And this weeks word is…

harbor

It’s banned books week again, the time when we recognize that individuals throughout the country attempt to stifle free thought and intellectual freedom by keeping books out of the hands of children.

Here are the top 10 most challenged books of 2008:

1. And Tango Makes Three, by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
2. His Dark Materials trilogy, by Philip Pullman
3. TTYL; TTFN; L8R, G8R (series), by Lauren Myracle
4. Scary Stories (series), by Alvin Schwartz
5. Bless Me, Ultima, by Rudolfo Anaya
6. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
7. Gossip Girl (series), by Cecily von Ziegesar
8. Uncle Bobby’s Wedding, by Sarah S. Brannen
9. The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini
10. Flashcards of My Life, by Charise Mericle Harper

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I had a lovely time in Baltimore during Michael’s conference. I even got to see Neurondoc and her family, however, the venue of our meeting wasn’t really suitable for taking pictures, so you’ll just have to take my word for it.

Also, I can’t apparently shoot a straight picture to save my life. I’ll hope they’re a little better after some time in Photoshop. Whenever it is I have time do to that.

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I’m a little frustrated, because none of the rechargable batteries I have seem to want to hold a charge, so I wasn’t able to get many pictures yesterday, despite the fact that the weather was perfect (for taking pictures that is: overcast).

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Kat has shoved himself into the corner, so it looks like we’ve placed him in time out.

I was first introduced to Sean Russell when a friend loaned me a copy of The Initiate Brother and Gatherer of Clouds. Except that it ended up being a trade. I had loaned him a volume of The Year’s Best in Fantasy and Horror (Volume 6 perhaps?) and then he moved and that was it. So I still have his copies of The Initiate Brother and Gatherer of Clouds.

I’m pretty sure I got the better end of the deal.

Sean Russell is fabulous at world building. His worlds are not full of dragons or demons or fairies or vampires. The worlds he builds are lush and beautiful. The are akin to our world, but somehow at right angles, and with a subtle magic throughout.

Even better, he has also written several duologies, which I have always preferred to trilogies.

When I read a Sean Russell book, I read unusually slowly (for me). I am drawn into the stories and enjoy the details and the scenery and the journeys. His characters are complex and there is never simply good versus evil–in fact sometimes it’s hard to see who is acting for good and who is acting for evil.

He reminds me somewhat of Guy Gavriel Kay, who also writes amazing stories with complex stories that are often classified as fantasy simply because they occur in a world that is not ours.

He has also written two mysteries with Ian Russell under the pseudonym TF Banks, about the Bow Street Runners–the precursors to Scotland Yard. Unfortunately, there are only the two books, and as the last was written in 2003, it doesn’t look like there will be any more coming, which is unfortunate.

I love just plain love Sean Russell’s writing, and if you’re looking for something different to read, I highly recommend checking out something by Sean Russell.

The Initiate Brother (1991) and Gatherer of Clouds (1992)
Moontide and Magic Rise: World Without End (1994) Sea Without a Shore (1996)
The River into Darkness: Beneath the Vaulted Hills (1997), The Compass of the Soul (1999)
The Swans War: The One Kingdom (2001), The Isle of Battle (2002), The Shadow Roads (2004)

It’s Wednesday!

Today’s word: sausage

Got some apples from the farmer’s market, but just didn’t feel up to making a pie. Or more accurately, didn’t feel up to making a pie crust. I have got to start freezing pie dough for situations such as these.

So I browsed some recipes and found an apple crumble recipe that looked pretty good.

Apple Crumble
Filling:
3 pounds apples*
1/4 cup apple cider
2 tbsp melted butter
2 tbsp rum
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg **
1/4 ginger
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbsp flour

Topping:
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup oats ***
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking powder
1 stick cold butter

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a large casserole dish or a square cake pan.

Peel, core, and slice apples. **** While peeling and coring the apples, I place the slices in a large bowl of cold water with lemon juice.

In a large bowl, thoroughly mix together the apples and the other filling ingredients. Mix until the apples are well coated, then pour into the baking pan.

Stir together the dry ingredients for the topping. Cut in the butter (you don’t want to use a food processor here, since it would affect the oats).

Sprinkle the topping over the filling.

Bake for 1 1/2 hours at 350 F. Let stand until it has cooled slightly.

If only we hadn’t run out of vanilla ice cream.

* Look for pie apples, such as Granny Smith, McIntosh, Courtland, Northern Spy, etc
** Fresh. Seriously, invest in a spice grater and always use fresh nutmeg.
*** Rolled oats, though you can use instant oats in a pinch, it’s worth having rolled oats on hand for baking
**** Get an apple peeler and corer.

When I was listening to the news Sunday night, they played an interview with Ron Paul. I know people who think Ron Paul is the best thing since buttered bread, but after this interview I have even less of a clue as to why.

What stopped me in my tracks was Paul’s instance that “health care is not a right.”

Additionally, he said that insurance companies have every right to deny people on the basis of pre-existing conditions.

Over at Eric‘s place, we once jokingly referred to the conservative Republican policy as, “Fuck you, I’ve got mine,” after a conservative made the comment that he was perfectly happy with his health care and didn’t want the government to screw things up for him.

I cannot even wrap my mind around this mindset, because it is wrong on so many levels.

First and foremost, it boggles my mind that conservatives–most of whom claim to be Christians–believe so strongly in karma. According to conservatives, if someone doesn’t have health care (or a job, or whatever) it’s because they are lazy, or they don’t work hard enough, or they did something bad to cause their current state.

Second, that attitude–fuck you, I’ve got mine–pretty much goes against the New Testament. I don’t think the take of the Good Samaritan implied that if someone can’t afford health insurance they don’t deserve medical care. My understanding is that we are expected to help others, regardless of who we are, who they are, and what they have done.

Third, such a policy is narrow-minded in the extreme. No just on a financial level, but on a public health level. The fact this attitude is concurrent with a possible flu pandemic shows just how incapable some of these people are of seeing beyond their own noses.

The fact these individuals can hold such mutually exclusive ideas in mind (Christianity and refusal to accept the need to universal health care) leads me to wonder about the mental strain that is required to keep such mutually exclusive ideas in the same brain.

Yes, summer ends this week. I’ve neglected posting pictures recently, because since I was sick, I’ve been badly neglecting my garden. Apparently, Michael (bless his heart) is unable to water plants or even mow the lawn when I’m feeling crappy.

So I don’t have a lot blooming right now; the lack of watering kept my Stella d’Oros from reblooming. But I do have a couple things. Of course.

I love roses. I love their smell. But I don’t much care for hybrid tea roses, that require a lot of water and work. So I have a couple of hardy bushes that don’t require much more than a watering when its dry.

Sedum, given to me by a friend.

I’m out of sorts. I don’t know what I want to do. I don’t have a thing to read.

OK. That last bit ins’t true. Would you believe I don’t know what I’m in the mood to read?

Happy Talk Like A Pirate Day!

My pirate name is:

Black Ethel Bonney

Like anyone confronted with the harshness of robbery on the high seas, you can be pessimistic at times. You can be a little bit unpredictable, but a pirate’s life is far from full of certainties, so that fits in pretty well. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from fidius.org.

Here be a very nice English t’ Pirate translator page

Turn about is fair play apparently.

I was 20 when I stopped eating mammals.

Since that time, I have become only more aware of industrial food production in the United States, and the problems it causes, for those who eat it, for those who produce it, and for the land.

At this point, nearly twenty years later, most people have heard passing complaints of the food industry, but it’s often hard to listen to those who are evangelical vegans and PETA supporters. Which is why I’d like to talk about some books that are not written by extremists or with an agenda. The following books are extremely well-researched, and present the results of that research in an even-handed manner.

Of course, since some areas of the food industry are be litigious, they need to be.

The first author is the one I read most recently, Michael Pollan. He’s written The Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food. The first, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, details Michael Pollan’s experiences as he tries to follow food from the fields to the table. He even bought a single calf, and spent time with that calf over various parts of its life’s journey. He was not, however, allowed into the slaughterhouse to see the conditions there.

He details the life of a calf raised for commercial slaughter, as well as the conditions of the animals on a strict organic farm. He looks at the fertilization of commercial fields as well as the field conditions on the same organic farm. And he even spends some time as a hunter gatherer, creating a meal with ingredients he had gathered himself.

In Defense of Food looks the Western Diet and its affect upon our health. As with The Omnivore’s Dilemma, this book did not hold any surprises for me, but did contain a comprehensive review of the current research on health and diet.

Both of these books are well-written, and present his discoveries through personal experience, which makes the information far more relevant (and interesting) than you would read in a medical or agricultural journal.

Another book is Andrew Weil’s Eating Well for Optimum Health. This book is not quite as accessible as Michael Pollan’s books, but takes a deeper look at the research regarding diet and health, including talking about some of the studies that were quite surprising. (Including, IIRC, a study that was halted when it discovered that beta carotene supplements actually increased the incidence of cancer, when dietary research saw a link between a diet high in beta carotene and a reduction in cancer.

All of which points to the fact that whole foods are almost always going to be better for you than processed foods and supplements–a theme of Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food.

One of the best books I’ve read about the American Food Industry is Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation. He looks specifically at the fast food industry, and follows a meal from the field to the paper bag, and looks not just at the treatment of animals, but also the safety of the food and the treatment of food workers along the way.

One of the most disturbing chapters was on slaughterhouses. Although the treatment of the animals is of concern to me, far more disturbing was the treatment of the humans who work in these slaughterhouses. In order to keep costs down, these individuals work under horrific conditions and are frequently injured–often severely–in the line of work.

This book is why I refuse to eat at any fast food restaurant unless that restaurant is specifically known to treat its employees well. And is also why I will never eat commercial beef, even if I one day decide to start eating mammals again.

Food is a necessity for us, but it is also something that should be enjoyed. And for me, that enjoyment is greater if I believe that the food I am eating is not just good for me, but good for the world as well.

The Omnivore’s Dilemma (2006), In Defense of Food: An Easter’s Manifesto (2008), Fast Food Nation The Dark Underside of the All-American Meal (2002)