salty and sweet

Godiva chocolate bacon . . . really disgusting? Or insanely delicious?

Talk amongst yourselves.

Things to do in 2010

I dislike the term "resolution" because it invokes a sense of dreadful pressure, that I have "resolved" myself to do something, to carry out some new task or habit, which if I don't live up to it, I will feel defeated, guilty, and discouraged. True, we should feel sorrow when we disregard our word, break promises, and fall through on commitments, but this western tradition of New Year's resolutions seems to bring more negative emotions than necessary. To avoid unnecessary shame and defeat, this is not a list of resolutions. I am not resolving to doing any of these things in the year 2010. Instead, this is a list of things that I would like to do in the coming year. Hopefully in 2011 I will look back at this post and rejoice that I did most of these things. Also, these are just a list of activities I'd like to do, not any goals about my character or inner person. For more on that, please refer to my previous post, which relates to how I would like to be a better lover in the coming year.

• Be more active - take yoga classes, ride my bike more, and swing dance again.
• Grow an herb garden that stays alive.
• Start an investment fund.
• Propose my dissertation.
• Get a new job.
• Find a new roommate. (One of mine is graduating, I love both my roommates!)
• Clean the catbox more often.
• Have less boy drama. (I probably say that every year, which is why these are just things to do, not resolutions)
• Bake bread every now and then.
• Apply for internship OR decide what to do and where to live in 2011.
• Buy a used roadbike and ride a marathon/race on it.
• Read more non-fiction, non-academic books than I did in 2009.
• Complete the Celebration of Discipline by Foster with my church small group, and start to practice more of those disciplines. (I'm sure there some fodder for some good Lenten practices in there)
• Take a daily photo. (check out my facebook account for the link to my flickr account, or comment and I'll email you the link)

Yup, those sound pretty good for now.

expectancy

She called to tell me that she was about 20 minutes away. My dear friend, whom I hadn't seen in nearly four months, was now only 20 minutes away from my door, my home, my arms. My parents and I set the table and filled the glasses with ice. I munched on some okra. By the time the dinner preparations were done, I checked my cell phone and saw that about 10 minutes had passed since she had called. She was 10 minutes away. I grabbed a few more pieces of okra. My excitement grew, as I knew that in just a few more minutes, she would arrive. I wished I could snap my fingers and let those minutes turn into seconds, so that she could be here - NOW! I didn't want to wait any longer, I just wanted her here. My longing for her intensified, as she was so close to my home. I recognized this feeling as the feeling of expectancy, and as the minutes passed, the feeling intensified. Any minute now, that doorbell would ring. I paced a little, trying to find something else to do in the kitchen. I looked at my cell phone again. Ate some more okra. I raced to the door when I thought I heard a car door slam, but no one was visible outside.

I finally gave up my pacing, grabbed a few more okra pieces, and headed back upstairs to my computer. Within minutes, the doorbell rang, and I heard my stepdad call out, "Someone's here!" I raced downstairs to find that my mom had just opened the door, and my sweet angle of a friend had just entered my home! I ran forward, in between her and my mom, and grabbed her for a hug. As I held her tight, I heard my mom laughingly say, "Ok, you can have the first hug!" That was indeed my intention, and maybe it was slightly possessive, but I was so excited to hug her, to be with her again, that I didn't want anyone else to hug her first.

As I waited for her to arrive and recognized this feeling of expectancy, I wondered if I could compare this experience to Advent, to waiting for the Messiah, to waiting for the coming of the kingdom and the time when Christ will reign and all will be set right. Could it be, that in these moments of waiting for a friend, there was a pale, earthly reminder of something holy and sacred?

Oh, and that okra was half gone by the time she arrived :/

Disturbing thoughts sometimes come to me while cooking

What if you mistook roach spray for no stick cooking spray?

The White Devil, Part Deux

I've really been investigating this the past few days - what cultures eat deviled eggs? White? Latino? Black? Asian-American? Southern? Northern?

I've started asking around, and here are the participants of my sample thus far, and their response to the question, "Have you had deviled eggs?" or "Do Latinos eat deviled eggs?"

• Mexican-American Young Adult Female from Florida, "Yea, they're holiday food."
• Black Young Adult Female from New Work, "Yes, definitely."
• Latino Middle-Aged Male, "No, Latinos don't eat deviled eggs."
• Girl with Latino dad and White mom, "I eat deviled eggs whenever I want to!"
• Asian-American Young Adult Female, "Yes, definitely, doesn't everyone? . . . What, Edgar and Bea are actually kinda white - how have they not tried deviled eggs? They're like standard party food."
• Every single white person I've asked, "Yes, of course!"

Not a great sample, but so far, 3 out of 4 Latinos don't eat deviled eggs. I need to find more black people to ask. Cara, get on that for me, and I'll edit this post. So far, I haven't found any geographic distinctions. I think that people from up north eat them too, unless they're Latino.

Also, last night at my church small group we were making a potluck dinner. The wife of the leadership team was making a taco salad, "or the white version of it," she qualified. When she started pouring Catalina dressing on the salad, several of my small group members had never heard of the dressing. I told her, "I use Catalina dressing whenever I eat Mexican food too!" Touching my shoulder she explained, "I think it's because you're white." Everyone laughed, and said stuff like, "Yeah, in case you didn't notice, you're white!" :: shakes head :: Silly white kids.

The White Devil

As I've mentioned almost a year ago, white culture is so pervasive that it's almost invisible. It really wasn't until this blog was created that white people as a whole began recognizing the unique facets of white culture. I definitely take my white culture for granted, and I assume that the foods that I eat are "American" foods, not "white American foods." Well friends, that assumption is sometimes proved wrong. Last fall, my cohort and I used to have many potlucks, and onetime, someone white made meatloaf, and it was the first time that two of my Latino classmates had ever tried meatloaf! I really couldn't believe this, but it was great fun giving them a cultural experience :)

This evening, I had another opportunity to share my white culture with another couple of my latino classmates when I offered them deviled eggs. Here follows a verbatim transcript of our conversation:

Me: Bea, do you want a deviled egg?
Bea: No thanks.
Me: Edgar, do you want a deviled egg?
Edgar: I don't know, what is it?
Me: Deviled eggs? You've never had deviled eggs?
Bea: I haven't either. What's in them?
Me: Really? You guys have never had them? Maybe it's a cultural thing.
Edgar: Probably a white person thing.
Me: Well, they're hard boiled eggs, and you mix the yolks with mayonnaise and mustard.
Bea: Sure, I'll try one. (passed her an egg)
Edgar: Ok, I'll try one too. (passed him an egg)
Bea: These are really good! Do they take a long time to make?
Me: Not really, once the water is boiled, you boil them for 10-15 minutes, then you scoop out the yolks, mix it mostly with mayonnaise and a little bit of mustard, and you can add onion and other things if you want. These have pepper sprinkled on top, but paprika is better, but I didn't have any.
Bea: Cool, thanks for sharing.
Me: No problem. I guess it's a white southern thing. My grandma used to make them all the time.
Bea: Yeah, remember, I hadn't tried meatloaf until a year ago?
Me: Yeah. Well, I'm happy to share my whiteness with you guys :)

I never would have guessed that deviled eggs would be exotic cultural food to my Latino friends. They just seem so every day for me, not literally, but I've had them so often, that I take it for granted and assume that everyone eats them. You guys eat deviled eggs, right? I like being white, and I like my deviled eggs.