No. 27

When I was younger, birthdays were always a day I looked forward to so much that I could never sleep the night before. I'd be so excited that I would just lay awake waiting to fall asleep so that tomorrow could come SO MUCH SOONER. Of course, it never worked, and I'd lie awake until finally my tired self would succumb.

I would leap out of bed early, rush to living room, and see what my parents had set out for me. It was usually a package wrapped not in store-bought paper, but newspaper--usually the funny pages--and a bow stuck to it. Sometimes the package would appear later, but there were cards placed on our entertainment center that I could look at. My grandparents always mailed a card with a crisp five-dollar bill tucked inside, and the constancy of that card was wonderful.

With five children, it would be easy to gloss over birthdays, but my parents never did. August 5th was always MY day to do what I wanted. I got to pick out my flavor of birthday cake (I loved the confetti cakes when I was young; my brothers favored chocolate cake made with mayonnaise) and ice cream. I always went for Rocky Road or mint chocolate chip--when I got older to think about flavor pairings, I would try to pick something that went with the cake I wanted.

And we always got to pick what we got to eat for dinner. Early childhood meant favorites like macaroni and cheese or burgers with my mom's macaroni salad. We all love that macaroni salad, probably to the point of irrationality. I don't even like mayonnaise, and I still LOVE that salad.

No one questioned the supremacy of the individual whose birthday it was. I wouldn't have to do chores, like wash dishes or put them away. It was my birthday.

I love my birthday, and I always have. I've been mildly mocked for making a big deal about my birthday, but I really love it. I still feel like it's my day, and I try to treat my friends' birthdays the same way. Thinking about all those childhood birthdays helps me to see why I feel the way I do about birthdays.

Today was my birthday. After believing for a week or so that it would shape up to be a subdued, somewhat ignored day, I was proved dead wrong. My Facebook wall is covered with birthday wishes, and attentions from friends and family alike have been wonderful. I got to eat dinner with three lovely ladies, and have drinks with another and her fantastic boyfriend (whose birthday is also today). I even chronicled the day's happenings in pictures, which I will share tomorrow. And, AND! I have a birthday party this weekend to anticipate.

So, remember. Birthdays are wonderful days. You should use the day to appreciate that many people love you and are happy that you are in the world--because that's how my day went.

Et cetera

• Cream of chanterelle soup is of the gods. Chanterelle mushrooms are delicate little things, and paired with a simple mixture of cream, onion, butter, salt, and pepper, they are to die for. If you're envisioning condensed cream of mushroom, flush that naughty thought right out of your head. My stomach is so happy right now. And I have more mushroom dishes to look forward to*!
• I finished Lost and Found on Saturday. It's so good. Post coming shortly about it. (And also Lady of the Snakes).
  
• Thanks to Facebook, I'm in some hot water with my parents. We'll see how long it takes to blow over. Lesson learned: never refer to your family as racist on Facebook**. Especially if they are sensitive to being called racist.
• I missed Ultimate Frisbee last night. It made me sad, but I was tired, depressed from dealing with my family, and dealing with stomach cramps. But I got to swim on Monday! And I'm sure the time away from frisbee will be good for my leg.
  

*Lance scored a bag full of dried morels from his brother. Yum. I love having a mycophile for a boyfriend.
**So stupid. I don't mind if they find my blog post about it, but Facebook status remarks offer no explanation. I'm going to stay off of there if I'm angry. Stupid, stupid.

Indignantly Angry

My brother had the nerve to send me an e-mail entitled "In Obama's Own Words." I would post it, but I don't think I should. Instead, I'll quote the main message of it:

"We should all be very afraid. This man wants to be our President and control our government."

Ah, yes. Because (as we all should know) our government is in the control of one man. Silly me, I thought that we had three branches of government and a system of checks and balances. Whoops, that's right--Bush has everyone thinking that he's in control and that Congress needs to listen to his dictates...

Anyway, not the point. The e-mail then went on to give quotations (they're real!) from Obama's book Dreams From My Father (the e-mail didn't even get the title right, incidentally). These quotations were all taken out of context and meant to convey one thing: Obama is black; Obama doesn't share our white Christian ideals; Obama sympathizes with Muslims; don't trust Obama.

The quotations don't say anything bad. In context*, I'm sure they convey his struggle as the son of a biracial couple and his quest for identity. I would think that it was a difficult experience for him, yet ultimately a positive one. But out of their racism and bigotry, the originators of this e-mail want us to be afraid of Obama's race and his racial identity. They want us to believe that he'll ignore all the Christians and promote Islam. They're idiots, and I just couldn't stand it. So I sent a firm reply back to my brother (and my father, who sent the e-mail to my brother initially). Here's what I said:

I'm not sure what the message of this is supposed to convey, but the biggest sense is that it's racist, and that's not something I'd like to think of you as. Please do not send me stuff like this again. It makes me angry and a little upset.

I don't think selected quotations (taken out of their context, a context that could change the meaning of those sentences) is supposed to convince me that voting for Obama is the wrong choice for president. Nor are the insinuations (ungrounded, based on the fact that he's a Christian and raises his family as Christians) that he's Muslim. The final quotation could be taken to mean that if the political winds should shift in such a way as to target Muslims with prejudice and racism, that he would stand with them, as would I.

Not all of those quotations are negative either. He expresses admiration in one of those quotations for black men who represent intelligence and courage--DuBois, for example, was an intellectual writing around the time of the Civil War who spoke for freedom and equality for black and white. That's nothing to be ashamed of.

What we should be focusing on, when looking for a President, is not race, not that fact that he uses some of the best representations of men of color as role models, nor the fact that he struggled with his identity as the son of a biracial couple. We should look for a leader who is capable and strong, a person of intelligence and reason. I don't care who you vote for, just as long as you don't vote against someone just because they are of another race or believe that people of other faiths should be treated with respect. I see you as intelligent and rational, so please use intelligence and rationality before forwarding things of this nature. Don't support racism and bigotry.

And this is why digging beneath the surface matters. It's too easy to listen to the lies that others want you to believe. I'm sure my family will protest that its message is not racist; rather, it says that we shouldn't elect a person who doesn't have the same ideals as us**. But strip away the superfluous, thin veneer, and you can see what it really is: a promotion of continued racism.

*I'm going to go read that book so I can argue more about it. Uggh, family.
**White, Protestant. Everyone else doesn't count because they're going to Hell anyway. We gotta make sure that the minorities are trying to oppress us!

Fruit and (Going) Nuts

I keep thinking of lots to write, but then I never get around to sitting down and doing it. Partly because I've been working a lot this past week with the start of new student orientation at the university. I worked until 8 both Monday and Tuesday*.

My main reason for writing is to relay my current happenings and to share a recipe. Friday, I went out with two of my friends to see Sex and the City, a delightfully girly film that I truly enjoyed--even though I've only seen a few episodes of the show. I've discovered that I really like films/TV shows that concentrate on the relationships between women, leaving relationships between men and women on the periphery**. Gilmore Girls is a lot like this too--and we all know that I love Gilmore Girls.

Afterward we went and enjoyed the most amazing sushi and a decent cosmo (appropriate, no?). I ate my weight in sushi rolls and sashimi, and it was the best I'd ever eaten. I had a hard time stopping, it was so good. Shogun gets my vote as best NWA sushi-seller.

Saturday, I goofed off most of the day, went to farmers' market and a pool party, then headed to my parents' house for the rest of the weekend. Sunday being Father's Day and all, I hung out with my dad, ate, glared at Fox News until it got turned off, rolled my eyes at politics, and played with my nieces. Overall, a fun day. Since everything in my parents' house is processed and contains corn syrup, I brought a lot of my own food (tofu dogs, sprouted grain buns), including something tasty to share. My contribution to the party was the following fruit salad.

Fruit Salad

• 1/4-1/3 fresh pineapple, cut into chunks
• 2 nectarines
• 1 orange, peeled and sliced against the segment grain and cut into smaller pieces
  
• 1 mango, cut into chunks
  
• grapes
• blueberries
• unsweetened shredded coconut
• crystallized ginger chips (I love The Ginger People)
  
• lime juice
• rum

Put all of your fruit into a bowl in the quantities you desire. Splash in some lime juice, and a bit of rum (maybe one shot's worth). Stir up and enjoy with yogurt*** or some whipped cream.

VARIATIONS:

• If using more berries, omit the lime juice and use some lemon juice. Rum might still be good--but a bit of vodka might work too. Or none at all...
• Some citrus zest would look pretty.
• Go for a variety of colors and flavors. Avoid banana since it gets weird when it sits for too long.
• Citrus juice keeps the fruit from browning or getting a little weird. No browned apples!
• Obviously, the varieties are endless. I particularly enjoyed my variety.
  

(Incidentally, fresh pineapple kicks canned pineapple ass. Seriously. You can use it, but you might not get the same deliciousness I did.)

*The upside is that I got to use my extra time by taking off early on Friday. I went home and lazed about and watched the rain.
**Those relationships are important, but they seem almost secondary or more transient than the friendships among women. Male-female relationships seem to carry with them the threat of deterioration; friendships among women are more lasting. If you break up with your lover, you always have your girlfriends to talk to about it.
***Greek God yogurt (plain, or with honey) is AMAZING. So creamy, so delicious. I may be converted away from my precious Brown Cow.