Miscellaneous Missives

I am reading the Maud Hart Lovelace books. This is a Minnesota children's and young adult book award. Our students are encouraged to read at least three from the list of nominees and vote for a winner at the end. Each summer I ensure that I have read every book on the list. Today I have started reading my last book from the list. The book by Susan Pfeffer is entitled Life as We Knew It . Currently I am only on page 20 of 337, but I had to stop to post because this made me laugh out loud... no context is necessary. "Should I try Fox News?" I asked. Mom shuddered. "We're not that desperate," she said. Enough said. Enjoy your day.

Today I joined the coalition for Meat Free Mondays. Paul McCartney, backed by the beautiful Chris Martin of Coldplay and other stars such as Sheryl Crow, has suggested that one way to help the environment would be to go meat free for one day a week. Statistics say this will help save water and fossil fuels. I'm not sure if the statistics are true, but I don't think it's a bad idea. Supposedly cutting out meat one day a week would have more benefit on global climate emissions than not driving a car one day a week. True or not, I am willing to give it a try.

Hope is the Thing with Feathers by Emily Dickinson Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul, And sings the tune without the words, And never stops at all, And sweetest in the gale is heard; And sore must be the storm That could abash the little bird That kept so many warm. I've heard it in the chilliest land And on the strangest sea; Yet, never, in extremity, It asked a crumb of me. Although I'm not necessarily a huge Emily Dickinson fan, this poem resonates with me. Sometimes it seems easy to find hope. This morning hope was found as I watched three toddlers naturally congregate from opposite sides of the room. Their wonderment, laughter and smiles brought them together as their parents hurried to get them back to their seats. Finally the parents gave up and let the children enjoy each other. Hope can be found in the natural inquisitiveness people share.

Each and almost every Saturday morning I weigh myself. When I weighed this morning, it had been two weeks since my last weigh in. Basically, it's a bit depressing to weigh in when one is not working out. At the end of school, I was five pounds from my target weight which actually might be three pounds too high, but I like to end in five. Today I was eleven pounds over the target. Since I've been on a cookie diet after making cookies on Monday, this shouldn't have surprised me. To put it in perspective, yesterday I ate one dozen cookies. Yes, I ate twelve chocolate chip cookies. It seems having them in the basement freezer does nothing to stop me from eating them. Obviously walking down and back up the stairs does not counterbalance the cookie diet. The good news about weighing in this morning is that I had no desire to eat a cookie today.

A couple of weeks ago I posted the trailer for Food Inc. Tonight I went to see the movie. Everyone who eats food should see this movie. Most of the content did not surprise me, but it did reinforce my beliefs and values surrounding food. For example, I knew Monsanto was evil, but I didn't realize the extent of the evilness. For the most part I am a fairly good food consumer. My major downfall is fountain Diet Pepsi. This probably won't change, but it's good to remain informed and vigilant. I did leave the movie realizing that I need to be a better citizen and keep my government officials honest. Although I spent a little time at the movie website, I need to spend more. Sometimes I don't know where to begin; the website offers suggestions . Go see the movie and/or visit the website!! Now showing at the Lagoon and a theater near you.

According to my brother (and others), celebrities die in threes. Today Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson joined Ed McMahon to make three. Although I didn't watch Ed McMahon and Johny Carson, I did watch Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson. As I told my brother about the poster they showed of Farrah Fawcett on the news and commented that most boys had one in their rooms, he reminded me of the playing cards we used to buy of Charlie's Angels. Michael Jackson is a different story. He was the first black musician on MTV, and his music is legendary. Unfortunately, his legacy will also contain many absurd incidents. Maybe today is the day to remember him as an artist and an icon.

Since I already had the AC running yesterday evening, I decided to take advantage of it and bake cookies. After all, I have a new freezer to fill. Keeping cookies in a basement freezer has to be safer than keeping cookies in a kitchen freezer (refrigerator). Amazingly I didn't eat any while I was baking. I did, however, realize several things while baking the twelve dozen cookies. 1) Baking cookies gets boring after four dozen. 2) Baking cookies is messy. 3) The worst thing about baking cookies is it smells up the entire house... YUCK! 4) The smell even gets in my hair. 5) I have an oven light which is awesome. 6) I have ancient cookie sheets. 7) It's difficult to take cookies to a neighbor who isn't home, but it does disrupt his puppies. 8) It's a challenge to find something to cool cookies on when one doesn't get a newspaper or paper grocery bags. Maybe I need a cooling rack.