, was selling “pinhole glasses” that supposedly “exercise” your eyes to make them stronger. I ask you. Would you ride in a car with a driver wearing these?

Fearless Women, Fearless Vision


Mary Ann Halpin is compiling the next edition of her wildly popular book, Fearless Women, Fearless Vision, and is accepting applications for inclusion.

If you are interested in being in the next edition (you should be), please click here, and mention my friends name, fearless woman, Patti DeNucci.

 If you have questions, please contact Patti by clicking here. She says that being in this book has brought many positive spinoffs.


Click on the arrow below for the full story...




My Weekend in Marfa, Marathon and Alpine


I was scheduled to go to a horseshow in Alpine last weekend to watch my grandson perform, but it was cancelled because of an equine virus outbreak. Unable to cancel my hotel reservations at the Paisano Hotel (photo above left) without a penalty,  I was forced to cowgirl on to Marfa, where I met up with my BFF, Deborah Fondren and another friend from New Mexico, Marcia Smith (photo above right). It was a monotonous weekend of drink, eat, sleep, read, visit galleries, buy useless stuff, and repeat often – my fave!

After entirely too much wine on our balcony (most of which we drank), we retired to Maiya’s for din din, and of course more wine. After dinner my heartier compatriots walked around Marfa taking photos, and I, weary from too many 12-hour workdays and the seven hour drive from Austin, slunk into bed, curled into the fetal position and offered pagan prayers that my wine and pasta would stay where I put them!

Saturday morning we savored  brunch at Cochineal (photo left), visited the Chinati Foundation, Ballroom Marfa, inde/jacobs and several other galleries, then siesta-ed in the warm pm. As happy hour approached, we drove to Marathon for drinky-poos at the Gage Hotel White Buffalo bar.

While in Marathon we visited Eve’s Garden B and B (below, left) and I was reminded of how much I love that place and want to stay there again soon. Although you can’t tell from the outside, it really is the Garden of Eden on the inside, and I love the owner Kate, who is always so generous with her time and prepares the yummiest organic breakfast!

In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin by Eric Larson



Ever wondered what life was like in Berlin right before Teutonic-twit Hitler’s shit hit the fan?
Ever wonder why the German people so enthusiastically embraced the Nazi “let’s get even” party?
 Ever wonder why it took so long for America to wake up and smell the Jewish exterminations?
Me too. I think I gained a clearer insight into these issues reading the Wiki Adolph Hitler page, but Eric Larson’s new book, In the Garden of Beasts (released May 10) was wunderbar!

So what was so wonderful about In the Garden of Beasts? Larson’s writing, of course. The man’s a master storyteller. But two of Larson’s other books are a little more “digestible.” If you haven’t read Isaac’s Storm (1900 Galveston hurricane) and Devil in the White City (1893 Chicago World’s Fair), get to Amazon.com immediately!

Was it the intriguing story of what it was like to live in Berlin during the rise of Hitler’s bile? Well, yes - it was such a provocative and politically tumultuous time. The book title In the Garden of the Beasts refers to Berlin’s central park, the Tiergarten, which literally translates as “Garden of Beasts.” It’s an apt symbol of the beautiful city and country preyed upon by the beast of Nazism. The Tiergarten was also one of the only places people could converse in privacy.

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford


Just exactly why did Genghis Kahn kill an estimated 38 million people, and what did he have to do with the “making of the modern world?” 

First, let us get one thing straight: Genghis Khan is not pronounced Gingus. It is either pronounced Jingus Kahn (per the audio version of Jack Weatherford’s book) or Chingis Hahn (per Wiki). Apparently how to pronounce Genghis Khan’s name, as well as most information about this famous 13th century character, is highly debatable.  Genghis Khan in traditional Mongolian writing (right).

If it hadn’t been for the mysteriously named The Secret History of the Mongols (author unknown and the oldest surviving Mongolian literary work), we would know relatively little about Genghis Kahn who was originally named Temujin. As with any historical book, however, comes the inevitable prejudice of the writer, the bending of truth, and the resulting foaming-at-the-mouth scholars challenging its veracity.

Unburdened by a scholarly point of reference, I read Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World as “gospel” and enjoyed the hound-dog outa’ it. The more history I read, the more evidence I find that our species is just a fight looking for a place to happen.  And sure enough, Genghis Kahn (nee Temijin) began life kidnapped in a warring raid and pretty much went on to make waging war his life’s work.