Shout It From the Rooftops...

“I gave a talk last week on International Women’s Day, saying that if you think feminism is done then you are looking at the micro-environment you are in. If you go anywhere in the world like the Democratic Republic of Congo, rape is being used as a principal weapon of war then you would shout from the rooftops that you were a feminist. Of all the assets in the world that can be owned, such as buildings, housings only one percent is owned by women although women do 75 percent of the world’s labour — these are not my statistics, these are the UN’s.”
- Sandi Toksvig

Head's up courtesy Bitte Ein Kuss

The Highlights Reel...

Why is it that "Coming to America" gets funnier every time you watch it? Maybe the same reason each helping of food at Thanksgiving is better than the one before it?

I hope your weekend was great!

Happy Thanksgiving...!

via the Internet

Some friends and I will be having our Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday - but for those of you who are State-side, pour one out for your international homies!

Crash Test Dummies...

Last night at water polo, I had a head-on collision with this guy on my team. At a full sprint. Like, our hands didn't collide - providing a muted warning of the pain ahead. No. Full cranium contact. And it hurt.

I'm sure that when the tenderness goes away this story will actually be hilarious, because it's already kind of funny. I mean, only aimee piper, right?!

So on my weekly phone-date-with-mom last night, I casually mentioned my little accident and then she sort of name dropped "concussion". Well, I have no idea what a concussion is - I'm a pretty thick skulled, strong boned girl. But I was nervous because those are not to be trifled with. Luckily my friend Saba (MPH in the house!) was online and I picked her brain ...about my brain. (hahahaha - sometimes I think I'm so funny!)

Saba Y Yo.

Last night - as a precaution - Saba called me regularly throughout the night to make sure that I was okay and not in a coma... or whatever happens when you have a concussion (still not sure).

As evidenced by this semi-cogent report of *health*, I'm okay and fully functional. And about as thick skulled as you can be and still float!

Thanks, Saba. You're a peach!

...How Does Your Garden Grow?

Pretty picture Monday... courtesy Bitte Ein Kuss.

Human... Being

Courtesy Samimi-Extremie

I was thinking about the verb are. OED has it as the 1st person singular present form of be (as well as the 1st, 2nd, 3rd person plural form...). So our bodies are really just souls in action.

I think that's really telling about the nature, design and purpose of humanity.

What do you guys think?

Ain't That Some Shhhhh....

Gwyneth Paltrow is my home girl. Okay... so we're not exactly tight like that, but she's pretty amazing. I know you've heard me wax girl-crush on her before - but subbing on Glee and making learning fun? Swoon.

Let's go get some tacos!

Word On The Street...

Courtesy Dictionary(dot)com:

hallow \HAL-oh\, verb:

1. To make holy; sanctify; consecrate.
Hallow ultimately relates to the Old Norse helga, "health."

Image credit.

Some friends and I went for the opening night of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (part 1) last night - and my reading buddy Bayan came, too. We got to do all kinds of cool field trip things like take the city bus and brave a crowded mall food court for dinner....

While taking the bus home, we all discussed our favorite parts of the movie. One of the things that impressed Bayan the most was that when [SPOILER ALERT] Voldemort exhumed Dumbledore to jack the famed Elder Wand, Dumbledore still sported his famous beard.

**Background information**

Nothing drives me so crazy as learning something - learning the truth about something - that is c.o.m.p.l.e.t.e.l.y opposite to what I had learned in school as a child.

I had been about to tell Bayan that your hair keeps growing when you die... and then I remembered that the fun-fact bomb I was about to drop was more of a fun not-so-fact. So at the last moment, I opted for the truth.

I started with all of the enthusiasm of 'knowledge is cool :: guess what!?!' and finished with a ho-hum "when you die, your hair gets longer because your skin goes away".

Awkward for the win.

...All Night Long

I should be asleep... workout was pretty tough tonight - mostly because I forewent (is that a word?) my afternoon snack in favor of a [second] cup of coffee. Was it any surprise, then, that I should be starving half-way through our set of 100s?

And now I'm magically chipper (if largely incoherent) at 1/2 past midnight. Yay.

Thankfully, this song is amazing. And so is the video.

*I love concept albums/videos. And cartoons.

Hopefully my love for this song will be enough to carry me through what could be a loooooong day tomorrow. Well, that plus coffee.

Curious and Curiouser....

Courtesy Kisssing ...A Love Blog:

"The first symptom of love in a young man is shyness; the first symptom in a woman, it's boldness."
-- Victor Hugo

Earth to...

I've sort of been feeling like a space cadet, lately. My ordinarily not inconsiderable child-sized attention space is reaching epic proportions.

Any handy, tried and true secrets for 'snapping out of it' you may have are completely welcome.

Cheers.

**Beyond a vague and general "the interwebs", I've forgotten where I first spotted this picture. See.......!

Keeping It Real...

Courtesy Melody Ehsani

You know I'm an optimist, right?

Compliments To The Chef....

Celebrating Thanksgiving - which is, essentially, America's "national holiday" (apologies to the Independence Day enthusiasts) - in Israel is actually really awesome. I won't exhaust your attention spans by compiling a comprehensive list of all of the things I'm thankful for... but you get the idea.

Preparing a 'traditional' Thanksgiving feast outside of the States can prove a little tricky, though. But I sort of feel that we Americans abroad have an opportunity to somehow keep it [more] real at this time of year. Scouring the Arab meat market (note the a) for a turkey you have to clean and prep yourself; hoarding green beans, mushroom soup and french's fried onions one.can.at.a.time for months [don't sleep on my green bean casserole, friends. It's the bizz.]; downloading Marilyn Monroe's stuffing recipe....

Marilyn Monroe

Wait. What?

Yes. Marilyn Monroe's long lost stuffing recipe got a shout out in the NYTimes. And it looks delicious.

They tweaked it a little, but here it is, adapted from "Fragments" - a collection of letters, poems, and recipes from Lady Monroe herself:

Time: 2 hours

No garlic

A 10-ounce loaf sourdough bread

1/2 pound chicken or turkey livers or hearts

1/2 pound ground round or other beef

1 tablespoon cooking oil

4 stalks celery, chopped

1 large onion, chopped

2 cups chopped curly parsley

2 eggs, hard boiled, chopped

1 1/2 cups raisins

1 cup grated Parmesan

1 1/4 cups chopped walnuts, pine nuts or roasted chestnuts, or a combination

2 teaspoons dried crushed rosemary

2 teaspoons dried crushed oregano

2 teaspoons dried crushed thyme

3 bay leaves

1 tablespoon salt-free, garlic-free poultry seasoning (or 1 teaspoon dried sage, 1 teaspoon marjoram, 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger and 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg)

1 tablespoon kosher salt, plus more to taste

1 tablespoon pepper.

1. Split the bread loaf in half and soak it in a large bowl of cold water for 15 minutes. Wring out excess water over a colander and shred into pieces.

2. Boil the livers or hearts for 8 minutes in salted water, then chop until no piece is larger than a coffee bean.

3. In a skillet over medium-high heat, brown the ground beef in the oil, stirring occasionally and breaking up the meat, so no piece is larger than a pistachio.

4. In your largest mixing bowl, combine the sourdough, livers, ground beef, celery, onion, parsley, eggs, raisins, Parmesan and nuts, tossing gently with your hands to combine. Whisk the rosemary, oregano, thyme, bay leaves, poultry seasoning, salt and pepper together in a bowl, scatter over the stuffing and toss again with your hands. Taste and adjust for salt. Refrigerate, covered, until ready to use as a stuffing or to bake separately as dressing.

Yield: 20 cups, enough for one large turkey, 2 to 3 geese or 8 chickens.

Enjoy!

To Do List...

Courtesy ...etc.

Go Big Or Go Home...?

Hagrid's g-chat away message.

...in honor of HP7 version 1 :: T-minus 10 days and counting.

To The Rescue...!

Omid & Aimee

[Detective Danger & Smarty Pants]

What do you do on 31 October in a country that doesn't celebrate Halloween (the day that happens to be your favorite holiday of all time!)?

Unleash the preppy digs [I swear I wore proper shoes later - Rainbows are just so good to your feet!] and a pair of "vanity glasses".

And voila! A prototype superhero - at your leisure.

Lanvin For H&M...

Courtesy {This Is Glamorous}

Please, God... let it come to Israel too!

That's What I'm Talking About...!

Courtesy USA Water Polo

When I was home visiting my family this summer, I had the honor of training a couple of days with the boys varsity water polo team at the high school my mom works at: Aliso Niguel High School.

As an athlete and as a lady, it was such a treat to practice with these guys - they were totally welcoming of me and were real gentlemen.

Imagine my delight when I got an email from my mom yesterday informing me that the captain of this team had been selected as USA Water Polo's player of the month: November?!

Dear the Wolverines: I wish you all a successful season! ...and try to get my mom to at least one game. Oh! Hey, mom......

Commerce...

Meet the Commerce Water Polo Club.

When I first started playing club water polo in Southern California, the girls on my team (shout out to T.R.A.P.) reserved a special and reverent tone - almost a whisper - for the discussion of this team. At that time, in 1996, Brenda Villa was playing at Stanford, where she had earned a full athletic/academic scholarship, for the US Women's National Team, and, rumor had it, volunteering at a local hospital.

Now that I see this video (courtesy ABC News in LA via USA Water Polo, it makes total sense.

As a side note... this is such an excellent example of community service. Everything that you see is sponsored entirely by businesses in Commerce, CA. ...and is available to all children resident in Commerce. The benefits are exponential - and so tremendous!

Kimia Kline...

So you know that I'm, like, surrounded by super talented people, right? I know... it sounds like I'm bragging - but I sometimes feel like I can't take take a step without running in to some kind of wonderful artist, musician, athlete, human.

Kimia Kline (nee Ferdowsi) is one such friend. We served together for a time, here in Haifa - and she's such a gifted artist! ...as evidenced below:

"Lily"

"Love" envelope

I am so happy to share that Kimia has finally (so, seriously - finally!) launched a Web site specifically devoted to showcasing her talent. It's called Alkeemi Paintings.

So go over - check it out. And in the meantime, I'll try to think of a synonym for "talent(ed)".

All Saints Day...

The Baha'i Writings speak of music as being "the ladder of the soul".

This video, spotted on Tralalere! (linked at the right) is the most concrete example of this belief that I have ever seen.

Alice, who turns 107 this month, is the oldest Holocaust survivor. As you will see, it is literally music that saved her life.

I hope that you enjoy the trailer - I can't wait to see the feature length!