If I could have photographed my childhood daydream, this would have been it.
This week's photo is courtesy of Johann Karlsson picked as today's photo of the day on NationalGeographic.com.
February 8, 2011
Photo of the Week
Riding in the cramped backseat of a two-door Chevy Beretta on countless weekend drives with my parents, I would often imagine a magnificent white horse galloping alongside the car. Wild, beautiful and unbridled, the horse was my traveling companion on those long rides. As the car barreled down two-lane highways and backwoods country roads, I sometimes daydreamed of climbing out of the passenger window at high speeds, grabbing onto the horse's long white mane and gingerly leaping onto her back. Other times I imagined her simply running beside me with her eyes locked on mine as though we understood each other.
If I could have photographed my childhood daydream, this would have been it.
This week's photo is courtesy of Johann Karlsson picked as today's photo of the day on NationalGeographic.com.
If I could have photographed my childhood daydream, this would have been it.
This week's photo is courtesy of Johann Karlsson picked as today's photo of the day on NationalGeographic.com.
February 4, 2011
Put on a Darker Shade of Pink Today
Let's play word association. I'll go first... "red", "heart", "love", "February"...
You may be thinking of that all-too-commercialized Hallmark holiday on February 14th, but I'm referring to an important and often overlooked February 4th - National Wear Red Day.
Started in 2002 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the American Heart Association(AHA) the National Wear Red Day campaign, branded with the little red dress logo, encourages women to wear red to increase awareness of the dangers of heart disease. At a time in which millions of women around the country are wearing pink and sponsoring numerous fundraising events for breast cancer, the HHS and AHA are trying to get in on some of the action. And they should. More woman die every year from heart disease than any of the other four leading causes of death combined - including cancer. I think it's time a few of us started wearing a darker shade of pink, don't you?
Show your support and wear red today!There is no reason we should lose so many loved ones to heart disease. Take this opportunity to learn the risk factors in The Healthy Heart Handbook for Women and what signs and symptoms could mean you or someone you love is experiencing a heart attack.
And don't forget to go shopping! From now through February 6, 2011, Macy's, a sponsor of the Go Red for Women movement, is offering 20% off purchases if you wear red to the store or enter "wearred" online at checkout.
You may be thinking of that all-too-commercialized Hallmark holiday on February 14th, but I'm referring to an important and often overlooked February 4th - National Wear Red Day.
Started in 2002 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the American Heart Association(AHA) the National Wear Red Day campaign, branded with the little red dress logo, encourages women to wear red to increase awareness of the dangers of heart disease. At a time in which millions of women around the country are wearing pink and sponsoring numerous fundraising events for breast cancer, the HHS and AHA are trying to get in on some of the action. And they should. More woman die every year from heart disease than any of the other four leading causes of death combined - including cancer. I think it's time a few of us started wearing a darker shade of pink, don't you?
Show your support and wear red today!There is no reason we should lose so many loved ones to heart disease. Take this opportunity to learn the risk factors in The Healthy Heart Handbook for Women and what signs and symptoms could mean you or someone you love is experiencing a heart attack.
And don't forget to go shopping! From now through February 6, 2011, Macy's, a sponsor of the Go Red for Women movement, is offering 20% off purchases if you wear red to the store or enter "wearred" online at checkout.
February 3, 2011
Bye Bye Miss American Pie
On February 3, 1959, three of the most influential and popular musicians of the emerging rock 'n roll era died in a tragic plane crash and the world said goodbye to Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and "The Big Bopper". Teenagers all over America mourned and held candlelight vigils. Waylon Jennings, on the same tour as the others, gave up his seat on the plane for flu-ridden The Big Bopper and went on to become a successful country star.
About a decade later, Don McLean wrote the song "American Pie" and since then, February 3, 1959 is referred to as The Day the Music Died. Not to disregard the profound influences that Holly and Valens had on the emerging rock 'n roll scene, but it's the popularity of McLean's tribute that kept their legacy alive into the 21st century. Or perhaps I say that because I learned about Buddy Holly and his tragic demise from listening to the song. And let's face it, if it wasn't for the movie La Bamba, I may never have known about Richie Valens.
A fan of 50s rock 'n roll, McLean pays tribute in the opening lyrics of American Pie. The song references the crash and subsequent deaths with lyrics like "I can still remember how that music used to make me smile", but "February made me shiver" and "I can't remember if I cried when I read about his widowed bride" (Buddy Holly's wife was pregnant at the time of the crash and later miscarried). But American Pie is about much more than what happened on that cold February night. The music was dying all over America for a number of other reasons.
Leaving the scene of the crash, the song continues as a history lesson of the music and unrest of the 60s and early 70s, mentioning or alluding to people and events like the Beatles, Karl Marx, Bob Dylan, James Dean, the Kennedy assassination, Elvis, Charles Manson, marijuana, Woodstock, the Rolling Stones, landing on the moon, youth in revolt, Janis Joplin, religion, the Byrds, and Simon and Garfunkel.
Sit down and take a good listen and you'll hear the references, or check out this obscure site that breaks the song down line by line.
About a decade later, Don McLean wrote the song "American Pie" and since then, February 3, 1959 is referred to as The Day the Music Died. Not to disregard the profound influences that Holly and Valens had on the emerging rock 'n roll scene, but it's the popularity of McLean's tribute that kept their legacy alive into the 21st century. Or perhaps I say that because I learned about Buddy Holly and his tragic demise from listening to the song. And let's face it, if it wasn't for the movie La Bamba, I may never have known about Richie Valens.
A fan of 50s rock 'n roll, McLean pays tribute in the opening lyrics of American Pie. The song references the crash and subsequent deaths with lyrics like "I can still remember how that music used to make me smile", but "February made me shiver" and "I can't remember if I cried when I read about his widowed bride" (Buddy Holly's wife was pregnant at the time of the crash and later miscarried). But American Pie is about much more than what happened on that cold February night. The music was dying all over America for a number of other reasons.
Leaving the scene of the crash, the song continues as a history lesson of the music and unrest of the 60s and early 70s, mentioning or alluding to people and events like the Beatles, Karl Marx, Bob Dylan, James Dean, the Kennedy assassination, Elvis, Charles Manson, marijuana, Woodstock, the Rolling Stones, landing on the moon, youth in revolt, Janis Joplin, religion, the Byrds, and Simon and Garfunkel.
Sit down and take a good listen and you'll hear the references, or check out this obscure site that breaks the song down line by line.
Quote of the Week
peace.
It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise,
trouble or hard work,
it means to be in the midst of those things
and still be calm in your heart.
It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise,
trouble or hard work,
it means to be in the midst of those things
and still be calm in your heart.
February 2, 2011
Phil Springs into Action
February 2nd is Groundhog day and we all know what that means - somewhere in Pennsylvania, in a town we can't spell, a certain honorable warm-blooded groundhog named Phil will emerge from his cozy simulated tree trunk to predict the fate of winter. No shadow = early spring, shadow = six more weeks of winter.
Doesn't that seem backward? If the sun is shining, wouldn't that lead one to believe that spring is on its way? Not so, apparently. The tradition dates back to the German celebration of Candlemas. Celebrated halfway between the winter and spring solstices, German folklore said,
For as the sun shines on Candlemas Day,
When the Germans settled in Pennsylvania in the early 1800s, they brought this folklore with them, though it's not certain how the groundhog entered the picture. Some say it is from the Delaware Indians who settled in Punxsutawney in the 1700s and believed that their ancestors took the form of animals.
In 2011, Punxsutawney Phil is reported to have not seen his shadow, thereby predicting an early Spring. Thanks, Phil! I owe you one, buddy.
Some fun facts about Groundhog Day:
1. The Groundhog's official name is Punxsutawney Phil, Seer of Seers, Sage of Sages, Prognosticator of Prognosticators, and Weather Prophet Extraordinary. I think I'll call him Phil.
2. PETA is lobbying for Phil to be replaced by a robot. Sigh...
3. The groundhog's handlers are said to speak Groundhogese and translate his prediction to the thousands of eager weather freaks and Phil fans at Gobbler's Knob. Where does one learn such a marketable skill?
4. Phil has seen his shadow 99 out of 155 recorded years and according to The National Climatic Data Center, has been right only 39% of the time. If he were the CEO of my company, he'd be fired.
5. Phil's rival for Weather Prophet Extraordinaire, Staten Island Chuck, bit Mayor Bloomberg in 2009 when he reached in to pull the little guy out. Uh, can you blame him?
6. The other 364 days of the year, Phil resides at the local library where he dines on dog food and ice cream, though legends tells us he's drinking Groundhog punch and chilling with his wife Phyllis. Phil and Phyllis. Awwww.
7. Phil is emerging into the digital age. He can now text you his prediction every February 2nd. But you won't be able to read it, because it will be in Groundhogese.
Doesn't that seem backward? If the sun is shining, wouldn't that lead one to believe that spring is on its way? Not so, apparently. The tradition dates back to the German celebration of Candlemas. Celebrated halfway between the winter and spring solstices, German folklore said,
For as the sun shines on Candlemas Day,
So far will the snow swirl until May.
For as the snow blows on Candlemas Day,
So far will the sun shine before May.
When the Germans settled in Pennsylvania in the early 1800s, they brought this folklore with them, though it's not certain how the groundhog entered the picture. Some say it is from the Delaware Indians who settled in Punxsutawney in the 1700s and believed that their ancestors took the form of animals.In 2011, Punxsutawney Phil is reported to have not seen his shadow, thereby predicting an early Spring. Thanks, Phil! I owe you one, buddy.
Some fun facts about Groundhog Day:
1. The Groundhog's official name is Punxsutawney Phil, Seer of Seers, Sage of Sages, Prognosticator of Prognosticators, and Weather Prophet Extraordinary. I think I'll call him Phil.
2. PETA is lobbying for Phil to be replaced by a robot. Sigh...
3. The groundhog's handlers are said to speak Groundhogese and translate his prediction to the thousands of eager weather freaks and Phil fans at Gobbler's Knob. Where does one learn such a marketable skill?
4. Phil has seen his shadow 99 out of 155 recorded years and according to The National Climatic Data Center, has been right only 39% of the time. If he were the CEO of my company, he'd be fired.
5. Phil's rival for Weather Prophet Extraordinaire, Staten Island Chuck, bit Mayor Bloomberg in 2009 when he reached in to pull the little guy out. Uh, can you blame him?
6. The other 364 days of the year, Phil resides at the local library where he dines on dog food and ice cream, though legends tells us he's drinking Groundhog punch and chilling with his wife Phyllis. Phil and Phyllis. Awwww.
7. Phil is emerging into the digital age. He can now text you his prediction every February 2nd. But you won't be able to read it, because it will be in Groundhogese.
February 1, 2011
Photo of the Week
Rescued from the crowded crane machine at Perkins Family Restaurant in Sandusky, Ohio and whisked away to the therapeutic shores of Lake Michigan... Batman finds himself.
January 28, 2011
Business Meeting Musings
Top ten things I learned from this week's business trip to Chicago that have nothing to do with my business...
1. The terms "low hanging fruit" and "put some skin in the game" are not innuendos, nor do they allude to any actual body parts, but are acceptable terms in the realm of business. And I wish I had a dollar for every time I heard them.
2. Sharing stories of drunken escapades and anything involving taking off your underwear makes for fantastic ice breakers.
3. A camera phone and interesting bathroom wallpaper can provide 45 minutes of solid entertainment.
4. "Pig Face" is an acceptable menu item.
5. A $1300 Eames executive desk chair is no more comfortable than my broken jury-rigged-with-two-bed-pillows-so-that-it's-tall-enough-for-my-desk desk chair. Though it is slightly more safe.
6. There are light switches that an intelligent, fairly well-traveled woman of 34 cannot figure out how to use that cause lights to turn on by themselves seemingly in defiance of just being turned off.
7. Dressing for a business meeting is akin to dressing for a funeral.
8. In the absence of a fan for white noise and the addition of screaming from the street below, you may think the History Channel a good choice to fall asleep to, however, be aware that you will dream of ancient volcanic eruptions and evidence of extraterrestrial encounters.
9. Anyone excited about anything, even if it interests you less than the dirt on the bottom of your shoe, has the power to excite you, if only momentarily.
10. No two cabbies are alike. Even if they are all named Ali.
1. The terms "low hanging fruit" and "put some skin in the game" are not innuendos, nor do they allude to any actual body parts, but are acceptable terms in the realm of business. And I wish I had a dollar for every time I heard them.
2. Sharing stories of drunken escapades and anything involving taking off your underwear makes for fantastic ice breakers.
3. A camera phone and interesting bathroom wallpaper can provide 45 minutes of solid entertainment.
4. "Pig Face" is an acceptable menu item.
5. A $1300 Eames executive desk chair is no more comfortable than my broken jury-rigged-with-two-bed-pillows-so-that-it's-tall-enough-for-my-desk desk chair. Though it is slightly more safe.
6. There are light switches that an intelligent, fairly well-traveled woman of 34 cannot figure out how to use that cause lights to turn on by themselves seemingly in defiance of just being turned off.
7. Dressing for a business meeting is akin to dressing for a funeral.
8. In the absence of a fan for white noise and the addition of screaming from the street below, you may think the History Channel a good choice to fall asleep to, however, be aware that you will dream of ancient volcanic eruptions and evidence of extraterrestrial encounters.
9. Anyone excited about anything, even if it interests you less than the dirt on the bottom of your shoe, has the power to excite you, if only momentarily.
10. No two cabbies are alike. Even if they are all named Ali.
January 27, 2011
Quote of the Week
"Our troops come from every corner of this country - they are black, white, Latino, Asian and Native American. They are Christian and Hindu, Jewish and Muslim. And, yes, we know that some of them are gay. Starting this year, no American will be forbidden from serving the country they love because of who they love."
President Obama, State of the Union Address, January25, 2011.
President Obama, State of the Union Address, January25, 2011.
January 25, 2011
Photo of the Week
This week's photo of the week is a series of photos I call "Alone in a Hotel Bathroom."
Location: Chicago
Medium: Camera Phone
Location: Chicago
Medium: Camera Phone
January 20, 2011
Quote of the Week
I've long been a fan of greeting card (and now poster, calendar, you-name-it) artist Renee Locks. Take one look and you'll see why - beautiful paintings of trees and flowers with inspirational quotes in stunning calligraphy - shocking that I would be so attracted to her work, I know.
I first bought a greeting card of hers in college, which I had planned to frame, but it was many years before I finally did so. The painting was a single delicate flower and the quote was "..And the time came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom."
I'm ashamed to admit that at the time I only knew of Anais Nin from a Jewel song, but still I found the quote stunning, personal and relevant. A late bloomer in several ways, I was, desperately at times, trying to hold on so tightly to what I knew. Fear played a central role in everything I did, or, should I say, didn't do. Too afraid to go too far away for college, I gave up free room and board out of state and stuck close to home to follow several friends to a nearby university. Afraid to be on my own, I traded the typical college experience for what was safe, for what kept me tight in a bud, because I was afraid to grow and blossom into someone that didn't coincide with the path I was on - college, marriage, job, children.
But Anais Nin was right... there came a time when it was too painful to remain as I was and even though I didn't have the answers, I listened to my heart and to my gut (which is right 99.9% of the time) and I started on a new path of self discovery. It pains me to think of where I would be now if I hadn't taken the risk to blossom.
I first bought a greeting card of hers in college, which I had planned to frame, but it was many years before I finally did so. The painting was a single delicate flower and the quote was "..And the time came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom."
I'm ashamed to admit that at the time I only knew of Anais Nin from a Jewel song, but still I found the quote stunning, personal and relevant. A late bloomer in several ways, I was, desperately at times, trying to hold on so tightly to what I knew. Fear played a central role in everything I did, or, should I say, didn't do. Too afraid to go too far away for college, I gave up free room and board out of state and stuck close to home to follow several friends to a nearby university. Afraid to be on my own, I traded the typical college experience for what was safe, for what kept me tight in a bud, because I was afraid to grow and blossom into someone that didn't coincide with the path I was on - college, marriage, job, children.
But Anais Nin was right... there came a time when it was too painful to remain as I was and even though I didn't have the answers, I listened to my heart and to my gut (which is right 99.9% of the time) and I started on a new path of self discovery. It pains me to think of where I would be now if I hadn't taken the risk to blossom.
January 19, 2011
Happy Birthday, Betty White!
Shakespeare said a rose by any other name would surely smell as sweet. Well, not so when you're referring to Rose Nylund. No one is more sweet (smelling or otherwise) than Betty White. I was eleven years old when I fell in love with Betty, proving that I was an old soul from the beginning. While most young girls were swooning over Zach and A.C. Slater, I was taking comedic cues and reveling in the witty repertoire of Rose, Blanche, Dorothy and Sophia, four senior citizens in Miami. Rose Nylund is arguably one of the best television characters ever created. Played by a comedic genius, her St. Olaf stories and bits of "wisdom" are classic and thanks to the Hallmark channel's back-to-back reruns of The Golden Girls, I often spend hours laughing along with my favorite Golden Girls of the 80s.
It's educational too... Click to see Rose explain what gerkonanaken is.
Loved by so many, even though she was absent from television for several years, a Facebook campaign ignited her fan base of millions into voting her to host Saturday Night Live for the first time at age 88. Since then she's been in Super Bowl commercials, feature films with Sandra Bullock and Sigourney Weaver, another hit television show, Hot in Cleveland, about to enter its second season as well as traveling the talk show circuit drinking shots of vodka with David Letterman and playing beer pong with Jimmy Fallon. Everyone's favorite grandmother, she's sweet as pie with a cunning wit and proves she still has what it takes to make us laugh and fall in love with her all over again.
Monday she celebrated her 89th birthday with her colleagues and friends and was as vibrant as ever. The envy of every 9-year-old in America, Betty was serenaded by Justin Bieber. As she blew out the candles on her enormous cake she remarked "I had a chance, and I blew it!"
With the last campaign such a success, there is a new Facebook campaign to make Betty's birthday, January 17th, a national holiday. I vote yes! I for one would celebrate with my fellow golden girls by nibbling on some vanskapkaka and playing a little GoWackaNoggin.
Happy Birthday, Betty! And many more!
It's educational too... Click to see Rose explain what gerkonanaken is.
Loved by so many, even though she was absent from television for several years, a Facebook campaign ignited her fan base of millions into voting her to host Saturday Night Live for the first time at age 88. Since then she's been in Super Bowl commercials, feature films with Sandra Bullock and Sigourney Weaver, another hit television show, Hot in Cleveland, about to enter its second season as well as traveling the talk show circuit drinking shots of vodka with David Letterman and playing beer pong with Jimmy Fallon. Everyone's favorite grandmother, she's sweet as pie with a cunning wit and proves she still has what it takes to make us laugh and fall in love with her all over again.
Monday she celebrated her 89th birthday with her colleagues and friends and was as vibrant as ever. The envy of every 9-year-old in America, Betty was serenaded by Justin Bieber. As she blew out the candles on her enormous cake she remarked "I had a chance, and I blew it!"
With the last campaign such a success, there is a new Facebook campaign to make Betty's birthday, January 17th, a national holiday. I vote yes! I for one would celebrate with my fellow golden girls by nibbling on some vanskapkaka and playing a little GoWackaNoggin.
Happy Birthday, Betty! And many more!
January 18, 2011
Photo of the Week
Happy Tuesday! I took this week's photo in October 2010. Playing around with the art of focus, I took this photo which now serves as a reminder that in the midst of all the chaos and noise in the world, including our jobs, our families, our relationships and our responsibilities, there's no need to be overwhelmed. Every one of us has the ability and discipline to stop and clearly focus on what's right in front of us.
January 17, 2011
Still Dreaming
Today we celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King. A pivotal figure in the civil rights movement, his famous I Have a Dream speech is more than a dialogue, it is a prayer, a poem, a plea and a song of inspiration, hope, justice and peace. Dr. King was a visionary leader and it is for his contributions, leadership and belief in justice for all Americans that we celebrate him on this day.
Let me ask you - how did you celebrate? Perhaps like me you had the day off of work and relished the three-day weekend...you went to the gym, caught up on DVR'd shows, wrote some emails, went to the movies, ate dinner out. Perhaps you took a few seconds out of your day to remember Dr. King's speech and reflect on how far we've come since 1963.
Or perhaps, like me, you hadn't heard or listened to the speech in its entirety since you were in school so you looked it up and sat on the couch with your laptop and read every word, tears streaming down your face because the poetry of it and the prayers of peace and hope were so powerful and still so relevant. (Read the speech here or watch and listen to it here.)
You see, Dr. King wasn't just seeking justice for African Americans. He was too much of a visionary to stop there. His prayers for justice encompassed ALL Americans. More than that, his vision of peace encompassed the world. As an ordained minister of Christian faith, he recognized the importance for people of all races, religions and cultures of the world to come together as one people. He traveled to India to further acquaint himself with the teachings of Ghandi and formed friendships with a prominent Rabbi and the Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh. In his book Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community, Dr. King shared a world view that we continue to strive for and struggle with almost 50 years later: "This is the great new problem of mankind. We have inherited ... a great 'world house' in which we have to live together - black and white, Easterner and Westerner, Gentile and Jew, Catholic and Protestant, Muslim and Hindu ... Because we can never again live apart, we must learn somehow to live with each other in peace."
I read about Dr. King's interfaith views in this fantastic blog by Eboo Patel in which the author makes a comparison between the problems with the "color line" of the past to the "faith line" of the present, and I agree with him. Our country, where once divided so distinctly by race, is now divided by religious principles and judging by recent headlines and the intense opposition between parties, a religious war on our own soil is not entirely unthinkable.
Today I find myself wishing that Dr. King was still here. Even though he would be 82 years old this year, I know in my heart that his voice would rise above the chaos and turmoil, just as it did on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1963, and we would hear his call of duty and respond as his soldiers of peace, acceptance, brotherhood and love.
Rest in Peace Dr. King. You are missed.
Let me ask you - how did you celebrate? Perhaps like me you had the day off of work and relished the three-day weekend...you went to the gym, caught up on DVR'd shows, wrote some emails, went to the movies, ate dinner out. Perhaps you took a few seconds out of your day to remember Dr. King's speech and reflect on how far we've come since 1963.
Or perhaps, like me, you hadn't heard or listened to the speech in its entirety since you were in school so you looked it up and sat on the couch with your laptop and read every word, tears streaming down your face because the poetry of it and the prayers of peace and hope were so powerful and still so relevant. (Read the speech here or watch and listen to it here.)
You see, Dr. King wasn't just seeking justice for African Americans. He was too much of a visionary to stop there. His prayers for justice encompassed ALL Americans. More than that, his vision of peace encompassed the world. As an ordained minister of Christian faith, he recognized the importance for people of all races, religions and cultures of the world to come together as one people. He traveled to India to further acquaint himself with the teachings of Ghandi and formed friendships with a prominent Rabbi and the Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh. In his book Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community, Dr. King shared a world view that we continue to strive for and struggle with almost 50 years later: "This is the great new problem of mankind. We have inherited ... a great 'world house' in which we have to live together - black and white, Easterner and Westerner, Gentile and Jew, Catholic and Protestant, Muslim and Hindu ... Because we can never again live apart, we must learn somehow to live with each other in peace."
I read about Dr. King's interfaith views in this fantastic blog by Eboo Patel in which the author makes a comparison between the problems with the "color line" of the past to the "faith line" of the present, and I agree with him. Our country, where once divided so distinctly by race, is now divided by religious principles and judging by recent headlines and the intense opposition between parties, a religious war on our own soil is not entirely unthinkable.
Today I find myself wishing that Dr. King was still here. Even though he would be 82 years old this year, I know in my heart that his voice would rise above the chaos and turmoil, just as it did on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1963, and we would hear his call of duty and respond as his soldiers of peace, acceptance, brotherhood and love.
Rest in Peace Dr. King. You are missed.
January 13, 2011
Quote of the Week
This week's quote of the week is not incredibly moving or ridiculously funny, but still hit close to home...
In a recent interview for Allure magazine, Jennifer Aniston was asked about the famous "Rachel haircut" of the 90s. Her response?
"How do I say this. I think it was the ugliest haircut I've ever seen."
How embarrassing for all who attempted to copy the Rachel cut in 1995, including yours truly.
In a recent interview for Allure magazine, Jennifer Aniston was asked about the famous "Rachel haircut" of the 90s. Her response?
"How do I say this. I think it was the ugliest haircut I've ever seen."
How embarrassing for all who attempted to copy the Rachel cut in 1995, including yours truly.
January 11, 2011
Photo of the Week
Simultaneously capturing the present moment and hearkening the past, this is a photo I took in December 2010 at Henry Ford's Greenfield Village. After carefully cropping out the Dora the Explorer toy in the foreground, this photo could past for Christmas circa 1945.
January 10, 2011
World Hunger and Infertility Solved!
If I posted every interesting fact, picture or article I see on National Geographic, my blog would be an exact copy of their website. But every once in a while I see something that is just too good to pass up. While reading about the recent mass bird deaths in Arkansas (turns out they were scared of the fireworks and died from crashing into things... how sad) I came across this article, New Self-Cloning Lizard Found in Vietnam Restaurant.
The title alone screams for ridicule. Eating lizards? Self-cloning food? This could be the wave of the future! Still hungry? No worries! Just wait five minutes and your food will multiply before your eyes! World hunger solved. As long as you like the taste of lizard. Probably tastes like chicken.
The article itself is a hoot too. It goes on to say that this lizard has been showing up on restaurant menus all over Vietnam for ages, but it was an undiscovered species until recently. Now let's get this straight. An entire country has been dining on this little guy (or girl, as it turns out...more on that later) for who knows how long and scientists didn't know the lizard existed? I don't know about you, but that makes me think twice about ordering the General's Surprise next time I'm at Lucky Kitchen. Or at least taking it to my local zoo for testing.
Read on in the article and you'll learn how scientists in the U.S. came to discover this reptile. A Vietnamese herpetologist (a seemingly odd name for someone who studies amphibians and reptiles and not STDs) found live lizards for sale at a restaurant and sent the picture to a father and son herpetologist team in the U.S. to help identify it. After asking the restaurant to hold the reptiles for them and trekking several thousands miles to examine them up close, the duo discovered that some "crazy guy had gotten drunk and served them all to his customers." Don't you hate it when that happens? Luckily several other restaurants stocked them and local children captured them by hand so the herps (that's my new nickname for them) examined around 70 of the lizards and discovered that every single one of them was female.
Yep. Every single one of them was an independent, don't-need-a-man reptilian feminist goddess. Apparently 1% of lizards reproduce by what's called parthenogenesis, meaning the females spontaneously ovulate and clone themselves to produce offspring. Well how do you like that? I'm seeing another scientific breakthrough here, folks. No more sperm donors! No more dead beat dads! The socioeconomic effects would be astounding.
The rest of the article discusses genes and mutations and the viability of a hybrid species, so if you were into the Punnett square in high school, I recommend you read it. I opted to skim through to the end where I learned that all mules are sterile (who knew?) and where I was glad to not have missed the author's (and I use that term loosely) ingenious wrap up to the entire article, "So what you get in the unisexual lizards is a mule that can clone itself."
Uh... yeah.
The title alone screams for ridicule. Eating lizards? Self-cloning food? This could be the wave of the future! Still hungry? No worries! Just wait five minutes and your food will multiply before your eyes! World hunger solved. As long as you like the taste of lizard. Probably tastes like chicken.
The article itself is a hoot too. It goes on to say that this lizard has been showing up on restaurant menus all over Vietnam for ages, but it was an undiscovered species until recently. Now let's get this straight. An entire country has been dining on this little guy (or girl, as it turns out...more on that later) for who knows how long and scientists didn't know the lizard existed? I don't know about you, but that makes me think twice about ordering the General's Surprise next time I'm at Lucky Kitchen. Or at least taking it to my local zoo for testing.
Read on in the article and you'll learn how scientists in the U.S. came to discover this reptile. A Vietnamese herpetologist (a seemingly odd name for someone who studies amphibians and reptiles and not STDs) found live lizards for sale at a restaurant and sent the picture to a father and son herpetologist team in the U.S. to help identify it. After asking the restaurant to hold the reptiles for them and trekking several thousands miles to examine them up close, the duo discovered that some "crazy guy had gotten drunk and served them all to his customers." Don't you hate it when that happens? Luckily several other restaurants stocked them and local children captured them by hand so the herps (that's my new nickname for them) examined around 70 of the lizards and discovered that every single one of them was female.
Yep. Every single one of them was an independent, don't-need-a-man reptilian feminist goddess. Apparently 1% of lizards reproduce by what's called parthenogenesis, meaning the females spontaneously ovulate and clone themselves to produce offspring. Well how do you like that? I'm seeing another scientific breakthrough here, folks. No more sperm donors! No more dead beat dads! The socioeconomic effects would be astounding.
The rest of the article discusses genes and mutations and the viability of a hybrid species, so if you were into the Punnett square in high school, I recommend you read it. I opted to skim through to the end where I learned that all mules are sterile (who knew?) and where I was glad to not have missed the author's (and I use that term loosely) ingenious wrap up to the entire article, "So what you get in the unisexual lizards is a mule that can clone itself."
Uh... yeah.
January 7, 2011
Where's My Month?
In 1926, noted Black historian and co-founder of the Association for Negro Life and History, Carter G. Woodson, proclaimed the second week of February a time to honor the achievements of Black Americans. Woodson chose February in light of the birthdays of both Abraham Lincoln and Fredrick Douglass, two instrumental figures in Black history at the time. In the decades to come, several cities and college campuses celebrated Black history week, and eventually Black history month, until President Gerald Ford set forth a precedent in 1976 that February will be recognized nationally as Black History Month (now African American History Month).
Several debates exist surrounding the isolated celebration of one particular race, for isn't Black history simply American history? Absolutely. But as a child of the 80s, I'm not convinced I would have learned so much or had the opportunity to celebrate the often overlooked achievements of great Black Americans like George Washington Carver, Frederick Douglass, Thurgood Marshall, Booker T. Washington and others. I never would have written a report on Althea Gibson, the first Black person, male or female, to play in and win Wimbledon and the U.S. National Tennis Championship (she won both twice, in 1957 and 1958).
While Black history should be synonymous with American history, it's not treated as such, still to this day. Ask the average American on the street what they know about Black history and, I'm willing to bet, the first events they recall are slavery and segregation. Some will undoubtedly mention Dr. Martin Luther King, the most recognized Black American in history, but will they know Marian Anderson and Josephine Baker paved the way for Beyonce to be a world famous pop star? Or who made it possible for Barack Obama to become the country's first African American President? So what's wrong with taking one month out of the year to celebrate, recognize and learn about the important contributions African Americans have made throughout history?
In February 1992, or it may have been '91, my high school class was gathered in the auditorium for a lecture on the importance of Black history. At one point during the discussion there was a commotion from the audience. A student, a young man of Latin decent, made his way to the front of the auditorium and demanded a chance to speak. I'll never forget the impact of his words as he took to the stage, gesturing angrily with his hands and confronting all of us with his question "Where's my month?"
Where was his month? Why weren't we spending four weeks learning about the struggles and achievements of Latin Americans? Explorer Pedro Menendez de Aviles discovered St. Augustine, Florida, the oldest settlement in the continental United States, decades before the Europeans settled Jamestown or landed at Plymouth Rock, yet he's not a household name. Naive as I was at the time, I didn't understand my fellow student's anger and it wasn't until years later I recognized the importance of his outburst. Without the history of a people, we have nothing. Achievements in history are a monumental source of pride. The struggles of our past make us who we are today and bind us together as a community. It is from history we recognize that we all have the potential to be great, we all have the potential to make mistakes and we all have the potential to change the world.
So it is now, as a member of the gay community I ask, where's my month? Some of you may respond by saying that October is nationally recognized as GLBT History Month. National Coming Out Day is celebrated on October 11th. Former president Bill Clinton and president Barack Obama both declared June GLBT Pride month, marked by several Pride festivals and parades across the country. The support, celebration and encouragement that these events foster is incredibly important to the gay community, but simply declaring October as Gay History month is not enough. What historical figures can we claim as our own? In many schools, teachers don't teach it and students aren't aware of it, and if they are, who are they learning about? Elton John? Ellen DeGeneres? Admittedly, gay history is a little harder to come by. Decades upon decades of oppression coupled with the desire or necessity to remain unrecognized have left us with few prominent gay historical figures. They are few and far between. Or are they? For the past 30 years, author and activist Larry Kramer has been writing an intensely comprehensive book about American History in which he claims to have evidence that Abraham Lincoln and George Washington were homosexuals. The New York Times interview with Kramer is enough of a tease to make anyone interested in homosexual history anxiously await the publication of his 3,000 page book.
I venture to guess that Kramer isn't the only one interested in and researching the history of gay Americans and I further venture to say that one day October will be more than Gay History Month in name only. In the years to come, students across the country will spend four weeks in October learning about and writing reports on prominent gay figures like Alexander the Great, Katharine Lee Bates (writer of America the Beautiful), composer Samuel Barber, author Truman Capote, poet Walt Whitman, Leonardo daVinci, Liberace, Harvey Milk and others. I commend the teachers around the nation who are already doing so. To them, I say thank you... Thank you for my month.
Several debates exist surrounding the isolated celebration of one particular race, for isn't Black history simply American history? Absolutely. But as a child of the 80s, I'm not convinced I would have learned so much or had the opportunity to celebrate the often overlooked achievements of great Black Americans like George Washington Carver, Frederick Douglass, Thurgood Marshall, Booker T. Washington and others. I never would have written a report on Althea Gibson, the first Black person, male or female, to play in and win Wimbledon and the U.S. National Tennis Championship (she won both twice, in 1957 and 1958).
While Black history should be synonymous with American history, it's not treated as such, still to this day. Ask the average American on the street what they know about Black history and, I'm willing to bet, the first events they recall are slavery and segregation. Some will undoubtedly mention Dr. Martin Luther King, the most recognized Black American in history, but will they know Marian Anderson and Josephine Baker paved the way for Beyonce to be a world famous pop star? Or who made it possible for Barack Obama to become the country's first African American President? So what's wrong with taking one month out of the year to celebrate, recognize and learn about the important contributions African Americans have made throughout history?
In February 1992, or it may have been '91, my high school class was gathered in the auditorium for a lecture on the importance of Black history. At one point during the discussion there was a commotion from the audience. A student, a young man of Latin decent, made his way to the front of the auditorium and demanded a chance to speak. I'll never forget the impact of his words as he took to the stage, gesturing angrily with his hands and confronting all of us with his question "Where's my month?"
Where was his month? Why weren't we spending four weeks learning about the struggles and achievements of Latin Americans? Explorer Pedro Menendez de Aviles discovered St. Augustine, Florida, the oldest settlement in the continental United States, decades before the Europeans settled Jamestown or landed at Plymouth Rock, yet he's not a household name. Naive as I was at the time, I didn't understand my fellow student's anger and it wasn't until years later I recognized the importance of his outburst. Without the history of a people, we have nothing. Achievements in history are a monumental source of pride. The struggles of our past make us who we are today and bind us together as a community. It is from history we recognize that we all have the potential to be great, we all have the potential to make mistakes and we all have the potential to change the world.
So it is now, as a member of the gay community I ask, where's my month? Some of you may respond by saying that October is nationally recognized as GLBT History Month. National Coming Out Day is celebrated on October 11th. Former president Bill Clinton and president Barack Obama both declared June GLBT Pride month, marked by several Pride festivals and parades across the country. The support, celebration and encouragement that these events foster is incredibly important to the gay community, but simply declaring October as Gay History month is not enough. What historical figures can we claim as our own? In many schools, teachers don't teach it and students aren't aware of it, and if they are, who are they learning about? Elton John? Ellen DeGeneres? Admittedly, gay history is a little harder to come by. Decades upon decades of oppression coupled with the desire or necessity to remain unrecognized have left us with few prominent gay historical figures. They are few and far between. Or are they? For the past 30 years, author and activist Larry Kramer has been writing an intensely comprehensive book about American History in which he claims to have evidence that Abraham Lincoln and George Washington were homosexuals. The New York Times interview with Kramer is enough of a tease to make anyone interested in homosexual history anxiously await the publication of his 3,000 page book.
I venture to guess that Kramer isn't the only one interested in and researching the history of gay Americans and I further venture to say that one day October will be more than Gay History Month in name only. In the years to come, students across the country will spend four weeks in October learning about and writing reports on prominent gay figures like Alexander the Great, Katharine Lee Bates (writer of America the Beautiful), composer Samuel Barber, author Truman Capote, poet Walt Whitman, Leonardo daVinci, Liberace, Harvey Milk and others. I commend the teachers around the nation who are already doing so. To them, I say thank you... Thank you for my month.
January 6, 2011
Quote of the Week
Guess what, it's Thursday! And guess what else, it's Quote of the Week day. Thursdays I will post quotes from the week that I've either said, heard or read. This week's quote is from the Dalai Lama because not only is he the reason I finally bit the bullet and joined Twitter, (see my tweets at mel_b_toast) he's a pretty smart guy.
This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness... We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves. ~Dalai Lama
Or as Lauryn Hill succinctly put it "How you gonna win, if you ain't right within?"
This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness... We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves. ~Dalai Lama
Or as Lauryn Hill succinctly put it "How you gonna win, if you ain't right within?"
January 5, 2011
Better Book Titles
I recently came across a great site called Better Book Titles in which folks can post alternate titles to well-known literary masterpieces. Genius! There appears to be a new one posted every day and, surprisingly, most of them are quite clever and funny. Titles are arranged by month and include a graphic of the actual book cover with the new title. A note of warning, some titles on the site may be offensive (which to me, makes them just that more hilarious).
A few of my favorites:
A few of my favorites:
- The Alchemist is instead titled "Just Do It"
- The Merriam-Webster Thesaurus is instead titled "This Paper is Due in One Hour!"
- Tolstoy's War and Peace is instead titled "War and Peace and Russians and Napoleon and Hard Names to Remember and Even Harder to Pronounce and Lots of Talk, Talk, Talk and Snow."
- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time is instead called "Autistic Kids Make Great Detectives."
- The children's book The Very Hungry Caterpillar is instead called "Eat Until You Feel Pretty."
- One of my faves as a young adult Where the Red Fern Grows is instead called "Dogs are Better Than People."
January 4, 2011
Photo of the Week
I've decided that Tuesdays will be Photo of the Week day. Why? Because this is my blog and I can do whatever I want to do. And because I have a shiny new Nikon that I like to play with. This week's photo (and, let's be honest, probably most week's photos because my cats are ridiculously photogenic and incredible convenient) is of the man of the house, Syd, helping us unwrap a little Christmas cheer.
January 3, 2011
Letting Go
I promise that not every entry in January will be about reflection and new beginnings, but it's relevant and it's what I spend the majority of my time thinking about as of late, so, hey, I'm going with it.
Thanks to a Groupon deal, I tried a new yoga class at a relatively new studio in Durham yesterday. For me, yoga is a deeply personal practice and yet I'm heavily influenced by the person instructing the class. If I don't connect with the instructor in some way, the class is nothing more than a melange of stick figure poses and heavy breathing. I look for something more in my yoga than simply stretching and a few deep breaths. I want to connect, to reflect, to challenge and to triumph. I want to move and breath with intention. And even though my intentions change (sometimes my intent is relaxation, sometimes strength, sometimes it's a practice in patience and acceptance), I look for connection to myself, the instructor and to those around me with each class I attend.
Yoga is so many things and that is a subject for another blog. Suffice it to say that I get a lot out of it and I'm glad I chose to try this new class on the second day of the new year. The instructor began the class with an personal reflection exercise. She asked us to reflect on the past year, specifically on something that we would like to change or do differently in the coming year. We wrote our reflection on a small piece of paper and placed it underneath our mats with the intention of letting go of whatever is on that piece of paper as we continued with our practice. With every breath I let go a small piece of what was written on that scrap of paper and found my mantra, or theme, for the new year -- let go.
For me, 2011 will be a year of letting go. Letting go of the past and harmful or destructive thoughts and behavior. Letting go of anger, greed, impatience, and control of things I cannot change. Letting go of worry for things I cannot control. Letting go of limits and anything holding me back. Letting go of doubt, judgment, fear and criticism. Because letting go also invites so much in, 2011 will also be a year of patience, kindness, forgiveness, love, and joy. It will be a year of peace that comes from acceptance. In my office hangs a picture of me on New Year's Day several years ago, sitting on a snowy bank overlooking the deep blues of Lake Michigan meeting the crisp blue of a winter's day. It's a picture of serenity, reflection and beauty and the perfect representation of what I resolve to bring to 2011.
Letting go is not just a mantra for the new year, it's a practice for every day; for every new moment is an opportunity for a new beginning.
Thanks to a Groupon deal, I tried a new yoga class at a relatively new studio in Durham yesterday. For me, yoga is a deeply personal practice and yet I'm heavily influenced by the person instructing the class. If I don't connect with the instructor in some way, the class is nothing more than a melange of stick figure poses and heavy breathing. I look for something more in my yoga than simply stretching and a few deep breaths. I want to connect, to reflect, to challenge and to triumph. I want to move and breath with intention. And even though my intentions change (sometimes my intent is relaxation, sometimes strength, sometimes it's a practice in patience and acceptance), I look for connection to myself, the instructor and to those around me with each class I attend.
Yoga is so many things and that is a subject for another blog. Suffice it to say that I get a lot out of it and I'm glad I chose to try this new class on the second day of the new year. The instructor began the class with an personal reflection exercise. She asked us to reflect on the past year, specifically on something that we would like to change or do differently in the coming year. We wrote our reflection on a small piece of paper and placed it underneath our mats with the intention of letting go of whatever is on that piece of paper as we continued with our practice. With every breath I let go a small piece of what was written on that scrap of paper and found my mantra, or theme, for the new year -- let go.
For me, 2011 will be a year of letting go. Letting go of the past and harmful or destructive thoughts and behavior. Letting go of anger, greed, impatience, and control of things I cannot change. Letting go of worry for things I cannot control. Letting go of limits and anything holding me back. Letting go of doubt, judgment, fear and criticism. Because letting go also invites so much in, 2011 will also be a year of patience, kindness, forgiveness, love, and joy. It will be a year of peace that comes from acceptance. In my office hangs a picture of me on New Year's Day several years ago, sitting on a snowy bank overlooking the deep blues of Lake Michigan meeting the crisp blue of a winter's day. It's a picture of serenity, reflection and beauty and the perfect representation of what I resolve to bring to 2011.
Letting go is not just a mantra for the new year, it's a practice for every day; for every new moment is an opportunity for a new beginning.
January 2, 2011
All That Glitters is not Gold
"525,600 minutes... how do you measure a year?"
2010 was a year of challenges and adventures, laughter and tears, gain and loss. It was a year that demanded strides in patience, kindness, understanding and forgiveness. I would venture to guess that 2011 will be similar in those respects because what is life other than struggles and triumphs, conflicts and resolutions, loss and gain, learning from our mistakes, and, above all, love?
I put a lot of stock into New Year's Eve and how it will affect my year. I will admit that there is far too much pressure to have a magical New Year's Eve full of sparkles (it's no wonder so many couples get engaged and married on this night) that the expectations can be tough to live up to. While I think a black dress affair would be spectacularly fun to do once, I don't need glitter and fanfare to usher in a new year. Growing up, my family spent New Year's Eve at home because it was safer to be in our living room then on the roads and that's the philosophy I've kept with me. The perfect New Year's Eve is an intimate gathering of people I love, playing games, sharing stories and ringing in the new year with a few noisemakers and a toast of Asti Spumante (though I'm glad to say I've graduated to much finer champagnes in my 30s).
But this year I tried something different. Maybe it's because I was miles away from friends and loved ones or because last year Nicole and I spent a quiet New Year's Eve at home that was both lovely and lonely or maybe it's because it's a sign of things to come in 2011. This year we accepted an invitation to a party at an acquaintance's and rang in the new year with great folks. We played games, chatted about movies, families, and the holidays, and ran around the house frantically waving towels when the smoke from the fireplace set the entire house on alarm. We made fun of Jersey Shore and some of us valiantly defended a rapidly declining but nevertheless spirited Dick Clark. We watched the ball drop, cheered, sipped champagne and kissed our loved ones. It was a night of new friendships and new beginnings, the perfect sentiments as I began a year that is new in more ways than one.
2010 was a year of challenges and adventures, laughter and tears, gain and loss. It was a year that demanded strides in patience, kindness, understanding and forgiveness. I would venture to guess that 2011 will be similar in those respects because what is life other than struggles and triumphs, conflicts and resolutions, loss and gain, learning from our mistakes, and, above all, love?
I put a lot of stock into New Year's Eve and how it will affect my year. I will admit that there is far too much pressure to have a magical New Year's Eve full of sparkles (it's no wonder so many couples get engaged and married on this night) that the expectations can be tough to live up to. While I think a black dress affair would be spectacularly fun to do once, I don't need glitter and fanfare to usher in a new year. Growing up, my family spent New Year's Eve at home because it was safer to be in our living room then on the roads and that's the philosophy I've kept with me. The perfect New Year's Eve is an intimate gathering of people I love, playing games, sharing stories and ringing in the new year with a few noisemakers and a toast of Asti Spumante (though I'm glad to say I've graduated to much finer champagnes in my 30s).
But this year I tried something different. Maybe it's because I was miles away from friends and loved ones or because last year Nicole and I spent a quiet New Year's Eve at home that was both lovely and lonely or maybe it's because it's a sign of things to come in 2011. This year we accepted an invitation to a party at an acquaintance's and rang in the new year with great folks. We played games, chatted about movies, families, and the holidays, and ran around the house frantically waving towels when the smoke from the fireplace set the entire house on alarm. We made fun of Jersey Shore and some of us valiantly defended a rapidly declining but nevertheless spirited Dick Clark. We watched the ball drop, cheered, sipped champagne and kissed our loved ones. It was a night of new friendships and new beginnings, the perfect sentiments as I began a year that is new in more ways than one.
January 1, 2011
Peas and Greens and a Prosperous New Year
Happy New Year, all! 2011 is here and it started off well because once again this year I honored a New Year's Day tradition of serving black-eyed peas and collard greens. How did this Northern girl come to make this traditional Southern dish? I may be Michigan born and raised, but I've got the South in my blood. Rumor has it there was a Ballance on the Mayflower (more research to be done on this later, but apparently it was in National Geographic... a dream come true, my name in a NatGeo!). Once off the ship, my kin decided that Virginia looked like a nice place to settle. Now, I'm not up on much of Ballance genealogy, but I do know that my grandfather's family owned much of Princess Ann County, Virginia. I'm not especially proud to relay that we owned plantations and slaves, but it's part of my history and I own it, for better or worse. And seeing as how my father was born in Virginia (even though he only lived there a few short years) I had the Southern influences growing up - most of them related to food! Spoon bread (with lots of butter), red eye gravy (made with coffee of all things), country ham (salty, salty), biscuits and cream (heavenly), chitlins (not a fan), collard greens (cooked with bacon and eaten with a dash of vinegar - again, not a fan), fried catfish (or any fish for that matter), and sweet tea (not the same as adding sugar to iced tea.) Sunday mornings we'd make big "country" breakfasts and visiting grandma Ballance always meant eating some Southern specialty.
So really it's no surprise that I continue in the Southern eating tradition by making black-eyed peas and collard greens on New Year's Day. Dad always said we ate it for good luck, but it wasn't until recently that I wanted to know how and why such a tradition was started. My research turned up only one fact: that no one really knows, but there are plenty of theories. Most Southerners will trace it back to African-American slave traditions. Whether they cooked the peas and greens because that's what was available and cheap or because the peas are said to resemble coins and the greens to resemble cash and bring money in the new year is uncertain. Some have traced the tradition back even further to Jewish settlers in Georgia in the 1700s.
Originally made with ham hocks or "jowls", I never cared much for the traditionally prepared black-eyed peas and collards so the past couple of years I've embarked on the hunt for my favorite way to prepare the New Year's Day meal. Steering away from any pork influence, I sought a dish instead flavored with garlic and spices. Spicy and savory was my goal for this "money" dish and this year I hit the jackpot. I cheated a little and bought canned black-eyed peas but went for fresh collards, onion and garlic sauteed in olive oil and spices. Added a dash (or ten) of hot sauce and voila! Prosperity was served...
With our tissues handy and our sinuses cleared, we feasted with hopes of ingesting a year's worth of luck and prosperity. But don't worry if you missed the black-eyed pea and collard green boat this year because I made enough to pass along the good wishes to all my friends and family. Besides, you could always come over next year. :-)
So really it's no surprise that I continue in the Southern eating tradition by making black-eyed peas and collard greens on New Year's Day. Dad always said we ate it for good luck, but it wasn't until recently that I wanted to know how and why such a tradition was started. My research turned up only one fact: that no one really knows, but there are plenty of theories. Most Southerners will trace it back to African-American slave traditions. Whether they cooked the peas and greens because that's what was available and cheap or because the peas are said to resemble coins and the greens to resemble cash and bring money in the new year is uncertain. Some have traced the tradition back even further to Jewish settlers in Georgia in the 1700s.
Originally made with ham hocks or "jowls", I never cared much for the traditionally prepared black-eyed peas and collards so the past couple of years I've embarked on the hunt for my favorite way to prepare the New Year's Day meal. Steering away from any pork influence, I sought a dish instead flavored with garlic and spices. Spicy and savory was my goal for this "money" dish and this year I hit the jackpot. I cheated a little and bought canned black-eyed peas but went for fresh collards, onion and garlic sauteed in olive oil and spices. Added a dash (or ten) of hot sauce and voila! Prosperity was served...
With our tissues handy and our sinuses cleared, we feasted with hopes of ingesting a year's worth of luck and prosperity. But don't worry if you missed the black-eyed pea and collard green boat this year because I made enough to pass along the good wishes to all my friends and family. Besides, you could always come over next year. :-)
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