parenting.

While I have just about given up on having kids of my own, I imagine I will never give up judging others for their poor parenting choices.

In that vein, I read a really interesting article today; it was actually a blog/opinion piece, but very well-written and apt.

My cousin is here, otherwise I'd write more, but since no one read this anyway, I'll just pretend I wrote Judith Warner's blog entry...


Some photos I also didn't take (Jill Greenberg did).
Charity :)

i'm all about balance.

When I used to do yoga in Greensboro at a fancy friendly healthy nice yoga studio (which I still miss tremendously), I would stop on the way home to buy a bag of Doritos. It's all about the balance, I would laugh guiltily. I'm doing something great for my body, so now I need to eat some Doritos or I'll be all out of whack (I actually lost weight that year and was in great shape by the end of it, incidentally).

In the spirit of balance, then, of my previous post, in a not serious but delicious way, I'd like to share the recipe of one of my favorite Spanish tapas, the Spanish Omelette (tortilla de patatas). Enjoy! And namaste!

(Also, the recipe I used before was much simpler and did not have garlic but did have black pepper. I like the black pepper. Also, I would slice the onions thinly rather than chop them, but that's just my preference.)


Ingredients

* 1/2 pint of olive oil
* 5 medium (40 oz each) baking potatoes, peeled, sliced and lightly sprinkled with salt
* 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
* 3 cloves garlic, minced
* 5 eggs
* Salt

Preparation

Heat the olive oil in a 9-inch skillet and add the potato slices carefully, because the salt will make the oil splatter. Try to keep the potato slices separated so they will not stick together. Cook, turning occasionally, over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the onions and garlic and cook until the potatoes are tender. Drain into a colander, leaving about 3 tablespoons of oil in the skillet.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk the eggs with a pinch of salt. Add the potatoes, and stir to coat with the egg. Add the egg-coated potatoes to the very hot oil in the skillet, spreading them evenly to completely cover the base of the skillet. Lower the heat to medium and continue to cook, shaking the pan frequently, until mixture is half set.

Use a plate to cover the skillet and invert the omelette away from the hand holding the plate (so as not to burn your hand with any escaping oil). Add 1 tablespoon oil to the pan and slide the omelette back into the skillet on its uncooked side. Cook until completely set. Allow the omelette to cool, and then cut it into wedges. Season it with salt and sprinkle with lemon juice to taste (optional).

Serve warm or at room temperature. Serves four, prep time 35 minutes. (source)

things we should be eating (NYT).

June 30, 2008, 8:50 am
The 11 Best Foods You Aren’t Eating
by Tara Parker-Pope
New York Times/Well Section

Nutritionist and author Jonny Bowden has created several lists of healthful foods people should be eating but aren’t. But some of his favorites, like purslane, guava and goji berries, aren’t always available at regular grocery stores. I asked Dr. Bowden, author of “The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth,” to update his list with some favorite foods that are easy to find but don’t always find their way into our shopping carts. Here’s his advice.

1. Beets: Think of beets as red spinach, Dr. Bowden said, because they are a rich source of folate as well as natural red pigments that may be cancer fighters.
How to eat: Fresh, raw and grated to make a salad. Heating decreases the antioxidant power.
2. Cabbage: Loaded with nutrients like sulforaphane, a chemical said to boost cancer-fighting enzymes.
How to eat: Asian-style slaw or as a crunchy topping on burgers and sandwiches.
3. Swiss chard: A leafy green vegetable packed with carotenoids that protect aging eyes.
How to eat it: Chop and saute in olive oil.
4. Cinnamon: May help control blood sugar and cholesterol.
How to eat it: Sprinkle on coffee or oatmeal.
5. Pomegranate juice: Appears to lower blood pressure and loaded with antioxidants.
How to eat: Just drink it.
6. Dried plums: Okay, so they are really prunes, but they are packed with antioxidants.
How to eat: Wrapped in prosciutto and baked.
7. Pumpkin seeds: The most nutritious part of the pumpkin and packed with magnesium; high levels of the mineral are associated with lower risk for early death.
How to eat: Roasted as a snack, or sprinkled on salad.
8. Sardines: Dr. Bowden calls them “health food in a can.'’ They are high in omega-3’s, contain virtually no mercury and are loaded with calcium. They also contain iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, copper and manganese as well as a full complement of B vitamins.
How to eat: Choose sardines packed in olive or sardine oil. Eat plain, mixed with salad, on toast, or mashed with dijon mustard and onions as a spread.
9. Turmeric: The “superstar of spices,'’ it may have anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties.
How to eat: Mix with scrambled eggs or in any vegetable dish.
10. Frozen blueberries: Even though freezing can degrade some of the nutrients in fruits and vegetables, frozen blueberries are available year-round and don’t spoil; associated with better memory in animal studies.
How to eat: Blended with yogurt or chocolate soy milk and sprinkled with crushed almonds.
11. Canned pumpkin: A low-calorie vegetable that is high in fiber and immune-stimulating vitamin A; fills you up on very few calories.
How to eat: Mix with a little butter, cinnamon and nutmeg.

You can find more details and recipes on the Men’s Health Web site, which published the original version of the list last year.

In my own house, I only have two of these items — pumpkin seeds, which I often roast and put on salads, and frozen blueberries, which I mix with milk, yogurt and other fruits for morning smoothies. How about you? Have any of these foods found their way into your shopping cart?

--------------

I'm off to buy some frozen blueberries! After working on my dissertation for a few hours (blegh, but yay!)

Charity :)

i went to church this weekend.

Yep, you read right. It was pretty fun. I'll be back. The spiritual guidance, the pageantry, the pigtailed little girls and boys in argyle sweaters, the prayer, the communion. Yeah, I'll be back.

In other news: I saw the new Batman movie (did I already tell you?) and it was AWESOME but that was last week. Let's see, I also did some transcribing (but not enough--it is NEVER ENOUGH), went to the pool a few times, worked out at the gym quite a bit (Yay!) and babysat a few times.

I'm really going to miss the Elliotts. It is only when someone leaves that you realize how much you will miss them, I think. The way I'm feeling now, that means I'm in for a sad sad September. (August I will be spending several weeks in North Carolina and the other weeks preparing for my class to begin and getting caught up at work).

I guess the good news is that there's always my dissertation to keep me busy and hopefully distracted.

And now, there's also church.

charity :)

as if i needed another reason...

druthers.

I'm just saying. (source)

feeling better!

That's it. I'm just feeling better. I started to read this great book: Perfect Love, Imperfect Relationships by John Welwood and it has me feeling very calm. Also, my decision not to feel sad today helped, and my decision to spend all day transcribing, and my decision to go to the gym and start doing yoga every day again, and my decision to go to church next weekend. I won't tell my parents, though, because I don't think they'll approve of the denomination, but I'm pretty excited about it.

Charity :)

Michigan rag.

As performed by Marley Cat Manasse.

I can't remember if I posted the video above already. It was from my visit to Baltimore in like March or whenever.

I'm feeling sad now. So sad I couldn't even fill in the Myspace survey Erin posted. So I'm just going to post this and then go to bed and hope I feel better tomorrow. At least I finally finished transcribing that doctor's interview. He was from New Jersey and talked SUPER fast. Now, I just have ten more to go... Hmm, and I told my advisor I'd have them done by the time he gets back from Sweden. Um, Thursday. Yeah, I don't think that's so much going to happen...

God, this has been a stressful weekend. I'm so glad it's Monday tomorrow. Oh wait, that means it's Monday tomorrow. And one day closer to Thursday.

Dude.

NYT story about the economy (spoiler: we're in trouble).

New York Times, July 19, 2008
Uncomfortable Answers to Questions on the Economy
By PETER S. GOODMAN

You have heard that Fannie and Freddie, their gentle names notwithstanding, may cripple the financial system without a large infusion of taxpayer money. You have gleaned that jobs are disappearing, housing prices are plummeting, and paychecks are effectively shrinking as food and energy prices soar. You have noted the disturbing talk of crisis hovering over Wall Street.

Something has clearly gone wrong with the economy. But how bad are things, really? And how bad might they get before better days return? Even to many economists who recently thought the gloom was overblown, the situation looks grim. The economy is in the midst of a very rough patch. The worst is probably still ahead.

...

Article posted here if you're interested. I'm cutting it because it's too long and I'm tired of seeing it on my blog.

fun for the whole family!

Above: A slideshow of photos from the recent Welch Family Reunion at Natural Tunnel Park in Virginia. Enjoy!


Above: A Brief Tour of the Natural Tunnel at the Natural Tunnel State Park, Virginia.


Above: The Welch Family Singers; my camera was being weird so I only got a brief clip, but we had a lot of fun. People in the crowd were singing, kids were running in and out and everyone was just having a wonderful time. True family fun. Plus more ham that you could possibly know what to do with. If you're into that sort of thing...

Anyway, so much for my early bedtime tonight! I've been meaning to get these up for some time, though!

Charity :)

ice skating and middle school math quiz.

I went ice skating today at the Marietta Ice Center and boy was it FUN! I hope I can go again very soon. I highly recommend it. It feels kind of like walking smoothly, balanced on the dull edges of two knives, on a big ice cube. Because that's what it is, essentially. Also, when we left there were people playing hockey on the big rink and I got to watch it. How fun, and they move really fast! Maybe someday. When I get a little more comfortable moving on a big ice cube.


Well, it wasn't exactly like this, but pretty close (source).

OK, here's the quiz:

Question: How long will it take Charity to get home from ice skating given that the skating rink is approximately 20 miles away from her house if she is moving approximately 2 meters per hour due to REPAVING THAT HAS BEEN SCHEDULED ON WEEKENDS TO CLOSE 4 LANES OF TRAFFIC GOING SOUTH AT ONCE ON A FIVE LANE PORTION OF TWO MAJOR HIGHWAYS THAT IDIOTICALLY UNITE AND THEN RUN THROUGH A MAJOR CITY?

Answer: 4 hours.


My view for most of the four hours was something like this.

I had to cancel babysitting tonight, which luckily turned out to be not a problem. What a day. So now, it's Charity's favorite meal of nachos, beer, and candy, I guess. At least I've been working out lately.

I think I need to take a long scorching hot bath and then fall asleep right in front of my box fan. No one can say CHARITY doesn't know how to have a good time on a Saturday night...

charity :)

last night (Tubby del Toro).

Last night I dreamed I that Benicio del Toro came to call. He was even better looking than I remembered, and younger. He and I were talking in my parents' kitchen, and when my dad came in, the first thing he did was stick out his hand for a handshake and ask what ethnicity he was.

Benicio turned to me with a knowing smile and responded that he was Seminole, from Guadalcanal. Then he told us his real name was Yes Fire Hot. We went for a bike ride in the park, but it started snowing, so he dragged me around on the ice and we had a delightful time.

I wish the Dog Whisperer had been on last night. I might have dreamed of puppies instead.

****

I found out last night that my sweet sweet sweet cat Tubby was found dead and buried by some nice Vietnamese people who live across the street from my mom. Poor poor Tubby. Now she will fertilize some strangers' garden, but I don't mind. I miss her terribly. She was my sweet little old lady kitty, the most beautiful cat in the world. When I used to pet her head she would stare up at me with big beautiful eyes lined in black and orange and flat ears and freckles and I called her my refugee kitty, so I guess it's fitting that her final rest be in some nice immigrants' garden.

RIP Tubby, and I pray that in the great cat beyond you have all the triangle food and piano serenades your little kitty heart desires.

charity :)

speaking of independence... [updated]

I want to write more, but for now I'll just write this: did you know that home birth is illegal? Yes, against the law. I knew that already but it's one of those things that I thought surely this is a violation of privacy and has been reversed by now. But I looked it up, and sure enough, it still is.

Physicians were behind making it illegal. I read a very interesting book recently about birth, called, um, Birth.

Check it out.

Childbirth sounds really scary, but the thought of going to a hospital makes it much scarier for me. Why shouldn't I be able to choose home birth? I just can't understand. It's ridiculous. If you're at all interested, I highly recommend the book. It's a fascinating read, and a very quick one as well. Check out the website for Georgia group Citizens for Midwifery or their blog for more information about the midwifery situation specifically.

Sorry about the short entry but I have so much to do today!

Charity :)

Update: Thanks to the comment, a word of clarification. You are legally allowed to have your baby at home (home birth). However, it is a violation for midwives to attend the birth. Ironic, isn't it? Since the home birth laws presumably are made with the mother and baby's safety in mind.

Also, there will be a film festival in Augusta sponsored by Better Augusta Birth Experience this weekend, but unfortunately I will be out of town at a family reunion. I hear it will be coming to Atlanta in the next few months, though. I'll try to keep you posted.

Charity :)

this weekend.

Since I know yall are all crazy interested in how my weekend was, I figured I wouldn't waste any more time and just get it out in the open.

Yes, it was a good one!

It started Friday afternoon, when I met my lovely friend Alison with her lovely son Jack to walk around mindlessly in first Target, then Barnes and Nobles. Finally we decided on what we wanted to do (tough decision for two indecisive people such as ourselves!). We drove out to Decatur to go to Little Shop of Stories in Decatur. I have so say I wasn't really impressed. I wanted to like it better than Barnes and Nobles and Borders, but it didn't have the book I wanted (I had held off buying it earlier in order to support local business, and see what lesson I learned), and it was also much more sterile seeming. It was strange, because I guess I expected a store like the one in You've Got Mail. (Yes, I've seen You've Got Mail. Drop it.)


(source)

Plus, it was weird because Decatur Beach Party was going on, where they dumped a bunch of sand in downtown Decatur so kids could shovel it and parents could stand around in it looking uncomfortable but trying to bond over how much they loved their kids and let them run their lives.

Alison had to go home so I ended up going out later with my friend Katie to a place called Pozole which was great for two reasons: 1) the food and drinks were great, and not too expensive, and 2) it was an AWESOME place to people watch. These drunk guys tried to get us to go up to The Warren with them but that didn't work out for several obvious reasons. All in all, it was a great night. Katie is my new going out buddy, and I hope we are going to go out more. Drunk old frat boys are wonderfully entertaining. :)

Saturday, Michael and I played tennis and then sat out at the pool, which was heavenly. We grabbed a burrito afterwards and relaxed at his home. It was nice to be able to spend some time with him. He's been so busy (as I should be) that it's hard to schedule. Saturday night I went out to Planet Bombay and I had the Tofu dal sabji. Highly recommended! Be sure to ask for it spicy. :) MMMMMMM!!!

Sunday, I meant to do a lot of work but I ended up playing video games and watching Law and Order. I did some other things, too, but I won't bore you with the details. I meant to watch Hellboy, but Michael was unable to join me. Very sad, but then again, I do love me some Law and Order: CI and In Plain Sight (both were new last night!). I guess I'll watch it tonight if I get home in time. I've been going since before 8 am. I had to take the recyclers and do laundry; now I'm at work and will be until 7, then when I get home I'll have to write an exam and finish writing an article that my co-author has almost finished (oops).

Wish me luck! I should have done a little more work yesterday, I see now!

Charity :)

love the title: "wronged by a thong"

"In terms of money, that's really not what we want here. Again, we want to make sure that Vic-Marcrida Patterson is fully redressed for her grievous injury. Again, she's had some injury, she's missed work, she's gone through a lot of suffering as well. We basically want to make Marcrida whole again."

[blows raspberry]

dancing and dissertation defending.

Cyd Charisse died Tuesday at age 86 (source). I thought I'd post a clip. She was really amazing (but this isn't her singing).



In better news, Michael defended his dissertation! One more friend out of graduate school (great for my friends, mixed blessing for me). I'm so happy for him. We went to the Brick Store to celebrate. Now that's entertainment!

Charity :)

ninja warriors and old video games.

After a conversation with my brother, I was looking up clips of this show:



when I found this short film:



Extra credit to the first one who can figure out the connection!

Charity :)

in honor of Nikki's and my healing tongues.

25 Signs You've Grown Up*

25. Your houseplants are alive, and you can't smoke any of them.

24. Having sex in a twin bed is out of the question.

23. You keep more food than beer in the fridge.

22. 6 AM is when you wake up, not when you go to bed.

21. You hear your favorite song on the elevator.

20. You watch the Weather Channel.

19. Your friends marry and divorce instead of hook up and break up.

18. You go from 130 days of vacation time to 14.

17. Jeans and a sweater no longer qualify as "dressed up."

16. You're the one calling the police because those damn kids next door won't turn down the stereo.

15. Older relatives feel comfortable telling sex jokes around you.

14. You don't know what time Taco Bell closes anymore.

13. Your car insurance goes down and your payments go up.

12. You feed your dog Science Diet instead of McDonalds leftovers.

11. Sleeping on the couch makes your back hurt.

10. You no longer take naps from noon to 6 PM.

9. Dinner and a movie is the whole date instead of the beginning of one.

8. Eating a basket of chicken wings at 3 AM would severely upset, rather than settle, your stomach.

7. You go to the drug store for ibuprofen and antacid, not condoms and pregnancy tests.

6. A $4.00 bottle of wine is no longer "pretty good stuff."

5. You actually eat breakfast food at breakfast time.

4. "I just can't drink the way I used to," replaces "I'm never doing to drink that much again."

3. 90% of the time you spend in front of a computer is for real work.

2. You no longer drink at home to save money before going to a bar.

1. You read this entire list looking desperately for one sign that doesn't apply to you.

* I don't actually know where this comes from, since I clipped it from a newspaper before these things were all true. I looked it up on the internet and it's everywhere, so there's no way I'm going to bother with finding out who initially wrote it. Anyway. Not me.

But it's funny! Many of them aren't true for me yet, but I look forward to the day when I can mark them off the list. I'm enjoying being a grown up. I bought a new bathing suit this year. It's plain, black and sensible.

People told me my thirties were going to be awesome, but I had no idea. I'm so glad I'm single for it, too. I feel more powerful than I ever have in the past. I say this after an 11-hour workday.

Guess what?

Pretty soon, you'll have to call me DOCTOR Crabtree.

Doctor Who? You heard me. I'm going to fetch the Tardis and start solving REAL problems!!

BBC

Charity :)

last lecture: Randy Pausch.

I'm finishing up The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch, which was suggested by my stepmom on my last trip home. It's really great, and I'm enjoying watching the actual lecture, too. Recommended!

Charity :)

face for sale.

Emory's bulletin board after graduation, when all the notices had been (mostly) removed. Taken May 2008.