It takes a depraved mind to think that a child should be forced to work, instead of being educated. Newt Gingrich is that kind of dude.
Newt's Inspiration for his pro-Child Labor Views
Newt Gingrich for child labor. (LAT)
Personal
26
Jan 12
Fideos and veggies
We have a ton of pasta. Not only that, but we have random types of pasta. It’s almost too much to try new ways to use certain kinds. When I cook with fideo, I always wind up making a Mexican dish. This time around, I wanted to see if fideo could be good in just a quick vegetable mix.
I browned about a cup of fideo and quickly removed it from the stove. In olive oil, I sautéed half of a small sliced onion, about a tablespoon of chopped garlic and 1/4 of a thinly sliced green bell pepper. In that, I added a bit of sea salt, coarse black pepper, a small pinch Albanian rubbed sage, lemongrass and a sprinkle of dill weed. Once that was browned, I added in 3 sliced mushrooms and half a diced tomatoes. Over this, I squeezed in some lemon juice an added a pinch of French tarragon.
Once that was cooked, I added in the chicken broth I made the other day (about 2 cups), 1/4 cup of water and the fideos. I covered my pan and let everything simmer for about 10 minutes.
Fideos and vegetables
When it was done, I topped it with shaved parmesan and fresh minced parsley. It’s rather good, though a bit too lemony. Still for a quick and dirty lunch, this fits the bill. My original goal was to add some goat cheese on top of it, but it had gone off. That’s the bonus of this blank slate, is that with just the addition of different toppings you can tweak it to be anything. I could have added in some sriracha, bean sprouts and used sesame oil for an Asian twist. I could have used spicy peppers and cotija, with some Tapatío to give in a Mexican kick.
26
Jan 12
Sloughing it off
We moved, in a rush, in late September. Even though we had tossed a lot of stuff and already had many things organized in boxes, we were not prepared for losing the storage capacities of a 2-car garage and a basement when moving to a one-car garage. To say that our current garage is in even more of a disarray than our last, is an understatement. I have gardening tools. my lumber, and a stove taking up room. The lack of storage in the house (we went from having a laundry room to an niche in the wall), means that other items that haven’t yet found a home indoors are still in half-packed boxes.
I need to streamline. My goal is to get everything that we need in weatherproof boxes. All other items either need to go away or being used in the house and garden.
It’s admirable to have goals. Unfortunately, for me, I tend to ignore my goals once I get bored and I can get bored of a project, easily. The other day, I started rearranging the kitchen cabinets. I got rid of many dishes that needed to not be there. I moved stuff around to wear it makes sense and is accessible to all in our family. Then I found a stash of sunflower seeds. Laugh all you want, but I couldn’t not think about them. So, under the guise of ‘taking a break’, I started cracking open shells. That was on Tuesday. It’s now Thursday and I still have a lot of dishes sitting out that I just never got around to putting away.
It’s like that.
The bonus is that I recognize how I am. The not-so bonus is that that just sounds like another project I’ll get bored of doing a project once it’s near completion; my mind racing on to some other thing I could be doing instead. I didn’t used to be this way. I was always the one who went over and beyond. I finished what I started and appreciated a job well done. But when you have 3 other people in the same abode who don’t have the same care about keeping things clean or putting items back in their place, it all seems like an uphill battle. It’s the melodramatic, “Why bother?” *flops on divan with glass of wine*
But I will try. I hope to be able to let go and get rid of many things instead of keeping them around with the thought, “Oh, this would be great to use in [random craft project].” A project I may not even finish, let alone start.
With that, here are my hopes of things I want to get done:
- Finish building the planter boxes for my food garden.
- Hang all of my tools in the garage.
- Find a solution to my crafting situation.
- Clean my closet.
- Hang the rest of the pictures on the wall.
- Find a solution for laundry.
- Organize the remaining items in boxes in the garage’s attic or storage areas in the house.
Sounds doable, especially if I liberally toss items. Let’s hope I stick to it.
25
Jan 12
Bringing Parks to Koreatown
Today, I decided to head over to K-Town to take some photos. I did not expect to bump into a press conference, let alone one regarding something I find important: parks. Though we have many beautiful large and pocket parks in Los Angeles, the fact is, we have the lowest number of parks per capita, in the entire country and rank low on the park acreage per person scale. It’s not that difficult to see that if people and families have well-kept, safe parks within walking distance of their homes, they’d have a local destination to visit where they can not only get some exercise, but enjoy their community. Getting people out and about is a wonderful way to bring residents together.
The Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance (KIWA) held a press conference this morning, hoping to share the news that Koreatown may be in danger of not getting a new park. The backstory is that after many years of residents lobbying for a park at Hobart Blvd. and 7th Street, they won $5M from the state of California via the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA). The problem is that Governor Jerry Brown disbanded the Community Redevelopment Agency before the sale of the property could go through. The last day of existence for the CRA is January 31st. All of the money the CRA/LA had is to go back to the state to fund other projects. Now, the CRA, in order to avoid giving much money back to the state, wound up giving the LA City Council about $1B. So, that’s the good news. The money is there.
Alexandra Suh, Executive Director of KIWA speaks to press
Alexandra Suh spoke today about why the Koreatown community would like to have a park. Ms. Suh said that Koreatown is the most park-poor neighborhood in all of Los Angeles. I was stunned to hear that, but a look at Google Maps bears that out. I counted one park. In an enclave so population-rich (120K people in 3 square miles!), one park doesn’t seem like much. Now, if you live in the suburbs or the Westside, this may not seem like a big deal. You probably have never visited one of your local parks, perhaps preferring a more popular park far away or meeting friends in a commercial district. I visit these areas a lot and it’s the same; the exurbs of Riverside County and parts of Orange County, too. One thing always stands out: The bigger the homes, the less use the parks ge during day-time hours. When I go to parks in these areas, I’m usually the only mother there with my kids. The other women are usually nannies. Very unlike my neighborhood, where if you drive by Lincoln Park on the corner of Main St. and Mission Ave. around noon, you’ll see several men fishing in the lake, people exercising, performing instruments or practicing sports and families with small children taking in a nice day.
I think the people of Koreatown should able to enjoy such quality of life activities. The Mayor’s office has brought forth a plan for 50 pocket parks in the city. That’s wonderful if Koreatown is in that plan. From the above map, it’s pretty clear that some of the vacant lots can be used as such. The bonus for KIWA and Koreatown is that the LA Parks Department is ready to take on the project. Darryl Ford, an Analyst with the Department said as much today. They would love to see a park there and want to work with the community and the city to make it happen. Missing from this discussion are Councilmembers. Koreatown is represented by Councilman Herb Wesson and Councilman Tom LaBonge. Neither were on hand for today’s event.
Korean, Spanish and English hopes written on balloons
Community members spoke about how they would love to be able to walk their kids to the park. Mr. Morales spoke of how he raised his children in Koreatown, always wanting a park since he lived in an apartment with no yard. Now that he has grandchildren, he would really be happy to be able to take them to a park. More and more residents came forth with the same aspirations. They wanted to let their children or grandchildren run and swing and play. In English, Spanish and Korean they wrote their hopes on balloons.
The balloons were released to show the City of Los Angeles that they have “sky-high hopes” for a park in Koreatown.
Sky-high hopes
11
Apr 11
Taking in CicLAvia
There are times when an idea is good. There are times when the implementation of that idea is excellent. CicLAvia falls into the latter category. To make it even better, the weather in Los Angeles was perfect for a bike ride through the city.
On Sunday, I packed up the kids and we went over to Hollenbeck Park to see one of the end-points of CicLAvia. We’ve visited the park before and enjoy it immensely. There is rarely more than 50 or so people around the park, so it was even more amazing to see hundreds of Angelenos congregating at the northern end of the park with their bikes, scooters, skateboards and feet.
According to their site:
Ciclovías started in Bogotá, Colombia, over thirty years ago as a response to the congestion and pollution of city streets. Now they happen throughout Latin America and the United States, connecting communities and giving people a break from the stress of car traffic. The health benefits are immense. Ciclovías bring families outside of their homes to enjoy the streets, our largest public space.
17
Mar 11
Saving our Teachers
Image by Getty Images via @daylife
Things are dire in LAUSD and being a parent at a lower-income school, it’s even worse. Six highly trained and credentialed teachers were given pink slips. In a world of budget cuts and people losing their jobs, this may be ho-hum to most, but these 6 are extraordinary individuals. Our school has a great Dual Language Program (Spanish) and one of the teachers who received an RIF (Reduction in Force) was the one who started the program at the school. In fact, three of the teachers who were notified teach in the Dual Language Program. Our school is also, along with the middle and high school, in it’s preliminary years of becoming an International Baccalaureate (IB) school. Over the past 2 years, all 6 of these teachers have gone through the IB training to ensure the goals of the program are being followed.
With the District proposing an increase in class sizes (We currently have 1:20 in grades K-3, the District wants 1:29), this means that in addition to losing the 6 teachers, the school will have to buy 7 more teachers who may or may not be qualified to replace the lost teachers. As it stands, LAUSD does not have any extra teachers who have already gone through IB training and often, teachers who are credentialed to teach Dual Language, aren’t necessarily interested in doing so. The lack of trained IB instructors puts the schools upcoming approval in jeopardy.
The best thing, is that the school is being proactive about keeping these teachers. For our students and for the approval of becoming an IB school, it’s paramount that these teachers remain. On Tuesday, signs were posted alerting parents to what was happening and six chairs are outside, so that students can write words of support or their names on the paper provided. Next Thursday, the school is holding an emergency meeting to inform parents and the community what is happening. I hope more parents show up and more write letters to the District urging them to retain these teachers for next year, no matter the final budget outcome. We need these teachers!
14
Mar 11
SSDD
Remember my last post back in August 2010 about the cover of Women’s Running Magazine? I did wind up canceling that subscription and oddly, my Runner’s World subscription stopped coming to me at the same time. That was no skin off my nose, as I wasn’t interested in reading it anyway.
Or so I thought.
I found that a lot of my motivation to run, to try new trails wasn’t because I enjoy it (I don’t), it was because Runner’s World magazine offered me helpful tips on many things, that I wouldn’t have thought of on my own. Sure, I could go to the website and find articles, but the problem is two-fold: 1) I’d wind up searching for the same items or 2) I find myself getting bored with technical speak or stories on athletes, I don’t care about.
When I signed up for last month’s Firecracker race, I got a subscription to Runner’s World. Last Friday, I received my first copy and…
When I saw it, I just laughed, “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
18
Aug 10
Black Women Run, Too
I recently received the Sept/Oct 2010 Women’s Running magazine and there’s a strong chance I may cancel the subscription. The magazine itself has some almost-useful-to-me information, but each time it comes in the mail, I’m reminded that the magazine is really not geared to me as a black female.
Women's Running magazine
Just a glance at recent covers can tell you that. In the two years this magazine has been coming to my house, I don’t ever remember a woman of color on the front of the magazine. Inside the magazine, not one of the articles features a woman of color. Three ads contain a woman of color: One Latina near the beginning of the magazine, then on page 76 (this issue is 80 pages) in the lower left corner and again on the back of the magazine. The only time you see females of color accompanying an article is when they are children. Of course! It’s so uplifting to see young black and brown girls interested in fitness. *eyeroll*
Of course, this is nothing new. Women of color are be used to the dearth of useful information in magazines geared to (white) women. Self, Shape, Women’s Fitness, Prevention, and Fitness Magazine have never pretended to cater to me. That’s why I will never subscribe or read these magazines. But when I saw “Women’s Running” (previously Her Running), I had wrongly assumed that meant all women. If anything, this is extremely clear in the beauty sections, which mainly focus on products geared to those with fair skin and non-kinky hair. In other words, I’m not going to hold my breath expecting an article on which hair care products are best for black women who swim. Which is okay. I don’t need Women’s Running to change to fit me.
I think what astounds me most, is that when you consider the make up of the US Woman’s Track & Field team, it is mostly black women. I do not recall seeing them interviewed in this magazine. However, I do see many interviews from past white Olympians, including those who have never won a medal. When I go running in my neighborhood the young Latinas and older Asian women put rest to the belief that only white women run. When I join a race and see so many black women of various ages, I refuse to believe the image these magazines give me. There is a reason that I follow @blackgirlsrun on Twitter.
Sadly, there’s not many options for me out there. Heart & Soul magazine has a very, very limited fitness section. I used to subscribe to this magazine for years, but figured it was time to let go when I only wanted to read one article from it. Instead, I’ll continue what I’ve been doing; sending out tweets and blog posts asking black female athletes for tips. Word of mouth is strong among black women. We have that going for us.
Hopefully, I’ll learn of a useful-to-me magazine.
31
Jul 10
So you want to grow your own food (Part 2)
Your soil is prepped and you have a rough sketch of your water needs, as mentioned in Part 1, but now it’s time for the best part: picking your plants.
Choosing Your Plants
Find Your Zone
I love growing vegetables, even the ones I won’t particularly eat. I often grow extra produce so that I can trade with neighbors or use in my compost pile. Most people start off with tomatoes. Tomatoes are easy to grow and aren’t too tempermental. Best of all, they only need minimum watering. If you live in Southern California, you can actually grow some tomatoes year round if you let them go to seed. Ideally though, they need warm weather to get sweet and ripe.
Depending on your growing zone, you may be able to grow many different kinds of plants. For example, I’m in Sunset Zones 19, 20, 21. I would love to grow apples or pears for eating, but it will be a toss up as to if I’d get fruit at all. Sunset Zone 22 can grow edible pomes.
You’ll notice that I listed 3 zones above. That’s because my tiny backyard ans 3 different microclimates. In fact, even the temperature will vary 3 -5 degrees depending on location. Some areas are in full sun year round. Others get only 3 – 5 hours of sun during the summer months and are in shade the rest of the year. I highly suggest checking out Sunset’s Western Garden book for Southern California gardeners.
Continue reading →
31
Jul 10
So you want to grow your own food (Part 1)
Recently, I’ve been asked about how to grow food at home. This is something I get rather excited about, not only because I love gardening, but I love seeing people talk about how they use the food they grow in their meals. Let’s face it, this economy has us all re-evaluating out food choices. When you go to a large grocers and see sad produce at exorbitant prices, it gives you pause.
I hope to be able to get you started on growing your own food, but this is especially geared toward people who live in the city. I grew up in the suburbs. We also had herbs growing in pots and grew a few vegetables, but most of our plants were indoors. When I moved to Hollywood in ’98, we lived in a courtyard apartment. The courtyard was very shaded and cool. Had I wanted to grow lettuce year round, I could have. Behind our apartment was a 6′ strip of concrete that was sunny year round. Trial and error taught me what I could grow and where. All of my produce and herbs were grown in pots and buckets. In 2006, we moved to El Sereno. I took my back yard from looking barren to a complete jungle in just a couple of years. (Side note: Those pots you see in the second photo are the same ones I used to grow veggies in, back in Hollywood.)