kidzdoc is living the highlife in 2016, part 5

    

And After Many Days by Jowhor Ile
Black in Latin America by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Life on Mars by Tracy K. Smith

Completed books: (TBR = book acquired prior to 1/1/15)

January:
1. My Struggle: Book One by Karl Ove Knausgaard (TBR) (review)
2. Walking Prey: How America's Youth Are Vulnerable to Sex Slavery by Holly Austin Smith (review)
3. Ru by Kim Thúy (review)
4. Fifth Business by Robertson Davies (TBR) (review)
5. Bodies of Light by Sarah Moss (review)

February:
6. Stokely: A Life by Peniel E. Joseph (TBR) (review)
7. Literary Lapses by Stephen Leacock (review)
8. When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
9. How to Be Drawn by Terrance Hayes
10. The Weight of Shadows: A Memoir of Immigration & Displacement by José Orduña
11. Ready to Burst by Frankétienne (TBR)
12. Don't Let Me Be Lonely: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine

Books purchased or acquired in 2016 (purchased books in bold):

January:
1. Ottolenghi: The Cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi (4 Jan, gift book from brother)
2. The Sea by Blai Bonet (4 Jan, gift book from brother)
3. Walking Prey: How America's Youth Are Vulnerable to Sex Slavery by Holly Austin Smith (6 Jan, Amazon Kindle e-book)
4. Ludwika: A Polish Woman's Struggle To Survive In Nazi Germany by Christoph Fischer (20 Jan, Amazon Kindle free e-book)
5. Snowball in a Blizzard: A Physician's Notes on Uncertainty in Medicine (23 Jan, gift from MichiganTrumpet)

February:
6. Literary Lapses by Stephen Leacock (1 Feb, Amazon Kindle free e-book)
7. Christopher and Columbus by Elizabeth von Arnim (2 Feb, Amazon Kindle free e-book)
8. Pioneer Work in Opening the Medical Profession to Women by Elizabeth Blackwell (3 Feb, Amazon Kindle free e-book)
9. The Weight of Shadows: A Memoir of Immigration & Displacement by José Orduña (8 Feb, LT Early Reviewers book)
10. When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi (8 Feb, Barnes & Noble)
11. Soups, Stews and Casseroles (Food Writers' Favorites) by MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) (13 Feb, gift from Mom)
12. Negroland: A Memoir by Margo Jefferson (13 Feb, Amazon)
13. The Indian Slow Cooker: 50 Healthy, Easy, Authentic Recipes by Anupy Singla (22 Feb, B&N)

2016 Reading Globally Themes and possible reads from my TBR collection:

First quarter: Writers from the Caribbean



Alejo Carpentier, The Lost Steps
Patrick Chamoiseau, Solibo Magnificent; Texaco
Edwidge Danticat, Claire of the Sea Light; The Farming of Bones; Krik? Krak!
Frantz Fanon, Black Skin, White Masks; The Wretched of the Earth
Frankétienne, Ready to Burst
Marlon James, The Book of Night Women
Linton Kwesi Johnson, Selected Poems
Peniel E. Joseph, Stokely: A Life
Oonya Kempadoo, All Decent Animals
George Lamming, The Emigrants
Earl Lovelace, Is Just a Movie; Salt
E. A. Markham, The Three Suitors of Fred Belair
Paule Marshall, The Fisher King
Shiva Naipaul, Fireflies; North of South
V.S. Naipaul, The Enigma of Arrival; The Loss of El Dorado; India: A Wounded Civilization;
The Writer and the World: Essays
Orlando Patterson, The Cultural Matrix: Understanding Black Youth; The Ordeal of Integration
Caryl Phillips, The European Tribe; The Lost Child; The Nature of Blood
Claudia Rankine, Don't Let Me Be Lonely: An American Lyric
Monique Roffey, Archipelago
Simone Schwarz-Bart, The Bridge of Beyond
Lyonel Trouillot, Children of Heroes
Derek Walcott, Omeros

Second quarter: Writers at Risk

Third quarter: Soviet and Post Soviet Writers

Fourth quarter: Dictators, Dictatorships and Other Forms of Tyranny

2015 Booker Prize longlist:

Did You Ever Have a Family by Bill Clegg
The Green Road by Anne Enright
A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James
The Moor's Account by Laila Lalami
Satin Island by Tom McCarthy
The Fishermen by Chigozie Obioma
The Illuminations by Andrew O'Hagan
Lila by Marilynne Robinson
Sleeping on Jupiter by Anuradha Roy
The Year of the Runaways by Sunjeev Sahota
The Chimes by Anna Smaill
A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

2016 Booker Prize longlist:

2015 Wellcome Book Prize shortlist:

The Iceberg by Marion Coutts
Do No Harm by Henry Marsh
Bodies of Light by Sarah Moss
The Incredible Unlikeliness of Being by Alice Roberts
My Age of Anxiety by Scott Stossel
All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews

2016 Wellcome Book Prize shortlist:

Books about Medicine and Public Health:



1. Walking Prey: How America's Youth Are Vulnerable to Sex Slavery by Holly Austin Smith
2. When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

Literature from the African diaspora:
Ready to Burst by Frankétienne

Nonfiction from the African diaspora:
Stokely: A Life by Peniel E. Joseph

Poetry from the African diaspora:
How to Be Drawn by Terrance Hayes
Don't Let Me Be Lonely: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine

Planned reads for the ABC (AmBritCan) Challenge:

Am=American Authors Challenge/Pulitzer Prize Challenge (A, P)
Brit=British Authors Challenge (B)
Can=Canadian Authors Challenge (C)



Planned reads:

January:
Anne Tyler, A Spool of Blue Thread (A)
Robertson Davies, Fifth Business (the first novel in The Deptford Trilogy) (C)
Kim Thúy, Ru (C)

February:
Stephen Leacock, Literary Lapses (C)
Tracy Smith, Life on Mars: Poems (P)

March:
Ali Smith, How to Be Both (B)
Paul Harding, Tinkers (P)

April:
Margaret Atwood, The Blind Assassin (C)
Michael Crummey, Galore (C)
Hanif Kureishi, The Black Album (B)

May:
Emily St. John Mandel, Station Eleven (C)
Robert A. Caro, Master of the Senate (P)

June:
Sinclair Lewis, Arrowsmith (P)

July:
David Levering Lewis, W.E.B. DuBois: Biography of a Race, 1868-1919 (P)
H.G. Wells, The Time Machine (B)

August:
Joyce Carol Oates, Black Girl/White Girl (A)
Ian McEwan, Amsterdam (B)

September:
Doris Lessing, Martha Quest (B)
Miriam Toews, All My Puny Sorrows (C)

October:
Michael Chabon, Telegraph Avenue (A)
Lawrence Hill, Someone Knows My Name (C)
Caroline Elkins, Imperial Reckoning: The Untold Story of Britain's Gulag in Kenya (P)

November:
Michael Ondaatje, In the Skin of a Lion (C)
Rebecca West, The Return of the Soldier (B)

December:
Alice Munro, The View from Castle Rock (C)
Rawi Hage, De Niro's Game (C)
Caryl Phillips, The Lost Child (B)

Planned reads for February:

African Rhythms: The Autobiography of Randy Weston by Randy Weston
And After Many Days by Jowhor Ile
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Don't Let Me Be Lonely: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine
How to Be Drawn by Terrance Hayes
The Incredible Unlikeliness of Being by Alice Roberts
Ready to Burst by Frankétienne
Stokely: A Life by Peniel E. Joseph
Literary Lapses by Stephen Leacock
Texaco by Patrick Chamoiseau
The Weight of Shadows: A Memoir of Immigration & Displacement by José Orduña
When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

Good Sunday morning, everyone! I'll check back in later, after I go to the supermarket and bagel shop and have breakfast.

While your out at the shops Darryl I will stop by and wish you a very happy new thread.

Happy new thread, Darryl! I've been meaning to let you know that we tried the North African Bean Stew recipe and loved it - definitely one we will make again.

Good morning!

Cheers to your new thread, Darryl! Now that you've mentioned bagels, I want one too, but at 2f that's not going to happen.

Happy New Thread, Darryl. Enjoy your Sunday. I'll be able to finish Nine Lives. Gorgeous book. Will post my review this evening.

Happy Sunday, Darryl! Happy New Thread! You have been busy this morning. I enjoyed the political conversation, from the last thread, particularly the Scalia comments. And let's not forget that Reagan appointed Anthony Kennedy in '88, the last year in his presidency.

Looking forward to your thoughts on When Breath Becomes Air. I have heard nothing but glowing reports.

Happy new thread and happy Sunday!

Also looking forward to hearing what you think of When Breath Becomes Air. Some of my library patrons were talking about it last week so it's inching it's way onto my TBR list.

Happy new thread, Darryl!

>11 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul. I've finished shopping and had breakfast, so I'll start cooking soon, as I have a lot to do today. I'll make chicken and Andouille sausage jambalaya for lunch, slow cooked white chicken chili for dinner, and, if I have time, another caramelized onion, mixed mushroom and Gruyere quiche. My supply of food is running low, so I need to stock up on leftovers. I'll be either working or on backup call eight of the next nine days, and I'll have to vote and go to my group's monthly meeting on my only definite day off during that stretch.

>12 souloftherose: Thanks, Heather! I'm glad that you enjoyed the North African Bean Stew. I'll make it again soon, although I'll probably make the African Sweet Potato Soup with Peanut Butter, Black-eyed Peas and Beans recipe that I like even better.

>13 _Zoe_: Good morning, Zoë!

>14 Carmenere: Thanks, Lynda! It was 28 F (-2 C) when I left just before 7 am to go to Publix, which is cold enough, but nowhere near as cold as it is in northeastern Ohio.

>15 Ameise1: Good morning, Barbara! I look forward to your review of Nine Lives. I nearly bought a copy of it last year when I went to Daunt Books with Debbi & Joe, but I put it back. I may have to get it in the near future.

>16 msf59: Thanks, Mark! I'm glad that you enjoyed the political discussion. I found it very helpful to discuss the merits of the two Democratic candidates, and I think it's very important for all of us to think critically about all of the candidates, Democratic, Republican, or independent, so that we can make informed decisions when it comes time to vote. I hope that others got as much out of this discussion as I did.

Needless to say, Justice Scalia's death was the lead headline in today's NYT and AJC (Atlanta Journal-Constitution), and NPR's Weekend Edition led with a nearly 15 minute story about him this hour.

Good point about President Reagan successfully nominating Anthony Kennedy to the Supreme Court in the last year of his second term in office. I'll remember that if I read or hear any conservatives who claim that President Obama should not be allowed to choose Antonin Scalia's replacement this year (as you've probably heard, he announced that he would choose a nominee soon).

>17 bell7: Thanks, Mary! I started reading When Breath Becomes Air late last night, and hopefully I can finish it by this evening.

>18 scaifea: Thanks, Amber! What time will you be coming over to have quiche?

>19 kidzdoc: - Good morning, Darryl. That soup sounds delicious!!

Someone on another forum I frequent (not LT) suggested that Obama could appoint himself as the replacement. But someone else there said that he had said before that he had no interest in being on the Supreme Court.

Someone else posted, (tongue in cheek, I am guessing...;-)), : "Get the popcorn; it's on!" (referring, I suppose, to the *show* that is surely to follow). As a Canadian, I had no idea or knowledge about this aspect of the justice system. It will be interesting to see how it unfolds and how the domino effect will impact the Main Show...

-35C here with the wind chill. But bright and sunny. I may venture out to top up the bird feeder. I did that on Friday but it's already half empty. I honestly don't know how those critters survive this weather!

I will try to finish my book and bake up another batch of yummy oatmeal peanut butter chocolate chip cookies this afternoon

>21 jessibud2: Good morning, Shelley! Both of those soups are fabulous. I made the North African Bean Stew for the first time last month, and the African Sweet Potato Soup is probably my favorite vegetable soup or stew.

Marianne commented on my Facebook post yesterday that Obama could resign, Vice President Joe Biden could replace him, and then nominate him to the Supreme Court. She was kidding, of course, but it would be worth it to see the reactions of the Republican leadership and presidential candidates.

One of the most important responsibilities that a US president has is to appoint nominees to the Supreme Court, the highest court in the land, whose rulings on law are vitally important to most people in the country. Because the court was almost evenly split, with 4 liberals, 4 conservatives and 1 moderate, the death of one of the most conservative and influential judges and the possibility that he could be replaced with a liberal (highly unlikely) or a moderate nominated by a Democrtic president, who could tip the balance in 5-4 judicial decisions, would be a massive story at any time, but even more so during a presidential election year. As that poster said, it's definitely on; Obama's last year in office, traditionally known here as a "lame duck" year, has now taken on monumental importance, as he has stated that he will choose a replacement for Justice Scalia, as the Republicans have vowed to block his ability to do so. Last night's Republican presidential debate began with an homage to Scalia, and each candidate said in no uncertain terms that Obama should not be allowed to choose a new Supreme Court justice.

-35 C? Wow! The coldest of days are always the brightest and sunniest ones, right? The coldest day I've ever experienced (from the comfort of indoors) was several years ago, when I visited my friends in Middeton, Wisconsin, just west of Madison, the state capital. The air temperature that morning was -17 F (-27 C), but the wind chill was -37 F (-38 C). The Madison area schools were closed, as they do when the wind chill is -35 F or less, but my friend (a pediatric neurologist at the University of Wisconsin Medical School) had to go to the hospital, as the clinic wasn't cancelled. The coldest day I've ever been outside was in January 1994, during my first year in medical school at Pitt (the University of Pittsburgh), which was the coldest day in the city's history. The low temperature for the day was -22 F (-30 C), and I think that it was -15 F (-26 C) when I decided to drive to my bank in Squirrel Hill that Saturday morning. The bank was open, but no one with any common sense wasn't outside that Saturday morning (other than me, apparently), so I was able to park in front of the bank. Even though I was only outside for less than a minute I noticed that my mustache was covered with ice from the time I walked out of the bank and back into my car.

Mmm...cookies sound good! I'll start making jambalaya now, which should be ready in time for lunch.

Hi Darryl
I'll post my brother's quick way to make preserved lemons this week. There is also a recipe from Claudia Roden in her book Tamarind and Saffron that takes four days instead of the usual four weeks.
We have had very cold weather this weekend in Toronto- a lot of minus 20 degrees celsius. Today just -11 C.

>20 kidzdoc: The review is now on my thread, Darryl. I recommend this book highly.

Alright...the jambalaya is done, and the white chicken chili is going in the slow cooker. I'll cook some chicken thighs and rice tonight to have more pollo ciudad for dinner, and that should do it for my cooking for today.

>23 torontoc: Thanks, Cyrel! I'm definitely interested in learning your brother's recipe for preserved lemon. I'll look for the recipe in Tamarind and Saffron as well.

-11 C = 12 F: brr.

>24 Ameise1: Thanks, Barbara. I'm off to check your review of Nine Lives now.

Hi Darryl! I was chuckling over your description of Stephen Leacock on your last thread - he's an important figure in early Canadian literature, but I think his writing is just awful! I had to read Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town in university, and for such a small book, it was such a slog to finish. I won't be reading him again any time soon!

Have a great rest of your Sunday!

>26 Cait86: Hi, Cait! Literary Lapses was a little over 100 pages in length, but I thought that I would never finish it. I skimmed through most of the second half of it, as I only liked three or four of the stories in it. Given your comments about Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town I think I'll pass on it for now.

What did you cook this weekend?

Happy new thread Darryl.

I've been reading along with they political chat, interesting. I own I'd like to see a woman President, and Hillary has such a breadth of experience. As an article here recently suggested, Bernie is likely nudging Hillary slightly more left too.

I like the thought of Obama in the Supreme Court, ha, now that would give Mr Trump the colliwobbles if anything would :-)

It is cold here and I thought lamb stew sounded perfect for the weather. I was unable to go to the store to get lamb for the stew yesterday (I had to get parts and make a repair on my washer door) so made beef stew instead. I used the Mark Bittman recipe from his How to Cook Everything cookbook. I threw in all kinds of veggies along with the beef. I had beans, a little bacon, carrots, celery, onions, potatoes, and mushrooms. It was warm and filling with the frozen cornbread I had made two weeks ago. Wonderful for the weather.

Happy Sunday, buddy.

Looking forward to hearing what you think of When Breath Becomes Air. Debbi has that one, but hasn't read it yet.

>27 kidzdoc: I did a ton of cooking this weekend! Friday night I made hot and sour soup (it was just okay, but it did stop me from ordering takeout), and then yesterday I made curried carrot soup and blueberry-lemon muffins. Today for lunch I had this: http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2015/03/baked-chickpeas-with-pita-chips-and-yogur... and it was amazing! Tomorrow is a holiday in Ontario (Family Day), so I'll make roasted leek and white bean galettes. All of this should get me through this week!

>22 kidzdoc: Last night's Republican presidential debate began with an homage to Scalia, and each candidate said in no uncertain terms that Obama should not be allowed to choose a new Supreme Court justice.
For a party that professes to love the Constitution, that's ridiculous. Some of my Facebook friends have been posting verbatim the sections that pertain to the President's right to do so. I liked this from Elizabeth Warren:

The sudden death of Justice Scalia creates an immediate vacancy on the most important court in the United States.

Senator McConnell is right that the American people should have a voice in the selection of the next Supreme Court justice. In fact, they did — when President Obama won the 2012 election by five million votes.

Article II Section 2 of the Constitution says the President of the United States nominates justices to the Supreme Court, with the advice and consent of the Senate. I can't find a clause that says "...except when there's a year left in the term of a Democratic President."

Senate Republicans took an oath just like Senate Democrats did. Abandoning the duties they swore to uphold would threaten both the Constitution and our democracy itself. It would also prove that all the Republican talk about loving the Constitution is just that — empty talk.

I would like to keep talking about the women's rights issue for a minute.

First of all - Hillary Clinton probably did not put either Madeleine Albrite or Gloria Steinem up to bringing up women's issues in this campaign. Both of those women are more than capable of bringing up women's rights on their own because they have been champions of women's rights for many years. They said what they said out of concern for the future of women in this country.

Secondly - I agree wholeheartedly with what Bernie Sanders said about the Republican party saying that they want government out of our lives except or when it comes to the parts about women getting to make decisions about their own bodies.

The fight for Women's Rights is not over and the younger generation has some hard lessons to learn. As college and university students I work with simply don't think that the problem of unequal pay and unequal benefits for women and single parents involves them. Those issues are only for low income and minority women. (Yes, a female university student said that to me.) The majority of women with whom I work believe that they will receive the same pay as men for the same jobs. Since most of the business school graduates will be working for a salary and not an hourly wage, most of them are destined for a wake-up call at some point in the future.

This discussion is of national and long-range importance and to simply dismiss this flap as a name-calling game is wrong. Women are being short-changed every day and part of the answer to the problem is to vote more women into public office and from there force large companies to put women into positions of power within these companies. My university is a case-in-point. It had its token woman president and when her six year stint was over it is back to business as usual with an all male headquarters.

>28 Caroline_McElwee: Thanks, Caroline. I'd also love to see a woman ascend to the presidency in the US, although, as I said on my last thread, I'd greatly prefer it if the US Senator Elizabeth Warren from Massachusetts was the first one, instead of Hillary Clinton. I do hope that she decides to run for the presidency in 2020 or 2024, as I would support her wholeheartedly and without the reservations I have about Hillary Clinton.

If Barack Obama ascended to the Supreme Court at least half of the Republican leadership would succumb to hypertensive strokes en masse. I would pay dearly to see that happen.

>29 benitastrnad: I love hearty soups and stews at any time of the year, but they are especially delightful in the winter months. I've become progressively more fond of lamb than beef, but I'll gladly take a beef stew such as the one you made, Benita. I still have several containers of harira (Moroccan lamb, chickpea and spinach soup) left from the batch I made two weeks ago, so I'll have that at least once this coming week.

I need to learn how to make cornbread, as it would go well with the vegetarian stews and soups I've made recently. My father makes a killer cornbread, so I'll have to give his version a try next week or the following one if I have to work on my backup days this coming week.

>33 benitastrnad: I have to take issue with the condescension in your claims that young women are simply ignorant.

It's perfectly possible to acknowledge the existing gender imbalances while still believing that that's no longer the most important issue in the world. Receiving equal pay for my comfortable middle-class work is absolutely insignificant compared to the problems faced by many less fortunate people in this country. I had food on the table every day while growing up; I received a good education and was free to pursue a career of my choice; I don't have to worry that I'll be harassed or even killed in a routine interaction with police.

At a time when many women (and men) are working minimum-wage jobs with unpredictable hours and no benefits, struggling just to get by, the business-school grads with their salaried careers are just not the ones we need to worry about the most.

I'm here and I've been reading your thread. I don't like to comment on the politics as I'm watching from afar so will leave it to...please get Trump out of politics. America's foreign policy affects every country in the world so one does have concerns.

>35 _Zoe_: - Thank you for that, Zoe. Couldn't agree more.

It's so sad that partisan politics has reached the level it has. When Scalia was nominated he was confirmed unanimously because he was considered a good jurist. Now the Republicans say they will block anyone the President nominates simply because the President nominated them.

>20 kidzdoc: informed choices on political candidates are hard to come by, since most politicians tend to appeal to people's more shallow sides....like by grabbing a contentious issue and giving an outlandish definitive solution to it, or by being populist/popular in other ways. Out prime minister achieves the latter by appearing on the breakfast show of every commercial radio station and joking around with the DJs.

Your current supreme court judge issue (if that is even what it is?!) has got me interested and confuddled. So much seems to ride on the outcome.

>32 lauralkeet: - If that quote is true and accurate, shouldn't someone be reminding Trump and his crones about this? Sheesh!!

>34 kidzdoc: - "If Barack Obama ascended to the Supreme Court at least half of the Republican leadership would succumb to hypertensive strokes en masse. I would pay dearly to see that happen." Lol, Darryl. Like this campaign needs more action to stir things up, ;-)........ It's going to be a long 9 more months, isn't it...

Wow, trying to keep up with your threads is almost as difficult as trying to understand the current US election news. Happy to finally find my way to this thread with the ability to say "I caught up!" Sounds like you have some wonderful meal plans in the works. Happy new thread Darryl!

I was too full from my bowl of jambalaya for lunch to have dinner, so I now have a dozen containers of jambalaya and white chicken chili in individual Tupperware containers for the coming week. I'll cook the four chicken thighs I bought today for pollo ciudad tomorrow, and make a few vegetarian recipes during the week, assuming that I'll be off from Tuesday through Friday. The hospital census has plummeted since this past Friday, which bodes well for me not being needed for backup call on Tuesday, Thursday or Friday.

>30 jnwelch: Happy Sunday, Joe! Now that I've nearly finished cooking for the day I'll be able to get back to When Breath Becomes Air. I won't finish it today, but I should be able to do so by tomorrow. It's excellent so far.

>31 Cait86: Good work, Cait! From our past discussions I know that you usually cook on weekends, as I do, so I'm always interested to see what you've made. The baked chickpeas with pita chips and yogurt looks fabulous, so I think I'll give that a try this coming week. Other than the amazing caramelized onion, mixed mushrooms and Gruyere quiche I haven't baked any breads, cakes or muffins, so I'll have to expand my repertoire in the near future and try some recipes. The roasted leek and white bean galettes sound interesting, so I'd love to hear how they turn out.

>32 lauralkeet: Many of the current Republican "leaders" in Congress are hypocritical and dishonest, IMO. As Mark said, President Reagan successfully nominated Anthony Kennedy to the Supreme Court during his last year in office, so I'll remember to mention that if anyone says that President Obama shouldn't be allowed to nominate a replacement for Antonin Scalia. If they choose to block a well qualified and respected candidate like Sri Srinivasan, who was unanimously chosen by the Senate in a 97-0 vote to the US District Court in DC, then their petty political gamesmanship may (and hopefully will) backfire on them in the upcoming congressional elections.

That's a great comment by Elizabeth Warren. Sigh...if only she was running for president.

>33 benitastrnad: Hillary Clinton probably did not put either Madeleine Albright or Gloria Steinem up to bringing up women's issues in this campaign.

Ooh...I don't think I agree with that statement. I think that's exactly what she did, in a crass political move meant to woo young female voters to her side that backfired badly. (In case any of you missed it, Albright, the former Secretary of State under Bill Clinton, said that “There’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help each other,” and the renowned feminist Gloria Steinem said in a televised interview that women “get more activist as they grow older. And when you’re younger, you think: ‘Where are the boys? The boys are with Bernie.’” Both Albright and Steinem issued apologies for their statements, and Clinton tried to distance herself from them.) As I mentioned previously, I think Clinton will pay dearly for unleashing those two attack dogs, on younger voters but also older ones like me who were very turned off after reading their vicious comments.

They said what they said out of concern for the future of women in this country.

I don't doubt that. However, as many young female voters have said, including Zoë, there is more to inequality than solely gender issues, and Sanders' agenda, though not strictly a feminist one, is more likely to address those imbalances than Clinton's is, especially since she and her husband have raked in tens of millions of dollars from Wall Street and large corporations in the past decade. Sanders may not be able to achieve many of his policies if he is elected president, but I doubt that anyone can doubt his sincerity or trustworthiness, which can't be said for Clinton, IMO.

Women are being short-changed every day and part of the answer to the problem is to vote more women into public office and from there force large companies to put women into positions of power within these companies.

Although I don't necessarily disagree with that statement I don't think that all women have the best interests of their own gender in mind, just as having a particular African American Supreme Court justice (Clarence "Uncle" Thomas) on the bench doesn't ensure that he will stand up for his people and their civil rights. I think that a well meaning man like Sanders could do even more to address women's issues than a purely political and self serving creature like Clinton could. I think that smart and savvy young women are able to see the difference between these two candidates, and they understand who best addresses their concerns and represents their interests.

BTW, it may be clear from these statements that I've now decided to vote for Bernie Sanders in Georgia's early elections this coming week in advance of the Super Tuesday primary that will be held here on March 1st. I had a long talk with my parents about the election earlier this evening, and they were also very turned off by Albright's and Steinem's comments and are troubled by her untrustworthiness and by her support of the banking industry and large corporations.

>35 _Zoe_: It's perfectly possible to acknowledge the existing gender imbalances while still believing that that's no longer the most important issue in the world. Receiving equal pay for my comfortable middle-class work is absolutely insignificant compared to the problems faced by many less fortunate people in this country.

Exactly, Zoë. I would think that it's more important to ensure that all Americans earn a living wage and can achieve a reasonable standard of living than to strictly address the salary differential between women and men. That's not to say that this differential isn't important and shouldn't be addressed, of course.

At a time when many women (and men) are working minimum-wage jobs with unpredictable hours and no benefits, struggling just to get by, the business-school grads with their salaried careers are just not the ones we need to worry about the most.

You hit the nail on the head. I'm far less concerned about a woman who makes $50 K a year while her male counterparts earn $60 K a year than I am about those who can't feed themselves or their families, or college graduates who struggle under massive debt due to the obscene cost of their education.

>36 avatiakh: please get Trump out of politics. America's foreign policy affects every country in the world so one does have concerns.

Absolutely. I and many other Americans had hoped that he would self implode and take himself out of consideration, but that hasn't happened yet and I'm not sure that it will. My mindset until this week has been "anybody but Trump", and hopefully most of the country feels the same way (although most voters in the Deep South still support him, which is frightening).

>37 katiekrug: Ditto. Thanks from me as well, Zoë.

>38 RebaRelishesReading: When Scalia was nominated he was confirmed unanimously because he was considered a good jurist.

Although I can't verify its validity, according to the lead story on NPR's Weekend Edition this morning Scalia received a pass by Senate Democrats, as they were focused on trying to keep William Rehnquist from becoming Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and because Scalia had only been a judge for, I think, four years, so he didn't have much of a record that could have been analyzed during his confirmation hearings. However, I do agree that Republicans are dead set against allowing President Obama to nominate anyone before his term of office ends, which is undemocratic and wrongheaded. Sri Srinivasan, who is supposedly the leading candidate to replace Scalia, served under two Republican nominated justices, including Sandra Day O'Connor, and since all of the Republicans in the Senate voted to confirm him to the US District Court in DC I think they would have a hard time denying him a seat on the Supreme Court. We shall see.

>39 LovingLit: most politicians tend to appeal to people's more shallow sides....like by grabbing a contentious issue and giving an outlandish definitive solution to it

Exactly. Donald Trump's plans to build a wall along the nearly 2000 mile long border between US and Mexico to keep out illegal immigrants, and to bar Muslims from entering the US come to mind immediately. Simple minded people like easy solutions to problems, especially ones that don't involve any pain or sacrifice on their part, which is why politicians like Ted Cruz and Donald Trump appeal to these mental midgets.

Scalia's sudden and unexpected death has thrown a bomb into the presidential campaign and into Obama's last year in office. You'll be hearing much more about this in the months ahead.

>40 jessibud2: If that quote is true and accurate, shouldn't someone be reminding Trump and his crones about this?

Unfortunately you're assuming that Trump and other arch conservatives follow logic or listen to reason. They don't.

It's going to be a long 9 more months, isn't it...

I'm not sure if it will be a long or not long enough nine months, but this looks to be an even more interesting and potentially historic year in US politics than it was a few days ago.

>41 lkernagh: Thanks, Lori!

Still enjoying the political conversation on your thread.

Happy Valentine's Day Darryl!

>46 The_Hibernator: Thanks, Rachel! Happy Valentine's Day to you, too.

Just delurking to say Happy Valentine's Day, Darryl. I'm enjoying the discussion and agreeing with many of the comments. Washington's primary comes late so it will be interesting to see what the landscape looks like at that point in time.

>48 EBT1002: Thanks, Ellen; Happy Valentine's Day to you, too! I take it that you're enjoying being free of that heart monitor.

>49 kidzdoc: Absolutely. It's becoming a distant memory.
I'm still processing the rest of my experience and situation but continuing to focus on how lucky I am.

It's still Sunday where I am and I want to wish you

>45 kidzdoc: - *Unfortunately you're assuming that Trump and other arch conservatives follow logic or listen to reason. They don't.* (I don't know how to turn quotes into italics)

But logic and reason aside, if it's in the Constitution, doesn't that mean it's legally binding? Trump et al, illogical and unreasonable (insert any other descriptors here, too) as they are, surely have to be held to the law. How could a potential presidential candidate break the law and then expect to lead the country? I mean, in the *first world*, that is....

Saw your comments revisiting over on your last thread whereby you have agonised and decided to vote for Sanders. Given my own comments on your last thread it is fairly needless for me to say that I approve of your decision and its rationale. If enough people are brave enough to get behind Sanders I do believe he could win.

>20 kidzdoc: For a chance to hang out with you, Darryl, I would happily endure a meal featuring quiche, and try my best not to make *blech!* noises with each bite...

>35 _Zoe_: Yes, thanks for that Zoe, I agree completely, and I'm not a "young" gal, either!

Darryl -

Not sure if this has already been shared on your thread, but thought you and others would find it interesting.

Books by Black Authors to Look Forward to in 2016
http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2016/02/books_by_black_authors_to_look_f...

Nancy

Interesting conversation about the Democratic runners. >53 PaulCranswick: Paul, that's the big if a lot of my friends are struggling with. They are afraid that Sanders can't win the general election against any of the Republican candidates, and we will be saddled with one of those doctrinaire crusaders (or the Donald) for at least the next 4 years. Jim keeps reminding me of other crusading candidates like Eugene McCarthy and George McGovern, who were not strong enough contenders against their Republican opposition.

Now, if I can turn from politics for a while, Darryl, would you post or PM me your recipe for the jambalaya? Having it might be just the incentive I need to get back in the kitchen.

I'm finding the discussions of US politics very interesting, even if there's an awful lot I don't understand. What strikes someone from the UK as strange is how long it all takes. Our election campaigns last about six weeks, and then assuming the election produces a clear result the new Prime Minister moves into 10 Downing Street the day following the election.

>57 SandDune: The current goings-on aren't really part of the election campaign; the primaries are more comparable to an extended leadership convention. Assuming the UK's parliamentary system works similar to Canada's, you aren't actually choosing the party leaders in the course of the six-week election campaign?

>58 _Zoe_: No - the party leaders can be chosen anytime - either if a leader resigns or if their party gets fed up with them and forces them out of office. Our elections are for the party, not the prime minister - so the elected party will stay in power even if the prime minister resigns.

>50 EBT1002: Well put, Ellen. Strokes scare me to death, as all of my father's sibings and his daughter (my stepsister) all suffered severe strokes that disabled them and ultimately led to their deaths. One of the pediatric hospitalists I worked with (not part of my group) retired after 30+ years of service two years ago. He was looking forward to traveling with his wife, but within six months of his retirement he suffered a significant stroke, and he is moderately disabled as a result of it. He was (apparently) in great shape before his CVA, and those of us who knew John well were devastated by that horrible news.

>51 Berly: Thanks, Kim! I hope that you had a lovely Valentine's Day as well.

>52 jessibud2: I don't know how to turn quotes into italics

There is a fabulous thread that explains how to use italics, bold, underline, etc.: Basic HTML / How to do Fancy Things in Your Posts

I'll have to read more about the details, but I believe that the Senate Judiciary Committee is obligated by the Constitution to hold hearings on anyone nominated to be federal judges, including Supreme Court justices, by the President. I don't believe that they can refuse to do so, although they may be able to postpone these hearings. I also don't know if the committee can refuse to forward these nominees to the full Senate, although I suspect that they may be able to do that, with a simple majority vote. According to Wikipedia there are 11 Republicans (including Ted Cruz) and 9 Democrats on this committee, and it may be possible that a party line vote could keep any Supreme Court nominees by President Obama from being considered by the Senate. I imagine that the NYT and other media will educate us on this possibility this week.

>53 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul. It was a difficult decision to make, but I've had my reservations about Hillary Clinton since at least 2008, when she first ran for president, and, if anything, I've become more wary and less confident in her sincerity since then. I'll almost certainly be off from work tomorrow, and as long as the weather cooperates I'll probably vote in the late morning or early afternoon.

>54 scaifea: I would happily endure a meal featuring quiche, and try my best not to make *blech!* noises with each bite...

Ha! I wouldn't make you eat quiche if you didn't want to, Amber, although I would encourage you to taste one bite of it, to see if you like it. As I mentioned previously, I've had some horribly dessicated quiches in the past, and if I based my opinion about quiche based on those ones I would say that I don't like them either.

>55 alphaorder: Thanks, Nancy! I own two of the books mentioned in that article, And After Many Days (an LT Early Reviewer win) and Blackass (which I bought in London last autumn), and Black Deutschland is high on my TBR list. I'll look at the other books more closely this week and next.

>56 ffortsa: They are afraid that Sanders can't win the general election against any of the Republican candidates, and we will be saddled with one of those doctrinaire crusaders (or the Donald) for at least the next 4 years.

Until this weekend that was my biggest reason for not wanting to vote for Sanders. However, as Zoë and others have pointed out, Clinton is a deeply flawed candidate, and there is no guarantee that she would do better among moderate and swing voters than Sanders would, especially since young people would go to the polls in much higher numbers than they probably would if Clinton was the Democratic nominee.

Here's Heather's recipe for chicken and Andouille sausage Creole jambalaya:

Ingredients:
2 bunches chopped green onions (or 2-3 shallots)
2 celery stalks chopped
1 green bell pepper chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 cups UNCOOKED rice (I use Uncle Ben's parboiled...I think the brand makes all the difference)
1 can beef broth
1 can French Onion soup
1 can tomato soup or sauce (depending on which flavoring you like better)
3/4 stick butter
2 lbs chopped smoked Andouille sausage
2 lbs chopped cooked chicken
parsley

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Spray Pam or olive oil on a 9x13 glass baking dish.
Combine all ingredients in the dish and cover with foil.
Bake for 1.5 hours at 350 degrees stirring at midpoint (45 minute mark).
Add Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning and salt and pepper to taste.

Ingredient Notes:
Chicken can be canned, baked, grilled, rotisserie, etc. Can add raw shrimp too or sub shrimp for sausage or chicken (if using shrimp, peel them and don't put them in until the last 45 minutes so they do not overcook).

All canned ingredients are regular size (Campbell brand) soup cans. When placing the butter in the dish I cut it into tablespoons and strategically place around the dish so it does not all land in one spot.
___________________________________

My Notes:
I usually buy 2 lb of uncooked boneless skinless chicken breasts, coat them with olive oil, salt and ground black pepper, and let them cook in the oven at 425 F for 10 minutes on each side. I cook the chicken first, and add them to the jambalaya last, so that they are warm but not hot when I cut them into pieces. Depending on the thickness of the chicken breasts they may be slightly undercooked, and a bit pink in the center, but they will become thoroughly cooked in the 1-1/2 hours needed to bake the jambalaya.

I use Savoie's Cajun Andouille sausage, which I can get at Publix, my preferred local supermarket in Atlanta (Savoie's is based in Opelousas, Louisiana, in the heart of Cajun country, and they have been in business for over 60 years.) When I make it when I visit my parents I use Johnsonville Smoked New Orleans Sausage, as I haven't been able to find Savoie's or any other Louisiana sausage in the Philadelphia area. It's a very good substitute. The sausage doesn't have to be cooked ahead of time, as traditional Andouille sausage (Louisiana, not French!) is double smoked.

Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning is also readily available in Atlanta. You could substitute Zatarain's Creole Seasoning if you can't find Tony Chachere's in NYC.

I strongly prefer tomato sauce to tomato soup in this recipe. Uncle Ben's parboiled rice is the Original Recipe rice.

I sometimes use a Vidalia sweet onion to replace green onions or shallots in the Holy Trinity (in Louisiana cuisine the Holy Trinity consists of onion, celery and green bell pepper), and it tastes just as good IMO.

>57 SandDune: The US presidential elections, held every leap year, are long and drawn out affairs, Rhian. The campaigning begins well over a year before the actual election on the first Tuesday in November, when candidates formally announce their intent to run for the presidency (e.g., Bernie Sanders did so last May, a little less than 18 months before Election Day). The presidential primaries and caucuses run from February 1st until mid June this year, and the Democratic and Republican National Conventions, which will formally select the nominees for the presidency from each party, will be held in late July. That still leaves over three months before the conventions and Election Day.

>58 _Zoe_: Actually, I'd say that the state primaries and caucuses are part of the election campaigns, as the Democratic and Republican candidates are accruing delegates who will vote for them in the party national conventions this summer. Without those delegates, they cannot represent their party, and they would be ineligible to run for the presidency except as independent candidates. The Iowa caucuses mark the formal beginning of the election campaign, so this year it will run for just over nine months.

>59 SandDune: I thought that was the case, based on what I read last year. There is no "vice prime minister", so the Tories would choose a new prime minister if David Cameron stood down, was unable to serve due to illness or death, or lost the support of his party. In the US, the president cannot be removed by his party, but he could be removed from office by Congressional impeachment. If he were to stand down or be unable to serve, the Vice President would become the head of government, on a temporary basis (which I think happened when President Reagan was shot and was on the operating table), or until the next presidential election (as Lyndon Johnson was when John F. Kennedy was assassinated). There is a formal line of succession if the former Vice President isn't able to serve as President; I think the Senate Majority Leader would take over if that were to happen. Let's see...no, it's the Speaker of the House. The Vice President is the head of the 100 member Senate (each state elects two senators), and he can cast a vote in the Senate in case of a tie. (The last time that happened was in 2008, when VP Dick Cheney was in office. Current VP Joe Biden hasn't yet cast a tie breaking vote in the Senate.) After the Speaker of the House the line of succession goes to the President pro tempore of the Senate, and then progressively to the individual members of the presidential cabinet, starting with the Secretary of State and ending with the Secretary of Homeland Security.

Clear as mud?

I just finished When Breath Becomes Air by the neurosurgeon Paul Kalanithi, which was published posthumously after his death from lung cancer this past March at the tender age of 36. The first 200 pages or so, written by him, were very good, but the epilogue written by his wife Lucy, an internist, was shattering and left me in tears for a good 10 20 minutes after I finished reading it. Her heartbreaking commentary elevates this book to a 4-1/2 star rating (along with a full box of facial tissues), and I'll review it later this week.

>63 kidzdoc: I passed on your encouraging comments about When Breath Becomes Air, Darryl, and I expect I'll read it, too.

>63 kidzdoc: I was looking at When Breath Becomes Air in the bookshop at the weekend. I'll add it to the WL.

>64 jnwelch: When Breath Becomes Air is making the rounds at work. Two of the physician assistants I'm good friends with have read it in the past three days, and at least two of my partners have read it this month. It's a very quick read, as Dr. Kalanithi wrote it in the last few months of his life. It was unfinished at the time of his death, and his wife picked up where he left off, writing a brilliant epilogue (easily the best one I've ever read), and ensuring that it was published.

>65 SandDune: I don't know if it was published in the UK in time for it to be eligible, but if it was I expect to see When Breath Becomes Air included in this year's Wellcome Book Prize shortlist, which will be announced next month.

ETA: No, it won't be eligible, since it was published in the UK (and the US) after the end of last year.

>63 kidzdoc: Read it earlier this year. Knew then it would be one of my best of 2016.

>67 alphaorder: Yep. It stands a good chance to make my Top 10 of 2016 as well.

Duplicate post. LT is acting goofy all of a sudden.

>63 kidzdoc: Glad it was good. I'm still avoiding all cancer books so will give this one a miss.

Did you decide about Black Deutschland? The library have put through my order (sometimes I love the online catalogue) so hoping it comes through soonish.

>63 kidzdoc: - I saw this book at the bookstore when I was there today and although I really want to read it, I will wait for the paper version to come out. I am trying not to buy anymore hardback books (they take up too much room on the shelves). It's not like I lack for what to read while I'm waiting....

I've heard nothing but praise for it.

>70 charl08: If you're avoiding books about cancer you should definitely pass on When Breath Becomes Air, Charlotte.

I'll definitely buy and read Black Deutschland, probably in the late spring or early summer.

>71 jessibud2: It seems as though When Breath Becomes Air has been out for awhile, given how many people have read it and talked about it (including several of the members of Club Read), but it was published barely a month ago.

I'm finally working on How to Be Drawn, the latest poetry collection by Terrance Hayes, which was chosen as a finalist for last year's National Book Award for Poetry. I should finish it tonight.

I did finish How to Be Drawn. I usually like Terrance Hayes' poetry, but I was having trouble getting into this collection, which is why I kept putting off reading it. There were a few hits, but far more misses IMO, so I've given it only 3 stars.

>54 scaifea: Amber, I warn you that Darryl has some very interesting eating habits. He is much braver than I when it comes to trying various delicacies. If you are eating at a table with Darryl, my experience is that you are allowed to make instantaneous funny faces at some of his choices.

Signed, the mashed potatoes and roast beef with a bit of gravy and a roll of the side kind of girl.

>63 kidzdoc: What a glowing commentary. Thanks! I will read this book when I finish the current one.

>74 Whisper1: Ha! Guilty as charged. There isn't much that I won't eat or try, with animal brains being one notable exception. Linda, you don't want to eat with Fliss (@flissp), either; we met Rachael (@FlossieT) at The Geldart, a pub in Cambridge (UK), back in 2013, and, encouraged by her decision to do so, we both had croc and roo (crocodile and kangaroo) grilled on volcanic rock.



Rachael had the good sense to order grilled halloumi (I think) and cherry tomatoes. She looked at the two of us as if we had lost our minds.



I'll try most offal, and I loved the Szechuan tripe we had at a restaurant in Philadelphia during the Philadelphia LT meet up a few years back ("we" being Zoë and I; we couldn't get Linda and most of the others to try it), the sweetbreads I've had in New Orleans, and the haggis on top of a pulled pork sandwich I had in Edinburgh last year.

BTW, when are we going to meet up for dinner again, Linda? ;-)

>75 Whisper1: Have plenty of facial tissues available when you read When Breath Becomes Air, Linda.

>76 kidzdoc: That croc and roo sounds like fun! (Not that I'm actually a huge fan of kangaroo meat; I'd rather have more fat. But I appreciate the entertainment value.)

Are there any plans in place for another Philadelphia meetup? I feel like I keep missing them.

>77 _Zoe_: The Geldart was an interesting pub, Zoë. The menu was written on white pencil on old 33 rpm albums (which you can see in the front of this photo taken from the Internet), and the fare was definitely unorthodox compared to "proper" English pubs (check out the "Hot Rock Specials" on the chalkboard: llama, bison, croc 'n' roo, and horse!). It was within walking distance of the Cambridge railway station, so hopefully I can meet the two of them again there next month or later in the year.



I hadn't had kangaroo before then. It wasn't bad, but it's nowhere near as good as lamb, and I definitely prefer alligator tail to crocodile.

There aren't any plans for a Philadelphia meet up in the future. We did have a much smaller meet up in Center City last year, but I'd certainly be up for another larger get together there or in NYC sometime this year.

Yes, Darryl, the Women's Literary Long List is announced on March 8 th, I believe. I am quite eager to see the list. I enjoy following the Bailey's Prize, The Booker's Prize and various of the Can Lit prizes. Reading of your fondness for offal, I am losing my appetite. My sister in law actually has eaten and knows how to cook brain. She tells tales of her childhood - I think it was ? beef or lamb brain. First you boil it and then you fry it. I can hardly type that out. She tells me it was delicious. She lived in both Tunisia and Germany until she married my brother, so she has quite a wide eating experience. I am non- adventurous eater. Croc and roo! No thanks.

Morning, Darryl! Ooh, the Zoe looks nice. Looking forward to your review on When Breath Becomes Air. That sounds like the NF book of the season so far.

Hope the week is going well.

ETA- Have you read A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain? If not, this might be your cuppa.

>76 kidzdoc: Ha! I'd have joined Rachael in having halloumi, always a good choice! My friend Susan from Philadelphia always liked bison burgers when one of the steak houses on Ave of the Arts did them. She said the meat was leaner than beef and had a nice flavour.

>63 kidzdoc: sounds like an extraordinary book Darryl.

Good morning, Darryl.

Your "brilliant epilogue" comment for When Breath Becomes Air made me think of the War and Peace epilogues, which I found so annoying. Since it's Tolstoy, they're probably brilliant, but I wish he'd found the back of a drawer for them, or at least the second one, instead of putting them at the end of a 1000 page book.

I'm going to make time to read When Breath Becomes Air. It sounds too good to miss.

>79 vancouverdeb: Thanks, Deb. I suspected that the Bailey's longlist would be announced within the next few weeks.

I don't think I've ever had brain, although I've seen it on the menu at several of my favorite taquerías in San Francisco, especially as tacos de sesos (which are calf brain tacos, I think). I've had tacos and burritos with lengua (cow tongue), but I shudder at the thought of eating brain. (See, Linda? I do have some limits.)

Croc and roo! No thanks.

We won't invite you or Linda to The Geldart, then. That leaves more croc 'n' roo for Fliss, Zoë and I. ;-)

>80 msf59: Good morning, Mark! Can I assume that you meant that the croc 'n' roo looks nice, instead of "the Zoë"? LOL.

When Breath Becomes Air has definitely made its mark in a short period of time. It's been the #1 book on The New York Times Nonfiction Best Sellers List for the past two weeks, and it will probably stay there for quite a while. I suspect that it will appear as a finalist on several literary awards later this year, and make some year end Top 10 lists as well.

>81 Sakerfalcon: Yes, given a choice between llama, bison, croc 'n' roo and horse, punting on those specials and going for the grilled halloumi and cherry tomatoes would be the most reasonable choice!

I'm not sure that I've ever had bison before. I would like to try it, though.

>82 Caroline_McElwee: When Breath Becomes Air was an outstanding book, Caroline. I'd put it behind The Iceberg by Marion Coutts, which won last year's Wellcome Book Prize, and, of course, Being Mortal by Atul Gawande. Dr. Kalanithi probably would have written an even better book if he had more time to do so, when he was still lucid and largely free of pain and fatigue. Even with those handicaps it was a remarkable achievement.

>80 msf59: I haven't read and don't own A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain. I'll keep it in mind, although with the upcoming announcements for the Man Booker International Prize longlist and the Wellcome Book Prize shortlist next month, and my already heavily booked reading schedule, I seriously doubt that I'll get to it in 2016. One of my goals for this year is to avoid buying books that I don't plan to read in that calendar year (or early in the following year, for books I purchase in the fourth quarter of the preceding year). My shelves are already overloaded with "must read" books!

>83 jnwelch: Good morning, Joe. Lucy Kalanithi's "brilliant epilogue" was far from annoying, and it served as a completion of the book that her husband wasn't able to, and a love letter to him. As Marie (@rosylibrarian) said, that epilogue "wrecked me" as well, on multiple levels, and it hit me as hard as anything I've ever read. It's very rare that I shed tears over a book, but this one made me do so, probably more than any book I've read in decades.

I tend to be fairly adventurous with my food as well, and I like most offal (apart from tripe). I've had warthog and Impala on a trip to Africa (neither of them are endangered species I hasten to add), and a number of interesting delicacies on a trip to Japan (hated the sea urchin though).

The one thing I like but haven't eaten for the last four years is octopus. Last time we went to Greece we had a day's snorkelling trip led by a marine biologist and he impressed upon us how intelligent they were and how cruel it was to eat them. I haven't be able to eat one since.

>76 kidzdoc: We ate veal brain frequently in the late 70s and early 80s. I liked it very much.

offal = awful

>88 catarina1: Exactly my thought. Well named.

>86 SandDune: I love cold Szechuan tripe; it's been a long time since I've had warm tripe (and I can't remember when and where I would have had it). I'd be willing to try most meats, although I would choose warthog over impala. Sea urchin is one of my favorite forms of sushi.

I am going to strike your comment about octopus from my memory bank. I love grilled octopus, but I don't have it often, maybe two or three times a year at my favorite local restaurant, The Iberian Pig, and on my two past trips to Barcelona.

>87 Ameise1: I will pass on veal brain, although I'll gladly have veal cutlets or veal scallopini (I haven't had veal in years, though).

>88 catarina1:. >89 vancouverdeb: Fine. Would you pass the sweetbreads, Fliss, Rhian or Zoë? ;-)

>89 vancouverdeb: There's a reason why it is called offal!

>91 catarina1: Ha!

>76 kidzdoc: And???? How did you like crockaroo? or was it cockapoodledo (that would be chicken with fresh meat of a poodle) on the plate of blue (plate special that is.)

Actually, I so enjoy teasing back and forth about eating habits. How I wish I had the courage to be as adventuresome as you are.

I have been busy at work and just didn't have time to cruise the threads this last week. That might be a good thing. My statements about the women's movement were not intended to be political. They were sociological in nature.

I told a friend last weekend that it would be interesting to hear what the young women who are in college now will say about their salaries 20 years from now, if the wage and salary differential between males and females continues. Just think about the following sound bites.

More than 50% of people in college now are women. (Here at UA it is close to 60% female - in the business school it is 60%.) The graduation rate from college for women is almost double that of men. The rate of marriage for women is dropping. The number of women who get college degrees and marry is dropping. The second highest age group for out-of-wedlock childbirth is women above the age of 36. The majority of retirees having only social security as their sole means of support upon retirement are women. The largest age group living in poverty is children. Second is women over the age of 65. Every one of these sound bite statistics will have an impact on the economic life of this country far into the future.

I would love to be around in 20 years and see how all this has played out, but one of my main questions about it is - if more women than men obtain college degrees will a college degree be the monetary boon in the future that it is today? Will a college degree be of any economic benefit in the future? If the past is anything to go by, it won't be much of an economic advantage because it will have become feminized. In the past, the feminization of a profession has resulted in a corresponding drop in wages. Will that continue to be true or will it change? It would be interesting to live so long to see.

My idea of a sweet bread - oh , a muffin, a cinnamon bun. I'm quite a " conservative" eater.

>93 Whisper1: Ha! I suspect that my childhood in the melting pots of Jersey City and nearby NYC exposed me to different cultures and their cuisines, and that made me eager to try new and unfamiliar foods. I had friends of all different backgrounds in grade school (German, Irish, Italian, Polish, Puerto Rican, Dominican, Jewish, African and Caribbean), and often at least one parent or grandparent was born abroad. Ellis Island, the gateway to the United States for millions of immigrants, sits between Jersey City and Lower Manhattan, so JC has always had a very rich mixture of people from all over the world. My mother, in particular, wanted my brother and I to be "children of the world", and since she grew up in NYC after they moved from Troy, Alabama as part of The Great Migration and had friends of different races and religious backgrounds and worked as a dietician at Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx (which served a largely Jewish patient population) she knew about a variety of foods other than typical American fare. She tried recipes from different cultures, and wanted us boys to have that same experience. There were plenty of ethnic restaurants in JC's neighborhoods, which included Little Manila and Little Bombay on Newark Avenue, and the numerous Central and South American restaurants on Central Avenue, which catered to the immigrants from those countries but were also open to anyone who wished to partake in their cuisines. As a result, I was able to try all sorts of nontraditional foods at home, at the homes of friends and neighbors, and in restaurants in Jersey City and NYC. I also developed an interest in trying different foods, so when something new was introduced to me I was far more willing to try it than my friends who grew up on Kraft macaroni & cheese, Chef Boyardee, and Wonder (or Stroehmann's) bread, particularly once we moved to the overwhelmingly white and almost infinitely less diverse suburbs of Philadelphia when I was 13 years old.

>94 benitastrnad: That will be interesting to see, Benita. With a greater presence of women seeking graduate level degrees and entering the workforce as professionals, I would expect that gender inequalities would gradually, though perhaps not completely, dissipate.

One of the things I'm most proud of is that my medical school class at Pitt (the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine) was the first one since its founding in 1883 that had a majority of female entrants, and graduates.

>95 vancouverdeb: Ha!

>86 SandDune: I actually also quit eating octopus (not that I had it often anyway) because they are too smart. Good thing cows, chickens and turkeys are so dumb! (Pigs are probably also decently smart, although not octopus-smart ... but I'm overlooking it for the time being.)

#96
It will be interesting to see what happens in the future with the pay for medical professionals - especially doctors. Nationwide the enrollment in medical school is now over 50% female. Dental school is still under 50% - I think it is closer to 35% but I can't remember that exact number.

At UA the School of Education offers a PhD in Nursing (the story of why the College of Education has the PhD in Nursing is very interesting in itself) and the enrollment in that program is about 90% female and about that same statistic white. Neither of these statistics is surprising given that Nursing has almost always been a female profession. However, in the last then years there are more and more men becoming nurses so the College of Education expected that there would be more men attracted to enroll in a PhD program in Nursing. That hasn't happened. I will be doing a class later tomorrow night to teach these new cohort of Nursing PhD students how to use our citation manager and how to use a couple of the more popular nursing databases as well. I can handle the citation manager part much better than the database part because Nursing is not my subject area of expertise. I have recommended another librarian to the professor for that part, but she was unable to be there at 5:00 p.m. on a Friday night. Gosh! I wonder why?

>96 kidzdoc: That's very interesting about your eating when you grew up. We are cooking international at home, too. Therefore our daughters never had problems when we are in other countries or when they eat at friends places which are multi-culti.

There was an interesting article on the BBC website today on the changing diets on the British. The one thing that seems really odd is that they isn't start measuring consumption of dried pasta until 1998. Spaghetti bolognaise made a regular appearance when I was a child in the 1960's, and one of the first thing I learnt to cook in school in the early 1970's. Certainly by the time I was at university pasta was a staple of my diet, and I'd be really surprised if it wasn't a staple of most people's diet way before 1998.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-35595530

Book #6: Stokely: A Life by Peniel E. Joseph



My rating:

“Dr. King’s policy was that nonviolence would achieve the gains for black people in the United States. His major assumption was that if you are nonviolent, if you suffer, your opponent will see your suffering and will be moved to change his heart. That’s very good. He only made one fallacious assumption: In order for nonviolence to work, your opponent must have a conscience. The United States has none.”

“Our grandfathers had to run, run, run. My generation’s out of breath. We ain’t running no more.”

Stokely Carmichael was one of the most important figures in the US Civil Rights Movement and the antiwar campaign in the 1960s, who was best known for creating the phrase "Black Power", his leadership of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), his involvement in the original Black Panther Party in Lowndes County, Alabama, his fiery speeches, and his fierce intellect. He was widely viewed as the successor to Malcolm X after his assassination in 1965, and although he was publicly critical of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s nonviolent movement he maintained a close friendship with him, other moderate civil rights activists, and well meaning people of other races who supported the cause of freedom and equality for all mankind. He was arguably one of the most influential and most feared black Americans during the peak of his activity in the latter half of the 1960s, until he moved to Africa with his new wife, the South African singer Miriam Makeba, where he lived until his death from cancer in 1998.

Carmichael was born in Port of Prince, the capital of Trinidad and Tobago in 1941. His mother, a cabin line stewardess, left their crowded family home for New York City when Stokely was three, and his father, a skilled carpenter, followed two years later. He would not see either of them until he reached the age of 11, when he flew to NYC to move in with them in the Bronx. Port of Prince was a majority black city with blacks in all positions of power, and growing up there was essential to his view that black people were capable of governing themselves effectively without the aid of other races, including whites. He was loved by his grandmother and aunts, and he thrived under their care while he simultaneously developed an independent streak.

The British based education he received in Trinidad and Tobago served him well when he moved to the US, as he excelled in his studies at the prestigious Bronx High School of Science and at Howard University. His classmates and neighbors included numerous Jewish and Italian families, including one who introduced him to the vibrant left wing intellectual subculture that existed in the city in the 1950s. He attended talks and meetings, which became the origin of his political activities at Bronx Science and Howard.

The beginnings of the student civil rights movement coincided with Carmichael's matriculation at Howard in 1960, as college students from North Carolina A&T began the first of a series of nonviolent sit-ins at segregated lunch counters in the city of Greensboro. These sit-ins spread to other cities in the South, in stores and restaurants where blacks were not allowed to dine, and these protests led to the formation of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) later that year. Carmichael formally joined the movement later that year, participating in sit-ins in Virginia and other civil rights protests in Maryland, and his intellect and commitment to the cause led him to become a leader on campus and the following year, when he served as one of the Freedom Riders that sought to integrate buses and their terminals throughout the Deep South.

Through his participation in the Nonviolent Action Group (NAG) at Howard and SNCC, Carmichael was introduced to and became familiar with civil rights leader that included Martin Luther King, Jr., Bayard Rustin, John Lewis (who he later succeeded as the head of SNCC), and Tom Hayden, a white student at the University of Michigan who gained fame as one of the founding fathers of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS).

Carmichael's coming of age came about when he participated in voter registration movements, freedom marches and protests in Alabama and Mississippi, which began during the summers between his studies at Howard and continued after he received his bachelor's degree in 1964. He ingratiated himself with local community leaders, and his tireless efforts, frequent influential speeches and ebullient personality led to his recognition as one of the young faces of the Civil Rights Movement. By 1966 he was elected as president of SNCC, and during that year he become known to the country at large, particularly due to his famous "Black Power" speech in June of that year, in which he proclaimed that black autonomy and solidarity rather than alignment with liberal whites and members of other races was essential to the advancement of the race. He adopted this position after civil rights groups failed to get representatives from the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party seated to the 1964 Democratic National Convention, as party leaders chose segregationist delegates instead, and due to persistent failures of the US government under President Johnson to protect civil rights activists in the Deep South from abuse by local officials, along with Johnson's escalation of the War in Vietnam.

Carmichael became a frequently sought after speaker on college campuses and abroad, which provided SNCC which the necessary funds it needed to continue its activity. However, Stokely's ego and independence fell afoul of the committee's leadership, and his increasingly more extreme statements and positions led to his isolation and ultimate replacement, particularly after he traveled to Europe and Cuba and incurred the wrath of J. Edgar Hoover, the head of the FBI, President Johnson, and moderate civil rights leaders who disagreed with his tactics and rejection of nonviolence as a tool to achieve racial equality. His travels abroad ultimately led to his disillusionment with the United States, and in 1968, not long after Dr. King's assassination, he moved to Guinea in West Africa. He adopted the name Kwame Turé, taken from the names of two of Africa's most prominent leaders, Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of independent Ghana, and Sekou Touré, the first president of Guinea. Unfortunately these two men and others like them became oppressive dictators shortly after their installation as the heads of government, and Carmichael became a marginalized and ineffective civil rights leader during the remainder of his life.

Carmichael was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1996, which claimed his life two years later at the age of 56.

In Stokely: A Life, the noted Haitian American historian Peniel E. Joseph has done a masterful job in detailing the life of this legendary but often misunderstood man, who was an energetic and influential civil rights leader and the key figure in the Black Power movement, but also ostracized white liberals and moderate civil rights activists by his increasingly more extreme positions and statements during his most active years. This book is a valuable contribution to American history and the history of the movement, and it is a compelling, readable and detailed biography, with excellent and even analysis and criticism of the man throughout. It focuses on Carmichael's activity in the US far more than his participation after he moved to Guinea in 1968, though, which is a notable but minor weakness that kept me from giving it a full five stars.

This short YouTube video is an excerpt of one of Carmichael's more fiery speeches, which provides a valuable look at his power and intellect: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxrzTsfpPfM.

Great review, Darryl.

^Agreed. I learned a lot from your review!

>101 kidzdoc: Sounds like a good read. Shame about the African section of the book, from what you say. I thought the sections in Malcolm X's biography on his relationships within Africa, speaking and seeking funding, werre some of the most interesting parts of the book.

>97 ursula: I shall try my best to ignore the thought of eating a sentient being the next time I have grilled octopus for dinner! Call me a barbarian if you like, but octopi taste waaayyy too good for me to give them up willingly.

>98 benitastrnad: Although pay differential is important, I'd propose that it's far from the most important issue facing women physicians in the US, Benita; I doubt that there are many of us who are struggling to make ends meet, regardless of gender. I'd say that the acceptance of sizable numbers of women into heavily male dominated fields like the surgical subspecialties, particularly orthopaedic surgery and neurosurgery, and the presence of women physicians in hospital executive committees and higher leadership positions in non-female dominated fields are considerably more pressing issues, along with the view that many patients and families have toward them as doctors.

>99 Ameise1: I would postulate that people who are exposed to people and foods from different ethnic groups and countries, particularly at an early age, are far more likely to seek out a variety of foods and be willing to try new ones that those who weren't brought up in diverse environments. That certainly isn't a hard and fast rule, though. One of my dear friends from medical school comes from a small town in Pennsylvania near the New York State border, but unlike many of our fellow classmates from similar communities who preferred to be with people just like them, she actively and genuinely sought to become friends with a variety of people, and to try new foods and different experiences. Jill came to Atlanta for an AMA (American Medical Association) conference last year, and we met to have dinner. True to form, she was eager to try a restaurant that she couldn't find in her home town (she moved back to Bradford after medical school and residency), so we ate at The Iberian Pig, which is my favorite restaurant in metro Atlanta. She had never had grilled octopus before, but after I raved about it she agreed to share it with me, and she enjoyed it so much that we had to get an extra serving of it. Oh...ha! That also reminds me that another good friend of mine, who grew up near Knoxville, Tennessee (close to where Carrie lives), joined me for dinner there, along with his wife and his cousin, who lives in the area. He is a "meat and potatoes" kind of guy, and was a bit skeptical about going to The Iberian Pig, but was talked into going by me and his cousin. He turned his nose up at grilled octopus and most of the other items on the menu, but after he tasted them he and his wife devoured my octopus and pork cheek tacos like starved wombats, and we had to order at least two more small plates of each dish. He still raves about that restaurant, more than two years later.

>100 SandDune: Thanks for posting a link to that very interesting BBC article, Rhian. That is shocking that pasta wasn't considered to be a common food in the UK until 1998! Spaghetti and macaroni based dishes are about as common as anything else in the US, and have been for many decades, certainly since the 1950s I would think. I can't think of anyone who doesn't eat pasta, and I highly doubt that even the smallest and most remote towns would lack a restaurant that didn't serve or a grocery store that didn't stock spaghetti and pasta sauce. I think that spaghetti was one of the first foods I learned to cook, and that probably holds true for a majority of Americans as well.

>102 Ameise1:, >103 jnwelch: Thanks, Joe and Barbara. Carmichael was a very popular and respected leader in the African American community in the mid to late 1960s, and I knew a little bit about him, but not as much as I thought that I did.

>104 charl08: That was a shame, Charlotte. He spent more than half of his life living in Africa, but those years are given relatively short shrift in this book. I was admittedly far more interested in his life and activity in the US, but I left without a sense of why he stayed there so long when he was disillusioned by African dictators and the strife in those countries.

Book #7: Literary Lapses by Stephen Leacock



My rating:

This collection of humorous short stories by one of Canada's most famous writers was published in 1910, and it represented his first work of fiction. The best stories were moderately amusing, most notably "My Financial Career", in which a nervous man opens and closes his first bank account in one visit; "How to be a Doctor", a guide to the practice of modern medicine and the care of the patient, in which removal of various body parts is essential to forming diagnoses; and "The New Food", a description of highly concentrated food pellets and the unfortunate demise of a baby who gobbled a bottle of them at a time. Unfortunately there were far more misses than hits in this collection, which was undoubtedly more amusing a century ago than it is now.

>101 kidzdoc: - Great review, Darryl. I hadn't realized that he died that young. It sounds like a book I'd enjoy reading. I really do love biographies.

>107 kidzdoc: - Pity about Leacock. I haven't read the book, myself, though, as a Canadian, I ought to be a bit embarrassed to admit that. My favourite (living) Canadian writer of humour is Bill Richardson. He started as a children's librarian, then became a radio personality on the CBC. Now he writes books. He is truly a gem, so witty and so intelligent. You may (or may not) have heard of his Bachelor Brothers Bed & Breakfast, maybe his most famous. I very recently read his Canada Customs - Droll Recollections, Musings and Quibbles and own several other books by him, as yet unread. Sort-of like Bill Bryson, in the way he can make me truly laugh and guffaw out loud!

https://www.google.ca/#q=Bachelor+Brothers%27+Bed+%26+Breakfast&stick=H4sIAA...

(Yikes, that link looks enormous. Hope it works)

>105 kidzdoc: Interestingly, I always used to think of myself as a picky eater. I realized more recently that it really boils down to two things: 1) I have a low spice tolerance; and 2) I genuinely enjoy a lot of very simple things and don't feel that I need variety—I could happily eat cheese on a fresh baguette every single day (and did so for years in my school lunches). I don't know why these things are generally considered incompatible with adventurous eating; there are vast amounts of food that aren't spicy, and the whole point of eating in a restaurant is to have something that I wouldn't prepare for myself at home. If I do find something that I love, I'll order it repeatedly (e.g., that honey walnut shrimp at Yank Sing), but that doesn't prevent me from tasting everything else as well—no matter how strange or exotic it might sound.

On my Club Read thread, Rebecca commented in response to my review of Stokely: A Life that "About the only thing I knew about him was his unfortunate remark that the position of women in SNCC was prone." Since others in this group may be familiar with that quote, I thought I would post my reply to Rebecca and excerpt from the book here as well.
_________________________________________________

Thanks, Rebecca. It's a shame, and a testament to the influence of the racist media that sought to tear down and misrepresent civil rights leaders like Malcolm X, Dr. King and Stokely Carmichael, that you and many others know him best from that quote. The author does address that quote head on and place it in context. Carmichael had a wicked sense of humor, and that comment was made in jest:

After a long day of haggling over the fate of the world, Carmichael once again offered comic relief. Carmichael's natural charisma lent a patina of celebrity and showmanship to everything he did. At the conclusion of one of his patented monologues that made fun of a wide range of targets, he turned to a discussion of position papers. "What is the position of women in SNCC?" he asked rhetorically. "The position of women in SNCC is prone!" he impishly answered. Carmichael and his audience, men and women included, laughed for a long time. Retrospectively, this quote would take on a life of its own, becoming a symbol of the era's sexism. Mary King remembers it differently. "It drew us closer together, because, even in that moment, he was poking fun at his own attitudes." If Carmichael shared the sexist views of his generation regarding women's roles in politics, he fought hard against these blinders, and Mary King remembered him as "one of the most responsive men" to "Sex and Caste." Howard student, SNCC worker, and Summer Project volunteer Jean Smith Young similarly recalled that Carmichael treated her with respect, a sentiment echoed by Martha Prescod Norman Nooman. The joke's lasting reverberations, however, would prove overwhelming. Shorn of context, Carmichael's words damaged his personal reputation, cost him political credibility in feminist circles, and unfairly minimized SNCC's democratic culture.

>108 jessibud2: Thanks, Shelley. I vaguely remember that he died during my second year of medical school, at a time when I wasn't reading the newspaper on a daily basis and was focused on my studies, so it didn't register at the time. (I suspect that one of my classmates who kept abreast of the news told me about his death.) If you like biographies I would definitely recommend this book, as it was very well written. It has two 5 star ratings and one 4½ star rating on LT, not counting my 4½ star rating, so I'm not alone in my high opinion of it.

>109 jessibud2: I chose to read Literary Lapses because it was available as a free download, since it was published before 1923, and because it was a short work (126 pages according to Amazon). It was a slog, though, and I didn't think I would finish it before I grew bored by it. I also downloaded Sunshine Sketches of a Small Town, but after a negative comment about it a few minutes ago by a member of Club Read whose opinion I highly respect I won't read it this month. Fortunately it was free as well.

I haven't heard of Bill Richardson or Bachelor Brothers' Bed & Breakfast. I'll add it to my wish list, based on your opinion of it, but I doubt that I'll get to it anytime soon. In keeping with my grim reading tendencies I'm generally not fond of comic novels, and I can only think of two off the top of the head that I thought were truly funny and worthwhile, White Teeth by Zadie Smith, and A House for Mr. Biswas by V.S. Naipaul. I'm fervently hoping that Howard Jacobson's latest novel, Shylock is My Name isn't chosen for this year's Booker Prize longlist, so I can keep my vow to not read anything else by him.

>110 _Zoe_: Wow, Zoë; I certainly don't think of you as a picky eater! I think I've dined with you in the US more than any other LTer, and I can't think of a single time that you weren't willing to try something. I wouldn't have guessed that you had a low spice tolerance, especially since you seemed to enjoy the Szechuan tripe we had in Philadelphia. (I forgot to mention how priceless the look on Linda's face was when we offered it to her!)

the whole point of eating in a restaurant is to have something that I wouldn't prepare for myself at home

Exactly. What's the sense of eating out if you can make the same meal yourself?

If I do find something that I love, I'll order it repeatedly (e.g., that honey walnut shrimp at Yank Sing)

Ha! I do the same thing. I certainly remember that, and Fliss probably does as well. I ordered more than my fair share of Shanghai soup dumplings, if I remember correctly (and I remember being disappointed that Yank Sing was out of sea bass). Did you also have honey walnut shrimp in Philadelphia?

that doesn't prevent me from tasting everything else as well—no matter how strange or exotic it might sound.

That's what I remember about dining with you. You and Fliss are probably the most adventuresome eaters among the LTers I've met multiple times in real life, with Tad and Julie not far behind.

>106 kidzdoc: that is shocking that pasta wasn't considered to be a common food in the UK until 1998

No - that's what I was trying to say . I think the article is absolutely wrong on that. Pasta was an extremely common food way before 1998 so it's a complete mystery to me why they didn't measure it until that date!

>110 _Zoe_: "the whole point of eating in a restaurant is to have something that I wouldn't prepare for myself at home"

>112 kidzdoc: "Exactly. What's the sense of eating out if you can make the same meal yourself?"

Yes, yes, yes! This! It's why I rarely if ever choose to go to Italian restaurants as I cook so much pasta. My first choice will almost always be Indian or one of the Eastern Asian cuisines, with perhaps Mexican or Middle Eastern in second place. And it's one of the reasons why I enjoy your visits so much, Darryl - my good food intake goes way up!

>101 kidzdoc: Fine review Darryl. I shall certainly put it on my list of prospects, written on a very long loo roll :-)

>112 kidzdoc: Ack. Somehow I left out my dear Caroline (@cameling) among the list of most adventurous LT diners I've met multiple times in person, which is a grevious oversight. She's easily #1 on that list.

>113 SandDune: I completely understood you, Rhian, and I was trying to say the same thing! I can't believe that pasta only became popular in the UK in the 1990s, roughly 100 years after its introduction in the US by Italian immigrants.

>114 Sakerfalcon: Right, Claire. I cook pasta on a semi-regular basis, and I almost never go to Italian restaurants unless someone else suggests it (I like most Italian dishes, but as you know Italian food is so common in the US that it seems to be more of a variation of American food than a distinct ethnic cuisine). I think I only dined in Italian restaurants twice last year, both times at a Strada, the one in Southbank Centre where Rhian, Caroline and I saw the glass door shatter spontaneously, and one in Heathrow Terminal 3 as I was on my way to or from Barcelona.

BTW, do you know of any good Korean barbecue restaurants in London? That's something I haven't had in a long while.

>115 Caroline_McElwee: Ha! I hope that you can find Stokely: A Life without too much trouble in the UK, Caroline.

>116 DianaNL: Thanks, Diana! My work week is a bit backward, as I've been off for the past three days and almost certainly won't be needed today, and I'll work this weekend, Monday and Tuesday. So, I can't say that I'm looking forward to the weekend per se, but I can hardly complain about working after having four days off during the week.

I finished The Weight of Shadows: A Memoir of Immigration & Displacement by José Orduña, my most recent LT Early Reviewers win, earlier this morning. The author was born in Chicago, not long after his young parents emigrated illegally from Mexico. He discusses his experiences as a Chicano living in Chicago, Washington, DC and Iowa City, as a graduate student enrolled in the Iowa Writers' Workshop. He also writes about his life as a registered alien and, later, a newly naturalized citizen, and his experiences working as a volunteer human rights activist assisting illegal immigrants at the Arizona-Mexico border, and his interactions with brutal Border Control agents and right wing anti-immigration vigilantes. Unfortunately the book was more interesting than good, as the narrative was more clinical and less engaging than I would have expected (which seems to be the norm for students in and graduates of MFA programs like the one at the University of Iowa). I've given it a generous 3½ stars for now, and I'll review it soon.

Morning, Darryl! Happy Friday! Good review of Stokely: A Life. Sounds like a fascinating read.

I recently managed to snag an audio copy of When Breath Becomes Air, so I hope to bookhorn that one in soon.

>118 msf59: Good morning, Mark! Congratulations on snagging a copy of When Breath Becomes Air; I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did.

I have the print version too, so if I need to go over some passages.

Sounds good. I'll write a review of it this weekend, or early next week.

One of my partners posted this message on her Facebook timeline yesterday, which was too good not to share.

This afternoon I was in a really bad mood over some less than stellar activities from my children - a temper tantrum bad enough that we had to leave Starbucks BEFORE I could get any caffeine, a pickle getting thrown across the room, a toilet getting clogged and nearly overflowing during the middle of dinner prep, etc.

But as I laid down with each of them tonight I got to hear a little whisper in my ear "Mama I love you" and "Mama I miss you" and "Thanks Mom". I also then remembered how today I got to watch K. dancing with her daddy in the kitchen after dinner and to witness P. bear hugging a classmate at school this afternoon (someone whose feelings he had badly hurt last week) and I realized that that is what I wanted to remember my children by today.

There will be other chances to get Starbucks but only today to see my children for who they are on this day and to count my blessings for all of the joy they have brought me.

>122 kidzdoc: - Thank you for that, Darryl. And isn't it the truth. It's hard sometimes to remember the things we have to be grateful for, each and every day. I once tried to keep a gratitude journal, to try to force myself to keep this important thought in mind. It went well for awhile until one really bad day and, having nothing to feel good about that day, I didn't write anything. I eventually fell out of the habit. But when I was still teaching, I tried always to remember, and keep a perspective, on even the smallest thing that is positive in my day-to-day life. The students I taught - like the kids you care for - often had more pain and stress in their short lives than I will ever know.

I think we need to take a step back and take a deep breath, to keep that perspective. That was a lovely message your partner wrote

Breaking news: Harper Lee has died, at the age of 89.

Harper Lee, Author of 'To Kill A Mockingbird', Dies at 89

>123 jessibud2: You're welcome, Shelley. Karen's message was a good reminder for me to keep perspective as well.

Ah, that was a good long life for Harper Lee, and my perception was she wasn't in great physical shape at the end. She left a book that will probably last as long as there are humans around.

>122 kidzdoc: That's the truth, isn't it? Good reminder of what's important. Thanks for posting that.

Happy Friday, Darryl! Hope you have some R & R ahead on the weekend.

Hey Darryl. Hope the kids are well in your neck of the woods and the shifts uneventful.

Sad about Harper Lee. I liked this post with 'ten best quotes'.
http://gu.com/p/4gqh5?

My favourite: Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing.

RIP Harper. I'd say 89 is a sterling age, but that is my dad's age this year, and we hope to have him a bit longer.

>126 jnwelch: I agree though Joe, reports were her health had been bad for a while, so she was probably ready to move on.

>127 charl08: that quote certainly makes you think Charlotte. Time to remember to love breathing. But then if for most of us in here reading is breathing, we love breathing!

>126 jnwelch: Right, Joe. She did live to a proper old age, and she was fortunate in that she received accolades for To Kill a Mockingbird for more than 50 years after its publication.

I'll be working this weekend through Tuesday, but I'll be off for five days after that.

>127 charl08: Thanks, Charlotte. I'm on long call tomorrow (10 am to 10 pm), so I also hope that it's an uneventful shift.

I like those Harper Lee quotes. This one is my favorite:

"I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what."

>128 Caroline_McElwee: I hear you, Caroline. My father turned 81 and my mother 80 last year. As a result, 89 doesn't seem all that old.

I've decided to put aside Texaco by Patrick Chamoiseau until next week (or possibly next month), and instead I've started Ready to Burst by the Haitian author Frankétienne, for the Reading Globally first quarter theme on Caribbean literature. It's superb so far, 1/4 of the way through. I have a little more than 120 pages to go, so I should finish it tonight.

>122 kidzdoc: Beautiful post by your partner.

That was a life well lived by Harper Lee. It wasn't too long ago that I re-read TKAM, and was impressed with it on a whole different level.

>117 kidzdoc: "As you know Italian food is so common in the US that it seems more of a variation of American food than a distinct ethnic cuisine". That reminded me of my last two trips to Japan - after weeks of having nothing other than a variation on rice, I longed for just a wee bit of American food. Each time I found an Italian restaurant and had the best spaghetti! I was so, so happy each time.

>122 kidzdoc: That was a touching FB post by your partner.

>126 jnwelch: That was so true, what Joe said about Harper Lee - "She left a book that will probably last as long as there are humans around." That perhaps is all that a writer could hope for. That their work will live on.

This is a neat story, which came from my medical school classmate Dee Garrett, who is a pediatric surgeon in Louisiana. Her sister Arnessa is an assistant editor for the Dallas Morning News, and she is a huge fan of To Kill a Mockingbird and describes Harper Lee as her "literary idol". In 2005, she and a couple of friends decided to drive from Louisiana to Monroeville, Alabama, Lee's home town, and they found out where the reclusive author lived. They went to her house, were fortuitously were introduced to Lee by one of her friends, and they spoke with her for several minutes. This short video from the NBC affiliate in Dallas features an interview with Arnessa, as she describes her meeting with Lee.

http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Kristi-Harper-Lee-redo-pkg-4p_Dallas-Fort-Worth...

I last saw Arnessa two years ago, when she, Dee and their mother were in Atlanta. She's still a quiet and shy person, so I was surprised to see this side of her, as I didn't get a chance to talk to her to find out what she's been up to lately.

>132 kidzdoc: Cool story! Thanks for that.

>133 avidmom: You're welcome, avidmom.

Breaking news: According to The Guardian, Umberto Eco, best known for his novel The Name of the Rose, has died at the age of 84.

Italian author Umberto Eco dies aged 84

I own several of his books, including The Name of the Rose, The Island of the Day Before, How to Travel with a Salmon and Other Essays (which I'm pretty certain that I've read), The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana and Confessions of a Young Novelist. I'll have to make room for at least one of those books later this year.

>131 catarina1: Sorry for missing your post, catarina! I can see how spaghetti would be perfect if you had to subsist on rice based dishes for days on end.

I still haven't read To Kill a Mockingbird. I own a copy of the 50th anniversary edition, and hopefully I can get to it in the summer or fall.

>136 kidzdoc: now that does surprise me Darryl

Yes, RIP Umberto Eco.

>135 kidzdoc: With Umberto Ecco a great author has passed away. I feel sad. I love his books.

Note to self: Don't drink a mug of strong coffee after dinner if you have to work the next day.

>137 Caroline_McElwee: I wasn't required to read To Kill a Mockingbird in high school or college, and I'll admit to being less interested about books and movies in which a Great White Savior comes to the rescue of a helpless member of a downtrodden group. I'll have to overcome my preconceived notions and give TKAM a fair hearing, especially since my (African American) friend's sister is so fond of it.

ETA: I'm also not as eager to read TKAM because I suspect that it will fall short of (what I perceive to be) more complex and nuanced works about race relations in the segregated Deep South, such as The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers, which is nothing short of brilliant.

>138 Ameise1: I'll have to make room to read one of Eco's books that I own this year, Barbara. I'll also have to look at the novels of his that I own, as I think that I read one of them years ago. Which of his books would you recommend most highly?

I decided to "ask" LibraryThing if I would like TKAM, using its "Will I like it?" feature:

LibraryThing thinks you probably won't like To Kill a Mockingbird (prediction confidence: very high)

Thank you, All Knowing One.

>131 catarina1: I was friends with a Chinese-American/Japanese American couple who went to Italy on a 10 day trip and found the opposite problem - so much pasta, pizza and cheese that they were dying for Asian food!

Yesterday was indeed a sad day for the literary world - two very different writers gone. I was very fond of TKAM but it's been a long time since I last read it. I suspect it would draw me in again on a reread and make me suspend my critical faculties as it evokes the world of childhood so perfectly. I've read several of Eco's novels - The name of the rose, Foulcault's pendulum, Baudolino and The mysterious flame of Queen Loanna and basically enjoyed them - though they made me feel as though I needed to go and consult an encyclopedia every few pages - until the endings, when it seemed as though he didn't know quite how to finish.

>117 kidzdoc: The only Korean restaurant I've been to in London is Kimchi, which has several branches and was good though a bit pricey - I've never had to pay for the side dishes at Korean restaurants in the US. The top recommendation seems to be Asdal which is conveniently next to Holborn station. The website doesn't load properly on my computer, but that could be because I have to use an out of date browser. Hopefully you'll be able to get a good look. I'd be happy to go there if we can find time while you're over.

>140 kidzdoc: I've read The Name of the Rose and Baudolino. The Prague Cemetery is waiting on the shelf to be read. From my local library I still need to pick History of Beauty, On Ugliness, This is not the End of the Book, The Book of Legendary Lands, Numero Zero. So there are enough to keep me going.

It's almost a bit spooky that 2 great authors died yesterday. It reminds me of the spate of famous singers who died earlier this year (Natalie Cole, Bowie, Glenn Frey, etc), though the singers seemed mostly to be in their 60s, and the authors, in their 80s. It's as if lights are going out in the universe... I guess we are getting to the age where this shouldn't be unexpected, though it still is, in a way.

I haven't read anything by Eco although I have certainly heard of him.

To Kill a Mockingbird was a book I read in high school but although I remember liking it, I really didn't remember all that much of the details. So I picked it up again in December and it was my final read of 2015. It was also one of the very few (in my opinion) movie adaptations that did credit to the book. On the tv news last night, they showed a few clips and what I hadn't remembered (or maybe never actually knew), was that a very young (and to me, unrecognizable) Robert Duvall played Boo Radley! I'd love to see that film again now too!

Try tea or hot chocolate! ;-) (she says with a chuckle...I am not a coffee drinker at all, so when I can't fall asleep, it is likely for other reasons altogether)

>136 kidzdoc: I can see how spaghetti would be perfect if you had to subsist on rice based dishes for days on end. I probably could exist on rice based dishes for days on end, no problems! But I had a similar problem when we went to Ireland in 1999. Lovely food, but potatoes with absolutely everything, and I'm a rice, pasta, cous-cous (well anything but potatoes really) sort of girl. (Actually I do really like mashed potatoes and roast potatoes, but they never quite turn out the way I like them, so I rarely cook them myself. So after two weeks in Ireland I was desperate for something more varied. Our last night we stayed in a small seaside town just outside Dublin, and it seemed to have every ethnicity of restaurant under the sun. I was so excited! But it was Saturday night and when we came to actually go out every single place that we tried was full and we ended up in a very dodgy Greek restaurant, which we wouldn't normally have touched with a barge pole.

>141 kidzdoc: I do not trust The All Knowing One completely. It always tells me with Great Confidence that I "Will Not Like" The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, although it is one of my favorite books and is safely in my online library with a solid 4 stars. Just sayin'.

I haven't been around on LT much lately, but today I am checking in with various LT friends. Sorry I won't be able to read all the posts, but here goes.

I was happy to see that you enjoyed the first installment of The Deptford Trilogy. I read many of Robertson's novels back in my teens and 20s, and I've been thinking of going back to them (but there are so many unread books to tackle first!).

I wasn't sure if I would like When Breath Becomes Air, but I saw a brief feature on Dr. Kalanithi shortly after his death had read many positive things about it and have now put it on my wish list.

On the issue of the Supreme Court: Although the Constitution is quite clear that Obama has a duty to nominate a replacement for Scalia, I think the Republicans are working with the wrong "precedent"--and I am surprised that neither the Democrats nor media haven't picked up on it. The real question is: How many SC justices have died or retired in a lame duck president's last year in office? You can't cite two nominations as a "precedent" without examining how often the situation has occurred. I would bet that the number is pretty close to two . . . . I can't imagine any/many presidents, regardless of party, arbitrarily deciding to leave this to their predecessor.

I saw a post above about a disappointing Hot & Sour Soup recipe and will post a few good ones in the Cucina thread. I think Madhur Jaffrey's may be the best!

>135 kidzdoc: I have only read The Name of the Rose (and have a few others waiting on the shelves) and it is a great book.
The movie, with Sean Connery, was very good too!

>139 kidzdoc: I can understand your reservations now Darryl. And on top of those, the hype.

Happy Sunday, Darryl. Hope things are going well at the hospital. I'm sure you'll enjoy those five days off when they come.

>132 kidzdoc: Jeez, what a good interview about Arnessa's love for To Kill A Mockingbird, her meeting with Harper Lee, and her thoughts on Go Set a Watchman. She expresses herself so well about it all.

I'd forgotten you hadn't read TKAM yet. I can understand your mixed feelings about it. I loved it, but don't have that perspective. I'm one of those who couldn't read GSAW; I just want to leave TKAM alone.

I liked Name of the Rose a lot, but never got drawn to the others he wrote, good as that one was.

I found Go Set A Watchman incredibly and thankfully forgettable.

Darryl, thanks for recommending Toi Derricotte. I just finished Natural Birth, and thought it was remarkable.

Happy Sunday evening, everyone! This weekend at work wasn't busy at all, as I only had four admissions on my long call yesterday (about 1/2 to 1/3 less of what I would normally expect at this time of year) and was aided by two stellar and very pleasant residents, who were eager to learn about the patients they admitted (which makes me willing and happy to teach them about inpatient pediatrics). Today was another easy day, as I was finished by just after noon and left a little before 2 pm. That gave me time to go to Publix, do my shopping for the week (along with half of the residents of Midtown), and make another batch of African sweet potato soup with peanut butter and beans, which is now finished (although I'm heating up quiche to have for dinner). The next two days should be relatively easy ones, and then I'll be off for the rest of the week (Wed-Sun).

>142 Sakerfalcon: Ha! I can easily imagine that, Claire. You can have too much of a good thing.

I had a somewhat related conversation with the pediatric intern I worked with yesterday afternoon. I heated up a container filled with jambalaya in the microwave in our office, and she came into the kitchen after she smelled it, like a puppy sniffing out food. Apparently I've developed a reputation amongst the Morehouse pediatric residents, as she said that a couple of the residents told her that she would like working with me, and I'm a "great cook" (their words, not mine, as I think that's an overstatement). We talked about cooking, and after I described what I usually do, i.e., cook on weekends, and make sure that I have at least three or four different prepared foods on hand at any time, she decided that she would try to do the same thing, as she said that she would frequently get tired of having the same dish more than two nights in a row, and often end up throwing away the rest of what she had made. I gave her and the family practice second year resident copies of several of my favorite recipes, so I'll have to ask her tomorrow if she tried any of them today (she wasn't working today).

I still have at least one container of your Mexican tortilla casserole in my freezer, along with at least four other different dishes (not counting one more serving of quiche and the soup that I just finished making). I had the casserole last week, and it still tasted great, even though I probably made it late last year.

Thanks for your comments about TKAM and the books you've read by Umberto Eco. I'll probably read To Kill a Mockingbird and The Name of the Rose in the late spring or summer.

I've never had to pay for the side dishes at Korean restaurants in the US

Agreed. The first time I ate Korean BBQ was at a restaurant not far from me, in a strip mall on Buford Highway that had several other Korean shops. I went with two coworkers, and the two of us who weren't familar with Korean BBQ thought that our order was mixed up, as we were served a table full of dishes that didn't correspond to what we had ordered. Lydia, who is Chinese American, told Nadeen (who was born in Jamaica) and I that those were appetizers, and that the food we had ordered (including bi bim bap: yum) would follow. We were nearly full after the appetizers, so all of us took "doggie bags" home with us. We were also surprised at how little our meal cost, as we expected to have to pay extra for the sumptuous appetizers. I'll have to go back there in the near future.

I couldn't get the web site for Asdal to display properly on my iPad, either. I'll try again on my laptop later tonight or tomorrow.

Happy Sunday, Darryl. Glad the workload was light. Have a good week and Happy Reading!

>139 kidzdoc: I can see why you haven't been eager to read To Kill a Mockingbird when you say it that way!

>135 kidzdoc: I haven't read any of Eco's books, but I have quite a few of them. I really ought to try to squeeze in The Name of the Rose soon.

I need more time for your thread - so many interesting topics, but for today I was just able to skim through it. Of course I took a closer look at the food pics. Croc and roo were often offered in our cantine in Frankfurt as a beef substitute during the mad cow disease panic. I always quite liked roo and also ostrich/emu but never got friends with the fishy taste of croc, tried it only twice in my life. When I was still eating meat I made it a point to try all edible parts "out of respect" - and because they end up in the sausage anyway. I quite liked offal. You get tripe in spicy sauce on a bread roll in Florence from food stalls and it's really good! Actually, I told myself "either eat all parts or none at all" - and 2 years ago I switched to none at all for ethical reasons, although I always liked the taste.

I only once had Italian food in the US - okay I WAS in the US only once - and it had nothing to do with food in Italy. But that's the same everywhere, the Germanized Italian cooking is mostly terrible, uses way too much cream, they serve spaghetti as a side dish with meat, and like in the US the portions are too big. The free garlic breadsticks in the US were very good though and I remember I ate too many of them.

Very sad about Eco's death, and I'll plan my unread ones for later this year. Still haven't made my mind up whether to read last year's Harper Lee book. I'll wait and see if it calls me. :)

Stopping by to wish you a lovely week, Darryl and joining Ursula in not being keen on eating octopus. I also am not keen on eating eel or raw oysters or organ meats or... okay, this list could get rather long so I will stop and say there are some things that I won't eat. ;-)

>112 kidzdoc: Oh, Bachelor Brothers Bed and Breakfast was one of my favorite reads of the year when I read it three or four years ago. I just wish I could have really visited there.

It was sad news about Eco. I remember trying to read The Name of the Rose years ago and not getting very far before abandoning it. I read it in the last couple of years and absolutely loved it though. I don't know what was on my plate at the time I tried to read it, but I suspect I had a need for something a little "lighter" or something. I'm glad I gave it another try.

>101 kidzdoc: What an incredible review!!!!

>139 kidzdoc: Well said my friend!

Hiya, Darryl.

I'm coming in pretty late with this, but it goes back to our discussion about Yusef Komunyakaa's poetry. The war-related ones I particularly liked in Neon Vernacular were largely collected from his Dien Cai Dau. Some standout ones: Ambush, Tu Do Street, A Break from the Bush, Thanks, Facing It. But there are a number of other war-related good ones, like Camouflaging the Chimera, Tunnels and Hanoi Hannah. If you don't have those in the volume you have, I'll figure out a way of getting them to you.

Prayer request: I saw a little baby who was admitted last night to our service, who acutely decompensated this morning. Thanks to God her excellent nurse realized that something was very wrong with Baby R., and after she let me know I was able to quickly determine what was wrong with her before it was too late. She is now in our cardiac ICU receiving life support, as her heart is not working well enough to sustain her life. She is extremely sick, and I pray that she survives this illness, although that is far from certain (and, at this point, I'll be relieved if she lives through tonight). If you're so inclined, I would appreciate any prayers for Baby R. and her family.

>162 kidzdoc: - Safe, healing vibes and strength to you all. She is in the best of care, of that there is no doubt.

>162 kidzdoc: Granted!

>162 kidzdoc: Praying for little Baby R.

My prayers and thoughts are with Baby R, her family and the staff.

>163 jessibud2:, >164 ronincats:, >165 vancouverdeb:, >166 Ameise1: Thanks for your prayers and thoughts, Shelley, Roni, Deb and Barbara. The good news is that R. did make it through the night, although she remains very critically ill. The bad news is that she will need a heart transplant, and will need to remain on life support until one becomes available. There is no guarantee that the CICU team will be able to keep her alive until then, though, so hard work from the team and prayers from everyone else for R. and her family will still be needed.

I mentioned in >153 kidzdoc: that I spent a good chunk of Saturday afternoon teaching the pediatric intern and family practice second year resident when we were on call together. Ironically, one of the conditions I described to them was acute viral myocarditis, an infection of the heart muscle that can be rapidly fatal if it is not detected in time. This may be what R. has, although I'm not certain because she has other problems as well, but her presentation was consistent with it, as she went from being stable and relatively healthy in the morning to being in severe heart failure several hours later.

Her nurse was the most important member of the team that took care of her yesterday, even though multiple specialists have been working on her since then. If Jen had waited even an hour, or certainly two, to call me about this baby, she probably would not have survived, as her heart gave out not long after I first saw her. Fortunately she was in the CICU when that happened and was already on life support at the time.

Jen and I are friends on Facebook, so I posted a message to publicly thank and recognize her for what she did for Baby R. A bunch of nurses and doctors who were on the unit came over to thank and congratulate me for quickly determining that the baby was seriously ill and making a rapid diagnosis, but without Jen's early recognition that R. was sick whatever I and the other doctors did for her probably wouldn't have been enough to save her life.

Whew! That was a heck of a way to end the week. I'm now off until Monday. I have a lot of things I need to do, although I'll be able to relax and recharge my batteries during that time.

Oh my goodness Darryl. I will hold Baby R and her family in my thoughts.

Keeping Baby R. and her family and caregivers in my thoughts and prayers.

Catching up...

>143 Ameise1: Thanks, Barbara. I'll plan to read The Name of the Rose later this year.

>144 jessibud2: It was eerie that two literary giants died on the same day, Shelley. There have already been several notable deaths this year, and hopefully there won't be any more for awhile.

Speaking of actors from the movie version of TKAM, Brock Peters (1927-2005), who played Tom Robinson, the black man who was wrongly accused of rape and was later murdered, had a noteworthy career on stage and on the screen. He was also a talented singer, with a rich baritone voice. My favorite recording on which he appears is the song "Where" from the 1959 album Live at the Five Spot by the pianist Randy Weston. I haven't been able to find a YouTube video of it, as this album is relatively obscure, but those of you who subscribe to Spotify can listen to it via this link:

https://open.spotify.com/track/1fgxiRhroZb94o8Ir6AZMW

According to Wikipedia, Peters delivered the eulogy at Gregory Peck's funeral in 2003.

Thanks for your very good suggestion about drinking tea instead of coffee in the afternoon and evening! I'll start doing that, as I have plenty of it at home.

>145 SandDune: Good point, Rhian. You're right; there are a variety of ethnic cuisines that use rice on a regular basis, including Cajun/Creole, Mexican, Indian, Japanese, etc., and I could easily and happily eat rice based dishes for a couple of weeks as long as there was some variation in the meals. I like potatoes in limited amounts, and I would grow tired of them in three or four days.

>146 avidmom: Right, avidmom! My comment ("Thank you, All Knowing One") was meant to be tongue in cheek, as I've also noticed that the "Will I like it?" feature doesn't reliably correspond to my actual tastes in books. I'm also amused by its mixed predictions; what does it truly mean when it says that it is very highly confident that I probably won't like TKAM?

On the coffee /tea - try to drink tea without caffeine after 6 pm- make your own mint tea- boiled water and mint leaves is great

Re food. Our morning guy on the radio also cohosts another radio program on CBC, called Podcast Playlist, bringing (apparently) the best of podcasts worldwide to our city. I have never actually listened to a podcast (should I be admitting that?) but it's interesting to hear him talk about them in his promos. Anyhow, all that to say that one of the more recent episodes was about food and identity, likely of interest because Toronto boasts such a rich and deep multicultural and ethnic variety of food and cultures.

In case you might be interested, here is the link. I have not yet listened to it myself but I do plan to in the upcoming days:

http://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcastplaylist/episode-33-food-and-identity-1.3449953

For someone who was a very picky eater as a child, I must say, I have come a long way and do enjoy trying new dishes. Though I can't say croc and roo would enter my universe at any time in the next hundred years or so... ;-)

That's good news re Baby R., Darryl. Good for you for congratulating Jen on FB and elsewhere. Sending lots of positive thoughts for Baby R. to hang in there until the transplant can happen.

I keep my fingers crossed for Baby R. I know how difficult it is to get correct donated transplants.

>147 Cariola: Hi, Deborah! I did enjoy Fifth Business, the first novel in The Deptford Trilogy, and I'm eager to finish the trilogy this year. But, as you say, there are plenty of other unread books that I'm eager to get to, along with others that will be added when the Man Booker International Prize longlist and the Wellcome Book Prize shortlist are announced next month.

I need to catch up with reviews, especially one for When Breath Becomes Air. I'll do that today or tomorrow.

The real question is: How many SC justices have died or retired in a lame duck president's last year in office?

According to this article from FactCheck.org, since 1900, not counting Antonin Scalia, four Supreme Court justices died or retired during an election year. Three of the vacancies, two in 1916 and one in 1932, were filled by the lame duck president, who succesfully nominated a replacement who was confirmed by the Senate. In October 1956, President Eisenhower chose William Brennan as a recess appointment for the retired Justice Sherman Minton, as the vacancy occurred less than a month before that year's presidential election, in which Eisenhower was chosen to serve a second term in office. He formally nominated Brennan after the election, and he was successfully confirmed. In three other cases a lame duck president chose a Supreme Court nominee to replace a justice who died or retired the previous year. In each case the nominee was confirmed by the Senate.

Thanks for posting those hot & sour soup recipes! I may give one of them a try this week or next weekend.

Based on a recommendation from one of my partners and my group's practice manager, who are both Indian Americans, I ordered The Indian Slow Cooker by Anupy Singla, which contains 50 vegetarian and meat based recipes. I'll look through it today, and try at least one of the dishes in it this week.

>148 FAMeulstee: Thanks, Anita. I'll definitely read The Name of the Rose soon.

>149 Caroline_McElwee: Right, Caroline. TKAM isn't remotely close to the top of my TBR list, but after Harper Lee's death I'll move it up a bit higher. I won't promise to read it this year, though.

>150 jnwelch: I was surprised and pleased to see Arnessa speak so eloquently in that video, Joe. I had met her numerous times when Dee and I were classmates at Pitt, as she and her sister are very close and Arnessa would visit her in Pittsburgh several times per year. She was very quiet whenever I saw her with Dee, including the last time I saw them two or three years ago in Atlanta, and I didn't know what she was doing.

>151 avidmom: I don't think I've read one glowing review of Go Set a Watchman, on or outside of LT. In a way, I would be more curious about it than TKAM, since (from what I understand) it shows that the lawyer who tried to defend Tom Robinson to hold bigoted views, in keeping with many Americans during that time.

>152 jnwelch: I'm glad that you liked Natural Birth, Joe. It's one of Toi Derricotte's better poetry collections, IMO.

>154 msf59: Thanks, Mark. Saturday and Sunday weren't bad, and Monday wasn't either, although yesterday was very busy, due in part to the time spent managing Baby R. I worked straight through the day, had a small bag of Sun Chips for "lunch", and finally ate at 8 pm last night before I crashed shortly afterward.

>155 The_Hibernator: I wonder if there would be enough interest for a group read of The Name of the Rose later this year, Rachel.

>156 Deern: I didn't dislike roo, although I would have rather had bison or lamb. I do like ostrich meat, but I've never tasted emu. I love alligator tail, especially as it's prepared in Creole or Cajun cooking. I hadn't tried croc before dinner at The Geldart, and although it was good, alligator is far better IMO. (Are you taking notes, Linda?)

The Florentian tripe you described sounds good; I think I would have liked it, too.

I'm not completely sure why, but ethnic cuisine can be quite disappointing outside of the regions or countries that are best known for preparing them. Louisiana cuisine is generally disappointing and hardly worth trying outside of New Orleans and south Louisiana, for example.

>157 lkernagh: I hope that you're having a good week so far, Lori. I'll gladly take your octopus, eel, raw oysters and offal! I have Claire (@Sakerfalcon) to thank for encouraging me to try eel two years ago. I wasn't sure that I would like it, but I loved it when I had it at the Japanese restaurant that we went to in Brighton.

>158 thornton37814: I'm glad that you liked The Name of the Rose on a second reading, Lori. I'll be sure to make time for it during a stretch when I'm not working.

>159 Whisper1: Thanks, Linda! I'm glad that you liked my review of Stokely: A Life.

>160 Whisper1: Thanks, again. I will eventually read To Kill a Mockingbird.

>161 jnwelch: Thanks, Joe. I'll have to look at my copy of Pleasure Dome to see if the poems you mentioned are included in it.

>179 Oberon: Sorry about the continued sad state of Rutgers basketball. They even managed to make the Gophers look good last night.

>168 lauralkeet:, >169 Sakerfalcon: Thanks, Laura and Claire.

>170 kidzdoc: Good idea, Cyrel. I do sometimes like a little burst of caffeine in the afternoon, although I usually try to stay free of it after 3 pm. Caffeinated tea would be a better option that strong coffee.

>171 torontoc: Thanks for that CBC link, Shelley. I'll listen to it later today or tomorrow. I'll need to get offline soon, as I'll cook some chicken thighs and rice for another batch of pollo ciudad, and have lunch before I call in to my group's monthly meeting at 1 pm. After the meeting I'll probably go downtown to vote, then get my hair cut and run some errands before rush hour traffic hits.

>173 jnwelch: Thanks, Joe. The nurses don't get anywhere near as much credit as they should, so I'm glad to publicly acknowledge Jen for what she did to save that baby's life, at least for the time being.

>174 Ameise1: Thanks, Barbara. It's very difficult to get donated organs in the US, but hopefully one will become available for this little girl. Of course, that means that another child has died, so it's certainly a mixed blessing.

>179 Oberon: I saw the score of last night's game, Erik. Ouch. They are clearly the worst team in any of the Power 5 conferences, and they show no signs of getting better. This year's team was hampered by several season ending injuries to key players, but they weren't going to be very good this year anyway. Recruiting has been hampered after the scandal involving Mike Rice, the previous coach, so it will still be several years at least before Rutgers is competitive in the Big Ten.

Off topic, but in your thread header pic, who is the third on the left? I can identify all but him

>182 jessibud2: That's Booker T. Washington, Shelley.

>183 kidzdoc: - Thanks, Darryl. I have certainly heard of him but did not know what he looked like. I did recognize the others.

>184 jessibud2: You're welcome, Shelley.

A bit late getting here, but I have been thinking of your wee patient all day. I'm rooting for her, and am so grateful for folks like you and your colleagues.

>186 scaifea: Thanks, Amber. There probably won't be much to me to say about R. for the short term, as her condition has been stabilized for the time being. Her heart is essentially destroyed, and no medications or other interventions will make it functional again. At the moment she is receiving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, or ECMO, which is a technique that takes the place of the heart in patients who have irreversible heart failure, along with mechanical ventilation via an endotracheal tube. She can't stay on it for long, though, so she will likely receive a mechanical device to buy her time until she gets a heart transplant. She has been placed on the transplant list, at the highest priority. At this point, to put it bluntly, either one of two major events will likely happen: she'll receive a heart transplant in time, or she will die.

I've been "checking" on her, via our electronic medical record system, all day, and I'll peek in on her at least once a day from now on.

I'll re-emphasize how grateful I am to Jen for recognizing how sick R. was. She could have easily developed an arrhythmia yesterday morning, and if that had happened she would have coded and died, even with CPR and medications, as her heart function was so poor that no immediate measures would have saved her. (Apologies if these details are too graphic, but I'm still freaked out about yesterday, and how close Baby R. came to dying yesterday morning before we got her to the CICU.)

It sounds like Baby R has some Guardian Angels looking out for her. Prayers for her and her family and wisdom for the doctors and nurses who are taking care of her!

Speaking of nurses, my ex shared this very cool story about a nurse (I watch "Flip or Flop" quite a bit):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYEaVcZ0AKo

>188 avidmom: I agree completely, avidmom. If Baby R. had begun to deteriorate the night before last and was assigned to an inexperienced night nurse she probably wouldn't be alive today.

That is a great story about the male host of "Flip or Flop", and the nurse who picked up on his obviously (to me) very enlarged thyroid gland. Kudos to her for getting in touch with him, and saving his life.

Prayers for Baby R and warm thoughts for you to have a restful and restorative weekend.

>190 RebaRelishesReading: Thanks, Reba. Baby R. is holding her own, but it will be a very long time before she is truly out of the woods.

I haven't slept well the past two nights, so hopefully I'll catch up on sleep the next day or two. I have had a productive day so far, as I picked out new glasses, went shopping at Target, met with one of my newer partners over lunch for our mentor meeting, got a haircut, and, most importantly, cast an early vote (for Bernie Sanders) in advance of the Georgia Democratic presidential primary, which will be held on March 1st, Super Tuesday.

I decided I need a new look, as I've had my frames since 2009. After much thought and deliberation I decided to go with a conservative, retro look:



Yeah, I know. Boring, right?

For 200 points, name this musician.

Sounds like you had a very productive day, Darryl. I hope you get some sleep now.

>192 Ameise1: Thanks, Barbara. It's just past 5 pm here, so I think I'll take a nap now and have dinner in a couple of hours. I'll take my car in for servicing at my local BMW dealership, and, if all goes well, I'll buy a new SUV while I'm there.

>193 kidzdoc: Ah, I thought you have already ordered one because you were talking about it long time ago. It seems you're on a great shopping tour at the moment. Wishing you a nice nap. Here ir's 11.10pm and I'm soon ready for a long night sleep.

>191 kidzdoc: - I want to say Sly Stone but I am really just guessing. That is probably aging me, too...

>175 kidzdoc: Darryl, I've had The Indian Slow Cooker on my wish list for several years--will be eager to see what you think of it.

Thanks for the info on the number of SC justices who retired or died in a president's last year in office. It sounds like Eisenhower was the only one who formally held off until his re=election, so ther goes the question of "precedence" for letting the next president make the nomination.

So sorry to hear about the very sick little girl; hope she makes it until a heart is available for her.

>171 torontoc: I've been drinking a lot of Peppermint Bark tea (Republic of Tea) in the evenings. It's caffeine free and pre-sweetened (just enough) with stevia leaves.

>191 kidzdoc: Maybe it's Rick James?

>194 Ameise1: You're right; I have been talking about getting a new vehicle for months, and thinking about doing so for at least two years. I love my BMW Z3, though, and the thought of trading it in saddens me, especially since I've owned it since April 2002. It is beginning to show its age, though, and I've certainly gotten my money's worth out of it. I'm torn between getting a BMW X3 SAV (sport activity vehicle) as a replacement for it, or keep the Z3 as a second car for those days when driving a convertible would be a pleasure (which is quite often in Atlanta).

Sleep well, Barbara!

>195 jessibud2: Nope. Good guess though, Shelley. This is a very tough one, more in line with a Final Jeopardy question, so some hints may be necessary. First hint: the height of his popularity was in the mid to late 1970s.

>196 Cariola: Will do, Deborah. I'll take a look through The Indian Slow Cooker this weekend.

I suspect that the only reason Eisenhower waited was because the vacancy opened up only a few weeks before the 1956 election, and the Senate may not have been in session in mid October.

Thanks for your concern for Baby R. The last time I looked, she was going to the operating room to have a ventricular assist device placed, which will replace her failed heart and pump blood to her body until she can get a transplant. This surgery is far from routine, so I'll check on her later to see if was successful.

Good guess on Rick James! Very close, but not right. James and this artist overlapped, and you're definitely in the right ballpark, as they were both pioneers of funk music. I'll be very impressed if anyone gets this right.

Ok, so I'm going to cheat. I have enlisted the help of a friend, who is a rock and roll (and everything connected) walking encyclopedia. She is on vacation right now so her help will only be useful to me if she checks her email, which she just did an hour or so ago, but it could be days until that happens again. I'm curious to see if she gets it.

I know who it is (now) but I cheated.... so UM.... ;)

George "Bootsy" Collins

Still keeping Baby R in prayer.

>198 jessibud2: Ha! I was going to post the answer tonight, but I'll wait to see if your friend, or anyone else, gets it. That Final Jeopardy question would be relatively easy for an African American in my age group, as we all listened to this artist's music back in the day (mid to late 1970s), but very hard for everyone else (my younger brother, who is a music buff, might also struggle with this one).

>199 avidmom: We have a winner!

Come on, that's Bootsy Collins! (I didn't google.) A style icon like that is one of a kind.

>191 kidzdoc: I like your hair more. ;-)

>202 ursula: Right! Ursula wins Final Jeopardy.

William Earl "Bootsy" Collins (1951-) is one of the legends of funk, and a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He first came to prominence as a bass player in The Original J.B.'s, the band which backed up James Brown, in 1970-71. His career took off after he joined the leading funk group Parliament Funkadelic (all 15 members of the original band are in the Hall of Fame), and in 1976 he split off to form his own successful group under his name. He is still active making and teaching funk to the younger generation. He is known for his humorous, playful lyrics and, of course, his funky bass.

Bootzilla: http://youtu.be/husf6po76mU (please hide the cats and toddlers before you play this video)

>203 DianaNL: Ha! Thanks, Diana.

I'm off to get my car serviced. Back later.

Have not heard back from my friend but I have no doubt she will know this. I am a bit older than you are, Darryl, but I will admit to never having heard of Bootsie Collins. I did have a peek at a few of the videos in your link. Thanks!

>204 kidzdoc: All new to me (love the specs: he and Elton John must have gone to the same store...).

Woot! Bootsy! Love him. And the P-Funk. Saw them in concert in my college days and it was one of the very best concerts I've ever attended.

So, yes, I approve of your new glasses, and your ballot-casting... Well done, you!

>208 scaifea: Clearly you are the winner! I never saw P-Funk! (jealous.)

>209 ursula: It was *amazing*!

Good morning, Darryl. Hope you're enjoying some good R & R.

>188 avidmom: What a great story. Kudos to the registered nurse for taking action.

>208 scaifea: Envious. I would've loved to see Bootsy and P-Funk live. My wife was telling me recently about some friends who wandered into a free outdoor P-Funk concert years ago and proceeded to have the best time ever.

Woo! I got my car serviced at the BMW dealer, and while I was there I finally bit the bullet and bought another one, a 2015 BMW X3 SUV:





I've decided to keep my Z3 convertible for now, even though it's 17 years old. It's paid for, still runs well, and is still a great car for everyday use. The X3 will be good for long distance trips, the times when I need extra passenger or cargo space (the Z3 only seats two people, and the trunk space is very tiny), when the weather is inclement (due to snow, ice, or rain), and when I'm driving on highways (due to its much larger size and height above the ground). The saleswoman who sold me the car drove it back home with me, so I now have both cars available to use. I need to drive my Z3 for ~100 miles to reset the system, so that I can get it inspected before my tag expires on my birthday in late March, so I probably won't drive the new X3 much for the next week or so. I'm also a bit afraid that it will get banged into by the frequently incompetent drivers in Atlanta, and I'm not used to driving a vehicle this large, as I've always owned small cars until today. I'll drive it to Publix, my local supermarket, tomorrow morning and to a new farmers market on Sunday, but other than that it may sit at home mostly unused for the next few weeks.

Congrats on your new car, Darryl.

>206 jessibud2: I'm not surprised that you haven't heard of Bootsy Collins, Shelley. I'l be interested to find out if your friend is familiar with him.

>207 charl08: Ha! There were plenty of, um, unique clothing and music styles in the 1970s.

>208 scaifea: Amber, you have earned at least 1000 cool points in my book for attending a Parliament Funkadelic concert in college! I never saw them perform live, although I am all but certain that they would have played in the Superdome in New Orleans while I was a student at Tulane.

>209 ursula:, >210 scaifea: Yes, I think that Amber should at least share the Final Jeopardy prize, Ursula.

>211 jnwelch: Thanks, Joe. I've been pretty busy the past two days, but it's been pretty productive. The new glasses I ordered yesterday are retro ones from the early 1960s, which are partly rimmed and similar to the ones worn by Malcolm X, and by Kevin Costner in the movie JFK by Oliver Stone. I've always loved the look of those glasses.



Wow, a free Parliament Funkadelic concert? I would have paid to see that.

>213 Ameise1: Thanks, Barbara!

Nice specs! Can't wait to see a photo of you with them.

ETA: Also, nice car! When my time comes, I'm looking at the X3 and the Acura RDX. I miss having a (smallish) SUV...

Love the new car and the new glasses!

And yep, the P-Funk concert was fantastic; it was in a smallish venue, too, which made it even better.

I can just see you at the wheel of your new car, in your new glasses Darryl, ha!

Keeping baby R in thoughts. That child will deserve a smooth run in life after such a start.

Happy Friday, Darryl! Hooray for the new Beamer! Sweet! And hooray for the new Malcolm X glasses! I bet you'll look terrific and damn serious.

I loved When Breath Becomes Air and agree with you about the epilogue.

Congrats on the new purchases! Looking good!

Nice new ride, Darryl. And I think we all want to see a photo of YOU in the new specs, amirite everyone?

Hi Darryl. So far behind I just skipped ahead. Congrats on the new ride!

Jim and I are in San Francisco for a few days, and I got to wondering where you generally stay when you're here. I'm thinking ahead to our next trip, which might not be so rushed. By then my brother will probably be living in Tiburon, but we might choose to stay in town.

Darryl, do you watch Jeopardy? Because, I have to say, thanks to this thread and your Bootsie post earlier, I actually recognized *P-Funk* in one of tonight's clues!! I had not heard of them before (and did not get the correct response to the clue anyhow) but I just had to laugh when I saw it!

>221 lauralkeet: amirite everyone?
Yup. :-)

Scrolling back... >101 kidzdoc: BB. >111 kidzdoc: Ah, I was aware of the quote but not who said it. Thanks for the context.

I'm now wide awake after a very long afternoon and evening nap (5-11 pm).

>216 katiekrug: Thanks, Katie. The glasses should be ready by next weekend, or early the following week. Mine are slightly different in that the nosepiece and the bottoms of the frame are solid black instead of gold metallic. Kids in the hospital are constantly grabbing my glasses, and although Lenscrafters had those gold trimmed frames I thought that it made sense to get the sturdier ones, with a plastic nosepiece that isn't seperate from the rims. I've seen more men wear these glasses recently, which made me want to get a pair. I've had my current frames since 2009 and the paint on them is starting to fade, especially on the nosepiece, so I'm overdue for a new pair, although I'll touch up the paint on my current pair and keep them as a backup.

Kevin Costner also rocked the look in JFK, as I mentioned previously:



The Acura RDX is nice looking, too. This is my first SUV, so it will take a bit of getting used to, especially parking in tight spots that my Z3 would easily fit into. I have driven a couple of X3s as loaner cars when my Z3 was in the shop, so I'm not completely unfamiliar with it.

>217 scaifea: Thanks, Amber! I wish I could have seen Parliament Funkadelic or Bootsy's Rubber Band in person back in the day.

>218 Caroline_McElwee: Thanks, Caroline! The new glasses probably go better with my old Z3, though, since it's a retro sports car.

Baby R survived her operation yesterday, and she appears to be holding her own. She is still on mechanical ventilation and is endotracheally intubated, paralyzed and sedated, so it's hard to know how she will be until she is extubated (when her breathing tube will be removed) and she is taken off of paralytic and sedative medications and allowed to wake up. She still needs a new heart, though, so she will remain critically ill and in the CICU until that happens.

Needless to say R. is one of the sickest babies I've ever taken care of, in the acute sense, and her survival at this point is far from certain.

>219 msf59: Happy Friday Saturday, Mark! I'm definitely a BMW fan, after my great experience with my Z3 (17 years old and still going strong). I'm eager to pick up my new glasses as well.

I'm glad that you also loved When Breath Becomes Air. I need to write my review of it; I'll try to do that later today or tomorrow, since I'm working all of next week.

>220 jessibud2: Thanks, Shelley!

>221 lauralkeet: Thanks, Laura. I'm sure there will be photos taken next month when I travel to London, although I'll see if I can get someone to take an appropriate photo of me in them before then. I think I look like a goofball in most photos, though, probably because I am a goofball.

>222 ffortsa: Thanks, Judy! The San Francisco I stay at most often is the Hotel Whitcomb on Market Street, which is a stone's throw from the Civic Center BART and MUNI station (BART stands for Bay Area Rapid Transit, which is the train that you can take at the airport to downtown SF, which continues to the East Bay, including Oakland and Berkeley. MUNI is the light rail system that serves the city.). It's an old hotel, as it celebrates its 100th anniversary this year, and it isn't as modern as most other ones. I stay there mainly for convenience, as it's within walking distance from the music venues I like to go to the most (Davies Symphony Hall, the SF Jazz Center, and the Herbst Theatre), along with the Asian Art Museum, and it's easily accessible by public transportation. The neighborhood is okay but not great, and there aren't many good places to eat nearby. I'd probably recommend staying in Union Square, and my favorite hotels there are the Hotel Nikko San Francisco and the Donatello Hotel. Hotel Nikko is a short walk from the Powell Street BART and MUNI station, and the Donatello is a bit further away and partway up Nob Hill (it's doable if you don't have luggage, but a bit of a haul if you do). The Donatello has very spacious rooms and I loved staying there on extended visits (10-14+ days), but Hotel Nikko is nice as well.

>223 jessibud2: I'll occasionally watch Jeopardy! when I visit my parents, but only then. That's very cool that P-Funk (Parliament Funkadelic) was one of the questions on the show!

>224 qebo: You're welcome, Katherine. It's a shame that the "prone" comment is what many people associate wih Stokely Carmichael.

Back to bed...

Have fun with the new car, Darryl! I'll bet you will be surprised at how easy it is to drive. I am just over 5 feet tall, and I was afraid the Toyota RAV4 would be too much for me to handle, but it was a breeze, and I love driving it--being able to see around other vehicles much better.

>228 Cariola: Thanks, Deborah. The X3 has a comfortable ride, and I agree that it's great to be able to view cars around me from a higher vantage point. I'll just need time to read about its features, and to develop that physical memory that Linda alluded to in my Facebook post that will allow me to drive it in tight spots without fear of hitting something or someone, or getting hit. I'll be a bit nervous driving it until then.

BTW, do you a enough space for two cars where you live?

>230 Ameise1: I do, Barbara. I live in a high rise apartment building in Midtown, which has hundreds of unassigned parking spots for its residents. I asked the property manager if it was possible for me to keep a second car there several weeks ago, and she assured me that I could. The building is usually filled to near or full capacity, as it's a nice building in a very desirable section of Midtown (one of the ER doctors at Children's who I'm good friends with moved here, along with her husband and son, last year), but there are always a small handful of unfilled parking spots available at any given time.

>231 kidzdoc: Ah, that's great to hear. Here in Switzerland there aren't free parking spots. You have to pay it with the rent and in an apartment building there is mostly only one parking spot for a flat.

Love your new car! We keep talking about a (smallish) SUV but I don't know whether we'll ever do it. The BMW looks perfect.

Glad to hear Baby R is hanging in there. Sounds like she's a real fighter. I'm keeping her in my prayers.

Congrats on the new car, Darryl. Looks great, and I know BMW's are high quality and last well.

Congrats on the new glasses, too. You'll have to send Debbi a pic of you wearing them with the porkpie hat. :-)

>232 Ameise1: Fortunately this building was built with plenty of parking spots. There are actually three levels for cars, one at street level, and two others above and below it. Parking on the two lower levels is for monthly parking for people who work nearby (there are several high rise businesses, major companies and hotels on or close to my street), and the upper level is reserved for people who live here. The first floor for residents is two levels above the street.

Having a car in Atlanta is a near necessity, as it has a poor public transportation system compared to other major US cities, and most neighborhoods aren't walkable. The city is mostly large and sprawling, and not compact compared to places like NYC, Philadelphia, Boston and Chicago. I'm fortunate that I can take the metro to and from work, as that isn't a reasonable option for all but a tiny number of people that I work with.

>233 RebaRelishesReading: Thanks, Reba! BMW does make a smaller SUV, the X1, but it sits much lower to the ground and doesn't provide the visibility that the X3 does. Consumer Reports gave the X3 and the midsized Subaru SUV its highest ratings in that class. The wife of my good friend in Madison, Wisconsin has that SUV; it's very nice, and I would definitely recommend it, but I was willing to pay a bit more to get more amenities for the BMW.

Baby R. does seem to be a fighter. When I first looked at her on Tuesday she didn't appear to be anywhere near as sick as she was, as she was watching a kids' program on her tablet. When I listened to her heart, though, I knew something was very wrong. Her heart was not only beating rapidly it was pounding, as it was actively failing and it was pumping as hard and as fast as it could to keep her from going into cardiovascular collapse (I can still hear that very loud sound in my head, as I've never heard anything like that before). A STAT chest X-ray confirmed my suspicion a couple of minutes later, and things began to move very quickly after that.

That's good that you can go to work by metro. It's much more comfy than to be in traffic jam.

>234 jnwelch: Thanks, Joe. As I mentioned earlier, my 1999 BMW Z3 convertible is still going strong, and with less than 90,000 miles on it I think it has a long way to go. My experience with it, and with my local BMW dealer, played a major role in my decision to get a second BMW.

I'll send Debbi that photo! I should probably get a trumpet or saxophone to complete the look.

>236 Ameise1: Definitely, Barbara. The metro station closest to my home is about a 10 minute walk, and once I arrive at the Medical Center station (so named because there are three major hospitals within close proximity, including mine) I can walk or take a Children's shuttle van, which stops at the metro station and drops passengers off at the main entrance of the hospital. I'll usually drive to the hospital on swing or night shifts, weekends and holidays when the shuttle isn't running, but I'll ride to work all of the other days of the week.

Traffic in Atlanta is horrible, due to the lack of public transportation and the size of the metro area; less than 500,000 people live in the city, but nearly 5 million live in metropolitan Atlanta. Commutes of 1-2 hours each way are not at all unusual here.

>235 kidzdoc: she was watching a kids' program on her tablet.
Oh, I guess because you've been referring to her as "Baby," I thought she was an infant. How old is Baby R, Darryl? I'm glad things are still progressing in a positive direction.

>238 lauralkeet: She is an infant, Laura; she's 10 months old. When I first saw her on Tuesday she was lying on her back in her crib, watching a kids' program on her tablet. As I approached her I could see that she was breathing fast and hard, and looked uncomfortable, even though she was paying attention to the program.

Oh, okay thanks Darryl.

Happy weekend, Darryl! Enjoy your new car.

>240 lauralkeet: You're welcome, Laura.

Books to Read in March (highly likely to change):

A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing by Eimear McBride
All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews
Black in Latin America by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
The Farming of Bones by Edwidge Danticat
Fireflies by Shiva Naipaul
I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
The Incredible Unlikeliness of Being by Alice Roberts
The Lost Steps by Alejo Carpentier
Roads to Santiago by Cees Nooteboom
Texaco by Patrick Chamoiseau

>241 banjo123: Thanks, Rhonda! I hope that you have an enjoyable weekend as well.

I had mixed feelings about All my puny sorrows - look forward to hearing what you think.

>244 charl08: Will do, Charlotte. I'm reading it mainly because it was chosen for last year's Wellcome Book Prize, and I'd like to finish last year's shortlist before I start the new one, which will be announced on March 14th.

Looking forward to seeing some of your March reviews if you stick to that list. Congrats on the new car!

>242 kidzdoc: Edwidge Danticat spoke in Lancaster a few weeks ago: http://www.fandm.edu/news/latest-news/2016/02/05/writer-s-story-danticat-touches... . I wasn't familiar with her, went to the event out of curiosity. She read excerpts from a few stories, not enough context for me to grasp much meaning, but the Q&A afterward was interesting, with quite a few students asking questions.

A quick break between cooking meals: the quiche is nearly done, and I'll start making Chinese tofu scramble shortly.

>246 thornton37814: Thanks, Lori! It's very unlikely that I'll stick to that list, since I'll be in London from March 15-27 and I'll only bring a few books with me. Fliss recommended reading A Girl is a Half-formed Thing, since I hope to see the play at The Old Vic next month. She saw it today, and told me that I should see it, and read the book first. I'll also read I Am Legend by Richard Matheson, as I was invited by Fliss to join her, Rachael and several of their friends for a book club meet up in Cambridge on the 21st.

You'll note that if Fliss tells me to do something I do it, no questions asked.

I'll also definitely read The Farming of Bones, since Katie and I had discussed reading it together in March. I'd like to finish last year's Wellcome Book Prize shortlist before the 2016 shorlist is announced on March 14th, so I'll plan to finish it by reading All My Puny Sorrows, which is on my Kindle, and The Incredible Unlikeliness of Being, which I bought in London last year. I'll definitely read Texaco, which I've been putting off until I had time to dedicate to it, and Black in Latin America, which should be a quick read.

>247 qebo: Thanks for that link, Katherine. I'll look at it later today.

The quiche is done! Back later.

>248 kidzdoc: Well, it sounds like you will still get to the Danticat and Henry Louis Gates books, and I was especially interested in those two.

D--Sending good thoughts to Baby R. And kudos to you for sharing the praise with the attentive nurse. My own daughter crashed on the way into heart surgery at 9 days old, so I know how important every minute can be.

Enjoy your new car and rock those new glasses!! I just took my oldest to get a new pair. She cannot wait for them to come in.

Happy Saturday, Darryl! Good luck with your March reading. I would really like to read All My Puny Sorrows, also.

The Chinese tofu scramble is done, and I just had a bowl of it for dinner. Mmm...I haven't made this in at least three or four months, and I'd forgotten how much I like this recipe. I used a bit more fresh ginger than the recipe calls for, and it seemed to give it a brighter and richer flavor, along with the black sea salt that I finally ordered from Amazon, in lieu of using regular table salt. I made a double batch of it, so I have three full servings of it to have as leftovers, along with four servings of the caramelized onion, mixed mushroom and Gruyere quiche (the entire quiche went straight into my refrigerator), and two servings of Southwest breakfast scramble, which I made for breakfast today. Needless to say it's been a very productive day of cooking, which makes me happy.

This Wednesday's NYT contained three enticing vegetable soup recipes in the Food section, so I'll try at least one of them tomorrow.

>249 thornton37814: I'll definitely get to those books, Lori. I'll probably read both of them before I leave for London on the 14th.

>250 Berly: Thanks for your good thoughts for Baby R, Kim. Jen's early recognition of how sick she was can't be overemphasized, and I am incredibly grateful to her and very glad to recognize her here, and, more importantly, on my Facebook post (which has had nearly 130 "likes" so far, including many by the RNs and MDs who I work with). My post about Jen was even mentioned in my group's monthly meeting on Wednesday, which was attended by one of the senior nurse managers in my hospital, and she said that she would be sure that Jen receives formal recognition from Children's as well, which makes me that much more pleased that I did give her credit for the essential role she played in saving Baby R's life.

Babies with complex congenital heart disease often crash, and crash hard, during the first week or two of life. Time is of the essence in ensuring that they will survive, as you mentioned, and frequently these babies have only a few hours between the time that they first become ill and the time that they go into severe and potentially fatal congestive heart failure, as was the case for Baby R (although she was considerably older than a neonate). Kids, especially babies, are incredibly resilient, as my baby was, but she would not have survived if her condition wasn't recognized until Tuesday afternoon, rather than Tuesday morning as it was by Jen and I.

The daytime nurses at Children's are outstanding, both as clinicians and as people, and I absolutely love working with and being friends with them. It's the new night nurses that have driven my partners and I absolutely batty, as they are almost the complete opposite of the day nurses (and they complain about their night partners as well). The nurse manager got an earful of complaints from my partners about the problems they have been having with the baby nurses who work at night during Wednesday's meeting, so it isn't just me who has been having major problems with them. As I said before, I'm thankful that Baby R didn't get sick on Monday night, as she may have died if one of the inexperienced night nurses was taking care of her instead of the stellar nurse that she was blessed to have the following morning.

>251 msf59: Happy Saturday to you too, Mark! I'll probably wait to read All My Puny Sorrows until I arrive in London in the middle of next month, as my copy of it is on my Kindle.

Nice new ride! Congrats!

>253 drneutron: Thanks, Jim!

I moved from my I-35 Infiniti (2002) to a new SUV QX60 last May, which is also bigger. I'm assuming you also have the complete surround camera system which, for me, makes all the difference in the world in maneuvering in tight spots!

I loved All My Puny Sorrows! Just saying....

Congrats on the new ride and cool dude glasses!

Happy Sunday, everyone! I've made my usual Sunday early morning trip to Publix to buy groceries, and to Einstein Bros. to get a bagel sandwich. I'll create a new thread while I'm finishing coffee, and make a new recipe that was in Wednesday's Food section of The New York Times, Mushroom-Spinach Soup With Middle Eastern Spices, which looked good on paper and should be easy to make:



I'll participate in my first LT Atlanta meet up later today. Lisa (@labfs39) is visiting a friend in the metro area, and the three of us will meet at noon to have lunch.

>255 ronincats: The QX60 looks very nice, Roni! It seems to be the same size as my new X3. It does (or at least I think it does) have the surround camera system, as it squawked at me ("WTH are you doing?") when I returned home on Friday, as it thought that I was too close to the wall in the spot I parked in.

>256 Berly: I'm glad that you liked All My Puny Sorrows, Kim. It's on my Kindle, so I'll almost certainly read it while I'm in London.

>257 Familyhistorian: Thanks, Meg! It would have been nice to get a pair of Bootsy glasses as an alternative, though.

Hmm...actually, I think I'll start making the soup first, and then make a new thread if I have time to do so before I meet Lisa.

Oh, this soup looks delicious. Hapy Sunday, Darryl. Enjoy your meet-up.

>258 kidzdoc: Lisa (labfs39) is visiting a friend in the metro area
She gets around. I met her in Maine a couple years ago. Hi, Lisa!

Enjoy your Sunday and your meet up with Lisa mate.

>258 kidzdoc: - That soup looks amazing. I have to try it! Thanks for the link to the recipe, Darryl. I just made a batch of the sweet potato/orange/ginger soup last night.

Enjoy your meetup. We have a small but devoted core of bookcrossers here in Toronto who meet regularly, but so far, I have only met up with a few LTers. I think it was last summer that Zoe and her Mark, were in town and we met up with Cyrel (torontoc). I have a photo of that meetup in my photos in my profile. We are hoping to meetup again when she visits this summer, with possibly a few more LTers expressing interest in joining, as well. Should be fun

Soup's on!



This was quick and easy to make, and it tastes great. I hoped that I would be finished by 11 am, and it was done more than half an hour before that.

I think I'll get dressed, and head over to Ponce City Market, a new venue for restaurants and shops that opened in the old Sears building in Midtown last year. It's become one of the most popular places to dine and shop here, and since I haven't been yet (and neither has Lisa, of course), I'd like to scout it out before we meet at noon. I'll check back in later this afternoon, and create a new thread then.

>183 kidzdoc: What a wonderful quote. I finished a wonderful book last night, given to me by Stasia. The young adult book The Dreamer by Pam Munoz Ryan is based on the early childhood of poet Pablo Neruda. He had a very macho father who was not adverse to smaking the children around if they didn't fit with his rigid rules. Pablo was a skinny, bookish, shy stutterer, and those qualities drove his father to more and more abuse.

When I saw the Booker T. Washington quote, I immediately thought of Pablo Neruda.

Thanks for posting this, and many other interesting items found here on your thread.

>263 kidzdoc: I think I'm going to make a pot of that soup myself, tomorrow Darryl.

>258 kidzdoc:, >259 Ameise1: Soup looks lovely. Glad to hear Baby R is continuing to do well.

Hiya, Darryl. Man, those soups look good.

I'm going to recommend that at some point you get your hands on Voyage of the Sable Venus, if you haven't already. It's the one that won the National Book Award. The inside cover calls it an "electrifying collection" and, believe it or not, so far I agree. She's blowing me away.

>258 kidzdoc: Oooh, I have mushrooms and spinach in the frig! Will check out the recipe for the rest of the ingredients.

>263 kidzdoc: That looks VERY different from the photo above. But still tasty.

Lisa and I had a great meet up over lunch today, along with her friend David. We loved Ponce City Market, which lived up to its billing as Atlanta's version of foodie heaven, with numerous enticing restaurants and shops. We had a hard time choosing where to eat, so we let Lisa pick the place, and she decided on Minero, a "casual Mexican eatery" that was excellent. We split a plate of fresh guacamole with chips, which was heavenly. Lisa and David each had a catfish taco, David had a charcoaled chicken taco as well, and I had a pork head taco and chilaquiles, a dish that consisted of heirloom beans and pork, crema, tortilla chips, salsa, fried egg, queso fresco and avocado. It was very tasty but I could only finish half of it, so I'll probably have the rest of it for dinner tonight.



Unfortunately I forgot to take photos! Hopefully we'll be able to meet up here in the not too distant future, though.

>259 Ameise1: The mushroom-spinach soup is very good, Barbara, and it didn't take long to make, just over an hour, I think. It goes into my rotation of favorite soups and stews. There are two other vegetable soup recipes on page 2 of the Food section of Wednesday's NYT, so I'll give them a try in the near future.

>260 qebo: Lisa said to tell you hello, Katherine! She mentioned that you and she had met up in Maine, where she is originally from, and she also mentioned a large group meet up in Portland (with Mark, Kim and others in attendance), and smaller ones in Seattle, where she lives. She is doing well.

>261 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul. The three of us chatted merrily for two hours, in keeping with nearly all other LT meet ups, and they got to see my new SUV before we parted. She and David should be at the Atlanta Botanical Garden now. It's an absolutely glorious day here, as it's sunny and currently 69 F (20 C), and everyone is outdoors today (I'll take a nap, and go back out later as well). The local NBC affiliate rated today as an 11 on a scale of 1 to 10 (as it's Channel 11), but I think that rating is one or two points too low.

I'm glad that Lisa had a great weather weekend to spend here, as days like the ones we've had this week are not uncommon for this time of year, but they aren't guaranteed, either.

>262 jessibud2: You're welcome, Shelley; I would highly recommended this soup to everyone (except Amber, who dislikes mushrooms for some reason ;-) ).

I just made a batch of the sweet potato/orange/ginger soup last night.

That sounds good! Have you posted a recipe on your thread, or in The Kitchen?

I did see the photo of the Toronto meet up in which you, Cyrel, Zoë and Mark got together. I think I've met Zoë more than any other LTer in the US, usually in NYC but also in Philadelphia and the San Francisco Bay Area, but I haven't met Mark yet (or, needless to say, Cyrel).

>269 kidzdoc: - Yes, Darryl, I believe I have posted the soup recipe in the Kitchen thread awhile ago but I'd have to go back to find it to link to it.

It's a gorgeous day here, too. A most welcome respite, though I was only out for a short time. I am in clean-up mode because I have an out-of-town friend arriving tomorrow for a visit for a few days. Nothing like impending visitors to get the cleaning done! Normally, I'd have music blaring, to light that fire under me but Sunday afternoon on CBC radio has one of my favourite books programs on and I am listening to that. It's called Writers & Company. Today's guest author is Paul Beatty. I have not read anything by him but he sounds like such an interesting guy. I think I will keep an eye open for his books. Here's a link to the interview. Scroll down to today's date: http://www.cbc.ca/radio/writersandcompany

edited to add: http://www.librarything.com/topic/208608, post #34

>264 Whisper1: I'm glad that you liked that quote, Linda. I'm a fan of Pablo Neruda's work, and I would interested to read more about him.

>265 Caroline_McElwee: Sounds good, Caroline. Please let us know how the soup turns out. BTW, I used vegetable broth instead of water, as the article that accompanied the recipe otherwise I followed the recipe to the letter.

>266 souloftherose: I think you would like this soup, Heather. It's very flavorful and meaty, due mainly to the mushrooms. I saw this recipe while I was in the BMW service center waiting for my car to be repaired, and once I saw the photo and read the recipe in the NYT I knew that I would make it this weekend.

>267 jnwelch: The mushroom-spinach soup was very good, and it's a snap to make, Joe. The NYT has been featuring numerous great recipes in its Wednesday editions, and you can search over 17,000 recipes in its web site Cooking with The New York Times and the associated app. It allows you to save recipes as well. The NYT recipes used to be quite esoteric, filled with ingredients that were hard to find in most locations, but now it's featured numerous tasty recipes with easily obtainable ingredients, ones that aren't difficult to make.

Thanks for recommending Voyage of the Sable Venus to me. I put it on my wish list after it won the National Book Award for Poetry last year, and I'll plan to buy and read it soon.

>268 Cariola: The recipe calls for 1-1/4 lb of mixed mushrooms, 1/2 lb of shallots, 4 oz of baby spinach and spices. I bought all of the ingredients, save for the spices and vegetable broth, at Publix this morning.

You're right; my photo looks very different from the one in the NYT! I'm not sure how they were able to get the broth to look so dark and rich, and I can see large translucent pieces of onion, which don't look like the diced shallots that the recipe calls for.

Your soup looks delicious Darryl. I still have plenty of parsnip and pea soup left but might try a new one when it's finished!

>270 jessibud2: Thanks for pointing me to your soup recipe, Shelley; I had forgotten all about it! I might try it next weekend.

Thanks also for that link to the interview of Paul Beatty. I read his novel The Sellout last year, so I'd like to hear him talk about it.

(Yawn) I need a nap, as I've been up since 4:30 am. Back later.

>272 charl08: Thanks, Charlotte. The soup tastes as good as it looks.

>200 kidzdoc: - Darryl, my friend just got home and she wasn't far off the mark! here is her reply to me just now:

" I am pretty sure this is George Clinton of Parliament. A really, funky, spacey, weird cat."

I did reply to her with the correct response. The name George Clinton was the answer n that Jeopardy question I mentioned the other day, too. I just remembered, as I read her email! :-)

I didn't make soup this weekend. The day was simply to glorious for that. (We had the same weather over here in T-town that you have in Atlanta.) I tried to sit outside and read but it was just a little to cool to do that. I wished I would have known about the meet-up as I would have been happy to drive over. I was very busy this last week at work and didn't visit LT until Friday night.

I did get my income taxes done today. I also baked a Sally Lunn coffee cake. However, I over baked it a little and got the outside to brown. It should taste good for my Tuesday night wine club meeting.

I started listening to Geography of Bliss yesterday while doing my errands. So far it is very interesting about places in Europe where people are happy. Places like the Netherlands and Switzerland.

Cool new glasses, Darryl! I need to get a new pair as well. Fab new car! Congratulations! I'm afraid I won't be able to follow suit car - wise :) Enjoy!

(Yawn) My nap lasted three hours, and I needed it, especially since I work Monday through Friday of this coming week.

>275 jessibud2: Your friend earns at least half credit with her answer of George Clinton, Shelley. Both men were in Parliament Funkadelic, and Clinton and Collins were the two most prominent members of the group.



>276 benitastrnad: I'm glad that I decided to make soup this morning before I met Lisa and David, as I wouldn't have wanted to do so this afternoon or evening.

Our meet up plans weren't finalized until late last night, so I didn't think to make them public until we had agreed on a date and time. We only met for two hours, so I didn't think to mention it to you, especially since Tuscaloosa is three hours away from Atlanta by car; I wouldn't have been interested in driving for six hours for a two hour meet up!

When we do meet up we'll definitely have to go to Ponce City Market, which was even better than advertised. There is another similar but smaller new foodie venue, Krog Street Market, which is housed in an old factory building in the Old Fourth Ward, not far from the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site that was built in the 1880s. That market opened two summers ago, and, weirdly enough, I haven't been to it, either. Both markets are within three miles from where I live, so I'll go to both a lot more often, and, as I mentioned in my Facebook post, I may never cook again.

Lisa just sent me a text message to let me know that she and David drove to Decatur, the suburb just east of Atlanta, to have dinner at The Iberian Pig, my favorite Atlanta area restaurant (Judy & Jim went there when they were in town several years ago, and they loved it as well). The food scene here has improved dramatically in the past few years, as was mentioned in this article from the Food section in Wednesday's NYT:

Atlanta Pulls a Chair to the Table for Culinary Greats

It sounds as though you had a very productive day as well. I was thinking of going to the new Sprouts Farmers Market in Morningside, on Piedmont Avenue about two miles north of my building, which opened a couple of weeks ago, but I'm still quite sleepy, so I think I'll wait until mid week or next weekend to go there.

Geography of Bliss sounds interesting. I can believe that The Netherlands is one of the happiest countries in the world, after my trip there last summer. Everyone was very friendly and welcoming, in both Amsterdam and Utrecht. I'd love to visit Switzerland in the near future as well.

Uhh...did the book rank countries on a happiness scale? If so, do I dare ask where the United States fit in that list? Hopefully we're ahead of North Korea and Myanmar.

>277 vancouverdeb: Thanks, Deb! Women can rock that look as well; one of my longtime friends just started wearing a pair that is similar to the ones I posted above, although hers are more similar to the ones I ordered this week.

Okay...now it's time for a new thread.