bullfighting: say goodbye.

So we all know that an act of cowardice when we see it, yah? We also seem to know heroes too? Well, I would say we do not, that my hero is your coward and vice versa. heroes and cowards are different for each of us. Acts that would make me fill up with pride, would make another person angry and hurt. why is this, why is it that your hero can be my coward?
I was thinking about it today and realised that it is because the lines between heroic and cowardice are somewhat hard to trace. A hero known throughout history as such may suddenly turn into a coward if someone whom the modern day population deems a hero, calls him so.
I thought of the following situation, one deep in tradition and controversy...all things should be this passionate.

I grew up in Spain. I remember walking around in the middle of super-hot days and seeing through the dark windows older men who would drink cheap wine or warm beer in a bar and watch bullfighting. To these men it was strength that they saw. They saw a fighter conquring a beautiful beast. These fights had gone on for years and many of the older men remember when entertainment such as this got them through Spain's darkest days of dictatorship and civil war. But, for these wonderful old men, I am sorry to say that bullfighting, much set up as in the times of gladiators in ancient Rome, has become very outdated in the last decades. There are many people who see it as distasteful, and cowardly to fight and jab at an animal who is stuck in a ring and does not have the ability to save itself. The youth of Spain has seen enough of this ritual of heroes and their pray. They see the beast for what it is, and to them that beast is the bullfighter.

It is hard to say when things changed, I believe it is a current theme in which the underdog is devoutly routed for, and anyone in power is tyrannical and wrong. There are many men who were heroes and are now not heroes anymore, I understand why in some cases, in others it has gone to extreme in the opposite direction. The balance must be achieved. Heroes must be named, and we need to stop calling our heroes beasts. We need to see them in the context of history, people such as the pilgrims, native Americans, slaves, Columbus, the white man, Christians, governments, leaders, churches, religions, nations...we need to see where they are now, what they have come from and know that if we had lived in those days, most likely we would have believed that bullfighting was beautiful as well.

bullring, Barcelona Spain.

blackberry peanut butter crisp

Blackberry Peanut Butter Crisp
(alteration from p. 270 Apple Crisp in
More with Less cookbook)
375 F
35 min.

combine:
2 c. blackberries
1 T. Flour
1/4 c. sugar (this seemed too sweet to me!)
1 t. cinnamon
1/8 t. salt
1 T. water
mix separately:
crisp part (topping):
1/2 c. rolled oats
1/4 c. peanut butter
1/4 t. salt
1/4 brown sugar
2 t. butter/margarine

Put berry mixture in baking dish/ pie pan spoon topping on top of mixture.
Bake 35 min.

yum yum!! eat warm under vanilla ice cream! yah.

heckled on a friday double date

Brad and I went out on a double date with our Lebanon buddies Becky and Jonah to Salem's fine India Palace, where we tasted and enjoyed the super insanely magnificent flavours from far-away lands. Oh, was that amazing! If you like foreign cuisine, I absolutely promise you have not enjoyed such a wonderful menu.

After we sipped the last of the "miracle chai" (jonah says it is the real stuff, not like Oregon chai..i still vote for Oregon chai) and ate our anise seeds (or spit them).We jumped in the "langmobile" and ended up right in front of the Conditerei, the chocolate was oh so chocolaty...wonderful. After a little silliness and coffee, we went to Albany's own Wyatt's for well, let's just say I had water and so did Becky. And here our story begins, or ends or gets interesting...you choose:

We were sitting at a table, hanging out, talking when I got up to go to the bathroom. When I came back out and walked back to my table I noticed the other three members of my party were a tad agitated, but since they can be this way over the silliest of things I figured it wasn't nothin'. I asked Becky, and she said: "well, that guy at the bar did a double take as you walked by, then he waited for you to leave and yelled: Dreadlocks! Dreadlocks! That is WRONG, and I MEAN WRONG!" " Yes, I had been heckled and I hadn't even been there. This man was about twenty or so feet away from our table, so in truth the whole Wyatt's Pub had heard what he had yelled.

The members (male members) of my party were then talking about honour and defending it and such...uh I mostly wanted to just go talk to the man and figure out how he could be such a coward to not even want to do it when I the less-than-100-pound-female was in the room. That is what bugged me, well I think it did hurt my feelings too, but the cowardice of the deed was the big sting.

While I tried to get the nerve up to go speak with this man, Brad got up and walked over and innocently asked the man: " do you have something to say about my hair?" at this point the man did not even know what Brad was talking about, so Brad pointed to me and explained that I was his wife. When the man still seemed confused (or was it an act?) his female acquaintance responded: "hey, man...freedom of speech!".
Well, ain't that a beaut. This is what I found on Wikipedia:

Freedom of speech is the concept of being able to speak freely without censorship. The synonymous term freedom of expression is sometimes preferred, since the right is not confined to verbal speech but is understood to protect any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used.

Therefore she was right. She did have freedom of speech, also the cowardly, forgetful man had his freedom of speech (or yell) as well. I knew I had freedom of speech and in those ten minutes until we left I thought of many things I could cleverly say, many things both nice and not nice...but I was protected, right? I have freedom of speech, but do I? I don't believe I am free to mock, insult, belittle, humiliate, or in any way put down another person for the way the dress, eat, sleep, pee, or wear their hair. I did take this personally, that he would use his freedom to heckle me...but I need to not. I just need to understand that freedoms come with responsibilities, some can carry those well...others well, let's just say they make fools of themselves without anything being said about them. I'm glad we left it just the way it was, no more fools needed to be made.

if you own the right ingredients...

...then cooking is most certainly fun. I love exploring what I can make quick that will still taste like it wasn't made super quick... that may be my goal. I also really enjoy all types of cooking, mostly middle-eastern and Asian and ...well things without meat. Yes, it is true...I definitely would rather save a cow and eat tofu, beans or anything besides meat.
Here is what I have been doing lately:
Oatmeal cookies! (and I don't like oatmeal cookies...this is an excellent recipe):


















Oatmeal Cookies with a Purpose:
Makes 5-6 Dozen
325 Degrees F
10-15 min.

1 c margarine or shortening
1 c. brown sugar
2 c. rolled oats
1 c. dry milk solids (can be omitted but adds a great protein source for those needing it)
1/2 c. water
2.5 c. flour
3 t. baking powder
1 t. salt

I also added: cinnamon, cocoa and vanilla for extra fun...but do what you please.

Preheat oven to 325 F . plop dough on cookie sheet with ice cream scoop ( i have jut found how well this works!) bake for 10- 15 min.

These were amazing( if you have kids, or a cookie eater spouse/roommate I would definitely double the recipe!)...the actual recipe can be found in "More with Less" cookbook by Doris Jansen Longacre (p. 288).

more yummy recipes to follow. promise.

Pretty Paper Book Club

All are welcome to join our book club it is called pretty paper. We have started with March by Geraldine Brooks, next month we start Watership Down: A Novel by Richard Adams. After that we still haven't decided what to read, so if you want to help us and be a part of the group, COME ON DOWN! There is also a page, book bums for all those who just LOVE books. You can be a part of one and not the other...whatever is fine.

PS. I am glad to finally reclaim my blog after the book club confusion is over. I did delete all the book club entries, sorry guys...it was just too confusing since this is not the book club blog itself. Head on over to our book club blogs for info on the books.

GIVE ME PRESENTS...i love christmas.

What do you guys think of this new trend of giving gifts for Christmas that are not an actual gift for that person, but more in honor of that person for someone millions of miles away who is in big-time need of food, shelter and education. Maybe tons of you already do things like this, but it kind of just occurred to me. Check out this website Oxfam America .There is also, an intelligent giving blog in which you are given Charity profiles so that you know (buy their studies) which ones are worth your pennies. What do you think of things like this?
I guess for me as my kids get older I want them to realize truly how important it is to give to those who do not have. I just went out with Brad's mom and she bought gifts to fill up two boxes (one for each of her grandchildren) at the store for Operation Christmas Child who send the boxes of gifts and necessities all around the world. We took the boys and it was fun, although they are not old enough to get it yet.

I am all for Christmas traditions, but I guess the ones that are most amazing and true are those which cause you to give to those who really do not have. Anyone who is reading this is blessed, we have food, shelter, communication, education, freedom, friends and family who love us but some have none of that. I don't mean to dampen the idea of gift-giving to our family and friends which is also truly giving...but what about giving to those who really need?

newest video....Greg and Mary

hey, just came across this on you tube, it has some not seen footage. Check it out...pretty amazing.

cousins greg and mary

I wanted to give a super-short update on Brad's cousins Mary and her hubby Greg. They brought one of their friends who is an archaeologist to the location where their house was and he brought screens and the such, I guess they sifted through and were able to find her wedding ring and a family heirloom locket which they were very excited to see. This is truly incredible...it's like finding a needle in a haystack, no?
There was a story on them in the local newspaper which you can read here .

today is NOT halloween!

just so you know today is not Halloween...it is my mother-in-law's birthday! she is coming over for dinner along with my parents, and obviously the kids and Brad and I will be here too. I have spent all day making food (of course in between scolding and cleaning poop off the floor) I made two different kinds of lasagna, homemade bread, a pie and a cake...it is some sort of insanity I must have reached. I am being an overachiever today, and I usually am not this way. Someone smack me. I guess it is also because the feeling of fall has finally set in. It is pretty chilly outside now, and the leaves are changing and because I do not use my oven in the summer (no ac....very hot!) because I don't desire to feel what hell could be like...that is why I am in full swing baking mode! It is also because this year for the first time in a while my kids are old enough to play by themselves for hours at a time while I can make things. Jackson is old enough to pour spices and some easier/lighter items as well. He loves to help, and I love to let him help. I guess I feel fall in my bones and am excited about where we are at. I love doing grown up stuff. I love my kids, but I do not want my entire image and life caught up completely in who they are...because as we all know one day they will get married, get jobs, have kids, or move to Alaska to fish...and I will still need to be content with who I am.
okay, now that was a tangent...anyway today is NOT Halloween! it is my mother-in-law's birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUSAN!!!!

dude! where is my house?

Probably all of you have heard about the fires in CA lately. Brad's cousins live in Santa Clarita (Greg and Mary Smith) and just now are picking through the rubble from what was their home. Mary's sister, Brenda, who lives in Salem Oregon started this site for them called: dude! where is my house?
There is a three part video of them going back to their house and picking through the ashes to find glimpses of what they used to have. I will post the complication of the videos they have below which is about 3 minutes long. If you go to dude! where is my house? site you can see the extended versions, which are each about 8 min. long but are definitely worth it.
It is so amazing how our strength comes out when we are outwardly weak, when things go wrong and when we are challenged. I was incredibly blessed watching the heart that Greg and Mary show here in this clip and you can see it even better in the longer ones...they know where their identity is. Please pray for them, no matter how strong you are this would never be easy.

Greg and Mary- Santa Clarita Fire- (3 min. version):