Spider Stories

What with the temperatures in Chattanooga being freakish and unbearable the past couple days (22 but it feels like 12? No thanks!) and my stress level running proportionally opposite to the temperature, I needed a good winter soup to warm me up and calm me down.

Fortunately, I ran across this awesome recipe in this magazine (I think, it was on Dear Boyfriend’s nigh-sister-in-law’s counter top, and I didn’t pay much attention to the title) and scribbled down the ingredients. I rarely follow a recipe very closely. I am a Southern girl and think that measuring cups in the kitchen are about as useful as shoes in the summer time.

So I simply heated up as much water as looked like it would be a good batch of soup, and through in enough chicken bullion to make some tasty broth. A whole head of cauliflower got chopped into tiny pieces in my food processor and chucked into the soup. A single granny smith apple followed suit, as did some carrots I found in the fridge. The original recipe didn’t call for carrots, but I love how they add color and sweetness to most soups. I threw in garlic pepper, regular pepper, Italian seasoning and the barest dash of curry powder. Let it simmer for about 45 minutes to an hour and then ran it through a blender to get a creamy, thick porridge consistency.

It was divine on a cold February night, completely vegan, and met Dear Boyfriend’s seal of approval. This later item is truly high accolades– Dear Boyfriend usually lacks fondness for my vegetarian and vegan dishes because they aren’t rich or flavorful enough. In my defense, I personally like to let the vegetables speak for themselves quite a bit in cooking, and admittedly often confuse spicing for flavor with spicing for insane cajun heat. But this soup turned out flavorful without being spicy and tasty even to a picky carnivore. Go grab a cauliflower before it warms up around here and get cooking!

When I was 17, my mom, a friend of ours, and I flew to New York City to protest the Republican National Convention. Hundreds of thousands of people were there, but the numbers were downplayed by the media. Never the less, it was a colorful explosion of costumes, signs, and positive energy rallied around the negativity of a second Bush term. Some of the protesters I remember the most were those calling attention to women’s issues under Bush. I’d only recently left Girls Preparatory School, where attending an Ivy League to find a husband was considered feminist, and I was still trying to develop my own sense of what feminism meant beyond GPS’s slightly antiquated definition.

At the Convention protest, there was a fabulous group of middle aged ladies wearing pink satin slips carrying signs that said “Pink Slip Bush,” encouraging he be fired. There were the Axis of Eve girls showing off their weapon of mass seduction panties over crazy colored tights and roller skating through Manhattan. And there was one protester, whose face I’ve since forgotten, who was carrying a huge blown up photo mounted on cardboard. It showed Bush, surrounded by men, signing a law pertaining to women’s health and in big white letters the sign asked “Where are all the women?”

This morning, I was so happy to turn on the TV by chance and see Obama sign the Lilly Ledbetter law into effect. I know so many women have not had fair treatment in the workplace, and I’ve had my own small brushes with sexual harassment and a struggle to get the pay check due to me. But the shot of Obama sitting at the desk, pen in hand, surrounded by a beautiful fan of women wearing every color in the rainbow is truly a sign to me that times are changing. Especially after his touching comments about his grandmother’s experience with the glass ceiling and his hope that his daughters can “grow up in a nation that values their contributions, where there are no limits to their dreams and they have opportunities their mothers and grandmothers never could have imagined.” After this morning, I feel sure that when it comes to looking back on Obama, no one will be able to ask “Where are all the women?”

I babbled on and on about my enthusiasm for the performance of Simple Gifts yesterday at the Inauguration and thought I should link to a blogger who pointed out something about the performance I hadn’t even thought about that only adds more layers of awesome to an already amazing combination of artists and a beautiful composition and performance.

From Dylan Meconis, one of my favorite artists and author/artist of some of my favorite webcomics–

“Also: how bad-ass is it that the John Williams composition was performed by a disabled Jewish man, a Latina, a black dude, and an Asian guy? Totally bad-ass, is my verdict.”

I hadn’t even thought about how diverse that group of artists is. Beautiful, and bad-ass.

Also, while I was trying to make my hair do something presentable this morning I turned on the news and caught the tail end of some great coverage of the National Cathedral ceremonies this morning. A girls choir was singing a truly soulful rendition of “He’s Got the Whole World In His Hands” and it reminded me of everything I miss about going to church. And of how much I wish I could sing, especially after the public humiliation that was an ill-fated attempt at karaoke while at The Big Chill with girlfriends last night. You go girls of the awesome choir. You rock that hymn!

Today my roommate and I skipped class and camped out in front of the TV all morning in anticipation of the Inauguration. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, we’re supposed to be in our seats and taking notes at 12:15. By 12:35 I was sprinting across campus to get to as much of a lecture on the Romantics as I could. But there was no way I was missing watching Joe Biden and Barack Obama solemnly swear.

I turned on the TV this morning and the first thing I saw was Doris Kearns Goodwin. How exciting to see her on national TV when just the other day I was asking her questions in person, and she was standing in the UTC Honors Reading Room. We were so honored to have her visit us!

Over breakfast, we watched the motorcade make its way to the Capitol building and the VIPs file in as their names were read by the announcer with the funny voice. We saw Muhammad Ali escorted to his seat. Clutching homework we were only pretending to work on, we sat up straighter as Rick Warren gave his invocation. We agreed that the part where he asked forgiveness for those who hate their neighbors was definitely something he needs to pray about. Although it was nice of him to tailor the tune of his prayer to Obama’s message of unity and service. When Joe Biden was sworn in, we chuckled over how he was the epitome of John Wayne during his swearing in. I hope I never forget Aretha bringing it on My Country Tis of Thee or the stunningly appropriate “Simple Gifts” arrangement by John Williams. Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, Gabriela Montero and Anthony McGill did so much justice to such a beautiful piece of music, and we could see on their faces how joyful they were to be playing together on that song at that moment. And Aretha’s hat was badass.

And then in a moment, Obama was president. He placed his hand on the Lincoln and Dred Scott bible, Michelle looked at him with pride and honor, and the crowd became one giant mass of energy and joy and patriotism, waving their flags and letting out a great big hallelujah that all the anticip……ation is finally over, Obama is finally our president, and so many of are finally proud of our government, our country, and ourselves.

PS: Really, what song could sum up Obama’s message and the story of his Inauguration after the past eight years better than Simple Gifts?

‘Tis the gift to be simple, ’tis the gift to be free,
‘Tis the gift to come down where you ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
‘Twill be in the valley of love and delight.

When true simplicity is gain’d,
To bow and to bend we shan’t be asham’d,
To turn, turn will be our delight,
Till by turning, turning we come round right.

I certainly hope that today is the day we came round right, and that American has taken to heart Obama’s message that it is time to be involved, to serve, and to sacrifice. I can’t wait to see what the next four years hold.

PPS: I’m so glad Obama gave a shout-out to the godless heathens out there. I’m not the most godless of heathens, but it’s nice for someone to acknowledge that there are patriotic Americans out there who just don’t buy the whole God thing. What a relief after having God shoved down our throats the past eight years. EDIT: A Salon.com article on just this.

I had the honor of participating in a question and answer session that just wrapped up with Doris Kearns Goodwin, author of such awesome books as the now-famous-thanks-to-Obama Team of Rivals, and No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. She has come to Chattanooga through the Hunter Lecture Series and Benwood foundation and will be giving a big talk tonight. I’ll be missing out since everyone and their mother wants a seat and I’ve already had the opportunity to hear from her in a more intimate setting. I’m just head over heels having heard from such a great historian and (pardon my millenial generation celeb gushing) someone who has met and spoke with Obama. She was smart and witty and a great thinker. It was a real pleasure hearing the other students’ questions, and wonderful to be in the room with so many people thinking about where we have come from poltiically and culturally and the moment we are in. As Dr. Goodwin put it, “It’s a great time to be alive.”

As long as I’m catching up on my political blogging, why not my food blogging?

Dear Boyfriend and I threw a big party on Saturday night with a zombie theme. Both of us, and all our friends, love an excuse to dress up in crazy costumes, and this was a perfect excuse for giving that old prom dress a second trip out of its garment bag, strapping on a leg holster, and getting covered in fake blood and green grease paint.

I don’t throw parties very often, and so (like my mother when house guests are incoming) I tend to go a bit overboard when I do. We wanted to be everything green (like the undead) so we had the following menu. I’m afraid I got so distracted by hostessing I forgot to take a picture of the crowning achievement, the edible zombie fingers, but a little bit later I’ll add some photos of the punch and such to the post.

Zombie Party Menu:

Zombie Punch– I’m not entirely sure what went into this since dear boyfriend’s older brother decided that HE needed to make the punch, despite our protests that he would make it way too strong, which he did. It was still tasty though. Mix to taste Bacardi 151, green sherbet, pineapple juice, and ginger ale.

Spinach dip dyed green– if I hadn’t been behind schedule I’d have loved to make this from scratch but I had to buy Tostito’s brand

Cake dyed green– again, would have loved to be more creative, but I didn’t budget my time very well. Spent too much time at the gym before the party learning to box against a punching bag.

Zombie Fingers– my pride and joy. Essentially fancy pigs in a blanket, I cut hot dogs in two, dyed some Pilsbury biscuit dough in a can green, and wrapped only the end of the dogs in the dough so it would look like a stump on the end of a finger. After baking for 10 minutes, they came out of the oven and I cut a little slit in the top of each dog with a knife and inserted slivered almonds to look like fingernails. It was grisly looking, and delicious.

I think the only non green food we had was the 7 ingredient dip– easy to make and SOOOO yummy. Layer refried beans, cheese, sour cream, lettuce, chopped tomatoes, onion, and green chilies in a baking dish. Serve chilled with corn chips.

I can’t wait to come up with a menu for the next big party!

Sorry for the radio-silence here lately. I just ha ven’t been very inspired towards this blog lately. Too much going on that’s great for me but too weird/personal/mundane for the internet.

I am sticking my head up though to respond to a lot of the ideas bouncing around though about projects the U.S. could start up on that, while expensive, would create jobs and benefit the country. A lot of these projects are things we’ve needed to do for a long time, and just haven’t gotten around to– sort of like the dishes in my sink and the dust bunnies behind the bathroom door. Only difference is, when you’re one of the most powerful, wealthy, and trend-setting countries in the world, your metaphorical dust bunnies are a lot bigger and more important than my actual ones.

$ I’m all for the push on alternative energy, but I don’t think that diving in on setting up a bazillion windmill plants or nuclear power stations should be the first step. I agree with a TIME magazine article America’s Untapped Energy Resource that jumping into new/unproven technologies with real downsides (like ethanol) is a mistake when we simply could be more responsible with the resources we are already using. All the solar panels in the world won’t make up for being wasteful. We’re in a recession, and I think it would do America TONS of good if we got back into the mindset my grandparents grew up with during the Great Depression– save everything, waste not, want not, and be mindful of your every resource from the old newspapers you collect each day to your nation’s energy.

$ High speed rail projects. America Blog brought this up the other day. Sadly, the first thing I thought of was how Chattanooga keeps getting its hopes up to be a stop on a high speed rail link between Chicago and Atlanta that never materializes. Local disappointments aside, however, updating national rail is very in keeping with Obama’s interest in greening America and the growing interest nationwide in reducing our dependence on foreign oil. There really is no good reason NOT to bring back an era of railways in America, this time with the latest technology of fast, efficient rail linking major and medium cities across the country. Considering the logistical nightmare that air travel has become despite lingering safety issues, and our now-rocky love affair with the automobile, trains would be wonderful. Especially after the slew of stuff like this that I’ve heard on the radio in the past year.

$ Digitizing Health Records, once again, a project we’ve been sorely needing to do for decades and haven’t gotten around to. And, once again, an area we are lagging behind Europe in. I’m tired of getting shafted by not living in Europe– they have trains, great health care, AND castles? Not fair. Digitizing our records would create a lot of jobs in areas that other improvement projects don’t touch on as much, and it would be an important step towards Obama’s goals of health care reform.

$ Updating bridges, roads etc. Even if it sounds like a pork-apalooza, I’d love to see our electrical grid, bridges, roads, and other basic infrastructure brought up to date. After the giant blackout all over the north east a few years ago, the sorry state of public transit all over, and that bridge collapse in Minneapolis, clearly we need to get our aging infrastructure together.

$ This one is a real pipe dream, and way more of a fantasy than the others, but I’d love to see mental health care in this country updated and reformed. I’d like to see better long-term options for those with debilitating mental health and neurological problems and a better national and state level support network. It would create a lot of jobs, admittedly some in already high-demand areas like nursing, and help other expensive problems we can’t seem to find a good solution to like homelessness. It just seems so much more cost-effective and compassionate to give people the support they need to remain on top of things rather than letting them fall through the cracks and then pay for it through increased crime rates, homeless services, and emergency room care.

I guess you could say this is my wish list for the next 4 years.

If you want an absolutely hilarious NSFW video, check this one out. It’s only NSFW because the title of the video (and thus a refrain in the lyrics) is “F’real yo, I gotta dildo.” Also, there is cheerleader-style spelling on cue-cards of a couple basic anatomical words.

I love the bizarre combo of 80s references, uber-preppy stylings, rap, and the ode of one self-proclaimed “fagette” to her collection of strap ons. Only on the internet, people, only on the internet can you find such strange, hilarious, awesome things as people playing squash while singing about their equipment.

From 10K Monkies here’s a fun meme. Instead of just typing out your answer on your blog, you head to Flickr and type it into their Flickr’s search box. Once the results pop up, you use only the images that appear on the first page, choose your favorite and copy and paste each of the URLs into the Mosaic Maker (3 columns, 4 rows). Voila!

Here are the questions (and my answers):

1. What is your first name? (Meghan)
2. What is your favorite food? (Mexican food)
3. What high school did you attend? (GPS)
4. What is your favorite color? (black)
5. Who is your celebrity crush? (Alan Rickman)
6. Favorite drink? (tequila)
7. Dream vacation? (The Sedlec Ossuary in the Czech Republic.)
8. Favorite dessert? (Tira Misu, and I wonder who that dominatrix is who is named that!)
9. What do you want to be when you grow up? (A famous novelist)
10. What do you love most in life? (since i didn’t want to get the same photo as 10K Monkeys, I put in “me” for shits and giggles, and the photos were too good to turn down)
11. One word to describe you? (bitch)
12. Your Flickr name? (tea time)