antler international

people are nervous and kind of dumb

One of my favorite blogs these days is Liz Danzico’s Bobulate. Liz is “an independent information architecture and user experience consultant”, and though I don’t know her at all, she is my imaginary/internet friend who is incredibly gifted with language and ideas. I am a bit wary about mentioning the site as I am so in awe of her writing and know mine pales in comparison. Liz’ post about holiday goodbyes from last week really stuck with me. An excerpt:

When leaving, we layer on the parting words, repeating ourselves again and again, only punctuating farewell with a “goodbye” when there’s nothing left to say. In an informal study of these encounters (in one culture anyway), I’ve noted we seem to be guilty of the double, triple, quadruple, and quintuple+ goodbye.

The traditional exchange goes something like:

P1: Bye, and thanks for having me.
P2: Thanks for coming.
P1: See you again soon, I hope.
P2: Absolutely, hope to see you over the holidays.
P1: OK, take care then, and thanks.
P2: Yes, take care.
P1: Hope to see you over the holidays!
P2: Yeah, see you soon. Definitely. Count on it.
P1: OK, thanks again. Bye.
P2: Goodbye. Thanks again for coming.

…And somehow this all reminded me of the best essay in the newish Chuck Klosterman book “Eating the Dinosaur” where he discusses the laugh track in American TV and how Americans use laughter as a conversational crutch. Apparently, Europeans don’t do this.

Here’s Klosterman talking about this phenomenon in the Wall Street Journal:

In the U.S., when you’re making small talk with someone and they say something like, “I just moved here from Denver. It’s really confusing to get around,” you go, ‘ha ha’ and they laugh back. Much the way a laugh tracks function in television shows, it’s this fake laughter we use in conversation. In Germany, no one does that. If you make someone laugh in Germany, they think it’s funny. I’ve been back for over a year now and been desensitized to it. But for the first six months I was back, I really noticed it. You go to a bank and see it all the time, the smiling and laughing. What’s happening at a bank that’s funny? Nothing.

I’ve become hyper-aware of EVERYONE doing this since I read Klosterman’s book. I do it and I want to stop, but I think I will seem like a mirthless asshole. I’ll probably continue to do the repeated goodbye thing as well.

I’m doing my best to get along with humans, but it isn’t easy.

picture if you will

I almost submitted the above photo to the Pictory San Francisco Showcase, but I decided that they would be getting tons of shots of the Golden Gate and I needed to work a little harder than that.

I feel honored to have made the cut among some super-talented photographers on such a beautiful and inspiring new site.

Mine is #14 in the series.

boom shaka

As you can see, the DOJ is now aware of me.

Apparently, all you have to do is sit in a classroom/trailer for five hours to get clearance to work with explosives. This is what makes our country great.

coop scoop

The men are working super hard to build a chicken house in the yard. I’ve seen some extremely fancy ones in recent weeks, but I already have the most affection for ours. They salvaged that window from a neighbor’s trash and worked it into the plan. I’ll be doing my best 5th grade-style paint job on the henhouse next weekend.

Have I joined a chicken group? You bet! Celebrity chicken interviews? But of course! Driven 2 hours to go to a regional poultry show. Fuck yeah!

Expect to see the ladies right around the new year.

recipe: lemony kale salad with dates and almonds

I’m obsessed with kale right now and it appears that I’m not alone. My Facebook posts about kale got immediate and fervent responses - the sort that seem to only come when people talk about Glee or newborns. A surprising number of kale commenters demanded recipes from me. What follows is my best attempt at food blogging.

Lemony Kale Salad with Dates and Almonds
4 small side dish servings

All quantities are approximate. I suggest you freestyle. Dates and almonds were on hand when I first made this and we like the combo, but you should swap out freely. Any dried fruit could sub for the dates, and I bet that toasted hazelnuts or pine nuts would be lovely in place of almonds.

You Need:
3-4 garlic cloves, peeled
kosher salt
2 lemons
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
A bunch of kale - I like black kale
4 pitted dates
1 small handful marcona almonds (about 2 tbsp)

1. Roughly chop the garlic, then smash it to a pulp with about a 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt. I use a mortar & pestle for this, but you could chop it super fine and smash it with the side of a big knife too. Put it in a small bowl, add the juice of the 2 lemons (3-4 tbsp) and whisk. Add the olive oil and whisk again. Let this sit while you get everything else ready.

2. Strip the kale from the stalks and chop into 1-2 inch strips. Put these in a medium mixing bowl.

3. Add the garlic/lemon dressing and toss.

4. Chop up the dates into eighths. Throw them in the bowl.

5. Crush the almonds a little bit in your mortar & pestle. You can also do the knife smash or wrap them in a dish towel and bash them with the bottom of a pan. You want almond pieces, not powder - don’t go crazy.

6. Toss it all together and taste. It is going to be pretty tart & lemony. Is that ok with you? You can always add a little honey or more oil if not. You might think it needs salt and/or pepper and who am I to tell you it doesn’t? I think the salt from the almonds and the garlic is enough, but you can be the boss of your own salad.

7. Put it on a plate and eat it up.

purge-a-thon 2009

I am committed to owning fewer things.

The hard reality of dealing with dead people’s possessions has helped me realize that most of the stuff we own is meaningless and will likely be a hindrance to those we leave behind.

This is not to say that all material things are evil. Hell, a new pair of shoes can make me happy for weeks. The new me just has to ditch at least one of whatever comes in so that clutter will not ensue. There have been a lot of lovely moments over the last year when an item is uncovered that brings back a flood of memories and those are not the things I am talking about.

I don’t give a shit if nobody wants the art in our home. It gives us joy and that is enough. But nobody should have to decide what to do with the 15,000 (really) wood-sticked Q-tips I bought from a medical supply company on a whim. Ditto to the laptop & PC graveyard that is my home office.

It’s all getting donated or going in the trash. The war against crap is on. I’m going to be the lowest-maintenance dead person ever.

winter garden

Finally pulled out the last stragglers from the summer garden - we had tomatoes, shishitos and eggplant going right up until yesterday.

Got some arugula, romanesco, chard, broccoli rabe, beets, kale, thyme, shallots and sage in there for winter. Go little plants go!

Coming soon: chickens!

what's been going on

Well damn, I’ve been rather remiss in updating this blog. I realize that all of these things should be posts unto themselves, but I’ve already taken my Sunday evening Ambien and schluffkins are imminent.

SOME HIGHLIGHTS:

• I’ve become a bona fide hippie. Bees begat garden begat co-ops and such. I’ve been volunteering at Farmlab and learning about urban farming. So far I am inspired by the energy and creativity in that place. I also joined the Hillside Produce Cooperative and traded some figs & tomatoes for grapes, onions, grapefruit, lemons,herbs and more.

• Captured my first bee swarm by my lonesome. I wrote about this at length on the Backwards Beekeepers blog, so you can read about it there if you like. I felt very brave and punk rock afterwards.
• We adopted another feral cat. This one is named George and he currently is not interested in being friends. Doctor (feral cat #1) is still a possible future buddy. He likes to talk to me with his mouth full which is hilarious. I will attempt to videotape this soon.
• Also wrote this article for the LA Times Magazine about the experience of cooking at canele. I enjoyed the writing immensely and hope to do more with them. I wouldn’t mind cooking more either, but I’m not sure how that fits with the spirit of the program.
• …and yes, that lovely pile of produce is from our garden! I was so caught up in the tomato glamour shots that I forgot to get one of the garden itself for historical purposes. Soon - I promise

More proper posts with feelings and shit to come.