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Archive of "General" Category
Ground turkey tacos with Trader Joe’s salsa? Yes, ma’am!
For the first time in many years, I’m living in a city, Charlotte, North Carolina. City life brings with it a lot of things: restaurants, wine bars, museums, performing arts, professional sports …… And Trader Joe’s. Yes, in addition to the Symphony and the I-don’t-really-care-but-apparently-a-lot-of-other-people-do NASCAR museum, Charlotte has brought Trader Joe’s to my life. For years, living in Blacksburg, VA, I’d hear people tell of the glories of the far-off, magical Trader Joe’s, but there wasn’t one within three hours of my humble little town. Now, I have one two miles up the road, if that.
Tonight, I visited, and I can say firsthand it’s everything people made it out to be. I bought a considerable amount of groceries (including three bottles of wine) for under $35. The best find so far is the Trader Joe’s Corn and Chile Tomato-less Salsa. I put a little on my ground turkey tacos this evening and tasted heaven. For those with a Joe’s nearby, try this:
1) Brown some ground turkey breast. (Actually, it will just turn white.) At 99-percent fat free, it’s better for you than ground beef, and once you throw in some fresh ground cumin, pepper, and salt to taste, you won’t miss the beef. Soooo …
2) Throw in some fresh ground cumin, pepper, and salt to taste so that you won’t miss the beef.
3) Add 2/3 cup of water while browning (whiting?) your ground turkey breast so that it doesn’t get too dry.
4) Fill a whole wheat flour soft taco shell with your turkey breast, some chopped red onion, chopped fresh cilantro, and fresh lime juice.
5) Top with a couple tablespoons of Trader Joe’s Corn and Chile Tomato-less Salsa.
6) Experience bliss.
Give it a try, and let me know what you think.
Bernard Herrmann’s 100th
It’s Bernard Herrmann’s 100th birthday today. He’s been one of my favorite film composers since I was a wee little lad when I saw the 1959 version of Journey to the Center of the Earth starring James Mason and a completely ridiculous but surprisingly effective Pat Boone. As a kid, I was absolutely enraptured by the idea of a “fabulous world beneath the world,” as the promotional posters of the time boasted, and Bernard Herrmann’s wonderfully mysterious score is a big reason the film worked for me then and still works for me today. Journey to the Center of the Earth is, I think, one of those rare cases of a movie that is better than the book–no offense to Jules Verne.Bernard Herrmann is also responsible for composing the film scores to many of Alfred Hitchcock’s best movies. Ever seen Psycho, North by Northwest, or (my favorite) Vertigo? All feature Herrmann’s work. There was none like him. Happy birthday, Bernard!
Movin’ on up(town)
I’m forever slacking on the whole blog thing. My apologies. Wanted to give a brief update on life. After 12 years in Virginia, eight of them in professional ministry, the radio bug has bitten again, and I’m back in my home state of North Carolina, working as a classical radio announcer for WDAV in the Charlotte metro. The station is actually in Davidson, NC, a small college town. Since I did the whole small-town America thing for a decade, a city life sounded good, so I opted for a small commute by renting a loft in Uptown Charlotte. Yes, they call it uptown, not downtown. Sounds pretentious, I know, but it’s really not. The center of Charlotte is on a bit of a hill, and in the city’s early days, people would say, “We’re going up to the town.” We southerners can be a lazy folk, so we shortened it. Fewer words, less effort: Now we’re going uptown.
So far, so good. I love my loft and my job. What’s not to love? I play the best music in the world, the kind that doesn’t come and go with the pop charts, as my friend Seth Williamson says. And I have a sweet little place to rest my head in the evenings–a modern, New York-style loft. Watching Carolina storms roll in over the skyline from my living room window at night is something you have to see.
Most importantly, God and I are doing well through all the change. I wish I had time here to write of how he provided throughout the transition, a financially tricky time for me. I never had a need he didn’t meet.
Now that I’m settled (or settling), perhaps I can turn my attention to more writing. But what to write? Stay tuned.
For love of the game
I’m not big into sports. I enjoy college basketball (Go Duke!), often watch hockey, tolerate football–that’s it. No baseball. No soccer. No NBA.There is one sport I never get enough of, though. Politics. It’s the best mental game around. Better than chess by far. You do your darndest to outsmart your opponent to win the hearts of your constituents. And if you think politics is boring, you haven’t paid nearly enough attention. Think 1994. President Bill Clinton’s poll numbers were in the toilet. Democrats in Congress were wildly unpopular. Republicans took both houses for the first time in decades, essentially killing–or so one would have thought–Clinton’s legislative agenda, seriously handicapping him (again, or so one would have thought) and making his ’96 reelection bid uphill at best. Newt Gingrich, the architect of Republican congressional victories, basked in his own glory as he watched his fortunes rise and Clinton’s seemingly sink. One post-midterm-election newspaper headline read, “A Whole Newt World.”
Not so fast. Clinton, a master at the game of politics, spent no time sulking. He got to work immediately devising a strategy. In the months following the ’94 Democratic slaughter, Clinton co-opted the more moderate elements of the Republicans’ own agenda, used the bully pulpit of the presidency to convince Americans he’d come up with the ideas, turned his approval numbers around, and just two years later won reelection handily, while Newt Gingrich grew so unpopular with Americans he had to step down as House Speaker and later resign from Congress to stop the bleeding on the Republican side of the aisle.
Politics is high drama and terrific sport. My younger, still-idealistic friends who’ve wagered all their hopes on government will no doubt complain I’m making light of something serious: “Politics is not a sport. Politics matters!” All I can say in response is, for whatever good politicians might affect in the world, the road to governance is the best game in town.
Click here for a great article sizing up this November’s match.
Bordeaux? Yes, please.
I’m nowhere near retirement age, and honestly, I love working enough to wonder if I’d ever want to retire. If I do, though, the picture to the left is good idea of what I’d like. That’s Lauren and Jack Hermann standing in front a beautiful background of Bordeaux.Lauren says,
“We sold our three-bedroom townhouse in suburban Washington for $385,000 in 2004 and paid $118,000 for the house in France. It was originally a barn built in 1842 that the previous owner restored. It has four bedrooms and two baths and stunning views.
“I spend my time doing exactly what I feel like. I cook and make several types of jam each year. The lifestyle is much slower. People take their time to enjoy a good meal and stop and talk to friends. A neighbor stops and gives me eggs from her hens. Pastures surround us and some days we see sheep grazing there. Their milk is used to make Roquefort cheese.”
Sounds great, except for making jam. Easier to buy it, and it tastes as good. I have no idea what Roquefort cheese is, but I bet I’d like it.
But it’s FRANCE, you say. Yes. I’m not a France hater like many of my fellow Americans. True, I can’t think of a war they’ve ever won, but I can think of a few we perhaps should not have fought, so we’ll call it even. The thought of living in wine county, nibbling on cheese and sipping delicious vino–heaven. Of course, Italy will do just fine, too. I love cianti. Basically, give me wine, cheese, and a great little village with canals for streets. In short, give me what’s pictured to the left.
World Suicide Prevention Day
Today, September 10, was World Suicide Prevention Day. I almost missed it. I would have if not for a brilliant, beautifully written piece by guest CNN.com columnist Melody Moezzi. Before being diagnosed as bipolar (or, manic-depressive) and given proper treatment, Moezzi attempted suicide and was hospitalized. There she found a reason for living, to speak up and end the stigma surrounding mental illness. She writes,“The dangerous thing about silence is that it breeds shame and isolation, both of which can be much more devastating than any singular psychiatric condition alone. It’s one thing to be crazy. It’s quite another to think that you’re the only crazy person on the planet.”
Whether you struggle with mental illness or know someone who does, I’d encourage you to click here for the full article by Melody Moezzi. The writing is terrific; her message is urgent. As someone who has dealt with serious depression, I appreciate her raising her voice.
If Star Wars had been Dallas
Only folks of a certain age will get this, but anyone who came of age in the 80s should enjoy this.
Australia, New Zealand most charitable nations
Australia and New Zealand have topped a charity index released by Britain’s Charities Aid Foundation. The rankings were based on three criteria, the percentages of citizens who, in the last month, 1) donated money, 2) donated time, and 3) helped a stranger. Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Ireland, the US, and Switzerland were all close in average scores:Australia 57%
New Zealand 57%
Canada 56%
Ireland 56%
US 55%
Switzerland 55%
At the bottom? China and Madagascar.
Some of the least charitable nations were those receiving the heaviest amounts of international monetary aid, which will surely raise age-old questions of whether hands-off handouts breed a culture of dependency. Should governments give less and invest more, helping the poorest countries develop their own economies rather than simply handing them more money that isn’t tied to any specific long term goals for growth? Does foreign aid inspire people to entrepreneurship or enslave them to other countries?
Click here for the full story. And feel free to leave a comment.
Speaking of (or for) God …
Been reading The Myth of Certainty (InterVarsity,1986) by Daniel Taylor. In it, he describes so well how I feel whenever speaking for or writing about the Lord Almighty, the Holy One, the I AM. Taylor says,“It’s not the prospect of failure that is frightening. What, God forbid, if one should succeed? Imagine a dozen people believing whatever you tell them to believe; imagine a thousand, ten thousand, a countless following. How many times in the wilderness did Moses wonder if that burning bush had just been desert heatstroke?
“Consider the television preacher and how fearfully he is made. I do not abuse him for being on television–it is the highest hill around. I do not complain that he asks for money–he has many barns to build. I allow him even his politics and prejudices (even as I wince when he makes them God’s) because I have politics and prejudices as well. But I do stand amazed at one thing. Where, someone tell me, did he get this burning confidence? Not his confidence before men and women–the psychology of that I can understand–but this confidence before God. Did he talk to a burning bush? Is he certain his sacrifice is not a stench in God’s nostrils? Why are there no signs of ashes on his head? Why does he seem unconcerned with such questions? Even ‘send me’ Isaiah despaired of his unclean lips.”
I doubly love this passage: First, because it’s simply great writing, and second, because it’s exactly how I feel when standing or sitting to speak of or for God. Whether writing or teaching, this is the battle in my mind. How can I do this with any measure of certainty? And yet, how can I not?
Taylor concludes, “And yet there are reasons to speak, even a responsibility to do so.”
And so we speak and teach and write for God, but we do it trembling.
Breaking News: Darth Vader was mentally ill
Don’t be a Vader hater. He wasn’t evil. He was sick. Well, maybe he was both. Or neither, since he didn’t exist. Nonetheless, some folks who likely get paid way more than they should have studied the Dark Lord and concluded he was mentally ill. Linda Dahlstrom for MSNBC.com writes,“Apparently Darth Vader’s real problem was that he lacked a good therapist, say French psychiatrists and psychologists who, instead of working with an actual patient, used their diagnostic super powers to divine that the Dark Lord may have had a borderline personality.”
Click here for the full article. Definitely worth reading.
