breakfast for late dinner

Normally, I wouldn't make pancakes at 10 pm. But tonight I fantasized about pancakes all evening, while I was taking exams, waiting for and riding the bus home. So when the moist, white-chocolate-chip, brown-sugar cake (saturated in molasses maple syrup I might add) hit my mouth, it was extraordinary. I polished off a couple, washed down with a glass of red wine, and now I'm experiencing a sugar-high/wine-coma. Strange. At least I don't have another exam until Monday. For now I'll sit back and polish off Super Troopers on Comedy Central and wait for snowflakes to fall! 

The Postman Delivers...

I liked this thought from a mandatory reading by Neil Postman, former NYU prof. He's talking about how we need narratives to help us understand and process information. Whereas we used to have a shortage of information, today we have "wisdom enough to leech us of our ill...But there exists no loom to weave it into fabric."

"We have transformed information into a form of garbage and ourselves into garbage collectors...no stories to tell us what we need to know and what we do not need to know."

He says we need narratives to give sense to the information. The downside to narratives and other information filters is that they stereotype and simplify.

"I will give you an example. I grew up in New York in a standard Democratic, with a large D, household. And we had a theory which helped us manage information, helped us know what information we needed to pay attention to and what information we could ignore. The theory went like this. Anything a Republican says you could ignore. (Laughter) Now that helps enormously, right there. Now then the theory went on. Anything a Democrat says you should pay attention to, except if the Democrat is from the South, because they are racist and you don't have ot pat attention to them. So, this made one's political education simplified. All theories tend to simplify. That's the purpose of theories - to help people manage information."

As much as I love skiing at Colorado's resorts, I think I'm forever spoiled after our backcountry hut trip south of Breckenridge this weekend. Not only did we wake up to this explosively colorful sunrise this morning (picture taken from my bedroom window) but we then scouted out prime turf for a kicker and jumped for a few hours in lush creamy powder right outside our door. NOONE for miles, and no sound but the melody of our cheers and wipe-outs. Then we skied back down to the trailhead through a thick, narrow channel surrounded by pine. Not to mention the joy of playing Liar's Dice, Uno and A$$hole last night while sipping Franzi, hot chocolate and schnapps and feasting on gourmet hut tacos.

Retail Therapy or Snow Therapy

In light of Christmas season, I'm keeping a notepad dedicated to holiday ideas with me at all times, kind of like a journalist is supposed to keep an idea pad constantly at the ready. Normally I hate Christmas catalogues, but I riffled through Target's today and it was quite inspiring. On those glossy pages, the stuff even looks classier than it does in the superstore.

And speaking of Christmas, today was the first big snowstorm of the season, which for some reason puts me in the mood for Christmas STAT! There are 6 inches adorning our porch and my roommate's bike is covered in soft fluffy pillows of powder. Signing off for now ...

Midnight Rules

I know exactly how George Bush feels. With so little time left (in the semester) you really just want to make your mark before it's too late. So no wonder the President is busy obstructing the green revolution: getting rid of environmental review in relation to fishery management, cutting slack for coal-mining companies who blow up mountians, letting factory farms ignore the Clean Water Act, neutering the Endangered Species Act, and circumventing the part of the Clean Air Act that forces utilities to update pollution controls on every new or renovated plant. Wow! As if hating on the earth weren't bad enough, he's also got some anti-labor rules up his sleeve, making it more difficult for the gov't to limit employees' exposure to toxins and tougher to take sick or medical leave. The New Yorker sums it up best:

"What distinguishes this Administration in its final days—as in its earlier ones—is the purity of its cynicism. White House officials haven’t even bothered to argue that these new rules are in the public interest. Such a claim would, in any event, be impossible to defend, as just about every midnight regulation being proposed is, evidently, a gift to a favored industry."

On second thought, I guess I have the luxury of not being indebted to special interests and not suffering from megalomania. My own midnight rules are more like: try to get 8 hours of sleep, don't blow off final exams to go skiing, shoot for at least one A and don't eat too many Christmas cookies!

Great Grandma's Christmas Cookies

For those of you who make iced sugar cookies over Christmas, you can appreciate my story. During an intense cookie-session tonight, the dough was a bit soft (high altitude?), the frosting was a bit runny (I poured too much half-and-half in) and excessive finger licking landed me with a stomach ache. But it was totally worth it. Oh yeah, if you haven't made the mitten-shaped Christmas cookies, you really should. You can get super creative with the detailing. I do miss the unique flavor of the sleigh, Santas, bells, holly leaf, and star. Still, a great way to toast a month full of yuletide!!

Fairbanks Republican Mayor Speaks at Democratic National Convention in Denver

Fairbanks borough mayor crosses party lines at Democratic convention

Molly Rettig/For the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

Published Wednesday, August 27, 2008

DENVER — Before an audience of more than 10,000 and in front of towering digital screens flashing stars and stripes, a Fairbanks leader took center stage at the Democratic National Convention. Fairbanks North Star Borough Mayor Jim Whitaker, a Republican, voiced his support for Barack Obama and party unity for about five minutes Tuesday night at the Pepsi Center in downtown Denver.

His speech, which he was asked to present less than a week ago, was part of the night’s high-voltage lineup that led up to a crowd-rousing speech from Sen. Hillary Clinton.

Whitaker agreed to speak because he wanted to follow through with his choice to support Obama, he said.

“I was either going to truly support the person I was endorsing, or I would do it halfway,” he said in a phone interview earlier that day.

He cited the nation’s economic, energy and national security challenges as several key reasons for endorsing Obama. These hurdles are more important than party lines and even state lines, he said.

“I don’t think I’m here to represent Alaskans. I’m here to represent one person who is exercising their vote,” he said on the phone. “Every Alaskan is entitled to do the same.”

A crowd of media, politicians, delegates and supporters swirled around the Alaska delegation on the floor of the grand hall. About 20 spirited Alaska delegates, wearing white jackets embroidered with their state name and contour, filled two rows and stood waving state flags during Whitaker’s speech.

“I’m very proud of him,” said Fairbanks delegate Elyse Guttenberg.

Guttenberg said Obama was the first presidential candidate to pay this much attention to Alaska, especially when it came to energy, education and health care issues.

Cindy Spanyers, a delegate from Juneau, said the mood of the convention was full of hope and change.

“There is so much hope here it’s almost spiritual,” she said.

Seeing an Alaskan on the podium only enhanced that, she said.

“It’s so great to see an Alaskan speak,” said Rex Okakok, a delegate and whaling captain from Barrow.

The animated Inupiaq man expressed a bit of culture shock at the surrounding melee. He said his first trip to Colorado had been eye-opening.

“They’re having the same problems we have in rural Alaska,” he said of the energy and social issues emphasized by speakers. “I feel like I’m just part of the average American, not just an Eskimo.”

Angela Cox, another delegate from Barrow, also said she could relate to others at the convention.

“In many ways, the people here are so diverse and we don’t agree on a lot of things, but we do agree on who should be the next president,” she said.

Controlling off-shore development and facilitating the natural gas pipeline were a couple of issues Cox trusted Obama to help govern.

“He’s not going to give in to the pressure of Big Oil,” she said.

The Fairbanks contingent made time for fun, too.

“I can barely talk because I’m so hoarse from last night,” said Fairbanks delegate John Davies. “We went to Invesco Field at 9:30 for a Willie Nelson concert.”

Whitaker too was amazed at the size of the event and the intense security at what was his first national convention, he said.

Even though Denver was hot and congested, he didn’t feel like a fish out of water, he said. Rather, he seemed in his element as he drove home his message of America’s need for change.

“Democracy is a fun thing to watch. It’s even more fun to be a part of.”