Saturday, July 14, 2007

Comfort Food, Tragedy And Stupidity

Filipino restaurants, what a cool idea. In late 1979 I was introduced to Filipino food by a new acquaintance. She made these interesting dishes, but the one I remember the best was sinigang, a tamarind based soup. Many years went by (like 25) and I had this Filipino client and I was describing what I remembered of the taste and how it looked. She was really surprised that I would like such a thing and she taught me how to make it. Mom likes it with shrimp (with the heads on!) but I have had difficulty eating shrimp so I make it with beef. The meat isn't really the important part, it's the tang of the broth and the fresh vegetables that make this dish sing. One of these days I'm going to make it with guava, that should be interesting.

I'm sorry the little boy drowned in the wave pool, but I've been in one and a four year old has no reason to be alone on the beach, much less unattended without an adult relative right next to him in case something bad happens. Especially in this day and age. It can get chaotic very quickly and sometimes it is hard to keep your head above the water. I can swim but treading water is not one of my stronger skills and I would feel more comfortable with a life jacket if I was ever to do it again. This story is tragic and I feel for the family, but we don't need any more laws to regulate safety and crying that lifeguards aren't doing your job is insulting and ridiculous. What we do need is more common sense, it has a broader application and should be slightly more useful. One of those life skill things so it probably won't go over as well as legislating behavior.

At first I was shocked at the comments left on this story, but then I realized it was the OC Register and it all made sense. They are very conservative behind the orange curtain and comprehension isn't one of their strong suits. The article clearly states that the family filed suit only after nothing had been done to prevent the same mistake from happening again. The comments immediately became all about frivolous lawsuits, sleazy lawyers and victim bashing. I'm sorry, if I opened up an email and saw my brother's beheaded body as part of a chain mail, and the CHP had the only photos and did nothing to rectify or prevent the situation from happening again, heads would roll.

Blow-outs. I have neither the time, money or patience to deal with my hair. I used to go through all this, but now it is all about convenience. Mine. Had it done yesterday, no waiting, took 25 minutes and out the door I went. Mom likes it, but this isn't one of my favorite designs. Oh well, it'll grow back. Meanwhile I don't have to do anything but wipe my head for the next two weeks. It's great for hot weather and in the winter I slap on a hat and hat head is not a worry. Neither is bed head.

Whoa! Now that's a stop, look and listen moment. Some white parents don't want their kids to attend a school that is heavily Chinese because they are worried about it being too high pressure and they don't want their kids attending a poor school because it isn't good enough? So how do you expect the kids to compete in the future? Since integration isn't working, how about rebuilding the schools equally (computers for all), hiring competent teachers and paying them well so that all kids receive the same education? Maybe they could rotate the teachers between schools and have financial incentives for people to win, even the students. Money usually works but it has to be productive. I used to think all those 4-H competitions were stupid, now I realize they weren't.

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