Yup, I'm saying goodbye to Vox and moving to a brand new blog:
I enjoyed this more than I thought I would...and I really enjoyed the last third as all of the seemingly disconnected bits came together. I haven't read a book this strongly about "identity" since the Auster binge I went on about 15 years ago. (Speaking of which, his new book is next up in the queue...)
know your audience.
Last week I had a hip arthroscopy to repair a torn labrum in my hip. Healing has gone well, with rest, excellent care by Henry and plenty of pain meds. Things were moving along peachy, with increased use of my hip and even some time on an exercise bike, when I started getting nauseated and having odd vision. I looked in a mirror and saw my left eye pupil entirely dilated, while my right was normal. I became worried.
A trip to the ER and an amused doctor later, we concluded that I got atropine in my eyeball, left over from a motion-sickness patch I had been wearing behind my ear. Atropine is a chemical also known as belladonna and has been used by women to dilate their eyes. The idea that women ever purposefully did this to their eyes for beauty amazes me. Of course, we also wear high heels.
There is nothing I can do but wait. I asked for an eye patch because one eye being dilated was too uncomfortable, and also because I've never had a valid reason to wear one. I've been hobbling around my house with an eye patch, on crutches, and anxiously waiting for my upgrade to a cane on Thursday. It doesn't get much cooler than this!
the latest in the "cooking A Thing!" series!
Eggplant Thing, originally uploaded by miz_ginevra.
Originally a recipe that started as thai fried eggplant with basil, eggplant thing has come into being along with my CSA box this summer, and a gifted basil plant. Thai basil is better, but usually means a trip to the Sunset. The concept of cooking from the CSA box - especially this summer, when the produce is suffering from a lack of water here in California (and the east coast has the inverse problem) is more of a philosophy of OMG QUICK EAT IT BEFORE IT ROTS. I'm serious, my CSA tomatoes rot within two days of delivery. It's depressing, since I love tomatoes like it ain't no joke.
Moving along!
Eggplant Thing is meant to have a savory-sweet asian flavor, but I bet if you wanted to Italian-i-fy it with tomatoes and oregano, you could.
Eggplant Thing
veggies:
eggplants - chinese work best, chopped into 1-inch cubes
peppers - I've been using the red peppers from my CSA box, and red give the best color
onion - 1 medium, julienne
basil - as much as you like
sauce:
shoyu/soy sauce
sugar
rice wine vinegar
fish sauce (not too much, it's fishy)
red pepper flakes or diced thai chilis, to taste
hot water
if you're going for a thicker sauce, cornstarch
fry eggplant at high heat, put aside in its own bowl. I like to get at least one side super-toasty-brown, so I use a cast iron pan with just a wee bit of oil. Fry onions the same way (you can use water to sort of steam/deglaze to cut down on oil, a trick I learned from ChezBeau) and add peppers. When everything gets all tasty-looking, add back in the eggplant and the sauce. Stir in sauce, let cook for ~5 minutes.
You can fry the chilis first in the oil, for the spicy-spicy goodness.
You could also add in other veggies to taste, whatever you're trying to use up - squash would be good, as would zukes.
For Italian-i-fying, I'd sub the sauce with something like arrabiata (red pepper flakes, capers, tomato, parsley/oregano) and lots of cracked black pepper, instead of the umami of soy/fish sauce.
I just wanted to say the word "umami".
sidenote: some guidance on picking the best eggplants.
It would be an understatement to say that America is starting to pick up on the decadent portrayal of 1960's big-city realism in Mad Men. Not only are they drooling over the characters and their fab threads, people are actually understanding the deeper plot elements, notably the darker feminist undertones that leaves a few of my friends "depressed" after watching the relentless struggles of the second season.
Of course, ladies, we know it gets better. But like the chauvinist advertising industry of the 60's, I can think of one huge American corporation who has regarded men as loose cannons around smart, capable women for far too long: the US Military.
Luckily, today's New York Times top story sheds some light on the advances of women in the US Military -- and the timing could not be better.
Just to give you a little background, obviously, women are allowed in the military, but they're not allowed to do every job that men can -- elite units such as Navy Seals and Army Rangers are off-limits, and submarines are notorious No-Lady zones. The NYT article describes a few more men-only groups that are opening up for women through a loophole because (surprise!) they're actually capable of being great soldiers. What's the loophole, you may ask? It's simply labeling female troops' association with stricly-men units as "attachments" rather than "assignments", and although women still aren't allowed to do 100% of what the men are doing there (like driving...yeah, that's hurtful), they're actively pushing that glass ceiling.
Asking someone to work as an "attachment" reminds me precisely of that episode of Mad Men where Joan, a secretary, volunteered to read through a set of episodes to avoid ad placements in poor taste. She quickly found that not only did she excel, but she enjoyed it and developed a passion for the task and was excited to help her company. Then one of the douchebag weasel guys casually brushed her hard work and aspirations aside when he brought in yet another douchebag weasel to do Jane's beloved task, cracking jokes that the subject matter sucked anyway.
Luckily, this lesser "attachment" title overseas isn't preventing some women from getting the credit they deserve, like Veronica Alfaro's badassed 'I-effing-belong' quote:
I did everything there. I gunned. I drove. I ran as a truck commander. And underneath it all, I was a medic.
It's also important to note that women aren't banned from these top military units because people think it's too dangerous; rather, it's well-understood that introducing women into a group will throw hormones into a frenzy and the troops won't be able to get their job done due to the shift in group dynamics. (Yeah, really. Kinda related to the thought process behind the Gay Bomb. ) It's about time we have some military leaders who see through that excuse to realize -- boobs or no boobs -- women are getting the job done and men aren't going bonkers with them around.
America's hearts and minds are certainly a-flutter with the slow revolution of the ladies at Sterling Cooper. Could this be the era where we say "Why Not?" to women in the military? And then follow with Why Nots in every other professional department -- men in nursing and teaching, women in math and science, men as daycare workers, women as construction workers? Why Not?
Well I gotta say, thanks, Mad Men, for the inspiration and posterity to our current situation. And thanks, US Military, for admitting that women are helping more than distracting, and for starting to break down the 'sexually wreckless' soldier stereotype that has been perpetuated for too long.
Otherwise.....you know....stop the war. Now.
It must be a right-brained sort of day, one where I think about poetry before sunup. This is an old favorite, found squirreled away in someone's classical poetry anthology, thumbed through and on sale at Green Apple Bookstore on Clement Street. I can't recall what put me in a mind of it, other than the shrugging line of "so what?" when the narrator as good as admits that bitches be crazy, but that's alright by him because it beats the alternative.
It's totally sexist and totally sexy and dammit, I'm going on vacation tomorrow. So it seemed an unusual and lovely way to start the day: with the knowledge that we humans haven't changed our relations very much since Before the Common Era.
--
Elegy 8B
Ovid, 43 BCE-18 CE
translation: Peter Green
--
If I heard a voice from heaven say 'Live without
loving.'
I'd beg off. Girls are such exquisite hell.
When desire's slaked, when I'm sick of the whole
business,
Some kink in my wretched nature drives me back.
It's like riding a hard-mouthed horse
that bolts headlong, foam flying
from his bit and won’t answer the rein -
Or being aboard a ship, on the point of docking, in
harbour,
when a sudden squall blows you back to sea:
That’s how the veering winds of desire so often catch
me –
Hot Love up to his lethal tricks again.
All right, boy, skewer me, I’ve dropped my defences,
I’m an easy victim. Why, by now
Your arrows practically know their own way to the
target
And feel less at home in their quiver than in me. I’m sorry
for any fool who rates sleep a prime blessing
and enjoys it from dusk to dawn.
Night In. Night out. What’s sleep but cold death’s
reflection?
Plenty of time for rest when you’re in the grave.
My mistress deceives me – so what? I’d rather be lied to
Than ignored. I can live on hope. Today
She'll be all endearments, tomorrow throw screaming
tantrums,
Envelop me one night, lock me out the next.
War, like love, is a toss-up. If Mars is inconstant, he
gets that
From you, his stepson. You're quite
Unpredictable, Cupid, with your lucky-dip favours,
And more volatile than your own wings.
Maybe you'll hear my appeal though - your delectable
mother
Might help there - and settle in as king of my heart?
Then admit the flighty sex en masse to your dominions
and you'd have guaranteed popularity all round.
I just watched Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, overall my 3rd favorite HP movie in the series, so I'm all jazzed on the topic of those magical teens and their silly banter.
Watching Hermione on screen looked...a little more familiar than usual. Then I finally put it together: my younger brother's wife, Kimi (left), looks very similar to Emma Watson (right).
Apologies in advance to my brother Mark, whose right four fingers are visible although his face was cut out. Mark, you're awesome in your own ways and I might just blog about you one day.
