New Year's Eve

I can't believe this is the last day of 2009 already. Hope you all had a good year. You commenters have contributed to my life significantly -- you teach me, tell me off and cheer me just when I need it.

I went to a neighbor's party last night and drank way too much mulled wine. I later found out it had brandy in it. I'm supposed to help my son with his Dickens course work but I told him he needs to wait until Mommy's hangover has improved.

Before the party, we played Monopoly but Dizzy the cat kept interfering:

In the end, my daughter got all my property and bankrupted me and won the game.

I have to make soup for a New Year's Party tonight. I found a great recipe for a Brie Champagne Oyster soup that I will make. If it's as good as it sounds, I'll put the recipe up later.

I was going to take Mr. Christmas Tree down today but it's been so dark and rainy in England that he's the only brightness in the house. I'll put him on today and take him down tomorrow.

I'll miss him when he goes.

Christmas Eve Candied Yam recipe

Thanks to Derry for sending in a great recipe. She says: "I had these for the first time a few weeks ago. Told Daddy they were the best I’d EVER eaten, and where had they been all my life??? He said Mother didn’t like them, so he’d only ever taken them to his company Christmas potluck, where they raved about them every year! SO this is now a new permanent feature of our Christmas Eve menu. You’ll love it!"

Eliz again: Can't wait to try this recipe. Well, I might have to wait for a little bit as I have eaten way too much this Christmas. I'm so stuffed full of food that I feel pregnant but the only baby I'll be having is a Food Baby!

Glenn’s New Orleans Style Candied Yams

Candied Fruit:

Golden raisins 1 cup

Dried cranberries 1 cup

Dried apricots ½ cup

Dried cherries ½ cup

Simple syrup 1 ½ cups

Southern Comfort 6 ounces



Cut the apricots in thin slices and cut the cherries in half, Soak each fruit separately in 1/3 cup simple syrup. In a small pan heat each fruit/syrup mixture until the fruit swells. Pour into a small container, cool to near room temperature, add 1 ½ ounces Southern Comfort to each container, cover and refrigerate over night or longer.

Yams:

Bring three quarts of salted water (½ tsp salt per quart of water) to the boil.

Peel four pounds of yams. Cut the yams crosswise into about four inch lengths. Add yams to the boiling water. When the water returns to a boil, cook for 20 minutes or until the yams are just soft. Stop the cooking by rinsing the yams in cold water, drain.

Syrup:

Dark brown sugar 1 cup

Corn syrup 1 cup

Salt ½ tsp

Butter 1 stick

Water 1 cup

Add all ingredients to a saucepan bring to a boil and simmer 5 minutes.

Assembly:

Cut larger yams in half lengthwise. Slice the yams crosswise into ½ inch slices. Cover the bottom of a 13 by 9 by 2 Pyrex dish with a layer of yam slices, sprinkle the soaked cherries over this layer. Place a second layer of yam slices in the dish. Pour the syrup mixture over the yam slices and add extra water if necessary to bring the syrup up to the surface of the slices.

Baking and final assembly:

Bake uncovered in a 300 degree oven for two hours. Add additional water to the dish if needed. Cool ten to fifteen minutes before sprinkling the remaining soaked fruit and juices over the top of the yams. Cover with plastic or foil until served.

Party Talk: Political Constitutionalism

I went to a party last night given by one of my husband's school friends. I couldn't keep up with the conversation, they were all so erudite. The host's wife was just in Copenhagen working on the climate change conference; another guest was the head of the Law department at the University of Reading and on and on. I couldn't talk on their level so I dragged the conversation down a few levels to a more shallow place that I felt comfortable with.

Mel's school friend, Richard Bellamy, was so interesting - he's a lecturer in Political Science in London and an author -- and was telling me his theory that the American constitution is flawed because:

1) too much power is given to smaller states in the electoral system

2) the checks and balances enable privileged interests to block progress too easily

His book is called Political Constitutionalism: A Republican Defence of the Constitutionality of Democracy.

Here's a summary:

Judicial review by constitutional courts is often presented as a necessary supplement to democracy. This book questions its effectiveness and legitimacy. Drawing on the republican tradition, Richard Bellamy argues that the democratic mechanisms of open elections between competing parties and decision-making by majority rule offer superior and sufficient methods for upholding rights and the rule of law.

The absence of popular accountability renders judicial review a form of arbitrary rule which lacks the incentive structure democracy provides to ensure rulers treat the ruled with equal concern and respect.

Rights based judicial review undermines the constitutionality of democracy. Its counter-majoritarian bias promotes privileged against unprivileged minorities, while its legalism and focus on individual cases distort public debate. Rather than constraining democracy with written constitutions and greater judicial oversight, attention should be paid to improving democratic processes through such measures as reformed electoral systems and enhanced parliamentary scrutiny.

Eliz again: I'm going to order this book so I can learn more but I'll bet I can't even understand it. Will do my best though.

Preparing for the end of the world with canned food and guns

I really enjoyed reading this article in Newsweek about crazy paranoid people who think there is going to be a catastrophe, and they will survive in a spare room filled with canned foods, loaded guns and saved-up cash.

My father ran out and bought a bunch of dried fruit and nuts when the Russians invaded Afghanistan because he feared the worst. Really, what good would a few bags of nuts have done us?

Lisa Bedford is what you'd imagine of a stereotypical soccer mom. She drives a white Tahoe SUV. An American flag flies outside her suburban Phoenix home. She sells Pampered Chef kitchen tools and likes to bake. Bedford and her husband have two young children, four dogs, and go to church on Sunday.

But about a year ago, Bedford's homemaking skills went into overdrive. She began stockpiling canned food, and converted a spare bedroom into a giant storage facility. The trunk of each of her family's cars got its own 72-hour emergency kit—giant Tupperware containers full of iodine, beef jerky, emergency blankets, and even a blood-clotting agent designed for the battle-wounded. Bedford started thinking about an escape plan in case her family needed to leave in a hurry, and she and her husband set aside packed suitcases and cash. Then, for the first time in her life, Bedford went to a gun range and shot a .22 handgun. Now she regularly takes her two young children, 7 and 10, to target practice. "Over the last two years, I started feeling more and more unsettled about everything I was seeing, and I started thinking, 'What if we were in the same boat?'" says Bedford, 49.

Bedford is what you might call a modern-day survivalist—or, as she describes it, a "prepper." Far from the stereotype of survivalists past, she owns no camouflage, and she doesn't believe that 2012—the final year of the Mayan calendar—will be the end of the world. She likes modern luxuries (makeup, air conditioning, going out to eat), and she's no doomsayer. But like the rest of us, Bedford watched as the housing bubble burst and the economy collapsed. She has friends who've lost their homes, jobs, and 401(k)s. She remembers Hurricane Katrina, and wonders how the government might respond to the next big disaster, or a global pandemic. And though she hopes for the best—the last thing she wants is for something bad to happen—she's decided to prepare her family for the worst. "We never set out to go build a bunker to protect ourselves from nuclear fallout; I have no idea how to camp in the wild," Bedford says, laughing. "But as all of this stuff started hitting closer to home, we [wanted] to take some steps to safeguard ourselves."

"Preppers" are what you might call survivalism's Third Wave: regular people with jobs and homes whose are increasingly fearful about the future—their paranoia compounded by 24-hour cable news. "Between the media and the Internet, many people have built up a sense that there's this calamity out there that needs to be avoided," says Art Markman, a cognitive psychologist at the University of Texas who studies the way people think. And while they may not envision themselves as Kevin Costner in Waterworld—in fact, many preppers go out of their way to avoid the stereotypes that come along with the "survivalist" label—they've made a clear-eyed calculation about the risks at hand and aren't waiting around for anybody else to fix them. "I consider it more of a reaction than a movement," says Tom Martin, a 32-year-old Idaho truck driver who is the founder of the American Preppers Network, which receives some 5,000 visitors to its Web site each day. "There are so many variables and potential disasters out there, being a prepper is just a reaction to that potential."

Things that happened today in history

Thomas Beckett was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral by agents of Henry II. "As the light faded on December 29, 1170, his scalp was severed by followers of the King."

Mary Tyler Moore was born (she's 73 today). (Did you guys like her show in the 1970s? My mother never missed it. I liked it because she loved it so.)

Charles Macintosh, the chemist who perfected waterproofing for garments and thereby invented the raincoat was born today in 1766.

William Hill has opened betting in the UK on which celebrity will be the first to be arrested in 2010. What do you think? Amy Winehouse is the favorite, followed by George Michael.

post-Christmas

How are you all today? I started to take a few decorations down -- I really don't like this part of Christmas. I can't wait to start taking them down until January the 6th like they do over here as I have to go back to work full time and can't be faffing around with decorations then.

I hit the sales yesterday, and boy, did I do well. I got a dress for New Year's half price, and then I saw this adorable raincoat from Ireland:

(I don't know why they photographed it so it looks like a maternity coat.) It was made in County Wicklow, Ireland, and is lined with pink jersey. Detailed photo below:

I know I'll be wearing it all the time with the amount of rain we have in England.

At this time of year, I throw things out to make way for new items. One of the things going to the charity shop is a book called Sex Lives of the Great Composers. Here's a snippet so you don't have to bother reading the whole thing.

Robert Schumann

On February 14, 1854, he made love to his wife Clara one last time then on the 27th, he ran from his house in his dressing gown and threw himself into the freezing Rhine. His suicide bid failed, however, as two fishermen saw him jump and hauled him into their boat. He was taken to the lunatic asylum in Endenich where he remained until he died. Brahms promptly moved in with Clara. He wrote: 'Everyday I greet and kiss you a thousand times."

It has been suggested that Clara's last child was fathered by Brahms.

Whew, those composers certainly got around! And I thought they were just immersed in their music.

Crying out to God for his mercy

Don't miss this national May Day prayer event in 2010 -- info from Gawker.com:

Even if there is an Omniscient Christian God, he probably thinks his followers are stupid for believing in something so ludicrous as an Omniscient Christian God: “Join with Christian leaders of all denominations who love God to humble ourselves, pray, seek the face of God, and turn from our wicked ways—individually and as a nation. This event is not to impress the media or those in Washington, but to reach the heart of God. Publically [sic] repenting and crying out to God for His mercy instead of the judgment our many sins deserve.”

Boxing Day update

Wonderful Christmas! I've been reading your Facebook updates and blogs so I know you had a good holiday too. Flat Stanley (sent from a second-grade class in New Orleans) is enjoying his British Christmas:


We went to London yesterday to enjoy Boxing Day with my husband's sisters and their families.

Before we left though, I noticed that Hansel and Gretel have been eating our Gingerbread House again. It was perfectly beautiful on Christmas Eve and now look at it. I'm going to get those children:


We went to North London for our Boxing Day celebration. Here's my brother-in-law Louis wearing the string of lights I brought him:

We were busy drinking and eating when Flat Stanley took a tumble into the Rotel dip. I know that cheese dip is good, FS, but this is ridiculous:


We opened presents and I was happy to receive an Obama Paperdoll set. Flat Stanley wanted to pose with Michelle:


Here is the whole family posing by Paula's Christmas tree:


We have so much leftover food, and I made a creative casserole with it for lunch today. I chopped up ham, turkey, fried shrimp, roasted potatoes, sausages - everything that has been left over from Christmas and put it in with cheese, pasta and turkey broth/gravy. I topped it with Progresso bread crumbs and potato chips I had clubbed to death with a rolling pin and baked. Mmm good.

As I was clearing up lunch, I noticed that the Nativity scene had been invaded by Crazy Cat Lady and her cats. (My son gave them to me for Christmas because I love cats.) Poor Joseph - he even has a cat on his shoulder:

Making a profound statement about your eternal essence

I used to work for a guy in advertising who wrote very good copy but I just saw something he wrote and it was a bit overwrought. I just felt compelled to poke fun at it in here but hope he doesn't see this post! But really, this jewellry he's writing about is basically acorns presented in various ways with different metals and designs. It doesn't make a profound statement about its wearer or disclose the person's inner self to others. Do you think someone will read this copy and buy this stuff because they want to be the type of person he's writing about?

Designer (name redacted) doesn’t apologize for the fact that her jewelry isn’t for everybody - she celebrates it. You must understand, every piece is designed for women who are larger than life – self-actualized, confident, and willing to live on no one’s terms but their own.

Whether you purchase a piece of (name redacted) Jewelry for a lifetime of wear or a once-in-a-lifetime event, it won’t be long before you discover you’re making a profound statement about the eternal essence of you.

Eliz again -- what does it mean to be 'self-actualized'? It sounds like it might be painful.

No moral deficit to pay off

According to a new study in Psychological Science, humans engage in a process called “moral self-regulation.”

Basically, the idea is that if we are in a state of mind where we think we’re good people, we’re less likely to act like good people — as in, we’re less likely to be generous to other people or to go out of our way to avoid causing social harm.

If we think we’re already pretty good, the logic goes, why should we waste resources trying to be good — we’ve already accomplished goodness.

The ultimate lesson, I think, is that our motives are rarely what we think they are. We think we want to do good to do good, but more likely we want to do good because we feel guilty. Likewise, those of us who think we’re good people, we’re probably the ones who act the worst — because we think we’ve got no moral deficit to pay off

Christmas activities

Merry Christmas!

We've had a lot of fun this week. On Monday we had a big snowstorm. Here's my son Mikey building a snowman in the back garden.


Later on in the week, we had to go to the US Embassy to renew the kids' passports. That took a lot of time sitting around in the waiting area. Before we got to the Embassy, though we stopped at a great Mexican restaurant in Notting Hill for lunch:

After eating, we went to Portobello Market. What a quirky place it is:

Then it was on to Selfridges on Oxford Street to find Bordon's Egg Nog in their international supermarket:

We went to midnight mass at the church around the corner last night. What a show the Anglicans put on now. Incense, bells ringing inside when something important is said, vicars coming down to the middle of the church to read the Bible near us, etc. The flowers and decor were lovely too. (We went to church because my son has signed up to the play the organ there, and we wanted to check it out. Going to church reminded me of time spent with my religious mother so that was nice. When they asked if I wanted to take communion, however, I declined.)

We finally got to bed at 1:30 this morning but then we were up again to see what Santa had brought. Katie got a calendar featuring her fave man, David Tennant (Doctor Who):

My husband opened his stocking -- he had the Star Trek movie, books and chocolate. My mother had this stocking made for him the Christmas we got married so I use it every year.

I got some great presents -- antiquarian books, Chanel and violet and rose chocolates.


Hope your day was fun. Tell me about it in the comments section if you have time.

Atheists love Christmas too

It's often assumed that the atheist position on what is politely termed "the holiday season" is one of disregard at best, contempt and annoyance at worst. After all, the reasons for most of the standard winter holidays are supposedly religious -- the birth of the Savior, eight days of miraculous light, yada yada yada. Why would atheists want anything to do with that?

But atheists' reactions to the holidays are wildly varied. Yes, some atheists despise them: the enforced jollity, the shameless twisting of genuine human emotion to sell useless consumer crap, the tyrannical forcing of mawkish piety down everyone's throats. (Some believers loathe the holidays for the exact same reasons.)

But some of us love the holidays. We love the parties, the decorations, the smell of evergreen trees in people's houses, the excuse to eat ourselves sick, the reminder that we do in fact love our families and friends. We're cognizant of the shameless twisting and mawkish piety and whatnot -- but we can deal with it. It's worth it for an excuse to drink eggnog with our loved ones and bellow out "Angels We Have Heard On High" in half-assed four-part harmony. (In fact, when it comes to the holidays, atheists are damned if we do, damned if we don't. If we scorn the holidays, we're called Scroogy killjoys. If we embrace them, we're called hypocrites. Oh, well. Whaddya gonna do.)

from Alternet

Recruiting two year olds for the church

Thanks to our intrepid reporter Brody for sending this in today:


Choristers from the Salisbury Cathedral Choir practice ahead of the services that will be held in the Cathedral marking Christmas Eve.

Children as young as two are to be targeted as part of a new campaign to recruit young people back to the church, the Guardian has learned.

The Church of England is planning its first concerted drive to engage under-18s after admitting that it is comprehensively failing to connect with children and teenagers.

Proposals will be put before the general synod in February that include a blueprint to set up breakfast, homework and sports clubs in schools as well as working in publicly funded toddler playgroups to spread the Christian word.

A document outlining the proposals, seen by the Guardian, says urgent action is needed to shore up the number of children in church.

"We need to reconsider how we engage with and express God's love to this generation of children and young people, whoever and wherever they may be," it says.

Using frank language, it suggests the church is failing young people by being out of touch with their lives. "The tragedy is that we appear to be failing even those with whom we have already connected. The challenge is how to creatively offer children and young people encounters with the Christian faith and the person of Jesus Christ," it says.

It comes as the archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, prepares to deliver his annual Christmas message. It is expected that he will speak of his concerns about the commercialisation of Christmas and focus again on the ravages of capitalism following a year of continuing economic turmoil.

The archbishop faces a difficult new year because of a continuing revolt over the ordination of women as bishops, with potentially hundreds of clergy converting to Roman Catholicism in protest over the issue, and the prolonged disintegration of the Anglican communion over gay and lesbian clergy. Added to this already combustible mix is a papal visit, the first from Benedict XVI. It will be their most public encounter since the papal decree allowing Anglicans to defect to Rome en masse.

The document, Going for Growth, sets out a plan devised by the Church of England's education division that promises to make churches more "child-friendly" and to work towards every child – regardless of their faith – having a "life-enhancing encounter with the Christian faith and the person of Jesus Christ". It includes:

• An information campaign to supply schools with materials to fulfil their legal duty to conduct a daily act of worship amid reports that many schools have dropped it.

• Creating a new "social, moral, spiritual and cultural curriculum" for further education colleges.

• It identifies environmental campaigns as a key concern of children and says it must do more to act on such issues in order to win them round.

• To work in youth clubs and children's playcentres to re-establish links outside of church.

The document says: "Contact centres, Sure Start projects, children's centres and extended schools provisions hold potential for the church to engage with children, young people and families through activities, breakfast and homework clubs, parenting support and sports activities."

In October Williams announced plans for a major expansion of church schools. The Church of England already sponsors 27 academies - government-funded but independently run secondaries - and has eight more in the pipeline for 2010 and another 30 under discussion.

Today's plans suggest the church intends to go beyond schools into the community in an attempt to engage people from an even earlier age. They will be debated at the general synod, the Anglican governing body, in February. If backed, the programme will be rolled out nationally.

Keith Porteous Wood, executive director of the National Secular Society, said: "For most people the church is an irrelevance and it is abusing its privilege by intruding into taxpayer-funded secular places in order to recruit the next generation of churchgoers. Parents should not be forced to have their children endure religious proselytising as a captive audience as the price of receiving public service."

The Rev Jan Ainsworth, the Church of England's chief education officer, said there was no compulsion on anyone taking part in a church-run group to become Christian and the emphasis in training would avoid the use of heavy-handed tactics. "We do not endorse high-pressure techniques, we would not endorse anything that places psychological pressure on someone. We would endorse ways of interesting children in the Christian faith and the Christian story."

She said the decline in children attending church was part of wider trends. "Sundays have changed. People go shopping or go to football. If you're in a split family will you go to church or go to see your dad? You'll go and see your dad. It's a different day than it used to be and the impact on the old-fashioned model has been quite serious." The church would target all children, not just those in Christian families, she said. The primary purpose of Going for Growth was "making sure every child does encounter the Christian faith and the Christian story".

So much to do!

It's already noon on Christmas Eve and I'm so behind. There are presents to be wrapped, carols to be sung and a gingerbread house to be built.

Yesterday we had to go to London to the US Embassy to get my kids' new US passports. Before that we went for lunch in our favorite Mexican restaurant in Notting Hill then we we wandered around Portobello Market.


Sorry this post is so lame but my mind is on Christmas chores. We are going to midnight mass tonight at our local church. My son wants to play the organ there so we are going to check it out.

Have a wonderful Christmas Eve.

Americans believe in God, astrology and ghosts

Americans are a group of believers. In fact, many individuals believe in many things that arguably conflict.

Some 24 percent of U.S. adults surveyed (including 22 percent of those who identified themselves as Christians) say they believe in reincarnation — that people will be reborn in this world again and again. Other results of the Pew Research Center survey:

• Belief in Astrology: 25 percent
• Seen or felt a ghost: Nearly 20 percent
• Consulted a fortuneteller or a psychic: 15 percent

"The religious beliefs and practices of Americans do not fit neatly into conventional categories," Pew analysts concluded. "Large numbers of Americans engage in multiple religious practices, mixing elements of diverse traditions. Many say they attend worship services of more than one faith or denomination — even when they are not traveling or going to special events like weddings and funerals. Many also blend Christianity with Eastern or New Age beliefs such as reincarnation, astrology and the presence of spiritual energy in physical objects."

Nearly half (49 percent) said they have had a religious or mystical experience, defined as a "moment of sudden religious insight or awakening."

Artificial Christmas trees are simply wrong

Thank you to my friend Elizabeth in Detroit for her timely message today:

As we approach Christmas, I feel it is my duty to remind you that artificial trees are simply wrong. There’s no beating around the bush (ha ha!): they don’t belong in your home.

But don’t simply take my word (important and insightful though it is!) for it.

Among the items included in The Encyclopedia of Bad Taste, by Jane and Michael Stern, is artificial Christmas trees. Also listed are:

Elvisania


Hamburger helper


Pet clothing


Thanks for reminding us of these important facts!

Busy Christmas

Let's see, what have I missed reporting on this week?

After the snowstorm on Monday, my husband came home from work and was still up for going for our anniversary dinner, even though it meant walking for miles to the restaurant as cars were at a standstill on the roads. I'm so glad I hadn't gone to work that day or it would have taken me five hours to get home. My friends who did work reported having to abandon their cars and walk home -- four or five miles away.

We went to a fancy French restaurant but I didn't look the part as I had my daughter's ski boots on so I could navigate through the snow. I had foie gras to start but by the time I got to the fish second course, a group of people had arrived at the table next to us and started talking loudly about boring subjects. Two people at the table, in particular, went through their grievances with their jobs at length. Not only was it incredibly boring but they had very loud voices, as if they wanted the entire restaurant to share their grief. (which we did)

I hope that I've taught my kids that one of the worst things to be when you go out is a bore. Better to make controversial statements to keep a conversation lively than to be dull and self-centered when you speak.

On the way home, walking through snow and ice at 9:30 at night, cars were still stuck on the roads. Apparently the shopping centers in town had closed their car parks so people returning from shopping found they had to find some way home without using their own cars.

While we were walking, someone called to us from a car. They wanted to know where a gas station was. "We're running low on fuel," they said sadly, as their car was going nowhere on the usually busy road.

"How long have you been on this road?" I asked.

"Since 4:00," she said. Five and a half hours on one little road. I felt so sorry for them, especially as they had a small child in the car.

Earlier in the day, my son and I had built a snowman and then walked out to see how horrible the conditions were. We even saw a fight break out among the stalled cars -- men hitting each other in fury. One reached behind him to a For Sale sign in a nearby yard, pulled it out and started bashing another guy over the head with it. Some Christmas spirit!

Yesterday it was still icy and treacherous -- I walked to a shop for potatoes for our Christmas dinner and almost fell to my death several times. :)

That night we were due to go to a concert with my friend Madeleine. We couldn't decide whether to risk it or not as you can't really drive on the roads yet and the pavements are so icy. In the end we went for the first half.

The Kings Singers are very good -- my friend Derry recommended them to me -- but a little acappella singing goes a long way.


OK, it's another day and another trek into snow-laden Reading. I have to go to the US Embassy in London to get Mikey's US passport updated. We are meeting Katie for lunch at a fab Mexican restaurant -- if I can there.

More later. Hope you are having a good Christmas. Tell me what you are doing in the comments section.

Marginalizing Christianity

Thoughtful commenter Brody responded to a post I did on Christians feeling they are being marginalized by modern society. Thanks Brody -- this is very interesting.

Elizabeth as I do not live in the UK I can't properly respond other than to offer this perspective on the subject matter as pertaining to here in the United States:

Myth:
The threat of militant atheism is that they seek to marginalize Christianity (or Christians) in general and conservative Christianity (or Christians) in particular.

Response:
Atheists are not only a small minority with little power or influence, but they are also the most despised and distrusted minority in America. This makes them unlikely oppressors of Christians, a majority standing behind the levers of power in society, but this is what many Christians believe. They insist that there is a cabal of godless atheist secularists trying to marginalize Christians and Christianity. These feelings of alienation are genuine, but their target for blame is inaccurate.
Christianity (and by extension, Christians themselves) are suffering something of an identity crisis in America today. There was a time when conservative Christianity defined the basic boundaries, choices, and behaviors of people throughout America, including non-Christians, because it defined the assumptions and structure of most public institutions, public culture, and American politics. This is no longer the case, and Americans are increasingly able to just ignore Christianity.

Christians and Christianity are no longer explicitly and overtly privileged in culture, politics, or society generally. There is now greater attention being paid to other religions, other traditions, and other philosophies. American culture is now far more complex than it used to be and many Christians are frustrated because they feel alienated from what they think America should be. Many of these Christians grew up in an American culture which was simpler and more overtly Christian on every level. They were used to their traditions, their beliefs, and their people dominating throughout society.

This bothers many Christians because it represents a separation of their basic identities: at one time being an American and being Christian were combined, but today they are becoming increasingly separated. Christians want someone or something to blame for this and many have latched on to atheism, secularists, and godless liberals — but they are wrong. Atheists are being blamed because they are among those who most obviously benefit from these developments, just as Jews were once blamed for all the ills of modernity and the Enlightenment because they so obviously benefited form liberalism, emancipation, and democracy.

Christians today remain a majority in America generally and in most communities. For many, this is viewed as a reason why their religion should continue to dominate. They believe that a majority should generally get whatever it wants and thus you'll often find them defend their position on various legal or cultural conflicts in that way: if most people in a community believe a certain thing, celebrate a certain day, or want the government to do something, then that's what should happen. The concept of "tolerance" is restricted: the majority only has to tolerate the minority insofar as they aren't eliminated, kicked out, or suppressed. The minority, however, has to tolerate the majority's exercise of legislative power to do as they will.

It's not marginalization when stores or communities broaden their terminology to talk about "holidays" at the end of the year rather than single out just Christmas for special promotion or endorsement. Even Christians celebrate more than one holiday during this time, so they aren't being excluded — yet they complain about the failure to use greetings and words which do exclude others. In effect, some people's complaints about being marginalized are really complaints about how they are unable to continue marginalizing others.

It's also not marginalization when the government is prevented from promoting, supporting, or endorsing the beliefs, scriptures, or practices of Christians. The government is prevented from doing this with all religions, not just Christianity, so insisting on a strict separation of church and state simply means insisting that Christianity and Christians be treated like everyone else. Christians who complain about this are complaining about not being privileged over all others.

Thus what we have is the ironic situation in which some Christians are complaining about being marginalized because they are denied the social, political, or cultural power to marginalize everyone else. This is a power which Christian majorities used to have, but American society is far more inclusive and equal today, so this power has disappeared in many situations. It's not that Christians themselves are marginalized, but rather that they have been put on an equal level with everyone else. They are no longer privileged or told that they are better than everyone else. That's not marginalization, it's equalization, and it's definitely something which atheists fight for.

Right-wing Corner

I haven't had a nice right-wing rant on the blog for a bit. Luckily my college friend Garnie has provided me with one today. Thanks Garnie.

To All My Democratic Friends:
Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all. I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2010, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great. Not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere. Also, this wish is made without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wish.

To My Republican Friends:
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year in the year of our Lord Jesus Christ 2010.

Marketing religion

Such an interesting article in Slate about marketing religion. The article begins with the idea that Hanukkah is a minor holiday in Judaism yet it has turned into a 'Jewish Christmas' in America as "American Jews concerned with assimilation are the most likely to go all out for Hanukkah to entice their kids to keep the faith."

The idea of applying economic analysis to spiritual life isn't new. Adam Smith, the great-granddaddy of modern economics, described churches as though they were profit-maximizing firms, and congregants as their customers. Just as competition between Samsung and Sony pushes each company to make better flat-screen monitors at ever-lower prices, Smith felt that clergy in a competitive religious marketplace would provide services with greater "zeal and industry" than religious leaders in places where one faith had a monopoly.

After a lapse of some centuries, economists have rediscovered their religion, and Smith's hypotheses on the benefits of religious competition have been borne out by modern statistical analysis. One recent study compares countries where a single religion has a lock on the market—like France or Italy—with more pluralistic societies like the United States.

Almost all Italians identify themselves as Catholic, yet in one survey only half reported attending church at least once a month and the same fraction reported believing in God. The bishops and vicars, the thinking goes, have grown complacent, offering the same tired sermons and Sunday school lessons year after year because they have no competition from rival faiths.

By contrast, America is full of megachurches built by marketing-savvy pastors and featuring customer-friendly amenities like day care, cafes, and large-screen TVs, which simulcast electrifying orations to overflow crowds. Apparently, they're more effective at attracting audiences of believers than their Italian counterparts. Nearly 60 percent of Americans attend church monthly, and almost 90 percent report believing in God.

Let it snow

I've finished working for the year and have two weeks off now. My son is also home from school. I stayed in bed reading a biography of Coco then I got up and wrapped some presents. My son and I then watched a Bewitched rerun (an episode I've never seen -- very unusual as I've watched Bewitched my whole life) and ate Christmas cookies.

Then we got ready to walk to the gym. As we exercised, we noticed it had begun to snow. By the time we walked home it was snowing hard and such fun to walk in. We stopped by the bakery and got some fresh bread and Christmas cookies then we stopped in a little shop and Mikey bought a magazine. We got home, and I made a fire.

I turned on the radio so Christmas music could fill the house. Snuggled up at home with the tree, cat and fire, we agreed that we were having a perfect day. Here's our tree with the snow falling outside the window:

And the backyard is quickly becoming a winter wonderland. Maybe we can build a snowman before dusk falls (it's already getting dark and it's only 3:15).



You know, I have been frantically busy these past few weeks but now I have very little to do. The idea that I can just go out and build a snowman with my son makes me happy.

I'd better get going though. My 24th wedding anniversary is today and when my husband gets home from London, we're going out for a fancy meal. (24 years! Can it be possible that I made it that long??)

The world according to the US

I thought this was funny. Maybe you won't, but I liked it.

Driving Christianity to the margins of society

Every few days there is a new story about Christians being persecuted in conservative newspapers. Today a teacher lost her job for telling the mother of a girl she was tutoring about a miracle she had been in and how there could be a miracle for her daughter. She was supposed to just be tutoring the student, not converting her, so the teacher was fired and now she feels she's a victim. How Christians feel they are being marginalized when we have a state religion in England with the Queen upholding the faith is beyond me. Here's the story:

A devout Christian teacher has lost her job after discussing her faith with
a mother and her sick child and offering to pray for them.

Olive Jones, a 54-year-old mother of two, who taught maths to children too ill to attend school, was dismissed following a complaint from the girl’s mother. She was visiting the home of the child when she spoke about her belief in miracles and asked whether she could say a prayer, but when the mother indicated they were not believers she did not go ahead.

Mrs Jones was then called in by her managers who, she says, told her that sharing her faith with a child could be deemed to be bullying and informed her that her services were no longer required.

Her dismissal has outraged Christian groups, who say new equality regulations are driving Christianity to the margins of society.

Shattering myths about Europe

A friend sent me an e-mail about a new book coming out, written by a friend of hers called Europe's Promise: Why the European Way is the Best Hope in an Insecure Age. It's by Steven Hill.

His book promises to shatter myths about Europe, including these:

Europe has a weak, sclerotic economy
FACT: Europe has the largest, wealthiest economy in the world, nearly as large as the United States and China combined; it has more Fortune 500 companies than the United States, China or Japan; some of the most competitive national economies in the world, according to the World Economic Forum; and a lower rate of unemployment than the U.S. (Germany 7.6% unemployment vs. 10% in the U.S.)

The European ‘welfare state’ hamstrings the economy
FACT: Hardly a welfare state, Europe's economy and comprehensive social system are two halves of a well-designed "social capitalism" that is better geared than America’s “Wall Street capitalism” toward supporting families and workers -- keeping them healthy and productive -- in an insecure age of globalized capitalism. And the overwhelming evidence shows that has been good for the economy.

Europeans pay more taxes than Americans
FACT: For their taxes, Europeans receive a seemingly endless list of benefits and services -- quality health care, decent retirement, more vacation, paid parental leave, paid sick leave, free or nearly free university education, housing assistance and much more -- for which Americans must pay extra via out-of-pocket fees, premiums, deductibles, tuition and other charges, in addition to our taxes. When you sum up the total balance sheet, you discover that many Americans pay out as much as or more than Europeans -- but we receive a lot less for our money. That’s one of the reasons many Americans are in debt, while Europeans have higher savings.

Eliz again: You Americans out there have any opinions on this?

God, a hard act to follow

A billboard at a church in New Zealand shows Joseph and Mary next to each other in bed, looking disappointed, with the line "Poor Joseph. God Was a hard act to follow." Christians are apparently unhappy with this.

Feels like Christmas now

After work last night, I went to my friend Elise's for a charming Christmas dinner. Elise's house is Christmas Central -- you can't go more than two steps without running across a seasonal ornament. It's like Santa Claus lives there.

Here we are last night:


We have all been friends for years, and have seen each other through struggles and joys. When I left Elise's, carrying the presents I'd received, it was snowing. I felt like I was walking in a Dickens novel -- I'd just emerged from an evening of happiness and generosity and walked into a beautiful snowy night.

(Driving home in a snowstorm wasn't a lot of fun though.)

When I woke up this morning and looked out of the window, I saw this:


I decided not to drive into the office but work at home instead. Later I showed the snow to Flat Stanley, our visitor from a second-grade class in hot and sunny New Orleans. He's never seen snow before.


What a wonderful December I'm having - filled with with friends, music and joy. Thanks everyone!

Nutrition-free food

If this doesn't goad you into eating more fresh food, I don't know what will. (gullible fool that I am, I didn't realize that the blueberries in muffin mix aren't real!)

Today, at the start of the 21st century, the miracle of food processing has brought that dream closer to reality than ever before. From vitamin-free "blueberry bits" to spray-can cheese to avocado-free guacamole, food scientists have worked tirelessly to bring us new and exciting foods that contain as little nutrition as possible.

Spray-Can 'Easy Cheese'
Dipping a butter knife into a tub of cheese spread and putting it on a cracker takes a lot of time and effort. Thankfully for all of us, the wizards at Kraft have developed a product that ensures we’ll never again run the risk of hurting our wrists trying to spread processed cheese. Kraft’s Easy Cheese cans combine the soulless tastelessness of its cheese products with the convenience and simplicity of whipped cream cans.

Oreo Cookie Death Filling
It’s rare to encounter a food that makes you say, "If only this were as healthy as frosting!" And yet, the filling in Oreo cookies manages to accomplish just that.
You see, typical frosting is made mostly from butter, milk, sugar and vanilla extract. No one will ever accuse it of being good for you, but at least you're eating fairly natural fats. Oreo stuffing, on the other hand, is basically sugar-flavored Crisco. Seriously, that’s what you’re consuming when you eat an Oreo.

Artificially Flavored Blueberry Bits
Frozen waffles are fairly non-nutritious. Indeed, the only real way to get any sort of vitamins in your waffles each morning is to buy blueberry waffles that contain….
But, hang on! It turns out those aren’t blueberries at all! They’re more like…well, just what are they? An apt description would be "purple globs of sugary goo," but they’re actually called "artificially flavored blueberry bits." Their ingredients include sugar, dextrose, soybean oil, soy protein, salt, citric acid, cellulose gum, artificial flavor, malic acid, Red 40 Lake, Blue 2 Lake and…that’s it. Notice anything missing? Oh yeah: blueberries!

Kraft’s Avocado-Free Guacamole
This right here may be the pinnacle of processed food magic. Kraft has managed to make a food product without an actual main ingredient, akin to tomato-free tomato sauce or potato-free baked potato. Yes, there are no avocados in Kraft’s guacamole. Then what is it made of, you ask? How about some modified food starch, coconut and soybean oils, corn syrup, food coloring…in other words, you’re eating green-colored oil.

Condensed Soups
Ah, soup. It’s the food mom used to feed us when we were sick. Every child has fond memories of being nursed back to health by sipping at the warm, nutritious broth of chicken noodle soup. Of course, mom probably didn’t realize at the time that she was setting you up for a future of high blood pressure and kidney failure. Because if she fed you condensed soup from a can, she was loading your young body up with insanely high amounts of sodium.

Spam
Spam was really a major miracle of food science, as it solved a mystery that humanity had been trying for centuries to figure out: namely, how to make meat-flavored Jell-O. Developed in the 1930s, Spam is derived primarily from pork shoulder meat (seriously) and combined with water, sugar, sodium nitrate (of course) and copious amounts of salt. The result is a meat-like goo that derives 80 percent of its calories from fat and that delivers a whopping 790 mg of sodium per two-ounce serving.

Expert: Santa's too fat

Santa better slim down because it's bad for the kids, an Australian research scientist writes in the annual Christmas issue of a British medical journal. The public health expert Nathan Grills even connected countries that celebrate Santa Claus to those with expanding populations of fat children. "Santa promotes a message that obesity is synonymous with cheerfulness and joviality," Grills writes. What's worse? Old St. Nick also encourages the spread of swine flu by getting little ones to sit on his lap, and he teaches reckless behavior with his "extreme sports such as roof surfing and chimney jumping."

Eliz again: Poor Santa! Getting dissed for being fat. We still love you. (PS: It's snowing in England as I type this. So exciting to get snow, especially before Christmas. Only prob is I have to drive home later when it is icy, and I have to go back out to a party tonight.)

Flat Stanley arrives in England

I received one of those flat people from a school in New Orleans. Flat Stanley has to travel with me for two months and send reports back to William Wells' (my cousin's son) second-grade class. He came to work with me at Nokia this morning. He's already complaining about the strange accents he hears and that the food isn't very good.

It's Jingle Hell out there

I read an interesting article in a London paper today that reminds me of my own self (as we say in the South):

Christmas wouldn't exist if it weren't for womankind. It's modern women's keenness to pressurise ourselves into exhausting over-achievement that make possible the festive season as we know it.

Perfect gifts, imaginative wrapping, tasteful trees, beautiful decorations, impeccable food, happy families, a glamorous outfit and thoughtfully annotated Christmas cards are just a few of the goals women set out to achieve.
Few men are stressing about whether they can find a Nordmann fir that's the right shape for their bay window, while manically clipping stuffing recipes from newspapers and making interminable lists of presents.


Christmas, with its emphasis on consumerism and domesticity, brings out the worst of the self-induced competitiveness that is a woman's permanent condition.

In Natasha Walters's forthcoming book Living Doll, an exploration of sexism today, she writes that 'home is the centre of a life well lived.
Yet the insistence that this haven must be created and protected by women because of our unique aptitudes rests on a shaky assumption'.

Christmas joy with my book club

I love my book club. We might not have read many books lately :) but we have a lot of fun when we get together. Here we are last night at my house. (There are Christmas lights on one side, a fire burning on the other, and in the middle, the warmth of friendship.)

I would like to write an interesting post today but my faculties have been impaired by the champagne, mulled wine and a new discovery for me -- Jagertee -- drunk last night.

Let me tell you about this Jagertee stuff. It's like a sweet hot toddy but you don't have to do any work making it. You just heat up some water and put one part of Jagertee in to four parts water, and instant heaven is yours.

My friend Martina brought it back from Austria for us to try. It's a popular apres-ski drink in the Alps. Luckily for me, she left the bottle at my house so I can indulge over Christmas.

We exchanged little gifts and basked in the Christmas spirit then I invited them to the dining room where I had set up a little craft area, and we painted Christmas decorations. Here we are:


And here are the results drying on the radiator so they could be taken home safely.

Cool men don't look at their explosions

This is hysterical!

Jumbo-san

Here's a really interesting article by David Nakamura. I had no idea about this.

Regardless of how one feels about legislating waistlines, living in Japan for an American is a wakeup call when it comes to body image and eating discipline.

They called him Mr. Jumbo.

I was teaching English at a high school in Hiroshima, Japan, in 2001, when a group of boys approached to introduce me to a classmate.

"His name is Jumbo-san--Mr. Jumbo!" the boys said, laughing.

"Why do you call him that?" I asked. "Because he's big-sized," one boy replied, curling his arms out from his waist and wobbling around in an imitation.

A smiling boy stepped forward. He was about 5 feet 8, maybe 175 pounds. Hardly jumbo. I was a couple inches taller and more than 10 pounds heavier than he was. "You're not that big," I told Mr. Jumbo. "In America, you wouldn't even make the football team."

In Japan, being fat remains noteworthy, something that makes you stand out in a shameful way in a conformist society. Even now, despite government statistics and anecdotal evidence that Japanese people are getting heavier, I can go days without seeing a single fat person in Tokyo.

As I write today in Globalpost, the Japanese government is not content that the country is among the slimmest in the world. Last year, lawmakers established a national limit on waistlines for people 40 and older: 33.5 inches for men and 35.4 inches for women. The program, which aims to cut down on metabolic syndrome, a leading indicator for heart disease and diabetes, has been controversial and critics say it misses the mark scientifically.

Regardless of how one feels about legislating waistlines, living in Japan for an American is a wakeup call when it comes to body image and eating discipline. In the same way that living in Hiroshima after 9/11 provided me a different perspective about American military power, so did it teach me a valuable lesson in the way the Japanese saw America's obesity epidemic.

Loneliness can spread like a virus

Loneliness, like a bad cold, can spread among groups of people, new research finds.

While a runny nose might spread through handshakes, people likely catch the loneliness bug through negative interactions. A lonely person will be less trusting of others, essentially "making a mountain out of a molehill," said study researcher John Cacioppo, a psychologist at the University of Chicago. An odd look or phrasing by a friend that wouldn't even be noticed by a chipper person could be seen as an affront to the lonely, triggering a cycle of negative interactions that cause people to lose friends.

The upshot: A lonely person is likely to lose touch with another person, who in turn gets cut off from others, and both end up on the fringes of a social group.

"A lonely person who anticipates others are going to act negatively toward them finds evidence in their environment for that, partly because they anticipate it and partly because they elicit it," Cacioppo told LiveScience.

The finding, published in the December issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, suggests that loneliness is not a character trait, as in "that person is such a loner," but more of a state such as hunger, which evolved as a cue to motivate our ancestors to go find food.

The work of Christmas begins

I've been spending so much of my free time in churches this Christmas. You'd think Jesus could work his magic on me when I'm hanging out in his home territory, but no; I am still unmoved.

Instead of adoring Jesus, I was adoring my son last night as I watched him sing. A woman in my pew was such a contrast to me -- she dropped her head in her hands the minute she sat down -- I knew there was some industrial-strength praying going on.

Anyway, the music was beautiful, and I sang my heart out and thoroughly enjoyed the evening.

I particularly liked this quote in the back of the program:

When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flock,
The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among others,
To make music in the heart

Howard Thurman

Lawsuit Threatened Over Atheist Councilman In NC

Asheville City Councilman Cecil Bothwell believes in ending the death penalty, conserving water and reforming government — but he doesn't believe in God. His political opponents say that's a sin that makes him unworthy of serving in office, and they've got the North Carolina Constitution on their side.

Bothwell's detractors are threatening to take the city to court for swearing him in, even though the state's antiquated requirement that officeholders believe in God is unenforceable because it violates the U.S. Consititution.

"The question of whether or not God exists is not particularly interesting to me and it's certainly not relevant to public office," the recently elected 59-year-old said.

Monday morning half-asleep conversations

Monday mornings are not alert times for me. I'm an auto-pilot as I drive to the office, then walk over to the deli in another building for fruit and yogurt and my first skinny latte of the day.

On my way to the other office building, I saw a colleague who has been away for weeks. I assumed he'd been home to Pakistan but he said, no, he'd been to Saudi Arabia.

"Saudi Arabia!" I exclaimed, desperately in need of caffeine at that moment. "Whatever for?"

"The haj," he replied.

Well, I'm racking my Monday-morning brains trying to think what he's talking about. Then I remember one time I was in a London airport and read a sign on a bathroom that said 'ablutions' might be going on in there due to some spiritual pilgrimage.

"Is that some sort of pilgrimage?" I ventured.

"Yes," he said. He has grown a long beard now and is wearing some sort of hat in the office. I wondered if this is related to the pilgrimage.

Thank god for wiki so I can figure out what he was talking about. Here's the info:

The fifth pillar of Islam is a pilgrimage to Mecca during the month of Dhu al-Hijja; at least once in a lifetime a Muslim is expected to make a religious journey to Mecca and the Kaaba; "for a Muslim the hajj is the ultimate act of worship."

Me again: when people say all religions worship the same God basically, how can that be if one God commands his followers to go to Mecca, but another God is worried about his adherents eating shellfish and yet another doesn't care about eating restrictions but is mightily worried about a man coveting another's wife?

Singing on the Southbank

I sang in a concert at the Festival Hall on the Southbank in London last night.

We got stuck in traffic on the way to London, and we realized that I would be late to the dress rehearsal. This was a big deal as you are never supposed to be late especially to the last rehearsal with the entire orchestra.

By the time I got to the Festival Hall, I was almost an hour late. I slipped into the back of the hall, hoping no one noticed, but no, there was the Chorus Master standing there, observing. I grovelled later to the Soprano Rep, and she was very nice. Next time, I will take the train to London.

What made me very happy last night was that a bunch of my friends got tickets to the concert and came up to see me. In my break between the last rehearsal and the performance we met up for dinner. We had a table of ten (along with my kids, Katie and Mikey), and had a nice dinner and lots of fun.

Get to the gym!

Exercise is known to have a bounty of health benefits that can ward off age-related diseases, but a new study shows that regular physical activity has an anti-aging effect at the cellular level.

The research found that intensive exercise prevents the shortening of telomeres — the DNA that bookends chromosomes and protects the ends from damage — much like the cap on the end of a shoelace.

The shortening of telomeres limits cells to a fixed number of divisions and can be regarded as a "biological clock." Gradual shortening of telomeres through cell divisions leads to aging on the cellular level and may limit lifetimes. When the telomeres become critically short, the cell dies.

The researchers measured the length of telomeres in blood samples from two groups of professional athletes and two groups who were healthy nonsmokers, but not regular exercisers.

"The most significant finding of this study is that physical exercise of the professional athletes leads to activation of the important enzyme telomerase and stabilizes the telomere," said Ulrich Laufs, the study's lead author and professor of clinical and experimental medicine at Saarland University in Homburg, Germany.

"This is direct evidence of an anti-aging effect of physical exercise," Laufs said. "Physical exercise could prevent the aging of the cardiovascular system, reflecting this molecular principle."

from LiveScience.com

Stand for Christmas

From Gawker:

Wingnut Christians have a powerful new ally in the War On Xmas: It’s a website full of retailer ratings to let you know if maybe Jews or Atheists or (God forbid!) Muslims are making the Xmas Season less Christ-y! StandForChristmas.com reports and decides on which chain stores (WalMart) know the “reason for the season,” and which homosexual shops (Best Buy, The Gap) are trying to make nice with anti-American forces such as Muslims, Jews and Atheists.

Check out their amusing website here Stand for Christmas

Millions upon millions in our nation deeply value the great truths of Christmas and the holiday's inspiring place in American life and culture. We hope you will take a moment to "Stand for Christmas" by sharing feedback about your Christmas shopping experiences.

We're asking YOU to decide which retailers are "Christmas-friendly." They want your patronage and your gift-shopping dollars, but do they openly recognize Christmas?

Me and churches

I seem to spend all my time in churches these days -- visiting them, going to chorus rehearsals in them or going to carol services. This week I have been in the Cologne Cathedral in Germany, Southwark Cathedral in London and this church next to the Albert Hall last night for a final rehearsal before our concert at the Festival Hall on the Southbank tomorrow.


One of my childhood friends wrote me to say he was banging his head against the wall at the idea that I didn't believe in Jesus but I was in churches so much. He felt that was ridiculous. I tried to explain to him how going to churches didn't have anything to do with me believing or not believing in God, but I gave up in the end.

It reminded me of something AC Grayling said at the religious debate I attended the other week -- the church was the biggest employer of its day with regard to music and art. It commissioned, and artists produced. That's why I end up singing so much religious music in churches.

And I love to see the inside of churches and look at religious art. But because I'm not in a quandary any more about what I do or don't believe, I can enjoy the products of religion more (even if I'm no longer an adherent).

The Dumbing of America

Just finished Bad or the Dumbing of America by Paul Fussell. Whew, is he scathing. He says:

Actual American life as experienced by most people is so boring, uniform or devoid of significant soul, so isolated from traditions of the past and the resonances of European culture, that it demands to be raised and misinterpreted as something wonderful. For example, if a town has no restaurant worth entering, it is some comfort to cooperate with the restauranter in the game -- taking seriously the pompous illiterate menu, the fraudulent French, the balletic wine service, all the clumsy imitations of the real thing.

If a town has no beauty, distinction or charm, and is really popluated only by money-grubbers, philistines and self-satisfied provincials, it is a comfort to cooperate with the pretensions of the local 'art gallery'-cum-gift shop and to acquire its hidous mass-produced sub-sculptures as if they were 'works of art.'

Riding a London bus in Arizona

My college roommate Derry sent me a website where you can sign up to go on a real double-decker London bus in Arizona as a Christmas treat. Imagine riding a bus being a treat! In London, it's a nightmare.
Real London bus in Arizona

Derry comments:
London in the desert…of course we’ve had London bridge our here for years now, too!

Quebec Pea Soup

I enjoy receiving unexpected e-mails from readers of this blog with things like treasured recipes inside. Here's a good one for a chilly December, compliments of Brody. (Thanks Brody!)

Here is my Mum's recipe for Habitat Quebec Soup that is perfect for a chilly day and for this holiday season.

Habitant Pea Soup (Quebec Pea Soup)

Ingredients:
10cups: water
2 Bay leaves
2 cups: split peas -- yellow
1 Onion -- finely chopped
2 Carrots -- grated
2 cups: ham -- diced smoked
1 cup: celery with leaves -- finely- chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat water and peas in a large saucepan over high heat. Bring to a boil for 2 minutes, remove from heat, cover, and set aside for 1 hour.
2. Add salt pork or smoked ham, ham hock, bay leaves, onion, carrots, and celery to pea mixture and bring to boil over high heat.

Reduce and simmer, cover and cook for about 1-1/2 hours until peas are tender, stirring frequently. If necessary, skim off fat. If using salt pork, remove from soup, cut into small pieces, and return to soup. Remove ham hock and discard.
Add salt and pepper to taste. Yield: 10 servings