Why I Am Such a Failure in Life: I Follow My Bliss, and Look At What Gets Left Behind!

The Dorothy Parker poem "inseparable my nose and thumb" states the problem if not quite my attitude.

“They say of me, and so they should,
It's doubtful if I come to good.
I see acquaintances and friends
Accumulating dividends
And making enviable names
In science, art and parlor games.
But I, despite expert advice,
Keep doing things I think are nice,
And though to good I never come
Inseparable my nose and thumb.”

So...today at 10:30 am, my son Jonathan is going to be calling from New York to help me take the investment action my financial adviser Ron told me to take on June 27th! It will have taken us at least a month to get around to it, and of course we'll no longer be benefiting from the lowering of cost of shares that occurred right after the Brexit vote.

Instead of using our time together during the week days  while Jonathan was visiting earlier this month  to go online at Charles Schwartz, we spent it looking at Lin-Manuel Miranda's Hamiltome and listening to each song.

Today I'd rather respond to Jenny's letter about her friend from Peace Corps Thailand days, Bill Harless, who isn't getting the help he needs for a medical problem he got while serving in the PC, and look up things like the fir tree inside Artyom Sidorkin's lung, how to talk about Wobble to Death and Donald Trump's "It's their fault"  in French, figure out the age range of Millennials and learn the terms for those after the Baby Boom, Create a new document for vegan Kahlua trifle, list photos, find out where I am in print in Purity as I listen on Audible, contact Louise, Abdul, Lia, and Ellen about the book launch for David Hathwell, send the vegan group the articles on Barcelona and Tulin, and write to Amanada Gold about a vegan emphasis at cooking schools. 

Pre-Camino SF Trek in Fog

Bill and I took another long walk today, and I brought along a big map showing the whole city--but it was a vintage map (for wrapping paper) and showed the turn-of-the century--the 20th century--when Church Street was called "Dame" because of all the brothels there, where Bill and Tom now live.

I had wanted to highlight our path, which took us today from Castro and Market to Corona Heights to Mountain Lake and Baker's Beach and then back through Golden Gate Park.

There are other ways of marking this day: The headline showing Donald Trump saying "I am your voice," for example.

The fog was beautiful, and notice the recliner-in-stone I found for my repose!

The Mikado Set in an Internment Camp

Have you heard that the GenEnCo (The Generic Ensemble Company)  set its February 2016 production of "The Mikado: Reclaimed" in a future internment camp? Here's a blurb from an article about the production, crediting the new Broadway musical Allegiance for awakening the national conscience to the shameful legacy of Japanese internment during WWII as well as to the xenophobic rhetoric heard on the campaign trail.

The Artistic Director KT Shorb says this: "The whole idea of a Muslim ban – people say, 'Oh, Japanese internment, that'll never happen again.' But that's still legal. No one has overturned the Supreme Court's ruling that it is okay to round up people at random, say it's for national security, and keep them incarcerated for indefinite amounts of time. It still happens with undocumented families, to a certain extent with refugees, and also with these, quote-unquote, non-enemy combatants in Guantánamo Bay. The through-line is none of these people have been proven to be criminals. They have not gone through due process, have not been tried by a jury of their peers, and yet they are being treated 100 percent the way criminals are treated in our country. Just because we think we can learn from history doesn't mean we won't repeat it."

Here's the whole article:

http://www.austinchronicle.com/arts/2016-02-12/genencos-the-mikado-reclaimed/

This August we can see the Lamplighter's production of The Mikado set in Milan, Italy.

Here's a link to the letter they sent out to subscribers in April 2016:

http://www.lamplighters.org/Mikado_letter.html

Here's a link to an article on the controversy and found solution:

http://www.americantheatre.org/2016/04/20/building-a-better-mikado-minus-the-yellowface/

Incomplete News Reports Foster Prejudice against Vegans

"Baby fed vegan diet hospitalized and moved from parents" was the headline for a very incomplete news story in the San Francisco Chronicle on July 11, 2016.  

It failed to say what the baby as given on this "vegan diet," which can perpetuate myths about the inadequacy of a diet free of animal products.

This prompted me to write to the reporter, Amy Graff,  a senior news producer at sfgate.com, whose "Mommy Files" gets 3,000,000 views a month.   

Dear Amy Graff,

Please consider doing a more thorough article on the under-nourished Italian baby who was fed a strictly vegan diet.  What did that diet consist of?

I was not a vegan or vegetarian when I breast-fed my son many years ago, but I know that he didn't have meat for a long time.  Most babies have breast milk, cereal, fruit and vegetables for the first months. 

Could you report on what the baby was given rather than defining the baby's diet as "strictly vegan"?  A strictly vegan diet can be a lot healthier than one with meat and dairy products--healthier for the baby and healthier for animals and the environment.

I hope you, as a young mother, know the environmental and health reasons for a vegan diet as well as the concerns vegans have for the suffering of animals in factory farms, which treat animals as if they were inanimate objects. 

I'm afraid that a report stating that a baby is undernourished because it's on a vegan diet can set back progress in eating in a way that's healthy for all.

Your reader,

Tina Martin

The Mikado Controversy: Moving to Italy

Family members who love The Lamplighters told us The Mikado was being set in Italy because there were complaints from the Asian community about racism and stereotyping in the operetta.

After all these years?  I hope that means that Asians are in a better place here and won't have to move to Italy.

I've tried listening to a recording to  better understand the controversy leading to the changes in a local production.

http://www.americantheatre.org/2016/04/20/building-a-better-mikado-minus-the-yellowface/

I see that the NY production was cancelled because of complaints of racism:

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/new-york-city-production-mikado-draws-criticism-accusations-racism-n429546

I suppose this chopsticks-in-your-hair-and-you're-Japanese stereotype is more heavy-handed than, say, Huckleberry Finn, which gets discussed in terms of its use of the N word and other racist things of that era.  (I think Mark Twain is actually commenting on racism when he has Aunt Sally ask whether anyone was hurt, and "Tom" says no, just a couple of niggers were killed, causing Aunt Sally to express relief that nobody was hurt.  I hope he wasn't trying for cheap laughs or to actually appeal to racists.)   The debate comes up as to whether the N word should be taken out or left and annotated in the book and by the teacher assigning the book to the class or whether it should not be assigned at all. 

I'm not sure just how the Lamplighters could "annotate" it and still use it as it's written, but it's ironic that when Asians seem to be so successful and admired (with Japan now the third strongest economy in the world), this comes to the front.  I guess the Japanese  just didn't have the clout to protest when people were, say, dragging them off to internment camps.  When you're losing all your belongings and being put behind barbed wire, you may not feel free to say, "By the way, I don't like the stereotypes of us in The Mikado."

I wrote to Jeri Gertz, the little girl I babysat from the time of her birth in 1955 to 1963, when her family moved to Boston, because she's now very active in theater productions in Hawaii.  I remembered that she had been in a production of the Mikado several years ago.  She told me she played  Pitti-Sing, one of the three little maids, about 20 years ago.  The other two maids were Japanese, as was Pooh-Bah.  Their executioner was black. 

When Jeri directed Sound of Music, her head Nazi was Japanese....!  She says they have a large Asian population there and always cross ethnic types in casting.   (Jeri is Jewish.)

(She's now directing the annual fall musical  for the Palace theater on The Big Island, where they're doing 9 to 5.  Last night was the first night of auditions!)

As we know from Lin-Manuel Miranda's  musical hit  Hamilton, Washington, Jefferson, and Aaron Burr were black, and Alexander Hamilton was Hispanic.  But that musical is designed to fight racism.

How is The Mikado racist?  What does it mean that producers are paying attention now?

An Open Letter to Chefs of ECS, a Wonderful Community Organization that Needs to Think of Vegans Too

The first anniversary celebration at the Tenderloin Museum exhibited many of the reasons that The Guardian named it one of the 10 best museums in the world.

But before I share my  dropbox album of the evening, I want to say a word about the catering service, which is in keeping with the mission of the museum, to strengthen community ties (rather than gentrify).   As it says on its website, one goal of the CHEFS program is "Conquering Homelessness through Employment in Food service."   http://www.ecs-sf.org/programs/chefs.html

They created some beautiful dishes.

I want to make a donation to their organization, but first I had to write a letter:

Dear Alyssa Schrag,

I was at the first anniversary celebration of the Tenderloin Museum on July 12 and saw your beautiful display of food!

Unfortunately, there was nothing for me to eat because I don't eat animal products for environmental reasons and because I find the animal suffering in  factory farms so appalling.

I really like the concept of your catering service and I know you're doing wonderful things to help the community.  But would it be possible to add some vegan items to your offerings when you cater--something without cheese or egg? 

It could fit in with your education program too, making your culinary students aware of the reason that some people choose not to eat animal products and showing them what they can offer instead.

I'd like to make a donation to your organization, too.

Please let me know if I need to contact someone else. 

Many thanks for all you're doing,

Tina Martin

An Open Letter to Ron Skaar on French Cuisine

The wonderful person who hosts our group of Francophiles sent me this article on French cuisine from The Upbeat Times:


http://content.yudu.com/Library/A408gh/July2016UpbeatTimes/resources/index.htm?referrerUrl=http%3A%2F%2Ffree.yudu.com%2Fitem%2Fdetails%2F3776291%2FJuly-2016-Upbeat-Times

After reading it, I wrote to the author:

Dear Chef Ron Skaar,

I read your article on the history of French cooking.  I never knew how French cuisine evolved.  Thank  you!

I think it's wonderful when there's a movement towards doing "more with less product," as you say in  your article--keeping dishes healthier and simpler. 

For that reason, I'm surprised you chose a recipe for steak! 

Would you consider giving a vegan recipe for the eggplant you mention in your article?

Even at COP 21, a conference for the environment, French chefs made it hard for vegetarians to find something to eat. 

It would be great for French chefs to continue to innovate and provide the healthier and simpler dishes you mention.

Lots of good wishes,

Tina Martin

Tummy Ache Leads to Education on Rancid Nuts

Oh, dear!  I have a stomachache, and I knew the macademia nuts I was eating were rancid.  I could taste it.  So I Googled, "Can I eat rancid nuts?"

I found this link:

 http://www.dallasnews.com/lifestyles/health-and-fitness/health/20120423-danger-in-the-kitchen-beware-rancid-food-in-your-cupboards.ece

I faled to beware!

The result can be not only loss of nutrients but "they also can develop potentially toxic compounds” that have been linked to advanced aging, neurological disorders, heart disease and cancer."  

Here are some guidelines, copied and pasted:

In general, buy products that contain oils or fats in small quantities.

Store most cooking oils in a cool, dark cabinet — not next to the stove.

Refrigerate polyunsaturated oils, especially fish, nut and flax seed oils.

Store nuts and whole-grain flours in the freezer.

I just threw out the rest of the macademia nuts.  

Mad Scientist substitutes 1/3 cup of apple cider vinegar for one teaspoon

I want to show my non-vegan friends how good a chocolate cake can be even when no animal products go into the batter, but I goofed.  I'd already put in the 1/3 cup of  oil the recipe required, but instead of correctly reading 1 teaspoon for the apple cider vinegar for the final wet ingredient, I mentally combined the 1/3 cup of oil and the 1 t of apple cider vinegar and put 1/3 cup of apple cider vinegar in the batter.

I baked it anyway, feeling like a made scientist.

It came out tasting like pancakes--before you put on the syrup.  It looks black, but I plan to have my son close his eyes and take a bite--maybe after the syrup has been added--and ask him just what's special about these pancakes.

I did make the cake in a pan!