End of year realization

Three things came together in the past couple of days that have made me realize that things change, and that just because things have happened one way for a long time or even for generations, they may not work that way in the future. It seems obvious when I write it down, but I want to elaborate with some examples.

It started on Tuesday morning when I turned on TV while I was exercising and the movie Happy Feet was playing. I thought it was a movie that a high school friend told me about, so I watched it. (She was actually referring me to Penguins, oh well) One of the movie's themes illustrated the change of cultural ways when the outcast, young, emperor penguin, was rejected by his community because he could not sing; all emporer penguins were singers. Instead the protagonist penguin was born moving his feet rapidly in a manner that was embarrassing to his parents and shocked the community elders. As he grew up, he tried to become part of the community, but finally decided to leave home. He set out to find out where all the fish were going that was leaving his community without food. When he returned, after learning where all their fish were going, this dancing penguin got all of his generation of emperor penguins dancing. It was a poignant scene when the elder penguins couldn't stop the masses from dancing in delight. I noted then that things can change from one generation to the next. And I thought about my Ancient History class in ninth grade where we discussed the role of traditions in society. They are there for social stability but there are times when cultural norms can change for numerous reasons. And whether a culture sings or dances, it doesn't matter.

Then this morning, I heard on France 24 news, which I usually watch while I exercise, about smarva.com, a community lending forum in Germany. All of a sudden I realized that it might be possible that individuals will start lending to small companies, or to other individuals, and that the banks potentially could be superceded. I realized that our current economic stand-still could pick up in ways that I hadn't anticipated and that things will be different, maybe for the better.

Then Marc returned from his new doctor's office. Our doctor of 15 years is moving from her sole practice in Bethesda, to New Mexico. We are looking for a new doctor. Marc commented how nice it was to be in a modern office. There the records are electronic, the prescription was emailed or faxed directly to the pharmacy from the doctor's computer while she was talking to Marc. We have been talking about how important it is to digitize medical records. I got a copy of my 15 years of records, and I entered data into a spread sheet to see how my cholesterol levels have changed over the years. There is no reason that medical records don't show that information routinely. I have a feeling that our new doctors will provide us with more efficient care. We'll see if this potential is realized.

I'm looking forward to the New Year, and the changes they will bring. It may not all be easy and I hope some things will stay the same. But it is an interesting feeling to realize how different things will be. Things I hadn't even thought of, such as individuals lending to individuals. Of course, I'm not going to learn how to evaluate someone's credit worthiness.
Nor will I be making loans. I just think it is an interesting idea.

Post election excitement

It's a new world today. We'd spent a few hours at our neighbors watching the results on TV. Maya their high school daughter kept coming down and comparing the reported results from the internet with those on TV. The electoral college count was different. TV was slower on the declarations, but TV had holograms of reporters and the Capitol in their studio. I don't think that was on the internet. When we felt tired, we retreated to our bedroom to watch McCain's concession speech and then Obama's victory speech. The faces in the crowds were very different at the two events. I also caught on Comedy Central, a Harvard Law Professor who had thought, when Obama graduated from law school, that he would make a great mayor and would be rescuing cats from people's trees. [insert laughter sound track]. At 11:00 Comedy Central pronounced Obama a winner in a pathetic drama between Colbert and Stewart, and I realized that I wanted main stream media's take. It is all history now. I had tears streaming down the side of my face watching. It was hard to turn off the TV as the celebrations from around the world were shown: Times Square, from inside the gates of the White House (CNN, that was a scarey view), Los Angeles, Harlem, places where in my lifetime the streets were filled with angry people rioting and destroying property. When we finally turned off the tube, we could hear celebrations in the distance through our opened window. It sounded like the local high school had just won their season's final football game. The new world is here.

This morning I couldn't help but turn on the TV and surf the channels. CNN rapidly bored me, I wanted to find a local channel. I was actually worried about the state of downtown Washington, but was relieved to see the young revellers who had celebrated their hard work for Obama until 3:30 am as a totally joyous event for their participation in history. The implications are just sinking in. Flipping through the channels brought me 4-5 hour lines in neighboring Prince Georges county where over half the county had voted by 3pm, and there was no line after 5pm.
Heard about swing states that went blue, including Virginia, Indiana and Pennsylvania. I heard some long winded Harvard Law Professor noting the hopes and expectations, and I thought back to Jesse Jackson's tears from the night before.

On the lighter side, even Marc is anticipating not having to bottle up his opinions about a whole range of things that have been going on at work that he now feels he can comment on. How will my work change? Probably not much. I still have to write proposals, review manuscripts, manage grant spending and reporting and do what I can to provide the young adults of the world with enough science and technology background to not return to the Dark Ages. And maybe bring some new knowledge into our conscience.

Now should I turn this into a health blog? I had my third cortisone shot of the year yesterday.
Postanteric bursitis. What are the risks of cortisone shots? Another research topic to pursue for another time. Atleast I can walk into work, which I couldn't do on Monday.

Small asteroid hit Earth as a meteor

A lot has happened since early October. I had a chance to speak to a few people involved in the discovery of the 2 meter asteroid that hit Earth as a meteor the next day. The story
at http://www.azstarnet.com/news/264185 is a good report of the event and the process.
I thought I knew Kowalski, the discoverer, but I don't. I confused his name with that of a colleague of mine. It was a little embarrasing as I went up my colleague and slapped him on the back saying, "Richard, how does it feel to be the person to first discover an asteroid that then hit the Earth?" He just smiled and told me it wasn't him and explained the difference between his name and the discoverer. Whoops!

A crazy election, financial crisis and now this!

If I didn't know the people involved, I wouldn't believe it. An exciting election, world financial crisis and now this! I still have a hard time believing it.
A small, fast moving body was found at Mt. Lemmon, an observatory in Tuscon, AZ, by a colleage. Richard Kowalski, who I know (he's going to be everyone's friend now). Another group of astronomers were able to calculate its orbit, that's another impressive aspect of the story, verify it and then report with confidence, that it was going to collide with Earth! The risk of a Chicken Little situation is high. I can't wait to hear them all tell their stories. The very small asteroidal fragment was named 2008 TC3, (naming conventions exist and aren't very interesting) and it was predicted to collide with Earth Oct. 6, 2008 at 2:46 UT.
Now to see the images. Now is the time to verify what you hear and see. The reports won't necessarily be from people I know. It was predicted to fall over northern Africa, I've already read that it was visible from Europe, but I'll have to do some sorting of reports to see if that is true. The only problem is that I am getting ready to go to a meeting, and I am preparing for that. I think I'll stick to my plans and let others in my office sort through the reports of any sighting, or a meteorite fall. That would be very interesting, if there were a meteorite fall. We live in interesting times. Don't forget that the economy is in upheaval and there is a Presidential election debate tonight. Note this was not predicted to be an impact hazard.

Vine Eaten Tomatoes

For the past few summers we have planted a few things in the sunny spot in our back yard. I do tomatoes and Marc does pepper plants. We have learned to encase our 4' x 6' plot in deer proof netting. I have also installed a foot or so of chicken wire to keep out the rabbits. But I still get burrowing animals, especially when the tomatoes are about to ripen. I've seen squirrels stuck in there and I've seen chipmunks come and go as they please through their tunnels. As a result, we have vine eaten tomatoes!

Butterflies and Caterpillars

An exquisite hairstreak butterfly. It is about 1 cm long and actually stood still on the sunflower leaf long enough to be photographed. If you click on the picture, you can get a closer look.








I kept a pair of these, gave them a green tomato which one devoured while the other formed a chrysalis. Then I waited for them to emerge.
Only one did. I have the pictures but they made a mess while eating, the picture is yucky.





This is called a tomato hornworm caterpillar.
I think the white spikes are parasites, they sure look like it and I've only seen this caterpillar with them. Maybe they are the horns. But they aren't on the other pictures I've seen of hornworms http://insects.tamu.edu/fieldguide/cimg308.html. I don't believe this guy eats anything but leaves. They are too big and juicy for me to capture and watch develop into a moth. See the link above for the outcome of that. If it were to morph into a creature of beauty I probably would have tried.

Tuesday Sept. 23, 2008 Its the economy still

Last night the political pundit that I watched on TV (I usually don't watch TV in the evening),
felt as I did, though he was more expansive about the risks of giving sweeping powers to the Secretary of the Treasury. As I was driving home and hearing that Paulson was calling on Congress to move quickly, I felt very uneasy. I was talking to the radio. It is probably true, that the economy is collapsing very rapidly, but moving quickly on the government's purchasing flaky and flimsy financial products? Why should the American people be as stupid and reckless as everyone in investment banking? When I got home, I learned that Marc had called his Congressmen, and he hadn't done that since the Viet Nam war, he noted.

Then there was commentary about how the situation was difficult for McCain and Obama. They are both Senators, by the way. They have a job to do and we will be able to watch them. All they have to do is their job, that will tell us a lot.

Some opinions:
Congress shouldn't go home at the end of the week.

Everyone in investment banking should go out into the homes of mortgage owners who are facing foreclosure and they should renegotiate their mortgages with them face-to-face....with their own resources.

Investment Banking, the economy and you and me.

I can't start the week without commenting on the events in the news. While Houston Texas, the 4th largest city in the U.S. is significantly without power and spent the week cleaning up from hurricane Ike, the largest investment banking firms in the world (I think) were being bailed out by us, the U.S. taxpayers. I continually ask myself if and how this will propagate down to every day people. Is this a calamitous event that will bring food shortages, massive job losses and an overall decline to our standard of living? It is hard to follow what is going on. There was mention of a plan by the Secretary of Treasury in Saturday's NYTimes and then a lead article about it on Sunday. But it took me all morning and most of the day to realize that another big government bail out was being proposed to Congress by Secretary of the Treasury, Henry Paulson. It is 100 times larger than previous ones, a 700 billion dollar bailout! What alarms me is that the plan comes with giving the Secretary of Treasury sweeping powers. I don't know what those sweeping powers are, but I don't like the sounds of it, what about the concept of balance of powers.

Meanwhile, on Saturday, after inviting people for dinner, Marc and I went for a hike to Sugar Loaf Mountain. There is a winery at the base of the hill (it is all of 1200 ft, so its hardly a mountain) and we stopped in for a glass of wine. I looked around and we were really being decadent. It was a clear, crisp fall day, we were sitting under umbrellas, there were beautiful people with dogs and families. No one had a worried look on their face, least of all the retired Washington lawyer, now proprietor of the vineyard. Marc enjoyed his glass of cabernet, mine was a merlot. I asked Marc if he wanted to buy a bottle of the Cab, he shook his head, no. I mentioned that the Merlot was really great and that I'd like to have a bottle. We waited in line, and discussed whether we were going to get one or two bottles. Then we looked at the chalk board and saw that cases of Cab and Chardonnay were on sale. Before we knew it we were talking about a case. If we were to get a case, we would have to put it up for 3-4 years. Marc agreed and said we'd drink it in September, 2011. He asked about the Cab and I said that I preferred the Merlot. So we walked out of there with a $200 case of wine. On our way to the parking lot, I asked Marc what we usually pay for a case of wine. He said, about $100. That's the McFadden-Allen's being decadent.

Does this ever happen to you? After lounging around and enjoying breakfast and the newspaper, it comes time to decide what to do for the luxurious weekend day, the day that is all yours. After a little thought, the optional to do list is made and even prioritized. O.K. I'm going to do one task that is work related and get it out of the way. I'll feel good about myself and then we can go on to do some household chores. Then the day will be free for complete recreational activities.
So I set about my task, which involves setting up my work computer. On the way, I stop at the washing machine and start a load of weekly laundry. O.K. to my desk. But I have to clear off a space, and I pick up the MIT alumni journal and notice a student I know, so I have to read about her. I should drop her a line and tell her what a good picture it is. Back to setting up my computer, but I am thirsty so I go down stairs for a glass of water, and notice that I didn't put the breakfast dishes in the dishwasher. I put in a few and then took myself back upstairs to my office. Now I will get down to work. Plugging in my work computer. But first, I decided I had to blog about this. Isn't this what happens in meditation? It is just task meditation.

Unwritten book reviews

Ghengis Khan and the Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford, Three Rivers Press, 2004. A readable history about a part of the world that was never mentioned in my school years, and I'm learning also not mentioned in the school years of many other educated people in my cohort.

Kristin Lavransdatter 1: The Wreath by Sigrid Undset, Penguin books, originally published in Norwegian, 1920. Basically a romance novel set in the 13th century.

Mothers of Invention by Drew Gilpin Faust. A history of women and the changes that the Civil War imposed on the life of women. Interesting perspectives on the lives of southern women in the upper classes.

Founding Mothers, Cokie Roberts, 2005. About the women in the lives of our founding fathers. I'll have things to say about this if I have the guts to put it in writing.

Rosetta's Asteroid Steins Flyby

The European Space Agency has a spacecraft heading to orbit a comet a number of years off. On their way, they are flying by an asteroid named Steins. I am interested in this asteroid because it is a type that has never been studied up close, and it will tell us something about the early Solar System. The spacecraft had only a few minutes to collect data as it flew by at 8.6 km/s, that is almost 20,000 m/hr.

http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMNMYO4KKF_index_0.html contains their press report and first images.

We have established a consortium of scientists to study the meteorites that are most similar to Steins. We will study these meteorites, called aubrites, in the laboratory to look for similarities between the asteroid and the meteorite and thus expand our knowledge of the properties of the asteroid. If we can show links between asteroid Steins and the aubrites, which are iron-free meteorites that formed in highly reduced (hydrogen-rich) reservoirs, we can extend our knowledge of the E-type asteroids of which Steins is an example. I know this doesn't make much sense so I will continue to work on expressing myself......later. Take a look at the link above.

I found a preparatory short quicktime piece giving a bit of background on the flyby that
I might ask my students to comment on. Is it accurate? How might you modify it to make it scientifically more accurate both visually and by way of the commentary? see the quicktime movie.

Between Conventions

I haven't been this excited about a presidential election since I walked through the streets of the Republican dominated town of New Canaan, Connecticut in 1964 carrying Lyndon Johnson placards and chanting "Lyndon, Lyndon" as a twelve year old. His running mate was also an Arizona Senator, Barry Goldwater. I'm not sure why I was so hyped up about Lyndon Johnson, but it was fun marching with a few of my friends and exercising my right to protest against the status quo both at home and in my home town.

I'm now making my way through David Leonhardt's article on Obamanomics from last week's NYTimes magazine just to be sure that I still think about the candidate and vote with my head and not my excitement over the fact that the government might make an historic move reflecting the many changes in this country. The thought that the election of McCain and Palin would also reflect the changes in our country, is scarey.
I'm looking forward to comparing and contrasting next week's Republican convention with last week's historic Democratic one.
I saw a bumper sticker that read, "Scientists for Obama", and I almost followed it to find out where it came from. Maybe I'll calm down and get back to the work of science.

Week of August 25 2008 in U.S. History!

Now that I don't have to, it seems like I know what my kids are doing because they call and tell me. And one thing was for sure, Whitney and Katie were not watching the Democratic National convention on television last week. Fully realizing that they are free to do what they want, I felt compelled to let them know that history was in the making and that Marc and I were glued to the tube. Here is my attempt at keeping them informed, and in a manner that they might, just might, catch in their fast paced world.

Girls,
I hope you take some time to listen to some of the convention speeches on U-tube if you don't catch them live. Here are my favs:
Senator Ted Kennedy's speech on Monday was very dramatic because he is battling brain cancer. He is in incredible shape given what he has been through. He gave a strong speech and maybe his last major one. He represents a political dynasty in this country.

Michelle Obama also spoke on Monday night. What an outstanding speech both in delivery and content. It came from her heart and captured mine.
The picture on the front page of the NY Times on Tuesday Aug. 26 is symbolic of the changing face of America that I find exciting, but I can't find the picture on the web!

On Tuesday, Hillary Clinton gave an outstanding speech that was gracious, tough and the right thing to do. When she asked the crowd whether they were in the campaign for her, or for all the people and circumstances that require the government's action, she really drove home to the Clinton delegates and their 18 million voters that they should support Obama. She brought the house down.

Then Wednesday, it was Bill's turn. His speech too was outstanding and compared to some of the Congressmen and women and governors who spoke, I came to appreciate someone who is a skilled orator. He nailed a number of topics and knowing how angry and disappointed he is that Hillary lost the bid for presidency, he also took a stand for the right thing for the electorate to do, support Obama. Wow, I'm sounding like a real party liner aren't I?

Joe Biden's speech too was good. But I'm getting tired and I don't feel like saying why. I'm not that interested in his topics, but they too are important.

Throughout all of this, I can't help but think about the stress our politicians experience for their safety and that of their families. The things they do for the country! On the other hand it is their choice, they are extremely ambitious and I have to assume they determine that the outcome outweighs the risks. It takes courage to lead the country.

Katie, are you registered to vote?

Leningrad Cowboys and Red Army Choir

This is a must listen! The Leningrad Cowboys singing Sweet Home Alabama with the Red Army chorus! PACT.

I think you only have to have grown up during the cold war to appreciate this.
This is the epitome of multi-culturalism.
And look at how much fun those guys in the Red Army are having.
I play this often for entertainment.

Dancing with the Universe

We had a conversation tonight with Katie about people who like to dance and those who don't.

Then I received this link in email.

So now you too can watch it.

http://www.minnpost.com/stories/2008/06/27/2396/dancing_with_the_universe

100th Anniversary of Tunguska Blast event

I wrote this on June 30, 2008 at the request of an editor of Sky & Telescope

On a hot summer’s day in a mid-Atlantic state of the United States, it is hard to anticipate a natural disaster of any kind, much less one from outer space. Yet historical records of eye witness accounts of a powerful blast and subsequent scientific analysis of material around the forest that was flattened by the event near the Podkamennaya Tunguska river, Siberia, 100 years ago today, tell us that objects colliding with Earth of potentially devastating magnitude will probably happen again in the future. With modern upper atmospheric surveillance, air bursts from incoming fragments of near-Earth objects are detected on order of once a year. Unfortunately, we can’t predict when and with what magnitude these collisions occur. The Tunguska event is estimated to have been equivalent to 30 megatons of TNT, or measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale for earthquakes. What can we do, knowing that such an event can happen again? The best offense is a good defense, so the first thing to do is monitor the number and nature of Near-Earth objects and that is what NASA is doing in its Near Earth Object program
Scientists also project the orbital evolution of NEOs hundreds of years into the future to watch for potentially hazardous objects that might collide with Earth. From time to time, the U.S. Congress holds hearings on the existing NEO programs and calls for written reports on the topic of impact hazards to Earth.

On a hot summer’s day, it is possible to think about and plan for possible hazardous impacts in the future. Let’s keep our heads and continue to assess our plans and policy. Hopefully, our deliberate and thoughtfully designed programs will allow us to detect any hazardous incoming body and take preventative action.

This was posted as a follow-on commentary to an article by Kelly Beatty on the 100th Anniversary of the 1908 Tunkuska event over Siberia with individual’s comments including mine.

Summer Trip to Baltimore, Maryland

Prelude:  When I wrote this, I wanted to have a new post, because I didn't like the ad that popped up from ad sense.  I thought I would write about the meeting's content, but in the back of my mind, I recalled a posting on our neighborhood bulletin board about ideas for a low cost vacation, close to home. My description of Baltimore and the restaurants that I visited is intended for this purpose. I was also interested in seeing what ads would result from what I was writing. I don't think anyone really cares about where I ate in Baltimore last week, but someday I might want to know so I can return to them myself. If you might visit Baltimore, read on.

July 14-18, 2008, I attended a professional meeting in Baltimore, MD called Asteroids, Comets and Meteors.

It was the 10th such meeting that occurs on a triannual basis. The venue, in the East Harbor community of Baltimore, was perfect for the conference. The meeting was held at the Marriott Waterfront hotel, a sky scraping building with a spectacular view of the inner harbor with its waterfront, museums, shops and new condos on the West side with Bunker Hill's flag flying behind them. . At night, the multiple lights from the harbor and Baltimore’s skyline and highways behind it was spectacular. The inner harbor appears to be a bustling community that supports residences, business and tourists. At the East Harbor, the hotel wasn’t full, in spite of the three simultaneous conventions; the hotel facilities worked well. Our room expanded or separated into two, we had ample space for posters as well as space for meeting informally in the hallway surrounding the rooms. Neither the medical nor legal conferences interfered with ours. And we all chuckled at the sign saying, “This breakfast is for asteroids only.”

The weather during the week was exceptional for this time of year. It was warm but not too humid. It didn’t rain (because I brought my rain jacket with me). When we ventured out for lunch, we were able to find restaurants within walking distance that didn’t have long waiting lines. The hotel’s concierge was very helpful in making suggestions and reservations for us when we had a large luncheon meeting. Any of the restaurants I would recommend going to if you are in Baltimore for any reason. I had lunch twice at the Lebanese Taverna at 719 S. President St. Both times they accommodated a group larger than ten. I think we all enjoyed the fare which is mediteranian and was attractively served on glass plates with indentations for each dish.

A group of six of us ate at McCormick and Schmick's at 711 Eastern Avenue. We arrived early and enjoyed our lunch, though I hear that others left before being served so I take it that the restaurant had reached their capacity.

Two other places I’d like to mention. Dining at Pazo was a lot of fun. I went with some old friends and a science writer. We had an engaging and entertaining waiter, who would have irritated me if the evening were to be serious, but it wasn’t. The building is a former machine shop with good acoustics and a fine menu. We had a preselected tapas menu for two while my friends picked and chose from the menu. Two bottles of the house wine paired well with everything and we all enjoyed the entire meal. We weren’t rushed and had plenty of time for recent and past stories. It was a great opportunity to catch up with old friends. I was disappointed to learn that the restaurant was not open for lunch.

My friend Jill Jonnes and I had an early dinner at a Sushi restaurant, Chiu's Sushi at 608 S. Exeter St. I was initially irritated by Jill's reminding me that tuna and salmon were on the fish don't eat list. In the end, the vegetarian sushis were very tasty. I ate there twice too.

Book Review: What is the What by Dave Eggers

What is the What by Dave Eggers, McSweeney’s San Francisco, 2006. 475 pp.

While there are many things wrong with this novel, in the end I was glad that I read it and I recommend it to anyone who knows people who have emigrated from Africa.
First of all, notice the title, the punctuation is wrong. But that just clues me in a to few things. It is written by a member of a different generation. In many instances, it has the tenor of a reality television show, especially in the beginning when it reads like the crime reports on the local evening news of a large city. The protagonist, Valentino Achak Deng, a refugee from Sudan, has been attacked and beaten in his apartment in Atlanta. I almost put the book down multiple times during the first hundred pages.

The novel is written by Dave Eggers but the full title is What is the What The Autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng. Valentino Achak Deng is a Lost Boy of Sudan. I didn’t know who the lost boys are, so I went to the internet before finishing the first chapter and looked up both the author and the lost boys of Sudan.

The boys were caught up in Sudan’s civil war in the 1990s. As boys, all pre-adolescents, their towns were attacked and they fled their villages in all directions becoming separated from their families. They congregated and were led by older, but still young men who lead them on foot to the Ethiopian border where they crossed the Gilo River into relative safety. On the way they faced starvation, attacks by lions and soldiers and many of the boys died and were buried by their peers. The suffering is painful to read, it was hard to bear and hard to believe that it was actually real. The internet revealed that some of the Lost Boys of Sudan were indeed resettled in the U.S. and were trying to assimilate into our culture, get an education and had hopes of returning to Sudan to rebuild it. The approach of the novel, of Valentino telling his story in his head (because he was gagged), after he was robbed and beaten, to a boy who was his age when he was separated from his family, is a sad commentary on the great hope of the United States as a place of equal opportunity for all.

In the beginning of the book, I was outraged as a reader. The style was overly graphic and horrific. I felt my emotions were being manipulated. I alternated between reading this book and a Dick Francis mystery novel because I couldn’t bear the horror. I thought of not finishing the book many times. As I got to book II, I realized that I was reading history that I had missed because I was engulfed in family rearing, maintaining my career and I had chosen not to read the details in the newspaper. This civil war is independent of Darfur, I’m pretty sure, yet the subject of the battle, is I believe, over oil in Sudan.

In the end, I have to recommend this book. It is an historical novel. The style is more journalistic than a work of fiction that will be read for a long time. There are scenes that read like the living hell described in The Divine Comedy. The stories of immigrants experiencing our culture for the first time are poignant and sometimes humorous. The character development is pretty good, there are scenes that are described with excellent imagery, and I eventually found a few places where I could laugh. But the extremes of the human suffering are difficult to process.

I found myself comparing this to The Kite Runner, and have to say that the Kite Runner is better literature, though I can’t exactly say why, after all, I am a scientist, not a literary critic.

The theme of What is the What refers to the courage that it takes to go after something that is unknown and intangible. It is only those who are very resilient, lucky and courageous who can survive the devastation of war and famine. It was going to the U.S. that represented Valentino selecting the What, when he really wanted to go back to his village and help his family rebuild it.

If you work with someone who has immigrated to this country during a time of war, you can probably gain a lot of respect for them if you ask them about their journey here. The sad thing is that their journey only begins when they get here. There remains the challenge of getting settled, learning our ways, applying to college, getting a job and the challenges of clothing, feeding and keep oneself safe here, in the developed jungle of the U.S.A.

Some things about food.
We were getting tired of our menus and didn't have time to research and experiment alternatives. But fate stepped in when our two daughters returned for the summer. They asked us to help them test their menus, and we gladly complied. Our chores have now switched. I now do the dishes and the girls cook. Check out their sites.

Katie's Kitchen at http://www.katiemcfadden.blogspot.com

and comment on McFatty Sandwich