Cards Proudly Displayed by Dairy Farmers

Front: In the love of Christmas, may you find joy...

Inside: Thanks for the Cow Manure.

Eh?

Hey, did you know there's a bloodless coup going down in Canada right now? Thanks to a librarian friend in Toronto, I now know about a thousand times more about the Canadian political system than I did this morning. We were Google Talking and she mentioned this major constitutional crisis. I was forced to admit I had only the slightest idea what she was talking about. There was no webcam, but I'm sure she must have sighed loudly and rolled her eyes a bit. Typical navel gazing Americans! I mean really, how could I not know about this? I live 100 miles from the border. I wake up to NPR like any good liberal elitist. I scan the headlines. I watch Brian Williams.

Here's how she broke it down for me:

It's actually very easy, here goes: Conservative - right wing, color: blue; Liberal - centrist, color: red; NDP - socialist, color: orange; Greens - environmental, color: green; Bloc Quebecois - French Canadian Separatists, and then there's all the small parties, including the Marijuana Party of Canada (really, it does exist)...

Well, currently the Conservative Party has a minority government; the Liberals, NDP, and Bloc Quebecois, between the three of them, have more seats. So they can outvote the ruling party on legislation and that can lead to the overthrow of the party...

It's the party that counts. We elect the party, through our local representatives (members of Parliament). The leader is not elected by the people, but by their party...

But it gets even more complicated, because the leader of the Liberal party, Stephane Dion, who signed a deal with the NDP and Bloc Quebecois to overthrow the Conservatives is now himself being overthrown by one of the individuals who was a contender for the leadership contest of the Liberal party last year - Michael Ignatieff. Consitutional experts will have their knickers in a knot for some time to come.

So, in Canada, it is perfectly constitutional for there to be a huge transfer of power in the opposite direction of what the voters decide. Who knew?

Without Packages, Boxes, or Bags

Earlier this fall, my mom sent me the instant message "how would you feel about no presents this year?" I told her that was just fine. Financially, it's been a tough year for my parents. I don't want them feeling obligated to buy a bunch of stuff they can't afford. Middle sister was unemployed over the summer and is still digging herself out of that hole. Plus, she hates Christmas shopping under any circumstances. She usually puts it off until a Christmas Eve Hail Mary trip to Discount Drug Mart. Last year, she got our dad a can of cat food. Baby sister and baby brother-in-law already exchange plenty of loot with the other side of their family. And so it was decided: no presents this year.

Now I'm having reservations about this plan.

1. I miss Christmas shopping! Shopping for Toys for Tots is not the same as shopping for people you know.
   
2. Gift exchange time is the only time my family turns off the television. We were never very good at Family Game Night. I fear that this year we'll be trading our hour of togetherness for an extra hour of A Christmas Story marathon.
3. The first thing our wealthier cousins always ask when they come for dinner is "so what did you get?" We'll say "oh, we decided not to do presents this year" and sound either a) holier-than-thou or b) hopelessly impoverished, and neither is true. On the plus side, maybe we won't have to hear about their matching leather jackets and big screen TVs.
   
4. There's a chance my mom will break down and buy presents anyway, and then we'll all feel like schmucks.

I'll be putting extra money in my usual kettles this year. We'll see how it goes with no presents at home. At least there will be cookies.

Overheard in Portland

"The Internet adds ten pounds." [on meeting a Skype contact in person for the first time]

"You're not a cantaloupe person and I'm not a honeydew person. Interesting." [in the breakfast buffet line]

"My students kept complaining that the library orientation was torture, so I went to it, and they were right. It was torture." [well yeah, that's why Introduction to Torture is a required class in library school]

"Ho Ho Ho! Merrrrry Christmas!" [very believable Santa Claus at the mall]

"Well, speaking as a Mac owner and not an Apple Store employee..." [yeah, right]

"I'm sorry. We're all out of Pepto Bismol donuts." [settled for a Fruit Loop donut instead]

"So did anyone have any new ideas last night? At dinner, on the treadmill, in the shower with your teammates... "
[intense blushing]
"I mean in the shower COMMA with your teammates!!!"

"Mathematicians cite papers they actually read. Biologists cite every paper ever written on the topic by a potential reviewer." [so true]

"Her name is Catherine Chow, but she goes by Cat." [and she makes dresses entirely out of zippers]

"I'll have a chardonnay and a hot dog." [in the bistro car]

"I bet you don't even know what the Alamo is."
"Yes I do, and it's not one of John Wayne's better films!"
[from the most predictable movie ever]

Still Connected

It was a lonely Thanksgiving for me, but really not too bad. One of the things I like about Seattle is that you can do things alone here without feeling like a pariah. Lots of people go places alone, sometimes by choice and sometimes by circumstance. I took the bus downtown, window shopped at Nordstrom and Macy's, wandered around a little bit, saw the movie W., wandered some more, and took pictures of the lights at Pike Place Market.



I made a lot of calls on a barely-working cell phone to family and friends back in Ohio. Between dropped calls, I had plenty of time to think about family dynamics and the nature of connections. I wonder if I was too hasty in my decision to move out here. Mars Girl, your post came at just the right time. I'm going to give Seattle another year... maybe a couple more years... and re-evaluate. They say that home is the place where, if you have to go there, they have to take you in, right? Maybe I needed to move here in order to stop taking home (and many of you, dear readers!) for granted.

The highlight of my weekend was lunch with my mom's cousin, who moved out here 30 years ago and never looked back. She is not the easiest person to get to know. I'm glad I talked her into meeting me. I was worried I might not recognize her, but there was a definite "oh yeah, I'm related to that person" moment. Compared to my mom and aunt, she chose a completely different life, but some of her mannerisms are so much like theirs it's scary.

My mom's cousin reminded me to be deeply thankful for memories of my maternal grandparents. They both passed away when I was in junior high. My middle sister doesn't remember them before they were sick, and my youngest sister doesn't remember them at all, which is really a shame. J's MySpace profile says our grandparents are the people she'd most like to meet now that she's old enough to appreciate who they were. They were the best kind of small town people... warm, accepting, genuinely friendly, and generous with their time and talents.

Don't Forget My Senior Discount

One of the first things they teach you in Sandwich Artist school is to never, under any circumstances, give customers the senior discount unless they specifically ask for it. Not even if they look like they're 112. Not even if they're related to you and you know exactly how old they are. This is a good rule, usually. I remember the day my dad's Golden Buckeye card came in the mail. He was totally depressed. 

Every once in awhile, though, you'll get an older gentleman who thinks your mission in life is to rip him off. He'll examine his receipt, see no discount there, yell at you and demand to speak to the manager. If this person is on your Christmas shopping list this year, might I suggest the following?

Sandwich artists everywhere will thank you.

A Very Tasty Soup

I ate this soup for dinner every night last week and never got tired of it. This recipe is definitely a keeper.

Pumpkin Tortilla Soup

12 (6-inch) corn tortillas
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium white onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup finely chopped cilantro
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
5 cups unsalted vegetable stock
1/2 teaspoon salt
Vegetable oil for deep-frying
2 ripe avocados, peeled, pitted, and cubed

Cut 6 of the tortillas into 1/2-inch squares.

Heat 4 tablespoons olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add onion, garlic, cilantro, and chopped tortillas and cook, stirring frequently, until onion is soft.

Add cumin and cayenne and sauté for another minute.

Add pumpkin, tomatoes, vegetable stock, and salt and stir to combine. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for one hour.

While the soup is simmering, cut the remaining 6 tortillas in half and then into 1/4-inch-wide strips. Heat 1/2 inch of vegetable oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat until very hot but not smoking. Fry tortilla strips in two batches until crisp and light golden (about a minute). Using a slotted spoon, transfer tortilla strips to towels to drain.

To serve, ladle soup into bowls and garnish with tortilla strips, avocado, and cilantro.

---

I used this stuff called Better Than Bouillon to make the vegetable broth. It is better than bouillon, but it contains an almost lethal dose of sodium, so I didn't add the additional 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

Magic Mushrooms

Western Washington is a botanical fairyland. From February until June, neon colored rhododendrons bloom all over the place. There's a tree in my neighborhood with blossoms that look like those fiber-optic decorative art pieces from the '70s. There are bushes on campus that sprout what look like miniature buckeyes. They go from green to orange to fucshia to deep red when ripe. Ordinary oaks and maples have leaves that are bigger than your head. Oh, and we have palm trees, too!

A few days ago, a co-worker went out for her daily walk on the Burke-Gilman trail and returned to the office with a giant orange hallucinogenic mushroom.



Yes, that is a full sized paper plate. We used our best librarian skills to identify this mushroom as Aminata Muscaria, common name Fly Agaric.

The toxicological details of this mushroom are interesting enough, but check out the Wikipedia entry to read about cultural depictions of this shroom. (Yes, I'm citing Wikipedia. Want to make something of it?)

As it turns out, this mushroom is a symbol of good luck. It commonly appears on Christmas cards and it just may be the reason certain reindeer can fly. Yes sirree bob.

What's more, these mushrooms provide lodging for Smurfs:



I read this factoid to my co-worker. She responded "No way! I knew I'd seen that mushroom somewhere before, but I couldn't quite place it..."

Election Reflection

Elections are different here on the left coast!

I watched the returns with a small group of co-workers, one Canadian, and one Jack Russell terrier. The party host checked out a projector from the library so we could watch on a big screen. We were just barely settled in with our munchies when Obama was declared president-elect at 8:01 Pacific Time. Our polls closed and *poof*! We could hardly believe it. I was pessimistically expecting a repeat of Election Night 2000. I spent that night at the home of Joanna, Liz, and Starfish, all of us thinking that if we just stayed up 15 more minutes, surely they'd call it. Surely.

Nobody said a word or moved a muscle during the victory speech. Not even the terrier. I thought it was very telling that the concession speech happened in an exclusive hotel and the victory speech happened at an enormous public park with people of all colors, ages, races, shapes, and sizes in attendance.

I forget which network we were watching, but the 50-something white male news anchor... Charlie Gibson, maybe? Anyway, he got all choked up over a picture of the presidents. It was the type of picture that hangs on the walls of social studies classrooms all across the United States. Generations of school kids had pictures like that staring down at them every day. Even if you never consciously thought "I'd like to be president someday" I really believe pictures like this have done a number on your psyche. What if you can't see yourself in the picture? What if you're not white? Or male? Or (lately) rich? I got a little choked up, too. A few days later, a local pastor posted this picture on his blog. Powerful stuff.

The original source of this image is http://www.patrickmoberg.com/

Election Facts From a Pizza Box

Pagliacci Pizza makes good pizza and great boxes. This month's box features election trivia. Did you know...

• Washington State ranked third in voter turnout for the 2004 election with 82% of registered voters participating. Colorado was first with 89%; Oregon was second with 85%. This wasn't on the box, but Ohio was 9th with 64.8% (and 1st in the longest lines division).
• In Australia, it is illegal not to vote.
• In Malta, it is not illegal not to vote, but 93% of people voted this year, anyway.
  
• We vote in November because farmers are too busy the rest of the year.
• We vote on Tuesday so the men and their horses won't have to skip church in order to make it to the county seat on time.
• The 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote in 1920, but only 1 in 3 women voted that year. Again, not on the box, but women have voted in higher numbers than men in all but one presidential election since 1980.

Here's me voting with a slice of Eggplant Supreme:

Starting Over

So I finally got annoyed enough with the free version of LiveJournal to move my blog over here. I feel oddly guilty about this, like I've betrayed an old friend or something. I was tired of having so little control of the layout and having to use a roundabout method to save drafts of posts. Also, I didn't like not being able to post pictures without going through flickr. I hadn't posted anything in awhile, so I figured now would be a good time to start over. So long, LJ, it's been fun. I promise to visit.

I gave myself the duration of one bus ride home (35 minutes) to come up with a new blog title. As we were passing one of Seattle's delightfully tacky neon signs, I thought of "It's My Party and I'll Blog If I Want To." Hey, it comes with its own color scheme! It warns readers that I might get all adolescent and whiny sometimes! It gives me permission to not blog if I don't want to! And... it was the best I could do in 35 minutes. Hope you like it.