Labels, et cetera

I’m going to try and articulate something here, and I’ll probably not say it well, so bear with me.

I’m part Mexican, part white. Which means that I’ve got two different sets of cultural lenses I see through, and sometimes those two cultural lenses give conflicting messages. It’s confusing to me, too. Dude, seriously, when I’m excited should I be shouting and jumping, or should I be smiling and shaking hands? And let’s not get into the cultural differences inherent in flirting, yo.

Sometimes people want to shove me into one side or the other. “You’re Mexican, you can’t be white.” “You’re white, you can’t be Mexican.”

Puh-lease. You can’t go in and sort me out into component parts.

I am. You, deal.

The best eleven minutes of my life today

Watch this video, you will not regret the time invested. Ellen DeGeneris addressing Tulane Class of 09.

(they took down the earlier version, I’m going to try and keep a live version posted, but if it’s not available, please search it out yourself on YouTube. I think the current version has no dancing )

Thoughts as I travel the new Portland Bus Mall

–Dear God, it’s early.

–Uh oh, native Californian dislike of film crews kicking in. Grumble, mumble.

–Wait, did that sign say Leverage? OMGOMGOMGSQUEE!11!!1!eleventy!

–And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why I am totally staying away from production. I have a small shred of dignity. V. v. small.

–Anyone I recognize around (v. v. small shred of dignity)? No, but then again it is 6.45am and if I was Rogers et. al., I’d be staying at a hotel downtown and sleeping in. And I’m obviously not Rogers et. al. since I’m going to be standing at this bus stop for another 20 minutes, thus to enjoy another 20 minute bus ride to my warehouse.

–Dear Lord, it’s too early in the morning for protestors. Even ones protesting the Trimet cuts.

–Hm? Newspaper headline “Latina poised to make history”. Well, hot damn, latinas representin’ in the m’fin’ SUPREME COURT, YO! And this was not a thought at the bus mall, but I wanted to link to the actual article from the Oregonian (here, but it wasn’t on the main page. So I searched ‘latina’, and you want to know what appeared first? This article from March about a DV shelter. Ah, well. I was starting to feel a little left out. I mean, sure, there was plenty of sexisim when Hillary was running, and there’s a whole ton of racisim since Barack showed his face on national TV at the 2004 Democrat National Convention. I was thinking to myself, I was thinking “You know, I haven’t heard any really shitty jokes about latina women lately.” But I’m sure they’ll be flying fast and furious now, huh?

I would all like you to meet my new hero.

HT to BoingBoing who alerted me to this awesome kid.

From the post the awesome kid made on answers.yahoo.com:

I go to a private school that is rather strict. Recently, the principal and school teacher council released a (very long) list of books we’re not allowed to read. I was absolutely appalled, because a large number of the books were classics and others that are my favorites. One of my personal favorites, The Catcher in the Rye, was on the list, so I decided to bring it to school to see if I would really get in trouble. Well… I did but not too much. Then (surprise!) a boy in my English class asked if he could borrow the book, because he heard it was very good AND it was banned! This happened a lot and my locker got to overflowing with the banned books, so I decided to put the unoccupied locker next to me to a good use. I now have 62 books in that locker, about half of what was on the list. I took care only to bring the books with literary quality.

I’d argue that the “His Dark Materials” books don’t really have literary quality, but this kid is the awesome.

Too easy, Drill Seargeant!

Name that Cooking Technique Score: 100% (10 out of 10)

Plans for the long weekend shape up apace.

It begins with the Beavers game tonight…

…and, um, yeah. That’s all I’ve got.

I’ll probably go see Night at the Museum: Battle for the Smithsonian. Why? Dude. SMITHSONIAN.

I do love this trailer, though. Mostly because the first part reminds me of my mother, who believes those ropes are to keep other people away. Remind me some time to tell you how she managed to get us escorted out of the US Capitol Building. Twice. By the same guard.

Agua de Jamaica

Isn’t it pretty? It’s pretty tasty, too. It’s agua de jamaica, which translates literally to Jamaican Water. It’s a type of agua fresca, and it’s one of my favorite things to drink on a warm summer day.

What is it made from? Oh, you know, hibiscus flowers. Oh, hush, it’s just like sun tea. You can get it at most health stores and some specialty tea shops.

First, you need to put the kettle on. Then get a funnel and a clean screw-cap wine bottle. Put 1 1/2 cups of sugar and 1 generous cup of dried hibiscus flowers in the bottle. Pour in enough hot water to half-fill the bottle, then put the cap on. Wrap the bottle in a towel and CAREFULLY shake for about a minute. This should dissolve all the sugar. Then top off the bottle with more hot water and put somewhere to sit for a few hours or overnight.

I have no pictures of this part because I did it last night and didn’t think to take them. Silly me!

Now, a warning. Hibiscus will STAIN HORRIBLY. It stains plastic, and cloth, and fingers, and tile, and lots of other stuff. Before you start this part, make sure you’re wearing an apron or a t-shirt you’re not fond of. Get out another wine bottle, or a 22 oz Rogue bottle, or, you know, something FANCY. Also source a chopstick and your funnel, and something to use as a filter. This? Is my secret weapon.

It’s a clean, brand new, never worn child sized sock. Oh, sure, you could use a coffee filter or cheesecloth… I like the sock because it holds on well to the funnel and has lots of acreage that becomes more important later.

Put the sock (or sock-analog) over your funnel and set up your storage container.

Start pouring, slowly. You want all that hibiscus O-U-T of the bottle. Wearing a white t-shirt is for advanced jamaica makers.

Please note how the chopstick is deployed to get hibiscus out of the bottle. Pouring slowly helps. Once you get it all out, you get to squeeze!

Stick a cork in the bottle, and toss it in the fridge. You’ve basically made a very thick syrup, and to drink it, you need to dilute with water, or club soda. Or vodka, if that’s your thing.

Dump the leftover hibiscus in the trash or compost, wipe up any spills, rinse out the sock and put it in the kitchen cupboard to confound your roommates (if you’re me). Then, also if you’re me, rinse out the wine bottle you used to steep the hibiscus, and put 1 ounce of grated fresh ginger and a cup of sugar in the funnel. Wash it into the wine bottle with hot water from the kettle, and let it steep, too. Now you’ve got jamaica and gingerade!

IT’S A TRAP!

Consumerist reminds us to always, always comparison shop. I’ve noticed that Target is egregious about charging the same price for different sizes of essentially the same product, but I’ve seen it other places.

And as a commenter points out, companies feel a-ok with charging more for the same product as long as they slap the label ‘face’ on it. That is, also, a trap. As long as your lotion isn’t full of fragrances and acids* and wierd chemicals, it can go on your face and your legs.

Not to sound like a cheesy song cribbed from a graduation speech, but it is summer, and you need to always, always wear sunscreen.

*A lot of ultra-healing super-dry skin lotions have acids, so be CAREFUL. That is not the kind of thing you want near your eyes, yo.

Exhibit A

I would like to present this as evidence that yes, Mom, I do eat vegetables!

(It’s also evidence that I am not anything resembling a professional food dresser.)

This is a photo I took for a future post where I review Safeway’s Signature Cafe side dishes, but I will say right now that I’m underwhelmed by the Penne with Cream and Vodka sauce.

“So, Mary Sue, Do You Like ANYTHING?”

Heh. The rant has been falling fast and furious around here, hasn’t it?

Okay, so here we go— if you have not seen The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, you need to see it. And if you’re like me and sans cable, you should go read the books. Like I am.

No, you can’t borrow my books, I’m reading them!

Precious Ramotswe is the only lady detective in all of Botswana. If you need help, she will find you answers. They may not come in the most conventional way, but they’ll also come with a nice cup of bush tea.

The show does a fabulous job of capturing the feel and tone of the books, and the books are in and of themselves a rich, spicy treat. You want to savor them slowly, embracing the feel and texture of a good, quality story. The characters live and breathe, and Botswana most of all. Botswana is the biggest character in the book and the one that you wind up having the most affection for, because Mma Ramotswe loves Botswana so much you can’t help loving it, too.

Here’s the trailer from HBO.