The Genius of Birds by Jennifer Ackerman

The take home message that first and foremost that such monikers as "bird brain" are (as is so often the case with sweeping generalizations) reductionist and largely inaccurate. The truth is that avian intelligence exists on a wide spectrum, with the dimmer end seemingly, like the dodo, almost striving for extinction, while at the top end of the scale we have marvels, with only the higher primates matching the birds’ tool-crafting capabilities. At one point the author makes a brief, representative list of both the smart and the stupid birds, and I couldn’t help noticing that the former – crows, herons, gulls, woodpeckers, and so on – are not eaten by humans, whereas the more intellectually compromised ones such as partridges, turkeys and quail are considered good eating. If we are to believe the lessons of the Galapagos are to be believed, the lack of a predator is also another piece of the puzzle of the haves and the have nots in bird intelligence. This book is a delight. It makes you think about what smarts are, and how to evaluate them on a spectrum of options. The bottom line is that birds are fascinating and we don't know or understand them particularly well.

Galapagos: A Natural History Guide by Pierre Constant

This is the third book that I have read in preparation for a trip to the island archipelago, and here is what I thought. The geology of the islands, which is purportedly the thing that interested Darwin most about them, is detailed in both understandable writing as well as pictures (there are photographs as well as simple line drawings that spell it all out quite clearly. I skipped Earth Sciences in high school and never doubled back to study it at all, so if I can understand it, pretty much anyone can follow it). The other thing that stands out in the comprehensive cataloging of the flora and fauna is the extensive photographs, which help a visual person manage the large amount of data in your head. The background on why these things are significant is scanter than in other volumes on the same subject, but overall, it adds to what I have already read, and I would recommend it, especially to certain kinds of learners and those with specific interests in the Galapagos.

Evolution's Workshop by Edward Larson

This book is thoughtfully conceived and expertly written and serves as a good companion for travelers to the Galápagos islands and students of the history of science alike--which applies to me right now! Having read several books about the isolated islands, this one highlights best the well known authors who have visited and written about the Galápagos. European explorers who came across the islands in the 16th century had a less exalted view of the rugged volcanic archipelago, noting on their maps and in their logs that they had seen a bit of hell on earth; even as late as the 19th century, Herman Melville would call the islands “evilly enchanted ground.” Those who landed on the islands, as Charles Darwin would do on the voyage of HMS Beagle, encountered odd, novel species that turned the notion of the great chain of being on its head. Some scientists preferred to ignore the giant tortoises and candle-like cacti of the place, which did not neatly fit into the prevailing natural history of the time. Others, like Darwin, were intrigued by the evolutionary patterns that emerged, whereby species exhibited perceptible differences from island to island, suggesting that geographical separation had some influence on the course of nature. Darwin’s findings, and those of the generations of scientists who followed him, would undermine special-creationist accounts of how life came to be. Their arguments changed the face of science—and also of the islands, which gave up hundreds of thousands of specimens of birds, reptiles, and plants to collectors from museums all over the world. Amazing that there is anything left to see today, but there is. This is an absorbing study of the role of the South American island chain in shaping evolutionary theory.

Galapagos: World's End by William Beebe

I have been reading books about the Galapagos in preparation for an upcoming trip there. Since this will be a one and done trip, I want to immerse myself in all things Galapagos, and this book, which is available on Google books as well as through my library's subscription to Hoopla, is one of the first hand accounts of a Galapagos expedition, as opposed to an author writing about somebody else's trip. As is widely known, in the 1830's Charles Darwin circumnavigated the globe and enroute he observed variations among the Galapagos Islands' species that inspired him to formulate the theory of natural selection. Eighty-eight years later, in 1923, a scientific expedition sponsored by the New York Zoological Society followed in Darwin's footsteps, led by William Beebe and while he is the author of this book, several of the expedition members author chapters or sections of chapters. The prose is about what you would expect from people who are primarily naturalists, meaning overly descriptive and at times quite tedious to read. That said, at the time of it's release it was wildly popular (which gives you an idea of what one had to settle for a century ago in terms of entertainment) and therefore worth giving a read if only for the immersion experience.

The Evolution of Charles Darwin by Diana Preston

One reviewer described this as an irresistible scientific biography and adventure story with a happy ending. Agreed. The argument is made that of all scientists across known time, from Aristotle to Galileo, Newton to Einstein, that Darwin could arguably be the most significant. This book chronicles the voyage of the Beagle and what it lead to. When twenty-two-year-old aspiring geologist Charles Darwin boarded HMS Beagle in 1831 with his microscopes and specimen bottles—invited by ship’s captain Robert FitzRoy who wanted a travel companion at least as much as a ship’s naturalist — he hardly thought he was embarking on what would become the most important and epoch-changing voyage in scientific history. Nonetheless, over the course of the five-year journey around the globe in often hard and hazardous conditions, Darwin would make observations and gather samples that would form the basis of his revolutionary, evolutionary theories about the origin of species and natural selection. Spending more than half his time on shore, he traveled thousands of miles by horse, mule, or foot, often suffering intensely and relying for protection, food, and hospitality on horsemen, ranchers, soldiers, and local officials. Unlike most world travelers who wrote their books and got on with their lives, Darwin thought deeply about his observations and, unhappily, concluded that they contradicted the traditional account of Creation, which almost everyone took for granted. Species varied from place to place, and differences grew when creatures better adapted to an environment thrived at the expense of those less adapted. He called this natural selection. Preston rightly points out that Darwin did not discover evolution. Thinkers throughout history speculated that life was ever changing, but no one explained how. Natural selection was the first testable explanation, and Darwin’s On the Origin of Species delivered the evidence. The book appeared at a critical historical moment, becoming an international sensation and bestseller.

The Wisdom of Birds by Tim Birkhead

The subtitle is "An Illustrated History of Ornithology". It has an interesting approach to approaching that subjext, looking at what the author argues is the most influential ornithologist of all time – John Ray. He was a late 17th century English naturalist who wrote some very influential books. Birkhead believes that Ray “was the turning point”, and that his ideas “launched the study of modern ornithology”. The most important thing he changed was going from studying birds in captivity to studying birds not in captivity to learn about their behavior--this seems so obvious, and it led to a burst of knowledge, but it is clearly easier to capture them than to find them in the wild and follow them! This book walks the reader through the range of topics that comprise modern ornithology, going through what used to be thought occurred and then what we know now. It also includes a good number of high-quality reproductions of vintage paintings and diagrams. Ranging in origin from the medieval period through the early 20th century, they depict birds and activities mentioned in the text. As someone who is just scratching the surface on the biology of birds, I learned a lot.

Galapagos: A Natural History by Henry Nicholls

This is not a must read if you are going to the Galapagos, but it is a good top ten of the books to read, and it does thoroughly cover what is on offer. In 1832, the 10-year-old Republic of Ecuador claimed sovereignty over the Galápagos and built a modest settlement, but what really put the islands on the map, at least retrospectively, was the five-week visit of Charles Darwin in 1835. As naturalist on the global survey ship HMS Beagle, Darwin noticed astonishing variations between closely related plant and animal species on islands separated by just a few miles of sea and this set his thinking on the path that led to the theory of natural selection, perhaps the most important single scientific idea anyone has ever had. Darwin was among the first Europeans to contemplate the non-human life native to the islands for what it was – rather than as something to exploit. And what an extraordinary upside-down world it was. The largest land animals are reptiles; the largest indigenous mammals are a dozen or so species of small shy creatures known as rice rats. A species of daisy has become a giant tree. Penguins swim in the tropical waters. With pink iguanas and blue-footed boobies there are many amazing things to see. This book introduces and celebrates these wonders and more in seven short chapters covering the geology, ocean life, seabirds, plants, invertebrates, land birds and reptiles of the archipelago. Three more explore the human impact and the hope that Nicholls and others have for the islands' future.

Floreana by Margaret Wittmer

This is an account written by a woman who was amongst the first Europeans to live on this island, starting in 1932. She and her husband and step son moved to what was then a mostly deserted island in the Galapagos as an approximation of a sanitorium that they could not afford. They islands had been a frequent stopping point when whaling was in it's hey day--the giant tortoises were invaluable to sailors--they could be stowed in the hull of a ship, where they would hibernate for up to a year, waiting to be eaten at any time, fresh meat that required nothing in the way of maintenance, full of protein, fat, and vitamins for sailors long at sea. But by the time the Witmer's arrived there were just two people there, and they did nothing to make the newcomers feel welcome. This account details their beginnings on Floreana, their successes, the occasional squabbles, their eventual successes, and a couple of mysterious deaths. I wouldn't recommend reading it unless you are planning a trip to the islands, and in that case it is well worth reading, quite short, not badly written, and full of things to think about when you yourself arrive there.

Galapagos: The Islands That Changed The World by Paul Stewart

I am going to the Galapagos! As such, I am reading all things (well, not exactly all things, but many things) that have been written over the years about the islands and the wildlife that exists there. While this is not a "must read", especially if you are interested in the science of it all, but it is a very good book to read if you want a short, not too scientific, but not a gloss over of the science of what was found there by Darwin, and why it mattered so much that he both found it and made sense of it. It is a photograph-rich volume, and if you want more than a fold out overview of the life in the water, on the land, and in the air, this is an easy way to give it all a once over, along with a brief description of the geology of the islands, and how that contributed to their uniqueness. It is definitely not scintillating reading, but it is also the best quick and straight forward overview that I have read so far.

Index, A History of by Dennis Duncan

a good index is and what indexes are grossly inadequate and I loved learning more about the history of the index. The author states that “A history of the index is really a story about time and knowledge and the relationship between the two.” Indexes took millennia to achieve their current overlooked and undervalued state. The book looks back to the Library of Alexandria in the third century B.C. To identify the hundreds of thousands of rolled-up scrolls, Egyptian librarians attached tags that not only identified the author and title but also itemized the contents. Not an index, but a start. It was the Bible that birthed the index. Of course. If you had to guess, you should have guessed the Bible. In the Middle Ages, preachers and theologians needed a quick way to locate certain passages, so, beginning in the 13th century, monks met that need by constructing prototypes of the index, organized either by phrases, keywords or themes. They were keyed to chapter and verse, and by the end of the century, page numbers came into use. Those locaters would allow non-Biblical books to be indexed, especially after the printing press was invented. The evolution of what an index should be, could be, and has become is a fun read, not dry at all, and the book takes us up to the modern day, where computers both simplify and complicate the job. I did not know that there are professional indexers, and now I want to pursue that in my later career.

The Vault, Dubuque, IA

On a recent trip to Wisconsin we had to charge our electric car in Dubuque on the way. As an aside, traveling long distances in an electric car in winter causes the battery to work overtime, and so best not to be in a hurry. I spent lots of time trying to figure out a lunch place in Dubuque, and it was very hard to come to a conclusion about what might be the best option. I am happy to say that we all very much enjoyed the food at this restaurant, housed in an old bank, with vestiges of the original tiled floors and an old vault. We had a variety of things. I had a very traditional Reuben on marbled rye, which is often not my favorite bread option, but it is the classic choice. This was excellent, and enough for the three of us to feel like we really had a good taste. It came with French Fries that were definitely superior, and I would reccommend this place on the strength of that alone. We shared a Buffalo Chicken Salad that was large, flavorful, the greens were spot on, lots of mix ins besides the chicken, and a good meal unto itself. We shared a cheese curds appetizer--we were on our way to Wisconsin, after all--and the soup of the day was French Onion, which was also traditionally prepared, and pretty good. All in all, this was a success for us and I would go back if in the neighborhood.

Beach Read by Emily Henry

I don't read much in the romance genre, even the modern version of it, which has done away with a lot of bodice ripping steamy sex scenes in favor of working women protagonists and their search for true love. I really enjoyed Book Lovers, and enjoyed Happy Place, so thought I would catch up on what else the author had written. This is my least favorite of the three but overall enjoyable as a light, fun summer read. January is in a rut. Her boyfriend broke up with her, she has writer’s block, and her father has died unexpectedly. He has left her behind a house by the lake in Michigan, but that is little comfort when she finds out that he was in a relationship with another woman despite being married to January’s mother. January is a writer who writes about true love and romance, but now her biggest inspiration (her parents) has turned out to be a big fat lie. January’s plan is to prepare the house for sale and hope that inspiration strikes to end her dry spell writing. The last thing she expected is that her college that’s how he sees the world--together they forge an understanding that the truth usually lies somewhere in between, and find their own version of happiness to boot.

The Burial (2023)

I think when all is said and done that this is a better storty than it is a movie. Here's the story--a southern gentleman who has a string of family owned funeral homes is in deep financial trouble because he made some bad investment choices, lost a lot of money, and while he avoided going to jail, the person he invested with did not, and he lost not just his money but also other peoples. He had thirteen kids and he is trying to save the business he inherited from his father so that he can pass something on to his kids. So his lawyer, who is unlikable in the movie and probably in real life, a privledged southern good old boy who wears his racism front and center, hooks him up with a flashy potential buyer of three of his nine funeral homes, so that he will again be liquid, not loose his ability to sell funeral insurance, which is where he makes most of his money, and all looks to be good except for one thing. The big corporate saviour doesn't sign the contract, and drags everything out so that the southern gentleman is in danger of loosing it all. He doesn't see it coming, but his son's friend, a young black freshly minted lawyer does and they decide to get a flashy attorney and take on corporate America. You see where this is going, and really this is not a spoiler because you can see it coming a mile away. It is a'90s inspirational courtroom drama pitched to extreme comedy, and it comes as simple and sweet as a cool summer breeze when flashy personal injury lawyer Willie E. Gary (Jamie Foxx) arrives in Mississippi to defend the mild-mannered Jeremiah O’Keefe (Tommy Lee Jones). These two heavy hitters portray both a battle and a friendship that warms the heart, even if there are no surprises.

Great Small Things by Jodi Picoult

This is not an author that I read regularly and her genre of fiction is not one that I read either. I have done some research on sibling bone marrow donors, and read My Sister's Keeper, which is a story about that experience, and I would say it jibes with what we found when we interviewed families who had a bone marrow recipient, a donor, and then non-donor siblings, to try to better address the psychological consequences of such an event. However, it did not make me a fan, and I read this only because my book group picked it, and I am sorry I missed the discussion, because while I did not love the book, I would love to hear what others thought of it. This is, by her own admission, the author's attempt to address institutional racism, and to help the reader identify their own place in that story. Ruth is a black nurse who is a high achiever and extremely competent and she is the center of the story, but there are a myriad of characters around her who cover the gamut--there is the open white supremacist, the well meaning defense attorney who comes to see she wasn't as race neutral as she would have liked to be, and the very racist police and criminal justice system that they support. The story is designed to evoke emotions, and I think it is a good book club choice, especially if the discussion includes people of color.

Himalayan Flavor, Idaho Falls, ID

Flying in and out of Idaho Falls has been fun--it is a little bit more of a drive to get to and from our place in Driggs, but the town is more to our liking than Jackson, and we have been gradually amassing places to eat that we enjoy, and this is at the top of the list. The restaurant's stated goal is to to bring to the valley authentic Indian and Nepalese cuisine. Nepalese native and owner Roshan Kumar arrived in the U.S. from his home country of Nepal in 2011 to study at Idaho State University and he stayed to share the intense and wonderful flavors of his home. The food is wonderful, the heat is up to you to choose the level, and it is always flavorful even when the spice level is high. In terms of what to order, don't miss the Samosa Chat and the Gobi 65. They are both delicious and a good way to start. Beyond that we are less reliable in what we order, and everything is very good. The naan is thinner than some we have had, and high flavor if you get something other than the plain. This is a place we return to when it is an option.

The Palace Papers by Tina Brown

I did not have high hopes for this book, even with the achievement of being on the New York Times 2022 Notable Books list--after all, the author is a well known, well respected New Yorker, and it is the home town paper. I was wrong about that, it turns out. The author's sparkling prose and eye for detail make this an entertaining book, as well as forcing the reader to see what in fact might and might not motivate the main players, and how fragile the whole thing is in the modern world. What is on offer here? A close up look at the state of the crown, and the summation is not flattering. Sadism, parsimony, profligacy, infantilism, racism with a healthy helping of classism, ruthlessness, rudeness, coldness, extreme entitlement, sexual misconduct, and, last, but not least, incredible stupidity. The motivations of those who are born to their roles and those that enter the fray of their own accord are meticulously examined in this admittedly lengthy tome.

Trip To Bountiful

Carrie Watt is the prototypical Southern woman. She begrudgingly lives with her busy, overprotective son, Ludie, and pretentious daughter-in-law, Jessie Mae. She needs them and they need her because neither of them can make ends meet without the other, but it is not a match made in heaven. She is no longer able to drive and forbidden to travel alone, but she wishes for freedom from the confines of the small cramped one bedroom house and begs her son to take her on a visit to her hometown of Bountiful. When he refuses, Mrs. Watts is undeterred and makes an escape to the local bus station, where she befriends Thelma, a young woman traveling home. When Ludie and Jessie Mae discover she is gone, they call in law enforcement to help, but Mrs. Watts is one step ahead of them and convinces the local sheriff to help her on her journey home to Bountiful. The underlying themes ring true in the 21st century, even though it was written in the last one--the idea of home as a place of safety and comfort runs strong in Mrs. Watts memory, but the reality is that the town is deserted and her house will soon collapse are the realities that she is confronted with when she finally gets her wish.

Flung Out Of Space by Grace Ellis and Hannah Templar

This is a pretty sparse graphic novel that is conveying pretty intense and emotional material about Patricia Highsmith, a gay woman who was born in 1921, long before it was cool or even acceptable to be a gay woman. She was an American novelist and short story writer widely known for her psychological thrillers, including her series of five novels featuring the character Tom Ripley. She wrote 22 novels and numerous short stories throughout her career spanning nearly five decades, and her work has led to more than two dozen film adaptations. Her writing derived influence from existentialist literature, and questioned notions of identity and popular morality. She was dubbed "the poet of apprehension" by novelist Graham Greene. At its simplest, Flung Out of Space is about Patricia Highsmith’s quest to escape the drudgery of writing comics and get her novels published, including Carol, considered the first lesbian romance with a happy ending. It’s also about her years-long attempt to try and expunge her desire for other women through therapy, which she worked a second job in order to afford. It is a critical, caring, funny, and heartbreaking story in which the hands of the artist and author are visible and essential to depicting Patricia Highsmith as a whole, complex person.

Andale Taqueria Y Mercado, Minneapolis, MN

I convinced my spouse (it wasn't hard) to take a trip to Minneapolis, just an overnight away, to have some food in the city and then go to southern Minnesota for a much anticipated baby shower, and then home, barely more than 24 hours on the road. It was early Ocotber when we went and the leaves were mid-peak in turning, so the drive was beautiful, and we very much enjoyed our early morning sojourn to this restaurant and market. We started with a chili relleno and some enchiladas, both of which were very good, and we were happy with the choice for breakfast--and they serve their whole menu all day, so you are not constrained by things with eggs. The market was spectacular--we got some meat at the butcher counter--which caters to Mexican cooks and has all the cuts you would need to make things like asada and pastor as well as some nice chorizo. They had fresh hot tortillas in a cooler and the bakery looked worthy. My favorite was the chili rellonos to go, which we packaged the salsa seperate from the rellenos, so we could air fry them back to crispness before eating them at home--my only regret is that we did not get sides of rice and beans to accompany them, but is was a very good stop indeed.

The Shadow Docket by Stephen Vladek

This is an excellent description about what to fear about the current Supreme Court and how they adjudicate cases. It is not just that they appear to be political, it is that they are no longer even saying why they are making many of their decisions. This is a well-researched indictment of how the supreme court has grown to rely on using procedural orders rather than rulings to make new law, escaping scrutiny while delivering major victories to the political right. Strictly speaking, the shadow docket is a vehicle for addressing issues that demand urgent attention, usually injunctions and orders to preserve the status quo. But it has morphed into a fraught topic. The court has adjudicated cases involving abortion, voting rights and Covid policy by means of the shadow docket. The docket also became the prime location for the elevation and reordering of religious rights, under the free exercise clause of the first amendment. All this at a time when confidence in the court is at a low. Only a quarter of Americans have confidence in the supreme court. As the country strives to navigate a post-Roe v Wade world, the right to abortion removed, regard for the right wing of the court is scarcer still. Justices Clarence Thomas, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett and Samuel Alito have negative ratings with the public. Kavanaugh and Thomas are underwater by double-digits. Kavanaugh and Thomas are perceived as misogynists at best and predators at worst . Thomas has been taking undisclosed gifts from a Republican mega-donor and married to an election-denier who trades on her spouse’s judgeship, which has triggered demands for renewed oversight. And either Gorsuch or Barrett is a Senate steal, further undermining confidence. This book gives further cause for concern, and the whole ordeal will hopefully continue to spur voting--particularly amongst women and younger voters.

Black, White, and The Grey by Mashama Bailey and John O. Morisano

Mashama Bailey and John O. Morisano share in detail what their ideas, intentions, and collaboration in the development of a restaurant in the Deep South. They use the language of food to tell their story of a Black woman and a working-class White man coming together to explore the African diaspora, the legacy of slavery, port cities, and the migrations that influence foodways and family culture. Their story shifts and expands the narrative of what American food is and can be, and tracks the emotional landscape of partnering with someone from a different background. So part of this is what goes into opening a restaurant and how to incorporate the partner's values, hopes, and dreams. Then part of it is how to worked out in real life. Once the partnership was formed, it was anything but easy sailing. Bailey was not as instrumental in early restaurant design sessions as she should have been; her perspective as a working chef with over 20 years of experience would have significantly enhanced Morisano’s concepts. Bailey abetted this lack of inclusion early on, as she found that growing into the role of a true partner required a strong voice and trust in her co-workers, qualities she was developing. This lack of leadership on her part led to misunderstandings about her level of commitment and several serious arguments. It would be easy to gloss over these disagreements and consider them merely the usual growing pains. By revealing them to readers, the authors give a little master class on how to lead, dismantle limiting beliefs, share responsibilities, and temper angry outbursts. Stepping into one’s power was essential.

Me Moth by Amber McBride

Unusually, this story is written in a lean and spare free verse. Moth, a black teen, has lost her parents and brother in a terrible car accident. She's moved from New York City to Virginia to live with her Aunt Jack, leaving not only her home and friends behind but also her dreams of becoming a famous ballerina. But she can still dream of her grandfather, who was a Hoodoo root worker and a conjurer. When he died, he left Moth a box of herbs, roots, and soil, and she continues to practice Hoodoo. Then there is Sani, a boy with long black hair tied in a knot, who is also new. He's been living in New Mexico with his Navajo father, a Medicine Man and healer, but has come to Virginia to live with his White mother and her new husband and family. He finds himself very much an outsider within the family and in the community. They are both other, outsiders who can't fit in, and who are struggling with loss. It is a story about grief, friendship, and the search for identity is rich, vibrant, haunting and unforgettable.

Chinese Chicken Salad

This should fall under the heading: Things To Do With Your Costco Rotisserie Chicken. Mainly what I was looking for was a dressing that would work for this, which I found on the Serious Eats website. It is a keeper. For the Chicken: 2 cups shredded cooked chicken Dressing: 1/3 cup unseasoned rice vinegar 1/4 cup soy sauce 3 1/2 tablespoons honey 1/4 cup sesame oil 1/3 cup vegetable oil 3 medium cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped (about 1 tablespoon) 1 1/2-inch square piece fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped Salad-->you can really use anything you want, these are more ideas than strict ingredients. 4 to 5 romaine lettuce hearts, chopped 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced 2 scallions, white and green parts, thinly sliced 1/2 cup grated carrots, from 2 carrots 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro 1/3 cup salted cashews or peanuts Make the dressing. Combine vinegar, soy sauce, honey, sesame oil, vegetable oil, garlic, and ginger. Blend in blender until homogenous.

Finding Freedom by Erin French

I started my spouse down the road of chef memoir's and as can happen with such a push, the timing was just right, and he has taken off like a house afire on this quest. En route to whatever his destination ends up being, he listened to this and thought I should too. The author's journey to having a destination restaurant was improbable at best. She starts off life as a girl roaming barefoot on a 25-acre farm in Freedom, Maine. Her father buys a diner that the family largely runs single-handedly, serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner, working 16 hour days to keep it afloat. As a teenager she falls in love with food while working the line at the same said diner. Her father is an abusive, often cruel, alcoholic who offers nothing in the way of nurturance other than a roof over her head. Her mother would have benefitted from some visits to Al-Anon, but in the absence of that, helps her daughter in the most non-confrontational of ways, and there are the usual stumbles along the way that happen when a child from a working poor family attempts to escape their origin story. So she doesn't escape--she has many stumbles along the way, including an unplanned pregnancy, dropping out of college, a marriage to a much older man who cannot stand her success, an addiction to pills and booze, and a divorce that was if anything more abusive than the marriage. Instead she stays, and she works hard, and she makes the most of her innate skills and those that she learns along the way, and she builds a homemade life for herself. So there you have it, a chef road not often taken.

Eat In/Go Out

As we head into winter, which could also be called the season of respiratory illnesses, I have been getting vaccinated about once every week or two, and reflecting (once again) on the changes that the pandemic brought about for me. The first is that while I was an avid vaccinator before the pandemic, I am a militant one now. I now get the flu shot because I don't want to die of a respiratory illness, but for decades I got it because I work in health care and I didn't want to kill someone else. We seem to have lost that community focus, so hand onto it when you find it, make your own community, and while it is unnecessary when someone who chooses not to vaccinate themselves or their family dies, it is not a tragedy because they made that choice--the tragedy is that they kill others. The other, far less consequential change is that I am now firmly in the Eat In camp. I started out there, mostly because I like to cook, my spouse likes to cook, and we are not billionaires and would prefer to spend many of our discretionary dollars on something other than mediocre food out. During the pandemic I realized that if I cannot eat the food in a restaurant I would rather make something at home than get take out--it just doean't hold up. I also learned to deep fry. The quality of tempura at home is so much better than what I have had out that I don't order it out any more. It is so easy to make at home, and so much better. My fear of frying is gone, thanks to COVID, and it made me one step closer to rarely leaving my house.

World Travel by Anthony Bourdain

Anthony Bourdain was working on this book, at least in the formative stages, when he killed himself in 2018. His long time assistant, Laurie Woolever, his long time assistant took the brainstorming sessions they had and the places they had been plus the people who knew him well, and put together this book posthumously, something that is maybe more or less what he would have wanted it to be. I would be interested in her story as well--she worked for Mario Batali before she spent a decade with Tony and so she has seen and heard a lot. I have made a couple of attempts to watch some of No Reservations and Parts Unknown, and it just doesn't quite click for me--even his writing is not 100% my cup of tea. That said, I love his approach to food, places to eat, things to savor, his values when it comes to the people who prepare food and work in the business (treat the kitchen staff well, value them, and without immigrants we wouldn't be able to eat out is how I would sum it up), and how to think about travel. I do not mind his abrasiveness, in fact I kind of dig it, but a little less wouldn't go amiss. He is really into bars, bar culture, and drinking in a way that does not resonate with me at all, and it does seep in to what he looks for when dining out, so while I like the places he goes, I am not always on board with where he goes when he gets there. Reading this book (the audiobook has long stretches that are read by his brother, who sounds eerily like him) I found out two important things. The first is that he agrees with me on the best cities--Montreal over Vancouver or Toronto, and Melbourne over Sydney--as well as worthy countries for food forward travel. The other is that there are places I have not been that I really need to get to! I liked this a lot, not all of it, and not everything about it, but if you are into either food or travel, this is worth a read.

Lobio With Onions Pomegranate

This is adapted from naoim Duguid's book Tate of Persia, which our cookbook group cooked from last month. Throughout the cookbook, I think it could use more context, and hacks that you could use in a western kitchen. In this recipe, using beans that become quite creamy when cooked or overcooked is a good tip--mine were not this, and the dish was good, but I think it could veer to greatness as a vegan side. The Georgian spice mix has corainder, fenugreek leaves, and marigold petals--or you can pick up a mix at Trader Joe's if those are not in your spice cupboard. 4 cups cooked beans plus 1 1/2 cups cooking water 2 bay leaves 1/4 c. vegetable oil 1 1/2 cups chopped onions 1 red pepper, chopped 6 cloves garlic minced 1 tablespoon dried chilis 2 Tbs. Georgian Spice Mix 2 Tbs. tomato paste 2 Tbs. pomeranate molasses 1/4 cup red wine salt to taste top with chopped herbs Cook the beans and water with the bay leaves--or add bay leaves when rehydrating the beans to start with. Add oil, onions to a saute pan and cook until the onions are sweated--add the garlic and cook until the onions are translucent. Then add the chilis, Georgian spice, and tomato paste and stir. Add the beans and as much of the liquid as you would like to the pan, plus the pomegranate molassess and the wine and cook 5-10 minues or so.

Democracy's Data by Dan Bouk

This is yet another look at the systemic racism in the United States--the book focuses on the 1940 census for some in-depth reporting but has a sub-text of the whole process of the census. It this is a powerful bit of protest against centuries of Black people being misidentified, undercounted and downright erased from the public record. The author is a historian who has also studied computational mathematics, and he believes passionately in the ideals of the census, but reveals in abundant detail how badly it has failed society. Native Americans were long excluded and ethnic classification abetted among other horrors the roundup of Japanese Americans to internment camps and the deportation of Mexican immigrants. In theory, counting the population seems so basic, so neutral: a math problem that requires meticulous attention to detail. But the numerical is political, with representation and resources at stake, so of course it has been manipulated. Bouk shows how, from its beginnings, the census has been subject to partisan interests, which continues up to and including the last census. I am reminded of the quote that democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the rest. It is a messy business when you look at it closely and it is miraculous that it works at all.

The Embroidered Pig

I have always been a crafty person. I am not good at all crafts—I can barely knit, and while I have tried crochet on more than one occasion, it is a skill that eludes me. Embroidery is something else altogether. I have embroidered since I was in grammar school and across my lifetime it has been a constant. So when my son asked me about custom embroidering aprons for the groomsmen at his wedding, my first thought was not to send them out but rather to get a machine that does embroidery and take a stab at it myself. The bottom line is that it went fine—my spouse got some great denim aprons at an auction, enough extras to be able to practice on and to have enough to give people beyond those identified one if it worked out. I only had to rip out one before I got the hang of it. The task of taking on a new technological skill without instruction was daunting, but in the end, I was happy I did it and happy with how it turned out. Now to figure out the next project!

Silver Nitrate by Sylvia Moreno Garcia

I have really enjoyed reading this author's work over the past year, and while I enjoyed this, I enjoyed it less than the others that I have read. She leans heavily on Mexican culture, the occult, horror, all wrapped up with a touch of romance, and that is true in this book as well. The setting is Mexico City, 1993. Two lifelong friends in their late thirties, find themselves in the midst of a plot they don't necessarily want any part of. Montserrat is a gifted sound engineer who is stubborn, introverted, abrasive, and a bit of a misanthrope. . Tristán is a former soap opera star and bad boy now relegated mostly to voiceover work after some press that he might be bisexual sank his career, haunted by the death of his starlet girlfriend ten years prior in a car accident that left him scarred both psychologically and physically. When Tristán moves into a new apartment after yet another messy breakup, he discovers he’s now neighbors with cult horror director Abel Urueta, who invites him to dinner and he brings Montserrat along, as she is a big fan. Abel has an ulterior motive it turns out--and here is where it gets a bit weird. He saved a single reel of the film, shot on silver nitrate film and stored in his freezer (much to Montserrat’s alarm, as silver nitrate film is highly flammable and prone to spontaneous combustion). He asks them to help him complete the spell by recording fresh dialogue for the key scene and syncing it to the film. Suffice it to say it does not go as planned, and not everyone makes it. I have to say that I am not a fan of horror, and this did not change my mind.