Fungi Love

I love mushrooms. I love mushrooms so much that yesterday I went to a special mushroom store and spent $15 on a handful of the most scrumptuous mushrooms I've ever eaten. They are called King Trumpets and are the most meaty, flavorful 'shrooms ever.

But I love 'em all: Shiitake, Oyster, Maitake, Portabello, Bear's Head, Button, Tree, those little tiny stringy white ones whose name I don't remember. The more exotic, the better. The more resembling a nasty moldy growth, the better. I feel woodsy and earthy when I eat them. I feel closer to the dirt.

The SF Board of Supervisors named April 1 Far West Fungi Day after the local mushroom farm by the same name. This day is meant to honor these local heroes for their invaluable contribution to our culinary intelligence and feeling of deep connection to the dirt.

I can't help it

This guy's writing is just too good to go unnoticed by any of you. Here's just a tiny blurb from today's column...

"...Do you see? This means that the war in Iraq is a good thing, because war brings us closer to the Final Conflict. War is what God wants. And nature, that pathetic and disposable handmaiden to humankind's happy bloodlust, is merely the fuel, the playpen, for that happy eventuality. Earth is but a finite resource given by God to humanity and meant to be all used up as fast as possible and the faster we use it all up the sooner Jesus comes. Just like Santa..."

I highly recommend reading the whole thing: Why Does God Hate Caribou?

Perfect PMS Food

Roasted Sweet Almonds

Try this sure-fired, guilt-free way to kick the PMS cravings, get the protein you need, and give your mouth a taste orgasm:

1) Spread a few handfuls of almonds on a baking sheet

2) Douse with a good quality olive oil

3) Coat with a unrefined, unprocessed sweetener, like Agave or honey

4) Bake for 15 minutes at 400' or until very dark brown

5) Let cool

Enjoy!

Reminder

In case you thought things might be getting better, I'll disavow you of that notion right now by presenting to you the first three names of the 20 partisan judges re-nominated by GW, and a description of the kind of god's work they've been involved with in their long and loathsome careers...(courtesy of MoveOn.org)


1) William Myers III has never been a judge and spent most of his career as a lobbyist for the cattle and mining industry. He has written that all habitat conservation laws are unconstitutional because they interfere with potential profit. In 2001, Bush appointed him as the chief lawyer for the Department of the Interior. In that role he continued as a champion of corporate interests, setting his agenda in meetings with former employers he promised not to speak with, and even illegally giving away sacred Native American land to be strip mined.

2) Terrence Boyle was a legal aide to Jesse Helms. As a judge, his signature decisions have attempted to circumvent federal laws barring employment discrimination by race, gender, and disability. His rulings have been overturned a staggering 120 times by the conservative 4th District Court of Appeals, either due to gross errors in judgment or simple incompetence.

3) William Pryor Jr. served as Attorney General of Alabama, where he took money from Phillip Morris, fought against the anti-tobacco lawsuit until it was almost over, and cost the people of Alabama billions in settlement money for their healthcare system as a result. He called Roe v. Wade "the worst abomination of constitutional law in our history," and has consistently argued against the federal protections for the civil rights of minorities, lesbian and gay couples, women, and the disabled.

In other words

Perhaps an alternate title to my last blog entry should be,
"A Day in the Life of a Whiny Western Yuppie".

You can't win for losin'

Yesterday:

MCI (worst company ever) calls to tell me they've sent our account to a collection agency. After much ill-exerted anxiety and argument, it's their fault.

I shatter a glass candle holder.

I have my interview with EDD regarding part-time unemployment benefits. I disqualify myself by stating I'm currently enrolled in a training program which may cut into the traditional 40 hour work week. My application is thrown out and I have to apply again in a month - and lie better.

I go to my car and have a ticket.

I'm at an intersection with my foot on the brake. I reach down to get my toll money from my purse. My foot slides off the brake. I rear-end the 60ish African American woman in front of me.

I go to a discount sporting goods store to buy more much needed yoga tops. The fitting room is full of fluorescents. Enough said.

I go to the dentist for the most painful cleaning of my life. I'm told, once again, that I don't floss enough, need a mouth guard, and my gums are in terrible shape. I'm expected to return next week for a more thorough cleaning; one that will require Novicain.

I go to a lingerie store to exchange a bra. The fitting room is full of fluorescents. Enough said.

I go to my therapy appointment and have run out of things to say 30 minutes into it. I write a check for $95.

I return home to a venomous email from my mother.

I fall asleep on the couch and roll over onto my glasses, bending them out of shape.

Thankfully today is a much different day.

Who needs credentials?

So Bono is in the running to be the new President of the World Bank, eh?
Why?

Because he's a nice guy? Because he's a good musician? Because he spent a twenty seconds of his life contemplating the human rights, AIDS, and economic development crises in Africa then proceeded to throw his money and clout to a few aid organizations?

How does being a rock or movie star give one the credentials needed to be an ambassador to a developing country or the head of the most influential economic development body in the world?

Is it really enough to be Angelina Jolie and passionate about refugee orphans in Cambodia to make you the highest ranking diplomat to a country with incredibly complex socio-political and economic issues within a larger conflict zone?

I don't get it.

I mean I get the part about needing A-list celebrities to take up the gauntlet of a cause to call mainstream attention and attract funding. (I mean I'm fine with the fact that Glen Close was invited to the World Social Forum and I wasn't.) What I don't get is what anyone thinks Bono or Angelina Jolie know about poverty, politics, or the complex world of international development. I mean, really, take away their hollywood cache and I'm not sure what would stand up in an job interview.