orange

white

young gifted and black. is where it's at.

To play the clip, first turn off the music player in the right hand margin below.

So, yeah, I don't like it when they call Barack Obama elitist. I have an especially hard time with Hillary Clinton doing it. I think it's a cheap shot. And I think it's racist.

When Condeleezza Rice first started working for president Bush as his National Security Advisor she talked about how people would come up to her and tell her that her "parents must be proud". She would respond that as a third generation college educated woman, she was supposed to be where she was.

Standards, and expectations, do differ depending on color.

You don't throw the word 'elitist' in the face of someone who traditionally belongs to the elite. You throw the word 'elitist' it in the face of someone who is challenging you.

I met a young woman yesterday who I knew a little in her first year of college but haven't met since. She is a senior now, and she is graduating next month.

We were on a committee together. There was one staff person, one faculty person (me), and this young woman as a student representative.

I was completely impressed by her. Smart complex observations, confidence, commitment.

The young woman is Mexican American and initially she had a hard time adjusting to a predominantly white, private, college campus. But she did, and she has done very well.

Those who don't belong to the traditional elite face particular challenges when entering higher education. The young woman I met yesterday overcame those challenges. So did Barack Obama. They, and every other person in that same situation, learn lessons that many white students don't.

If Barack Obama would publicly address how he feels when they call him elitist, we'd learn a lot.

rich is relative. educated and black is not.

A Clinton supporting commentator on MSNBC just said that Barack Obama comes across as "some rich elite snob".

Student-loan educated Barack Obama, that is.

Consider this: Over and over again in this campaign Hillary Clinton has said that she wants to make "college affordable".

And consider this: If college is made more affordable, colleges will start producing far more Barack Obamas. Are we really prepared for that?

jeanne's a little bit cooler

With apologies to the nice people of Ireland. I think you are cool. But what Jeanne actually said was that this is 'WAY cooler' than the clip below. You be the judge.

everybody's a little bit irish

maybe this is it, then

They are saying on MSNBC that it's over for Hillary Clinton.

at the end of every email from tira sits this quote

If one is lucky, a solitary fantasy can totally transform a million realities.
-Maya Angelou

bougainvillea is out

in california, places are pretty

location location location

This unattended piece of luggage has been sitting right outside our driveway for the past couple of days. I think it has cleaning supplies in it, because I think the Cheery Maids (or whoever it is that the neighbors use) left it behind on Monday.

But I also know that had we been in an airport, we would all have been very nervous by now.

what your friends can do for you

This is an honest to God Swedish pancake in the making.
This is some very yummy stuff made by my friend Babs.
This is how you combine the two, and eat it, soft taco style. Invite yourselves over.

technology

My friend just sent me this photo of himself at the office, in East Timor. And he sent it from that there computer there.

yet another installment in the endless series: the world looks different to you depending on where you are standing

Black and Latino students are 'underachieving' in schools, and educators are trying to bridge the gap. Here is a story about a program in Milpitas, Calif.

Question is, though, whether 'underachieving' is a fair term. From the article:

There is inherent racism in the language of the achievement gap," said Glenn Singleton, a San Jose State University instructor and consultant who works with Bay Area school districts. "It conjures up the notion that black and brown students are deficient, rather than shining the light on how the institution fails students.

That's an important point. It's the job of schools to figure out how to teach all students, right?

andorra not in africa

As I continue my shameless season of thefts, here is some breaking news from Denise. Well worth your click.

more words of wisdom from facebook

Si la vida te da limones, pide sal y tequila.

Or, in my case, forget about the alcohol and just make me some lemon bars already.

Please.

look it's babs! and hear!

What's haunting young talented women?

ooh technology

Dan is in Barstow. Google maps has lots of info. (Click 'satellite' and zoom in.)

An old friend of mine is working in Dili, East Timor. I just checked out what it looks like there.

on bill maher

The old question about Obama: Is he black enough?
The new question about Obama: Is he dumb enough?

meeting david wilson

I just watched a discussion about race on MSNBC. It was interesting. Here is a part of it. Unlike many such attempts this one has some sparks in it, and it's worth watching.

The discussion starts off around a documentary called Meeting David Wilson. The films tells the story of two David Wilsons, one black and one white.

The two David Wilsons are connected through history: during slavery the family of the white David Wilson owned the family of black David Wilson. The movie came about because black present day David Wilson is a film maker, and he tracked down the white David Wilson in North Carolina.

quote of the day: colorblindness

"To be blind to color is to be blind to the consequences of color."

I didn't catch who had said that, but it's true.

separated at birth

Former colleague, bestselling author.
New York chef, TV star.

dear frankie

This movie is lovely. Set in Glasgow it has big ships, a small boy, truths and lies. Sweet, salty, and lovely.

people are funny

Yesterday I saw a man in the park, standing by himself under some tall eucalyptus trees. His head was tilted awkwardly backwards, and he held one of his nostrils shut using his index finger. He was breathing deeply through his one accessible nostril. Then he shifted hands, and held the other nostril shut. More deep breathing.

It took me a second, but then I figured it out. He was breathing in the eucalyptus, obviously. The air was heavy with the scent, and he had found himself a private, yet public, indisputably natural, aromatherapy spa.

The air was also heavy with springtime pollen. I hope the benefits at least canceled out the harm.

from the karmann ghia mailing list: win this car

It's true. There is a raffle, benefiting a school. Tickets are $25. Info is here.

This is a 1972 Karmann Ghia Convertible. You can tell the year on the front turn lights and the front bumper. The car is obviously in immaculate condition. It's what my car looked like as a newborn.

happy news for us in the john oliver fan club

My favorite is doing a special.

said joy behar on the view

"If she's so for guns she would have shot her husband years ago."

that's power

So this was fun, a long lost friend found me on Myspace. We were friends when we were students in the mid 1980s, and we became friends when on the first day of class we found ourselves sitting next to each other in the back of the room.

When a couple of years ago the local police in my small friendly California town sent me to a day of traffic school (for an offense I didn't commit, I swear) the same thing happened. I sat in the back, looked around during the first hour, and had made friends by the second break.

I think of that when I try to catch the eye of the students in the back row at the first day of class in my own classes.

By the second class meeting I force them to sit in a circle.

thanks pat

Someone I know had put on his Facebook status line that 'misery is optional'. I googled and found the quote:

Pain is inevitable, but misery is optional. We cannot avoid pain, but we can avoid joy.
(Tim Hansel.)

I like that.

what I did get at world market

I know green tea and dark chocolate are hipper, but sometimes you just want your tea black and your chocolate goey.

would you buy a used car from these people?

Dan and I looked at furniture for our tiny backyard today. Adirondack chairs are popular. Similar styles are everywhere.

The ones at Cost Plus World Market came with instructions for care and maintenance.
Let's take another look at that, shall we?
So, both we and the store are in California. It's April. We are gearing up for seven months of non-stop sun.

thanks to jeanne

Here is a fun crafts project.

I still miss someone

just good

When I was 19 years old and lived in England for two semesters I developed the most perfectly pitched English accent.

When you are 19 and 20 it's important to fit in.

When I moved to the US 15 years later people didn't understand me until I had learned to sound like an American.

I liked it. I found that American English is more relaxed. You use different muscles of the mouth, and it just feels better. Also, when you speak British English you have to have the sentence ready in your head beforehand, and be able to deliver it in one go. It's supposed to flow. With American English you get time to think.

Nowadays I get nostalgic when I hear British English. I watch Judi Dench movies by myself, and even a vague Irish accent makes me like a person.

In the summer of 2000 I traveled to Sweden for my green card interview. I was nervous. To calm those nerves I had brought REM. I love the sound of Michael Stipe's voice. He has the perfect American tone, and he sings with perfect American ease. After my interview at the American Embassy in Stockholm I walked a mile in the wrong direction, listening to that.

on the today show, today

Joan Rivers just said that Los Angeles looks like a reunion of Schindler's List. That was funny.

yep, hillary is in montana

If those are turquoises, she's in a Western state.

I walked to safeway today, 10 minutes each way

Me - The US 1-0 (in overtime).

the cnn 'expert'

I just heard a talking head on CNN suggest that if you loose your job in the US due to your company relocating manufacturing 'overseas', you could consider moving overseas in order to keep your job.

Ever heard of immigration laws? Visas? You realize other countries have them too, and that it is as hard for an American to 'move overseas' as it is for a foreigner to obtain residency in the US?

lyrics by jens lekman

People seem to think a shy personality equals gifted,
but if they would get to know one
I am sure that idea would've shifted.
Most shy people I know are extremely boring.

Isn't that funny?
Maybe it's just me.

america

So I had the meatballs in the IKEA restaurant yesterday. As can be expected, the restaurant has a Swedish set-up: An efficient counter where you get a tray, silverware, and choose your food. If your choice is a hot dish, the plate is handed to you across the counter. Cold plates are displayed in cold cases, and you just pick one.

You pay, and take your tray to a table.

When you are finished, you put your tray on racks that can be wheeled into the kitchen where everything will be washed.

And this is where Sweden ends, and America begins: In Sweden you would put your tray in the rack yourself. There would be rules for you to follow, like putting paper napkins in a trashcan on the side, or scraping your plate and dispose of whatever food you didn't finish in a bin. Everybody would do this. If you didn't, you would get dirty looks from fellow eaters.

In America, you approach the racks, prepare to slide your tray in, and discover that on the other side of the rack a young woman is waiting. It's her job to receive your tray. She will take your paper napkin off and trash it, and, I am sure, even though I didn't wait around to check this, scrape your plate.

The station with the racks sits in the middle of the restaurant. The girl stands there and waits between customers.

Yes, it's an extra level of service. It's to make sure the scraping gets done and the leftovers won't dry on the plates, as Americans aren't trained scrapers like the Swedes.

And, it's another mind numbing minimum wage job.

dr king's last speech, april 3, 1968

Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X were both killed the year they would have turned 40. Dr King was shot in Memphis on April 4, 1968. Had he lived, he would still not have been 80 years old.

bronx students discuss obama's race speech

I don't know anything anymore, and it's pathetic: I need my american students to tell me about new swedish music

didn't I see a sign that said 15 meatballs, $4.99?

bosnia, hillary, and the snipers, again

Someone I know posted this article on Facebook. I don't know where to start. Just read it already.

dear whoever sends me spam in french

This is such a waste of time and precious megabytes.

"it feels much better being an unemployed musician than an unemployed pipe-fitter"

The Commitments. Irish soul. Bodil reminded me.

poppies are out

"what problem is the government trying to solve?"

Guess what happens if your American spouse dies before the residency you have earned through the marriage has been approved?

wowsie

Barbara Ehrenreich writes about Hillary Clinton's religious connections, and isn't that an interesting and slightly scary read.

happy cesar chavez day

Cesar Chavez was a co-founder of the United Farm Workers Union. Today, March 31, was his birthday. It's a state holiday in California.

Union organizing may not be on the forefront of everybody's mind these days, but farm workers still pick berries and vegetables by hand, stooped over in the fields. And, today's mess with undocumented workers and the heated debate over immigration is closely related to the cheap strawberries we enjoy.

By the way, the United Farm Workers coined the slogan Sí Se Puede (Yes We Can), that's been picked up by Barack Obama.

just pointing it out. don't expect me to solve it.

It seems to me Hillary Clinton's supporters look at Barack Obama and say, "It's easier for him. He may be black, but he is still a man." While Barack Obama's supporters look at Hillary Clinton and say, "It's easier for her. She may be a woman, but she is still white."

oh cnn what would we do without you

Snippet of knowledge: All inclusive cost of raising a child from 0 to 18 years: $270 000. College is extra.

someone agrees on the lovefest

This is pretty funny. I missed the Joy Behar eye roll.

lovefest of the lovefests

Barack Obama on The View. Lots of fawning and everybody falling over each other, but I couldn't help thinking (again) that something is happening in American politics. Maybe I am fawning too but the truth is that the guy sounds like a real person.

trends. aren't they boring. aren't we dumb to care.

Taffel.se, an excellent online Swedish food newsletter, mentions edamame this week. I just got the email this morning. As a matter of fact, I got the email as I was watching The Today Show. And, guess what? Right as I was reading that newsletter, I heard that according to the Today Show edemame is out. Not trendy anymore. We're on to something else.

I switched channels to MSNBC where they had a commercial for a skin treatment with shiitake mushroom in it.

You wonder what's in now when edamame is out? Fresh garbanzos. Raw chick peas. I am sure they taste pretty much the same but they will make you oh so hip. You can watch the video clip on the Today Show website.

from the streets of san jose

My local paper takes on the issue of race. It's an interesting piece because it has a simple and true tone to it, but at the same time it's depressing to see how much work there is still to be done.

my favorite author's favorite joke

A lady found a penguin, and a police officer advised her to take it to the zoo. A while later the police officer runs into the lady again. She still has the penguin with her.

"I thought you were taking it to the zoo?", he says.

"I did", the lady said. "And now we are going to the movies."

Interview with Bodil Malmsten, in Swedish, here.

promise

I bought a point and shoot camera. Whenever I am done with this grading I will venture out of the backyard.

maybe this is hillary bashing, but, if so, consider yourself warned

As part of her foreign policy experience, Hillary Clinton claims running for cover in danger of sniper fire at Tuzla airport, Bosnia in 1996. Later, when reports came out it never happened, she admitted to having misspoken and mis-remembered the events.

Last week she also made jokes about how they would send the First Lady abroad whenever it was too dangerous for president Clinton to go.

So, besides, there being no fire and no running for cover in the photo above, what else is wrong with it?

Too dangerous for the president to go? What is the first daughter, Chelsea Clinton, doing there? Safe to send Chelsea, but not Bill? What kind of mom is that?

nicole my favorite hawaiian reminded me

I was kidding about the favorite part. One of many favorites, of course. But she is cool. None the less, I think it's time for a little Obamamania again.

this I can happily report

I got faint whiffs of rotting meat in the house yesterday, and I cursed and imagined dead animals in the walls until I found a stray chunk of uncooked bacon under the fridge.

I like chris matthews, don't get me wrong

I just heard Chris Matthews say that the reason working class whites get so angry with people like Barack Obama's pastor Wright, who made anti-American comments in those widely debated sermons, is that "all they have is their country". Matthews explained that working class whites don't have fancy cars or fancy houses or beautiful wives, or kids going off to college. All they have to be proud of is their country, so when someone criticizes it, they get testy.

Maybe he is right. But it's also true that Americans have learned to be proud of their country to an extent that Swedes, for instance, are not. Someone told me once that it has to do with the idea of the new kid (America) coming back to beat the older kids (Europe).

The anger with America that some blacks feel, and that pastor Wright expressed, stems from the fact that they have even less. Poor blacks don't have the fancy cars or fancy houses either. But in their case those absences can't be balanced by a pride in their country. Because for the most part their country has treated them badly. And they are angry because they didn't deserve that.

you can't move on if you don't understand where you are coming from

So the speech Barack Obama made earlier this week where he spoke candidly about race in America has gotten a lot of attention. On Wednesday night Jon Stewart showed a series of clips from cable talk shows where a seemingly endless stream of white pundits asked the same question: Did white people get their feelings hurt?

This is what it looks like to me: There are white people in America who are happy only when black people, like Barack Obama, act as if they have no color. They are unhappy when it's pointed out to them that whites and blacks in the US come out of two distinctly different experiences. Black (and brown) people are supposed to act as if they have no color, and those white people are content when they themselves can continue to act as if they have no color. 'Color' here refers to social position, as it is handed down from history. That's what status quo looks like: a total disconnect from history.

So to cater to white peoples' feelings, people of color should avoid talking about race or racial tension. If they do, the most important question for some will be whether white people got their feelings hurt.

We live in the shadow of slavery and colonialism. Whose feelings should we be protecting again? And why?

strong stuff

If you cut up two serrano peppers at 3PM your fingers still hurt at 10PM even if you've washed your hands a million times and done the dishes too.

And I probably should have left my contacts in.

look, there is tim

dear daughters of barbara

This is to make it official:

Your mom is right.

(Yep, it's hard to admit.)

I've waited for obama to come out and talk about race

Barack Obama is the most interesting political figure right now. In this speech, finally, he talks about race.

On his show Tuesday night Jon Stewart said that Obama spoke to Americans about race "as if we were grown-ups". I think that's right. Obama suggested a reality that is not black and white. Where there is room for someone like him, of mixed race and with diverse experience, where there is room for the reverend Wright, an African American man with a lot of anger, and where is room for someone like his own white grandmother, a woman carrying the stereotypes and prejudices of her generation.

Obama said his grandmother was afraid to meet black men in the street, even though her own grandson, who she helped raise, was growing into a black man. Very few of us can imagine what it might have felt like to hear her say that.

No one else on the political arena is as personal as Barack Obama. Others may talk about race in the abstract, but he is forced to talk about his life. Some of the cable anchors are taking their cues from him. On Tuesday night Keith Olbermann on MSNBC spoke about his own racist grandfather. It is interesting what is happening. I think much would be gained if more people spoke less about what they think, and more about their own lives.

from the karmann ghia mailing list

#32 on a list of the 100 most beautiful cars of all time, as chosen by the readers of The Daily Telegraph (UK).

Mine got an oil change today. And I sprayed Chanel on some kleenex and stuffed in the ashtray. The VW smell is not my favorite. And I polished the dash and fixed a window crank.

mr and mrs douglas, ohio

This is the funniest thing I've seen in a while, and what makes it funny is that it is true.

OK- maybe I should explain that: To me it's funny that what we have come to consider as 'beauty' in the Hollywood sense has nothing to do with beauty in itself. It's just money, diet, and exercise. Take those things out, and you'll have a bunch of regular folks.

Here are more examples of what celebrities would look like if they "moved to Ohio." (Someone put together a best-of from this website. Big thank you to ms Dyer for passing it along.)

I'm just saying (cranky teacher edition)

I have stacks of papers to grade and I'd like to do it outside because the weather is nice and a little bit of sun is supposed to be good for you.

But if it isn't leaf blowers it's Irish jigs coming from the other side of the fence. I think that music is the reason why the Irish drink a lot.

this pisses me off

Presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin told Tim Russert this morning that the reason Hillary Clinton is successful among blue collar workers is that she presents herself as having had to work hard for everything, and blue collar workers relate to that. Whereas Barack Obama is an intellectual, and seemingly above gritty work. Even though his life may actually have been harder.

So again it's all about appearance. And the lesson is this: don't make it look easy.

If you make it look easy, people will think that it is.

Make it look hard. Whine and brag and tell people that you've struggled. They will believe you.

I am reminded of a 6'2" black young woman I had for class once on a predominantly white campus. "People think it's easy", she said.

And I had to tell her that people thought it was easy because she made it look easy.

Swallow your pride and whine, is that the advice we should give?

this is from becki

Click here to watch 10 minutes of inspiration. (Just do it.)

from lena. this is toooo funny. (hi ing!)

from monica. she's all about journalism. watch it.

script frenzy

Here is a challenge: write a play, or a screen play, in April. Thirty days, 100 pages. Since I choked so badly on the novel writing challenge last November I am not making any promises. But I do have a cool idea.

yep, I learn things about the motherland on american public radio

I learned today on NPR that since 1999 buying sex is illegal in Sweden, and hence human trafficking to Sweden is now very low. And then there are social programs to help women get an education, and find other ways of supporting themselves. Just saying. Sounds like a pretty good idea.

I don't know why I have such a hard time with bono. maybe it's the glasses.

not immune

Geraldine Ferraro is angry because when she said Barack Obama is lucky to be where he is, and that he wouldn't have been there hadn't he been black, Barack Obama's supporters got angry with her.

So, in an unexpected twist, now she says they are racist for claiming her remarks were racist.

For class I use episodes of Black White, a reality show where a white family and a black family lived together and learned about the other race by wearing makeup that turned them black if they were white, and white if they were black.

The wife of the white family introduces herself as having grown up in a liberal family in the 1960s and 1970s. Her parents were active in the civil rights movement, she says.

In one of the episodes she calls the black woman a bitch, and she cannot understand that is an offensive term. In her mind, that is how black women address each other. And: she doesn't see herself as racist, therefore nothing she says can be racist. There is a whole lot of reality TV drama around that statement.

Geraldine Ferraro uses the same logic. She says that she has fought against oppression her whole life, so nothing she says can be racist.

Peggy McIntosh reminds us that racism doesn't have to come in the shape of outright meanness. The difficult part, now, is for us to realize that as we live in a racist society, racism seeps into us. Even if we try to make ourselves aware of it, racist thought is everywhere. It enters our minds through stories we hear, and images we see.

Because of our radically different life circumstances, when white people use their own experience to determine what is racist and not, very likely people of color will not agree.

Does that mean white people are always wrong? No, it doesn't. But white people should try to be quiet and listen when others want to explain to them what their comments might mean.

as msnbc refers to it: 'race and the race'

I can't help it... it's too funny to me when white men sit on TV panels and decide what's racist and not.

this is all I eat now

I took The Pioneer Woman's suggestion and made a salad dressing that was originally created by Jamie Oliver. And I've had huge salads twice a day ever since. OK it's only been three days but it has changed my life.

The original version contains chopped cilantro, but since it doesn't keep very well I omit it so that I can make a big batch of the dressing and keep it in the fridge for a couple of days. I make sure to include cilantro in whatever salad I am making though because the flavor is pretty irresistible.

I just did some math to make the measurements accessible to everyone. So, go ahead and mix these things:

juice of one lime
8 tablespoons/120 ml olive oil
2 tablespoons/30 ml sesame oil
6 tablespoons/90 ml soy sauce
1/3 cup/80 ml brown sugar
3 tablespoons/45 ml chopped ginger
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 hot peppers, veined and chopped

division of labor

This is me and my friend Åsa. We are at our friend Hans' house in Stockholm, last summer. Åsa is clearly doing the dishes, and I am clearly licking my fingers.

I think Åsa wore that apron for eight hours straight. All the way from cooking dinner, through eating it, and then as we can see for doing the cleaning up. Åsa likes aprons.

So do I. The next day, and every other day while I was staying with Hans, I wore the apron.

What I remember is the smell. It was super nice. After much thinking I realized it came from the tiny bit of fabric that is around Åsa's neck there, and that later was around mine. Whatever scent Åsa is wearing, yum.

life force

Each spring they appear out of dried up wood.

return to childhood

Last week's This American Life was pretty good. (I borrowed the picture from them.)

make it

I made this dressing today (originally from Jamie Oliver), and poured it over cut up cabbage, cauliflower, clover sprouts, red pepper, spring onions, and cilantro. Super good. And then I had some on a cold soft boiled egg. Wow.

pink 1-3

but why do people always bring out their rainbow colored crayons when they want to write the word 'peace'? what's wrong with blue?

I went for a walk in the park today. There were the usual kids on tricycles, couples, spandex clad engineers on bicycles, and families. Everybody need to fit onto the same walkway, and sometimes it gets crowded.

As I was turning around to come back home again I noticed a larger than usual group of people in regular street clothes. (Usually people in the park wear some kind of activity related outfits.)

When I got closer I noticed that some members of the group had signs tied around their necks, and that one person who looked like the leader carried a small sign in front of him.

Reading the signs I realized that the group was, in fact, a 17 person peace demonstration.

As I was observing them I was totally getting ready to make fun of them. It was funny to me that they would call their stroll around the park a 'peace walk'. What did they expect to achieve?, I was thinking.

I remember noticing, when I first moved to California, that the city of Berkeley has announced itself a nuclear free zone. I used to laugh at that too. Upper middle class people making political points, I used to think, instead of making sure kids in Oakland live in knife free zones.

But I think that is unfair. I think each step in the right direction should be applauded. Even if the weather is nice, your snack is organic, and people who don't look too closely mistake you for a family reunion.

I bet they paced their rooms, anxiously

What did people do before leaf blowers?

potato vine

virgina woolf

"A woman's whole life, in a single day. Just one day. And in that day, her whole life."

I think that's how all of our days are, and it's our job to make it a good thing too.

the truth of the day, today

I borrowed the image from one of my favorite blogs.

yep, there ARE differences

Dan says my country is out of control. I think his country is out of control.

getting ready for international women's day

you don't have to take this crap

crisp

purple rain

from the aussie friend, a mom of teenagers, and with an aussie sense of humor

weird vibes

I am on a Barack Obama email list, and most days I get an email where the sender says 'Barack Obama'.

Today the subject line read What happened today.

Sounds a little like someone who wants to explain away something, doesn't it?

I just watched darjeeling limited, and the soundtrack gets you carried away. this version was the best on youtube. hej hasse.

I want to look inside your head (yes I do)