Kaffeeklatsch: A gathering of people to discuss news items of the day over cups of coffee and similar coffee drinks; usually involves pastries
My recent gathering consisted of a group of only two but that didn't keep us from discussing everything to the nth degree over cups of coffee at o'kafes! coffeehouse.
Many athletes may be more skilled than the ones I've chosen; I selected these based on how closely I've followed their careers and/or whether they brought me into a sport I may not have enjoyed otherwise, either because of their athletic ability or celebrity.
Top Ten Favorite Athletes:
1) Shaun Alexander
One of Alabama's successful running back darlings, I followed Shaun during his career with the Seattle Seahawks. In Seattle, as here in Tuscaloosa, he was involved in his community. He has a beautiful smile. The Washington Redskins need him now, as they can't do anything in the red zone this year!
2) Michael Jordan
From the time someone called my attention to this basketball player who could literally "fly" through the air to make baskets, I followed the Chicago Bulls season after season. It was the only time before or since that I followed an NBA team. Michael and Scottie (Pippen) brought me in; Dennis (Rodman) kept me interested.
3) Billie Jean King
I strongly believe every female tennis player should thank Billie Jean every time they accept a trophy and receive a paycheck!
4) Johnny Musso
Another Alabama running back darling, his poster was the only athlete to grace my bedroom walls during high school - between Jimi Hendrix and The Beatles.
5) Muhammed Ali
I am not a boxing fan and I'm not even sure I support the sport. I appreciate Muhammed Ali for standing up for what was right.
6) Troy Polamalu
Strong safety for the Pittsburgh Steelers (the guy with the hair), he is so much fun to watch play. He is everywhere!
7) Joe Namath
I believe he was the sole reason my father wrapped up his sermons on Sundays early so that we could make it home by the noon kickoff time. We love Joe in Tuscaloosa.
8) Bjorn Borg
Chrissie and Jimmy were big topics of discussion during the time I became a pro tennis fan. I was a Borg fan and had the opportunity to see him play Rod Laver.
9) Jason Campbell
A native Mississippian and now QB for the Washington Redskins, I try to overlook that he played for Auburn. He doesn't get a lot of press except with the team; however, he seems to have grown so much right before our eyes. I'm happy for him.
This week is Banned Books Week sponsored by the American Library Association to draw attention to acts of restricting books. This year, young adult author, Ellen Hopkins, was banned from speaking about her book at an Oklahoma middle school. This poem, Manifesto, was written by Hopkins.
To you zealots and bigots and false patriots who live in fear of discourse. You screamers and banners and burners who would force books off shelves in your brand name of greater good.
You say you're afraid for children, innocents ripe for corruption by perversion or sorcery on the page. But sticks and stones do break bones, and ignorance is no armor. You do not speak for me, and will not deny my kids magic in favor of miracles.
You say you're afraid for America, the red, white and blue corroded by terrorists, socialists, the sexually confused. But we are a vast quilt of patchwork cultures and multi-gendered identities. You cannot speak for those whose ancestors braved different seas.
You say you're afraid for God, the living word eroded by Muhammed and Darwin and Magdalene. But the omnipotent sculptor of heaven and earth designed intelligence. Surely you dare not speak for the father, who opens his arms to all.
A word to the unwise. Torch every book. Char every page. Burn every word to ash. Ideas are incombustible. And therein lies your real fear.
Continuing with the theme that my cats seem to sleep all the time, here is Vincent snoozing adorably on the sofa. Being nocturnal by nature, of course, they are awake when I'm asleep. I'm thankful they don't snap photos of me while I'm trying to sleep! Or, maybe they do. Think there is a Weekend Human Blogging site?
Around 10 a.m., Jules lets me know he is ready for the extra office chair to be pulled up beside me so he can sleep next to me while I work. He is within petting distance when he wakes up to change positions and I am well-trained. I am going to miss having him close to me when I start going to the office two days a week! :(
The 37th annual Greek Food Festival is this weekend in Birmingham held by Holy Trinity - Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Cathedral. Because of the late hour and the rain on Friday night, my friends and I decided on a take-out smorgasbord of appetizers of pites (filo triangles filled with feta cheese mixture or spinach and feta cheese mixture) and dolmathes (grape leaves stuffed with seasoned rice and topped with lemon). For entrees, I had the traditional gyro with Greek salad; Sheila had the pasticho, which is a combination of layers of macaroni, ground beef in a Greek tomato sauce and topped with a layer of cream bechamel sauce; and, Brad had the Greek-style chicken baked and basted in a marinade of olive oil, lemon juice, and oregano. We passed on the pastries but, after looking at the menu, it would be wise to return today and then save a few for me! (hint, hint)
Birmingham Greek Festival (video from 2008 provided by al.com)
Series 2373 Here eight trunk lines enter and leave to and from all sections of the United States. A subway under the station has been provided for automobile traffic, as the Terminal is two blocks long. A huge sign has been erected at the entrance of the subway to greet those arriving.
St. Vincent's Hospital - Postmark December 19, 1906
No description
The University of Alabama Hospital and Clinics - no postmark
The University of Alabama Hospitals and Clinics in Birmingham, Alabama is composed of a 700-bed teaching hospital complex and more than 30 outpatient clinics where in excess of 100,000 patients are cared for annually. A division of the University of Alabama in Birmingham, UAHC is the 14th largest teaching hospital in the United States and is the chief referral hospital in Alabama for complicated medical and surgical cases.
Jefferson Hospital - no postmark
16019 Series 112 The Merchants Cigar & Candy Co Technical Photograph Co
Interior, John's Restaurant - no postmark
Located in the heart of the city Famous for trout Almondine
Hillman Hospital - no postmark
No description
First Avenue Viaduct - no postmark
No description
Steel Industry at Night - no postmark
Birmingham is called the Pittsburg of the South because of its large steel industry.
Eastwood Mall - no postmark
EASTWOOD MALL Atlanta Highway (U.S. 78 East) Birmingham, Alabama Beautiful Eastwood Mall is a shopping city under one roof with some 43 stores. One of its most enjoyable features is the pleasant year 'round temperature of 73 degrees. An endless variety of stores and merchandise awaits you in all 4 malls.
J could have been for me, Judi, or for one of my cats, Jules. I even thought about J being for J. Crew, as I've seen a few items from there I'd like to find in my closet. Yet, around my area of the country, J is for Jesus and his followers can be found shouting at you from the highway billboards. I have posted these before but wanted to share them again for today's J.
If you're like me, you would just as soon watch a Seinfeld rerun than many things on television. I may be one of the few who actually liked how the final episode turned out.
Now the cast is back together on this season's Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO). This season's premiere episode was Sunday night and as funny as ever. The Seinfeld cast will return as themselves; it is a "show within a show", which is the perfect way to see them again.
Meatless Monday is a non-profit initiative of The Monday Campaigns, in association with the Johns Hopkins’ Bloomberg School of Public Health. Our goal is to help reduce meat consumption 15% in order to improve personal health and the health of our planet.
Going meatless once a week may reduce your risk of chronic preventable conditions like cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity. It can also help reduce your carbon footprint and save precious resources like fresh water and fossil fuel.
Tacos
Servings: 4
Ingredients:
1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Salt and pepper to taste
Feta cheese, crumbled
4 taco shells
Hot sauce
Coleslaw:
2 cups shredded cabbage
2 green onions, thinly sliced
1/3 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 Tablespoons fresh lime juice
Directions:
1) Rinse black beans to remove any added seasonings. Add cumin. Add salt and pepper to taste. Partially mash bean and cumin, salt, and pepper together.
2) Add olive oil and lime juice to bowl. Combine shredded cabbage, sliced green onions, and chopped cilantro. Mix to coat ingredients with olive oil and lime juice.
3) To assemble: Add black beans evenly in taco shell. Add feta cheese. Top with coleslaw. Add hot sauce.
How great is it to have a hobby where people give you an award and you don't have to do anything athletic or get all sweaty or even go outside?! Missy at Missy's Book Nook has honored me with the Dragon's Loyalty Award. Missy is a book blogger and I'm always looking for a good read. I enjoy looking back at the 1980's with her as well.
I should be thanking her. She does all the work and I just sit back and enjoy her efforts. So, thanks, Missy! And, happy book bloggers' appreciation week!
As promised in my previous post, I am notifying the following bloggers that I have an award awaiting them:
1) Diversity Ink
2) Sharoncobb.com
3) Southern Beale
4) A Majority of Two
5) Thinking out Loud
While the post calls for seven bloggers, I don't follow a lot of blogs at this point so I stopped at five.
I am always enlightened by the posts at Diversity Ink and their contributors. I follow their other blogs to learn and grow through their posts. Through Diversity Ink, I have followed links to other interesting blogs such as Racialious and Field Negro. Thanks Malcolm and all! Sharoncobb.comand Southern Beale hail from the same area of the country. It is always easier to read something one agrees with most of the time, but I know it is from the heart by how it is written. Thanks!
A Majority of Two has been (graciously) calling out some U.S. fearmongers for their attacks on Canada's health care system. We should be so lucky to have such a system. She knows it and I know it. Thanks Jo!
While I don't follow Thinking Out Loud as often as those listed above, I am always touched by the posts I read. So, here's to you, Kim!
Media Matters for America posted videos of a FOX News producer inciting the 9/12 protesters in Washington, similar to what is done on a daily talk show. I guess it just wasn't enough for a so-called news channel to sponsor and promote such a protest!
Update, 09/20/2009:I was so enthralled with someone being the subject of a Paul Simon song that I didn't really tell you a lot about this book and why you might want to read it, too.
Carrie Fisher - actress, author, mother, survivor, and subject of a song written by ex-husband, Paul Simon - may be best known to people my age as the daughter of celebrities, Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher, and to younger people as Princess Leia in the Star Wars trilogy.
Here she reviews her incredible life of being a child in Hollywood; her father leaving their family to marry Elizabeth Taylor; her addictions; her acting; her writing; her bipolar diagnosis; marrying a closeted gay man; the death of her best friend...in her bed...while she was in it; and, raising what sounds like an incredible daughter. All of these things are written about with incredible humor, which is probably why Carrie Fisher is what is called a 'survivor'. Oh, and she is a Libra.
Now, knowing this about Carrie Fisher, one understands how Paul Simon could write such beautiful lyrics about her. Will you be a lesser person for not reading this book? No. But, for a Friday night, it is a good read and not in that weird, National Inquirer-kind of gossip.
Random Reading Challenge
Wishful Drinking ~ Carrie Fisher
There are a few writers whose writing causes me to laugh out loud - early Woody Allen, David Sedaris, and Carrie Fisher. Since I had pretty much read everything she had written and her interviews, there wasn't a lot to learn about her that I didn't already know. Yet, I enjoyed reviewing her life with her again.
I didn't know much about her relationship with Paul Simon. To have Paul Simon write a song about you.... let me just say, wow. Lyrics like:
And I'm afraid that I'll be taken / Abandoned and forsaken / In her cold coffee eyes...
She's come back to tell me she's gone / As if I didn't know that / As if I didn't know my own bed / As if I didn't notice the way she brushed her hair from her forehead
...my heart is allergic / To the woman I love / And it's changing the shape of my face....
One and one-half wandering Jews / Returned to their natural coasts / To resume old acquaintances / Step out occasionally / And speculate who had been damaged the most....
Sigh.....
While it wasn't so fun and easy for the author, her humor makes it a fun, easy read. I look forward to reading what her daughter, Billie, has to say about it all!
Great line: Anyway, how would I know what was post-traumatic stress, which is addiction, which is bipolar, and which is Libra?
I heard the comments and laughter about my overnight/laptop bag so when I received this email from Vera Bradley I couldn't resist ordering this $84 tall zip tote for the great price of $30! I ordered the yellow bird pattern, one of my favorites. It arrived today and it is perfect. My laptop fits beautifully and there are outside pockets for my iPhone. I checked back today and the price is now $45, but that is still a good value. I highly recommend it.
In 2000 while in San Francisco, I attended a play at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre where I was introduced to Maggie Gyllenhaal when she portrayed Alice in the play, Closer. I was blown away by her performance; I've followed her career since and she remains one of my favorite actors.
There is now another reason to return to the Berkeley Rep. I believe I have made it clear of my love for the band, Green Day, despite our vast age differences. One of the best albums of this decade, American Idiot, is now a play directed by Michael Mayer. As seen on the Berkeley Rep's website:
Green Day won two Grammys for its multi-platinum album American Idiot, which sold more than 12 million copies worldwide. Now those searing songs seize the stage with the director behind Spring Awakening, the groundbreaking musical that earned eight Tony Awards and enthralled audiences around the world. American Idiot follows working-class characters from the suburbs to the city to the Middle East, as they seek redemption in a world filled with frustration. This high-octane show features every track from the album, plus several new tunes from Green Day’s newest release, 21st Century Breakdown. With an on-stage band and a cast of 19, American Idiot will take you on an exhilarating journey borne along by Green Day’s electrifying songs.
The play has been extended until November 1. If by some strange chance you haven't heard of Green Day and need an introduction, click here.
male and on the football team (Marty #33, Moose hiking the ball),
or male science geniuses,
or majorettes
(we could be sitting at a bar drunk right now saying nostalgically in that gruff, cigarette-damaged voice, "I used to be a majorette" - private joke),
or, male basketball players (oops! Marty elbowed Moose in the jaw!)
or, how sweet, cheerleaders,
or, goofy cheerleaders,
or, now here's a strong possibility, in the Chess Club??
I'm so happy Marty and Moose were just Marty and Moose!
***The views expressed on this site are mine and mine alone. They do not reflect the views of my employer or anyone associated with my employer. Neither my employer nor my current occupation will be revealed on this site.***
