Being There in Altoona

As the support person for my RAGBRAI riding team, Iowa Borealis, my usual morning routine icnluded riding to the next overnight town, scoping out a campsite that provided not just 2-vehicle parking but also a modicum of shade, and then assessing the church supper that would best meet our team;s needs that evening. After all this was accomplished, I would settle in for a long day in the 90+ humid heat--which was not condusive to power reading...or much else. Altoona was a nice break in that action, because we had scored a hotel room for the night, so I could skip all my usual routine and instead scope out a coffee shop to pass some of the early morning hours in a way that might occur outside the context of RAGBRAI.

The map I got from the hotel with restaurants on it was not promising, and the staff recommended the Village Inn--no thank you. Yelp was no more help--I would have had to go to Des Moines to find something and I was not interested in braving the city to get a nice independent coffee shop atmosphere. But as meandered from the hotel towards the bike route, I stopped by a great looking place--'Being There'. They were hosting a RAGBRAI group on the green grass behind their shop and they were busy setting up concession stands to accommodate the expected crowds. I got a chai and a table by the window and settled in for a good read while I sipped. The only thing going in Being There besides a genuine excitement for the incoming bicyclists was a Bible study group made up of young women, who punctuated their thoughts on the day's readings with 'like this is what Jesus would want' and such. No sense that we had left small town Iowa behind, despite the proximity to Des Moines. And we were not disappointed at the evening's church supper--we had 10 pieces of pie between the eight of us and stopped only because of the feeling we might burst.

Cairo Time (2009)

This is an atmospheric movie about two people who quietly fall for each other. It takes place in Cairo, which creates it's own sort of atmosphere, and it takes on stereotypes about the Middle East--some of them are validated and others are not. The director, Ruba Nadda, is a Canadian of Syrian ancestry, and she spins a tale of two people who unexpected, almost accidentally, fall in love.
There is nothing dramatic about the affair--in fact the leisurely pace of the movie may seem sluggish to some. The fact that in the end we are left with something a little disappointing is another catch that might leave some dissatisfied. The acting will not be one of the things the viewer will fault. Patricia Clarkson is one of my favorite actresses and she does not fail to deliver here, and Alexander Siddig is sufficiently attractive in a quiet way to be a believable unintentional seducer. The air of sadness that is draped over the movie may be oppressive for some, but I found it to be soothing, and in the end, memorable.

My New American Life by Francine Prose

This book is The American Dream--it could go either way. Are immigrants inching towards financial and political independence? Or are they tumbling down a tunnel towards defeat and ruin? Will they be respected, loathed, shunned, or deported? All of this is explored with a charming tone in this quietly satirical book. The story is not a gruesome one--au contraire, it couldn't have gone better if you had planned it. Only 'best case scenario' isn't really all that great when you scratch the surface even a little bit.
Lulu is from Albania, and while she has arrived illegally, her second employer commissions his lawyer best friend to help her get a green card--which could be a dream come true, only it slowly becomes clear to Lulu that these people want her to be a particular kind of immigrant--one with a brutal and yet picturesque past--and when she gives it to them, they make her the center of attention. When they find out that she has been spinning tales that are more fiction than fact, they shun her. It is not an easy path to toe. the book is set in George W. Bush's America, post 9/11 when there were peak levels of suspicion for anything that wasn't entirely native. Her employer, his friends, her gangster Albanian friends, all of the characters play a role in showing the reader just how tough things are for Lulu, who has her own faults as well (who doesn't?). Recommended.

Big Green Egg

We have officially entered the clay ceramic grill cult. The kamado style of cooking is century's old, but it wasn't until a recent New York Times article on the Big Green Egg came out that I knew anything about it, but within a week, we had one. The thrilling thing about this grill is the high temperatures it reaches, and the retention of that temperature over long periods of time. What do I think so far?
I am not much of a griller, I don't even cook much meat at all, but I admit that this grill has been impressive to date. My husband (who is a big griller) inaugurated the grill with a stuffed pork tenderloin. The meat took on a wonderful smoky flavor and was cooked evenly throughout. The second grilling was chicken--thighs, drumsticks, and a whole chicken, all with seasoning applied the night before. The chicken was flavorful throughout, and very moist, so another success--but best of all was a pork shoulder that he put on the grill after the chicken had been cooked to smoke/cook it overnight. The temperature of the grill in the morning was 250 degrees and the pork shoulder looked fantastic--we had pulled pork sandwitched that night for dinner, which were phenomenal. I would rate this highly. I did buy the Big Green Egg cookbok, and will be reviewing that soon as well.

Emily, Alone by Stewart O'Nan

I have not read the first book in which Emily Maxwell is featured, 'Wish You Were Here', but this is a stand alone novel. The thing I love about this book is how quietly it creesp towards making it's point. Emily lives alone. No husband. No roommates. She has two children, who she has little contact with, either physically or emotionally it seems--they are not a source of social companionship for her, at least. She has a fiend with a car, and when that friend sudedenly becomes unavailable, something in Emily changes. It is like her eyes are now fully open. She has almost no freedom. So what does she do? She buys a car. Why not? The book goes on to show us in very unassuming ways why Emily needs this car (and what it represents for her) and her children play the role of the nay-sayers--why does she need to get out? Why is the car so important? It is like they think she should be buried long before her expiration date.
With any luck, we will all struggle with how to make the most of the end of our lives--'Emily, Alone' causes one to pause and reassess the vision with the realities, and gives a nudge to start making plans not to be in this position.

Grilled Corn

Controversy surrounds the best way to grill corn. At the heart of the debate is this: Does corn taste better grilled with the husk or without? Advocates of the former argue that the husk protects the delicate kernels from the harsh heat. Proponents of the huskless school (of which Steve Raichlen, the BBQ king and author of the fantastic cookbook 'Planet BBQ', is a member) point out that corn steams rather than grills in the husk and that the husk blocks out that wonderful live-fire flavor. If you follow his huskless technique, I am ready to bet it will make you a convert--if you are not already.
6 ears Sweet Corn in their husks
6 tablespoons Butter (3/4 stick), at room temperature
2 tablespoons cilantro, minced
1 clove Garlic, minced
Coarse Salt and Black Pepper
Directions:
Set up the grill for direct grilling and preheat to high.

Fashion the husk of each ear of corn into a handle, tying back the husks with the husk itself or withbutchers string, and remove the corn silk.
Place the butter, pcilantro, and garlic in a mixing bowl and whisk or beat until smooth and creamy.
When ready to cook, lightly brush each ear of corn with a little of the garlic-parsley butter and arrange on the hot grate, positioning the ears in such a way that the husks are away from the fire. Grill the corn until the kernels are handsomely browned all over, 8 to 12 minutes in all, turning as needed, brushing with the remaining butter, and seasoning generously with salt and pepper. Remove the corn from the grill and serve at once.
Variations: Dill, basil, parsley, or tarragon all make tasty alternatives to the cilantro in the butter. Grilled corn kernels make a delectable addition to salsas and salads. Lay the ears on their side and cut the kernels off the cob with broad lengthwise strokes of a knife.

Charlie Chan by Yunte Huang

This is subtitled 'The Untold Story of the Honorable Detective' but it is really something quite different from that. Huang explores Charlie Chan from a number of different angles, all the while circling th topic of Asians in America and how Chan might be seen to represent that experience at one point in time.
The book opens with a brief of biography of the man who Biggers loosely based his fictional detective on, Chang Apana. Apana is a great example of the early Asian experience in America--he was the son of a coolie in Hawaii, working for a family that took an interest in their employees (not enough to educate them, or even to teach them to read, but a cut above the average plantation owner of the time) and he was able to get a job with the Hawaian police. He had none of the physical attributes of Chan, but his ability to be present but not seen was one that Apana was well known for--this section of hte book was the best as far as I am concerned.
Huang goes on to explore the fictional character, Charlie Chan as he was created by Earl Biggers, and then later re-created in movies. He tries to move beyond the racial profiling and into the deeper meaning of Chan--what he did and did not do for the image of Asian Americans (even juxatposing his own experience in America as a counterpoint to what might be the easiest critique of Charlie Chan). I found this aspect of the book less entertaining, but very thought provoking, and a unique approach to the issues of race, culture, assimilation, social standing, and the complex melting pot that America is and has been.

RAGBRAI XXXIX

This is it. We are off on a trip across Iowa. My brother and his wife founded the team 'Iowa Borealis' (they are Alaskan and we are Iowan, so a nod to both of us) and organized the whole effort. Which is a good one and it is about time that we participate in this annual event.
I have lived in Iowa for over 20 years, but I have not spent much time in small Iowa towns. While the number of riders often exceeds the size of the town--so we won't be so much getting the nature of the town as drowning it--the ability to watch the state roll by in small snippets is something that I am looking forward to.
The only time that I have spent in smaller towns in Iowa was when my youngest son was getting chemptherapy in 2001. As the year progressed, we tried to go away a few weekends during the year in order to keep some of our sanity. Because he had almost no white blood cells and could be hospitalized at the drop of a hat, we didn't want to be too far away, so we would pick places that were within an hour or two of Iowa City, so we could get back quickly if we needed to--it was a lot of fun to explore the Main St. in little towns, see what artisans had started to occupy the 19th century buildings that make up most of Iowa downtown neighborhoods, and to eat in small town restaurants. This time we will not be staying in comfortable bed and breakfasts--au contariare, we will be sleeping in the 9stiffling) Iowa air, likely eating from various food vendors, and trying to ignore the fact that despite all, we are not showering with any kind of regularity. Ok, it may not sound like much, but I think it will be a fun family vacation.

Heat Index

The heat index--a reflection of what the weather feels like--is a temperature that is a mixture of actual temperature, mixed with what the humidity is to arrive at a more accurate number. The formula is as follows:
Here is a formula for approximating the heat index in degrees Fahrenheit, to within ±1.3 °F. It is useful only when the temperature is at least 80 °F and the relative humidity is at least 40%.
HI = c_1 + c_2 T + c_3 R + c_4 T R + c_5 T^2 + c_6 R^2 + c_7 T^2R + c_8 T R^2 + c_9 T^2 R^2
where
HI = heat index (in degrees Fahrenheit)
T = ambient dry-bulb temperature (in degrees Fahrenheit)
R = relative humidity (in percent)
c_1 = -42.379
c_2 = 2.04901523
c_3 = 10.14333127
c_4 = -0.22475541
c_5 = -6.83783 x 10^{-3}
c_6 = -5.481717 x 10^{-2}
c_7 = 1.22874 x 10^{-3}
c_8 = 8.5282 x 10^{-4}
c_9 = -1.99 x 10^{-6}
You can see why the table fell in popular use...
After one day where the outside temperature was 105 and the humidity was 50%, I began to really get what this heat index is all about. It was impossible to walk outside in any sort of sunlight by mid-morning without sweating profusely, even for a few minutes.
I did not remember the heat index as a factor in my childhood--which is a true memory, because it was described in 1978 (which falls clearly outside of what might be realistically classified as 'childhood' for me)--but I also grew up in Pasadena, where it might reach 105 on occasion but it was a very dry heat, feeling pretty much like 105 when it occurred. Now that I have logged 20+ years in the Midwest, I have an entirely different view of what is tolerable, temperature-wise, and the recent weather has been well outside what I find acceptable.

State of Wonder by Anne Patchett

In the interest of full disclosure, I think Ann Patchett is phenomenal. 'The Magician's Assistant' is one of my all time favorite books. 'Run' is one of the best narratives on the paradox of urban landscapes, where extreme poverty and deprivation can exist within blocks of unfathomable wealth. The thing I love about Patchett beyond her skill as a story teller is that there is a second and a third layer to her stories, which keep emerging in your thoughts, bubbling up long after you have closed the book, and 'State of Wonder' is no exception. I am a huge fan. So read on with this in mind.
The book focuses on the person who is a change agent, but not the biggest character. Dr. Marina Singh is a woman with a skeleton or two in her closet, but who is happily working in a lab in Minnesota when her supervisor enlists her aid in finding the elusive Dr. Swenson, who is working with indigenous people in the heart of the Amazon on a potential new drug. He has sent a colleague of hers, Anders, ahead of her, and reports are that he has died. Anders widow encourages Marina to go there and figure out what the whole story is.
And so she goes. She is not a jungle person, and even the journey is arduous and wonderous. It is almost like being dropped into a science fiction story, the atmosphere is so foreign, and Dr. Swenson is so brutally matter-of-fact that Marina is thrown even further off her game. But Dr. Singh has hidden sources of strength, and she is able to stand up for herself, as well as admit to things that need improvment, and in the end she is also very brave. And she realizes that underneath Dr. Swenson's appearance of telling the no-holds-barred truth, she is hiding quite a lot--that it is not the truth she tells but rather the way she would like things to be viewed.
The subtext of the story is one about values--how do we balance the discovery of new medical agents against respect for indigenous people and habitats? We do not have a moral paradigm for this internationally, of course, but the book plumbs some of the readers thoughts, presenting a morally ambiguous situation to make the weighing of the evidence more interesting and challenging. Outstanding piece of fiction.